CN115200278A

CN115200278A - Ice bank

Info

Publication number: CN115200278A
Application number: CN202110389737.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张军; 张延庆; 张方友
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-04-12
Filing date: 2021-04-12
Publication date: 2022-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2041-04-12
Also published as: CN115200278B

Abstract

An ice bank, comprising: the box body is internally provided with a base plate; the base plate is provided with an ice falling part and an ice guiding part connected with the ice falling part, the ice guiding part comprises a fixed end connected with one side of the ice falling part and a free end far away from one side of the ice falling part, the height of the ice guiding part is gradually reduced from the fixed end to the free end, and a sliding guide mechanism is arranged between two sides of the free end of the ice guiding part and the side wall of the adjacent box body, so that when the ice falling part moves up and down under the action of external force, the free end of the ice guiding part moves in the box body under the guide of the sliding guide mechanism; through set up the backing plate that has the ice portion of falling and lead ice portion in the box body, the ice-cube falls to leading ice portion behind the ice portion that falls, realizes that the ice-cube begins to pile up around the ice portion that falls earlier, begins to pile up from the ice portion that falls again to along with falling constantly moving down of ice portion, the ice-cube fills up whole ice storage box, has improved the utilization ratio in ice storage space.

Description

Ice storage box

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of refrigeration appliances, in particular to an ice storage box.

Background

Generally, a refrigerator is a home appliance device capable of storing food at a low temperature in a storage space inside shielded by a door. The refrigerator is configured to cool the inside of the storage space by using cold air generated by heat exchange with a refrigerant circulating in a freezing cycle so as to optimally store stored foods.

An ice maker for making ice may be provided inside the refrigerator, and the ice maker is generally provided in a freezing inner container of the refrigerator to make ice by means of cold air in the freezing inner container. After the ice blocks are made, the ice blocks in the ice box are poured into the ice storage box below the ice box by the ice turning device for storage so as to be taken out and used. When the ice blocks in the ice storage box are accumulated to a certain height and are detected by an ice detecting rod in the ice maker, the ice maker stops working.

However, after the ice blocks in the ice box fall into the ice storage box, the ice blocks are firstly accumulated from the falling freezing point to form a mountain-shaped ice pile structure, and the ice maker stops working until the highest point of the ice pile is detected by the ice detecting rod, so that more space is still left in the ice storage box at the moment, the ice storage space of the ice storage box cannot be fully utilized, and the ice storage quantity of the ice maker of the refrigerator is reduced.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an ice bank that improves an ice storage space utilization rate.

To achieve one of the above objects, an embodiment of the present invention provides an ice bank including:

the box body is internally provided with a base plate;

as a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the backing plate has an ice falling portion and an ice guiding portion connected to the ice falling portion, the ice guiding portion includes a fixed end connected to one side of the ice falling portion and a free end far away from one side of the ice falling portion, the height of the ice guiding portion gradually decreases from the fixed end toward the free end, and a sliding guide mechanism is disposed between two sides of the free end of the ice guiding portion and the adjacent side wall of the box body, so that when the ice falling portion moves up and down under the action of an external force, the free end of the ice guiding portion moves in the box body under the guide of the sliding guide mechanism.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the sliding guide mechanism has sliding devices disposed on both sides of the free end of the ice guide portion, and a slide way disposed in the case body to match with the sliding devices.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the sliding device has a connecting portion provided at a side wall of the ice guide portion and a sliding portion connected to the connecting portion.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the sliding track has a base disposed on an inner wall of the box body, and a cover plate connected to the base, a sliding space enclosed between the base and the cover plate is provided for the sliding device to slide, and a limiting opening is disposed at one side of the sliding space to limit the sliding device from separating from the sliding space.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a detachable clamping assembly is provided on the cover plate, so that the sliding device can be separated from the sliding space.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the clamping assembly has an opening formed in the cover plate, and a clamping block inserted into the opening, a positioning groove is formed at the bottom of the clamping block, a positioning block matched with the positioning groove is arranged at the opening position on the base, and the clamping block can be restricted from being separated from the opening after the positioning groove is in butt joint with the positioning block.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the top wall of the cover plate is provided with an inclined surface structure whose height gradually decreases from the side wall of the box body to the center of the bottom surface in the box body.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the backing plate includes a first backing plate and a second backing plate connected to each other, the ice dropping portion is formed at a joint of the first backing plate and the second backing plate, and the ice guiding portion is formed on upper surfaces of the first backing plate and the second backing plate.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the first pad plate and the second pad plate are fixedly connected, and both the first pad plate and the second pad plate are made of flexible materials.

As a further improvement of the embodiment of the present invention, the first pad plate and the second pad plate are hinged to each other, and an elastic mechanism is disposed at a joint of the first pad plate and the second pad plate.

Compared with the prior art, in the embodiment of the invention, the base plate with the ice falling part and the ice guiding part is arranged in the box body, and the ice blocks fall on the ice falling part and then slide to the ice guiding part, so that the ice blocks are firstly stacked from the periphery of the ice falling part and then stacked from the ice falling part, and along with the continuous downward movement of the ice falling part, the ice blocks fill the whole ice storage box, the utilization rate of an ice storage space is improved, and the ice storage amount of the ice maker of the refrigerator is increased.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an ice bank of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 isbase:Sub>A cross-sectional view taken at A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken at B-B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken at a in FIG. 3;

fig. 5 is an exploded schematic view of the ice bank in fig. 1;

fig. 6 is a perspective view of a card block according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments shown in the drawings. These embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and structural, methodological, or functional changes in accordance with the embodiments are within the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that terms used herein such as "upper," "lower," "outer," "inner," and the like, refer to relative spatial positions of one element or feature with respect to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures for purposes of explanation. The spatially relative positional terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures.

Referring to fig. 1, a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an ice bank, which includes a box 10, wherein a pad 20 is disposed in the box 10, and the pad 20 can be disposed on a bottom wall and/or a peripheral side wall of the box, so as to protect the ice bank when ice cubes fall into the box 10 and facilitate the cleaning of the ice bank at a later stage.

Specifically, the backing plate 20 has an ice falling portion 21 and an ice guiding portion 23 connected to the ice falling portion 21, the ice guiding portion 23 includes a fixed end connected to one side of the ice falling portion 21 and a free end far away from one side of the ice falling portion 21, and the height of the ice guiding portion 23 gradually decreases from the fixed end toward the free end.

In the embodiment, the ice falling portion 21 is located right below the falling point of the ice cubes in the ice making machine, that is, after the ice making machine completes ice making, when the ice cubes are poured into the ice storage box, the ice cubes fall onto the ice falling portion 21 of the backing plate 20, and since the ice guiding portion 23 connected to the ice falling portion 21 has a configuration in which the height gradually decreases from the fixed end toward the free end, the ice cubes fall onto the ice guiding portion 23 under the action of gravity of the ice falling portion 21 and finally fall into the box body 10 under the guidance of the ice guiding portion 23, so that the ice cubes are stacked from the periphery of the ice falling portion 21, and then stacked from the ice falling portion, and along with the continuous downward movement of the ice falling portion, the ice cubes fill the whole ice storage box, thereby improving the utilization rate of the ice storage space and increasing the ice storage capacity of the ice making machine. In order to achieve the downward movement of the ice falling portion and further utilize the ice storage space of the ice bank, the pad may be configured to be elastically deformable, that is, when ice cubes are piled up at the ice falling portion 21, the ice falling portion 21 is forced to move downward, so that the overhead space between the lower side of the pad 20 and the case 10 can be finally used to store the ice cubes. The specific shape of the backing plate may be a triangular pyramid, a rectangular pyramid, or other polygonal pyramid-shaped structures, or may be a conical structure, as long as it is a convex structure capable of allowing ice cubes to be accumulated from the periphery of the ice falling portion 21 first.

In the above embodiment, when the ice falls on the ice falling portion 21, a certain impact may be applied to the entire pad 20, which may cause the pad 20 to roll in the box body, and is not favorable for the ice storage of the ice storage box.

To this end, the present invention provides another preferred embodiment, in this embodiment, a sliding guide mechanism 30 is provided between both sides of the free end of the ice guiding portion 23 and the side wall of the adjacent box 10, so that when the ice dropping portion 21 moves up and down under the action of an external force, the free end of the ice guiding portion 23 moves in the box 10 under the guide of the sliding guide mechanism 30.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the slide guide mechanism 30 is provided between both sides of the free end of the ice guide 23 and the side wall of the adjacent box body 10. Thus, the base plate 20 can be smoothly unfolded in the ice storage process, the frictional force between the base plate 20 and the box body 10 in the unfolding process can be reduced, and the ice falling part 21 can stably and smoothly move up and down. Moreover, the sliding guide mechanisms 30 are arranged on two sides of the free end of the ice guide part, so that the end of the free end of the ice guide part 23 is not contacted with the inner wall of the box body 10, and the ice guide part 23 is prevented from being adhered to the box body 10 due to the secondary icing of water generated by melting ice cubes, the expansion of the backing plate 20 is influenced, and the up-and-down movement of the ice guide part 21 is influenced.

Specifically, referring to fig. 2, the slide guide mechanism 30 has slide devices 31 provided on both sides of the free end of the ice guide portion 23, and a slide passage 33 provided in the case body 10 to match the slide devices 31. In this embodiment, the slide 33 may be disposed on the inner bottom wall of the box 10, or may be disposed on the inner sidewall of the box 10.

With reference to fig. 3 and 4, the sliding device 31 has a connecting portion 31a provided on a side wall of the ice guide portion 23 and a sliding portion 31b connected to the connecting portion 31 a. In the present embodiment, the sliding portion 31b is preferably a circular wheel-shaped structure and can function to reduce friction, but of course, the sliding portion 31b may be another structure as long as it functions to slide. As for the connection manner of the sliding portion 31b and the connecting portion 31a, the sliding portion 31b may be fixedly connected to the end portion of the connecting portion 31a, the sliding portion 31b may be rotatably provided at the end portion of the connecting portion 31a by a bearing, or other connection manners capable of reducing the friction force during sliding. Similarly, the connection mode of the sliding portion 31b and the connection portion 31a can also be applied to the connection mode of the connection portion 31a and the ice guiding portion 23.

Further, the slide 33 has a base 33a disposed on the inner wall of the box 10 and a cover 33b connected to the base 33a, a sliding space 33c for the sliding device 31 to slide is defined between the base 33a and the cover 33b, and a limiting opening 33d is disposed at one side of the sliding space 33c to limit the sliding device 31 to separate from the sliding space 33c. In this embodiment, the base 33a, the cover plate 33b and the box body 10 are separately arranged, and the base and the box body 10 can be integrally formed, so that the production cost is reduced. In this embodiment, the sliding space 33c defined by the base 33a and the cover 33b may be set according to the structure of the sliding device 31, and the width between the upper and lower walls of the limiting opening 33d should be smaller than the outer diameter of the sliding portion 31b of the sliding device 31, so as to limit the sliding device 31 in the sliding space 33c, so as to achieve the effect of smooth sliding, and prevent the pad 20 from rolling over in the box 10 or separating from the box 10.

Further, referring to fig. 2, the cover plate 33b is provided with a detachable latch assembly 33e to allow the sliding device 31 to be detached from the sliding space 33c. In this embodiment, the detachable clip assembly 33e can be used to detach the sliding device 31 from the slide rail 33, so as to clean and replace the backing plate 20.

Specifically, referring to fig. 5 and 6, the locking component 33e has an opening 33f formed in the cover plate 33b and a locking block 33g inserted into the opening 33f, a positioning groove 33h is formed in the bottom of the locking block 33g, a positioning block 33i matched with the positioning groove 33h is arranged on the base 33a at the position of the opening 33f, and the locking block 33g can be limited from being disengaged from the opening 33f after the positioning groove 33h is abutted to the positioning block 33 i. In this embodiment, the clamping block 33g is inserted into and pulled out of the positioning groove 33h and the positioning block 33i, so that the opening 33f is completely filled, and the sliding of the sliding device 31 in the slideway 33 is not affected. Moreover, the positioning groove 33h is in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid prism, which can limit the horizontal displacement of the engaging block 33g, and the frictional force between the mating surfaces of the positioning groove 33h and the positioning block 33i can prevent the engaging block 33g from being easily separated from the opening 33f. Similarly, the positioning block 33i and the positioning groove 33h can be arranged in other polygonal column structures or columnar structures.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, the top wall of the cover plate 33b is provided with a slope structure 33j gradually decreasing in height from the side wall of the case 10 toward the center of the inner bottom surface of the case 10. The inclined plane structure 33j arranged on the upper end face of the cover plate 33b can reduce the accumulation of dirt on the end face and is convenient to clean.

In the above embodiment, the cushion plate 20 having the polygonal pyramid structure may be manufactured at a high cost due to its complicated structure.

To provide another preferred embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 1 to 2, in the present embodiment, the backing plate 20 has a herringbone structure, and the ice falling portion 21 and the ice guiding portion 23 are formed, so that the technical effects of the present invention can be achieved and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Specifically, the pad 20 includes a first pad 25 and a second pad 27 connected to each other, the ice dropping part 21 is formed at a connection portion of the first pad 25 and the second pad 27, and the ice guiding part 23 is formed on upper surfaces of the first pad 25 and the second pad 27. In this embodiment, the length and width of the first and

second pads

25 and 27 can be set according to the inner diameter of the box 10, that is, the sum of the widths of the first and

second pads

25 and 27 after being unfolded is greater than or equal to the inner width of the box 10, and the length of the first and

second pads

25 and 27 is preferably equal to the inner length of the box 10, so as to ensure that the first and

second pads

25 and 27 match with the inner bottom surface of the box 10 after being unfolded, and prevent ice cubes from falling below the first and

second pads

25 and 27, thereby increasing the ice storage space of the ice cubes to the maximum. Also, the respective widths of the first and

second pads

25 and 27 are not required as long as the ice falling part 21 formed at the junction of the first and

second pads

25 and 27 is ensured to be just below the falling freezing point in the ice maker.

Further, the first backing plate 25 is fixedly connected with the second backing plate 27, and both the first backing plate 25 and the second backing plate 27 are made of flexible materials. In this embodiment, the first backing plate 25 and the second backing plate 27 are integrally formed to form the backing plate 20, so as to form a herringbone structure, and due to the adoption of the flexible material, the backing plate 20 can elastically deform, so as to ensure the up-and-down movement of the ice falling part 21, and to drive the ice blocks to be accumulated from the two sides of the ice falling part 21, and then to be accumulated from the ice falling part 21, thereby further reducing the production cost. The first and

second cushions

25 and 27 made of flexible material also provide a certain resilient force to the falling ice cubes, preventing the ice cubes from sticking to the cushion 20 and between them.

In addition, the first backing plate 25 and the second backing plate 27 are hinged with each other, and an elastic mechanism 40 is arranged at the joint of the first backing plate 25 and the second backing plate 27. Referring to fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the first backing plate 25 and the second backing plate 27 are hinged together by a pin, and an elastic mechanism 40 is disposed at the hinged position, so that the unfolding process of the backing plate 20 is more linear and stable when the ice falling portion 21 moves up and down. The elastic mechanism 40 may be a torsion spring or other elastic structure for providing a resilient force to the hinge.

In conclusion, the base plate with the ice falling part and the ice guiding part is arranged in the box body, ice blocks fall on the ice falling part and then slide to the ice guiding part, so that the ice blocks are firstly stacked from the periphery of the ice falling part and then are stacked from the ice falling part, and along with the continuous downward movement of the ice falling part, the ice blocks fill the whole ice storage box, the utilization rate of an ice storage space is improved, and the ice storage quantity of the ice maker of the refrigerator is increased; a sliding guide mechanism 30 is arranged between two sides of the free end of the ice guide part 23 and the side wall of the adjacent box body 10, so that the base plate 20 can be stably unfolded, the friction force between the base plate 20 and the box body 10 in the unfolding process can be reduced, and the ice falling part 21 can stably and smoothly move up and down; moreover, the sliding guide mechanisms 30 are arranged at two sides of the free end of the ice guiding part, so that the end of the free end of the ice guiding part 23 is not contacted with the inner wall of the box body 10, and the ice guiding part 23 and the box body 10 can be prevented from being adhered together due to secondary freezing of water generated by melting of ice cubes, the expansion of the backing plate 20 is influenced, and the up-and-down movement of the ice guiding part 21 is influenced; the backing plate 20 adopts a herringbone structure, the ice falling part 21 and the ice guiding part 23 are formed, the structure is simple, and the manufacturing cost is low.

It should be understood that although the present description refers to embodiments, not every embodiment contains only a single technical solution, and such description is for clarity only, and those skilled in the art should make the description as a whole, and the technical solutions in the embodiments can also be combined appropriately to form other embodiments understood by those skilled in the art.

The above-listed detailed description is merely a detailed description of possible embodiments of the present invention, and it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and equivalent embodiments or modifications made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ice bank, comprising:

the box body is internally provided with a base plate;

its characterized in that, the backing plate has the ice portion that falls and connects in the ice portion that leads that falls, lead ice portion including the stiff end of connecting ice portion one side and keep away from the free end of ice portion one side, it highly reduces gradually to lead the direction of ice portion from the stiff end towards the free end, it is provided with sliding guide mechanism between the free end both sides of ice portion and the adjacent box body lateral wall to make when ice portion that falls receives the exogenic action and reciprocates, the free end of leading ice portion removes in the box body under sliding guide mechanism's guide.

2. The ice bank of claim 1, wherein the sliding guide mechanism has sliding means provided at both sides of a free end of the ice guide and a chute provided in the case to match the sliding means.

3. The ice bank of claim 2, wherein the sliding device has a connection part provided at a sidewall of the ice guide part and a sliding part connected to the connection part.

4. The ice bank of claim 2, wherein the chute has a base disposed on an inner wall of the box body and a cover plate connected to the base, a sliding space defined between the base and the cover plate is provided for the sliding of the sliding device, and a limiting opening is disposed at one side of the sliding space to limit the sliding device from escaping from the sliding space.

5. The ice bank of claim 4, wherein the cover plate is provided with a detachable snap assembly so that the sliding device can be detached from the sliding space.

6. The ice storage box of claim 5, wherein the snap-fit assembly has an opening formed in the cover plate and a snap-fit block inserted into the opening, a positioning groove is formed at the bottom of the snap-fit block, a positioning block matched with the positioning groove is arranged at the opening position on the base, and the snap-fit block can be restricted from being separated from the opening after the positioning groove is butted with the positioning block.

7. The ice bank as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the top wall of the cover plate is provided with a slope structure having a height gradually decreasing from the side wall of the case toward the center of the bottom surface of the case.

8. The ice bank of claim 1, wherein the pad includes a first pad and a second pad connected to each other, the ice falling portion is formed at a connection of the first pad and the second pad, and the ice guiding portion is formed on upper surfaces of the first pad and the second pad.

9. The ice bank of claim 8, wherein the first and second pads are fixedly connected, and both the first and second pads are made of a flexible material.

10. The ice bank of claim 8, wherein the first and second pads are hinged to each other, and an elastic mechanism is provided at a junction of the first and second pads.