CN115727596A - Refrigerating and freezing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerating and freezing device, comprising: the ice clothes plating device comprises a box body, an ice clothes room and a water tank, wherein the box body is internally limited with an ice clothes room for plating ice clothes on articles; a water flow driving mechanism disposed in the water tank and configured to urge water in the water tank to flow in a preset direction; an article driving mechanism disposed in the ice clothes compartment and configured to repeatedly immerse and lift out articles to be coated with ice clothes, which are accommodated in the ice clothes compartment, into and from the water in the water tank; and an air blowing mechanism configured to blow a cooling air flow toward the articles at least after the articles are lifted out of the water surface to promote the formation of ice coating on the surfaces of the articles. In the ice clothes plating process, water in the water tank continuously moves, and the water in continuous motion is not easy to condense, so that the normal operation of the ice clothes plating process of articles is ensured, and the ice clothes plating efficiency is improved. According to the invention, all areas on the surface of the article can be fully contacted with water in a soaking mode, so that an ice coat layer with uniform thickness is formed.

Description

Refrigerating and freezing device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of household appliances, in particular to a refrigerating and freezing device.

Background

The refrigerator is refrigeration equipment which relieves food decay through temperature reduction and prolongs the shelf life so as to achieve the aim of fresh keeping. However, frozen foods are subject to sublimation of ice crystals during storage, dry loss, oxidative deterioration, and the like, and particularly, air-cooled refrigerators are serious. Therefore, in the prior art, a refrigerator with an ice coating function appears, water is sprayed to food materials after the food materials are pre-frozen, so that the water is condensed into ice on the surfaces of the food materials to form the ice coating, air is isolated, the food materials are prevented from being in direct contact with the air, the dry consumption of the food is reduced, and the growth of microorganisms in the food is effectively inhibited.

However, the above existing refrigerator has many disadvantages in forming ice coating on the surface of the food material, for example, the food material must be pre-frozen first, which results in long time consumption of the whole process of coating ice coating; the ice coating can be formed only by spraying water to the food materials in a freezing environment with the temperature below zero, which can cause the spraying device, particularly a spray head, to be frozen and blocked, thereby affecting the spraying effect; the water sprayed by the spraying device is gathered in the compartment after being sprayed on the surface of the food material, the compartment is easy to generate icing phenomenon to cause abnormal icing in the compartment, and the part of the water is difficult to discharge; the region water spraying that the food material is close to the shower nozzle is more, and the ice clothing that forms is thicker, and the region water spraying that the food material kept away from the shower nozzle is less, and the ice clothing that forms is thinner, leads to the ice clothing thickness of whole food material inhomogeneous, and it is not good to eat the material preservation effect.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a refrigeration and freezing apparatus with high ice coating efficiency and low temperature requirements for the ice coating room.

Another purpose of the invention is to avoid icing of water for plating the ice clothes in the ice clothes room and further improve the efficiency of plating the ice clothes.

It is a further object of the present invention to ensure that a layer of ice coating of uniform thickness is formed on the surface of the article.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a refrigerating and freezing apparatus comprising:

the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a water tank and a water tank, wherein an ice clothes chamber for plating ice clothes on articles is limited in the refrigerator body, and a water tank for containing water is arranged in the ice clothes chamber;

a water flow driving mechanism disposed in the water tank and configured to cause water in the water tank to flow in a preset direction;

an article driving mechanism disposed in the ice coating chamber and configured to repeatedly immerse and lift out articles to be coated with ice coatings, which are accommodated in the ice coating chamber, into and from the water in the water tank; and

a blowing mechanism configured to blow a cooling airflow toward the articles at least after the articles are lifted out of the water surface to promote the formation of ice coating on the surfaces of the articles.

Optionally, the water tank is provided with a water injection port for injecting water into the water tank and a water discharge port for discharging water in the water tank; and is

The water flow driving mechanism is arranged on a guide sheet on the inner side of the water injection port, a reversing cavity is limited between the guide sheet and the inner wall of the water tank, the water injection port is communicated with the reversing cavity, and the reversing cavity only faces one side of the water tank in the circumferential direction and is opened so as to enable water injected through the water injection port to flow out of one side of the water tank in the circumferential direction after flowing through the reversing cavity.

Optionally, a first end of the guide piece located in the circumferential direction of the water tank is connected to an inner wall of the water tank, the guide piece extends from the first end of the guide piece to a second end of the guide piece located in the circumferential direction of the water tank along the counterclockwise direction, and an opening of the reversing cavity is formed between the second end of the guide piece and the inner wall of the water tank to promote water injected through the water injection port to flow into the water tank along the counterclockwise direction.

Optionally, a refrigerating compartment is further defined in the box body, and the refrigerating and freezing device further includes:

the water storage device is arranged in the refrigerating chamber and used for storing water for plating the ice clothes; and

and the water conveying pipeline is connected between the water tank and the water storage device and is used for forming water circulation between the water storage device and the water tank.

Optionally, the cold storage compartment is positioned above the ice-clothes compartment; and is

The water conveying pipeline comprises a water injection pipe for injecting water in the water storage device into the water tank, an on-off valve is arranged on the water injection pipe, and the on-off valve is configured to be controlled to be opened so as to conduct the water injection pipe and/or controlled to be closed so as to block the water injection pipe, so that the water in the water storage device continuously flows to the water tank through the water injection pipe under the action of self gravity when the water injection pipe is conducted, and the water in the water storage device is prevented from flowing to the water tank when the water injection pipe is blocked.

Optionally, the water pipe further includes a drain pipe for draining the water in the water tank to the water storage device, a water pump is disposed on a pipeline of the drain pipe, and the water pump is configured to be controlled to start after the water in the water tank reaches a set water level, so as to drive the water in the water tank to be drained to the water storage device through the drain pipe, thereby forming a continuous water flow circulation between the water storage device and the water tank.

Optionally, the number of the water injection ports is multiple, and each water injection port is provided with one guide sheet; and is provided with

The plurality of guide pieces are configured to urge the water injected through the plurality of water injection ports to flow into the water tank in the same clockwise direction.

Optionally, a cooling chamber is further defined in the box body, and an evaporator for exchanging heat with the airflow flowing through the cooling chamber to generate a cooling airflow is arranged in the cooling chamber; and is

The air supply mechanism comprises a fan arranged in the cooling chamber and an air guide duct communicated with the cooling chamber, the air guide duct is extended from an air supply outlet of the ice-coat room to the inside of the ice-coat room in a protruding mode, and an air outlet of the air guide duct faces the position where the article is located when the article is lifted out of the water surface by the article driving mechanism.

Optionally, the number of the air guide channels is two, and the two air guide channels are symmetrically distributed on two lateral sides of the article driving mechanism to blow cooling air flows to the articles from two directions simultaneously.

Optionally, the water tank is generally cylindrical; and is provided with

The inner wall of basin is including the interior diapire that is located the bottom and the internal perisporium that is located upwards week, interior diapire with the internal perisporium is all smooth, just interior diapire with smooth connection between the internal perisporium.

The refrigerating and freezing device of the invention is provided with an ice clothes chamber, a water tank, a water flow driving mechanism and an article driving mechanism are arranged in the ice clothes chamber, articles are repeatedly soaked and lifted out of the water surface by the article driving mechanism, and cooling air flow is blown towards the articles at least after the articles are lifted out of the water surface. After the article is lifted out of the water surface, part of water is attached to the surface of the article; the temperature of the cooling air stream formed in the refrigerated freezer is very low and it is capable of transferring cold energy to the water adhering to the surface of the article, causing the water to condense into ice, thereby forming an ice coating on the surface of the article. The invention skillfully utilizes the function of forming cooling airflow commonly possessed by the refrigerating and freezing device to blow the cooling airflow to the article, and utilizes the cooling airflow to provide cold energy for the condensation of water, on one hand, other cold energy providing devices are not required to be added, and the structure of the refrigerating and freezing device is simplified; on the other hand, the articles do not need to be pre-frozen, so that the pre-freezing time of the articles is saved, and the ice coating efficiency of the articles is improved; on the other hand, the temperature in the ice clothes room is not required to be below zero, and the requirement on the temperature in the ice clothes room is reduced.

The applicant has recognized that during the ice coating process, since a large amount of cooling air needs to be blown to the articles, the temperature in the ice coating chamber will gradually drop, and after the ice coating process is continued for a while, the temperature in the ice coating chamber may drop below zero, and the water in the water tank may freeze to affect the ice coating of the articles. For this purpose, the present application provides in particular a water flow drive in the water reservoir, by means of which the water in the water reservoir is caused to flow in a predetermined direction, i.e. the water in the water reservoir is not stationary but is continuously moving relative to the water reservoir during the ice coating process. The water which moves continuously can not be coagulated even in the environment below zero, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the process of plating the ice clothes on the article. And the water temperature in the water tank can be reduced along with the temperature reduction in the ice clothes room, and the water with lower temperature is attached to the surface of the article and can be condensed after absorbing a small amount of cold energy, so that the ice clothes can be formed on the surface of the article more favorably, and the ice clothes plating efficiency of the article is further improved.

According to the invention, all areas on the surface of the article can be fully contacted with water in a soaking mode, and after the article is lifted out of the water surface, the distribution of the water attached to the surface of the article is relatively uniform, so that the ice coat layer formed on the surface of the article is relatively uniform.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter by way of example and not by way of limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigeration freezer according to one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic exploded view of a refrigeration freezer apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are schematic block diagrams of a sink in various orientations according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic enlarged view of portion A of FIG. 4;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator-freezer according to an embodiment of the present invention with the cabinet hidden;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of a portion of a refrigeration freezer apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sink and an article drive mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a sink and an article drive mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention provides a refrigeration and freezing device, wherein FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the refrigeration and freezing device according to one embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic structural exploded view of the refrigeration and freezing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 of the present invention includes a cabinet 10, an ice coating compartment 11 for coating ice coating on an article is defined in the cabinet 10, and a water tank 20 for containing water is provided in the ice coating compartment 11.

In particular, the refrigerating and freezing apparatus 1 further includes a water flow driving mechanism, an article driving mechanism 40, and an air blowing mechanism. The water flow driving mechanism is disposed in the water tank 20 and configured to cause water in the water tank 20 to flow in a predetermined direction. The article driving mechanism 40 is disposed in the ice-coating compartment 11 and configured to repeatedly immerse and lift the articles to be coated in the ice-coating compartment 11 in and out of the water in the water tank 20, the article driving mechanism 40 lifting the articles out of the water meaning that the articles are brought to a position above the water by the article driving mechanism 40. The air blowing mechanism is configured to blow a cooling air flow toward the articles at least after the articles are lifted out of the water surface to promote the formation of ice clothes on the surfaces of the articles. That is, the cooling air flow can be blown toward the object only after the object is lifted out of the water, so as to ensure that the cooling capacity of the cooling air flow is mainly transferred to the object, and avoid the phenomenon that the temperature in the ice clothes compartment 11 is too low due to continuous blowing of the cooling air flow. Of course, the cooling air flow can be continuously blown during the ice clothes coating process of the article, and the control logic of the scheme is simple. When the article is lifted out of the water, a portion of the water adheres to its surface. The temperature of the cooling air flow formed in the cold-storage freezer 1 is very low and it is capable of transferring cold to the water adhering to the surface of the article, causing the water to condense into ice, thereby forming an ice coating layer on the surface of the article.

The invention skillfully utilizes the function of forming cooling airflow commonly possessed by the refrigerating and freezing device 1 to blow the cooling airflow to the article, and utilizes the cooling airflow to provide cold energy for the condensation of water, on one hand, other cold energy providing devices are not required to be added, and the structure of the refrigerating and freezing device 1 is simplified; on the other hand, the articles do not need to be frozen in advance, so that the pre-freezing time of the articles is saved, and the ice coating efficiency of the articles is improved; on the other hand, the temperature in the ice-clothes compartment 11 is not required to be a freezing temperature below zero, and the requirement on the temperature of the ice-clothes compartment 11 is reduced.

The applicant has appreciated that during the ice coating process, the temperature in the ice coating compartment 11 will gradually drop due to the large amount of cooling air flow that needs to be blown against the articles. When the ice coating process continues for a period of time, the temperature in the ice coating compartment 11 may drop below zero, and the water in the water tank 20 may freeze to affect the coating of the articles. To this end, the present application specifically provides a water flow driving mechanism within the water tank 20, by which water within the water tank 20 is caused to flow in a predetermined direction. That is, the water in the water tub 20 is not stationary but continuously moves with respect to the water tub 20 during the ice coating process. The water which moves continuously can not be coagulated even in the environment below zero, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the process of plating the ice clothes on the article. In addition, the temperature of the water in the water tank 20 is reduced along with the temperature reduction in the ice clothes chamber 11, and the water with lower temperature is attached to the surface of the article and can be condensed after absorbing a small amount of cold energy, so that the formation of the ice clothes on the surface of the article is facilitated, and the efficiency of plating the ice clothes on the article is further improved.

In addition, each area on the surface of the article can be completely and fully contacted with water in a soaking mode, and after the article is lifted out of the water surface, the distribution of the water attached to the surface of the article is relatively uniform, so that the ice clothes layer formed on the surface of the article is relatively uniform.

Meanwhile, the article driving mechanism 40 repeatedly immerses the articles in water and lifts the articles out of the water, and blows cooling air flow towards the articles after each time the articles lift out of the water, so that part of water can be carried out after the articles forming the thin ice film layer lift out of the water again, and the part of water is further condensed into ice on the basis of the original ice film layer.

Therefore, the invention obtains the effect of ice coating comparable to industrial streamline by arranging the water flow driving mechanism in the household refrigerating and freezing device, utilizing the function of cold air conveying of the refrigerating and freezing device and using the immersion method to coat the ice coating on the object.

Specifically, the preset direction may be a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction.

Fig. 3 and 4 are schematic structural views of a water tank according to an embodiment of the present invention in various orientations, and fig. 5 is a schematic enlarged view of a portion a of fig. 4. In some embodiments, the basin 20 is generally cylindrical in shape. The inner wall 23 of the water tank 20 includes an inner bottom wall at the bottom and an inner circumferential wall in the circumferential direction, both of which are smooth and between which there is a smooth connection. Thus, the entire inner wall of the water tank 20 is smooth, reducing resistance of the water when the water tank 20 flows, facilitating the water to flow at a high flow rate.

In some embodiments, the water tank 20 is opened with a water filling port 21 for filling water therein and a water discharge port 22 for discharging water therein. Further, the water flow driving mechanism is a guide piece 31 arranged on the inner side of the water filling opening 21, a reversing cavity 32 is defined between the guide piece 31 and the inner wall of the water tank 20, the water filling opening 21 is communicated with the reversing cavity 32, and the reversing cavity 32 is only opened towards one side of the water tank 20 in the circumferential direction so as to promote the water flow injected through the water filling opening 21 to flow out towards one side of the water tank 20 in the circumferential direction after passing through the reversing cavity 32, so that the water in the water tank 20 flows along the preset direction.

The arrangement of the guide pieces 31 and the direction changing cavity 32 changes the flow direction of the water flowing from the water filling port 21 to the water tank 20, so that the water tends to flow in the preset direction when being filled into the water tank 20, and the water still flows in the preset direction under the inertia effect after flowing into the water tank 20. The guide piece 31 with a very simple structure prompts the water in the water tank 20 to flow along the preset direction, thereby replacing the scheme of driving the water to flow by using the electric driving mechanism which is commonly adopted in the traditional design idea, having very novel design idea and achieving unexpected beneficial technical effects. Moreover, the guide piece 31 can be integrally formed with the water tank 20, so that the connection between the guide piece 31 and the water tank 20 is simplified, the structural design difficulty and the assembly difficulty of the refrigerating and freezing device 1 are reduced to a great extent, and the cost of the refrigerating and freezing device 1 is reduced.

In some embodiments, the first end 311 of the guide piece 31 located on the circumferential direction of the water tank 20 is connected to the inner wall of the water tank 20, the guide piece 31 extends from the first end 311 to the second end 312 of the guide piece 31 located on the circumferential direction of the water tank 20 in the counterclockwise direction, and the opening of the direction-changing chamber 32 is formed between the second end 312 of the guide piece 31 and the inner wall 23 of the water tank 20, so that the water flow direction in the direction-changing chamber 32 is in the counterclockwise direction, which can promote the water injected through the water injection port 21 to flow into the water tank 20 in the counterclockwise direction, thereby enabling the water in the water tank 20 to flow in the counterclockwise direction. Due to the influence of the rotation of the earth, the water flow vortex of the northern hemisphere rotates anticlockwise. Therefore, the present invention arranges the guide piece 31 to promote the water in the water tank 20 to flow in the counterclockwise direction more easily, and the water flows faster, reducing the requirement for the guide piece 31.

It will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, the guide tabs 31 or other water flow driving mechanism may also urge the water in the basin 20 in a clockwise direction.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator-freezer according to an embodiment of the present invention with the cabinet hidden. In some embodiments, the refrigerator 10 further defines a refrigerated compartment 12 therein, and the refrigerated freezer further includes a water storage device 50 and a water conduit 60. The water storage device 50 is disposed in the refrigerating compartment 12 and is used for storing water for ice coating. The water pipe 60 is connected between the water tank 20 and the water storage device 50 for forming a water circulation between the water storage device 50 and the water tank 20.

Since the storage temperature in the refrigerating compartment 12 is generally between 4 ℃ and 8 ℃, the water storage device 50 is arranged in the refrigerating compartment 12 to ensure that the temperature of the water supplied to the water tank 20 is at a lower temperature above zero, the water with the lower temperature is attached to the surface of the article, and can be condensed into ice after absorbing less cold energy, so that the speed of coating the article with ice is increased, the temperature of the water conveyed to the water tank 20 is prevented from being reduced by other methods, and the structure of the refrigerating and freezing device 1 is simplified.

More importantly, the water pipe 60 is arranged to circulate water between the water storage device 50 and the water tank 20, that is, water in the water storage device 50 can be continuously supplied to the water tank 20 through the water pipe 60, and excess water in the water tank 20 can be returned to the water storage device 50 through the water pipe 60. Therefore, the water pipe 60 may allow water to be continuously injected into the water tank 20, so that the water flow direction regulating function is continuously exerted by the guide piece 31 which regulates the flow direction of water only in the process of flowing into the water tank 20, thereby allowing the water in the water tank 20 to stably flow in the preset direction for a long time.

Preferably, the water storage means 50 is provided at the top within the refrigerated compartment 12. By utilizing the principle that hot air rises and cold air falls in the heat convection process, the cold quantity in the refrigerating chamber 12 and the cold quantity in the water storage device 50 sink, and the water storage device 50 also absorbs the heat quantity rising in the refrigerating chamber 12 at the same time, so that the phenomenon that water contained in the water storage device is frozen is avoided, and the water for ice-plated clothes can be reliably and stably provided for articles.

In addition, the water storage device 50 disposed at the top of the refrigerating compartment 12 may form a height difference with the water tank 20 as large as possible, and when the water in the water storage device 50 flows into the water tank 20 under the action of its own gravity, a large initial speed may be obtained, which is beneficial to the water to continuously flow in the water tank 20 along a preset direction.

Meanwhile, the top of the interior of the refrigeration compartment 12 is a place that is not accessible to a typical user, and in general, no items are stored in the top of the interior of the refrigeration compartment 12 except for the rare case where the interior of the refrigeration compartment 12 is filled with a large amount of items. Therefore, the water storage device 50 is disposed at the top of the refrigerating compartment 12, and the space at the top of the refrigerating compartment 12 is fully utilized, so that the user does not affect the taking and placing of the articles in the refrigerating compartment 12.

In some embodiments, the refrigerating compartment 12 is located above the ice-clothes compartment 11, and thus the water storage device 50 is located above the water tank 20 with a certain height difference in a vertical direction.

Further, the water pipe 60 includes a water injection pipe 61 for injecting water in the water storage device 50 into the water tank 20, and an on-off valve 63 is disposed on a pipe of the water injection pipe 61, and the on-off valve 63 is configured to be controllably opened to turn on the water injection pipe 61 and/or controllably closed to block the water injection pipe 61, so that the water in the water storage device 50 continuously flows to the water tank 20 through the water injection pipe 61 under the effect of its own gravity when the water injection pipe 61 is turned on, and the water in the water storage device 50 is prevented from flowing to the water tank 20 when the water injection pipe 61 is blocked.

That is, according to the present invention, the position of the refrigerating compartment 12 and the ice-clothes compartment 11 causes a certain height difference between the water storage device 50 and the water tank 20, the height difference can be used to promote the water in the water storage device 50 to automatically flow to the water tank 20 through the water injection pipe 61 under the action of its own gravity, and the water injection progress of the water tank 20 is automatically controlled by the on-off valve 63 disposed in the water injection pipe 61, so that a driving device for injecting water into the water tank 20 is omitted, the cost is reduced, and the structure is simplified.

In some embodiments, the water conduit 60 further includes a water discharge pipe 62 for discharging water in the water tank 20 to the water storage device 50, and a water pump 64 is disposed on the water discharge pipe 62, wherein the water pump 64 is configured to be controllably activated after the water in the water tank 20 reaches a set water level to drive the water in the water tank 20 to be discharged to the water storage device 50 through the water discharge pipe 62, so as to form a continuous water circulation between the water storage device 50 and the water tank 20. Since the height of the water tank 20 is lower than that of the water storage device 50, a driving device like the water pump 64 must be used to pump the water in the water tank 20 toward the water storage device 50. The water pump 64 has a simple structure, is stably controlled, and facilitates to maintain a constant water level in the water tub 20. The water pump 64 is started only when the water in the water tank 20 reaches a set water level, so that the phenomenon that too little water in the water tank 20 affects the ice coating effect of the articles or the water overflows due to too much water can be avoided.

Specifically, when the article is coated with ice clothes, the on-off valve 63 is first opened to fill the water tank 20 with water. When the water level in the water tank 20 reaches the preset level, the water pump 64 is restarted. During the process of plating the ice clothes on the articles, the on-off valve 63 is kept in an opening state, and the water pump 64 is kept in a starting state. The sum of the pumping amount of the water pump 64 and the water consumption of the ice coating article may be equal to the amount of water flowing into the water reservoir 20 through the water filling pipe 61 so that the water level in the water reservoir 20 is maintained at the preset water level. In this process, the guide piece 31 continuously acts to promote the water in the water reservoir 20 to continuously flow in the preset direction. When the ice coating of the article is completed, the water pump 64 may continue to operate until the water in the water tank 20 is emptied.

Further, a water level sensor 24 may be provided on the water tank 20, and the water level sensor 24 is used to detect the water level in the water tank 20 so as to control the on-off valve 63 and the water pump 64.

The inventor has recognized that a larger volume of the tank 20 will hold a larger volume of water. Relying on a single guide tab 31 may not be effective in promoting efficient flow of all of the water within the basin 20. To this end, in some embodiments, the number of the water injection ports 21 may be plural, and one guide piece 31 is provided at each water injection port 21. The plurality of guide fins 31 are configured to urge the water injected through the plurality of water injection ports 21 to flow into the water tub 20 in the same clockwise direction. That is, the plurality of guide pieces 31 promote the water in different portions of the water tank 20 in the same direction, for example, the plurality of guide pieces 31 promote the water in different portions of the water to flow in the counterclockwise direction, and the cooperation of the plurality of guide pieces 31 ensures that all the water in the water tank 20 flows efficiently.

Fig. 7 is a partial schematic structural view of a refrigerating and freezing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 6 and 7, in some embodiments, the housing 10 further defines a cooling chamber therein, the cooling chamber having an evaporator 73 therein for exchanging heat with the airflow passing therethrough to produce a cooled airflow. Further, the air supply mechanism may include a fan 81 disposed in the cooling chamber and an air guide duct 82 communicated with the cooling chamber, the air guide duct 82 protrudes from the air supply outlet of the ice-coat compartment 11 toward the inside of the ice-coat compartment 11, and the air outlet 821 of the air guide duct 82 faces the position of the article when the article is lifted out of the water by the article driving mechanism 40.

The evaporator 73 and the fan 81 are structures commonly existing in the existing refrigerating and freezing device, do not need to be additionally arranged, and fully utilize the existing structure of the refrigerating and freezing device. The air guide duct 82 extends into the ice clothes compartment 11, and the air outlet 821 of the air guide duct faces the position where the article is lifted out of the water surface, so that the cooling air flow blown out from the air guide duct 82 can be blown to the article more pertinently, on one hand, the cooling capacity of the cooling air flow can be more intensively transmitted to the water on the surface of the article, the cooling capacity dissipated to other positions of the ice clothes compartment 11 is reduced, the cooling capacity utilization rate of the cooling air flow is improved, and the icing phenomenon caused by excessive absorption of the cooling capacity at other positions of the ice clothes compartment 11 is prevented; on the other hand, the speed of the cooling air flow blowing to the article is improved, the heat exchange between the cooling air flow and the water on the surface of the article is accelerated, and the efficiency of ice clothes plating of the article is improved.

Further, the number of the air guiding ducts 82 is preferably two, and the two air guiding ducts 82 are symmetrically distributed on both lateral sides of the article driving mechanism 40 to blow cooling air toward the articles from two directions simultaneously. Thereby, each region of the article is uniformly exposed to the cooling air flow, thereby promoting a relatively uniform rate of ice coating generation in each region of the article.

In some embodiments, the water flow drive mechanism may be further configured to cause items housed within the sink 20 to move with the water flow. The water storage means 50 located at the top of the compartment 12 may cause the water to flow into the basin 20 at a greater initial velocity, thereby propelling the heavier items along with the water flow. Further, the article drive mechanism 40 may be a flipping mechanism disposed within the tank 20, the flipping mechanism configured to be controllably rotated to repeatedly lift and dump articles within the tank 20 to and from the flipping mechanism.

The invention puts the article to be plated with the ice clothes into the water tank 20, the article and the water in the water tank 20 move together by using the water flow driving mechanism, the turnover mechanism only lifts the article moved to the position out of the water surface and pours the article into the water, and each lifted article can fully and effectively contact with cooling air flow because the quantity of the article lifted each time is less, thereby forming an ice coating layer on the surface of each article and having better ice clothes plating effect. Moreover, the articles continuously move in the water tank 20, the turnover mechanism continuously rotates, different articles can be lifted out of the water surface and poured into the water in the rotating process, and the process is repeated, so that the purpose of effectively plating ice clothes on more articles is achieved.

In some embodiments, the turnover mechanism comprises a rotating shaft 41 extending in a horizontal direction, and at least one skip 42 fixedly connected to the rotating shaft 41 and distributed in a circumferential direction of the rotating shaft 41. Each skip 42 is configured to rotate by the rotation shaft 41 to alternately turn into and out of the water in the water tank 20, thereby lifting the articles in the water tank 20 moved to the skip 42 out of the water surface when the skip is turned out of the water in the water tank 20, and pouring the articles lifted out into the water while the skip 42 is turned from the water surface to the water in the water tank 20.

The rotation of the dump box 42 alternately lifts different articles from the water surface and pours them into the water in the trough 20, and the above operation is repeated to lift all the articles from the water surface and pour them into the water.

In some embodiments, the dump body 42 is provided in plural numbers, and the plural dump bodies 42 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft 41. Thus, the plurality of buckets 42 can be alternately transferred into and out of the water in the tank 20, thereby alternately lifting and lowering different articles moving in the tank 20 out of and into the water surface, respectively. That is, the turning mechanism always has a part of the dump body 42 immersed in the water and the other part of the dump body 42 above the water surface. In other words, some of the articles are always immersed in the water in the tank 20, and some of the articles are always in the water-out state above the water surface. The air supply mechanism continuously supplies air towards the turnover mechanism, can blow cooling air flow to different articles sequentially lifted by the plurality of tipping buckets 42, fully utilizes the time that part of the articles need to be immersed in water again after being blown with the cooling air flow to blow cooling air flow to other articles, and carries out ice coating on a large number of articles in a time-sharing and batch mode, thereby ensuring that the large number of articles still have high ice coating efficiency.

Further, each dump bucket 42 has a hollow structure with a plurality of draining holes. Therefore, when the tipping bucket 42 rotates out of the water surface, the water brought out can drop into the water tank 20 through the draining holes, and the redundant water carried by the article lifted by the tipping bucket 42 can also drop into the water tank 20 through the draining holes, so that the phenomenon that the tipping bucket 42 is frozen due to the water retention is avoided, and the phenomenon that the thickness of the ice clothes formed on the surface of the article is uneven due to the accumulation of the redundant water carried by the article at the bottom of the article is also avoided.

In some embodiments, the axis of rotation 41 of the tilting mechanism is at a height above the maximum water level in the tank 20, so that each skip 42 has a fully raised and out of water condition, so that each article lifted by each skip 42 has a fully de-watered out condition, ensuring that each article lifted by each skip 42 can be blown into a cooling air flow to effectively form an ice coating on its surface.

In some embodiments, the direction of rotation of the tilting mechanism is such that the direction of rotation of each dump body 42 in the water in the tank 20 is opposite to the direction of the water flow in the tank 20, i.e. opposite to the direction of movement of the items in the tank 20. The opening direction of each dump bucket 42 is arranged to face in the direction of the water flow when the dump bucket 42 is in the water in the tank 20, i.e. to face in the direction of the motion of the articles, so that the dump bucket 42 intercepts or catches the moving articles in the water and effectively lifts at least part of the articles intercepted or caught by the dump bucket out of the water.

The inventors have recognized that the water in the tank 20, when flowing in a predetermined direction (e.g., counterclockwise), may form a vortex at the center of the tank 20. If an object in the water moves to the whirlpool at the center of the water tub 20, an effective movement track is not formed in the water, and the dump bucket 42 of the turnover mechanism may not intercept or catch the object, thereby causing the object not to be effectively coated with ice.

To this end, referring to a schematic cross-sectional view of the sink and article drive mechanism shown in FIG. 8 according to one embodiment of the present invention, in some embodiments, the center of the sink 20 is provided with an upwardly projecting boss 25 to form an annular region 26 within the sink 20 surrounding the boss 25 radially outward. The arrangement of the boss 25 can not only prevent the center of the water tank 20 from forming a vortex, but also form an annular area 26 surrounding the boss 25, so that the articles in the water tank 20 can flow in the annular area 26 along with the water flow, the movement range of the articles is reduced, the movement track of the articles is regularized, and the articles can be conveniently blocked or captured by the overturning mechanism.

Further, the flipping mechanism is disposed within the annular region 26, and can effectively intercept or catch the objects moving within the annular region 26.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in some embodiments, the rotational axis 41 of the canting mechanism extends from the circumferential side wall of the water tank 20 into the water tank 20 in the radial direction of the water tank 20, and the size of the canting mechanism in the radial direction of the water tank 20 matches the size of the annular region 26. Specifically, the turning shaft 41 of the turnover mechanism may extend to the peripheral wall of the boss 25 or close to the peripheral wall of the boss 25 so that the dump box 42 fixed to the circumferential direction of the turning shaft 41 more fully covers the entire annular region 26 in the radial direction of the water tank 20.

Further, the shape of the outer contour line of each dump 42 in the radial direction of the water tub 20 matches the shape of the extended curve of the inner wall of the water tub 20 in the radial direction of the water tub 20 corresponding to the annular region 26. Therefore, when the dump bucket 42 is in the water tank 20, the annular area 26 can be basically filled in the radial direction of the water tank 20, the gap formed between the dump bucket 42 and the annular area 26 only needs to ensure that the dump bucket 42 can rotate without interference, articles moving to the dump bucket 42 in the annular area 26 can be lifted by the dump bucket 42, and partial articles are prevented from being meshed and cannot be coated with ice clothes.

Specifically, the outer contour of each dump body in the radial direction of the trough 20 may be a semi-circular arc, and accordingly, the inner wall of the trough 20 corresponding to the annular region 26 extends along a curve of the semi-circular arc in the radial direction of the trough 20.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a sink and article drive mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention. In some embodiments, the refrigerator freezer 1 of the present invention further comprises a drive motor 91 and a rotary sleeve 92. The driving motor 91 is provided outside the water tub 20 for outputting a driving force. The rotation bushing 92 is connected between the output shaft of the driving motor 91 and the rotation shaft 41 of the turnover mechanism, and serves to transmit power output from the driving motor 91 to the rotation shaft 41, thereby causing the turnover mechanism to rotate.

The applicant realizes that in the process of coating ice clothes, cooling air flow blows towards the turnover mechanism, one part of the turnover mechanism is always soaked in water in the water tank 20, and the other part of the turnover mechanism is above the water surface, so that the temperature of the turnover mechanism also lingers around the freezing point, and the possibility of icing in a small part of area of the turnover mechanism exists.

For this purpose, the present invention provides a heating device 93 on the rotating sleeve 92, the heating device 93 is configured to be controlled to start after the article is coated with ice, the heat generated by the heating device 93 is transmitted to the turnover mechanism through the rotating sleeve 92, so as to promote the frost on the turnover mechanism to melt, and the frost water generated by the frost on the turnover mechanism to melt falls into the water tank 20 and is discharged together with the water in the water tank 20.

Specifically, tilting mechanism can be made by the higher material of coefficient of heat conductivity, tilting mechanism can be made for the metal material for example, and on the one hand, the part that tilting mechanism soaks in the aquatic can absorb its cold volume that is in the part more than the surface of water, avoids tilting mechanism's temperature to hang down excessively and form more icing phenomenon, and on the other hand, after article ice coating is accomplished, the heat that heating device 93 produced still can be fast, transmit each region to tilting mechanism evenly, be favorable to melting of the last ice blanket of tilting mechanism.

In some embodiments, a driving motor 91 is disposed outside the water tank 20 and connected to the rotating shaft 41 of the turnover mechanism, and the driving motor 91 is configured to drive the turnover mechanism to rotate at a constant speed. The inventor realizes that as the ice coating process of the article is carried out, the ice coating layer formed on the surface of the article is gradually thickened, so that the weight of the article is gradually increased, and the resistance to the rotation of the turnover mechanism is gradually increased. If the turnover mechanism rotates at a constant speed all the time, the power of the driving motor 91 needs to be gradually increased, that is, the power of the driving motor 91 is changed, and the thickness of the ice coat layer formed on the surface of the object can be indirectly reflected.

To this end, the refrigeration and freezing device 1 of the present invention further comprises a control device connected to the driving motor 91 and configured to determine that the article is finished being coated with ice when the power of the driving motor 91 is increased to a preset power threshold. The power of the driving motor 91 has a positive correlation with the thickness of the ice coating formed on the surface of the article, so that when the power of the driving motor 91 is increased to a preset power threshold, it can be considered that the ice coating with a proper thickness is formed on the surface of the article.

The rotating speed of the turnover mechanism is set to be constant, on one hand, whether the ice clothes are plated on the articles can be judged according to the power of the driving motor 91, the conception is ingenious, the thought is novel, the parameter is very easy to obtain, on the other hand, the time length of each time that all the articles are immersed in water and the time length of each time that all the articles are discharged from water can be ensured to be constant, and therefore the ice clothes formed by all the articles are uniform.

In some embodiments, the cabinet 10 further defines a freezer compartment 13 therein, a cooling compartment is disposed behind the freezer compartment 13, and the evaporator 73 and the fan 81 are disposed within the cooling compartment.

In particular, the evaporator 73 may be used to provide cooling energy to the freezing compartment 13 and the ice-coating compartment 11. The refrigerating and freezing device 1 can also comprise a refrigerating evaporator 71 for providing cold for the refrigerating chamber 12, and a water receiving tray 72 is arranged below the refrigerating evaporator 71. The refrigerating compartment 12, the ice-clothes compartment 11 and the freezing compartment 13 are sequentially arranged from top to bottom, and the height of the water receiving tray 72 is higher than that of the water tank 20.

Further, the refrigerating and freezing device 1 further includes a water supply pipeline 65, and the water supply pipeline 65 is communicated with the water receiving tray 72 and the water tank 20, so that the condensed water collected by the water receiving tray 72 flows to the water tank 20 through the water supply pipeline 65. The condensed water generated from the refrigerating evaporator 71 drops to the drain pan 72 and then automatically flows into the water tank 20 through the water supply line 65, thereby compensating for the amount of water reduced by the formation of ice clothes in the water tank 20. On one hand, the invention reasonably utilizes the condensed water generated by the refrigerating and freezing device 1 to automatically supplement the water for ice-plated clothes, on the other hand, the invention also solves the problem of discharging the condensed water in the water receiving tray 72, and the structures such as a drain pipe and the like are not needed to be arranged, so that the structure of the refrigerating and freezing device 1 is simpler and more reasonable.

Specifically, the water supply line 65 communicates with the water injection pipe 61 through a three-way valve 66. Therefore, the water in the water storage device 50 and the water produced by defrosting of the refrigeration evaporator 71 can be injected into the water tank 20 through the same water injection port arranged on the water tank 20, so that the structure of the water tank 20 is simplified, the water in the water storage device 50 and the water produced by defrosting of the refrigeration evaporator 71 can be mixed and then injected into the water tank 20, and the uniform temperature of the water is ensured.

In some embodiments, an overflow opening is further opened at the top or upper portion of the water storage device 50, an overflow pipe 67 is connected to the overflow opening, and the overflow pipe 67 extends downward to above the evaporator 73 to defrost the evaporator 73 with the water overflowing from the water storage device 50.

Since the frequency of plating the ice coating on the object is low and the amount of water consumed by the ice coating is small, the condensed water generated by the refrigeration evaporator 71 is discharged to the water tank 20 and then discharged to the water storage device 50, the water in the water storage device 50 is gradually increased, and the water may overflow the water storage device 50 after a long time. The applicant has appreciated that the temperature of the water in the water storage device 50 is much higher than the temperature of the evaporator 73, so that the water overflowing from the overflow port of the water storage device 50 can be guided to the evaporator 73, so as to utilize the heat of the part of water to assist defrosting of the evaporator 73, and the heat of the part of water is fully utilized to avoid waste. Meanwhile, the design of the overflow gap can balance the air pressure in the water storage device 50, so as to ensure the normal flow of water among the water storage device 50, the water pipe 60 and the water tank 20.

In some alternative embodiments, the water flow driving mechanism may also be a pulsator or other mechanism capable of driving water to flow in a set direction, which is disposed in the water tank 20.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the refrigerated freezer 1 of the present invention includes, but is not limited to, a refrigerator, and may include other household appliances such as a freezer, a refrigerator, and a freezer, which have a low temperature storage environment.

It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that terms such as "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "top," "bottom," and the like used in the embodiments of the present invention are used with reference to actual usage of the refrigeration and freezing apparatus 1, and these terms are used only for convenience of description and understanding of the technical solutions of the present invention, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims (10)

1. A refrigeration chiller comprising:

the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a water tank and a water tank, wherein an ice clothes chamber for plating ice clothes on articles is limited in the refrigerator body, and a water tank for containing water is arranged in the ice clothes chamber;

a water flow driving mechanism disposed in the water tank and configured to cause water in the water tank to flow in a preset direction;

an article driving mechanism disposed in the ice coating chamber and configured to repeatedly immerse and lift out articles to be coated with ice coatings, which are accommodated in the ice coating chamber, into and from the water in the water tank; and

and the air supply mechanism is configured to blow cooling air flow towards the articles at least after the articles are lifted out of the water surface so as to promote the surfaces of the articles to form ice clothes.

2. A refrigerator freezer according to claim 1 wherein

The water tank is provided with a water injection port for injecting water into the water tank and a water discharge port for discharging the water in the water tank; and is provided with

The water flow driving mechanism is a guide sheet arranged on the inner side of the water injection port, a reversing cavity is defined between the guide sheet and the inner wall of the water tank, the water injection port is communicated with the reversing cavity, and the reversing cavity only faces one side of the water tank in the circumferential direction and is opened so as to enable water injected through the water injection port to flow out of the water tank in the circumferential direction after passing through the reversing cavity.

3. The refrigeration and freezing apparatus according to claim 2,

the first end of the guide piece, which is positioned on the circumferential direction of the water tank, is connected with the inner wall of the water tank, the first end of the guide piece extends to the second end of the guide piece, which is positioned on the circumferential direction of the water tank, along the anticlockwise direction, and the opening of the reversing cavity is formed between the second end of the guide piece and the inner wall of the water tank, so that water injected through the water injection port flows into the water tank along the anticlockwise direction.

4. A refrigerator-freezer according to claim 2, wherein a refrigerator compartment is further defined in the cabinet, and the refrigerator-freezer further comprises:

the water storage device is arranged in the refrigerating chamber and used for storing water for plating the ice clothes; and

and the water conveying pipeline is connected between the water tank and the water storage device and is used for forming water circulation between the water storage device and the water tank.

5. A refrigerator-freezer according to claim 4,

the cold storage chamber is positioned above the ice clothes chamber; and is

The water conveying pipeline comprises a water injection pipe used for injecting water in the water storage device into the water tank, an on-off valve is arranged on the water injection pipe, the on-off valve is configured to be controlled to be opened to conduct the water injection pipe and/or controlled to be closed to block the water injection pipe, so that the water in the water storage device continuously flows to the water tank through the water injection pipe under the action of self gravity when the water injection pipe is conducted, and the water in the water storage device is prevented from flowing to the water tank when the water injection pipe is blocked.

6. The refrigeration and freezing apparatus according to claim 5,

the water conveying pipeline also comprises a water discharging pipe used for discharging water in the water tank to the water storage device, a water pump is arranged on a pipeline of the water discharging pipe, and the water pump is configured to be controlled to start after the water in the water tank reaches a set water level so as to drive the water in the water tank to be discharged to the water storage device through the water discharging pipe, so that continuous water circulation is formed between the water storage device and the water tank.

7. A refrigerator-freezer according to claim 2,

the number of the water injection ports is multiple, and each water injection port is provided with one guide sheet; and is provided with

The plurality of guide vanes are configured to urge the water injected through the plurality of water injection ports to flow into the water tank in the same clockwise direction.

8. The refrigeration and freezing apparatus according to claim 1,

a cooling chamber is further defined in the box body, and an evaporator used for exchanging heat with airflow flowing through the cooling chamber to generate cooling airflow is arranged in the cooling chamber; and is

The air supply mechanism comprises a fan arranged in the cooling chamber and an air guide duct communicated with the cooling chamber, the air guide duct is extended from an air supply outlet of the ice-coat room to the inside of the ice-coat room in a protruding mode, and an air outlet of the air guide duct faces the position where the article is located when the article is lifted out of the water surface by the article driving mechanism.

9. The refrigeration freezer of claim 8,

the number of the air guide channels is two, and the two air guide channels are symmetrically distributed on two transverse sides of the article driving mechanism so as to blow cooling air flow to the articles from two directions simultaneously.

10. The refrigeration and freezing apparatus according to claim 1,

the whole water tank is cylindrical; and is

The inner wall of basin is including the interior diapire that is located the bottom and the internal perisporium that is located upwards week, interior diapire with the internal perisporium is all smooth, just interior diapire with smooth connection between the internal perisporium.

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