Claims
- 1. An ice bucket for use in a conjunction with a refrigerator having a freezer compartment, a door for selectively closing the freezer compartment, an ice maker disposed within the freezer compartment for forming ice pieces, said ice bucket comprising:
an main body having a base removably mounted to said door below said ice maker for receiving ice pieces from said ice maker, and a plurality of vertical walls extending upwardly from said base defining there between an ice storage bin for collection and storage of said ice pieces received from said ice maker, said main body including a pair of outer side walls disposed opposite each other and generally perpendicular to said door when said ice bucket is mounted to said door, a first handle formed in an upper portion of a first of said side walls, and a second handle formed in a lower portion of a second of said side walls.
- 2. The ice bucket according to claim 1, further wherein said first handle is a downwardly oriented convex surface is formed to cooperate with the thumb and first finger of a user for facilitating removal of said ice bucket from said door and tilting of said ice maker for dispensing of ice pieces therefrom.
- 3. The ice bucket according to claim 1, further comprising spout means formed integrally integrally in said first side wall above said first handle such as to direct the flow of ice pieces being dispensed from said ice bucket.
- 4. The ice bucket according to claim 1, wherein said second handle comprises a cut-away in said base permitting the user to insert on or more fingers below said second side wall for removal of said ice bucket from said door, dispensing of said ice pieces, and reinstallation of said ice bucket to said door.
- 5. The ice bucket according to claim 1, wherein said main body is comprised of an opaque lower main body comprising said base and a transparent upper main comprising the upper portions of said side walls.
- 6. The ice bucket according to claim 1, wherein said base means further comprises:
latching means for selectively interconnecting said ice bucket with said door and a release for selectively releasing said latch means for removal of said ice bucket from said door.
- 7. The ice bucket according to claim 6, wherein
said latching means automatically engages with said door when said ice bucket is reinstalled in said door and said release comprises a button disposed adjacent said second handle for manual release of said latching means.
- 8. An ice bucket comprising
a lower wall, a plurality of vertical walls extending upwardly from each of said outer walls of said base and cooperating with said base to define an ice storage bin for collection of ice, a first handle formed in an upper portion of a first of said side walls, and a second handle formed in a lower portion of a second of said side walls.
- 9. The ice bucket according to claim 8, further wherein said first handle is a downwardly oriented convex surface is formed to cooperate with the thumb and first finger of a user for facilitating lifting and tilting of said ice maker for dispensing of ice pieces therefrom.
- 10. The ice bucket according to claim 8, further comprising spout means formed integrally in said first side wall above said first handle such as to direct the flow of ice pieces being dispensed from said ice bucket.
- 11. The ice bucket according to claim 8, wherein said second handle comprises a cut-away in said second side wall permitting the user to insert on or more fingers below said second side wall for dispensing of said ice pieces.
- 12. The ice bucket according to claim 11, further wherein said first handle is a downwardly oriented convex surface is formed to cooperate with the thumb and first finger of a user for facilitating removal of said ice bucket from said door and tilting of said ice maker for dispensing of ice pieces therefrom.
- 13. The ice bucket according to claim 12, further comprising spout means formed integrally integrally in said first side wall above said first handle such as to direct the flow of ice pieces being dispensed from said ice bucket.
- 14. The ice bucket according to claim 8, wherein said main body is comprised of an opaque lower main body comprising said base and a transparent upper main comprising the upper portions of said side walls.
- 15. An ice bucket for use in a conjunction with an ice maker disposed within the freezer compartment for forming ice pieces, said ice bucket comprising:
an main body having a base removably mounted to said refrigerator in said freezer compartment below said ice maker for receiving ice pieces from said ice maker, and a plurality of vertical walls extending upwardly from said base defining there between an ice storage bin for collection and storage of said ice pieces received from said ice maker, said main body including a pair of outer side walls disposed opposite each other and generally perpendicular to said door when said ice bucket is mounted to said door, a first handle formed in an upper portion of a first of said side walls, and a second handle formed in a lower portion of a second of said side walls.
- 16. The ice bucket according to claim 15, further wherein said first handle is a downwardly oriented convex surface is formed to cooperate with the thumb and first finger of a user for facilitating removal of said ice bucket from said door and tilting of said ice maker for dispensing of ice pieces therefrom.
- 17. The ice bucket according to claim 15, further comprising spout means formed integrally integrally in said first side wall above said first handle such as to direct the flow of ice pieces being dispensed from said ice bucket.
- 18. The ice bucket according to claim 15, wherein said second handle comprises a cut-away in said base permitting the user to insert on or more fingers below said second side wall for lifting of said ice bucket and dispensing of said ice pieces.
- 19. The ice bucket according to claim 15, wherein said main body is comprised of an opaque lower main body comprising said base and a transparent upper main comprising the upper portions of said side walls.
- 20. The ice bucket according to claim 15, wherein said base means further comprises:
latching means for selectively interconnecting said ice bucket with said refrigerator, wherein said latching means automatically engages with said door when said ice bucket is reinstalled in said door and a release for selectively releasing said latch means for removal of said ice bucket from said door.
Parent Case Info
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 09/482,397 entitled “ICE LEVEL SENSING SYSTEM FOR AN ICE MAKER”, filed on Jan. 12, 2000 which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/221,770, entitled “ICE MAKING AND STORAGE SYSTEM FOR A REFRIGERATOR”, filed on Dec. 28, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,097 issued Apr. 18, 2000.
[0002] The present application is also a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 29/126,155 entitled “REMOVABLE ICE BUCKET”, filed on Jul. 11, 2000.
[0003] The specifications and drawings of the three above listed parent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09482397 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
09760414 |
Jan 2001 |
US |
Parent |
09221770 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
09482397 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Parent |
29126155 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
09221770 |
Dec 1998 |
US |