Most refrigerators intended for household use include an ice maker and an ice bin, which generally both stores the ice and provides access to the ice. Depending on the configuration of the refrigerator and/or the placement of the ice maker, accessing or reaching the ice may be difficult. Also, the amount of ice that can be produced and stored at one time is limited by the size of the ice bin.
A number of refrigerators include an ice dispenser coupled to the ice bin that dispenses ice from the ice bin through a refrigerator door. Typically, the user operates the ice dispenser by pushing a drinking glass against a paddle or other lever. When the lever is depressed, ice is released directly from the ice bin into the glass. While this may simplify accessing the ice, retrieval of the ice is limited to the dispenser's speed (and the size of the glass). As a result, removal of large amounts of ice using the dispenser is difficult and time-consuming.