CN111059812A - Ice making mechanism and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an ice making mechanism and a refrigerator, comprising: an ice carrying tray provided with a plurality of ice recesses for carrying ice making water, the ice recesses having openings; an envelope portion surrounding a surface of the ice-carrying tray facing away from the opening and forming an inlet cavity together with the surface of the ice-carrying tray facing away from the opening, the inlet cavity being in communication with the ice chute; and the water injection mechanism is communicated with the water inlet cavity and is used for injecting the ice making water into the water inlet cavity. Because the surface of the ice carrying tray, which is far away from the ice groove, is provided with the enveloping part, the enveloping part and the ice carrying tray are enclosed to form a water inlet cavity, and the water inlet cavity is communicated with the ice groove. When water is injected into the ice tank, water can be injected into the water inlet cavity, and ice making water flows to the ice tank through the water inlet cavity. The water injection process ensures that water injection in each ice groove is uniform, the water injection efficiency is high, and the phenomenon of ice making water leakage is not easy to occur.

Description

Ice making mechanism and refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to refrigeration equipment, in particular to an ice making mechanism and a refrigerator.

Background

The ice making mechanism is used for making ice blocks and generally comprises an ice carrying tray, wherein the ice carrying tray is provided with a plurality of ice grooves for loading ice making water, and after the ice making water is injected into each ice groove, the ice making water in each ice groove is cooled, so that the ice making water is condensed into ice blocks, and then the ice blocks can be taken out for use.

In the prior art, when ice making water is poured into the ice grooves, the water inlet pipeline is commonly used for directly pouring the ice making water into the ice grooves from the opening of the ice grooves, the water injection mode makes the weight of the ice making water in each ice groove difficult to be uniform, and the ice making water in some ice grooves is possibly too little, so that the size of the prepared ice blocks does not meet the use requirement.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide an ice making mechanism convenient for water inflow and a refrigerator.

In particular, the present invention provides an ice making mechanism comprising:

an ice carrying tray provided with a plurality of ice recesses for carrying ice making water, the ice recesses having openings;

an envelope portion surrounding a surface of the ice-carrying tray facing away from the opening and forming an inlet cavity together with the surface of the ice-carrying tray facing away from the opening, the inlet cavity being in communication with the ice chute;

and the water injection mechanism is communicated with the water inlet cavity and is used for injecting the ice making water into the water inlet cavity.

Further, the opening of the ice groove is flush with the surface of the ice carrying tray facing away from the water inlet cavity.

Further, the ice-carrying tray extends in an arc shape around a central axis, the opening faces the central axis, and the ice-making mechanism further comprises a driving device for driving the ice-carrying tray to rotate around the central axis, wherein the driving device is configured to drive the ice-carrying tray to rotate so that the ice-making water in each ice groove does not leave the ice groove under the centrifugal action.

Further, the ice chute has a bottom wall opposite the opening, and the inlet chamber is in communication with the bottom wall.

Further, the ice-carrying tray defines a cylindrical chamber.

Further, the ice carrying tray defines a cylindrical chamber, and an ice outlet is formed in the circumferential side surface of the ice carrying tray and used for guiding out ice blocks condensed in the ice groove.

Furthermore, along the extending direction of the central axis, a first cover plate and a second cover plate which cover two ends of the chamber are arranged at two ends of the ice carrying tray in a one-to-one correspondence manner, and the first cover plate is connected with the driving device.

Furthermore, along the extending direction of the central axis, a first cover plate and a second cover plate which are used for sealing two ends of the cavity are arranged at two ends of the ice carrying tray in a one-to-one correspondence mode, the enveloping part surrounds the surface walls of the first cover plate and the second cover plate, which are deviated from the cavity, and the enveloping part and the surface walls of the first cover plate and the second cover plate, which are deviated from the cavity, jointly enclose and form a water injection cavity, and the water injection cavity is communicated with the water inlet cavity.

Further, the envelope part comprises a first envelope wall perpendicular to the central axis, the first envelope wall is arranged at a distance from the first cover plate, and the driving device is connected with the first envelope wall; and/or

The enveloping part comprises a second enveloping wall perpendicular to the central axis, the second enveloping wall and the second cover plate are arranged at intervals, a water injection hole is formed at the intersection of the second enveloping wall and the central axis, and the water injection mechanism is communicated with the water injection hole.

The second aspect of the present invention also provides a refrigerator,

the ice making mechanism comprises any one of the ice making mechanisms.

According to the ice making mechanism, the surface of the ice carrying tray, which is far away from the ice groove, is provided with the enveloping part, the enveloping part and the ice carrying tray are enclosed to form the water inlet cavity, and the water inlet cavity is communicated with the ice groove. When water is injected into the ice tank, water can be injected into the water inlet cavity, and ice making water flows to the ice tank through the water inlet cavity. The water injection process ensures that water injection in each ice groove is uniform, the water injection efficiency is high, and the phenomenon of ice making water leakage is not easy to occur.

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, full section view of an ice-making mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the water injection mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the ice chute of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic partially cut-away side view of the stent section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a first schematic cross-sectional view of a rotating portion according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a second cross-sectional schematic view of a rotating portion according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a perspective view of a rotating portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

Fig. 1 to 7 show a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The ice making mechanism in the present embodiment includes an ice tray 100, an envelope portion 200, and a water injection mechanism 500. One surface of the ice tray 100 is provided with a plurality of ice grooves 110 for receiving ice making water, and the ice grooves 110 have openings 111. In one embodiment, in order to load the ice making water into the ice chute 110, the opening 111 of the ice chute 110 may be arranged vertically upward in the working state. The envelope 200 surrounds a surface of the ice-bearing tray 100 facing away from the opening 111, and forms an inlet chamber 310 together with the surface of the ice-bearing tray 100 facing away from the opening 111. That is, when the opening 111 of the ice bank 110 is located at the first side of the ice tray 100, the envelope 200 surrounds the second side of the ice tray 100, and the first side and the second side are opposite surfaces of the ice tray 100. The water injection mechanism 500 is communicated with the water inlet chamber 310 and is used for injecting ice making water into the water inlet chamber 310, and the water inlet chamber 310 is communicated with the ice tank 110, so that the ice making water flowing into the water injection chamber 320 flows to the ice tank 110.

When water needs to be filled into the ice tray 110, water may be filled into the water inlet chamber 310, and the ice-making water flows toward the ice tray 110 through the water inlet chamber 310. The water injection process enables water to be injected into each ice groove 110 evenly, the water injection efficiency is high, and the phenomenon of ice making water leakage is not easy to occur.

In one embodiment, each ice tray 110 may be connected to a water inlet pipe, so that the ice-making water flows directly from the water inlet pipe to the ice tray 110 without passing through the water inlet chamber 310, and the water may be supplied from a single water inlet pipe.

It should be noted that the ice tray 110 may be a separate cavity positioned on the ice tray 100, or may be integrally formed with the ice tray 100. The ice chute 110 and the ice tray 100 may be formed by integrally press-molding separate plates or may be formed by integrally injection-molding. The ice groove 110 only needs to have the opening 111 located at one side of the ice-bearing tray 100, that is, the groove body of the ice groove 110 can pass through the ice-bearing tray 100, so that the opening 111 of the ice groove 110 is located at one side of the ice-bearing tray 100, and the groove bottom is located at the other side of the ice-bearing tray 100, and when the above structure is adopted, a part of the side wall 113 of the ice groove 110 extends into the water inlet cavity 310.

In one embodiment, in order to make the ice making water flow back to the ice making grooves 110 by adjusting the water inflow when the ice making water in each ice groove 110 flows out, the opening 111 of the ice groove 110 may be flush with the surface of the ice carrying tray 100 away from the water inlet chamber 310, so that the ice making water in the ice groove 110 may be carried by the ice carrying tray 100 after flowing out of the ice groove 110, and the ice making water on the ice carrying tray 100 may return to the ice groove 110 by controlling the water injection mechanism 500, so that the waste of the ice making water may be reduced, and the ice making water may be prevented from being condensed at other parts of the ice carrying tray 100 to block or make the ice carrying tray 100 be stuck.

The ice tray 100 may have a flat plate shape, and the flat plate shape of the ice tray 100 is convenient for processing and manufacturing. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 5 to 6, the ice tray 100 may also be an arc-shaped plate, that is, the ice tray 100 extends in an arc shape around a central axis, and the opening 111 of the ice slot 110 on the ice tray 100 faces the central axis. The ice making mechanism further includes a driving device 400 for driving the ice carrying tray 100 to rotate around the central axis, and the driving device 400 is configured to drive the ice carrying tray 100 to rotate so that the ice making water in each ice chute 110 does not separate from the ice chute 110 under centrifugal action. That is, the driving device 400 can drive the ice tray 100 to rotate around the central axis, and the linear velocity of the ice tray 100 when rotating around the central axis is large enough to make the centrifugal action of the ice making water in the ice tray 110 larger than the gravity action thereof, so that the ice making water in the ice tray 110 does not flow out of the ice tray 110 even if the opening 111 of the ice tray 110 faces downward during the rotation with the ice tray 100. The arc-shaped extension of the ice-bearing tray 100 may reduce the occupied space thereof, and the surface area of the ice-bearing tray 100 may not be changed, so that the number of the ice grooves 110 disposed thereon may not be changed, and the ice-making amount thereof may not be changed, thereby increasing the space utilization rate of the ice-bearing tray 100 and reducing the occupied space of the entire ice-making mechanism.

The inlet chamber 310 may be in communication with any portion of the ice bank 110 so that ice-making water can flow into the ice bank 110. In order to prevent the ice-making water in the ice-making tank 110 from being blocked by the condensation of the ice-making water at the communication port between the water inlet chamber 310 and the ice tank 110, in one embodiment, the ice tank 110 has a bottom wall 112 opposite to the opening 111, and the water inlet chamber 310 is communicated with the bottom wall 112. Since the ice making water at the opening 111 of the ice bank 110 is condensed first and the communication port between the water inlet chamber 310 and the ice bank 110 is condensed last, it is possible to prevent the communication port between the water inlet chamber 310 and the ice bank 110 from being blocked by controlling the condensation time.

In one embodiment, the ice-bearing tray 100 defines a cylindrical chamber, i.e., the ice-bearing tray 100 extends around the central axis 360o, such that the space utilization of the ice-bearing tray 100 is maximized. Specifically, the cylindrical chamber defined by the ice-carrying tray 100 may be a cylindrical chamber, and may also be a cylindrical chamber whose cross section perpendicular to the central axis is rectangular or elliptical. Both ends of the columnar chamber of the ice tray 100 along the central axis may be closed or not closed, and when both ends are closed, the ice tray 100 may be provided with an ice outlet 140, and the ice outlet 140 is used for discharging ice cubes condensed in the ice chute 110. When the two ends of the ice cube are not closed, the ice cube can be led out from the two ends of the columnar chamber.

In order to prevent the ice making water in the ice recess 110 from splashing due to the change of the rotation speed of the ice carrying tray 100, in one embodiment, the first cover plate 130 and the second cover plate 120 for covering both ends of the chamber are disposed in one-to-one correspondence to both ends of the ice carrying tray 100 along the extending direction of the central axis. The first cover 130 and the second cover 120 close both ends of the cylindrical chamber, and ice cubes in the cylindrical chamber are discharged through the ice outlet 140. The cylindrical chamber is relatively closed, so that ice making water in the cylindrical chamber can not splash around due to special conditions. When the first cover 130 and the second cover 120 are disposed, the first cover 130 may be connected to the driving device 400, and particularly, a portion of the first cover 130 coinciding with the central axis may be connected to the rotation shaft of the driving device 400, so that the rotation process of the ice tray 100 may be more stable. In other embodiments, the driving device 400 may also rotate the ice carrying tray 100 by driving the envelope 200.

When the first cover plate 130 and the second cover plate 120 are disposed at two ends of the cylindrical chamber, in one embodiment, as shown in fig. 5 to 7, the enveloping part 200 surrounds the surface walls of the first cover plate 130 and the second cover plate 120 that are away from the cylindrical chamber, and encloses the water injection cavity 320 with the surface walls of the first cover plate 130 and the second cover plate 120 that are away from the cylindrical chamber (i.e., the space between the enveloping part 200 and the first cover plate 130 and the space between the enveloping part 200 and the second cover plate 120 become the water injection cavity 320), and the water injection cavity 320 is communicated with the water inlet cavity 310. Both the water injection chamber 320 and the water inlet chamber 310 may be completely communicated with the structure shown in fig. 1 or 5, or may be communicated with each other by using a pipe. When the envelope 200 has the above structure, the envelope 200, the first cover 130, the second cover 120, the ice trays 100, and the ice recesses 110 are combined together to form a rotating part as shown in fig. 7. The inlet chamber 310 and the injection chamber 320 are combined together to form a sealed chamber.

As shown in fig. 1 or 5, the envelope portion 200 includes a first envelope wall 220 perpendicular to the central axis, the first envelope wall 220 is spaced apart from the first cover 130, the driving device 400 is connected to the first envelope wall 220, and a portion of the first cover 130 coinciding with the central axis may be connected to a rotating shaft of the driving device 400, so that the rotation process of the ice-bearing tray 100 may be more smooth. Further, the envelope part 200 further includes a second envelope wall 210 perpendicular to the central axis, the second envelope wall 210 is spaced apart from the second cover plate 120, a circular water injection hole is formed at an intersection of the second envelope wall 210 and the central axis, and the water injection mechanism 500 is communicated with the water injection hole, since the water injection hole rotates around the center thereof when the second envelope wall 210 rotates, the water injection mechanism 500 injects ice water into the water injection hole so that the water injection mechanism 500 does not rotate with the second envelope wall 210, so that the water injection mechanism 500 can be more easily positioned.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, an extension pipe 211 is connected outside the water injection hole, and the length direction of the extension pipe 211 is parallel to the central axis. The water injection mechanism 500 includes a connection pipe 510, the connection pipe 510 passing through the extension pipe 211, and having one end passing through the water injection hole and extending into the water injection chamber 320 and the other end communicating with an external water inlet pipe. When the second enveloping wall 210 rotates, the extension pipe 211 rotates together with it, and at this time, the extension pipe 211 rotates relative to the connection pipe 510, and the ice making water in the water filling chamber 320 can be effectively prevented from leaking out of the water filling hole by adapting the pipe diameters of the connection pipe 510 and the extension pipe 211. Further, an edge of the connection tube 510, which extends into one end of the sealed chamber, is formed with a first sealing flange 511 extending outward, the first sealing flange 511 abutting against an inner wall surface of the first envelope wall 220 facing the sealed chamber. The first sealing flange 511 may effectively prevent the ice-making water in the water filling chamber 320 from overflowing into a gap between the extension pipe 211 and the connection pipe 510.

A second sealing flange 212 is formed at one end of the extension pipe 211 far away from the water injection hole, an annular first abutting ring 512 is arranged on the outer wall surface of the connection pipe 510, and the first abutting ring 512 abuts against the surface of the second sealing flange 212 far away from the water injection hole. The abutment of the first abutment ring 512 and the second sealing flange 212 may make it difficult for ice-making water leaked between the extension pipe 211 and the connection pipe 510 to continue to leak.

In one embodiment, to further enhance the sealing between the water injection mechanism 500 and the rotating part, the outer diameter of the first abutting ring 512 is greater than or equal to the outer diameter of the second sealing flange 212, the outer edge of the first abutting ring 512 is connected to the second abutting ring 513, the second abutting ring 513 extends inwards from the outer edge of the first abutting ring 512 around the outer edge of the second sealing flange 212, and the second abutting ring 513 abuts against the surface of the second sealing flange 212 facing the water injection hole. Such that when the rotary part rotates, the second sealing flange 212 rotates in the gap between the first and second abutment rings 512, 513. Further, in order to increase the length of the leakage path of the leaked ice making water, the surface of the second sealing flange 212 facing away from the water injection hole is provided with an annular protrusion 213 extending around the central axis, the first abutment ring 512 is formed with an annular hole to be fitted with the annular protrusion 213, the surface of the second sealing flange 212 facing the water injection hole is provided with an annular protrusion 213 extending around the central axis, and the second abutment ring 513 is formed with an annular hole to be fitted with the annular protrusion 213. The annular projection 213 is fitted in the annular hole, and when the rotary part rotates, the annular projection 213 rotates relative to the annular hole.

When the extension pipe 211 rotates relative to the connection pipe 510, a slight sliding friction is generated between the connection pipe 510 and the extension pipe 211, so that the connection pipe 510 receives a torque generated by a friction force, and in order to prevent the connection pipe 510 from rotating due to the torque, in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, the connection pipe 510 includes a positioning portion 514, and the positioning portion 514 is a rectangular pipe (i.e., the connection pipe 510 has at least one section of pipe with a rectangular shape, the connection pipe 510 may also have a rectangular shape as a whole, and an internal channel of the positioning portion 514 for guiding the ice making water may have a rectangular shape or a circular shape). The ice making mechanism further includes a bracket 520 for positioning the water filling mechanism 500, the bracket 520 is formed with a rectangular hole 521 for positioning the positioning part 514, the positioning part 514 cannot rotate in the rectangular hole 521 when the positioning part 514 is positioned in the rectangular hole 521, and the bracket 520 is positioned on a relatively fixed platform (if the ice making mechanism is disposed in a refrigerator, the bracket 520 may be positioned on a housing of the refrigerator), so that the bracket 520 may effectively prevent the connecting pipe 510 from rotating.

Since the connection tube 510 has a special structure, in order to facilitate the assembly with the extension tube 211, in one embodiment, the connection tube 510 is made of a flexible material such as rubber, which can be removed by force, for example, the connection tube 510 may be made of TPE. The outer water tube connected to the connection tube 510 may be made of LDPE or LLDPE, and the annular protrusion 213 on the second annular flange may be made of a material capable of reducing sliding friction, such as PA or POM.

In one embodiment, a filter part 114 for filtering ice making water flowing into the ice tank 110 is disposed at a communication position of the water inlet chamber 310 and the ice tank 110, and the filter part 114 is used for filtering small particles or foreign substances capable of generating odor in the ice making water flowing into the ice tank 110. When the inlet chamber 310 communicates with the bottom wall 112 of the ice bank 110, the filter part 114 is disposed at the bottom wall 112 of the ice bank 110, and particularly, the filter part 114 may be an activated carbon layer. The filter unit 114 is disposed in the ice making mechanism to save an external filter, for example, when the ice making mechanism is disposed in a refrigerator, the refrigerator does not need to separately add a filter, so that a space occupied by the filter can be saved.

A second aspect of the present invention also provides a refrigerator including the ice making mechanism in any one of the above embodiments.

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 (10)

1. An ice making mechanism, comprising:

an ice carrying tray provided with a plurality of ice recesses for carrying ice making water, the ice recesses having openings;

an envelope portion surrounding a surface of the ice-carrying tray facing away from the opening and forming an inlet cavity together with the surface of the ice-carrying tray facing away from the opening, the inlet cavity being in communication with the ice chute;

and the water injection mechanism is communicated with the water inlet cavity and is used for injecting the ice making water into the water inlet cavity.

2. An ice making mechanism as recited in claim 1,

the opening of the ice groove is flush with the surface of the ice carrying tray, which faces away from the water inlet cavity.

3. An ice making mechanism as recited in claim 2,

the ice-making mechanism further comprises a driving device for driving the ice-carrying tray to rotate around the central axis, and the driving device is configured to drive the ice-carrying tray to rotate so that the ice-making water in each ice groove does not leave the ice groove under the centrifugal action.

4. An ice making mechanism according to claim 3,

the ice groove is provided with a bottom wall opposite to the opening, and the water inlet cavity is communicated with the bottom wall.

5. An ice making mechanism according to claim 3,

the ice-carrying tray defines a cylindrical chamber.

6. An ice making mechanism according to claim 3,

the ice carrying tray defines a cylindrical chamber, and an ice outlet is formed in the circumferential side surface of the ice carrying tray and used for guiding out ice blocks condensed in the ice groove.

7. An ice making mechanism according to claim 6,

along the extending direction of the central axis, a first cover plate and a second cover plate which cover two ends of the chamber are arranged at two ends of the ice carrying tray in a one-to-one correspondence mode, and the first cover plate is connected with the driving device.

8. An ice making mechanism according to claim 6,

along the extending direction of the central axis, two ends of the ice carrying tray are provided with a first cover plate and a second cover plate which cover two ends of the cavity in a one-to-one correspondence mode, the enveloping portion surrounds the surface walls of the first cover plate and the second cover plate, which deviate from the cavity, and the surface walls of the first cover plate and the second cover plate, which deviate from the cavity, jointly enclose a water injection cavity, and the water injection cavity is communicated with the water inlet cavity.

9. An ice making mechanism according to claim 8,

the envelope part comprises a first envelope wall perpendicular to the central axis, the first envelope wall and the first cover plate are arranged at intervals, and the driving device is connected with the first envelope wall; and/or

The enveloping part comprises a second enveloping wall perpendicular to the central axis, the second enveloping wall and the second cover plate are arranged at intervals, a water injection hole is formed at the intersection of the second enveloping wall and the central axis, and the water injection mechanism is communicated with the water injection hole.

10. A refrigerator is characterized in that a refrigerator body is provided with a refrigerator door,

comprising the ice making mechanism of any of claims 1-9.

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