Ice making assembly and method of making transparent ice, refrigerator

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of ice making, and discloses an ice making assembly, a method for manufacturing transparent ice, and a refrigerator. The ice making assembly comprises a support frame, an ice making mold arranged on the support frame, and a water storage box. The water storage box has an accommodating cavity with an opening facing upward for accommodating water. The ice making mold and the water storage box are arranged to be capable of moving close to or away from each other, so that the ice making mold switches between the positions of being immersed in the water storage box and being separated from the water storage box multiple times in one ice making process. In the ice making assembly provided by the present application, the water film adhered to the surface of the ice making mold after being separated from the water storage box can quickly freeze into ice, thereby achieving the effect of layer-by-layer ice making on the ice making mold. The problem that even if a bubble preventing mechanism is arranged, the transparency of ice is still reduced due to the low temperature of raw water or the use of residual raw water in the last ice making process is avoided, and the ice manufactured has high transparency.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of ice making, and more particularly, to an ice making assembly and a method of making transparent ice, a refrigerator. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the related art, if air dissolved in water is removed during ice formation, the ice produced does not contain air bubbles, and the ice produced is transparent crystal, i.e., transparent ice.

[0003] Among the known methods of making transparent ice, a spray method or an immersion method can be used. As for the spray method such as nozzle spray or tube spray, a spray pump is used to spray water on a cooled ice making water tray, and the water is formed into a cup-shaped or bell-shaped ice piece. As for the immersion method, water is supplied to an ice making water tray, and then an immersion tube of an evaporator is cooled to produce a bell-shaped ice piece having a hole in the center. The spray method is relatively expensive, and the immersion method is relatively inexpensive, but the immersion method has a disadvantage in that air bubbles are trapped in the ice, resulting in the produced ice having an opaque appearance.

[0004] A conventional ice water purifier uses an immersion type ice making unit that is relatively economical, has a simple structure, and is easy to manufacture, in which an immersion tube connected to an evaporator is immersed in water received in a water tray member, and thus ice is formed around the immersion tube. However, when the temperature of raw water received in the water tray member for ice making is low, ice can be rapidly formed around the immersion tube in an initial stage of the ice making process due to the low temperature of refrigerant introduced into the evaporator, which can cause air bubbles to be trapped in that area, thereby generating an opaque layer. Specifically, when the temperature of raw water for ice making is low (e.g., below 5°C) in the case of supplying cold water to the water tray member or reusing raw water remaining after the end of the ice making process in the next ice making process, the opacity of ice formed around the immersion tube increases. Since the opaque layer is formed in the ice in the initial stage of the ice making process, the transparency of the ice is reduced even if air bubbles are avoided, and thus the quality of the ice is deteriorated. In addition, an ice maker in the related art having the immersion type ice making unit has a complicated bubble prevention structure, and thus the ice maker is not easy to control. SUMMARY

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an ice making assembly and a method of making transparent ice, a refrigerator, which solves the problem of the prior art that the transparency of ice is reduced even if a bubble prevention mechanism is provided when the temperature of raw water for ice making is low or in the case of reusing raw water remaining after the end of the ice making process in the next ice making process.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present application provides a first aspect of ice making assembly, comprising a support frame, an ice making mold and a water storage box arranged on the support frame, the water storage box has an upward opening accommodating cavity for containing water, the ice making mold and the water storage box are arranged to be able to approach or move away from each other, so that the ice making mold switches between the positions of being immersed in the water storage box and being separated from the water storage box multiple times in one ice making process.

[0007] Optionally, the ice making mold is fixed on the top of the support frame, and the water storage box is driven to move between the ice making position close to the ice making mold and the ice outlet position away from the ice making mold by a driving mechanism.

[0008] In the ice making position, the driving mechanism is further arranged to drive the water storage box to reciprocate in the vertical direction, so that the ice making mold switches between the positions of being immersed in the water storage box and being separated from the water storage box multiple times in one ice making process.

[0009] Optionally, the driving mechanism comprises a driving motor arranged at the bottom of the water storage box and a transmission shaft arranged to rotate at the bottom of the water storage box, and the driving motor is arranged to drive the transmission shaft to rotate.

[0010] The transmission shaft is provided with a transmission gear coaxially arranged, and the support frame is provided with a rack arranged to extend vertically, and the transmission gear is engaged with the rack.

[0011] Preferably, both ends of the transmission shaft are provided with transmission gears, and both sides of the support frame are respectively provided with racks arranged to extend vertically, and the transmission gears at both ends of the transmission shaft are correspondingly engaged with the racks on both sides of the support frame.

[0012] Preferably, both sides of the support frame are respectively provided with limiting rods arranged to extend vertically, and both ends of the water storage box are respectively provided with limiting holes penetrating up and down, and the two limiting rods are correspondingly arranged in the two limiting holes.

[0013] Preferably, the back surfaces of the two racks are respectively arranged as arc structures, both ends of the water storage box are respectively provided with limiting holes penetrating up and down, and the two racks are correspondingly arranged in the two limiting holes.

[0014] Optionally, the ice making mold comprises an evaporation plate, one side of the evaporation plate is provided with a plurality of ice making grids or a plurality of ice making columns, and the other side is provided with a copper pipe for flowing refrigerant to transfer cold energy.

[0015] Preferably, the evaporation plate is provided with a heating assembly.

[0016] Optionally, the ice making assembly further comprises an ice guide cover, and the ice guide cover is arranged to rotate on the support frame via the ear plates arranged at both ends thereof.

[0017] Two said ear plate away from the end of the ice guide cover is provided with an opening oblique upward recess, the water storage box is provided with a convex column at both ends, respectively, when the driving mechanism drives the water storage box to move down to the ice outlet position, the convex column is pressed into the recess and pushes the ice guide cover to rotate from the side of the water storage box to the top of the water storage box.

[0018] Optionally, the ice making assembly further comprises a water supply assembly, which is configured to provide water into the water storage box.

[0019] Optionally, the support frame comprises a tray and a support frame arranged at both ends of the tray, respectively.

[0020] The second aspect of the present application provides a method for making transparent ice, which comprises immersing an ice making mold into a water storage box containing water, removing the water storage box when the surface of the ice making mold starts to freeze, and repeating the operation of immersing the ice making mold and removing the water storage box multiple times to make the water in the water storage box freeze on the surface of the ice making mold in layers.

[0021] The third aspect of the present application provides a refrigerator, comprising:

[0022] a cabinet, wherein a refrigeration compartment is defined in the cabinet; and

[0023] the ice making assembly as described above, which is installed in the refrigeration compartment via a mounting member.

[0024] Optionally, the mounting member is an L-shaped plate, and a thermal insulation layer is arranged on the L-shaped plate.

[0025] Through the above technical solution, by setting the ice making mold and the water storage box to be able to approach or move away from each other, the ice making mold is immersed in the water in the water storage box multiple times in one ice making process, and the water film attached to the surface of the ice making mold after each time of separation from the water storage box will quickly freeze into ice, thereby realizing the effect of layer-by-layer ice making on the ice making mold.

[0026] The ice making assembly provided by the present application avoids the problem that even if a bubble prevention mechanism is set, the transparency of ice will still be reduced due to the low temperature of raw water or the use of residual raw water from the previous ice making process, and ensures that the ice produced has high transparency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of an ice making assembly provided by the present application;

[0028] Figure 2 is Figure 1 an exploded schematic diagram of the ice making assembly in

[0029] Figure 3 is a schematic view of the ice making assembly provided by the present application in an ice making state;

[0030] Figure 4 is a schematic view of the installation of the ice making assembly provided by the present application in a refrigerator body.

[0031] Legend of reference signs

[0032] 10, support frame; 101, tray; 102, support frame; 11, rack; 12, water supply pipe; 20, ice making mold; 21, evaporation plate; 211, ice making column; 22, copper pipe; 23, heating assembly; 30, water storage box; 31, accommodating cavity; 32, limiting hole; 33, protruding column; 40, driving motor; 401, driving gear; 41, transmission shaft; 411, transmission gear; 412, driven gear; 50, ice guide cover; 51, ear plate; 511, groove; 60, body; 61, refrigeration compartment; 70, L-shaped plate; 80, ice storage box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely intended to illustrate and explain the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0034] As described above, in combination with Figure 1 , 2 , the present application provides an ice making assembly, which comprises a support frame 10 and an ice making mold 20 and a water storage box 30 arranged on the support frame 10, the water storage box 30 has an accommodating cavity 31 with an opening upward for containing water, the ice making mold 20 and the water storage box 30 are arranged to be able to approach or move away from each other, so that the ice making mold 20 is switched between the positions of being immersed in the water storage box 30 and being separated from the water storage box 30 for multiple times in one ice making process.

[0035] The ice making assembly provided by the present application realizes the multiple immersion and separation of the ice making mold 20 in the water in the water storage box 30 in one ice making process by arranging the ice making mold 20 and the water storage box 30 to be able to approach or move away from each other, and the water film attached to the surface of the ice making mold 20 after each separation from the water storage box 30 quickly condenses into ice, thereby realizing the effect of layer-by-layer ice making on the ice making mold 20.

[0036] The ice making assembly provided by the present application can also manufacture transparent ice through the low-cost immersion method under the premise of omitting the anti-foaming mechanism, has a fast ice making speed and a large ice making amount. Moreover, the layer-by-layer ice making is realized through the repeated multiple immersion of the ice making mold 20 in water, the effect of the existing spray ice making is achieved, and transparent ice with high transparency can be manufactured.

[0037] In particular, the ice-making assembly provided by the present application can form water film on the surface of the ice-making mold 20 layer by layer and make the water film freeze into ice by immersing the ice-making mold 20 into the water in the water storage box 30 for multiple times in one ice-making process, thereby avoiding the problem that even if a bubble prevention mechanism is provided, the transparency of the ice is still reduced due to the low temperature of the raw water or the use of the remaining raw water in the last ice-making process, and ensuring that the ice produced has high transparency.

[0038] It should be noted that the ice-making assembly provided by the present application can form water film of different heights on the ice-making mold 20 by controlling the depth of the ice-making mold 20 immersed into the water in the water storage box 30 each time, and then stack ice blocks of different styles, such as transparent ice in the form of a spherical ball, by layering and stacking.

[0039] In the present application, in order to realize the switching of the ice-making mold 20 between the position of being immersed into the water storage box 30 and the position of being separated from the water storage box 30 for multiple times in one ice-making process, the water storage box 30 can be relatively fixed, the ice-making mold 20 can be arranged to be movable towards or away from the water storage box 30, or the ice-making mold 20 can be relatively fixed, and the water storage box 30 can be arranged to be movable towards or away from the ice-making mold 20. In the present application, since the ice-making mold 20 is involved in the delivery of refrigerant, it is preferred that the ice-making mold 20 is relatively fixed, and the water storage box 30 is arranged to be movable towards or away from the ice-making mold 20.

[0040] In some embodiments, the ice-making mold 20 is fixed on the top of the support frame 10, and the water storage box 30 is driven to move between the ice-making position close to the ice-making mold 20 and the ice-out position away from the ice-making mold 20 by a driving mechanism; specifically, as shown in Figure 1 As shown in Figure 3 As shown in the ice-out position of the water storage box 30. In the ice-making position, the driving mechanism is also arranged to drive the water storage box 30 to reciprocate in the vertical direction, so that the ice-making mold 20 is switched between the position of being immersed into the water storage box 30 and the position of being separated from the water storage box 30 for multiple times in one ice-making process.

[0041] In the present application, the driving mechanism is used to drive the water storage box 30 to move close to or away from the ice making mold 20 to complete the ice making process. The driving mechanism can adopt any appropriate form. In some embodiments, the driving mechanism includes a driving motor 40 arranged at the bottom of the water storage box 30 and a transmission shaft 41 arranged at the bottom of the water storage box 30, the driving motor 40 is arranged to drive the transmission shaft 41 to rotate; the transmission shaft 41 is provided with a transmission gear 411 arranged coaxially, the support frame 10 is provided with a rack 11 arranged vertically, the transmission gear 411 is engaged with the rack 11; in specific use, the driving motor 40 drives the transmission shaft 41 to rotate, and the driving motor 40 and the water storage box 30 are driven to move reciprocatingly in the vertical direction through the cooperation of the transmission gear 411 and the rack 11.

[0042] Further, as a specific embodiment of the driving motor 40 driving the transmission shaft 41, the output shaft of the driving motor 40 is provided with a driving gear 401, the transmission shaft 41 is provided with a driven gear 412 arranged coaxially, and the driving gear 401 is engaged with the driven gear 412 to realize power transmission.

[0043] In some embodiments, the transmission shaft 41 is provided with a transmission gear 411 at both ends, the support frame 10 is provided with a rack 11 arranged vertically at both sides, and the transmission gears 411 at both ends of the transmission shaft 41 are engaged with the racks 11 at both sides of the support frame 10 correspondingly; by arranging the transmission gears 411 at both ends of the transmission shaft 41 and the racks 11 at both sides of the support frame 10 to engage respectively, the symmetry of power transmission when the driving mechanism drives the water storage box 30 is ensured, and the stability of the water storage box 30 moving reciprocatingly in the vertical direction is improved.

[0044] In some embodiments, in order to improve the stability of the water storage box 30 moving reciprocatingly in the vertical direction, the support frame 10 is provided with a limiting rod arranged vertically at both sides, the water storage box 30 is provided with a limiting hole 32 penetrating up and down at both ends, and the two limiting rods are correspondingly arranged in the two limiting holes 32, so that the limiting rod and the limiting hole 32 form a guiding and limiting cooperation when the water storage box 30 moves reciprocatingly in the vertical direction.

[0045] In some embodiments, the back of the two racks 11 is respectively arranged as an arc structure, the water storage box 30 is provided with a limiting hole 32 penetrating up and down at both ends, and the two racks 11 are correspondingly arranged in the two limiting holes 32. When the water storage box 30 moves reciprocatingly in the vertical direction, the guiding and limiting cooperation is formed by the rack 11 with an arc structure and the limiting hole 32, which eliminates the arrangement of the limiting rod, so that the structure of the ice making assembly is more compact and simple.

[0046] In some embodiments, the ice-making mold 20 comprises an evaporation plate 21, one side of which is provided with a plurality of ice-making grids or a plurality of ice-making columns 211, and the other side is provided with a copper pipe 22 for circulation of refrigerant to transfer cold energy. The copper pipe 22 of the present application is connected with the evaporator of the refrigeration equipment. When the evaporator of the refrigeration equipment is in refrigeration operation, the refrigerant flows into the copper pipe 22, and the cold energy is transferred to the plurality of ice-making grids or the plurality of ice-making columns 211 through the evaporation plate 21 to achieve ice making.

[0047] In some embodiments, the evaporation plate 21 is provided with a heating assembly 23. When ice making is completed, the heating assembly 23 arranged on the evaporation plate 21 starts heating, so that the temperature of the ice-making mold 20 rises, thereby causing the prepared ice cubes to fall off. The heating assembly 23 can adopt an electric heating wire which is well known to those skilled in the art.

[0048] In some embodiments, the ice-making assembly further comprises an ice guide cover 50 which is rotatably arranged on the support frame 10 via two ear plates 51 arranged at both ends thereof, and two opening upwardly inclined grooves 511 are respectively arranged at the ends of the two ear plates 51 away from the ice guide cover 50. The two ends of the water storage box 30 are respectively provided with protruding columns 33. When the driving mechanism drives the water storage box 30 to move downwardly to the ice outlet position, the protruding columns 33 are pressed into the grooves 511 and push the ice guide cover 50 to rotate from the side of the water storage box 30 to above the water storage box 30. Figure 3 As shown, the ice guide cover 50 is arranged to guide the ice cubes falling off from the ice-making mold 20 to avoid falling back into the water storage box 30. In some embodiments, a storage box 80 is arranged at the bottom of the water storage box 30 to receive the ice cubes falling off from the ice-making mold 20.

[0049] In some embodiments, the ice-making assembly further comprises a water supply assembly which is arranged to supply water into the water storage box 30. Specifically, the water supply assembly comprises a water supply pipe 12 arranged at the top of the support frame 10. When the water storage box 30 is driven by the driving mechanism to the ice-making position close to the ice-making mold 20, the water supply assembly supplies water into the water storage box 30 through the water supply pipe 12.

[0050] In some embodiments, the support frame 10 comprises a tray 101 and support frames 102 respectively arranged at both ends of the tray 101. The tray 101 is arranged to collect the water dripping from the water storage box 30 and the ice-making mold 20 during ice removal, so as to avoid the water dripping into the storage box 80 at the bottom.

[0051] In use, the water storage box 30 is driven by the driving motor 40 to move in the vertical direction to the ice-making position close to the ice-making mold 20, and then the water supply pipe 12 of the water supply assembly supplies water into the water storage box 30. The water supply is stopped when the water level reaches the preset position.

[0052] The evaporator of the refrigeration device introduces refrigerant to the ice-making mold 20 through the copper pipe 22 to cool the ice-making mold 20, and when the ice-making mold 20 starts to freeze, the driving motor 40 drives the water storage box 30 to descend to separate the ice-making mold 20 from the water in the water storage box 30, and then the driving motor 40 drives the water storage box 30 to ascend to immerse the ice-making mold 20 in the water in the water storage box 30 again, so that the water in the water storage box 30 is layered and frozen on the ice-making mold 20, and finally transparent ice cubes are obtained.

[0053] After the ice-making is completed, the driving motor 40 drives the water storage box 30 to descend to the ice-out position, and the water storage box 30 presses the ice guide cover 50 into the groove 511 through the protruding column 33 at the end of the water storage box 30 during the descending process, and pushes the ice guide cover 50 to rotate from the side of the water storage box 30 to above the water storage box 30; then the heating assembly 23 starts to work, and the ice-making mold 20 melts and falls off due to heating, and falls into the ice storage box 80 at the bottom after being guided by the ice guide cover 50, and thus a transparent ice-making process is completed. The water storage box 30 at the ice-out position is driven by the driving motor 40 to return to the ice-making position again, and then the water supply pipe 12 of the water supply assembly supplies water again, and the next ice-making process starts.

[0054] The application also provides a method for making transparent ice, which comprises immersing an ice-making mold 20 in a water storage box 30 containing water, removing the ice-making mold 20 from the water storage box 30 when the ice-making mold 20 starts to freeze, and repeating the operation of immersing and removing the ice-making mold 20 from the water storage box 30 multiple times to make the water in the water storage box 30 freeze in layers on the surface of the ice-making mold 20.

[0055] The method for making transparent ice provided by the application can achieve the effect of existing spray ice-making by repeatedly immersing the ice-making mold 20 in water multiple times to make ice in layers on the ice-making mold 20, and can make transparent ice with high transparency, thereby solving the problem that even if a bubble prevention mechanism is provided, the transparency of ice is still reduced due to low temperature of raw water or use of residual raw water in the previous ice-making process, and ensuring that the made ice has high transparency.

[0056] The application also provides a refrigerator, which combines Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the refrigerator comprises a cabinet 60 and the ice-making assembly, and the cabinet 60 defines a refrigeration compartment 61, and the ice-making assembly is installed in the refrigeration compartment 61 via a mounting piece.

[0057] In some embodiments, the mounting piece is an L-shaped plate 70, and a heat insulation layer is arranged on the L-shaped plate 70, so that the position of the ice-making assembly is surrounded by the L-shaped plate 70 with the heat insulation layer, thereby avoiding that the ice made by the ice-making assembly melts too fast.

[0058] The ice-making assembly provided by the application has a small volume, only half of the volume of the current ice maker, occupies a small space of the refrigerator, and thus greatly improves the available volume of the refrigerator.

[0059] The preferred embodiments of the application are described in detail above with reference to the drawings, but the application is not limited thereto. Within the technical concept of the application, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solutions of the application. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the application will not describe various possible combinations again. However, the simple modifications and combinations should also be regarded as the disclosed content of the application and belong to the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. An ice-making component, characterized in that, Includes a support frame (10) and an ice-making mold (20) and a water storage box (30) disposed on the support frame (10). The water storage box (30) has an upward-opening receiving cavity (31) for holding water. The ice-making mold (20) and the water storage box (30) are configured to be able to move closer to or further away from each other, so that the ice-making mold (20) switches between being immersed in the water storage box (30) and detached from the water storage box (30) multiple times during one ice-making process. The ice mold (20) is fixed to the top of the support frame (10), and the water storage box (30) is driven by the drive mechanism to move between the ice-making position close to the ice mold (20) and the ice-discharging position away from the ice mold (20). When the ice-making position is reached, the driving mechanism is also configured to drive the water storage box (30) to reciprocate in the vertical direction, so that the ice-making mold (20) switches between the position of being immersed in the water storage box (30) and detached from the water storage box (30) multiple times during one ice-making process. The driving mechanism includes a drive motor (40) disposed at the bottom of the water storage box (30) and a transmission shaft (41) rotatably disposed at the bottom of the water storage box (30). The drive motor (40) is configured to drive the transmission shaft (41) to rotate. Both ends of the drive shaft (41) are provided with coaxially arranged drive gears (411), and both sides of the support frame (10) are provided with racks (11) extending vertically. The drive gears (411) located at both ends of the drive shaft (41) are respectively meshed with the racks (11) on both sides of the support frame (10). The back of the two racks (11) are respectively set as arc-shaped structures, and the two ends of the water storage box (30) are respectively provided with vertically penetrating limiting holes (32), and the two racks (11) are respectively inserted into the two limiting holes (32). The ice-making assembly also includes an ice guide cover (50), which is rotatably arranged on the support frame (10) via ear plates (51) provided at both ends thereon. The two ear plates (51) are respectively provided with an upward-facing groove (511) at the end away from the ice guide cover (50). The two ends of the water storage box (30) are respectively provided with protrusions (33). When the driving mechanism drives the water storage box (30) to move downward to the ice outlet position, the protrusions (33) press into the groove (511) and push the ice guide cover (50) to rotate from the side of the water storage box (30) to the top of the water storage box (30).

2. The ice-making assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support frame (10) is provided with vertically extending limiting rods on both sides, and the water storage box (30) is provided with vertically penetrating limiting holes (32) at both ends, with the two limiting rods correspondingly inserted into the two limiting holes (32).

3. The ice-making assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ice mold (20) includes an evaporator plate (21), one side of which is provided with multiple ice grids or multiple ice columns (211), and the other side is provided with copper pipes (22) for refrigerant to circulate and transfer cold energy.

4. The ice-making assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that, The evaporator plate (21) is provided with a heating component (23).

5. The ice-making assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ice-making assembly also includes a water supply assembly, which is configured to supply water to the water storage box (30).

6. The ice-making assembly according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The support frame (10) includes a tray (101) and support frames (102) respectively disposed at both ends of the tray (101).

7. A method for manufacturing transparent ice using an ice-making assembly as described in any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method includes immersing an ice mold (20) into a water storage box (30) filled with water, removing the water storage box (30) when the surface of the ice mold (20) begins to freeze, and then repeating the operation of immersing the ice mold (20) into and removing the water storage box (30) multiple times, so that the water in the water storage box (30) freezes in layers on the surface of the ice mold (20).

8. A refrigerator, characterized in that, include: The box (60) defines a cold storage compartment (61) inside the box (60); and The ice-making assembly according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the ice-making assembly is installed in the cold storage compartment (61) via a mounting member.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, characterized in that, The mounting component is an L-shaped plate (70), and the L-shaped plate (70) is provided with a heat insulation layer.

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