CN112444024A

CN112444024A - Control method of ice maker, and computer-readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN112444024A
Application number: CN201910829888.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙静怡; 蔡健; 刘云波; 程志明
Original assignee: Midea Group Co Ltd; Foshan Shunde Midea Water Dispenser Manufacturing Co Ltd
Current assignee: Midea Group Co Ltd; Foshan Shunde Midea Water Dispenser Manufacturing Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-30
Filing date: 2019-08-30
Publication date: 2021-03-05

Abstract

The invention discloses a control method of an ice maker, an ice maker and a computer readable storage medium, wherein the ice maker comprises: the ice receiving box is arranged in the ice receiving box or on the ice receiving box, and the water receiving box rotates relative to the ice receiving box so as to have an ice pouring position with an opening facing downwards and an ice making position with the opening facing upwards; the position detection device is used for detecting the position of the water receiving box, and the motor is connected with the water receiving box; the control method of the ice maker includes the steps of: controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards towards the ice making position; and determining the ice making position of the water receiving box, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate reversely to the ice falling position by a preset angle and then rotate forwards to the ice making position. The technical scheme of the invention can detect the full ice state in time and solve the ice blocking phenomenon.

Description

Control method of ice maker, and computer-readable storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of ice making technologies, and in particular, to a control method for an ice maker, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background

The ice maker can be used to make ice cubes for a user, and due to the limitation of the ice storage space, when the ice maker makes more ice cubes, i.e., in a full ice state, the ice maker needs to stop making ice. This requires the amount or volume of ice to be detected to avoid the continued ice production in a full ice condition.

After the evaporator is used for making ice blocks and the ice blocks are intensively accumulated in the ice storage chamber, the ice blocks are often irregularly accumulated due to the shape of the ice blocks, so that the detection piece for detecting the full ice state does not effectively detect the height of the ice blocks or detects the ice blocks too early, and the detection result is inaccurate. For example, when the detection piece can't in time detect the full ice state, ice making system can continue to make ice once more, and the ice-cube continues to pile up for it is indoor that the ice-cube shovel can't dial ice to store ice, and the ice-cube stays on the ice-cube shovel, links together when making ice with next board ice, forms the bold ice, influences the user and uses and lead to the fact out the phenomenon of ice card ice.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a control method of an ice maker, aiming at detecting a full ice state in time and solving the ice blocking phenomenon.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for controlling an ice maker, wherein the ice maker comprises: the ice receiving box is arranged in the ice receiving box or on the ice receiving box, and the water receiving box rotates relative to the ice receiving box so as to have an ice pouring position with an opening facing downwards and an ice making position with the opening facing upwards; the position detection device is used for detecting the position of the water receiving box, and the motor is connected with the water receiving box;

the control method of the ice maker includes the steps of:

controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards towards the ice making position;

and determining the ice making position of the water receiving box, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate reversely to the ice falling position by a preset angle and then rotate forwards to the ice making position.

Optionally, after controlling the water receiving box to rotate reversely by a preset angle towards the ice-pouring position, the step of rotating positively towards the ice-making position comprises:

controlling the water receiving box to rotate reversely by a preset angle towards the ice pouring position;

then, the ice making position is positively rotated;

and determining that the water receiving box is not positioned at the ice making position, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards and backwards until the water receiving box is positioned at the ice making position.

Optionally, the step of determining that the water receiving box is not located at the ice making position, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards and backwards until the water receiving box is located at the ice making position includes:

determining that the water receiving box is not positioned at the ice making position;

acquiring the rotation times of forward rotation and reverse rotation of the water receiving box;

and determining that the rotation times are greater than or equal to the preset times, and stopping the motor and the compressor from working.

Optionally, the step of determining that the number of rotations is greater than or equal to a preset number, and stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor further includes:

obtaining the stop time for stopping the motor and the compressor;

determining that the shutdown time is longer than or equal to a first preset time, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate;

and determining that the water receiving box returns to the ice making position, and starting the compressor to make ice.

Optionally, it is determined that the shutdown duration is greater than or equal to a first preset duration, and the step of controlling the rotation of the water receiving box further includes:

and determining that the water receiving box is not positioned at the ice making position, and continuing to stop the motor and the compressor.

Optionally, the ice maker further comprises an ice-removing shovel, the ice-removing shovel is mounted on the water receiving box and can remove ice blocks in the ice receiving box when the water receiving box rotates from the ice-pouring position to the ice-making position;

the step of determining that the number of rotation times is greater than or equal to the preset number of times and stopping the motor and the compressor further comprises the following steps:

water is sprayed to the ice-stirring shovel to melt ice blocks.

Optionally, the ice maker further comprises an ice-stirring shovel and an ice storage bucket, the ice storage bucket is located below the ice receiving box, and the ice-stirring shovel is mounted on the water receiving box and can stir out ice cubes in the ice receiving box to the ice storage bucket when the water receiving box rotates from the ice-pouring position to the ice-making position;

the control method of the ice maker further includes the steps of:

and determining that the ice storage barrel is full of ice, and stopping the motor and the compressor.

Optionally, the step of determining that the ice storage bin is full of ice and stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor includes:

acquiring real-time temperature detected by an ice-full sensor;

and determining that the duration of the real-time temperature less than the first preset temperature is greater than or equal to a second preset duration, and stopping the motor and the compressor.

Optionally, the determining that the duration of the real-time temperature being less than the first preset temperature is greater than or equal to a second preset duration further includes, after the step of stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor:

acquiring real-time temperature detected by an ice-full sensor;

and determining that the duration of the real-time temperature greater than the second preset temperature is greater than or equal to a third preset duration, and starting the compressor to make ice.

The present invention also proposes an ice maker comprising:

an ice receiving box;

the water receiving box is arranged in the ice receiving box or on the ice receiving box, and can rotate relative to the ice receiving box so as to be provided with an ice pouring position with an opening facing downwards and an ice making position with the opening facing upwards;

the position detection device is used for detecting the position of the water receiving box;

the motor is connected with the water receiving box; and the number of the first and second groups,

the controller is respectively electrically connected with the position detection device and the motor, and is configured to control the water receiving box to rotate forwards towards the ice making position, and control the water receiving box to rotate backwards towards the ice pouring position by a preset angle and then rotate forwards towards the ice making position according to the condition that the water receiving box is not at the ice making position.

Optionally, the position detecting device is a microswitch, and when the water receiving box is in the ice making position, the water receiving box is abutted to the microswitch.

The present invention also proposes a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon an ice maker processing program, which when executed by a controller implements the steps of the control method of an ice maker as described above.

In the invention, if the ice cubes are irregularly stacked and part of the space in the ice receiving box or the ice storage barrel is not filled with the ice cubes, the water receiving box touches the ice cubes when the water receiving box rotates forwards again, and the ice cubes can be pushed to fill the originally vacant space in the ice receiving box or the ice storage barrel after being stressed, so that the blocking of the ice cubes to the water receiving box is removed, and the free rotation of the water receiving box is realized. If the ice blocks are regularly stacked, the ice maker is full of ice, and at the moment, the water receiving box cannot return to the ice making position after being controlled to reversely rotate and then rotate forwards, so that the ice maker is determined to be full of ice, and the false full ice state caused by irregular stacking of the ice blocks is eliminated. And, when taking place slight card ice phenomenon, through control water receiving box back and forth rotation, can strike the ice-cube, solve card ice. By adopting the method, the full ice state can be timely and accurately detected, the occurrence of misjudgment is prevented, and the ice blockage phenomenon can be solved.

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 structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for controlling an ice making machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed flowchart of step S20 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of step S23 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is another schematic flow chart diagram of a method of controlling the ice-making machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method of controlling the ice-making machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of the ice-making machine of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an internal schematic view of an ice making module of the ice-making machine of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cut-away schematic view of the ice-making module of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a partial schematic view of the ice-making module of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a side view of an embodiment of an ice-making module of the ice-making machine of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a top view of an embodiment of an ice making module of the ice maker of the present invention.

The reference numbers illustrate:

the implementation, functional features and advantages of the objects of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that, if directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, and back … …) are involved in the embodiment of the present invention, the directional indications are only used to explain the relative positional relationship between the components, the movement situation, and the like in a specific posture (as shown in the drawing), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indications are changed accordingly.

In addition, if there is a description of "first", "second", etc. in an embodiment of the present invention, the description of "first", "second", etc. is for descriptive purposes only and is not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the meaning of "and/or" appearing throughout is to include three juxtapositions, exemplified by "A and/or B," including either the A or B arrangement, or both A and B satisfied arrangement. In addition, technical solutions between various embodiments may be combined with each other, but must be realized by a person skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, such a combination should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.

The invention provides a control method of an ice maker.

In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the control method of the ice maker includes the steps of:

and step 10, controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards towards the ice making position.

Referring to the configurations shown in fig. 6 to 11, in step S10, when the motor 80 rotates forward, the water receiving box 30 is driven to rotate forward toward the ice making position, and in general, the theoretical angle of forward rotation of the water receiving box 30 refers to an angle of movement from the ice pouring position to the ice making position, for example, the angle is 180 °, 135 °, 90 °, or the like. However, when the ice maker is full, the water receiving box 30 is caught by the ice cubes, and the actual angle of the forward rotation thereof is smaller than the theoretical angle, so that the motor 80 stops operating when the ice making position is not reached.

And step S20, determining that the water receiving box is not at the ice making position, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate reversely to the ice pouring position by a preset angle and then rotate forwards to the ice making position.

When the ice maker is full of ice, there are two situations, for example, in one situation, the ice storage barrel 52 is not arranged, and when there are many ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 and the ice cubes are stacked too high, the water receiving box 30 will interfere with the ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 when rotating forward, and the ice cubes cannot rotate forward continuously; in another case, the ice storage barrel 52 is arranged to contain ice cubes poured out from the ice receiving box 40, and when there are many ice cubes in the ice storage barrel 52 and the ice cubes pulled out from the ice receiving box 40 cannot be contained any more, the ice pushing shovel 31 cannot push the ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 to move towards the ice pushing opening 41 any more, and at this time, the water receiving box 30 rotates forward, and the ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 are interfered with each other, so that the ice cubes cannot rotate forward.

After the water receiving tray 30 rotates forward, the position detection device 60 detects whether the water receiving tray 30 has reached the ice making position. Determining that the water receiving box 30 is not at the ice making position, which indicates that ice cubes exist in the ice receiving box 40 to block the water receiving box 30 from rotating forwards, and the reason why the ice cubes block the water receiving box 30 from rotating forwards is various, for example, in one case, the ice maker is full of ice and cannot continuously hold more ice cubes; in still another case, the height of the local ice cubes due to irregular accumulation of ice cubes is high, and the actual amount of ice cubes in the ice bank 52 or the ice bank 40 does not reach the full ice condition. In the former case, the compressor stops making ice after the ice maker is full of ice, and prevents ice from adhering to ice cubes on the ice scoop 31 to form ice cubes when ice making continues. In the latter case, if the compressor stops making ice, the actual amount of ice available inside the ice maker is small, which easily causes the insufficient supply of ice cubes.

In order to eliminate the irregular accumulation of ice blocks, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is determined that the water receiving box 30 is not at the ice making position, and the water receiving box 30 is controlled to rotate reversely by a predetermined angle toward the ice inverting position and then rotate forward toward the ice making position. In the present embodiment, the inversion of the water receiving box 30 by a predetermined angle from the ice-pouring position generally means that the water receiving box 30 is inverted to the ice-pouring position. Of course, in other embodiments, the predetermined angle may also mean that the water receiving box 30 is turned to a position close to the ice-pouring position. If irregular accumulation exists among the ice cubes, and a part of space in the ice receiving box 40 or the ice storage barrel 52 is not filled with the ice cubes, when the water receiving box 30 rotates forwards again, the water receiving box 30 touches the ice cubes, and the ice cubes can be pushed to fill the original vacant space in the ice receiving box 40 or the ice storage barrel 52 after being stressed, so that the blocking of the ice cubes on the water receiving box 30 is removed, and the free rotation of the water receiving box 30 is realized. If the ice blocks are regularly stacked, the ice maker is full of ice, at the moment, the water receiving box 30 cannot return to the ice making position after the water receiving box 30 is controlled to rotate reversely and then rotate forwards, so that the ice maker is determined to be full of ice, and the false full ice state caused by irregular stacking of the ice blocks is eliminated. And, when slight card ice phenomenon takes place, through control water receiving box 30 back and forth rotation, can strike the ice-cube, solve card ice. By adopting the mode in the embodiment, the full ice state can be timely and accurately detected, the phenomenon of misjudgment is prevented, and the phenomenon of ice blockage can be solved.

The motor 80 in this embodiment is a stepping motor 80, and after the stepping motor 80 receives a forward rotation signal, the stepping motor 80 drives the water receiving box 30 to rotate forward by a preset angle, and when ice jamming occurs, the actual forward rotation angle of the stepping motor 80 is smaller than the theoretical angle, and at this time, the water receiving box 30 can be controlled to rotate reversely by determining that the driving shaft of the stepping motor 80 stops rotating and the water receiving box 30 is still not at the ice making position. Alternatively, the water receiving box 30 may be controlled to be reversed by determining that the water receiving box 30 stops rotating and the water receiving box 30 is not yet at the ice making position. Of course, the water receiving box 30 may be controlled to be reversed by determining that the time length of the water receiving box 30 at the ice making position does not reach the preset time length.

Referring to fig. 2, in an embodiment, the step of controlling the water receiving box to rotate forward to the ice making position after rotating backward to the ice pouring position by a predetermined angle includes:

step S21, controlling the water receiving box to rotate reversely by a preset angle towards the ice pouring position;

step S22, the ice making position is rotated forward;

and step S23, determining that the water receiving box is not at the ice making position, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards and backwards until the water receiving box is at the ice making position.

Two situations may occur after step S22: namely, the water receiving box is in the ice making position, or the water receiving box is not in the ice making position. Specifically, as can be seen from the above analysis, if the water receiving box returns to the ice making position after rotating forward, it indicates that the ice making machine does not reach the full ice state, so the method further includes, after step S22: and determining that the water receiving box is at the ice making position, and controlling the compressor to continue making ice until the ice maker is full of ice. In addition, if the water receiving box 30 still cannot return to the ice making position after rotating forward, it indicates that the ice jamming phenomenon may be serious, or the ice maker is in a full ice state. Therefore, in order to eliminate the serious ice jamming phenomenon, step S23 is further included after step S22: and determining that the water receiving box is not positioned at the ice making position, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate forwards and backwards until the water receiving box is positioned at the ice making position. After the ice cubes are positively rotated and reversely rotated for many times, the ice cubes are impacted for many times, so that the ice cubes in the ice maker are stacked more regularly, and the occurrence of large gaps is reduced, so that the ice maker can accommodate more ice cubes.

Referring to fig. 3, in an embodiment, the step of determining that the water receiving box is not located at the ice making position and controlling the water receiving box to rotate forward and backward until the water receiving box is located at the ice making position includes:

step S231, determining that the water receiving box is not positioned at the ice making position;

step S232, acquiring the rotation times of forward rotation and reverse rotation of the water receiving box;

and step S233, determining that the rotation times are more than or equal to the preset times, and stopping the motor and the compressor.

In the step S23, when the ice maker is not in the full ice state, the water receiving box 30 is controlled to rotate forward and backward for multiple times, so that the ice cubes can be laid out normally to realize normal rotation of the water receiving box 30, so that the water receiving box 30 reaches the ice making position, and the compressor continues to make ice. However, when the ice maker itself reaches the full ice state, the ice cubes cannot be pushed to move continuously even if the water receiving box 30 is controlled to rotate forwards and backwards for multiple times. In order to save energy and avoid switching the water receiving box 30 between forward rotation and reverse rotation all the time, under the precondition that the water receiving box 30 is determined not to be in the ice making position, the rotation times of the forward rotation and the reverse rotation of the water receiving box 30 are counted, the rotation times are determined to be more than or equal to the preset times, the motor 80 and the compressor are stopped, and the evaporator stops making ice. The number of rotations in this embodiment refers to the number of rotations to and fro, and for example, one rotation per normal rotation and one reverse rotation is regarded as one rotation, that is, one rotation includes one normal rotation and one reverse rotation. Alternatively, the preset number of times may be three times or more.

In one embodiment, the step of determining that the number of rotations is greater than or equal to a preset number further includes, after the step of stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor:

and step S234, spraying water to the ice-poking shovel to melt ice blocks.

When the rotation times are determined to be greater than or equal to the preset times and the water receiving box 30 still does not return to the ice making position, the ice blocking phenomenon is extended, and in order to relieve the ice blocking, the water spraying box is controlled to spray water towards the ice removing shovel 31, so that ice blocks on the ice removing shovel 31 are melted as soon as possible. In addition, a waterway module can be additionally arranged to spray water to the ice-stirring shovel 31.

step S235, obtaining the stop time of stopping the motor and the compressor;

and step S236, determining that the shutdown time length is greater than or equal to a first preset time length, and controlling the water receiving box to rotate.

Since the ice cubes will slowly melt over time, when the compressor is stopped for a period of time greater than or equal to the first preset time period, the ice cubes will generally have already partially melted, and it is obvious that the amount of ice cubes in the ice storage bin 52 is reduced, but the phenomenon that the ice storage bin 52 is still full of ice is not excluded. Therefore, in steps S235 and S236, it is determined that the idle-time period is greater than or equal to the first preset time period, and the rotation of the water receiving tray 30 is controlled to determine whether the water receiving tray 30 can move to the ice making position. If the water receiving box 30 returns to the ice making position, it indicates that the ice storage bin 52 is not filled with ice cubes, i.e., the ice maker does not reach a full ice state. If the drip tray 30 still cannot return to the ice making position, it indicates that the ice storage bin 52 is filled with ice cubes, i.e., the ice maker is still in a full ice state.

In this embodiment, the first predetermined time period may be 30 minutes or other values, for example, the first predetermined time period may be 35 minutes or 42 minutes, and the first predetermined time period may be selected according to the room temperature, and when the room temperature is higher, the ice melting speed is faster, and the first predetermined time period may be relatively selected to be a smaller value. On the contrary, under the condition of low room temperature, the ice block melting speed is low, and a larger value can be relatively selected for the first preset time.

In addition, in step S236, when the water receiving box is controlled to rotate, the process returns to step S23, the water receiving box is determined not to be at the ice making position, and the water receiving box is controlled to rotate forward and backward multiple times to eliminate the irregular accumulation of ice cubes.

In the above, after step S236, the method further includes:

and step S237, determining that the water receiving box 30 returns to the ice making position, and starting the compressor to make ice.

After the ice in the ice storage barrel 52 is partially melted, if the water receiving box 30 can rotate back to the ice making position, it indicates that the ice maker is not full of ice, so the compressor is restarted to continue making ice, and the requirement of the user on the amount of ice is met.

Further, after step S236, the method further includes:

step S238, determining that the water receiving box 30 is not located at the ice making position, and continuing to stop the motor and the compressor.

In this embodiment, it is determined that the shutdown duration is greater than or equal to the first preset duration, the water receiving box is controlled to rotate, the water receiving box still cannot be located at the ice making position after the water receiving box rotates forwards and backwards, and it is indicated that the ice blocking state is not released, so that the motor and the compressor continue to stop working, and the ice blocks are prevented from being stacked and adhered to form ice blocks due to the fact that the system continues to make ice.

determining ice from the ice outlet and controlling the water receiving box to rotate;

In this embodiment, in the process of waiting for stopping the motor 80 and the compressor, if an ice-taking action occurs, that is, ice is discharged from the ice outlet, the number of ice cubes in the ice storage barrel 52 is reduced, and at this time, the water receiving box 30 is controlled to rotate, so that the compressor is restarted to make ice after the water receiving box returns to the ice-making position. When the ice-picking operation occurs, step S235 and step S236 are not performed.

In one embodiment, the control method of the ice maker further comprises the steps of:

In this embodiment, a full ice sensor 70 is further disposed in the ice storage bucket 52, the full ice sensor 70 is used for detecting the height of the ice cubes in the ice storage bucket 52, and when it is determined that the ice storage bucket 52 is full of ice, that is, the ice maker reaches a full ice state, the compressor is stopped to continue making ice, thereby avoiding the ice jamming phenomenon.

In addition, in this embodiment, if the ice cubes are irregularly stacked, the ice-full sensor 70 does not effectively touch the ice cubes, and the ice-full state cannot be detected in time, and at this time, the compressor continues to make ice, which may cause the ice cubes to be stuck. In view of this, in the embodiment of the present invention, the position detection device 60 is provided to detect the rotation position of the water receiving box 30, so that whether the ice maker is full of ice can be determined according to the rotation position of the water receiving box 30. The position detection device 60 and the ice-full sensor 70 are combined to perform double detection, the detection positions are different, and if any one of the position detection device and the ice-full sensor detects ice-full, the ice-full state of the ice maker is regarded as ice-full, so that the ice-full state can be detected in time, the ice blocking phenomenon is solved, the reliable operation of the ice-full detection system is ensured, and the condition that the whole machine fails to work is avoided.

Referring to fig. 4, in an embodiment, the step of determining that the ice storage bin is full of ice and stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor includes:

step S30, acquiring the real-time temperature detected by the full-ice sensor;

and step S40, determining that the duration time of the real-time temperature being less than the first preset temperature is more than or equal to a second preset time, and stopping the work of the motor and the compressor.

The full ice sensor 70 in the present embodiment is a temperature sensor. In the present embodiment, although the temperature sensor detects the ambient temperature, the height of the ice cubes in the ice bank 52 is determined by detecting the temperature, and therefore the height of the ice cubes in the ice bank 52 is indirectly detected. In addition, in other embodiments, the ice-full sensor 70 may also be in the form of an infrared sensor, an ice-probe, or the like.

The ice-poking shovel 31 pokes the ice blocks into the ice storage barrel 52, the ice blocks are gradually stacked, and when the ice blocks touch the full ice sensor 70, the temperature detected by the full ice sensor 70 is lower than a first preset temperature, which may be 5 ℃ or other values, and then the ice maker stops making ice and enters a full ice state after finishing making a slab of ice. In order to prevent the fluctuation and jump of the detection signal of the ice-full sensor 70 and improve the accuracy, in this embodiment, the duration of the time when the temperature detected by the ice-full sensor 70 is lower than the first preset temperature is greater than or equal to a second preset time, which may be 30s or other time, and the detection of the ice-full state is considered to be effective, that is, the ice-full state of the ice maker is determined, so as to stop the operation of the motor and the compressor.

Referring to fig. 5, in an embodiment, the step of determining that the duration of the real-time temperature being less than the first preset temperature is greater than or equal to a second preset duration further includes:

step S50, acquiring the real-time temperature detected by the full-ice sensor;

and step S60, determining that the duration time that the real-time temperature is greater than the second preset temperature is greater than or equal to a third preset time, and starting the compressor to make ice.

In the above steps, if the duration of the time when the temperature detected by the full-ice sensor 70 is higher than the second preset temperature is greater than or equal to the third preset time, it indicates that the full-ice sensor 70 is not in contact with the ice cubes, that is, the height of the ice cubes is low, and the ice cubes in the ice storage bucket are few, the compressor is started to make ice again. The second predetermined temperature may be 7 ℃ or other temperature, and the third predetermined period may be 30s, 35s, and so on.

The invention provides an ice maker.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6 to 11, the ice maker includes a drip box 10, an evaporator 20, a water receiving box 30, an ice receiving box 40, a controller, and the like.

Referring to fig. 7 to 9, in the embodiment of the invention, the water spraying box 10 is used for spraying water toward the evaporator 20, the water spraying box 10 may be disposed above the evaporator 20, and a plurality of water spraying holes are disposed on the water spraying box 10 corresponding to the evaporator 20 for spraying water downward. Or in other embodiments, the shower box 10 may be disposed below the evaporator 20 to spray water upward.

The evaporator 20 is disposed in the water receiving box 30, or the evaporator 20 is disposed above the water receiving box 30. When the shower tray 10 sprays water toward the evaporator 20, excess water can drop into the water receiving tray 30. The evaporator 20 includes an evaporation tube and an ice finger, the ice finger is disposed on the bottom surface of the evaporation tube and extends downward, a refrigerant flows in the evaporation tube, so that cold energy is transferred to water on the outer surface of the evaporation tube through the tube wall of the evaporation tube to make ice cubes, and the ice cubes fall into the water receiving box 30 after leaving the evaporator 20. It is contemplated that the ice-making machine further includes a compressor, a condenser, etc., which are connected to form a closed loop with the evaporator 20.

The water receiving box 30 is arranged in the ice receiving box 40, or the water receiving box 30 is arranged above the ice receiving box 40. The water receiving box 30 can rotate relative to the ice receiving box 40 to have an ice pouring position with the opening facing downwards and an ice making position with the opening facing upwards, and when the water receiving box 30 rotates to the ice pouring position, ice blocks are poured into the ice receiving box 40; when the water receiving box 30 rotates to the ice making position, the water receiving box 30 can receive water dripping from the water spraying box 10 and the evaporator 20, so that the water amount in the ice receiving box 40 is reduced, and the melting phenomenon that ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 are soaked in the water is improved. In one embodiment, the water receiving box 30 is rotatably connected to the ice receiving box 40, so as to ensure the relative position between the two. In addition, in an embodiment, the water receiving box 30 is rotatably connected with the inner container 50 of the ice maker, or the water receiving box 30 is rotatably connected with other components in the inner container 50. In addition, in this embodiment, the ice maker further includes a motor 80, and the motor 80 is connected to the water receiving box 30 to drive the water receiving box 30 to rotate. The controller is electrically connected with the motor 80 and the compressor respectively, and controls the motor 80 and the compressor to work. The controller is configured to control the water receiving box to rotate forwards towards the ice making position, and control the water receiving box to rotate backwards towards the ice falling position by a preset angle and then rotate forwards towards the ice making position according to the condition that the water receiving box is not at the ice making position.

Specifically, the water spray box 10 sprays water toward the evaporator 20, the water is cooled on the evaporator 20 and flows down to the ice fingers of the evaporator 20 where it is frozen into ice cubes. Subsequently, the ice cubes fall into the water receiver 30, the water receiver 30 dumps the ice cubes into the ice receiver 40 by being turned over, the ice cubes in the ice receiver 40 are collected in the ice receiver 40 to be taken by a user, or the ice cubes are transferred from the ice receiver 40 to another ice storage space, such as the ice bank 52, to be delivered to the user.

In addition, in an embodiment, the ice maker further comprises an ice storage bucket 52 and an ice-poking shovel 31, wherein the ice-poking opening 41 is located in the ice storage bucket 52 or the ice-poking opening 41 is located above the ice storage bucket 52; the ice-removing shovel 31 is installed on the water receiving box 30, and when the water receiving box 30 rotates from the ice-pouring position to the ice-making position, the ice-removing shovel 31 is used for removing ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 from the ice-removing opening 41 to the ice storage bucket 52. In this embodiment, the ice scoop 31 is mounted on the outer surface of the water receiving box 30 and can move between the water receiving box 30 and the ice receiving box 40. In this embodiment, the evaporator 20, the water receiver 30, the shower box 10, and the ice receiver 40 are all disposed in the ice storage bin 52. In addition, the evaporator 20, the water receiver 30, the shower 10, and the ice receiver 40 may also be disposed above the ice bank 52.

In one embodiment, the ice maker further includes an inner container 50, a partition 51 is disposed in the inner container 50 to partition the inner container 50 into two spaces distributed in the vertical direction, the upper space forms an ice storage bucket 52, the lower space forms a water storage area, and water leakage holes are disposed on the partition 51, so that water in the ice storage bucket 52 drops to the water storage area to realize ice-water separation. In addition, in other embodiments, the ice bank 52 may be two parts separately provided from the inner container 50.

Referring to fig. 10 and fig. 11, in the embodiment of the present invention, the ice making machine further includes a position detecting device 60, where the position detecting device 60 is used to detect the position of the water receiving box 30. Specifically, the position detection device 60 may be mounted to the water receiver 30, the ice receiver 40, the ice bank 52, or the like. The position detecting means 60 may be an infrared detecting means, a micro switch, a laser detecting means, an electromagnetic wave detecting means, an ultrasonic detecting means, or the like. The position detection device 60 is used for detecting the rotation position of the water receiving box 30, when the water receiving box 30 rotates from the ice pouring position to the ice making position, the position detection device 60 acquires a position signal of the water receiving box 30, and when the position detection device 60 acquires the ice making position signal of the water receiving box 30, the situation that no ice blocks exist in the ice receiving box 40 to block the rotation of the water receiving box 30 at the moment is shown, namely the ice receiving box 40 is not filled with the ice blocks, and the water receiving box 30 can freely rotate to the ice making position.

In the embodiment without the ice storage bin 52, the ice cubes are concentrated in the ice receiving box 40, and when the ice cubes are stacked in the ice receiving box 40, the rotation of the water receiving box 30 is blocked, so that the water receiving box 30 cannot return to the ice making position, and at this time, the position detecting device 60 cannot detect the ice making position of the water receiving box 30. In the embodiment of the ice storage barrel 52, the ice cubes are pulled out from the ice pulling opening 41 to the ice storage barrel 52 by the ice pulling shovel 31, and when the ice cubes are stacked more in the ice storage barrel 52 and reach the position of the ice pulling opening 41, the ice cubes cannot fall onto the ice storage barrel 52 any more, so the ice cubes can be stacked in the ice receiving box 40, and even the ice cubes in the ice storage barrel 52 fall back to the ice receiving box 40. At this time, when the water receiving box 30 rotates from the ice pouring position to the ice making position, due to the blocking of the ice cubes, the ice-making shovel 31 cannot make ice cubes, that is, the water receiving box 30 cannot rotate and cannot return to the ice making position, and at this time, the position detecting device 60 also cannot detect the ice making position of the water receiving box 30.

In the above, when the position detection device 60 cannot detect the ice making position of the water receiving box 30, it indicates that the ice cubes in the ice making machine are full, so that the compressor stops making ice, thereby preventing the phenomenon that the ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 are connected together to form large ice blocks when the next ice plate is making ice due to continuous ice making, which affects the use of the user and causes ice jamming. In addition, the position of the water receiving box is detected by the position detection device 60, so that the full ice state can be detected in time, and the ice blocking phenomenon is solved.

The position detecting device in the embodiment of the present invention has various forms, and two of them will be specifically described below, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 10, in an embodiment, the position detecting device 60 is a micro switch 60, and when the water receiving box 30 abuts against the micro switch 60, it is determined that the water receiving box 30 is at the ice making position, and at this time, the controller receives the ice making position signal.

Optionally, the water receiving box 30 has a rotating shaft 32 rotatably connected to the ice receiving box 40, the rotating shaft 32 is provided with a limiting protrusion 321, the limiting protrusion 321 laterally protrudes out of the periphery of the rotating shaft 32, and when the water receiving box 30 rotates to the ice making position, the limiting protrusion 321 abuts against the micro switch 60.

In this embodiment, the limiting protrusion 321 and the micro switch 60 are both located between the water receiving box 30 and the ice receiving box 40, the limiting protrusion 321 is located on the outer surface of the water receiving box 30, at this time, the micro switch 60 is located on the inner surface of the ice receiving box 40, and the limiting protrusion 321 has the advantages of stable connection and high reliability.

In other embodiments, the limiting protrusion 321 and the micro switch 60 are located on the outer surface of the ice receiving box 40. In this embodiment, the micro switch 60 is located on the outer surface of the ice receiving box 40, and the limiting protrusion 321 is located on the outer side of the ice receiving box 40. The outer side of the ice receiving box 40 has the advantages of large installation space and convenience in installation of the microswitch 60, and meanwhile, the microswitch 60 and the limiting protrusion 321 are also convenient to overhaul.

In addition, in other embodiments, the micro switch 60 and the limiting protrusion 321 are located between the ice receiving box 40 and the water receiving box 30, and the motor 80 is located on the outer side surface of the ice receiving box 40, so that the mounting position of the motor 80 is prevented from being interfered with the limiting protrusion 321 and the mounting position of the micro switch 60, and the effect of facilitating the mounting of the limiting protrusion 321, the micro switch 60 and the motor 80 is achieved. In addition, in other embodiments, the micro switch 60, the limiting protrusion 321 and the motor 80 are located between the water receiving box 30 and the ice receiving box 40, and the micro switch 60 and the motor 80 are mounted on an inner side surface of the ice receiving box 40.

The ice maker further comprises: a first restraint post 42 and a second restraint post 43; when the water receiving box 30 is located at the ice making position, the limiting protrusion 321 is abutted to the first limiting column 42, so that the pressure borne by the micro switch 60 can be effectively shared, and the micro switch 60 is protected. When the water receiving box is located the position of falling ice, spacing arch 321 with spacing post 43 butt of second plays limiting displacement. Optionally, the first limiting column 42 and the second limiting column 43 are both arranged on the ice receiving box.

Referring to fig. 11, in an embodiment, the position detecting device 60 includes a sending module 61 and a receiving module 62, the sending module 61 and the receiving module 62 are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the water receiving box 30, the sending module 61 can send a signal to the receiving module 62, if ice cubes exist in the ice receiving box 40 due to ice fullness of the ice maker to obstruct rotation of the water receiving box 30, the signal sent by the sending module 61 is blocked by the ice cubes for a long time, and the receiving module 62 cannot receive the signal, that is, cannot detect and obtain the signal of the ice making position.

In one embodiment, the sending module 61 and the receiving module 62 are arranged at intervals along the rotation axis of the water receiving box 30, so that the situation that the signal sent by the sending module 61 is blocked by the ice shovel 31 can be eliminated, and the occurrence of the misjudgment phenomenon can be prevented. Optionally, the sending module 61 and the receiving module 62 are respectively disposed on two opposite side walls of the ice receiving box 40 and are located on two opposite sides of the ice ejecting opening 41.

In one embodiment, the position detecting device 60 is an infrared detecting device, the transmitting module 61 is an infrared transmitting module 61, and the receiving module 62 is an infrared receiving module 62. The infrared transmitting module 61 transmits infrared rays, and the detection effective time of the infrared detection device is more than 10s, so that the ice poking shovel 31 does not influence normal work when turning over and poking ice at ordinary times. When the ice blocks blocking the infrared rays are detected to exist on the ice poking shovel 31 for more than 10 seconds, the ice storage barrel 52 is considered to be full of ice and blocks the ice blocks from falling off, and the ice making can be stopped at the moment, so that the ice making is in a full-ice state.

In one embodiment, the position detecting device 60 is disposed near the ice-ejecting opening 41 to detect the ice-making position of the water receiving box 30. Alternatively, the position detecting device 60 is disposed near a lower side edge of the ice ejecting opening 41. In the embodiment where the position detecting device 60 is an infrared detecting device, since the position detecting device 60 is located adjacent to the ice-ejecting opening 41, the blocking condition of ice cubes adjacent to the ice-ejecting opening 41 is detected by the infrared detecting device, so that whether the ice maker is full of ice can be determined in the first time, and the ice cubes in the ice receiving box 40 are prevented from being excessively accumulated.

In one embodiment, the ice storage bin 52 has a full ice sensor 70 disposed therein, and the full ice sensor 70 is used for detecting the height of the ice cubes in the ice storage bin 52. Optionally, the ice-full sensor 70 is a temperature sensor. The ice-poking shovel 31 pokes the ice blocks into the ice storage barrel 52, the ice blocks are gradually stacked, and when the ice blocks touch the full ice sensor 70, the temperature detected by the full ice sensor 70 is lower than a first preset temperature, which can be 5 ℃, 6 ℃ or other values, and then the ice maker stops making ice and enters a full ice state after finishing making a slab of ice. In order to prevent the full ice sensor 70 from detecting the fluctuation and jump of the signal and improve the accuracy, in this embodiment, the duration of the time when the temperature detected by the full ice sensor 70 is lower than the first preset temperature is greater than or equal to a second preset time, which may be 30s, 40s or other time, and the ice-full state detection is considered to be valid, that is, the ice maker is deemed to be full of ice. When the duration of the time when the temperature detected by the full ice sensor 70 is higher than the second preset temperature is greater than or equal to the third preset time, the compressor is started to make ice again. The second predetermined temperature may be 7 ℃ or other temperature, and the third predetermined period may be 30s, 35s, and so on. In the present embodiment, although the temperature sensor detects the ambient temperature, the height of the ice cubes in the ice bank 52 is determined by detecting the temperature, and therefore the height of the ice cubes in the ice bank 52 is indirectly detected. In addition, in other embodiments, the ice-full sensor 70 may also be an infrared sensor, an ice-probe, or the like.

In this embodiment, the ice-full sensor 70 is arranged to detect the ice cubes in the ice storage bucket 52, and when the ice storage bucket 52 is detected to be full of ice, the compressor stops making ice, so that the ice cubes are prevented from being adhered to each other to form large ice cubes and cannot be conveyed out due to continuous operation of the compressor. After the ice poking shovel 31 makes the ice block fluctuate into the ice storage barrel 52, if the ice block is irregularly stacked, the ice full sensor 70 does not effectively touch the ice block, the ice full state cannot be detected in time, and the compressor continues to make ice at the moment to cause ice block adhesion. In view of this, in the embodiment of the present invention, the position detection device 60 is provided to detect the rotation position of the water receiving box 30, so that whether the ice maker is full of ice can be determined according to the rotation position of the water receiving box 30. The position detection device 60 and the ice-full state sensor 70 are combined to carry out double detection, the detection positions are different, the ice-full state can be detected in time, and the ice blocking phenomenon is solved, so that the reliable operation of the ice-full state detection system is ensured, and the condition that the whole machine fails to work is avoided.

In addition, when it is determined that the ice maker is full of ice, the shutdown time for stopping the compressor reaches the preset time, the water receiving box 30 rotates to push the ice cubes into the ice storage bin 52, and the ice making is continuously restarted when the ice maker is not full of ice.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications and equivalents of the present invention, which are made by the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly/indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an ice making machine, the ice making machine comprising: the ice receiving box is arranged in the ice receiving box or on the ice receiving box, and the water receiving box rotates relative to the ice receiving box so as to have an ice pouring position with an opening facing downwards and an ice making position with the opening facing upwards; the position detection device is used for detecting the position of the water receiving box, and the motor is connected with the water receiving box;

the control method of the ice maker includes the steps of:

2. The method for controlling the ice maker according to claim 1, wherein the step of controlling the water receiving tray to rotate forward to the ice making position after rotating backward to the ice inverting position by a predetermined angle comprises:

then, the ice making position is positively rotated;

3. The method for controlling the ice maker according to claim 2, wherein the step of determining that the water receiving tray is not in the ice making position, and controlling the water receiving tray to rotate forward and backward until the water receiving tray is in the ice making position comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining the number of rotations is greater than or equal to a preset number, and the step of stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor further comprises the steps of:

obtaining the stop time for stopping the motor and the compressor;

5. The method for controlling the ice maker according to claim 4, wherein the stop time period is determined to be greater than or equal to a first preset time period, and the step of controlling the water receiving box to rotate further comprises the following steps:

6. The method of controlling an ice maker as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ice maker further comprises an ice-removing shovel which is mounted on the water receiver and is capable of removing ice cubes from the ice receiver when the water receiver is rotated from the ice-pouring position to the ice-making position;

water is sprayed to the ice-stirring shovel to melt ice blocks.

7. The control method of the ice maker as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ice maker further comprises an ice-stirring shovel and an ice storage bucket, the ice storage bucket is located below the ice receiving box, the ice-stirring shovel is mounted on the ice receiving box and can stir out ice cubes in the ice receiving box to the ice storage bucket when the ice receiving box rotates from the ice-pouring position to the ice-making position;

the control method of the ice maker further includes the steps of:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of determining that the ice bank is full of ice and stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor comprises:

acquiring real-time temperature detected by an ice-full sensor;

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining that the real-time temperature is less than the first predetermined temperature for a duration greater than or equal to a second predetermined duration further comprises, after the step of stopping the operation of the motor and the compressor:

acquiring real-time temperature detected by an ice-full sensor;

10. An ice maker, comprising:

an ice receiving box;

11. The ice-making machine of claim 10, wherein said position detection device is a microswitch, said water-receiving receptacle abutting said microswitch when said water-receiving receptacle is in said ice-making position.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that an ice maker processing program is stored thereon, which when executed by a controller implements the steps of the control method of an ice maker according to any one of claims 1 to 9.