A refrigerator has an ice bin that can break ice piece agglomerates therein. The ice bin includes a breaking unit rotatably installed in a discharge port of the ice bin, the breaking unit including a stationary blade and rotatable blade. The ice bin also includes a separation blade rotatably installed parallel the breaking unit and configured to strike and separate ice pieces agglomerates into smaller pieces for discharging.

A water switch assembly for a nugget ice making assembly is provided. The ice making assembly includes a hollow auger rotatably mounted within a reservoir and configured for extruding ice. The water switch assembly includes a water supply pipe that extends vertically through the center of the ice making auger and reservoir. The water switch assembly is in fluid communication with a water inlet and includes a capacitance probe for measuring the water level in the reservoir. In this manner, the water switch assembly is configured to control the flow of water to the reservoir in response to the water level measured by the capacitance probe.

A refrigerator has an ice bin that can break ice piece agglomerates therein. The ice bin includes a breaking unit rotatably installed in a discharge port of the ice bin, the breaking unit including a stationary blade and rotatable blade. The ice bin further includes a separation bar unit rotatably installed parallel to the breaking unit to strike and separate the ice piece agglomerates during rotation.

A motor assembly includes a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor; a gear box in which the BLDC motor is installed; and a power transmission part having a plurality of gears installed in the gear box so as to transmit power generated by the BLDC motor to an ice bin. The BLDC motor comprises: a stator and a rotor rotating with respect to the stator, wherein the rotor may be connected to the power transmission part by a shaft and the stator may be coupled to the gear box in a separable manner.

Refrigerator appliances are provided. A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a fresh food chamber and a freezer chamber, and a door for accessing one of the fresh food chamber or the freezer chamber. The refrigerator appliance further includes an ice making assembly disposed within one of the fresh food chamber, the freezer chamber or the door. The ice making assembly includes an ice maker, a container defining a storage volume for receipt of ice produced by the ice maker, and a chute extending between the ice maker and the container for directing the ice produced by the ice maker towards the storage volume. The chute includes a body defining a passage therethrough. The ice making assembly further includes a sensor positioned to transmit sensing signals through the chute, the sensor in communication with the ice maker.

An icemaking system includes a circulation circuit configured to circulate icemaking solution, at least one icemaker provided in the circulation circuit, a cooling mechanism, a first detector and an adjuster. The icemaker includes a cooling chamber and a scraping mechanism. The cooling chamber has an inflow port and an exhaust port of solution, and the cooling chamber allows the solution to flow in the cooling chamber. The scraping mechanism scrapes ice generated on an inner surface of the cooling chamber. The cooling mechanism cools the solution in the cooling chamber. The first detector detects whether the inflow port of the cooling chamber has an ice nucleus. The adjuster adjusts a cooling temperature of the solution in accordance with a detection result of the first detector.

An ice-making assembly of the present disclosure an ice maker for making ice, an ice bin located below the ice maker, wherein the ice bin stores ice separated from the ice maker therein, and a detecting lever located below the ice maker and including a pivotable detecting body, wherein the detecting lever detects a full ice state of the ice bin.

A refrigeration device, a freezer device, or a device having both, with a cooled interior space and with a storage container for ice cubes located in this interior space. The device includes an ice cube maker that produces ice cubes. The ice cubes are received in the storage container. A pulse generation is provided, in which one or multiple pulses are applied to the storage container.

The present disclosure relates to a management server for an ice maker that includes: a communicator configured to receive (i) operation information on extraction of ice stored in the ice maker and (ii) sensing information on an amount of the ice stored in the ice maker; and a controller configured, based on (i) the received operation information and sensing information in a first time section and (ii) the received operation information and sensing information in a second time section after the first time section, to determine whether the ice stored in the ice maker is clumped in the second time section.

A refrigerator includes an ice crushing device and a driving device. The ice crushing device includes a stirrer and a transmission assembly. The stirrer includes a rotary shaft. The transmission assembly includes a first cylindrical gear, a first intermediate shaft, a second cylindrical gear, a second intermediate shaft, a third cylindrical gear, a first bevel gear and a second bevel gear. Any one of the first cylindrical gear, the second cylindrical gear, the third cylindrical gear, and the first bevel gear is defined as a driving gear. The driving gear is connected to the driving device and is configured as an incomplete gear. The driving gear is configured to rotate due to driving of the driving device, so as to drive the rotary shaft of the stirrer to rotate intermittently.