CN216090395U

CN216090395U - Heating pump and dish washing machine

Info

Publication number: CN216090395U
Application number: CN202122511444.XU
Authority: CN
Inventors: 顾文海; 袁彬彬; 王松
Original assignee: Foshan Welling Washer Motor Manufacturing Co Ltd; Huaian Welling Motor Manufacturing Co Ltd
Current assignee: Foshan Welling Washer Motor Manufacturing Co Ltd; Huaian Welling Motor Manufacturing Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-10-18
Filing date: 2021-10-18
Publication date: 2022-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 2031-10-18

Abstract

The utility model provides a heating pump and a dish washer, wherein the heating pump comprises: the water-saving device comprises a shell, a water inlet, a water outlet and a water outlet, wherein a cavity is arranged in the shell and provided with the water inlet and the water outlet; a heating element integrally formed with at least a portion of the housing; an impeller assembly rotatably mounted to the housing, and the impeller assembly is partially located within the cavity. The heating pump integrally forms the heating element and at least part of the shell, and utilizes the existing space of the shell to accommodate the heating element, so that the overall space occupation ratio can be reduced, the space utilization ratio is improved, and the miniaturization of the product is facilitated; meanwhile, the assembly process of assembling the heating element on the shell is reduced, and the assembly efficiency is improved.

Description

Heating pump and dish washing machine

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of electric appliances, in particular to a heating pump and a dish washing machine.

Background

In product development, there is often a requirement to both heat the fluid and pump the heated fluid. The traditional treatment method is generally provided with a heating device and a fluid device, and the result is that the equipment mechanism is complex and bulky; especially for household appliances, the overlarge volume occupies a large area, and is not beneficial to household use.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art. Therefore, the utility model provides a heating pump, which can reduce the whole space occupation ratio, reduce the assembly process and improve the assembly efficiency by integrally forming a heating element and at least part of a shell and accommodating the heating element by utilizing the existing space of the shell.

The utility model also provides a dishwasher with the heating pump.

A heat pump according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention includes: the water-saving device comprises a shell, a water inlet, a water outlet and a water outlet, wherein a cavity is arranged in the shell and provided with the water inlet and the water outlet; a heating member integrally formed with the housing; an impeller assembly rotatably mounted to the housing, and the impeller assembly is partially located within the cavity.

According to utility model embodiment's heat pump has following beneficial effect at least: the heating pump integrally forms the heating element and at least part of the shell, and utilizes the existing space of the shell to accommodate the heating element, so that the overall space occupation ratio can be reduced, the space utilization ratio is improved, and the miniaturization of the product is facilitated; meanwhile, the assembly process of assembling the heating element on the shell is reduced, and the assembly efficiency is improved.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the heating element is integrally formed with at least a portion of the housing by die casting or extrusion casting.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the heating element comprises a working portion for generating heat and a wiring portion for receiving electricity, the working portion being at least partially enclosed within a side wall of the housing, the wiring portion being at least partially located outside the housing.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the working portion is entirely enclosed within a side wall of the housing.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the housing includes an upper pump casing and a lower pump casing detachably connected, the cavity is provided in the upper pump casing, the impeller assembly is mounted to the lower pump casing, and the heating member is integrally formed with the upper pump casing.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the upper pump casing is made of metal.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the lower pump casing is made of plastic.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the depth of the cavity increases gradually from the maximum outer diameter of the impeller assembly to the side wall of the cavity.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the cavity is cylindrical, the bottom of the cavity is inwardly concave, and the middle portion of the bottom surface of the cavity is planar.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the heating element has an inverted triangular helical shape.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the depth of the cavity decreases from the maximum outer diameter of the impeller assembly to the side wall of the cavity.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the cavity is cylindrical, the bottom of the cavity protrudes outward, and the middle portion of the bottom surface of the cavity is planar.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the heating element is in the shape of a triangular helix.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the cavity has a uniform depth from the maximum outer diameter of the impeller assembly to the sidewall of the cavity.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the cavity is cylindrical in shape.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the heating element is disc-shaped.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a baffle is convexly disposed on the lower pump casing, the baffle is located in the cavity, and the baffle is in an involute spiral shape facing an inner side surface of the impeller assembly.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the distance of the baffle from the outer side of the impeller assembly to the inner side wall of the cavity and the distance of the baffle to the heating element are in inverse relationship.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, an inner side wall of the cavity is provided with a coating.

According to some embodiments of the utility model, the impeller assembly comprises a semi-open impeller.

The dishwasher according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention includes the heat pump of the embodiment of the first aspect.

According to utility model embodiment's dish washer, at least following beneficial effect has: the heating pump in the dish washing machine integrally forms the heating element and at least part of the shell, and utilizes the existing space of the shell to accommodate the heating element, so that the overall space ratio can be reduced, the space utilization rate is improved, and the miniaturization of the product is facilitated; meanwhile, the assembly process of assembling the heating element on the shell is reduced, and the assembly efficiency is improved. Since the volume of the heat pump can be reduced, the installation space required on the dishwasher is correspondingly reduced, and the effective capacity of the dishwasher can be improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a first schematic view of the lower pump casing and impeller assembly of the first embodiment of the heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a second schematic view of the lower pump casing and impeller assembly of the first embodiment of the heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a heating element in a first embodiment of the heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of the heating elements of a second embodiment of the heat pump of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of a heat pump of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic view of a heating element in a third embodiment of the heat pump of the present invention.

Reference numerals:

a housing 100; a cavity 110; a water inlet 120; a water outlet 130; an upper pump case 140; a lower pump casing 150; a through hole 160; a conduit 170;

a heating member 200; a working section 210; a wiring portion 220;

an impeller assembly 300; a motor 310; a bottom plate 320; a blade 330;

a baffle 400; a medial side 410; an outer side 420; the gap S.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship referred to, for example, the upper, lower, etc., is indicated based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for convenience of description and simplification of description, but does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, a plurality means two or more. If the first and second are described for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, they are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated or implicitly indicating the precedence of the technical features indicated.

In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly limited, terms such as arrangement, installation, connection and the like should be understood in a broad sense, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention in combination with the specific contents of the technical solutions.

The heating pump is usually used for heating and pumping fluid, the existing heating pump generally reserves an installation position for installing a heating component on a shell of the pump, after the shell is manufactured, the heating component is installed on the shell, the heating component and the shell are independently manufactured and then assembled, and the installation procedures are relatively more; in order to install the heating assembly, an operation space is inevitably needed, and the factor needs to be considered when the shell is designed, so that the shell is not beneficial to the miniaturization design; and the shell and the heating assembly respectively occupy space independently, so that the space occupied by the whole body is larger.

As shown in fig. 1 to 5, which are schematic views of a first embodiment of a heat pump, the heat pump includes a housing 100, a heating member 200, and an impeller assembly 300. A cavity 110 is arranged in the shell 100, the cavity 110 has a water inlet 120 and a water outlet 130, and the water inlet 120 and the water outlet 130 are both communicated with the cavity 110 so as to facilitate the inflow and outflow of fluid; the heating element 200 and the shell 100 are integrally formed by die-casting to form an integrated structure, wherein the die-casting is to press molten metal into a precise metal mold cavity at a high speed by using high pressure, and the molten metal is cooled and solidified under the action of pressure to form a casting; the impeller assembly 300 is rotatably mounted to the housing 100, and the impeller assembly 300 is partially located within the cavity 110 for driving the fluid within the cavity 110 to flow from the water inlet 120 to the water outlet 130, and specifically, the output portion of the impeller assembly 300 is located within the cavity 110. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the heating element 200 may be integrally formed with the housing 100 in other manners, for example, the heating element 200 may be integrally formed with the housing 100 by extrusion casting; squeeze casting is a method for directly obtaining a part or a blank by solidifying and flow-forming liquid or semi-solid metal under high pressure, and has the advantages of high utilization rate of liquid metal, simplified working procedure, stable quality and the like.

The heating pump integrally forms the heating element 200 and the shell 100, and utilizes the existing space of the shell 100 to contain the heating element, so that the overall space occupation ratio can be reduced, the space utilization rate is improved, and the miniaturization design of a product is facilitated; and simultaneously, the assembling process of assembling the heating member 200 to the housing 100 is reduced, and the assembling efficiency is improved.

It should be noted that the heating element 200 may be partially wrapped by the side wall of the housing 100, or may be fully wrapped by the housing 100.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the heating element 200 includes a working portion 210 for generating heat and a wiring portion 220 for connecting power, the working portion 210 is entirely wrapped in the sidewall of the casing 100, and the wiring portion 220 is at least partially located outside the casing 100 so as to be connected to a power line. In this embodiment, the working portion 210 is completely located in the side wall of the casing 100, the heat generated by the working portion 210 is completely transferred to the casing 100, and then the casing 100 heats the fluid in the cavity 110, so that the fluid in the cavity 110 can be uniformly heated; the working part 210 does not need to be in direct contact with the fluid to be heated, and the service life of the working part 210 can be effectively guaranteed.

Of course, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the working portion 210 is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it can also be implemented in a manner of being partially wrapped by the side wall of the casing 100, for example, in some usage scenarios where rapid heating of the fluid is required, the working portion 210 has at least one surface exposed to the side wall of the casing 100, and the rest portion is wrapped by the side wall of the casing 100, and at this time, a part of the working portion 210 can directly contact with the fluid to be heated to directly perform heat exchange, so as to achieve the purpose of rapid heating of the fluid. After the embodiment is started, the heating element 200 heats the liquid and the upper pump shell 140 synchronously; after the embodiment in which the heating member 200 is completely wrapped by the sidewall of the upper pump case 140 is started, the heating member 200 heats the upper pump case 140 first, and then heats the liquid through the upper pump case 140, and all heat generated by the heating member 200 needs to pass through the upper pump case 140 before being transferred to the liquid; as can be seen, the present embodiment can reduce the response time from the start of operation to the set temperature, compared to the embodiment in which the heating member 200 is entirely surrounded by the side wall of the upper pump case 140.

For example, the heating element 200 is an electric heating tube in the prior art, and during die casting, the electric heating tube is first placed in a die, and then metal is injected into the die, and the metal and the electric heating tube are integrally die-cast and formed in the die.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments of the present invention, the casing 100 includes an upper pump case 140 and a lower pump case 150, and the upper pump case 140 and the lower pump case 150 are detachably coupled, whereby the upper pump case 140 and the lower pump case 150 are separately manufactured and then assembled, and specifically, the upper pump case 140 and the lower pump case 150 may be coupled together by a screw structure or bolts or screws; the cavity 110 is arranged on the upper pump shell 140, the water inlet 120 and the water outlet 130 are both arranged on the upper pump shell 140, the impeller component 300 is arranged on the lower pump shell 150, the impeller component 300 is partially arranged in an upward protruding manner relative to the lower pump shell 150 and is positioned in the cavity 110, and the heating component 200 and the upper pump shell 140 are integrally formed in a die-casting manner to form an integrated structure.

The casing 100 is divided into two parts, so that the processing difficulty can be reduced, the processing efficiency is improved, the processing cost is reduced, and meanwhile, the upper pump shell 140 and the lower pump shell 150 can be made of proper materials according to actual requirements, and the overall cost is favorably reduced. For example, since the upper pump casing 140 needs to bear high temperature and perform the function of quickly transferring heat, the upper pump casing 140 may be made of metal material, which is beneficial to quickly transferring heat on the working portion 210 to fluid, and meanwhile, the upper pump casing 140 will not deform due to the over-high temperature of the working portion 210; the lower pump casing 150 needs to take the role of mounting the impeller assembly 300 and the closed cavity 110, and does not need to bear high temperature, so the lower pump casing 150 can be made of plastic, for example, the lower pump casing 150 can be made of polyurethane plastic or epoxy plastic, and the like; the lower pump housing 150 made of plastic is easy to process and low in cost.

Specifically, the upper pump case 140 may be made of aluminum, and a complex shape may be relatively easily produced by aluminum die casting, so that the structure on the upper pump case 140 is integrally formed, and the heat conductivity is good, and in the manufacturing process, the heating member 200 is placed in a mold and then integrally die-cast with the aluminum; of course, the upper pump housing 140 may also be made of copper or other metal materials, and both can perform the functions of fast heat conduction and high temperature resistance.

It should be noted that the installation embodiment of the cavity 110 and the impeller assembly 300 is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, the installation positions of the cavity 110 and the impeller assembly 300 may be changed, that is, the cavity 110 may be installed in the lower pump housing 150, the water inlet 120 and the water outlet 130 are both installed in the lower pump housing 150, the impeller assembly 300 may be installed in the upper pump housing 140, the lower pump housing 150 is integrally die-cast with the heating member 200 by using a metal material, and the upper pump housing 140 is made of a plastic material, so as to reduce the processing difficulty and the material cost, and the like.

In addition, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the housing 100 is not limited to be manufactured in two parts, and in some embodiments of the present invention, the housing 100 may be integrally manufactured, so as to reduce the assembly process and improve the strength of the overall structure.

As shown in fig. 1, 2 and 5, in some embodiments of the present invention, the cavity 110 in the upper pump casing 140 is substantially cylindrical, the depth of the cavity 110 is changed, the bottom of the cavity 110 is concave towards the inside, specifically, the middle part of the bottom of the cavity is planar, the rest part of the bottom of the cavity is conical, the impeller assembly 300 is of a centrifugal structure, and the depth of the cavity 110 gradually increases from the maximum outer diameter of the impeller assembly 300 located in the cavity 110 to the side wall of the cavity 110, in this embodiment, the cross section for liquid to flow through is gradually increased after the liquid driven by the impeller assembly 300 leaves the impeller assembly 300, so that the liquid flow speed can be reduced, the liquid is in stable transition, the fluid design principle is better met, the generation of turbulence is reduced, and the hydraulic efficiency is improved.

Particularly, the middle part of the bottom surface of the cavity 110 is provided with the through hole 160, the water inlet 120 is connected with the through hole 160 through a section of bent pipeline, and then the water inlet 120 and the water outlet 130 are arranged towards the parallel, so that the pipeline connection of the workers at the same station is facilitated, the walking of the workers is reduced, and the working efficiency is improved.

In order to be close to the cavity 110, the heating member 200 has an inverted triangular spiral structure, the heating member 200 is located in a portion of the bottom surface of the cavity having a conical surface shape, and the heating member 200 is formed by winding a heating pipe, and has at least two turns, so that the upper pump housing 140 can be uniformly heated. It should be noted that the number of turns of the heating pipe is set according to the diameter of the cavity 110, and the larger the cavity 110 is, the more the number of turns of the heating pipe is, the more the contact area with the upper pump housing 140 is, so that the heating is more uniform and efficient.

As shown in fig. 6, in some embodiments of the present invention, the cavity 110 in the upper pump casing 140 is substantially cylindrical, the depth of the cavity 110 varies, the bottom of the cavity 110 protrudes outward, specifically, the middle portion of the bottom surface of the cavity 110 is planar, the rest of the bottom surface of the cavity 110 is conical, the impeller assembly 300 is of a centrifugal structure, and the depth of the cavity 110 gradually decreases from the maximum outer diameter of the impeller assembly 300 located in the cavity 110 to the side wall of the cavity 110. In the case that the height of the edge of the cavity 110 is constant, this embodiment may increase the space inside the cavity 110, so that the effective accommodation space of the cavity 110 is increased.

Particularly, the middle part of the bottom surface of the cavity 110 is provided with the through hole 160, the water inlet 120 is connected with the through hole 160 through the bent pipeline 170, and then the communication with the cavity 110 is realized, the water inlet 120 and the water outlet 130 are arranged in parallel towards each other, the pipeline connection of the workers at the same station is facilitated, the walking of the workers is reduced, and the working efficiency is improved.

As shown in fig. 7, the heating member 200 has a triangular spiral structure in order to be adjacent to the chamber 110, the heating member 200 is located in a portion of the bottom surface of the chamber 110 having a conical surface shape, and the heating member 200 is formed by winding a heating pipe having at least two turns so as to uniformly heat the upper pump case 140. It should be noted that the number of turns of the heating pipe is set according to the diameter of the cavity 110, and the larger the cavity 110 is, the more the number of turns of the heating pipe is, the more the contact area with the upper pump housing 140 is, so that the heating is more uniform and efficient.

As shown in fig. 8, in some embodiments of the present invention, the cavity 110 in the upper pump casing 140 has a cylindrical shape, and the depth of the cavity 110 is uniform. This embodiment can give consideration to both the fluid flowing property and the space utilization of the chamber 110, and is very practical.

For example, a through hole 160 is formed in the middle of the bottom surface of the cavity 110, the water inlet 120 is connected with the through hole 160 through a section of bent pipeline 170, and then the water inlet 120 and the water outlet 130 are arranged in parallel, so that the pipeline connection of workers at the same station is facilitated, the back-and-forth movement of the workers is reduced, and the work efficiency is improved.

As shown in fig. 9, the heating member 200 has a disk-shaped structure in order to be adjacent to the chamber 110, the heating member 200 is located in the bottom surface of the chamber 110, and the heating member 200 is formed by winding a heating pipe at least two times so as to uniformly heat the upper pump housing 140. It should be noted that the number of turns of the heating pipe is set according to the diameter of the cavity 110, and the larger the cavity 110 is, the more the number of turns of the heating pipe is, the more the contact area with the upper pump housing 140 is, so that the heating is more uniform and efficient.

As shown in fig. 2 to 4, in some embodiments of the present invention, a baffle 400 is protruded from the lower pump casing 150, and after the upper pump casing 140 and the lower pump casing 150 are assembled, the baffle 400 is located in the cavity 110, and the baffle 400 is in a spiral shape gradually opened toward the inner side surface 410 of the impeller assembly 300 to guide the flow of the fluid driven by the impeller, reduce the generation of turbulence, and facilitate the improvement of hydraulic efficiency.

The baffle 400 may be integrally formed with the lower pump casing 150, or may be separately manufactured and then assembled.

As shown in fig. 2 to 4, since the baffle 400 is located in the cavity 110 and is relatively close to the heating member 200, when the baffle 400 is made of plastic, the influence of the heating member 200 on the temperature of the baffle 400 needs to be considered. Therefore, in some embodiments of the present invention, a gap S is formed between the outer side surface 420 of the baffle 400 far away from the impeller assembly 300 and the inner side wall of the cavity 110, the closer the baffle 400 is to the heating member 200, the larger the gap S is, the farther the baffle 400 is from the heating member 200, and the smaller the gap S is, when the gap S is large, the more fluid flows through the gap S, the more heat can be taken away, the deformation of the baffle 400 due to an excessively high temperature can be prevented, the service life of the baffle 400 can be ensured, when the baffle 400 is far away from the heating member 200, the heat dissipation requirement at this position is not high, and further, a large flow is not required, so that a large gap is not required.

In addition, in order to avoid turbulence generated when the liquid enters and exits the gap S, the two ends of the baffle 400 are provided with the inclined surfaces, and the liquid is guided to enter the gap S through the inclined surfaces, so that the phenomenon that the liquid generates turbulence when entering and exiting the gap S can be effectively reduced, and the overall hydraulic efficiency is improved. The top of the baffle 400 is also in smooth transition with a curved surface, so that the phenomenon of turbulent flow generated when liquid flows through the baffle is reduced, and the overall hydraulic efficiency can be further improved.

In some usage scenarios, the fluid flowing through the cavity 110 is corrosive, and in order to ensure the service life of the casing 100, a coating is disposed on the inner side wall of the cavity 110 to prevent the fluid from directly contacting the casing 100. Specifically, when the upper pump casing 140 is made of a metal material, a coating layer needs to be provided on the inner sidewall of the cavity 110 of the upper pump casing 140. The coating can be made of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) which has the characteristics of acid resistance, alkali resistance and various organic solvents resistance, and can effectively protect the upper pump shell 140 from being corroded by fluid.

Of course, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific embodiment of the coating is not limited to the above-mentioned teflon material, and other embodiments are possible, for example, the coating may also be made of epoxy resin material, etc.

As shown in fig. 2, 6 and 8, in some embodiments of the present invention, the impeller assembly 300 includes a semi-open impeller and a motor 310, the semi-open impeller is located in the cavity 110, the motor 310 is installed in the lower pump housing 150, the semi-open impeller includes a bottom plate 320 and a plurality of blades 330, a threaded hole is formed in a lower side of the bottom plate 320, the threaded hole is in threaded connection with a rotating shaft of the motor 310, the blades 330 are installed on an upper side of the bottom plate 320, the plurality of blades 330 are annularly distributed, the through hole 160 is aligned with the rotating shaft of the motor 310, the water inlet is communicated with the through hole 160 through a pipe 170 with a 90 ° rotation angle, a center line of the water outlet 130 is perpendicular to the rotating shaft of the motor, water entering from the water inlet 120 is guided and diverted through the pipe 170, enters between the blades 330 along the rotating shaft direction of the motor, is stopped by the bottom plate 320, and then is driven to rotate by the rotating blades 330, moves outwards under the centrifugal force, and is guided by the baffle 400, is discharged from the water outlet 130; the arrangement can rapidly drive the fluid from the water inlet 120 to the water outlet 130 to a greater extent, and the overall hydraulic efficiency is improved.

The specific working principle of the heating pump is as follows: after the heating pump is started, liquid enters from the water inlet 120 and flows through the pipeline 170, the flowing direction of the liquid is changed to be the same as the rotating shaft of the motor 310 under the guiding of the pipeline 170, the liquid enters into the cavity 110 from the through hole 160, the heating element 200 heats water in the cavity 110, and the heated water is driven by the blade 330 to leave the range of the blade 330 in a centrifugal mode and is discharged from the water outlet 130 under the guiding of the baffle 400.

The utility model also provides a dishwasher comprising the heat pump of any one of the above embodiments. The heating pump in the dishwasher is formed by integrally die-casting the heating element 200 and the shell 100, and the existing space of the shell 100 is utilized to accommodate the heating element, so that the overall space ratio can be reduced, the space utilization rate is improved, and the miniaturization of products is facilitated; and simultaneously, the assembling process of assembling the heating member 200 to the housing 100 is reduced, and the assembling efficiency is improved. Since the volume of the heat pump can be reduced, the installation space required on the dishwasher is correspondingly reduced, and the effective capacity of the dishwasher can be improved.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made within the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Claims

1. A heat pump, comprising:

the water-saving device comprises a shell, a water inlet, a water outlet and a water outlet, wherein a cavity is arranged in the shell and provided with the water inlet and the water outlet;

a heating element integrally formed with at least a portion of the housing;

an impeller assembly rotatably mounted to the housing, and the impeller assembly is partially located within the cavity.

2. A heat pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element is integrally formed with at least part of the housing by die casting or extrusion casting.

3. A heat pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises a working portion for generating heat and a wiring portion for connecting electricity, the working portion being at least partially enclosed within a side wall of the housing, the wiring portion being at least partially located outside the housing.

4. A heat pump according to claim 3, wherein the working portion is entirely encased within a side wall of the housing.

5. A heat pump according to claim 1, wherein the housing includes an upper pump case and a lower pump case detachably connected, the cavity is provided in the upper pump case, the impeller assembly is mounted to the lower pump case, and the heating member is integrally formed with the upper pump case.

6. A heat pump according to claim 5, wherein the upper pump casing is made of metal.

7. A heat pump according to claim 5, wherein the lower pump casing is of plastics material.

8. A heat pump according to claim 5, wherein the cavity has a depth that increases progressively from the impeller assembly maximum outer diameter to the side wall of the cavity.

9. A heat pump as defined in claim 8, wherein the cavity is cylindrical, the bottom of the cavity is inwardly recessed, and the middle portion of the bottom surface of the cavity is planar.

10. A heat pump as claimed in claim 9, wherein the heating element is in the form of an inverted triangular helix.

11. A heat pump according to claim 5, wherein the cavity tapers in depth from the impeller assembly maximum outer diameter to the side wall of the cavity.

12. A heat pump as defined in claim 11, wherein the cavity is cylindrical, a bottom of the cavity projects outward, and a middle portion of a bottom surface of the cavity is planar.

13. A heat pump as claimed in claim 12, wherein the heating element is in the form of a triangular spiral.

14. A heat pump according to claim 5, wherein the cavity is of uniform depth from the impeller assembly maximum outer diameter to the side wall of the cavity.

15. A heat pump according to claim 14, wherein the cavity is cylindrical in shape.

16. A heat pump as claimed in claim 15, wherein the heating member is in the shape of a disk.

17. A heat pump as claimed in claim 5, wherein a baffle is provided projecting from the lower pump casing, the baffle being located within the cavity, the baffle being in the form of a spiral that tapers towards the inner side of the impeller assembly.

18. A heat pump as claimed in claim 17, wherein the distance from the outer side of the baffle away from the impeller assembly to the inner side wall of the chamber is inversely related to the distance from the baffle to the heating element.

19. A heat pump according to claim 1, wherein the inner side walls of the cavity are provided with a coating.

20. A heat pump according to claim 1, wherein the impeller assembly comprises a semi-open impeller.

21. A dishwasher, characterized by comprising a heat pump according to any one of claims 1 to 20.