CN219063840U - Ice making device and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The application discloses an ice making device and refrigerator, an ice making device includes: the ice making mechanism comprises an ice making grid and a driving device, wherein the ice making grid is used for making ice cubes, and the driving device is used for driving the ice making grid to rotate so as to pour the ice cubes out; the ice conveying mechanism is arranged at one side of the ice making mechanism along the first direction and is used for bearing ice cubes poured out of the ice making grid and conveying the ice cubes along the second direction, and the second direction is different from the first direction; wherein the width of the driving device in the first direction is smaller than the width of the driving device in the second direction. The ice making device of the present application occupies less space in the first direction, so that there may be more space inside the refrigerator for storing food.

Description

Ice making device and refrigerator

Technical Field

The application belongs to the field of ice making, and particularly relates to an ice making device and a refrigerator.

Background

The ice making device is mainly used in various home appliances for making ice cubes, and may be disposed in a refrigerator.

In the related art, an inner space of the inside of the refrigerator is generally limited, and in this case, the ice making device is necessarily disposed in the refrigerator to occupy a certain space of the inside of the refrigerator. However, the interior of the ice making device generally includes more parts, and the unreasonable layout of the parts results in a larger volume of the ice making device as a whole, and thus the ice maker wastes a larger space in the interior of the refrigerator.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides an ice making device and a refrigerator, which can enable ice cubes poured out of an ice making grid to be stably and controllably sent into an ice conveying mechanism.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide an ice making apparatus, including:

the ice making mechanism comprises an ice making grid and a driving device, wherein the ice making grid is used for making ice cubes, and the driving device is used for driving the ice making grid to rotate so as to pour the ice cubes; and

the ice conveying mechanism is arranged at one side of the ice making mechanism along a first direction and is used for bearing ice cubes poured out by the ice making grid and conveying the ice cubes along a second direction, and the second direction is different from the first direction;

wherein the width of the driving device in the first direction is smaller than the width of the driving device in the second direction.

Optionally, the ice making mechanism further includes a mounting part, the driving device is installed and fixed on the mounting part, the ice making grid set up in one side of the mounting part along the third direction and with the driving device transmission is connected, so that the driving device can drive the ice making grid rotates, the third direction is parallel to the axis of rotation of the ice making grid, the third direction, the first direction and the second direction are mutually perpendicular.

Optionally, the mounting member is detachably connected to the driving device.

Optionally, the mounting includes roof, diapire and lateral wall, the roof with the diapire is followed the second direction sets up relatively, the lateral wall is connected the roof with between the diapire, so that the roof, the diapire with the lateral wall encloses to establish and forms the space of acceping at least part drive arrangement.

Optionally, the sidewall includes:

the first side wall is arranged on one side, away from the ice conveying mechanism, of the driving device along the first direction, an elastic claw is arranged on the first side wall, and the tail end of the elastic claw is abutted to one side, along the third direction, of the driving device; and

and the second side wall is connected with the first side wall and is abutted against the other side of the driving device along the third direction.

Optionally, the second side wall is provided with a clamping groove, and the driving device is provided with a clamping part clamped to the clamping groove;

wherein the resilient jaws are elastically deformable to be displaced from each other in the first direction with the driving means.

Optionally, the ice transporting mechanism includes:

a track member; and

an ice transporting plate slidably mounted to the rail member to be movable between a first position and a second position in the second direction;

the ice making mechanism is arranged between the first position and the second position, so that ice cubes poured out of the ice making grid can be received when the ice conveying plate moves to the first position.

Optionally, the ice making mechanism further comprises a guiding component, wherein the guiding component is used for guiding ice cubes poured out of the ice making grid to slide to the first position.

Optionally, the ice making device further comprises a housing, and the ice making mechanism and the ice transporting mechanism are both accommodated in the housing.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application also provide a refrigerator including an ice making device as any one of the above.

In this embodiment, taking the case that the second direction is the vertical direction and the first direction is the left-right direction, then in order for the ice transporting mechanism to transport ice cubes in the vertical direction, the ice making device must have a sufficient height in the vertical direction. At this time, by adjusting the mounting mode of the driving device, the two ends with wider size of the driving device are vertically placed, and the two ends with narrower size are horizontally placed left and right, so that the occupied space of the ice making device in the vertical direction can be reasonably utilized, the occupied space of the ice making device in the left and right directions can be reduced, or the width of the ice making device can be reduced under the condition that the height of the ice making device is unchanged. Furthermore, the ice making device can occupy less space in the refrigerator, so that the inside of the refrigerator body can be provided with a larger space for storing objects.

Drawings

The technical solution of the present application and the advantageous effects thereof will be made apparent from the following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a part of a structure of an ice making device of the refrigerator shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a structure of an ice making device mounting case shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of an ice making mechanism of the ice making device of fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an assembly view of the ice making mechanism of fig. 4.

The reference numerals in the figures are respectively:

100. a case;

11. a storage compartment;

200. a door;

300. an ice making device;

31. an ice making mechanism; 311. making ice trays; 3111. a receiving groove; 312. a driving device; 3121. a clamping part; 313. a mounting member; 3131. a top wall; 3132. a bottom wall; 3133. a sidewall; 3133a, a first sidewall; 3133b, a second sidewall; 3134. an elastic claw; 3135. a clamping groove; 314. a guide member; 3141. an inclined plane; 3142. a first vertical plate; 3143. guiding the convex ribs;

32. an ice transporting mechanism; 321. a track member; 322. an ice transporting plate; 323. a limiting member;

33. a housing;

34. an ice bank;

h1, a first direction; h2, second direction; h3, third direction.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments herein without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the present application.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present application. The embodiment of the application provides an ice making device 300, and the ice making device 300 can be applied to a refrigerator for making ice, and can also be applied to other household appliances for making ice, which is not limited in the embodiment of the application. Taking the ice making device 300 as an example, the refrigerator may be a double-door refrigerator, a single-door refrigerator or a triple-door refrigerator, which is not limited in this embodiment.

The refrigerator may include a cabinet 100 and a door 200. The cabinet 100 is provided with a storage compartment 11 such as a freezing compartment, a refrigerating compartment, or a wide-width variable temperature compartment. The door 200 is rotatably installed at the cabinet 100 to open or close the storage compartment 11. At this time, the ice making device 300 may be disposed in the storage compartment 11, may be disposed on the door 200, or may be partially disposed in the storage compartment 11 or partially disposed on the door 200, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

With continued reference to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic view of a part of the ice making device of the refrigerator shown in fig. 1. The ice making device 300 may include an ice making mechanism 31 and an ice transporting mechanism 32. The ice making mechanism 31 includes an ice making tray 311 and a driving device 312. The ice making tray 311 is used for making ice cubes, and the driving device 312 is used for driving the ice making tray 311 to rotate so as to pour the ice cubes. The ice transporting mechanism 32 is disposed at one side of the ice making mechanism 31 along the first direction H1, and the ice transporting mechanism 32 is used for carrying ice cubes poured out by the ice making grid 311 and transporting the ice cubes along the second direction H2, wherein the second direction H2 is different from the first direction H1. The width of the driving device 312 in the first direction H1 is smaller than the width of the driving device 312 in the second direction H2.

The present embodiment is not limited to this, and the first direction H1 may be a horizontal direction, the second direction H2 may be a substantially vertical direction, the first direction H1 may be a front-rear direction, and the second direction H2 may be a horizontal direction, or the first direction H1 may be a substantially vertical direction, and the second direction H2 may be a front-rear direction. The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application will be further explained and illustrated by taking the first direction H1 as the left-right direction of the horizontal direction and the second direction H2 as the vertical direction as an example.

It can be appreciated that in the embodiment of the present application, ice cubes can be transported to the upper side of the ice making grid 311 for processing by the ice transporting mechanism 32, and then the components inside the ice making device 300 can be more flexibly laid out by the ice transporting mechanism 32. Further, in order to implement the ice transporting mechanism 32 to transport ice cubes along the second direction H2 (or the vertical direction), the ice making device 300 occupies a relatively large space in the vertical direction. At this time, the wider ends of the driving device 312 are vertically placed, and the narrower ends of the driving device are horizontally placed left and right, so that the height space occupied by the ice transporting mechanism 32 in the vertical direction can be reasonably utilized, and the space wasted by the driving device 312 in the left and right direction is reduced, so that the total width of the ice making device 300 in the left and right direction is reduced, the whole volume of the ice making device 300 is smaller, and finally the ice making device 300 can occupy the smaller space inside the refrigerator.

Specifically, referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of the ice making device mounting case shown in fig. 2. The ice making device 300 further includes a housing 33, and the ice making mechanism 31 and the ice carrying mechanism 32 are housed in the housing 33. The width of the housing 33 in the second direction H2 may be understood as the height of the ice making device 300, and the width of the housing 33 in the first direction H1 may be understood as the width of the ice making device 300. The height of the housing 33 is determined at least by the height of the ice transporting mechanism 32 in the second direction H2, and the width of the housing 33 is determined at least by the total width of the ice transporting mechanism 32 and the driving device 312 in the second direction H2. At this time, in case that the height of the housing 33 cannot be further reduced due to the ice transporting mechanism 32, the installation direction of the driving device 312 may be adjusted such that the two ends of the driving device 312, which are wider in size, are vertically disposed and the two ends of the driving device 312, which are narrower in size, are horizontally disposed left and right, so that the width of the housing 33 in the left and right directions may be reduced without increasing the total height of the housing 33, and finally, the occupied space of the refrigerator may be reduced.

The driving device 312 may include any power source capable of directly driving the ice making tray 311 to rotate, such as a first motor or a first rotary cylinder. The driving device 312 may be composed of a first motor and a first rack and pinion transmission assembly, a first screw transmission assembly or a first synchronous belt transmission assembly driven by the first motor, and then the first motor may drive the ice making grid 311 to rotate through the first rack and pinion transmission assembly, the first screw transmission assembly or the first synchronous belt transmission assembly.

The ice making mechanism 31 further includes a mount 313. The driving device 312 is fixedly installed on the installation member 313, and the ice making tray 311 is disposed on one side of the installation member 313 along the third direction H3 and is in transmission connection with the driving device 312, so that the driving device 312 can drive the ice making tray 311 to rotate, and the third direction H3 is parallel to the rotation axis of the ice making tray 311. The third direction H3 is perpendicular to the first direction H1 and the second direction H2, respectively. Further, the mounting member 313 allows the ice making tray 311 and the driving device 312 to be quickly attached and detached. The mounting member 313 may be provided with corresponding screw holes or a snap-fit connection structure to be mounted and fixed to the inner wall of the housing 33.

The first direction H1 may be a left-right direction, the second direction H2 may be a vertical direction, and the third direction H3 may be a front-rear direction, or the first direction H1 may be a front-rear direction, the second direction H2 may be a vertical direction, and the third direction H3 may be a left-right direction, which may be understood that the first direction H1, the second direction H2, and the third direction H3 may be interchangeable. Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present application continues to be illustrated with the first direction H1 being the left-right direction and the second direction H2 being the vertical direction, and then the third direction H3 is the front-rear direction.

To facilitate quick assembly and disassembly of the drive device 312 and the mounting member 313, the mounting member 313 and the drive device 312 may be detachably connected. The driving device 312 is connected and fixed to the mounting member 313 by a magnetic attraction, a snap-fit, a plug-in connection, a screw connection, or the like.

For example, please continue to refer to fig. 4, fig. 4 is an exploded view of the ice making mechanism of the ice making device of fig. 2. The mount 313 may include a top wall 3131, a bottom wall 3132, and side walls 3133. The top wall 3131 and the bottom wall 3132 are disposed opposite to each other in a second direction H2 (or vertical direction). The side wall 3133 is connected between the top wall 3131 and the bottom wall 3132 such that the top wall 3131, the bottom wall 3132, and the side wall 3133 enclose a space that accommodates at least a portion of the drive device 312.

It can be understood that the driving device 312 may be completely accommodated in a space defined by the top wall 3131, the bottom wall 3132 and the side wall 3133, or may be partially accommodated in a space defined by the top wall 3131, the bottom wall 3132 and the side wall 3133, so as to preliminarily mount and fix the driving device 312 on the mounting member 313.

The side wall 3133 may include a first side wall 3133a and a second side wall 3133b connected to each other. The first sidewall 3133a is disposed on a side of the driving device 312 away from the ice transporting mechanism 32 along the first direction H1, or the first sidewall 3133a is disposed on a left side of the driving device 312. The first side wall 3133a is provided with an elastic claw 3134, and the tip of the elastic claw 3134 abuts against one side of the driving device 312 in the third direction H3, or the tip of the elastic claw 3134 abuts against the front end surface of the driving device 312. The second side wall 3133b abuts against the other side of the driving device 312 along the third direction H3, or the second side wall 3133b abuts against the rear end surface of the driving device 312, and the driving device 312 can be clamped and fixed from the front side and the rear side of the driving device 312 by matching the second side wall 3133b with the tail ends of the elastic claws 3134.

In some embodiments, the second side wall 3133b is provided with a clamping groove 3135, and the driving device 312 is provided with a clamping portion 3121 clamped to the clamping groove 3135. And, the elastic claw 3134 is elastically deformable to be displaced from the driving device 312 in the first direction H1.

The following further explains and describes the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application in combination with one of the mounting modes of the embodiments of the present application:

first, the elastic claw 3134 is bent and deformed toward the left so that the elastic claw 3134 can keep away the movement of the driving device 312. Then, the driving device 312 is pushed forward and backward toward the second side wall 3133b, so that the engaging portion 3121 is inserted into the engaging groove 3135 to achieve engagement. Finally, the resilient claw 3134 is released such that the distal end of the resilient claw 3134 presses the driving device 312 to the second side wall 3133b.

It will also be appreciated that during removal of the drive device 312, the resilient fingers 3134 are bent and the drive device 312 is withdrawn back to front. It can be seen that the driving device 312 of the embodiment of the present application has advantages of convenient installation and firmness.

The foregoing is a few illustrations and descriptions of the drive device 312 of the present embodiments. In the following, some other structures in the embodiments of the present application are explained and described.

The ice transporting mechanism 32 may include a rail member 321 and an ice transporting plate 322. The ice carrying plate 322 is slidably mounted to the rail 321 to be movable between a first position and a second position in the second direction H2. The ice making mechanism 31 is located between the first position and the second position so that the ice cubes poured from the ice making tray 311 can be received when the ice carrying plate 322 is moved to the first position.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is further explained and illustrated below by taking the ice making grid 311 as an example of a reference position.

The lower end of the rail member 321 is at the first position and is located at the lower side of the ice making tray 311. The upper end of the rail member 321 is at the second position and is located at the upper side of the ice making tray 311. Then ice making cells 311 drop onto the ice tray 322 when the ice tray 322 moves to the first position or when the ice tray 322 moves below the ice making cells 311. The ice slab 322 may then transport the ice cubes to a second location or above the ice making grid 311 for corresponding processing. For example, the ice making device 300 may further include an ice bank 34 positioned at an upper side of the ice making cells 311, and ice cubes at the ice making cells 311 may be transported into the ice bank 34 thereabove by the ice transporting mechanism 32, so that parts inside the ice making device 300 may be more flexibly arranged.

The track member 321 may be fixedly connected to the inner wall of the housing 33 by a screw connection, a clamping connection, or the like, so that the whole ice transporting mechanism 32 may be integrally connected to and fixed to the housing 33 through the track member 321.

The ice making device 300 may further include a driving part (not shown) for driving the ice-conveying plate 322 to move between the first position and the second position.

The driving part may be disposed on the housing 33 and in driving connection with the ice transporting plate 322, or may be disposed on the rail member 321 and in driving connection with the ice transporting plate 322, or may be disposed on the ice transporting plate 322 and in driving connection with the rail member 321 or the housing 33 of the ice making device 300, which is not limited in this embodiment.

The driving part may be composed of a second motor and a second gear-rack transmission assembly, a second screw transmission assembly or a second synchronous belt transmission assembly driven by the second motor, and the second motor may further drive the ice conveying plate 322 to slide through the second gear-rack transmission assembly, the second screw transmission assembly or the second synchronous belt transmission assembly. Of course, the driving member may be an electric push rod or the like, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The ice transporting mechanism 32 may further include a limiting member 323, and the limiting member 323 is mounted to the ice transporting plate 322 to limit ice cubes carried on the ice transporting plate 322 from sliding down. Further, the ice cubes carried on the ice carrying plate 322 can be more stably carried from the first position to the second position.

The limiting member 323 may be a protrusion integrally formed on the ice-conveying plate 322, or may be a rail movably mounted on the ice-conveying plate 322, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The above is an illustration of some of the ice handling mechanisms 32 of the embodiments of the present application, and the following description continues with an illustration of the other structures of the ice making mechanism 31 of the embodiments of the present application.

The ice making mechanism 31 may further include a guide member 314. The guiding member 314 serves to guide ice cubes discharged from the ice making tray 311 to slide down to the first position. The guide member 314 may be integrally formed with the mounting member 313, or may be formed separately from the mounting member 313, which is not limited in this embodiment. It can be appreciated that, in the embodiment of the present application, by providing the guiding component 314, a good guiding effect can be achieved on the ice cubes poured out from the ice making grid 311, so that the ice cubes can more accurately slide into the ice transporting mechanism 32.

With continued reference to fig. 5, fig. 5 is an assembled view of the ice making mechanism of fig. 4. The guide 314 may include a slope 3141 for sliding off ice cubes poured from the ice making tray 311. An orthographic projection of the ice tray 311 along the direction of gravity is located within the inclined surface 3141. Further, when the ice cubes are poured out from the ice making tray 311, the ice cubes may fall onto the inclined surface 3141 and slide down the inclined surface 3141 onto the ice carrying plate 322 located at the first position.

The inclined surface 3141 may be a straight surface inclined to the second direction H2 (or vertical direction), may be a curved surface inclined to the second direction H2 (or vertical direction), or may include a straight surface and a curved surface that are connected to each other, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the guide member 314 may further include a first riser 3142. The first vertical plate 3142 is disposed on a side of the ice making tray 311 facing away from the ice transporting mechanism 32, and the first vertical plate 3142 is connected to an end of the inclined surface 3141 near the ice making tray 311. Further, during the rotation of the ice making tray 311, the ice making tray 311 may be prevented from throwing ice cubes to an area other than the inclined surface 3141 by the first standing plate 3142.

It is to be understood that the first upright plate 3142 may be a straight plate structure disposed along the second direction H2 (or the vertical direction), or may be a straight plate structure having a certain inclination angle with the second direction H2 (or the vertical direction), and the first upright plate 3142 may also be an arc-shaped plate structure.

The mounting member 313 may be integrally formed at one end of the first standing plate 3142 in the third direction H3.

In some embodiments, the guide member 314 further includes two guide ribs 3143. The inclined surface 3141 is provided with one guide rib 3143 at each end in the third direction H3. The inclined surface 3141 and the two guide ribs 3143 enclose a channel for sliding ice cubes poured out of the ice making tray 311. Further, the ice cubes may be restricted from being strung along the two sides of the third direction H3 during the sliding down process, and not being completely slid into the ice-transporting plate 322.

The ice making tray 311 is provided with a plurality of receiving grooves 3111 for receiving ice cubes, and all the receiving grooves 3111 are open toward the same direction. Further, the ice making tray 311 may be rotated such that the opening of the receiving groove 3111 faces upward to carry water, and then cooled air is blown toward the ice making tray 311 such that the water in the receiving groove 3111 is frozen to form ice cubes. Then, the ice making tray 311 may be rotated to the opening of the receiving groove 3111 downward so that the ice cubes inside the receiving groove 3111 may be poured out.

At this time, the distance between the two guiding ribs 3143 may be greater than the distance between the two accommodating grooves 3111 at two ends of the ice making tray 311 along the third direction H3, so that all ice cubes poured from the ice making tray 311 may enter the channel defined by the inclined surface 3141 and the two guiding ribs 3143.

The interval between the two guide ribs 3143 may be smaller than the length of the ice making tray 311 in the third direction H3. It will be appreciated that, on the one hand, the greater the distance between the two guide ribs 3143, the greater the likelihood of splashing during ice-cube sliding; conversely, when the distance between the two guide ribs 3143 is smaller, the flowing range of the ice cubes during the sliding process is more fixed, so that the ice cubes can be more stably and controllably in the sliding process, so as to improve the stability and reliability of the ice making device 300. On the other hand, reducing the interval between the two guide ribs 3143 may also save the space of the ice making device 300 and the inside of the entire refrigerator.

In the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the embodiments are emphasized, and for parts of one embodiment that are not described in detail, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

The ice making apparatus 300 and the refrigerator provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail, and specific examples are applied herein to illustrate the principles and embodiments of the present application, and the description of the above examples is only for helping to understand the method and core ideas of the present application; meanwhile, as those skilled in the art will vary in the specific embodiments and application scope according to the ideas of the present application, the contents of the present specification should not be construed as limiting the present application in summary.

Claims (10)

1. An ice making apparatus, comprising:

the ice making mechanism comprises an ice making grid and a driving device, wherein the ice making grid is used for making ice cubes, and the driving device is used for driving the ice making grid to rotate so as to pour the ice cubes; and

the ice conveying mechanism is arranged at one side of the ice making mechanism along a first direction and is used for bearing ice cubes poured out by the ice making grid and conveying the ice cubes along a second direction, and the second direction is different from the first direction;

wherein the width of the driving device in the first direction is smaller than the width of the driving device in the second direction.

2. The ice making apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ice making mechanism further comprises a mounting member, the driving device is fixedly mounted on the mounting member, the ice making tray is disposed on one side of the mounting member along a third direction and is in transmission connection with the driving device, so that the driving device can drive the ice making tray to rotate, the third direction is parallel to a rotation axis of the ice making tray, and the third direction, the first direction and the second direction are mutually perpendicular.

3. The ice making apparatus of claim 2, wherein said mounting member is removably connected to said driving means.

4. The ice making apparatus of claim 3, wherein said mounting member includes a top wall, a bottom wall and side walls, said top wall and said bottom wall being disposed opposite one another in said second direction, said side walls being connected between said top wall and said bottom wall such that said top wall, said bottom wall and said side walls enclose a space that forms at least a portion of said drive means.

5. The ice making apparatus of claim 4, wherein said side wall comprises:

the first side wall is arranged on one side, away from the ice conveying mechanism, of the driving device along the first direction, an elastic claw is arranged on the first side wall, and the tail end of the elastic claw is abutted to one side, along the third direction, of the driving device; and

and the second side wall is connected with the first side wall and is abutted against the other side of the driving device along the third direction.

6. The ice making apparatus of claim 5, wherein said second side wall is provided with a clamping groove, and said driving means is provided with a clamping portion clamped to said clamping groove;

wherein the resilient jaws are elastically deformable to be displaced from each other in the first direction with the driving means.

7. The ice making apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the ice transporting mechanism includes:

a track member; and

an ice transporting plate slidably mounted to the rail member to be movable between a first position and a second position in the second direction;

the ice making mechanism is arranged between the first position and the second position, so that ice cubes poured out of the ice making grid can be received when the ice conveying plate moves to the first position.

8. The ice making apparatus of claim 7, wherein the ice making mechanism further comprises a guide member for guiding ice cubes poured from the ice making tray to slide down to the first position.

9. The ice making apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a housing, wherein the ice making mechanism and the ice transporting mechanism are both housed within the housing.

10. A refrigerator, comprising: the ice making device of any one of claims 1 to 9.

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