CN112963993A

CN112963993A - Ice outlet structure and ice maker with same

Info

Publication number: CN112963993A
Application number: CN202110322540.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 唐文宝; 陈煜�; 冯捷
Original assignee: Guangdong Zhiyuan Robot Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Zhiyuan Robot Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-25
Filing date: 2021-03-25
Publication date: 2021-06-15

Abstract

The invention provides an ice outlet structure and an ice maker with the same, wherein the ice outlet structure is used for discharging ice blocks at an ice outlet gate of an ice bucket, and comprises: the guide part is arranged at the ice outlet and is provided with a guide surface which is obliquely arranged so as to guide the ice cubes at the ice outlet through the guide surface; a separating member, at least a portion of which is disposed below the guide outlet of the guide surface; the ice outlet channel, the accommodating tank and the separating baffle are all positioned below the guide outlet of the guide surface; the separation baffle is located and goes out between ice passageway and the holding tank, and the height of separation baffle is less than the height of ice-cube, and the direction export is located the one side that the separation baffle is close to the holding tank. Through the technical scheme provided by the invention, the technical problem of poor ice discharging effect caused by the fact that crushed ice and condensed water are easily discharged from the ice discharging gate along with ice blocks when the ice maker in the prior art discharges ice can be solved.

Description

Ice outlet structure and ice maker with same

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of ice machines, in particular to an ice outlet structure and an ice machine with the same.

Background

Currently, an ice maker is a product which exchanges heat and cold through a refrigeration system and converts liquid water inside into ice, and the ice maker comprises four refrigeration components, namely a compressor, an evaporator, a condenser, a throttling device and the like. After the refrigeration system works, the evaporator absorbs heat outwards, so that liquid water in the refrigeration system is transferred to the ice storage barrel to be stored after being converted into ice blocks, and when ice needs to be discharged, the ice blocks can be discharged from the ice outlet of the ice storage barrel only by pressing the ice discharge button. Generally, most ice-discharging modules of ice-making machines in the prior art are provided with a push-pull electromagnet at an ice-discharging opening, and the push-pull electromagnet is in a normally-closed state. When the ice maker receives the ice outlet signal, the electromagnet opens the ice outlet gate to discharge ice, and the electromagnet returns to the normally closed state after the ice discharge is finished.

However, in the ice making process, the ice outlet gate is in direct contact with the ice blocks in the ice bucket, so that the temperature of the ice outlet gate is far lower than the air temperature, air condensed water can be generated at the ice outlet gate, and water leakage can be generated if the condensed water is discharged along the ice outlet funnel. In addition, when the ice bucket discharges ice, some crushed ice will be discharged from the ice outlet gate together with the ice cubes.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide an ice outlet structure and an ice maker with the same, and aims to solve the technical problem that when the ice maker in the prior art is used for discharging ice, crushed ice and condensed water are easy to be discharged from an ice outlet gate along with ice blocks, so that the ice outlet effect is poor.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice discharging structure for discharging ice cubes at an ice outlet gate of an ice bucket, the ice discharging structure comprising: the guide part is arranged at the ice outlet and is provided with a guide surface which is obliquely arranged so as to guide the ice cubes at the ice outlet through the guide surface; a separating member, at least a portion of which is disposed below the guide outlet of the guide surface; the ice outlet channel, the accommodating tank and the separating baffle are all positioned below the guide outlet of the guide surface; the separation baffle is located and goes out between ice passageway and the holding tank, and the height of separation baffle is less than the height of ice-cube, and the direction export is located the one side that the separation baffle is close to the holding tank.

Furthermore, the guide outlet and the separation baffle are arranged at intervals in the horizontal direction, and the separation baffle and the guide outlet both extend in the vertical direction; the separating piece is provided with a drain hole which is communicated with the holding tank.

Further, the separating member includes: the ice outlet channel is arranged on the first shell part; the second casing part, the lateral wall setting of second casing part protrusion in first casing part, the holding tank sets up on second casing part, and separation baffle sets up in the junction of first casing part and second casing part and forms the lateral wall of holding tank.

Furthermore, the first shell part comprises a limiting plate and a pipe shell, the pipe shell is provided with an ice outlet channel, the limiting plate is arranged at the end part of the pipe shell, a first end of the limiting plate and a second end of the limiting plate are arranged at intervals to form an installation opening, and the separation baffle is arranged at the installation opening; the second shell part comprises a bottom plate and a side plate, and the side plate is arranged at the periphery of the bottom plate to form an accommodating groove in a surrounding mode; the first end of the side plate is connected with the first end of the limiting plate, and the second end of the side plate is connected with the second end of the limiting plate.

Further, the separator further comprises: the drain pipe sets up in the bottom of second casing part, drain pipe and holding tank intercommunication.

Furthermore, a connecting water pipe is arranged in the ice outlet channel and is used for introducing liquid.

Furthermore, the connecting water pipe is attached to the inner wall of the ice outlet channel.

Furthermore, the outlet of the connecting water pipe is positioned above the ice outlet of the ice outlet channel, and the outlet of the connecting water pipe is provided with a flow guide surface.

Furthermore, the flow guide surface is an annular surface, and the plane where the annular surface is located and the horizontal plane are obliquely arranged.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice maker including an ice bucket and an ice discharge structure provided above, the ice discharge structure being mounted at an ice discharge gate of the ice bucket.

By applying the technical scheme of the invention, the ice outlet structure is arranged at the ice outlet gate, and when ice is discharged, the ice cubes, the condensed water and the crushed ice discharged from the ice outlet gate are guided by the guide surface of the guide part so as to move towards the accommodating tank, and the ice cubes can pass over the separation baffle plate under the action of inertia to continue to move towards the ice outlet channel to be discharged, so that the condensed water and the crushed ice are blocked by the separation baffle plate and stay in the accommodating tank, thereby effectively blocking the crushed ice and the condensed water. Therefore, the technical problem that when the ice maker in the prior art discharges ice, crushed ice and condensed water are easy to discharge from the ice outlet gate along with ice blocks, so that the ice discharging effect is poor can be solved through the technical scheme provided by the invention.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a structure of ice discharging according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view illustrating another angle of a discharging structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a ice ejecting structure provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic structural view of a separator provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a separator provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an ice maker according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 illustrates a sectional view of an ice maker according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein the figures include the following reference numerals:

10. an ice bucket; 20. a guide member; 21. a guide surface; 211. a guide outlet; 30. a separating member; 31. an ice outlet channel; 32. accommodating grooves; 33. separating the baffle plate; 34. a drain hole; 35. a first housing portion; 351. a limiting plate; 352. a pipe shell; 36. a second housing portion; 361. a base plate; 362. a side plate; 37. a drain pipe; 40. connecting a water pipe; 41. a flow guide surface; 50. a drinking water pipe; 60. and (4) an ice discharging structure.

Detailed Description

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

As shown in fig. 1 to 5, an embodiment of the present invention provides an ice discharging structure 60, and the ice discharging structure 60 is used for discharging ice cubes at an ice outlet gate of an ice bucket 10. The ice discharging structure 60 includes a guide member 20 and a separating member 30, the guide member 20 is installed at the ice discharge gate, and the guide member 20 has a guide surface 21 obliquely arranged to guide the ice cubes at the ice discharge gate through the guide surface 21. At least part of the separating member 30 is disposed below the guide outlet 211 of the guide surface 21. Wherein, the separating member 30 is provided with an ice outlet channel 31, an accommodating groove 32 and a separating baffle 33, and the ice outlet channel 31, the accommodating groove 32 and the separating baffle 33 are all positioned below the guide outlet 211 of the guide surface 21. The separation shutter 33 is positioned between the ice discharge passage 31 and the receiving groove 32, the separation shutter 33 has a height smaller than that of the ice cubes, and the guide outlet 211 is positioned at a side of the separation shutter 33 adjacent to the receiving groove 32. Preferably, the height of the ice cubes in the present embodiment refers to the height of most of the normal ice cubes, the height of the ice cubes can be a preset fixed value, and the height of the separation baffle 33 is slightly smaller than the height of the ice cubes, so that the ice cubes can smoothly pass through the separation baffle 33, and the crushed ice and the condensed water are effectively blocked by the separation baffle 33. And the height of the separating baffle 33 in this solution is usually adjusted relative to the actual ice cube height.

With the ice discharging structure 60 provided by the embodiment, by providing the ice discharging structure 60 at the ice discharging gate, when ice is discharged, ice cubes, condensed water and crushed ice discharged from the ice discharging gate are guided by the guide surface 21 of the guide member 20, so that the ice cubes, condensed water and crushed ice move towards the accommodating groove 32, and due to the fact that the height of the ice cubes is greater than that of the separation baffle 33, under the action of inertia, the ice cubes will continue to move towards the ice discharging channel 31 to be discharged. Condensate water and trash ice will be kept off by separation baffle 33 and stay in holding tank 32 to effectively realize stopping of trash ice and condensate water, improve out the ice effect. Therefore, through the ice outlet structure 60 provided by the embodiment, the technical problem that when the ice maker in the prior art is used for discharging ice, crushed ice and condensed water are easy to be discharged from the ice outlet gate along with ice blocks, so that the ice outlet effect is poor can be solved.

Specifically, the guide member 20 and the separating member 30 in the present embodiment are misaligned in the horizontal direction to facilitate separation of the crushed ice and the condensed water. Preferably, the guide outlet 211 of the ice guide member is spaced apart from the separation baffle 33 in the horizontal direction to be offset, and there is a distance deviation, and the inertia of the crushed ice is small, so that the crushed ice falls into the receiving groove 32. Specifically, the distance between the guide outlet 211 and the separation baffle 33 in the horizontal direction is L, and L is larger than or equal to 1mm and smaller than or equal to 1.5mm, and the structure arrangement is adopted, so that the blockage of crushed ice and condensed water is conveniently and effectively improved.

Specifically, the separating element 30 in this embodiment is provided with a drain hole 34, and the drain hole 34 is communicated with the accommodating groove 32 so as to drain condensed water and water after melting crushed ice, thereby avoiding the situation that water in the accommodating groove 32 overflows into the ice outlet channel 31 due to excessive water.

Specifically, the separation damper 33 and the guide outlet 211 in the present embodiment each extend in the vertical direction.

In the present embodiment, the separating member 30 includes a first housing part 35 and a second housing part 36, and the ice discharging passage 31 is provided on the first housing part 35. The second housing portion 36 protrudes from the side wall of the first housing portion 35, the receiving groove 32 is formed in the second housing portion 36, and the separation baffle 33 is formed at the joint between the first housing portion 35 and the second housing portion 36. By adopting the structure, the structure is simple, and the manufacturing and the realization are convenient.

Specifically, the first housing part 35 in this embodiment includes a stopper plate 351 and a tube case 352, the tube case 352 has the ice discharging passage 31, the stopper plate 351 is provided at an end of the tube case 352, a first end of the stopper plate 351 and a second end of the stopper plate 351 are provided at an interval to form a mounting opening, and the separation damper 33 is provided at the mounting opening. The second housing portion 36 includes a bottom plate 361 and a side plate 362, and the side plate 362 is disposed at the periphery of the bottom plate 361 to enclose the receiving groove 32. Wherein, the first end of curb plate 362 is connected with the first end of limiting plate 351, and the second end of curb plate 362 is connected with the second end of limiting plate 351. Adopt such structure setting, simple structure, the overall arrangement is compact, also can effectively block out the condensate water and the trash ice when ice. Preferably, the separating member 30 in this embodiment is an integrally formed structure, and has a simple structure, and is convenient to produce and manufacture.

In this embodiment, the separating member 30 further includes a drain pipe 37, the drain pipe 37 is disposed at the bottom of the second housing portion 36, and the drain pipe 37 communicates with the receiving groove 32 so as to smoothly drain the condensed water and the water in which the crushed ice melts.

Specifically, a connection water pipe 40 is disposed in the ice outlet channel 31 in this embodiment, the connection water pipe 40 is used for communicating with the drinking water pipe 50, and the connection water pipe 40 is used for introducing liquid. Adopt such structure setting, can go out ice or go out water in the ice passageway 31 according to user's user demand control, improved the convenience of using. Specifically, the connection water pipe 40 is used for introducing drinking water.

In this embodiment, the connection water pipe 40 is attached to an inner wall of the ice discharge passage 31. With the adoption of the structure, the blocking of the ice blocks in the ice outlet channel 31 by the connecting water pipe 40 can be avoided, so that the ice outlet channel 31 can smoothly discharge ice, and the structural layout is also optimized.

Specifically, the outlet of the connecting water pipe 40 in this embodiment is located above the ice outlet of the ice outlet channel 31, and the outlet of the connecting water pipe 40 is provided with a flow guide surface 41. With such a structure, the water at the outlet of the connecting water pipe 40 can be guided conveniently by the flow guide surface 41.

Specifically, the flow guiding surface 41 in this embodiment is an annular surface, and a plane of the annular surface is inclined from the horizontal plane, so as to guide the water flow effectively through the annular surface. Specifically, the side of the annular surface close to the inner wall surface of the ice outlet channel 31 in the embodiment is higher than the side of the annular surface far from the ice outlet channel 31, so that water in the connecting water pipe 40 is guided to the middle area of the ice outlet channel 31 through the annular surface to be discharged, the condition that water flow is concentrated on the inner wall of the ice outlet channel 31 is avoided, and the uniformity of water discharge is improved.

Specifically, when the ice outlet gate of the ice bucket 10 is opened to perform an ice discharging operation, ice cubes and partially melted ice water fall into the receiving groove 32 of the separating member 30 along the guide member 20, and since the guide outlet 211 of the ice guide member is horizontally misaligned with the separating baffle 33, the inertia of the crushed ice is small, and thus the crushed ice falls into the receiving groove 32, and the crushed ice is discharged through the water discharge port after being melted.

When the ice maker produces drinking water, the drinking water flows into the water inlet through the connecting water pipe 40 and is finally reserved in the cup below the ice outlet channel 31, and the flow guide surface 41 is arranged below the water inlet and used for guiding water flow to the direction of the central axis of the ice outlet funnel and avoiding water drops from dripping along the outer wall of the ice outlet funnel.

During the operation of the ice maker, since the ice gate is in direct contact with the ice cubes in the ice bin 10 and the temperature of the ice gate is much lower than the air temperature, air condensate is generated on the surface of the ice gate, and since the guide outlet 211 of the ice guide member is horizontally misaligned with the separation baffle 33, the condensate flows along the guide surface 21 into the receiving groove 32 and is finally discharged through the water discharge opening.

As shown in fig. 6 and 7, a second embodiment of the present invention provides an ice maker, where the ice maker includes an ice bucket 10 and an ice outlet structure 60, the ice outlet structure 60 is installed at an ice outlet gate of the ice bucket 10, and the ice outlet structure 60 is the ice outlet structure 60 provided in the first embodiment.

From the above description, it can be seen that the above-described embodiments of the present invention achieve the following technical effects: when the ice is discharged, the crushed ice is separated, and the crushed ice and the ice cubes are prevented from being discharged into the cup together; the air condensate water generated by the ice outlet gate is prevented from being discharged along the ice outlet funnel, the water leakage phenomenon is avoided, and the product quality is improved.

It is noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, and it should be understood that when the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" are used in this specification, they specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, devices, components, and/or combinations thereof, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

The relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions, and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application unless specifically stated otherwise. Meanwhile, it should be understood that the sizes of the respective portions shown in the drawings are not drawn in an actual proportional relationship for the convenience of description. Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate. In all examples shown and discussed herein, any particular value should be construed as merely illustrative, and not limiting. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, further discussion thereof is not required in subsequent figures.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the directional terms such as "front, rear, upper, lower, left, right", "lateral, vertical, horizontal" and "top, bottom", etc., are generally based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are used for convenience of description and simplicity of description only, and in the case of not making a reverse description, these directional terms do not indicate and imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation or be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore, should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present application; the terms "inner and outer" refer to the inner and outer relative to the profile of the respective component itself.

Spatially relative terms, such as "above … …," "above … …," "above … …," "above," and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one device or feature's spatial relationship to another device or feature as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if a device in the figures is turned over, devices described as "above" or "on" other devices or configurations would then be oriented "below" or "under" the other devices or configurations. Thus, the exemplary term "above … …" can include both an orientation of "above … …" and "below … …". The device may be otherwise variously oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", and the like are used to define the components, and are only used for convenience of distinguishing the corresponding components, and the terms have no special meanings unless otherwise stated, and therefore, the scope of protection of the present application is not to be construed as being limited.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ice ejecting structure for ejecting ice pieces at an ice outlet of an ice bucket, the ice ejecting structure comprising:

the guide part is arranged at the ice outlet, and is provided with a guide surface which is obliquely arranged so as to guide the ice blocks at the ice outlet through the guide surface;

a separating member, at least a portion of which is disposed below a guide outlet of the guide surface;

the ice outlet channel, the accommodating tank and the separating baffle are all positioned below the guide outlet of the guide surface; the separation baffle is located go out the ice passageway with between the holding tank, the direction export is located the separation baffle is close to one side of holding tank.

2. The ice ejecting structure of claim 1, wherein the guide outlet is horizontally spaced from the separation baffle, and the separation baffle and the guide outlet both extend in a vertical direction; the separating piece is provided with a drain hole, and the drain hole is communicated with the accommodating groove.

3. The ice ejecting structure of claim 1, wherein the separator includes:

a first housing portion, the ice outlet passage being disposed on the first housing portion;

the second casing part, second casing part protrusion in the lateral wall setting of first casing part, the holding tank sets up on the second casing part, the separation baffle sets up first casing part with the junction of second casing part and formation the lateral wall of holding tank.

4. The ice discharging structure of claim 3, wherein the first housing part comprises a limiting plate and a pipe shell, the pipe shell is provided with the ice discharging passage, the limiting plate is arranged at the end part of the pipe shell, a first end of the limiting plate and a second end of the limiting plate are arranged at intervals to form a mounting opening, and the separation baffle is arranged at the mounting opening; the second shell part comprises a bottom plate and a side plate, and the side plate is arranged at the periphery of the bottom plate to enclose the accommodating groove;

the first end of the side plate is connected with the first end of the limiting plate, and the second end of the side plate is connected with the second end of the limiting plate.

5. The ice ejecting structure of claim 3 or 4, wherein the separator further comprises:

the drain pipe sets up the bottom of second casing portion, the drain pipe with the holding tank intercommunication.

6. The ice discharging structure of claim 1, wherein a connecting water pipe is arranged in the ice discharging passage, and the connecting water pipe is used for introducing liquid.

7. The ice discharging structure of claim 6, wherein the connecting water pipe is attached to the inner wall of the ice discharging passage.

8. The ice outlet structure of claim 6, wherein the outlet of the connecting water pipe is located above the ice outlet of the ice outlet channel, and a flow guide surface is arranged at the outlet of the connecting water pipe.

9. The ice ejecting structure of claim 8, wherein the deflector surface is an annular surface, and the plane of the annular surface is inclined from the horizontal plane.

10. An ice maker, wherein the ice maker comprises an ice bucket and the ice outlet structure of any of claims 1-9, wherein the ice outlet structure is mounted at an ice outlet gate of the ice bucket.