CN214307731U

CN214307731U - Ice maker and refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN214307731U
Application number: CN202023338012.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高超; 曹洁; 罗运欢
Original assignee: TCL Home Appliances Hefei Co Ltd
Current assignee: TCL Home Appliances Hefei Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-31
Filing date: 2020-12-31
Publication date: 2021-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 2030-12-31

Abstract

The utility model discloses an ice maker and a refrigerator, wherein, the ice maker comprises an ice making assembly, an ice storage box and a full ice detection device, the ice storage box is arranged below the ice making assembly and is provided with an ice inlet; the full ice detection device comprises a light emitting part, a light receiving part and a control part, wherein the light emitting part and the light receiving part are arranged at the end part of the ice storage box close to the ice inlet of the ice storage box at intervals; the control piece is electrically connected with the receiving piece and the light emitting piece so as to control the light emitting piece to emit light and receive an ice full signal of the light receiving piece. The utility model discloses technical scheme's ice machine can realize that the accuracy detects whether full ice state to improve the safety in utilization.

Description

Ice maker and refrigerator

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a refrigerator technical field especially relates to an ice maker and refrigerator.

Background

With the improvement of living standard, people in daily life have more and more demands for ice cubes, and refrigerators with automatic ice makers are accepted by more families. In most of the refrigerators with automatic ice makers in the market, two ways are used for detecting whether ice cubes in an ice storage box are full of ice, namely, a mechanical ice detecting rod. The principle is that the motor drives the ice detecting rod to move, the ice detecting rod is pressed by ice blocks in the moving path and is forced to stop moving, the ice detecting rod is transferred to the microswitch, and full ice is judged. Because the detection process needs to be carried out for a plurality of times, and when the ice is full, the ice detecting rod and the motor can be subjected to reverse acting force, and the ice detecting rod and the motor are easily damaged due to long-time repeated stress. And the light sensing device is arranged on a motor and a bracket of the ice maker, so that the sensing range of the light sensing device is only a straight line from the transmitting end to the receiving end and close to the opening of the ice storage box, certain detection limitation exists, the detection accuracy is difficult to ensure, and even the ice maker is far away from the opening and full ice is not detected, so that the ice maker can still continue to make ice to cause safety problems.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an ice maker, which can detect whether the ice in the ice storage box is full in real time and accurately.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides an ice maker including:

an ice making assembly;

the ice storage box is arranged below the ice making assembly and is provided with an ice inlet; and

the full ice detection device comprises a light emitting piece, a light receiving piece and a control piece, wherein the light emitting piece and the light receiving piece are mounted at the end part of the ice storage box close to an ice inlet of the ice storage box at intervals; the control piece is electrically connected with the receiving piece and the light emitting piece so as to control the light emitting piece to emit light and receive an ice full signal of the light receiving piece.

In an optional embodiment, the ice bank is a cubic structure, and the light emitting element and the light receiving element are located at different sides of the ice bank, so that the light receiving element is located on an exit path of emitted light of the light emitting element.

In an optional embodiment, the ice bank is a cubic structure, and the light emitting element and the light receiving element are located on the same side of the ice bank, so that the light receiving element indirectly receives the emitted light of the light emitting element.

In an optional embodiment, a plurality of light emitting pieces are arranged, and the light emitting pieces are arranged in the ice storage box at intervals; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the light receiving parts are arranged in a plurality of numbers, and the light receiving parts are arranged in the ice storage box at intervals.

In alternative embodiments, the light emitted by the light emitting element is infrared, laser or radar.

In an optional embodiment, the full ice detection device further includes a light reflection element, the light reflection element is disposed at an end of the ice bank close to the ice inlet, the light reflection element and the light emitting element are respectively located at two opposite sides of the ice bank, and the light receiving element is located on a reflection path of the light reflection element.

In an optional embodiment, the ice bank is a cubic structure, the light emitting element and the light receiving element are located at two ends of the same side of the ice bank, and the light reflecting element is located in the middle of the other opposite side of the ice bank.

In an optional embodiment, the exit path of the light emitting member and the emission path of the light reflecting member are arranged in a staggered manner with respect to the ice falling position of the ice bank.

In an alternative embodiment, the light reflecting member is provided in plurality, and the light reflecting members are arranged side by side at intervals.

The utility model discloses still provide a refrigerator, the refrigerator includes the box and as above arbitrary the ice machine, the box is formed with freezer and walk-in, the ice machine is located one in freezer and the walk-in.

The utility model discloses among the technical scheme, the ice machine is including the ice making subassembly, ice storage box and full ice detection device, the ice making subassembly can automatic ice making, and the ice-cube with the preparation shifts to and stores in the ice storage box of below, receive the setting in the ice storage box through the light transmitting part and the light among the full ice detection device, thereby can directly detect the ice-cube in the ice storage box more, avoid appearing installing because of the higher condition that does not detect full ice when the ice making subassembly side, and the space in the ice storage box is great, can install required full ice detection device as required, thereby can improve and detect the response scope, show to improve and detect the accuracy.

Drawings

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

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an ice maker according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the ice maker of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an ice maker according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the construction of an ice making assembly of the ice maker of FIG. 1;

fig. 5 is a partial structural view of the ice-making assembly of fig. 4.

Reference numerals:

100	ice making machine	171	Rotating member
				10	Ice making assembly	173	Ice-poking claw
11	Main control cabinet	18	Separate heater
				13	Ice tray	19	Stopper
131	Ice trough	30	Ice storage box
				133	Cooling rib	31	Ice inlet
15	Water inlet part	50	Full ice detection device
				151	Water inlet	51	Light emitting member
153	Water supply mouth	53	Light receiving part
				17	Ejector	55	Light emitting member

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that all the directional indications in the embodiments of the present invention are only used to explain the relative position relationship between the components, the motion situation, etc. in a certain posture, and if the certain posture is changed, the directional indication is changed accordingly.

In the present application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "connected" and "fixed" are to be construed broadly, e.g., "fixed" may be fixedly connected or detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific situations by those skilled in the art.

In addition, descriptions in the present application as to "first", "second", and the like are for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicit to the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the technical solutions in the embodiments may be combined with each other, but it must be based on the realization of those skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, the combination of the technical solutions should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.

The utility model provides an ice maker 100.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, in an embodiment of the present invention, an ice maker 100 includes an ice making assembly 10, an ice bank 30, and a full ice detection device 50;

the ice storage box 30 is arranged below the ice making assembly 10 and is provided with an ice inlet 31;

the full ice detection device 50 comprises a light emitting element 51, a light receiving element 53 and a control element, wherein the light emitting element 51 and the light receiving element 53 are mounted at the end part of the ice storage box 30 close to the ice inlet 31 thereof at intervals; the control member is electrically connected with the receiving member and the light emitting member 51 to control the light emitting member 51 to emit light and receive the ice full signal of the light receiving member 53.

In this embodiment, the ice maker 100 is mainly applied to a refrigerator, and is used to add functions of the refrigerator and provide ice cubes needed by a user in real time. The ice maker 100 comprises an ice making assembly 10 and an ice storage box 30, wherein the ice making assembly 10 comprises a main control cabinet 11 and an ice tray 13, the main control cabinet 11 comprises a cabinet body and a controller arranged in the cabinet body, the ice tray 13 is arranged on one side surface of the main control cabinet 11 and extends along a direction vertical to the surface of the main control cabinet 11, the ice tray 13 is provided with a plurality of ice grooves 131 arranged along the extending direction of the ice tray, and after the inner wall surfaces of the ice grooves 131 are filled with water, ice cubes with specified shapes can be made. In order to supply water conveniently, a water inlet part 15 is arranged at one end of the ice tray 13 far away from the electric control cabinet, the water inlet part 15 is funnel-shaped, a water supply opening 153 is formed at the upper end of the water inlet part 15, a water inlet 151 communicated with the ice groove 131 and the water supply opening 153 is formed at the lower end of the water inlet part, and water can be manually added into the water supply opening 153 so as to supply water for the ice tray 13; in order to realize automatic and continuous ice making, a water supply pipe and other components are connected to the water supply port 153, so that continuous water supply can be realized under the control of the controller. The material of the ice tray 13 and the water supply part may be metal material, such as aluminum, which has high thermal conductivity, increases heat exchange efficiency, and improves ice making efficiency. In addition, cooling ribs 133 may be provided on the outer surface of the ice tray 13 to increase the surface area in contact with the cold air. In order to fix the ice maker 100 conveniently, a connecting hole is formed at the upper end of the ice tray 13, so that the ice tray is fixed to a position to be installed in a threaded manner or is hung on a hook at a certain position. Of course, in other embodiments, the ice tray 13 may also be provided with a hook or other connecting structure to facilitate connection and fixation with the outside.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, after ice cubes are formed in the ice grooves 131, in order to move the ice cubes into the ice storage bin 30 below the ice making assembly 10 for storage, the ice making assembly 10 further includes an ejector 17, the ejector 17 includes a rotary member 171 and an ice-picking claw 173 disposed on a periphery of the rotary member 171, the rotary member 171 spans over the ice tray 13, one ice-picking claw 173 corresponds to one ice groove 131, and is rotated by the driving device, and the rotary member 171 drives the ice-picking claw 173 to eject the ice cubes in the ice grooves 131. The driving device can be a motor, a motor or a screw rod and the like optionally and can be arranged in the main control cabinet 11, so that the driving device is conveniently electrically connected with the controller, and the automatic ice moving is realized. Of course, in order to prevent the discharged ice cubes from sliding into the ice chute 131 again, a plurality of stoppers 19 are bent and extended at the opening edge of the ice chute 131, and the plurality of stoppers 19 are spaced apart from each other to form a gap for the ice claw 173 to rotate to discharge the ice cubes, so as to guide the discharged ice cubes. Of course, in order to facilitate the discharge of the ice cubes formed by freezing out of the ice recesses 131, the ice making assembly 10 further includes a separating heater 18, and the separating heater 18 is used to heat the ice tray 13 to separate the ice cubes from the inner wall in each ice recess 131, so that the ice cubes are more easily discharged. Here, the separation heater 18 includes a heating body disposed in the cabinet and a heat conduction pipe connected to the heating body, and is conveniently electrically connected to the controller, and is started when ice cubes are to be separated, and the heat conduction pipe extends along the extending direction of the ice tray 13, so as to ensure the rapid separation of ice cubes in each ice tray 131.

Of course, the structure of the ice making assembly 10 described above is not limited to the above structure for the sake of understanding the process and principle of making ice.

In order to receive the discharged ice cubes, an ice inlet 31 is opened at an upper end of the ice bank 30, and the ice inlet 31 faces the ice-discharging direction of the ice-raking claw 173. The shape of the ice bank 30 may be a rectangular parallelepiped, a square, a cylinder, an irregular shape, or the like, and here, taking the shape of the ice bank 30 as a rectangular parallelepiped as an example, it can be understood that the long sides of the ice bank 30 extend in the extending direction of the ice grid 13 and have edges of a certain height and wide sides perpendicular to the long sides and the edges. Since the ice cubes are discharged into the ice bank 30 and accumulated from the bottom, the full ice detecting device 50 is provided at an end of the ice bank 30 close to the ice inlet 31, i.e., an upper end of the ice bank 30 in a height direction, so that when the ice cubes are accumulated and gradually raised to the height of the ice inlet 31, it can be accurately determined that the ice bank 30 is full of ice.

Specifically, the ice-fullness detecting device 50 includes a light emitting element 51 and a light receiving element 53, and the light emitted from the light emitting element 51 may be infrared, so that the light emitting element 51 and the light receiving element 53 are infrared sensors, but the light emitted from the light emitting element 51 may also be laser or radar, and is not limited herein. The light emitting and receiving

parts

51 and 53 may be disposed at the same height of the ice bank 30 to facilitate the light receiving and the full ice height setting, the light receiving and receiving part 53 may receive the emitted light directly or indirectly after the emitted light is reflected by other objects, and the specific position may be set according to the full ice determination condition. Meanwhile, the full ice detection device 50 further includes a control member, which may be separately provided or integrated with the controller in the main control cabinet 11, i.e., a circuit board of the controller is provided with a corresponding control circuit, for example, to control the light emitting member 51 to emit light periodically or constantly, in the case where the light receiving element 53 can receive the emitted light as the ice-low condition in real time, and when the light receiving element 53 cannot receive the emitted light, the light is blocked by the ice blocks, the height of the ice blocks in the ice storage box 30 reaches the designed full ice height, the ice storage box 30 is judged to be full of ice, at the moment, a full ice signal is sent to the control element, the control element generates an ice making control signal for the ice making assembly 10 according to the judgment of whether the ice is full, the water inlet valve is controlled to be closed, the ice making of the ice making assembly 10 is stopped, and excessive ice blocks are prevented from being generated in time. After the user takes the ice, the ice in the ice storage box 30 is reduced, and the ice accumulation height is lowered, so that the emitted light is not blocked, the light receiving part 53 receives the emitted light again, and the ice making assembly 10 starts the next round of water inlet ice making action to keep the amount of the ice in the ice storage box 30, thereby meeting the daily requirement.

The utility model discloses in the technical scheme, ice machine 100 includes ice making subassembly 10, ice storage box 30 and full ice detection device 50, ice making subassembly 10 can make ice automatically, and the ice-cube with the preparation shifts to and stores in the ice storage box 30 of below, receive the setting of piece 51 and light through the light transmitting part with among the full ice detection device 50 and receive piece 53 in ice storage box 30, thereby can directly detect the ice-cube in ice storage box 30 more, avoid appearing installing because of the higher condition that does not detect full ice of height when ice making subassembly 10 inclines, and can effectively prevent the erroneous judgement that the ice process appears that falls. And the space in the ice bank 30 is large, and the required full ice detection device 50 can be installed as required, so that the detection induction range can be enlarged, and the detection accuracy is remarkably improved; and the structure of the ice-making assembly 10 can be simplified to reduce the manufacturing cost. In this way, the ice maker 100 can automatically sense the ice amount in the ice bank 30, perform real-time control of the on/off of the water inflow ice making, automatically make ice to replenish the ice amount in the ice bank 30 when the ice storage amount is insufficient, and directly stop the water inflow and ice making and ice shedding operations when the ice bank 30 is full of ice.

Further, the full ice detecting device 50 may be installed at a different position such as a protective cover outside the ice bank 30 according to the convenience of structure and installation.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in an alternative embodiment, the ice bank 30 is a cube structure, and the light emitting element 51 and the light receiving element 53 are located at different sides of the ice bank 30, so that the light receiving element 53 is located on an exit path of the emitted light of the light emitting element 51.

In this embodiment, because the light emitting element 51 is installed on the inner wall of the ice storage box 30, the emitted light thereof generally faces the inner wall surface away from the ice storage box 30, and the light emitting element can be perpendicular to the inner wall surface or form a certain included angle with the inner wall surface, so as to receive the emitted light more conveniently, the light receiving element 53 and the light emitting element 51 are located on different sides of the ice storage box 30, for example, when the light emitting element 51 is located on one wide side, the light receiving element 53 is located on one of two long sides, or is located on the other opposite wide side, so the emitted light can be received more quickly, the time for detection and judgment is improved, that is, when the ice-full state is realized, the sending of the ice-full signal can be performed more quickly, thereby the ice making operation can be prevented in time, and the safety of the ice making machine 100 is ensured.

In an alternative embodiment, the ice bank 30 has a cubic structure, and the light emitting element 51 and the light receiving element 53 are located on the same side of the ice bank 30, so that the light receiving element 53 indirectly receives the emitted light of the light emitting element 51.

In the present embodiment, the light emitting and receiving

members

51 and 53 are located at the same side of the ice bank 30, and the emitting light of the light emitting member 51 is not directly received by the light receiving member 53 but can be received by the emitting of the ice cubes, so that, unlike the above-described full ice condition, the emitting light of the light emitting member 51 is directly emitted to the opposite side to be absorbed when the ice cubes are not full, and the emitting light of the light emitting member 51 is blocked by the ice cubes and received by the light receiving member 53 after being reflected when the ice cubes are full, so that the ice making operation is stopped by the light receiving member 53 emitting a full ice signal. Here, in order to prevent the position of the light reflected by the ice from being uncertain, a plurality of light receiving elements 53 may be provided, and the plurality of light receiving elements 53 are arranged side by side on the side, so that the detection accuracy can be further improved.

Of course, in other embodiments, to conveniently fix the light emitting device 51 and the light receiving device 53, both may be installed in the respective emission housings, and the emission housings may be connected with the ice bank 30. So, the emission head of the light emitting piece 51 can protrude a certain distance from the inner wall surface of the ice storage box 30, and similarly, the light receiving piece 53 can also protrude a certain distance from the inner wall surface of the ice storage box 30, and the distance is greater than the protruding distance of the emission head, so when the light emitting piece 51 and the light receiving piece 53 are located on the same side, the emitted light of the light emitting piece 51 can also be directly received by the light receiving piece 53, and the ice-full condition can also be set such that the light receiving piece 53 cannot receive the emitted light. Alternatively, in order to facilitate the light receiving element 53 to receive the emitted light, the emitting head may be bent to improve the light emitting efficiency of the emitted light.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in an embodiment, a plurality of light emitting members 51 are disposed, and the plurality of light emitting members 51 are disposed in the ice bank 30 at intervals; and/or;

the light receiving element 53 is provided in plurality, and the light receiving elements 53 are spaced apart from each other in the ice bank 30.

In this embodiment, in order to increase the detection area, set up a plurality of with light emitting 51, a plurality of light emitting 51 intervals are located a side of ice storage box 30, have increased the distribution area of emergent light, when being located relative another side to light receiving 53, so, can be with all being covered with the transmission route in the whole plane of ice storage box 30 upper end, prevent that detection area is undersize for most ice-cubes height is too high and the safety problem behind the ice-making that causes is too much. Or, in another case, the number of the light receiving elements 53 is set to be plural, so that each beam of emitted light emitted by the light emitting element 51 can be received by the corresponding light receiving element 53, thereby increasing the detection area and ensuring the detection accuracy. Further, in another case, the light receiving part 53 and the light emitting part 51 are provided in plural numbers, and the emitting path and the receiving position are increased, so that it is further ensured that the plane where the full ice height of the upper end of the ice bank 30 is detected, and the detection accuracy is further improved.

Referring to fig. 3, in another embodiment, the full ice detection device 50 further includes a light reflector 55, the light reflector 55 is disposed at an end of the ice bank 30 near the ice inlet 31, the light reflector 55 and the light emitter 51 are respectively disposed at two opposite sides of the ice bank 30, and the light receiver 53 is disposed on a reflection path of the light reflector 55.

In this embodiment, in order to further increase the detection range, the ice-full detection device 50 further includes a light reflection member 55, and the light reflection member 55 may be a member having a reflection function, for example, an element having a planar emission surface in order to provide uniform reflection. Or, in order to simplify the assembly, a reflective layer is coated on the inner wall surface of the ice bank 30 so that the emission light of the light emitting element 51 can be emitted to the light receiving element 53, the coverage area of the detection is increased through the emission path and the reflection path, the height condition of the ice cubes at each portion can be more accurately determined, thereby improving the detection accuracy. And the range of the detection area is adjusted by adding an additional transmitting element, so that relatively expensive detection sensors can be saved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Meanwhile, in order to conveniently receive the light emitted from the light emitting member 51, the light reflecting member 55 is provided at a side of the ice bank 30 opposite to the light emitting member 51, thereby improving a reflecting effect.

Of course, in other embodiments, the light reflector 55 may be disposed, and the light emitter 51 is disposed on the side of the ice bank 30 adjacent to the light reflector 55 to reflect the emitted light.

In a specific embodiment, the ice bank 30 has a cubic structure, the light emitting element 51 and the light receiving element 53 are located at two ends of the same side of the ice bank 30, and the light reflecting element 55 is located in the middle of the other opposite side of the ice bank 30.

In this embodiment, when the ice bank 30 is a square structure, the light emitting element 51 and the light receiving element 53 are located at two ends of the same side of the ice bank 30, and the light reflecting element 55 is located at the middle of the other opposite side of the ice bank 30, so that the emitting path and the reflecting path are uniformly distributed at two sides of the ice bank 30, and the two opposite side portions of the ice bank 30 are spanned, and under the condition of the limited detecting sensor and the light reflecting element 55, the detecting range is enlarged, and the detecting accuracy is improved.

Of course, in order to further increase the detection range, in an alternative embodiment, the light reflection member 55 is provided in plurality, and a plurality of the light reflection members 55 are arranged side by side at intervals. The light reflectors 55 may be emitting sheets or reflecting edges, and the light reflectors 55 are spaced and arranged on the other side of the ice bank 30 opposite to the light emitters 51, or on the side adjacent to the light emitters 51, which is not limited herein. The structure can increase the emission path, thereby improving the probability of receiving the emitted light and improving the detection efficiency. Of course, in other embodiments, the side wall surface of the ice bank 30 opposite to the light emitting member 51 may also be coated with a reflective layer, so as to achieve seamless reflection of the emitted light, further improve the probability of emission, and ensure the detection accuracy.

In an alternative embodiment, the exit path of the light emitting member 51 and the emission path of the light reflecting member 55 are disposed to be misaligned with the ice falling position of the ice bank 30.

In this embodiment, in the process of moving ice by the ice making assembly 10, when the ice cubes enter the ice storage box 30 through the ice inlet 31 from top to bottom, the emitted light or the reflected light can be briefly blocked, so that, in order to prevent misjudgment, when the positions of the light emitting element 51 and the light reflecting element 55 are set, the emitting path and the reflecting path can be arranged in a staggered manner with respect to the ice falling position, so as to ensure the accuracy of the ice full signal of the light receiving element 53, and improve the detection accuracy. For example, the ice falling position of the ice bank 30 is close to the user side, and the light emitting and reflecting

pieces

51 and 55 and the light receiving piece 53 are provided at the other side away from the user side to avoid the ice falling position, preventing erroneous judgment.

Of course, in other embodiments, in order to further ensure the detection range and detection accuracy, in the control program of the control element, the condition that the signal is instantly blocked is added as the ice-falling state, and the control program is not an anti-misjudgment program of the full ice state, so that the time length of the light receiving element 53 receiving the light is monitored, and the ice-falling state or the full ice state is judged according to the time length. For example, the time when the light receiving element 53 does not receive light is determined, and when the time is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the ice-full state can be determined, otherwise, the ice-full signal is not sent out.

The utility model discloses still provide a refrigerator (not shown), the refrigerator includes box (not shown) and as above arbitrary ice machine 100, the box is formed with freezer and walk-in, ice machine 100 is located in one of freezer and walk-in. Since the ice maker 100 of the refrigerator adopts all technical solutions of all the embodiments, at least all the beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions of the embodiments are achieved, and no further description is given here.

The refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, wherein the refrigerator body comprises a door body (not shown) and a shell, and the door body is rotatably connected to one side of the shell so as to be conveniently opened and closed. A plurality of storage spaces can be formed in the door body and the shell in a surrounding mode, for example, a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber are formed, food is kept in a freezing fresh state, the refrigerating chamber can also divide the inner space of the refrigerating chamber into a plurality of small storage spaces through glass or plastic plates, and therefore different types of food can be stored conveniently, and space utilization rate is improved. Of course, the refrigerator further includes a refrigeration cycle device so that cold air can be supplied into the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, and the refrigeration cycle device may employ, but is not limited to, a vapor compression type refrigeration cycle in which cold air is generated through a series of processes of compressing, condensing, expanding, and evaporating a refrigerant.

Specifically, in order to obtain a good ice making effect, the ice maker 100 is disposed in the freezing chamber, and in this case, the ice maker may be located in a housing or placed at a door, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Of course, when the ice maker 100 is disposed on the door body, a user can take ice conveniently without occupying too much food storage space. In other embodiments, ice maker 100 may also be disposed within a refrigerated compartment. So, install the refrigerator of above-mentioned ice machine 100 and can realize that real-time detection ice volume is more accurate, improve science and technology degree, the energy saving, increase of service life.

The above only is the preferred embodiment of the present invention, not limiting the scope of the present invention, all the equivalent structure changes made by the contents of the specification and the drawings under the inventive concept of the present invention, or the direct/indirect application in other related technical fields are included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ice maker, characterized in that the ice maker comprises:

an ice making assembly;

2. The ice-making machine of claim 1, wherein said ice bank is a cube structure, and said light emitting element and said light receiving element are located on different sides of said ice bank such that said light receiving element is located on an exit path of emitted light from said light emitting element.

3. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice bank is a cube structure, and the light emitting element and the light receiving element are located on the same side of the ice bank, so that the light receiving element indirectly receives the emitted light of the light emitting element.

4. The ice-making machine of claim 1, wherein said light emitting member is provided in plurality, and a plurality of said light emitting members are provided at intervals in said ice bank; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

5. The ice-making machine of claim 1, wherein said light emitter emits light in the form of infrared, laser, or radar.

6. The ice-making machine of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said ice-full detection device further comprises a light reflector disposed at an end of said ice storage box near its ice inlet, said light reflector and said light emitter being respectively located at two opposite sides of said ice storage box, and said light receiver being located on a reflection path of said light reflector.

7. The ice-making machine of claim 6, wherein said ice bank is a cube structure, said light emitting element and said light receiving element are located at two ends of a same side of said ice bank, and said light reflecting element is located at a middle portion of another opposite side of said ice bank.

8. The ice-making machine of claim 6, wherein said light emitter exit path and said light reflector emission path are offset from the ice-falling position of said ice bank.

9. The ice-making machine of claim 6, wherein said light reflector is provided in plurality, and a plurality of said light reflectors are spaced side-by-side.

10. A refrigerator characterized by comprising a cabinet formed with a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber, and an ice maker as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 provided in one of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber.