US20230349613A1

US20230349613A1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: US20230349613A1
Application number: US18/348,820
Authority: US
Inventors: Huimin YAO; Xiaofen LONG; Jinchao XU; Chunhua Yang; Yuhua Guo
Original assignee: Hisense Ronshen Guangdong Refrigerator Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hisense Ronshen Guangdong Refrigerator Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-28
Filing date: 2023-07-07
Publication date: 2023-11-02
Also published as: WO2022247083A1; CN113237285A

Abstract

A refrigerator includes a refrigerator body and an ice maker. The ice maker includes a mold shell and a driving mechanism. The mold shell has at least one mold cavity and a water inlet. The mold shell includes a first sub-mold shell and a second sub-mold shell. One of the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell is fixed, and another of the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell is movable. The driving mechanism is configured to drive the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell to switch between a separated state and a dosed state. The second sub-mold shell includes a heating mechanism, a second shell portion, and a second mold portion. The second mold portion is disposed in the second shell portion, and the heating mechanism is disposed on a side of the second shell portion away from the second mold portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/CN2021/121030, filed on Sep. 27, 2021, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202110599421.0, filed on May 28, 2021; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of household appliances, and in particular, to a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND

As consumers demand more and more functions from refrigerators, refrigerators with an ice making function are becoming increasingly popular.
The main structure in the refrigerator that implements the ice making function is the ice maker, which is generally disposed in a separate ice making compartment Isolated from the refrigerating compartment or freezing compartment. The basic principle of ice making includes: injecting water into the ice tray inside the ice maker, then supplying cold to the ice making compartment to freeze the water in the ice tray into ice cubes, and finally demolding the ice cubes from the ice tray and dropping them into the storage box for users to take.

SUMMARY

A refrigerator includes a refrigerator body and an ice maker. An ice making compartment is defined in the refrigerator body. The ice maker is disposed in the ice making compartment. The ice maker includes a mold shell and a driving mechanism. The mold shell has at least one mold cavity and a water inlet communicating with the mold cavity. The mold shell includes a first sub-mold shell and a second sub-mold shell. One of the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell is fixed, and another of the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell is movable, such that the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell is switchable between a separated state and a closed state. The driving mechanism is configured to drive the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell to switch between the separated state and the dosed state. The second sub-mold shell includes a heating mechanism, a second shell portion, and a second mold portion. The second mold portion is disposed in the second shell portion, and the heating mechanism is disposed on a side of the second shell portion away from the second mold portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, accompanying drawings to be used in the description of some embodiments will be introduced briefly below. However, the accompanying drawings to be described below are merely accompanying drawings of some embodiments of the present application, and a person having ordinary skill in the art may obtain other drawings according to these drawings. In addition, the accompanying drawings to be described below may be regarded as schematic diagrams and are not limitations on an actual size of a product, an actual process of a method and an actual timing of a signal involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a refrigerator with a door body thereof in an open state, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a cold air supply device of a refrigerator, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of an ice maker in a closed state, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of an ice maker in a separated state, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a shell and a mold body of an ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of a driving mechanism and a shell of an ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of another ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a structural diagram of another ice maker in a closed state, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a structural diagram of another ice maker in a separated state, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a structural diagram of a driving mechanism and a shell of another ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of a water tank and a mold body of an ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 13 is an exploded view of a mold body of an ice maker, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings; however, the described embodiments are merely some but not all of embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained on a basis of the embodiments of the present disclosure by a person of ordinary skill in the art shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the term “comprise” and other forms thereof such as the third-person singular form “comprises” and the present participle form “comprising” are construed as open and inclusive, i.e., “including, but not limited to.” In the description of the specification, the terms such as “one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “exemplary embodiments,” “example,” “specific example,” or “some examples” are intended to indicate that specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics related to the embodiment(s) or example(s) are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. Schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment(s) or example(s). In addition, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described herein may be included in any one or more embodiments or examples in any suitable manner.
Hereinafter, the terms “first” and “second” are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying the relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of these features. In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms “a plurality of” and “the plurality of” both mean two or more unless otherwise specified.
In describing some embodiments; the expressions “coupled” and “connected” and their derivatives may be used. The term “connected” should be understood in a broad sense; for example, “connected” may refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or a connection into an integral body; it may also refer to a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate means. The term “coupled” may be used to indicate that two or more components are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled” or “communicatively coupled” may also mean that two or more components are not in direct contact with each other, but still cooperate or interact with each other. The embodiments disclosed herein are not necessarily limited to the content herein.
The phrase “at least one of A, B, and C” has the same meaning as the phrase “at least one of A, B, or C,” and they both include the following combinations of A, B, and C: only A, only B, only C, a combination of A and B, a combination of A and C, a combination of B and C, and a combination of A, B, and C.
The phrase “A and/or B” includes the following three combinations: only A; only B, and a combination of A and B.
The phrase “applicable to” or “configured to” as used herein indicates an open and inclusive expression, which does not exclude devices that are applicable to or configured to perform additional tasks or steps.
In addition, the phrase “based on” as used herein is meant to be open and inclusive, since a process, step, calculation, or other action that is “based on” one or more of the stated conditions or values may, in practice, be based on additional conditions or values beyond those stated.
The term such as “about,” “substantially,” or “approximately” as used herein includes a stated value and an average value within an acceptable range of deviation of a particular value. The acceptable range of deviation is determined by a person of ordinary skill in the art in consideration of the measurement in question and errors associated with the measurement of a particular quantity (i.e., limitations of the measurement system).
The terms such as “parallel,” “perpendicular,” and “equal” as used herein include a stated situation and a situation similar to the stated situation. The situation similar to the stated situation is within an acceptable range of deviation. The acceptable range of deviation is determined by a person of ordinary skill in the art in consideration of the measurement in question and errors associated with the measurement of a particular quantity (i.e., limitations of the measurement system). For example, the term “parallel” includes absolute parallelism and approximate parallelism, and an acceptable range of deviation of the approximate parallelism may be, for example, a deviation within 5°, the term “perpendicular” includes absolute perpendicularity and approximate perpendicularity, and an acceptable range of deviation of the approximate perpendicularity may also be, for example, a deviation within 5°. The term “equal” includes absolute equality and approximate equality, and an acceptable range of deviation of the approximate equality may be, for example, that a difference between two equals is less than or equal to 5% of either of the two equals.
A side of a refrigerator 1 facing a user during use is defined as a front side, and a side opposite to the front side is defined as a rear side.
In some embodiments, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator body 10, a cold air supply device 20, and a door body 30. The refrigerator body 10 includes a storage compartment, the cold air supply device 20 is configured to cool the storage compartment, and the door body 30 is configured to open and close the storage compartment.
The cold air supply device 20 cools the storage compartment by exchanging heat with an outside of the refrigerator body 10. As shown in FIG. 2 , the cold air supply device 20 includes a compressor 21, a condenser 22, an expansion device 23, and an evaporator 24; and the cold air supply device 20 circulates the refrigerant in an order of the compressor 21, the condenser 22, the expansion device 23, the evaporator 24, and the compressor 21 to cool the storage compartment.
For example, the evaporator 24 may be arranged to be in contact with an outer wall of the storage compartment, so as to cool the storage compartment. In some embodiments, the cold air supply device 20 may further include a circulation fan, so that air in the storage compartment may be circulated through the evaporator 24 and the circulation fan.
The refrigerator body 10 includes a horizontal partition plate 11 disposed at a middle position of the refrigerator body 10 in a height direction. The height direction refers to the up-down direction in FIG. 1 , and the horizontal partition plate 11 extends in a left-right direction in FIG. 1 . The substantial position of the horizontal partition plate 11 is indicated by the dotted line box in FIG. 1 . The storage compartment is partitioned into an upper storage compartment 12 and a lower storage compartment 13 by the horizontal partition plate 11. In some embodiments, the upper storage compartment 12 is used as a freezing compartment for storing foods in a freezing mode, and the lower storage compartment 13 is used as a refrigerating compartment for storing foods in a refrigerating mode.
In addition, referring to FIG. 1 , the refrigerator 1 may further include an ice maker 1001, so that the refrigerator 1 has an ice making function, and ice cubes or ice water may be provided to the user by the ice maker 1001. In some embodiments, the ice maker 1001 is disposed in the freezing compartment, and in this case, the freezing compartment is the ice making compartment. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the ice maker 1001 is disposed in the upper storage compartment 12 (i.e., the freezing compartment). Alternatively, an independent ice making compartment is defined by a heat insulating plate in the refrigerating compartment or the freezing compartment, and the ice maker 1001 is disposed in the ice making compartment.
The door body 30 is pivotally connected to the refrigerator body 10, so as to open or close the storage compartment by rotation. For example, the door body 30 is hinged to a front end of the refrigerator body 10. Four door bodies 30 are shown in FIG. 1 .
Referring to FIG. 3 , the ice maker 1001 includes a base 100, a mold shell 400 (including a shell 200 and a mold body 300), and a driving mechanism 500.
As shown in FIG. 3 , the base 100 is configured to be connected to the ice making compartment. The base 100 includes a plurality of side plates. For example, the plurality of side plates include an upper side plate 101, a left side plate 102, a right side plate 103, a front side plate 104, and a rear side plate. The left side plate 102 and the right side plate 103 face each other in the left-right direction, the front side plate 104 and the rear side plate face each other in the front-rear direction, and the upper side plate 101 is located at the upper portion of the left side plate 102, the right side plate 103, the front side plate 104, and the rear side plate. The directional terms “upper,” “front,” “back,” “left,” and “right” mentioned in some embodiments of the present disclosure are defined for clear description of the structure, and in actual arrangement, the base 100 is not limited to being disposed in the ice making compartment in the front-back direction shown in FIG. 3 .
In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the mold shell 400 includes a first sub-mold shell 401 and a second sub-mold shell 402. The first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 are switchable between a separated state and a closed state. In the closed state, the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 form a mold cavity, which is a cavity enclosed by the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402. A shape of the mold cavity depends on shapes of inner contours of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402. The shape of the mold cavity is the shape of ice cubes. The shape of the mold cavity may be adaptively designed according to the needs of users. For example, the mold cavity may be designed into a spherical shape, a diamond-faced spherical shape, or a polyhedral shape.
In some embodiments, one of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed, and the other of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 is movable, such that the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 are switchable between the separated state and the closed state. In the separated state, the movable one of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 moves away from the other one that is fixed; in the closed state, the movable one of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 moves toward the other one that is fixed, until the two parts are closed.
For example, it may be that the first sub-mold shell 401 is fixed, and the second sub-mold shell 402 is movable relative to the first sub-mold shell 401; it may also be that the second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed, and the first sub-mold shell 401 is movable relative to the second sub-mold shell 402. In this case, the ice maker 1001 is easy to control and has good reliability. FIGS. 3, 4, 8, and 9 show that the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 are in the dosed state, and FIGS. 5 and 10 show that the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 are in the separated state.
In some embodiments, it may also be that both the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 are movable. In this case, the ice maker 1001 includes two push rods corresponding to the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402, respectively. The two push rods are independent of each other, and there is no need to provide other structures such as connecting rods to demold ice.
The solution in which the mold shell 400 includes more sub-mold shells is similar to the solution in which the mold shell 400 includes the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 as described above, and details will not be repeated here.
For ease of description, some embodiments are mainly described by considering an example in which the second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed, and the first sub-mold shell 401 is movable relative to the second sub-mold shell 402, however, this cannot be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3 , the mold shell 400 includes a shell 200 and a mold body 300. It will be noted that, the shell body 200 may also be referred to as a mold frame, and the mold body 300 may also be referred to as a mold. The mold shell 400 includes the mold frame and the mold.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6 , the shell 200 includes a first shell portion 210 and a second shell portion 220 disposed opposite each other. For example, the first shell portion 210 and the second shell portion 220 are disposed opposite each other in the MN direction shown in FIG. 6 . The first shell portion 210 is located on the M side of the second shell portion 220, and the second shell portion 220 is located on the N side of the first shell portion 210; and the MN direction corresponds to the right-left direction of the shell 200. An inner wall of the first shell portion 210 is provided with a first inner cavity 212 (referring to FIG. 6 ), and an inner wall of the second shell portion 220 is provided with a second inner cavity, the second inner cavity is disposed opposite the first inner cavity 212, and the second inner cavity may have a structure similar to that of the first inner cavity 212. The first shell portion 210 and the second shell portion 220 are switchable between a separated state and a dosed state. In the dosed state, the first shed portion 210 and the second shell portion 220 are dosed to form an inner cavity, and the inner cavity is defined jointly by the first inner cavity 212 and the second inner cavity.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6 , the mold body 300 is disposed in the inner cavity, and the mold body 300 includes a first mold portion 310 and a second mold portion 320. The first mold portion 310 is connected to the first shell portion 210 so that the first mold portion 310 moves with the first shell portion 210. For example, a first mold portion 310 is disposed in the first inner cavity 212 of the first shell portion 210, and the first mold portion 310 includes a first concave cavity 311 (referring to FIG. 6 ) located on a side of the first mold portion 310 facing the second mold portion 320. The second mold portion 320 is connected to the second shell portion 220 so that the second mold portion 320 is fixed relative to the second shell portion 220. For example, a second mold portion 320 is disposed in the second inner cavity of the second shell portion 220, and the second mold portion 320 includes a second concave cavity 321 (referring to FIG. 13 ) located on a side of the second mold portion 320 facing the first mold portion 310. The first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 are switchable between a separated state and a closed state. In the closed state, the first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 are closed to form a mold cavity, and the mold cavity is defined jointly by the first concave cavity 311 and the second concave cavity 321.
In some embodiments, referring to FIGS. 6 and 13 , an edge of the first concave cavity 311 of the first mold portion 310 is provided with a first engaging portion 312 (referring to FIG. 6 ), an edge of the second concave cavity 321 of the second mold portion 320 is provided with a second engaging portion 322 (referring to FIG. 13 ), and the second engaging portion 322 is configured to be matched with the first engaging portion 312. For example, one of the first engaging portion 312 and the second engaging portion 322 is a convex rib, the other of the first engaging portion 312 and the second engaging portion 322 includes a groove, and the groove is matched with the convex rib. In this way, by the cooperation of the first engaging portion 312 and the second engaging portion 322, the fitting degree of the first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 when they are closed may be improved, and the aesthetic degree of the appearance of the ice cubes may be improved. In this way, it may be possible to effectively prevent a protruding edge from appearing at a position where the first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 are engaged and from affecting the appearance of the ice cubes.
In some embodiments, one of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion 322 may also be configured as a protruding portion or a raised portion, and another one of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion 322 may also be configured as a concave portion or a slot. As long as the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion 322 are capable of matching together, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 is configured to be deformable due to an external force. For example, both the first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 are silica gel members.
Referring to FIG. 6 , the mold body 300 has a water inlet 301 in communication with the mold cavity, and the water inlet 301 is an annular hole. The base 100 includes an opening 1011 (referring to FIG. 8 ) at a position of an upper side plate 101 corresponding to the water inlet 301, and an external water pipe is connected with the water inlet 301 through the opening 1011, so as to inject water into the mold cavity. For example, the opening 1011 is formed as a rectangular through hole that penetrates the upper side plate 101 in the thickness direction.
In some embodiments, the mold body 300 includes a plurality of mold cavities, FIG. 12 shows an example in which the mold body 300 includes three mold cavities, and each mold cavity includes one water inlet 301. A water tank 600 is provided above the shell 200, and the water tank 600 includes a water distribution port 601 corresponding to each water inlet 301. A water distribution pipe 602 communicated with the water inlet 301 is provided at the water distribution port 601. Referring to FIG. 4 , the water tank 600 is fixed to the base 100, and the opening 1011 is provided in the upper side plate 101 at a position corresponding to the water tank 600 (referring to FIG. 8 ). The provision of the plurality of mold cavities may increase the number of ice cubes the ice maker 1001 can make at one time, and the provision of the water tank 600 with the water distribution port 601 may improve the water filling efficiency, thereby effectively improving the ice making efficiency.
In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 13 , the plurality of mold cavities communicate with each other through water holes 302. For example, the mold body 300 in FIG. 13 includes three mold cavities, and two adjacent mold cavities are communicated with each other through the water hole 302. In this way, the water injected into the mold cavities may circulate in different mold cavities, thereby averaging the water amount in each mold cavity and reducing the weight difference between the ice cubes.
Since the amount of water injected each time is constant during ice making, if water leaks during water injection, the amount of water entering the mold cavities will decrease, and the weight of the produced ice cubes will be less than the preset weight, thereby resulting in decreased integrity of the ice cubes. In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 13 , the water inlet 301 is formed into a closed shape. For example, the structure defining the water inlet 301 is an annular structure, and the inner side of the annular structure defines the water inlet 301. An example in which the water inlet 301 is funnel-shaped is shown in FIG. 13 . In this way, by forming the water inlet 301 into a closed shape, water leakage may be avoided, and the integrity of the ice cubes may be well guaranteed.
In this way, when water is injected into the mold cavity through the annular water inlet 301 during ice making, water will not leak from the gap where the water inlet 301 is closed, thus preventing leaked water from forming ice outside the mold cavity and affecting the demolding process. In addition, it may also be possible to prevent the ice formed by leaked water from destroying the original shape of the ice cubes. Therefore, the shape of the ice cubes may be complete.
It can be understood that, if half of the water inlet 301 is located in the first mold portion 310 and the other half of the water inlet 301 is located in the second mold portion 320, when water leaks out of the mold cavity from the position where the two halves of the water inlet 301 in the first mold portion 310 and the second mold portion 320 are engaged during water injection, the leaked water will freeze and cause the mold portions to be adhered together. Consequently, it will be difficult to separate the first mold portion 310 from the second mold portion 320 during subsequent demolding, thereby resulting in an unsmooth demolding process.
In some embodiments, the water inlet 301 is formed on the first mold portion 310 or the second mold portion 320. FIG. 13 shows an example in which the water inlet 301 is formed on the second mold portion 320, and the water inlet 301 and the second mold portion 320 are a one-piece member. Of course, in some embodiments, the water inlet 301 may be formed on the first mold portion 310, and the water inlet 301 and the first mold portion 310 are a one-piece member. Thus, instead of forming the water inlet 301 into two halves that can be closed, by forming the water inlet 301 into a single piece on the first mold portion 310 or the second mold portion 320, the demolding difficulty may be reduced, and the demolding process may be made smooth.
Referring to FIG. 6 , the first shell portion 210 includes a first groove 211, and the first groove 211 is located on a side of the first shell portion 210 proximate to the second shell portion 220. The second shell portion 220 includes a second groove 221, and the second groove 221 is located on a side of the second shell portion 220 proximate to the first shell portion 210. In a case where the first shell portion 210 and the second shell portion 220 are in the closed state, the first groove 211 and the second groove 221 are closed jointly to define an avoidance opening surrounding an outer periphery of the water inlet 301. The water inlet 301 is located in the avoidance opening.
The first sub-mold shell 401 includes a first shell portion 210 and a first mold portion 310. Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6 , the ice maker 1001 further includes a push rod 410. The push rod 410 is located on a side of the first shell portion 210 away from the second shell portion 220 and is positioned at a predetermined distance from the first shell portion 210 (referring to the distance L in FIG. 4 ). The push rod 410 is fixed to the right side plate 103.
It will be noted that, the first predetermined distance is a distance set according to the length of the first push rod 410, the size of the internal space of the ice maker 1001, and other factors.
The first shell portion 210 includes a through hole 212A located on a side of the first shell portion 210 away from the second shell portion 220 (referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 ). For example, in FIG. 4 , the through hole 212A is provided on the M side of the first shell portion 210, the push rod 410 matched with the through hole 212A is provided at a predetermined distance L from the first shell portion 210 on the M side of the first shell portion 210, and the push rod 410 passes through the through hole 212A in FIG. 5 . The push rod 410 is provided on the inner side (e.g., the N side) of the right side plate 103 in FIG. 3 .
In some embodiments, referring to FIGS. 3, 4, and 9 , an end face of a side of the push rod 410 adjacent to the first mold portion 310 matches a contour surface of the first concave cavity 311 of the first mold portion 310. Thus, the push rod 410 is conveniently pushed against the first mold portion 310, so that the first mold portion 310 is effectively deformed, and the ice cubes in the first mold portion 310 are demolded, thereby improving the demolding effect.
The second sub-mold shell 402 includes a second shell portion 220 and a second mold portion 320. The second shell portion 220 includes a heating mechanism 420, and the heating mechanism 420 is disposed on a side of the second shell portion 220 away from the first shell portion 210. In this way, the ice cubes are conveniently heated by the heating mechanism 420, which facilitates the demolding of the ice cubes from the second mold portion 320. For example, the heating mechanism 420 is disposed on the N side of the second shell portion 220 in FIG. 4 . In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 6 , the heating mechanism 420 includes a heating tube or a heating wire. The driving mechanism 500 is configured to drive the first sub-mold shell 401 to move while the second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed. For example, the driving mechanism 500 is configured to drive the first shell portion 210 to move so that the first shell portion 210 is separated from or closed with the fixed second shell portion 220. The first mold portion 310 moves with the first shell portion 210, and the second mold portion 320 is fixed relative to the second shell portion 220.
Upon demolding, the heating mechanism 420 is first activated to melt the outer wall of the ice cubes, thereby demolding the ice cubes from the second mold portion 320. The ice cubes are then attached to the first mold portion 310. Then, when the first shell portion 210 is driven by the driving mechanism 500 to move to a predetermined position, the push rod 410 is pushed to the first mold portion 310 through the through hole 212A, so that the first mold portion 310 is deformed by force, and the ice cubes located in the first mold portion 310 are ejected. Finally, the ice cubes are dropped into the ice storage box for the user to take.
The refrigerator 1 provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure includes the ice maker 1001. The ice tray of the ice maker 1001 includes the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402. One of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed, and the other of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 is movable, such that the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 are switchable between the separated state and the closed state. The ice maker 1001 is suitable for making ice cubes of special shapes, such as spherical ice cubes or polyhedral ice cubes, which can only be formed through the cooperation of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402.
In addition, by adopting a solution in which one of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed and the other of the first sub-mold shell 401 and the second sub-mold shell 402 is movable, the driving components required are relatively simple and the overall space occupied by the ice maker 1001 is small.
In some embodiments, the first sub-mold shell 401 is movable, and the push rod 410 is provided on the side of the first sub-mold shell 401 away from the second sub-mold shell 402. The second sub-mold shell 402 is fixed and includes the heating mechanism 420. Upon demolding, the heating mechanism 420 is activated to cause the ice cubes to adhere to the first sub-mold shell 401. When the first sub-mold shell 401 moves to the predetermined position, the push rod 410 is pushed against the first mold portion 310 through the through hole 212A, so that the first mold portion 310 is deformed by force and ejects the ice cubes. This demolding structure is simple, and the demolding effect is reliable.
It will be noted that, demolding of the second sub-mold shell 402 may adopt at least one of the heating mechanism 420 or deforming the second mold portion 320.
In some embodiments, the demolding of the second sub-mold shell 402 is accomplished mainly by using the heating mechanism 420 to melt the outer walls of the ice cubes. In this case, the second sub-mold shell 402 may not be provided with the second mold portion 320, as long as the second sub-mold shell 402 may form a mold cavity with the first mold portion 310. Additionally or alternatively, the demolding of the second sub-mold shell 402 is achieved by causing the second mold portion 320 to deform. It can be understood that the manner of causing the second mold portion 320 to deform, so as to achieve demolding of the second sub-mold shell 402, is similar to the manner of causing the first mold portion 310 to deform, so as to achieve demolding of the first sub-mold shell 401, and details will not be repeated here.
In some embodiments, the separating and closing movements of the first shell portion 210 and the second shell portion 220 include at least a translational type of movement or a rotary type of movement, for which a matching driving mechanism 500 is provided respectively.
As shown in FIG. 7 , in a case where the first shell portion 210 adopts a translational separating and closing movement, the driving mechanism 500 includes a driving member (e.g., a motor 510), a driving shaft (e.g., a rotating shaft 520), a gear set 530, a rack 540, and a sliding rod 550.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 4 , FIG. 4 is a structural diagram with the base 100 in FIG. 3 hidden. The driving mechanism 500 includes two racks 540, and the two racks 540 are disposed at both sides of the top of the first shell portion 210 in the moving direction, respectively (for example, the moving direction is the left-right direction, and the two racks are arranged in the front-rear direction). The driving mechanism 500 includes a plurality of sliding rods 550. For example, the driving mechanism 500 includes two or four sliding rods 550. In a case where the driving mechanism 500 includes two sliding rods 550, the two sliding rods 550 are connected to two corner positions of the first shell portion 210 and the second shell portion 220, respectively. In a case where the driving mechanism 500 includes four sliding rods 550, the four sliding rods 550 are connected to four corner positions of the first shell portion 210 and the second shell portion 220, respectively.
The driving member is connected to the rotating shaft, so as to drive the rotating shaft to rotate. For example, the motor 510 is connected to the rotating shaft 520, and the rack 540 is connected to the rotating shaft 520 through the gear set 530 in a transmission manner. In this way, the motor 510 is capable of driving the rotating shaft 520 to rotate, the rotating shaft 520 drives the clear set 530 to rotate, and the gear set 530 drives the rack 540 to move, thereby translating the first shell portion 210 along the sliding rod 550. FIG. 5 shows that the driving mechanism 500 drives the first shed portion 210 to move to the separated state, and FIGS. 3 and 4 show that the driving mechanism 500 drives the first shell portion 210 to move to the closed state. It will be noted that, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, that the shell portion adopts a translational opening-closing movement means that the first shell portion 210 or the second shell portion 220 drives any one of shell portions or any one of mold portions to move in a translational opening-closing manner through a translational driving system (i.e., a translational rack and a slide rod). The function of the translational opening-closing movement is to ensure that the position of the shell portion and the mold portion before and after the opening-closing movement is fixed, so that there is no positional deviation due to the movement, which makes the translational opening-closing movement more reliable. As a result, it may be possible to avoid a situation that two mold portions are not sealed tightly and form gaps, thus water may leak out of the mold cavity from a mold-closing line of the water injecting hole during water injecting, and the regularity and appearance of the ice cube may be affected due to the difficulty of demolding when the ice making process is completed.
Referring to FIGS. 8 to 11 , in a case where the first shell portion 210 adopts a rotary separating and closing movement, the driving mechanism 500 includes a driving member and a driving shaft. In some embodiments, the driving member includes a motor 510, and the driving shaft includes a rotating shaft 520. The motor 510 is connected to the rotating shaft 520, so as to drive the rotating shaft 520 to rotate, and the first shell portion 210 is connected to the rotating shaft 520. In this way, the first shell portion 210 may be rotated in a predetermined direction through the rotation of the rotating shaft 520. FIG. 10 shows that the driving mechanism 500 drives the first shell portion 210 to move to the separated state, and FIGS. 8 and 9 show that the driving mechanism 500 drives the first shell portion 210 to move to the closed state.
Referring to FIG. 11 , the ice maker 1001 further includes a fixing shaft 503, and in this way, the connection of the second shell portion 220 to the base 100 is facilitated by the fixing shaft 503. In some embodiments, the second shell portion 220 is connected to the fixing shaft 503. Alternatively, the second shell portion 220 is fixedly connected to the base 100.
The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the scope of disclosure involved in the present disclosure is not limited to technical solutions formed by particular combinations of the above technical features, but shall also encompass other technical solutions formed by any combination of the above technical features or equivalents thereof without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, for example, technical solutions formed by replacing the above features with technical features having similar functions disclosed in some embodiments (but not limited thereto).

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator, comprising:

a refrigerator body having defined therein an ice making compartment; and

an ice maker disposed in the ice making compartment, wherein the ice maker includes:

a mold shell having at least one mold cavity and a water inlet communicating with the mold cavity, the mold shell including a first sub-mold shell and a second sub-mold shell, one of the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell being fixed, and another of the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell being movable, such that the first sub-mold shell and the second sub-mold shell are switchable between a separated state and a closed state; and

a driving mechanism configured to drive the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell to switch between the separated state and the closed state;

wherein the second sub-mold shell includes:

a heating mechanism;

a second shell portion; and

a second mold portion disposed in the second shell portion, wherein the heating mechanism is disposed on a side of the second shell portion away from the second mold portion.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the mold shell includes:

a shell including an inner cavity; and

a mold body disposed in the inner cavity, the mold body including the water inlet, and the shell including an avoidance opening surrounding an outer periphery of the water inlet.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein

the shell includes a first shell portion and a second shell portion disposed opposite each other; a first inner cavity is provided on a side of the first shell portion facing the second shell portion, a second inner cavity is provided on a side of the second shell portion facing the first shell portion, and the first inner cavity and the second inner cavity constitute the inner cavity in the closed state; and

the mold body includes a first mold portion and a second mold portion disposed opposite each other; the first mold portion is connected to the first shell portion, the second mold portion is connected to the second shell portion, and the first mold portion and the second mold portion constitute the mold cavity in the closed state.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein

the first mold portion is disposed in the first inner cavity, and the second mold portion is disposed in the second inner cavity; and

a first concave cavity is provided on a side of the first mold portion facing the second mold portion, and a second concave cavity is provided on a side of the second mold portion facing the first mold portion, and the first concave cavity and the second concave cavity constitute the mold cavity in the closed state.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein an edge of the first concave cavity of the first mold portion is provided with a first engaging portion, and an edge of the second concave cavity of the second mold portion is provided with a second engaging portion matched with the first engaging portion.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein one of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion is a convex rib, and another of the first engaging portion and the second engaging portion is a groove.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the first mold portion of the first sub-mold shell and the second mold portion of the second sub-mold shell is a silica gel member.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein

a first groove is provided on a side of the first shell portion proximate to the second shell portion, a second groove is provided on a side of the second shell portion proximate to the first shell portion, and the first groove and the second groove constitute the avoidance opening in the dosed state.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein

the at least one mold cavity includes a plurality of mold cavities, each of the plurality of mold cavities including one water inlet; and

a water tank is provided above the shell, and the water tank includes a water distribution port communicated with the water inlet.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein two adjacent mold cavities, of the plurality of mold cavities, are provided with a water hole in communication therebetween.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the water inlet satisfies at least one of following:

the water inlet is provided as a closed hole;

the water inlet and the first mold portion of the first sub-mold shell are constituted into a one-piece member; or

the water inlet and the second mold portion of the second sub-mold shell are constituted into a one-piece member.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the first sub-mold shell includes:

a first shell portion, wherein a push rod is provided on a side of the first shell portion away from the second sub-mold shell, and a through hole matched with the push rod is provided on the side of the first shell portion; and

a first mold portion, wherein the first mold portion is disposed in the first shell portion, and the push rod is configured to push toward the first mold portion through the through hole.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein an end face of a side of the push rod adjacent to the first mold portion is configured to match a contour surface of a first concave cavity of the first mold portion.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the driving mechanism is configured to drive the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell to move.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 14, wherein the driving mechanism includes:

a rotating shaft;

a motor connected to the rotating shaft, so as to drive the rotating shaft to rotate;

a gear set connected to the rotating shaft;

a rack, the rack being connected to the gear set in a transmission manner, the rack being connected to the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell; and

a sliding rod, the sliding rod being connected to the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell, such that the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell moves along the sliding rod.

16. The refrigerator according to claim 15, wherein the driving mechanism includes two racks, and the two racks are disposed on both sides of a top of the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell in a moving direction, respectively.

17. The refrigerator according to claim 16, wherein the driving mechanism includes four sliding rods, and the four sliding rods are connected to four corner positions of the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell, respectively.

18. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the driving mechanism is configured to drive the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell to rotate.

19. The refrigerator according to claim 18, wherein the driving mechanism includes:

a rotating shaft connected with the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell; and

a motor, the motor being connected with the rotating shaft, so as to drive the first sub-mold shell or the second sub-mold shell to rotate in a predetermined direction.

20. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice maker further includes:

a base connected to the ice making compartment,

wherein the base includes an opening, the opening being located at a position of an upper side plate of the base corresponding to the water inlet, and an external water pipe is connected with the water inlet through the opening, so as to inject water into the mold cavity.