Patent ID: 8011202

Claim:
An auger assembly in an ice bin of an ice maker having an ice making device configured to generate ice cubes of a full size, comprising: a casing defining an ice storage chamber at an opened upper surface thereof, a discharge opening at a lower surface thereof so as to discharge ice, and a communication hole disposed at a side surface of a transfer chamber and positioned between the ice storage chamber and the discharge opening so as to pass ice; a rotational shaft configured to transfer a rotational force; and an auger rotatably mounted inside the casing and configured to rotate based on the rotational force transferred by the rotational shaft, wherein the augur comprises: a shaft portion coupled to the rotational shaft so as to receive the rotational force; at least two spiral-shaped transfer blades each spirally protruding from an outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion in a circumferential direction, two adjacent of the spiral-shaped transfer blades being separated from each other and shaped to provide a space there between that is sized to accommodate at least an ice cube of full size from within the ice storage chamber, the spiral-shaped transfer blades being configured to rotate with the shaft portion so as to transfer, based on blade rotation, the ice cube through the communication hole of the casing; and a disk-shaped reinforcing portion connected to an end of each of the spiral-shaped transfer blades and the shaft portion of the auger.