The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 27, 2018
Filed:
Nov. 14, 2016
Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, MI (US);
Jerold M. Visin, Benton Harbor, MI (US);
Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, MI (US);
Abstract
A refrigerator is provided including an ice making assembly. The ice making assembly includes a storage container that has a discharge zone including a crushing assembly for selectively crushing formed ice before dispensing the ice through the dispenser of the refrigerator. The crushing assembly includes both rotating and fixed crushing blades, and including crushing teeth for crushing the formed ice cubes therebetween. A diverter wedge may be positioned at or formed integrally with the fixed crushing blades such that the diverter wedge closes any gap between the rotating blades and the wall of the discharge zone. The diverter wedge can include a sloped portion to move any smaller or differently-shaped cubes from the outer edge of the discharge zone to between the crushing blades such that it is ensured that the cubes are crushed before being dispensed.