CN110864476A

CN110864476A - Refrigerating and freezing device and ice making box thereof

Info

Publication number: CN110864476A
Application number: CN201911109048.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张文; 赵卢喆; 田秀强; 李晓庆; 殷际东
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-13
Filing date: 2019-11-13
Publication date: 2020-03-06

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerating and freezing device and an ice making box thereof. Wherein, ice-making box includes: a box body; the two rolling shafts are parallel to each other and extend horizontally, and can be respectively and rotatably arranged in the box body around the axis of the two rolling shafts; and the flexible belt is tensioned on the two rollers and is provided with an ice making section, the ice making section is provided with a plurality of ice grids with openings facing to the outer side of the flexible belt, so that the ice making section is positioned between the two rollers in an operable mode, the openings of the ice grids face upwards to make ice, and the flexible belt is driven to move by rotating the rollers in an operable mode, so that the ice making section is wound around the rollers, the ice grids are twisted, and ice blocks in the ice making section are enabled to fall off. The ice-making box has better ice-removing effect and simple and labor-saving operation.

Description

Refrigerating and freezing device and ice making box thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to ice making equipment, in particular to a refrigerating and freezing device and an ice making box thereof.

Background

An ice-making box is often provided in a refrigerating and freezing apparatus such as a refrigerator or freezer to make ice pieces. The ice-making box is generally a plate-shaped structure made of hard plastic, and is provided with a plurality of ice grids arranged in an array, and each ice grid is used for making an ice block.

When the ice cubes need to be used, the user twists or beats the ice making box to make the ice cubes on the ice making box fall off. This approach is very laborious and the partial ice pieces are difficult to detach completely from the ice grid, resulting in a poor user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to solve at least the above problems of the prior art and to provide an ice-making box with better ice-removing effect and simple and labor-saving operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerating and freezing apparatus having the ice-making housing.

The invention further aims to improve the user experience in the whole process of ice making, ice removing and ice fetching.

In one aspect, the present invention provides an ice-making housing for a refrigerating and freezing device, comprising:

a box body;

the two rolling shafts are parallel to each other and extend horizontally, and can be respectively and rotatably arranged in the box body around the axis of the two rolling shafts; and

a flexible belt stretched over the two rollers and having an ice making section formed with a plurality of ice cells opened to an outer side of the flexible belt,

so that the ice making section is positioned between the two rollers and the ice grid opening faces upwards to make ice, and the roller is rotated to drive the flexible belt to move, so that the ice making section is wound around the roller to twist the ice grid and make ice cubes in the ice grid fall off.

Alternatively, each roller is formed with a plurality of gears arranged at intervals along an axial direction thereof, and the flexible belt is fitted over the plurality of gears.

Optionally, a plurality of ice grids are arranged in a plurality of rows along the axial direction of the roller, and each ice grid is protruded towards the inner side of the flexible belt compared with the inner surface of the rest part of the flexible belt; and each gear is positioned between two adjacent rows of ice grids to avoid the ice grids.

Optionally, the flexible band is made of silicone.

Optionally, the case is mounted with a knob extending vertically through a top wall thereof, and a first bevel gear is formed at a bottom of the knob and engaged with a second bevel gear at an end of one of the rollers, so that the knob is rotated outside the case to rotate the roller.

Optionally, a sector annular stop portion coaxial with the knob extends outwards from the peripheral wall of the knob, and a sector annular limiting groove coaxial with the sector annular stop portion is formed in the top wall of the box body to accommodate the sector annular stop portion and limit the rotation angle range of the sector annular stop portion, and further limit the rotation angle range of the roller.

Optionally, a partition plate extending along the axial direction of the roller is arranged in the box body to partition the inner space of the box body; the two rollers and the flexible belt are arranged on one side of the partition plate, and ice blocks fall on the other side of the partition plate when ice is removed.

Optionally, the top of the box body is provided with a top opening; and the ice-making box further comprises at least one upper cover for opening or closing the top opening.

Optionally, the number of the upper covers is two, and the two upper covers are independently installed on the box body to respectively match the two side areas of the partition plate.

In another aspect, the invention further provides a refrigerating and freezing device, which comprises a box body and an ice-making box. The ice-making box is arranged in the box body and used for making ice, and the ice-making box is the ice-making box as above.

The ice-making box for the refrigerating and freezing device tensions a flexible belt on two horizontally extending rollers and forms ice grids on an ice-making section of the flexible belt. When ice is needed to be made, the ice making section is positioned between the two rolling shafts, and the opening of the ice grid is upward. When ice blocks are needed, the roller is only needed to be operated to rotate so as to drive the flexible belt to move, the ice making section rolls around the roller, so that the ice grids are twisted, the ice blocks in the ice grids can be promoted to fall into the box body, and a user can take out the ice blocks from the box body. The flexible belt has better flexibility, so that the deicing effect is very good. The knob with the larger outer diameter can be designed to rotate the roller to fully utilize the principle of the wheel shaft and complete the deicing process with smaller force. In a word, the ice making box does not need to twist the ice grids laboriously, has better ice removing effect, and has very good user experience in the whole process of ice making, ice removing and ice taking.

Furthermore, in the ice-making box, the gear arranged on the roller is contacted with the flexible belt, so that the length of the arc part of the flexible belt is longer (the outer diameter of the gear is obviously larger than that of the roller), and the whole ice-removing process can be completed by rotating the roller by a smaller angle.

Further, the ice-making box of the invention, the ice grids are arranged in a plurality of rows along the axial direction of the roller, and the inner surface of each ice grid is protruded towards the inner side of the flexible belt compared with the rest part of the inner surface of the flexible belt. Compare in making the ice tray towards the convex scheme in flexible area outside, the protruding scheme in the ice tray makes the ice tray not additionally occupy the space, makes the overall structure of ice making box compacter. In addition, the gear is positioned between two adjacent rows of ice grids to avoid the ice grids, so that the situation that the roller rotates too hard due to the contact of the bottom wall of the ice grids and the gear can be avoided.

Furthermore, the ice making box utilizes the fan-shaped limiting groove on the box body to limit the rotating angle range of the fan-shaped limiting stopping part on the knob, and the rolling shaft is limited to be incapable of continuously rotating after ice shedding is finished, so that the ice making box plays a role in reminding a user.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of an ice-making housing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic view of the ice-making housing shown in fig. 2 in a state where an upper cover is opened;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view at A of FIG. 3;

fig. 5 is an end angle view of the ice-making housing of fig. 2 with the housing and the cover hidden;

fig. 6 is an exploded view of the structure shown in fig. 5.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the invention provides a refrigerating and freezing device and an ice making box thereof. Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the refrigerating and freezing device of the present invention may generally include a case 10 and an ice making housing 20. The ice making housing 20 is installed in the case 10. Specifically, a plurality of refrigerating

compartments

11, 12, 13, 14 may be formed in the case 10, and the ice making housing 20 is placed in one refrigerating compartment. After water is injected into the ice making box 20, the water absorbs the cold energy in the box body 10 and is frozen to ice, and the ice making process is completed.

The structure of the ice-making housing 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 2 to 6.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of an ice-making housing 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 3 is a schematic view of the ice making housing 20 shown in fig. 2 in a state where the upper cover is opened; FIG. 4 is an enlarged view at A of FIG. 2; fig. 5 is an end angle view of the ice-making housing 20 of fig. 2 with the housing 100 and the

covers

210 and 220 hidden; fig. 6 is an exploded view of the structure shown in fig. 5.

As shown in fig. 2 to 6, the ice-making housing 20 of the embodiment of the present invention may generally include a housing 100, two

rollers

510, 520, and a flexible belt 400. The two

rollers

510, 520 are parallel to each other and extend horizontally, and are respectively rotatably mounted inside the box 100 around their axes. For example, two holes may be formed in the inner walls of both ends of the case 100 to be engaged with both ends of the

rollers

510 and 520, respectively. The flexible belt 400 is tensioned over two rollers 510, 520 (the cooperation of the flexible belt 400 with the two

rollers

510, 520 is similar to the cooperation of a drive belt and a pulley in a mechanical field belt drive). The flexible band 400 is made of a material having high flexibility so as to achieve twisting. For example, flexible band 400 may be made of silicone rubber, but may also be made of other softer plastics.

The flexible band 400 has an ice making section CD (refer to fig. 5) formed with a plurality of ice trays 410 opened toward the outside of the flexible band 400. The outer side of the flexible band 400 is the outer side of the oblong ring surrounded by the flexible band 400, and the inner side of the flexible band 400 is the inner side of the oblong ring. With the above-described structural design, the ice making section CD is operatively positioned between the two

rollers

510, 520 with the ice tray 410 open upward for making ice. And, the flexible belt 400 is moved by rotating the

rollers

510 and 520, so that the ice making section CD is wound around the

rollers

510 and 520, and the ice tray 410 is twisted to make the ice cubes therein fall off.

Specifically, in the state shown in fig. 5, the ice tray 410 is opened upward. The user can fill water into the ice-making machine, so that the water absorbs cold energy and freezes. When ice cubes are needed, the user may rotate the roller 520 clockwise. The ice making section, depicted in the direction of the drawing, will move to the right and then roll on the roller 520, twisting the ice grid 410. The distortion of the shape of the ice tray 410 causes the inner wall thereof to be separated from the ice cubes, so that the ice cubes are dropped from the ice tray 410 and dropped into the case 100. The user can take the ice cubes directly from the case 100.

In the process that the flexible belt 400 is wound on the

rollers

510 and 520, the deformation angle is large, ice blocks can fall off conveniently, the shape of the ice blocks is complete after the ice blocks fall off, and no ice blocks remain in the ice grids. In addition, the knob 700 having a larger outer diameter may be designed to rotate the

rollers

510 and 520, so as to fully utilize the principle of the wheel axle and accomplish the deicing process with a smaller force. In summary, the ice-making box 20 of the embodiment of the invention does not need to twist the ice tray 410 with great effort, and has better ice-removing effect, and the user experience of the whole process of ice making, ice removing and ice fetching is very good.

Also, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, under tension, even though the flexible band 400 is very soft, it will remain in a taut state sufficient to maintain its natural shape. Therefore, the flexible belt 400 with stronger flexibility can be selected, so that the flexible belt 400 is more beneficial to deformation during deicing, and the deicing effect is better.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, each

roller

510, 520 may be formed with a plurality of

gears

511, 521 spaced apart along an axial direction thereof, and the flexible band 400 may be fitted over the plurality of

gears

511, 521. By matching the

thin rollers

510, 520 with the

large gears

511, 521 and winding the flexible belt 400 around the

gears

511, 521, the length of the arc portion of the flexible belt 400 can be made longer, so that the

rollers

510, 520 can rotate by a smaller angle to complete the whole ice-shedding process. In addition, the teeth of

gears

511 and 521 can grip the inner surface of flexible band 400 better to increase friction and prevent slipping. The disadvantage that the

rollers

510, 520 idle while the flexible belt 400 is stationary is avoided.

In addition, the inner surface of the flexible band 400 may also be provided with ribs to cooperate with the teeth of the gear to further prevent slipping.

As shown in fig. 6, a plurality of ice trays 410 may be arranged in a plurality of rows (6 rows in fig. 6) along the axial direction of

rollers

510, 520, and each ice tray 410 protrudes toward the inside of flexible belt 400 compared to the remaining inner surface of flexible belt 400. Compared with the scheme of protruding the ice trays 410 toward the outside of the flexible belt 400, the present embodiment protrudes the ice trays 410 toward the inside of the flexible belt 400 compared with the remaining inner surface of the flexible belt 400, so that the ice trays 410 do not occupy additional space (the ice trays 410 occupy the space inside the flexible belt 400), and the overall structure of the ice-making housing 20 is more compact.

Moreover, each

gear

511 and 521 can be positioned between two adjacent rows of the ice trays 410 to avoid the ice trays 410, so that the

rollers

510 and 520 are prevented from rotating too hard due to the contact between the bottom walls of the ice trays 410 and the

gears

511 and 521. For example, as shown in fig. 6, the gears are in a region 460 of the flexible band 400.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2 to 6, the case 100 may be provided with a knob 700 vertically extending through a top wall thereof. The knob 700 is formed at the bottom thereof with a first bevel gear 710, and the first bevel gear 710 is engaged with a second bevel gear 523 provided at the end of one roller 520. In this way, the user can rotate the knob 700 on the top of the box 100 (the knob 700 rotates around the y-axis), and the roller 520 can be controlled to rotate, thereby completing the ice-shedding process.

Of course, it is also possible to have a roller extending directly from the end wall of the housing 100, to have a knob attached directly to the end of the roller, and to control the roller on the outside. The detailed structure is not described again.

As shown in fig. 4, a fan-ring stop 720, which is coaxial with the knob 700, may extend outward from the peripheral wall of the knob 700. The top wall of the box 100 is formed with a sector-ring-shaped spacing groove 120 coaxial with the sector-ring-shaped stopping portion 720 for accommodating the sector-ring-shaped stopping portion 720 and limiting the rotation angle range of the sector-ring-shaped stopping portion 720, and further limiting the rotation angle range of the

rollers

510 and 520. As shown in fig. 4, when in the ice making state, the fan-ring stopper 720 abuts against the first groove wall 121 of the fan-ring-shaped stopper groove 120. The knob 700 is rotated clockwise to drive the

rollers

510 and 520 to rotate until all the ice trays 410 are twisted, so that the fan-shaped stop portion 720 is just abutted against the second groove wall 122 of the fan-shaped limiting groove 120, and the knob 700 cannot rotate continuously, thereby reminding the user that the ice-shedding process is completed.

As shown in fig. 3, a partition plate 300 extending in the axial direction of the

rollers

510, 520 may be provided in the case 100. The partition plate 300 serves to partition the inner space of the case 100. The two

rollers

510, 520 and the flexible belt 400 are disposed at one side of the divider 300, and the other side of the divider 300 forms the ice storage space 105. And, at the time of ice shedding, the ice cubes are dropped on the other side of the partition 300, i.e., into the ice storage space 105 indicated in fig. 3. Therefore, the ice making and the ice storage of the box body are separated, and the falling ice blocks are prevented from falling between the flexible belt 400 and the bottom wall of the box body 100 and being difficult to take out, so that the falling ice blocks hinder the movement of the flexible belt 400 and even freeze the flexible belt 400 and the box body 100 together.

The top of the box 100 defines a top opening 101. The ice making housing 20 includes at least one upper cover for opening or closing the top opening 101.

The number of lids may be one such that they may flip, translate, or otherwise open the top opening 101. However, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, it is preferable that two

upper covers

210 and 220 are provided such that the two

upper covers

210 and 220 are independently mounted to the case body 100 to be respectively matched with the regions on both sides of the partition plate 300. Two

upper covers

210, 220 may be pivotally mounted to the case 100. Thus, when water is added to make ice, the upper cover 210 is opened to expose the ice tray 410. After the ice is removed, the upper cover 220 is opened.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the knob 700 may be mounted at the center of the top wall of the front of the case 100. When the two

upper covers

210 and 220 are in a closed state, the top wall of the front part of the box body 100 is sealed, and the joint of the two

upper covers

210 and 220 is spliced together to form an abdicating hole 202 so as to abdicate the knob 700.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. An ice-making housing for a refrigeration freezer comprising:

a box body;

a flexible belt stretched over the two rollers and having an ice making section formed with a plurality of ice cells opened to an outside of the flexible belt,

the roller is driven to move by rotating the roller, so that the ice making section is wound around the roller to twist the ice tray and make ice cubes in the ice making section fall off.

2. The ice-making housing according to claim 1, wherein

Each roller is provided with a plurality of gears which are arranged at intervals along the axial direction of the roller, and the flexible belts are sleeved on the gears.

3. The ice-making housing according to claim 2, wherein

The ice grids are arranged in a plurality of rows along the axial direction of the roller, and each ice grid is projected towards the inner side of the flexible belt compared with the inner surface of the rest part of the flexible belt; and is

Each gear is located between two adjacent rows of ice grids to avoid the ice grids.

4. The ice-making housing according to claim 1, wherein

The flexible band is made of silica gel.

5. The ice-making housing according to claim 1, wherein

The box body is provided with a knob which penetrates through the top wall of the box body and vertically extends, a first bevel gear is formed at the bottom of the knob and meshed with a second bevel gear at the end part of the roller, so that the knob is rotated outside the box body to rotate the roller.

6. The ice-making housing according to claim 5, wherein

The peripheral wall of the knob extends outwards to form a sector annular stopping portion coaxial with the knob, and a sector annular limiting groove coaxial with the sector annular stopping portion is formed in the top wall of the box body and used for accommodating the sector annular stopping portion and limiting the rotating angle range of the sector annular stopping portion, so that the rotating angle range of the rolling shaft is limited.

7. The ice-making housing according to claim 1, wherein

A partition plate extending along the axial direction of the rolling shaft is arranged in the box body to partition the inner space of the box body;

the two rollers and the flexible belt are arranged on one side of the partition plate, and ice blocks fall on the other side of the partition plate when ice is removed.

8. The ice-making housing according to claim 7, wherein

The top of the box body is provided with a top opening; and is

The ice-making housing further comprises at least one upper cover for opening or closing the top opening.

9. The ice-making housing according to claim 8, wherein

The number of the upper covers is two, and the two upper covers are independently arranged on the box body and are respectively matched with the two side areas of the partition plate.

10. A refrigeration chiller comprising:

a box body; and

an ice-making housing mounted within the cabinet for making ice, the ice-making housing being as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.