CN111829224A

CN111829224A - Ice making device, refrigerator and ice making method

Info

Publication number: CN111829224A
Application number: CN202010543202.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙明星; 邵阳; 司增强; 刘赞喜; 王金财; 陈兴; 刘寸宇
Original assignee: Hefei Hualing Co Ltd; Midea Group Co Ltd; Hefei Midea Refrigerator Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hefei Hualing Co Ltd; Midea Group Co Ltd; Hefei Midea Refrigerator Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-15
Filing date: 2020-06-15
Publication date: 2020-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-15
Also published as: CN111829224B

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration equipment, in particular to an ice making device, a refrigerator and an ice making method. The ice making device comprises an air duct assembly; the ice making assembly is internally provided with an ice making box; the air guide cover is internally provided with an air guide plate, one end of the air guide plate, facing the ice making box, is provided with an inclined section, and the inclined section extends towards the direction of the upper edge of one side, close to the air guide cover, of the ice making box; the air duct assembly is communicated with the ice making assembly through an air guide cover. According to the ice making assembly, the air deflector is arranged in the air deflector, the inclined section is arranged at one end of the air deflector, which faces the ice making box, and the inclined section is arranged in a manner of extending towards the direction of the upper edge of one side, which is close to the air deflector, of the ice making box, so that most of cold air in the air deflector is guided downwards by the air deflector and cannot directly blow the water surface in the ice making box, the problem of frost formation of the ice making box can be effectively prevented, and the ice making efficiency and the ice making uniformity are ensured.

Description

Ice making device, refrigerator and ice making method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration equipment, in particular to an ice making device, a refrigerator and an ice making method.

Background

In the prior art, an air guide duct of an ice making device is generally disposed above an ice making box, and cold air is distributed by the air guide duct and then directly blown to the ice making box. At the initial stage of ice making, because the water for making ice in the ice making box is still in a flowable state, cold air is directly blown to the surface of the water, and more water vapor can be taken away by the cold air passing through the water surface, so that a large amount of frost is generated in the ice making box, and the ice making efficiency and the ice making uniformity are poor.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art. Therefore, the invention provides an ice making device which can directionally blow air to an ice making box, prevent the ice making box from frosting and improve the efficiency and uniformity of ice making.

The invention further provides the refrigerator.

The invention also provides an ice making method.

An ice making apparatus according to an embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention includes an air duct assembly; the ice making assembly is internally provided with an ice making box; the ice-making box is provided with an air guide cover, an air deflector is arranged in the air guide cover, an inclined section is arranged at one end, facing the ice-making box, of the air deflector, and the inclined section extends towards the direction of the upper edge of one side, close to the air guide cover, of the ice-making box; the air duct assembly is communicated with the ice making assembly through the air guide cover.

According to the ice making device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the air deflector is arranged in the air deflector, the inclined section is arranged on the air deflector and faces one end of the ice making box, and the inclined section is arranged in a mode of extending towards the direction of the upper edge of one side, close to the air deflector, of the ice making box, so that most of cold air in the air deflector is guided downwards by the air deflector and cannot directly blow the water surface in the ice making box, the problem of frost formation of the ice making box can be effectively prevented, and the ice making efficiency of the ice making device is ensured. Meanwhile, due to the guiding effect of the air deflector on the cold air, the cold air in the air guide cover can be uniformly blown to the surface of the ice making box, and therefore the ice making uniformity of the ice making device is greatly improved.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the wind scooper comprises a top plate, a bottom plate and two side plates connecting the top plate and the bottom plate; the top plate and the bottom plate respectively extend towards the upper edge and the lower edge of one side of the ice making box far away from the air guide cover; the two side plates extend towards the edge of the end part of the ice making box close to one side of the air guide cover respectively.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the distance between the air deflector and the top plate in the height direction is one fourth to two fifths of the distance between the top plate and the bottom plate.

According to one embodiment of the invention, in the height direction, a partition plate extending from the air duct assembly to the ice making assembly is further arranged at the air inlet end of the air guide cover; the ice making box is provided with a plurality of ice grids along the length direction of the ice making box, and the partition plate divides the air path inside the air guide cover into air path branches corresponding to the ice grids.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the length of the partition plate is one sixth to one half of the length of the wind scooper.

According to one embodiment of the invention, one end of the air deflector, which faces the ice making assembly, is further provided with a straight section, and the straight section extends towards the side surface of the ice making box, which is close to the air deflector.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the ice-making assembly further comprises an ice-making bracket, a motor, and an ice bank; the ice making box can be rotatably inserted into the ice making bracket, the motor is detachably connected to the ice making bracket, and an output shaft of the motor is connected with the ice making box; the motor is also provided with a detection piece for detecting the number of ice cubes in the ice storage box; the ice storage box is arranged below the ice making box; the wind scooper is detachably connected to the ice making bracket through a mounting column.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the air duct assembly comprises an air duct formed by enclosing a cover plate, an air outlet is formed in the air duct, a fan is arranged on the air outlet, and a sealing ring is arranged between the air inlet end of the air guide cover and the air outlet and/or between the air guide cover and the ice making box.

The refrigerator according to the second aspect of the embodiment of the invention comprises a refrigerating compartment and further comprises the ice making device, wherein the ice making assembly is detachably arranged on the refrigerating compartment.

According to the refrigerator provided by the embodiment of the invention, the ice making efficiency and the ice making uniformity of the refrigerator can be improved by arranging the ice making device in the refrigerator. In addition, the ice making assembly can be detachably arranged on the refrigerating chamber, and the ice making assembly can be quickly assembled and disassembled.

According to one embodiment of the invention, an evaporator chamber is arranged in the refrigerator, the air channel assembly comprises an air channel formed by enclosing a cover plate, and the air channel is communicated with the evaporator chamber.

The ice making method according to the embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention is based on the ice making device as described above, and includes:

adjusting the ice making fan to a first rotating speed and operating for a first preset time;

adjusting the ice making fan to a second rotating speed and operating for a second preset time;

adjusting the ice making fan to a third rotating speed and operating for a third preset time;

wherein the first rotational speed is greater than the second rotational speed, which is greater than the third rotational speed.

According to the ice making method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the ice making fan is adjusted to operate at different first rotating speed, second rotating speed and third rotating speed for the first preset time, the second preset time and the third preset time respectively, namely, at the initial stage of ice making, the water in the ice making box is quickly cooled and frosted; in the middle stage of ice making, water in the ice making box is uniformly frozen; in the later stage of ice making, the water in the ice making box is completely frozen, so that the cracking of the surface of an ice block can be effectively prevented, and the ice making efficiency and the ice making uniformity are improved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, before the step of adjusting the ice making fan and operating the ice making fan at the first rotation speed for the first preset time period, the method further includes:

and acquiring the quantity of ice cubes in the ice storage box, determining that the quantity of the ice cubes is smaller than a threshold value, and controlling the ice making fan to be started.

and injecting water into the ice making box, and controlling the ice making fan to be started after the ice making fan is controlled to be closed for a fourth preset time.

One or more technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention have at least one of the following technical effects:

Further, according to the refrigerator of the embodiment of the invention, by arranging the ice making device in the refrigerator, the ice making efficiency and the ice making uniformity of the refrigerator can be improved. In addition, the ice making assembly is connected to the refrigerating chamber, so that the ice making assembly can be quickly assembled and disassembled.

In addition to the technical problems addressed by the present invention, the technical features of the constituent technical solutions, and the advantages brought by the technical features of the technical solutions described above, other technical features of the present invention and the advantages brought by the technical features of the present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ice making apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of an ice-making apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2 at A;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2 at B;

fig. 5 is a schematic top cross-sectional view of an ice making apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a wind scooper provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of an ice making method provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals:

100. an air duct assembly; 102. a wind scooper; 104. an ice making assembly; 106. an ice-making box; 108. a top plate; 110. a base plate; 112. a side plate; 114. an air deflector; 116. an inclined section; 118. a straight section; 120. a partition plate; 122. freezing grids; 124. an ice making bracket; 126. a motor; 128. a detection member; 130. mounting a column; 132. a front cover plate; 134. a rear cover plate; 136. a fan; 138. and (5) sealing rings.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings and examples. The following examples are intended to illustrate the invention but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience in describing the embodiments of the present invention and simplifying the description, but do not indicate or imply that the referred devices or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless explicitly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "connected" and "connected" are to be interpreted broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate. Specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present invention can be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

In embodiments of the invention, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the first feature "on" or "under" the second feature may be directly contacting the first and second features or indirectly contacting the first and second features through intervening media. Also, a first feature "on," "over," and "above" a second feature may be directly or diagonally above the second feature, or may simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher level than the second feature. A first feature being "under," "below," and "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the first feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of an embodiment of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction.

As shown in fig. 1 to 6, the ice making device according to the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention includes an air duct assembly 100, an air guiding cover 102, and an ice making assembly 104, wherein an ice making box 106 is disposed inside the ice making assembly 104; the air duct assembly 100 is connected with the ice making assembly 104 through an air guide cover 102; the air guide cover 102 is internally provided with an air guide plate 114, one end of the air guide plate 114 facing the ice making box 106 is provided with an inclined section 116, and the inclined section 116 extends towards the upper edge of one side of the ice making box 106 close to the air guide cover.

According to the ice making device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the air deflector 114 is arranged in the air guide cover 102, the inclined section 116 is arranged on the air deflector 114 and faces one end of the ice making box 106, and meanwhile, the inclined section 116 is arranged in a mode of extending towards the direction of the upper edge of one side, close to the air guide cover 102, of the ice making box 106, so that most of cold air in the air guide cover 102 is guided by the air deflector 114 and cannot directly blow the water surface in the ice making box 106, the problem of frost formation of the ice making box 106 can be effectively prevented, and the ice making efficiency of the ice making device is ensured. Meanwhile, due to the guiding effect of the air deflector 114 on the cold air, the cold air in the air guide cover 102 can be uniformly blown to the surface of the ice making box 106, and therefore, the ice making uniformity of the ice making device is greatly improved. Specifically, the ice making device provided by the embodiment of the invention is used for realizing the preparation of ice blocks. The ice making device mainly comprises three parts, namely an air duct assembly 100, an air guide cover 102 and an ice making assembly 104.

The air duct assembly 100 is configured to introduce cold air blown by an ice making fan (not shown in the figure) into an air guiding cover 102, the air guiding cover 102 is configured to connect the air duct assembly 100 and the ice making assembly 104 and guide the cold air in the air duct assembly 100 into the ice making assembly 104, the ice making assembly 104 is configured to implement preparation of ice cubes, in addition, an ice making box 106 is further disposed in the ice making assembly 104, and the ice making box 106 is configured to contain water and prepare ice cubes through cooling.

As shown in fig. 2 and 4, a wind deflector 114 is further disposed inside the wind scooper 102, and both left and right ends of the wind deflector 114 may be disposed flush with both left and right ends of the wind scooper 102. The air guide plate 114 is further provided with a straight section 118 and an inclined section 116 at an end facing the ice making housing 106.

The straight section 118 may be disposed along the extending direction of the body of the air guiding plate 114, and the straight section 118 extends toward the side surface of the ice making box 106 near the air guiding cover 102 on the side near the air guiding cover 102. The side surface of the air guiding cover 102 is specifically the leftmost side surface of the ice making housing 106 as shown in fig. 4.

The extending direction of the inclined section 116 is different from the extending direction of the straight section 118, and specifically, the inclined section 116 extends toward the upper edge of the ice making housing 106 on the side close to the wind scooper 102. The upper edge of the ice making housing 106 close to the air guiding cover 102 is specifically the leftmost upper edge of the ice making housing 106 as shown in fig. 4.

Thus, after the cold air is guided by the air guide plate 114, the cold air can be smoothly blown to the leftmost upper edge of the ice making box 106, so that the left edge of the ice making box 106 can be cooled comprehensively by the cold air, and when the cold air is blown out, the left side of the ice making box 106 can be cooled uniformly. More importantly, due to the guiding of the inclined section 116, a certain amount of cold air passes through the inclined section 116 and is directly blown to the leftmost upper edge of the ice making box 106, so that the certain amount of cold air is ensured not to directly blow to the water surface of the ice making box 106, the ice making box 106 can be prevented from frosting, and the ice making efficiency of the ice making device can be improved.

Further, in the height direction, the distance between the wind deflector 114 and the top plate 108 is one fourth to two fifths of the distance between the top plate 108 and the bottom plate 110.

In this way, when the cool air is blown into the air guide cover 102, the cool air is divided into two upper and lower air paths by the air guide plate 114, and the two upper and lower air paths blow toward the upper and lower portions of the ice making housing 106, respectively. For example, the distance between the air deflector 114 and the top plate 108 may be set to be one third of the distance between the top plate 108 and the bottom plate 110, so that the amount of cool air above the air deflector 114 is relatively small, accounting for one third of the total amount of air blown; the amount of cold air blown into the lower portion of the air guide plate 114 is relatively small, and accounts for two thirds of the total amount of blown air.

The reason why the amount of the cool air blown to the upper portion of the ice-making housing 106 is controlled is that much moisture is taken away when the cool air passes through the water surface, which causes a lot of frost on the ice-making housing 106. Therefore, by the arrangement mode, a large amount of cold air can be effectively prevented from blowing to the upper side of the ice making box 106, and further the cold air can be prevented from directly blowing to the water surface to cause frosting, so that the quality of ice making is ensured.

The wind scooper 102 in this embodiment includes a top plate 108, a bottom plate 110, and two side plates 112 for connecting the top plate 108 and the bottom plate 110.

The extending direction of the top plate 108 is a direction toward an upper edge of a side of the ice making housing 106 away from the air guiding cover 102. The upper edge of the ice making housing 106 on the side away from the air guiding cover 102 is specifically the rightmost upper edge of the ice making housing 106 as shown in fig. 4.

Thus, after the cold air is guided by the top plate 108, the cold air can be smoothly blown to the rightmost edge of the ice making box 106, so that the upper half part of the ice making box 106 can be completely covered by the cold air, and when the cold air is blown out, the upper half part of the ice making box 106 can be uniformly cooled, so that the formed ice blocks are uniformly frozen. More importantly, since the extending direction of the top plate 108 is towards the upper edge of the rightmost side of the ice making box 106, a large amount of cold air is not blown directly to the water surface in the ice making box 106, so that the frosting amount in the ice making process is greatly reduced.

In the case of the bottom plate 110, an extension line of the bottom plate 110 is directed toward a lower edge of a side of the ice making housing 106 away from the air guide cover 102. The lower edge of the ice making housing 106 on the side away from the air guiding cover 102 is specifically the rightmost lower edge of the ice making housing 106 as shown in fig. 4.

Thus, after the cold air is guided by the bottom plate 110, the cold air can be smoothly blown to the lower edge of the rightmost side of the ice making box 106, so that the lower half portion of the ice making box 106 can be completely covered by the cold air, and when the cold air is blown out, the lower half portion of the ice making box 106 can be uniformly cooled. Meanwhile, the top plate 108 can ensure that the upper half part of the ice making box 106 is uniformly cooled, so that the upper surface and the lower surface of the whole ice making box 106 can be uniformly cooled, and the freezing uniformity of ice blocks can be further improved.

Two side plates 112 are respectively connected to both sides of the top plate 108 and the bottom plate 110 to realize the connection of the top plate 108 and the bottom plate 110. In the present embodiment, the extending direction of the side plate 112 is toward the end edge of the ice making housing 106 on the side close to the wind scooper 102. The edge of the end of the ice making housing 106 close to the air guiding cover 102 is specifically the edge of the upper and lower ends of the left side of the ice making housing 106 as shown in fig. 5.

Thus, after the cold air is guided by the two side plates 112, the cold air can be smoothly blown to the upper and lower ends of the leftmost side of the ice making box 106, and thus the two ends of the ice making box 106 can be uniformly cooled by the cold air.

As shown in fig. 1, 2, and 5, the wind scooper 102 in the present embodiment is substantially cylindrical. Extending from the air duct assembly 100 toward the ice making assembly 104, the spacing between the two side plates 112 increases. That is, the ventilation cross-section inside the wind scooper 102 is gradually increased in a direction extending from the wind tunnel assembly 100 to the ice making assembly 104. Thus, when the cool air in the air duct assembly 100 is blown out, the air speed is not lost due to the obstruction of the side plate 112 by the guide of the air guide cover 102.

In summary, after the cold air is blown into the air guiding cover 102, the problem of frosting of the ice making box 106 can be solved through the guiding of the top plate 108, the bottom plate 110, the side plate 112 and the air guiding plate 114, and the cold air can also completely cover the ice making box 106, so that the freezing uniformity of ice blocks can be ensured, and the ice making efficiency and the ice making quality can be improved.

Further, as shown in fig. 2, 3, 5 and 6, a partition plate 120 extending from the air duct assembly 100 to the ice making assembly 104 is further provided at the air inlet end of the air guide cover 102, a plurality of ice trays 122 are provided along the length direction of the ice making housing 106, and the air duct of the air guide cover 102 is divided into air duct branches corresponding to the plurality of ice trays 122 by the partition plate 120. The length direction of the ice-making housing 106 may be the vertical direction of the ice-making housing 106 as shown in fig. 5.

The partition plate 120 can further divide the cooling air in the upper half and the cooling air in the lower half. For example, as shown in fig. 5, in the present embodiment, 6 ice trays 122 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the ice making housing 106, that is, the vertical direction of the ice making housing 106 shown in the figure, 5 partition plates 120 are provided at the air inlet end of the air guide cover 102, and the 5 partition plates 120 divide the inlet air path into 6 air path branches having similar ventilation amounts. Further, for example, if 8 ice trays 122 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the ice making housing 106, 7 partition plates 120 are provided at the air inlet end of the air guide cover 102, and the 7 partition plates 120 divide the inlet air path into 8 air path branches having similar ventilation amounts. That is, the number of the partition boards 120 is-1 to the number of the ice trays 122.

In addition, the partition 120 is disposed at the air inlet end of the wind scooper 102, because if the partition 120 is disposed at the air outlet end of the wind scooper 102, when the cold air blows, a turbulent flow is formed at a position close to the ice making box 106, which may affect the uniformity of ice making.

Moreover, the partitions 120 are disposed on both the upper and lower sides of the air guide plate 114, so that both the upper and lower sides of the ice making box 106 can be uniformly cooled by cold air, and the uniformity of ice making is further improved.

In addition, in order to reduce the influence of the partition 120 on the wind speed of the cool wind, in the present embodiment, the length of the partition 120 occupies one sixth to one half of the length of the wind scooper 102. As shown in fig. 3 and 5, the air passage can be divided more effectively by disposing a part of the partition 120 in the air duct assembly 100 and disposing a part of the partition 120 in the air guide cover 102.

As shown in fig. 1, 2 and 5, in the embodiment of the present invention, the ice making assembly 104 further includes an ice making bracket 124 and a motor 126, the ice making housing 106 is rotatably inserted into the ice making bracket 124, the motor 126 is detachably connected to the ice making bracket 124, and an output shaft of the motor 126 is connected to the ice making housing 106; an ice bank is further disposed on the ice making bracket 124, and the ice bank is disposed below the ice making housing 106.

The ice making bracket 124 can support the ice making box 106 and the motor 126, and the ice making bracket 124 is substantially a frame-like structural member and can be formed by injection molding.

A through hole for mounting the motor 126 and a support hole for supporting the ice making housing 106 are provided on the ice making bracket 124, respectively. When the motor 126 is to be installed, the output shaft of the motor 126 can be directly inserted into the through hole, and the motor 126 can be fastened to the ice making bracket 124 in a clamping manner. Of course, the motor 126 may be connected to the ice-making tray 124 by a connector such as a screw. When the ice making housing 106 needs to be installed, one end of the ice making housing 106 may be connected to an output shaft of the motor 126, and the other end of the ice making housing 106 may be inserted into the support hole. When the ice bank needs to be installed, the ice bank can be directly inserted into the ice-making support 124.

Therefore, the ice making box 106 can rotate around the axis of the support hole under the driving of the motor 126, when the ice in the ice making box 106 is prepared, the motor 126 can be turned on, the motor 126 drives the ice making box 106 to rotate around the axis of the support hole, and the prepared ice in the ice making box 106 falls into the ice storage box, so that the ice removing function is realized.

As shown in fig. 1 and 5, a detecting member 128 for detecting the amount of ice cubes inside the ice bank is further provided to the motor 126. For example, the detecting member 128 may be an ice-detecting rod, and the ice-detecting rod may be mounted on the motor 126 by a fastener such as a screw. By arranging the ice detecting rod on the motor 126, the state of the ice cubes in the ice storage box can be detected in real time, for example, the ice detecting rod can detect the number of the ice cubes, whether the ice cubes are completely frozen, and other parameters.

As shown in fig. 1, in order to facilitate the connection between the wind scooper 102 and the ice making bracket 124, an installation hole may be further disposed on the ice making bracket 124, an installation column 130 is disposed on the wind scooper 102, and the detachable connection between the wind scooper 102 and the ice making bracket 124 is realized by the cooperation between the installation column 130 and the installation hole. For example, the mounting holes may be screw holes provided on the ice making bracket 124, and the mounting posts 130 may be screws or the like provided on the wind scooper 102. When the wind scooper 102 needs to be connected with the ice making bracket 124, the screw may be placed at a position corresponding to the threaded hole on the ice making bracket 124, and then the wind scooper 102 may be fixed to the threaded hole by the screw.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the air duct assembly 100 includes an air duct enclosed by a cover plate, and a fan 136 is disposed in the air duct.

In the present embodiment, the cover plate includes a front cover plate 132 and a rear cover plate 134, and the front cover plate 132 and the rear cover plate 134 enclose to form an air duct. A fan 136 is also provided within the duct interior, and specifically between the front cover plate 132 and the rear cover plate 134, the fan 136 is provided. The fan 136 is arranged to increase the wind speed of the cold wind in the air duct assembly 100, so that the cold wind can be blown into the wind guide cover 102 quickly, the wind guide cover 102 guides the cold wind, and finally quick ice making is realized. The fan 136 may be a centrifugal fan 136, and the centrifugal fan 136 can accelerate the cold air entering from the axial direction thereof by using an impeller rotating at a high speed and throw the cold air out in the radial direction.

With continued reference to fig. 1 and 2, an air outlet is disposed on the cover plate, and an air inlet end of the air guiding cover 102 is connected to the air outlet. Therefore, the cold air accelerated by the centrifugal fan 136 can enter the air inlet end of the air guide cover 102 through the air outlet on the cover plate, and then flows to the ice making box 106 under the guidance of the top plate 108, the bottom plate 110, the side plate 112 and the air guide plate 114 inside the air guide cover 102. Wherein, the air outlet can be opened on the back cover plate 134.

Further, sealing rings 138 are disposed between the air inlet end and the air outlet of the air guiding cover 102, and between the air guiding cover 102 and the ice making box 106. By arranging the sealing rings 138 between the air inlet end and the air outlet of the air guide cover 102 and between the air guide cover 102 and the ice making box 106, cold air entering the air guide cover 102 from the air duct and cold air entering the ice making box 106 from the air guide cover 102 can be prevented from leaking, and the ice making efficiency is further ensured. Wherein, the sealing ring 138 can be made of sealing cotton. Of course, the sealing ring 138 may be separately disposed between the air inlet end and the air outlet of the air guiding cover 102, or between the air guiding cover 102 and the ice making box 106, which may be flexibly selected according to specific situations.

The refrigerator according to the second aspect embodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerating compartment, and further includes an ice making device as in the first aspect embodiment, and the ice making assembly is detachably mounted on the refrigerating compartment.

According to the refrigerator provided by the embodiment of the invention, the ice making efficiency and the ice making uniformity of the refrigerator can be improved by arranging the ice making device in the first aspect embodiment in the refrigerator.

For example, the refrigerating compartment may be a freezing compartment, and the ice-making assembly may be detachably mounted to a sidewall of the freezing compartment, thereby enabling quick assembly and disassembly of the ice-making assembly. For example, the ice-making assembly may be snapped onto the side walls of the freezer compartment by way of a snap fit. The air duct assembly, the air guide cover and other components in the ice making device can be arranged in the foaming layer.

Further, an evaporator chamber is provided in the refrigerator, and the air duct in the air duct assembly 100 communicates with the evaporator chamber. The evaporator is a component used for realizing refrigeration in the refrigerator, and after the air channel in the air channel assembly 100 is communicated with the accommodating evaporator chamber, cold air subjected to heat exchange of the evaporator can flow into the air channel of the ice making device through the air channel. By the arrangement mode, on one hand, refrigeration equipment for providing cold energy for the ice making device is not required to be additionally arranged, and the production and design cost is saved; on the other hand, the occupied space of the components inside the refrigerator is effectively saved.

In addition, the effect of the refrigeration device in the first aspect of the present invention is also provided in the refrigerator in the second aspect of the present invention, and details thereof are not repeated.

According to the ice making method of the embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention, the ice making method is based on the ice making device of the embodiment of the first aspect, and the ice making method includes:

s01, adjusting the ice making fan to a first rotating speed and operating for a first preset time;

s02, adjusting the ice making fan to a second rotating speed and operating for a second preset time;

s03, adjusting the ice making fan to a third rotating speed and operating for a third preset time;

the first rotating speed is greater than the second rotating speed, and the second rotating speed is greater than the third rotating speed.

As shown in fig. 7, when ice making is required, the ice making fan is turned on and operated at a first rotation speed of the ice making fan for a first preset time period. In this step, the ice making fan is adjusted to run at its maximum speed for ten minutes to ensure that the water on the surface of the ice box is completely frozen. At this time, the frozen ice on the surface of the ice box still contains much water, and if the air volume is still large, the whole ice is cracked.

At the moment, the rotating speed of the ice making fan is reduced to a second rotating speed and the ice making fan operates for a second preset time, namely the supply amount of cold air is reduced, so that the freezing speed of unfrozen water is reduced, and further, cracking in the freezing process can be avoided. In this step, the ice making fan was adjusted to run at its medium speed for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, the frozen ice cubes had little water, and if the current air volume was maintained, the outer surfaces of the frozen ice cubes could crack.

At the moment, the rotating speed of the ice making fan is reduced to the third rotating speed again and the ice making fan operates for the third preset time, namely the supply amount of cold air is reduced again, so that the surface of the frozen ice blocks is prevented from cracking due to the fact that a large amount of cold air is blown directly. In this step, the ice making fan is adjusted to operate at its lowest rotational speed until the ice shedding is completed, thereby ensuring that no cracks appear on the surface of the frozen ice pieces and inside the frozen ice pieces.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, before the step of adjusting the ice making fan and operating the ice making fan at the first rotation speed for the first preset time period, the method further comprises: the number of the ice cubes in the ice storage box is acquired through the detection piece 128, the number of the ice cubes is determined to be smaller than the threshold value, and the ice making fan is controlled to be started.

In this step, the ice making assembly first performs a reset procedure, and then detects the amount of ice cubes within the ice bank through the detection member 128 and compares the detected value with a threshold value, which may be, for example, 80% of the maximum storage amount of the ice bank. If the detection value is more than 80%, ice making is finished; if the detected value is less than 80%, the ice making stage is entered, i.e., the above-mentioned step S01 is performed.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, before the step of adjusting the ice making fan and operating the ice making fan at the first rotation speed for the first preset time period, the method further comprises:

In this step, a water supply valve of the ice making and making device is first opened, water is filled into the ice making box 106, and after the water filling is completed, the ice making fan is turned off for a fourth preset time period, for example, the ice making fan is turned off for ten minutes, so as to ensure that a thin layer of ice is formed on the surface of the water in the ice making box 106. In this case, step S01 is performed.

The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various combinations, modifications or equivalents may be made to the technical solution of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention, and the technical solution of the present invention is covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ice making apparatus, comprising:

an air duct assembly;

the ice making assembly is internally provided with an ice making box;

the ice-making box is provided with an air guide cover, an air deflector is arranged in the air guide cover, an inclined section is arranged at one end, facing the ice-making box, of the air deflector, and the inclined section extends towards the direction of the upper edge of one side, close to the air guide cover, of the ice-making box;

the air duct assembly is communicated with the ice making assembly through the air guide cover.

2. The ice making apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air scooper includes a top plate, a bottom plate, and two side plates connecting the top plate and the bottom plate;

the top plate and the bottom plate respectively extend towards the upper edge and the lower edge of one side of the ice making box far away from the air guide cover;

the two side plates extend towards the edge of the end part of the ice making box close to one side of the air guide cover respectively.

3. The ice making apparatus of claim 2, wherein a distance between the air guide plate and the top plate in a height direction is one-fourth to two-fifths of a distance between the top plate and the bottom plate.

4. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a partition plate extending from the air duct assembly to the ice making assembly is further provided at an air inlet end of the air scooper;

the ice making box is provided with a plurality of ice grids along the length direction of the ice making box, and the partition plate divides the air path inside the air guide cover into air path branches corresponding to the ice grids.

5. The ice making apparatus of claim 4, wherein the length of the partition plate is one sixth to one half of the length of the air scooper.

6. The ice making apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air deflector is further provided with a straight section at an end facing the ice making assembly, and the straight section extends to a side surface of the ice box on a side close to the air deflector.

7. An ice making apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said ice making assembly further comprises an ice making stand, a motor and an ice bank;

the ice making box can be rotatably inserted into the ice making bracket, the motor is detachably connected to the ice making bracket, and an output shaft of the motor is connected with the ice making box;

the motor is also provided with a detection piece for detecting the number of ice cubes in the ice storage box;

the ice storage box is arranged below the ice making box;

the wind scooper is detachably connected to the ice making bracket through a mounting column.

8. The ice making apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the air duct assembly includes an air duct surrounded by a cover plate, the air duct is provided with an air outlet, the air outlet is provided with a fan, and a sealing ring is disposed between the air inlet end of the air guiding cover and the air outlet, and/or between the air guiding cover and the ice making box.

9. A refrigerator comprising a refrigerating compartment, characterized by further comprising the ice making apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the ice making assembly is detachably mounted to the refrigerating compartment.

10. The refrigerator of claim 9 wherein an evaporator chamber is disposed within the refrigerator, the air duct assembly comprising an air duct enclosed by a cover plate, the air duct communicating with the evaporator chamber.

11. An ice making method based on the ice making device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the ice making method comprising:

12. The method of making ice according to claim 11, further comprising, prior to the step of adjusting the ice making fan and operating at the first rotational speed for a first preset time period:

13. The method of making ice according to claim 11, further comprising, prior to the step of adjusting the ice making fan and operating at the first rotational speed for a first preset time period: