A refrigerator includes a cabinet having a freezing compartment below a refrigerating compartment, an ice making compartment at a side of the refrigerating compartment, an evaporator, a shroud that is disposed at a front side of the evaporator, a grille panel coupled to a front surface of the shroud, a first cool air guide channel defined between the grille panel and the shroud and configured to guide cool air to a freezing compartment, a second cool air guide channel defined between the grille panel and the shroud and configured guide cool air to the ice making compartment, a freezing fan module disposed between the grille panel and the shroud and configured to supply cool air to the first cool air guide channel, and an ice making fan module disposed between the grille panel and the shroud and configured to supply cool air to the second cool air guide channel.

An ice vending machine is provided that has a minimal footprint, while still being able to quickly and efficiently fill bags of ice. The machine has a cabinet, a frame within the cabinet, and an ice maker mounted to the cabinet and/or the frame. Once the ice maker has made ice, the ice is deposited into a hopper. The ice vending machine may have multiple hoppers through which the ice is guided to a bagging system. Once the ice has been inserted into a bag by the bagging system, the filled bag is sealed. Once the bag has been sealed, it can be delivered to a customer, otherwise it can be stored in a cooler section. The ice vending machine has a number of high power motors that enable fast movement of the ice to generate the bags of ice in minimal time.

An ice vending machine is provided that has a minimal footprint, while still being able to quickly and efficiently fill bags of ice. The machine has a cabinet, a frame within the cabinet, and an ice maker mounted to the cabinet and/or the frame. Once the ice maker has made ice, the ice is deposited into a hopper. The ice vending machine may have multiple hoppers through which the ice is guided to a bagging system. Once the ice has been inserted into a bag by the bagging system, the filled bag is sealed. Once the bag has been sealed, it can be delivered to a customer, otherwise it can be stored in a cooler section. The ice vending machine has a number of high power motors that enable fast movement of the ice to generate the bags of ice in minimal time.

An ice dispenser includes an ice chute, an ice maker chute plate, and a vent wall. The ice chute is mounted adjacent an ice dispenser window and is configured to receive ice when the ice is pushed through the ice dispenser window. The ice maker chute plate includes an ice chute aperture wall configured to receive and to dispense the ice from the ice chute. The ice chute is mounted to extend from the ice maker chute plate. The vent wall is mounted to the ice maker chute plate. The vent wall includes an aperture wall through which air from a cooling system is received onto the ice chute when the cooling system is operated.

A refrigerator includes: an ice maker for generating ice; an ice bin for storing the ice and including a rotational blade that is rotated in order to discharge the ice; a motor for generating power for rotating the rotational blade; a manipulation pad provided on the door of the refrigerator and manipulated to discharge the ice from the ice bin; a manipulation sensing part for detecting the manipulation of the manipulation pad; and a controller for operating the motor when the manipulation of the manipulation pad is detected by the manipulation sensing part, wherein the controller rotates the motor in one direction to discharge the ice from the ice bin and the controller rotates the motor in the other direction, which is the opposite direction of the one direction, for a set period of time when the manipulation of the manipulation pad is no longer detected.

Provided is a lighting assembly including an upper body that defines a top surface thereof; a lower body coupled to a lower portion of the upper body and defining a bottom surface thereof; a light diffusion member coupled to the upper body and the lower body, the light diffusion member including a first surface facing the upper body, a second surface facing the lower body, and a third surface that has a curved surface and is exposed to an outside of the light diffusion member; a light guide made of a light transmissive material, the light guide being in contact with the light diffusion member; and a light-emitting diode (LED) disposed to face a surface of the light guide.

A refrigerator includes a cabinet defining a storage space, a door configured to open and close at least a portion of the storage space, and an ice maker assembly provided in the storage space. The ice maker assembly includes an ice maker provided forward of a cold air discharge port that is provided at a rear portion of the storage space, where the cold air discharge port is configured to deliver cold air, a front cover that covers a front side of the ice maker and that is configured to be exposed to an outside of the cabinet based on the door being opened, and a heat insulating material provided at a rear surface of the front cover and configured to at least partially block the cold air passing through the ice maker from being delivered past a front surface of the front cover.

A refrigerator utilizes in some instances an icemaker having a tandem arrangement of storage bins. A first storage bin receives ice produced by an icemaker and includes a reversible ice mover that when operated in a first direction feeds an ice dispenser, and when operated in a second direction feeds a second storage bin disposed below the first storage bin. A refrigerator may also in another aspect include an externally-accessible ice dispenser having a dispenser recess portion that is removable from the refrigerator when the doors of the refrigerator are closed, e.g., for the purpose of accessing an ice storage bin.

A variable ice dispenser for a refrigerator utilizes a variable control suitable for varying the rate of ice dispensing by the dispenser. In some instances, the variable control includes a variable control actuator that is movable between a range of positions including a home position, and movement of the variable control actuator in a first direction from the home position causes the variable ice dispenser to dispense cubed ice while movement of the variable control actuator in a second direction from the home position causes the variable ice dispenser to dispense crushed ice. Further, in some instances, the variable control may also selectively activate the ice dispenser such that the variable control actuator controls the ice dispensing rate while the variable ice dispenser is activated. In addition, in some instances, a variable control may also include a secondary control that switches between ice and water dispensing modes.

Systems and methods are provided for dispensing ice and at least one liquid, and related cleaning processes. In one embodiment, the system comprises an ice bin for storing a quantity of ice particles, a dispensing tube for carrying at least a first liquid, and a discharge chute in communication with a discharge outlet, wherein the discharge chute is disposed upstream of the discharge outlet. An outlet end of the dispensing tube is positioned within a portion of the ice bin at a location aligned above the discharge outlet. The ice particles and the first liquid are dispensed through the discharge outlet separately or at the same time.