Ice making assembly and refrigerator having the same

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of ice making, and discloses an ice making assembly and a refrigerator with the same. The ice making assembly comprises a support frame, an ice making mold and a water storage box arranged on the support frame. The ice making mold and the water storage box have an ice making position close to each other and an ice discharging position away from each other. The ice making mold is provided with a refrigerant conveying pipe for conveying cold energy to the ice making mold. The refrigerant conveying pipe is provided with a throttle valve for controlling the flow of refrigerant. The present application controls the flow of refrigerant by setting the throttle valve and controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve, i.e. controls the supply speed of refrigerant, so as to control the surface temperature of the ice making mold. More specifically, the opening degree of the throttle valve is controlled to control the surface temperature of the ice making mold within the range of -1℃ to -15℃, so as to reduce the temperature difference and give sufficient time for the dissolved gas in the water of the water storage box to precipitate, thereby avoiding the problem of increased opacity of the manufactured ice due to the presence of bubbles.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of ice making, and in particular to an ice making assembly and a refrigerator having the same. BACKGROUND

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

[0003] Among the known methods of manufacturing transparent ice, a spraying method or an immersion method can be used. As for the spraying method such as nozzle spraying or tube spraying, a spraying 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 sheet. 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 manufacture a bell-shaped ice sheet having a hole in the center. The cost of ice making by the spraying method is higher, and the cost of ice making by the immersion method is lower, but the immersion method has a disadvantage in that air bubbles are trapped in the ice, resulting in the manufactured ice having an opaque appearance.

[0004] A conventional ice water purifier uses an immersion type ice making unit that is more economical, has a simple structure, and is easy to manufacture ice, 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] The present application has been made to solve 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, and to provide an ice making assembly and a refrigerator having the same.

[0006] In order 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 ice making mold and the water storage box have an ice making position close to each other and an ice outlet position away from each other.

[0007] The ice making mold is provided with a refrigerant delivery pipe for delivering cold energy to the ice making mold, and the refrigerant delivery pipe is provided with a throttle valve for controlling the flow of refrigerant.

[0008] 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.

[0009] Optionally, the driving mechanism comprises a driving motor arranged at the bottom of the water storage box and a transmission shaft arranged 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, the support frame is provided with a rack vertically arranged, and the transmission gear is engaged with the rack.

[0011] Preferably, both ends of the transmission shaft are provided with transmission gears, both sides of the support frame are respectively provided with racks vertically arranged, 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] Optionally, both sides of the support frame are respectively provided with limit rods vertically arranged, both ends of the water storage box are respectively provided with limit holes vertically arranged, and two limit rods are correspondingly arranged in the limit 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 limit holes vertically arranged, and the two racks are correspondingly arranged in the limit holes.

[0014] Optionally, the ice making mold comprises an evaporation plate and a plurality of ice making grids or a plurality of ice making columns outwardly protruding from one side of the evaporation plate, and the refrigerant delivery pipe is arranged on the side of the evaporation plate away from the plurality of ice making grids or the plurality of ice making columns.

[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 rotatably arranged on the support frame through the ear plates arranged at both ends thereof.

[0017] Two said ear plate away from the ice guide cover one end is respectively provided with opening oblique upward recess, the water storage box two ends are respectively provided with convex column, the driving mechanism drives the water storage box to move down to the ice outlet position, the convex column presses into the recess and pushes the ice guide cover from the side of the water storage box to rotate to the upper of the water storage box.

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

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

[0020] The second aspect of the present application provides a refrigerator, comprising:

[0021] a cabinet, the cabinet defines a refrigeration compartment therein; and

[0022] the ice making assembly as described above, which is installed in the refrigeration compartment via a mounting member.

[0023] Optionally, the mounting member is an L-shaped plate, and a thermal insulation layer is arranged on the L-shaped plate.

[0024] Through the above technical solution, the flow rate of the refrigerant is controlled by setting the throttle valve and controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve, that is, the supply speed of the refrigerant is controlled, so as to control the surface temperature of the ice making mold. More specifically, the surface temperature of the ice making mold is controlled between -1℃ and -15℃ by controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve, the temperature difference is reduced, the gas dissolved in the water of the water storage box has sufficient time to precipitate, thereby avoiding the problem that the opacity of the manufactured ice increases due to the inclusion of bubbles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 is a structural schematic view of an ice making assembly provided by the present application;

[0026] Figure 2 is Figure 1 an exploded schematic view of the ice making assembly in

[0027] Figure 3 is a schematic view of the ice making assembly in an ice outlet state provided by the present application;

[0028] Figure 4 is a schematic view of the installation of the ice making assembly in a refrigerator cabinet provided by the present application.

[0029] REFERENCE SIGNS

[0030] 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, refrigerant delivery 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, box body; 61, refrigeration compartment; 70, L-shaped plate; 80, ice storage box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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 ice making mold 20 and the water storage box 30 have an ice making position close to each other and an ice discharging position away from each other; the ice making mold 20 is provided with a refrigerant delivery pipe 22 for delivering cold quantity to the ice making mold 20, and the refrigerant delivery pipe 22 is provided with a throttle valve for controlling the flow of refrigerant.

[0033] The ice making assembly provided by the present application controls the flow of refrigerant by setting the throttle valve and controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve, i.e. controlling the supply speed of refrigerant, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the surface temperature of the ice making mold 20. The present inventors have found that by controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve to control the surface temperature of the ice making mold 20 within the range of -1℃ to -15℃, the temperature difference is reduced, and the dissolved gas in the water of the water storage box 30 has sufficient time to precipitate, thereby avoiding the problem of increased opacity of the manufactured ice due to the presence of air bubbles.

[0034] In the present application, the water storage box 30 has an accommodating cavity 31 with an upward opening for containing water, by arranging the ice making mold 20 and the water storage box 30 to have an ice making position close to each other and an ice discharging position away from each other, not only facilitates the ice making operation of the ice making mold 20 immersed in the water storage box 30, but also facilitates the ice discharging operation of the ice making mold 20, avoiding interference with the water storage box 30.

[0035] It should be noted that in order to realize the mutual approaching or moving away of the ice making mold 20 and the water storage box 30, the water storage box 30 can be set to be relatively fixed, the ice making mold 20 can be set to be movable towards the water storage box 30 or away from the water storage box 30, or the ice making mold 20 can be set to be relatively fixed, and the water storage box 30 can be set to be movable towards the ice making mold 20 or away from the ice making mold 20. In the present application, since the ice making mold 20 involves the arrangement of the refrigerant conveying pipe 22, it is preferred that the ice making mold 20 is set to be relatively fixed, and the water storage box 30 is set to be movable towards the ice making mold 20 or away from the ice making mold 20.

[0036] 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 an ice making position close to the ice making mold 20 and an ice discharging position away from the ice making mold 20 by a driving mechanism. Specifically, as shown in Figure 1 Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of the water storage box 30 in the ice making position, as shown in Figure 3 Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of the water storage box 30 in the ice discharging position.

[0037] In the present application, the driving mechanism is used to drive the water storage box 30 to approach the ice making mold 20 to complete the ice making operation, or to move away from the ice making mold 20 to facilitate the ice discharging operation. The driving mechanism can adopt any appropriate form. In some embodiments, the driving mechanism comprises 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 be able to drive the transmission shaft 41 to rotate; the transmission shaft 41 is provided with a transmission gear 411 arranged coaxially with the core, 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 reciprocally in the vertical direction by the cooperation of the transmission gear 411 and the rack 11.

[0038] 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 with the core, and the driving gear 401 is engaged with the driven gear 412 to realize power transmission.

[0039] In some embodiments, the transmission shaft 41 is provided with a transmission gear 411 at each end thereof, and the support frame 10 is provided with a rack 11 arranged vertically at each side thereof, and the transmission gears 411 at the two ends of the transmission shaft 41 are engaged with the racks 11 at the two sides of the support frame 10, respectively. By arranging the transmission gears 411 at the two ends of the transmission shaft 41 and the racks 11 at the two sides of the support frame 10 to engage with each other, 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 in the vertical reciprocating movement is improved.

[0040] In some embodiments, in order to improve the stability of the water storage box 30 in the vertical reciprocating movement, the support frame 10 is provided with a limiting rod arranged vertically at each side thereof, and the water storage box 30 is provided with a limiting hole 32 penetrating vertically at each end thereof, and the two limiting rods are correspondingly arranged in the two limiting holes 32, and the limiting rod and the limiting hole 32 form a guiding and limiting cooperation when the water storage box 30 moves vertically.

[0041] In some embodiments, the back of each of the two racks 11 is provided with an arc-shaped structure, and the water storage box 30 is provided with a limiting hole 32 penetrating vertically at each end thereof, and the two racks 11 are correspondingly arranged in the two limiting holes 32. When the water storage box 30 moves vertically, the rack 11 with the arc-shaped structure and the limiting hole 32 form a guiding and limiting cooperation, and the arrangement of the limiting rod is omitted, so that the structure of the ice making assembly is more compact.

[0042] In some embodiments, the ice making mold 20 comprises an evaporation plate 21 and a plurality of ice making cells or a plurality of ice making columns 211 protruding outward from one side of the evaporation plate 21, and the refrigerant conveying pipe 22 is arranged on the side of the evaporation plate 21 away from the plurality of ice making cells or the plurality of ice making columns 211. The refrigerant conveying pipe 22 of the present application is connected with an evaporator of a refrigeration device, and when the evaporator of the refrigeration device is in refrigeration operation, the refrigerant flows into the refrigerant conveying pipe 22, and the cold energy is transmitted to the plurality of ice making cells or the plurality of ice making columns 211 through the evaporation plate 21 to realize ice making.

[0043] In some embodiments, the evaporation plate 21 is provided with a heating assembly 23, and 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, and thus the prepared ice blocks fall off. The heating assembly 23 can adopt an electric heating wire which is well known to those skilled in the art.

[0044] 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 ears 51 arranged at two ends of the ice guide cover 50, and two open upwardly inclined grooves 511 are arranged at the two ears 51 respectively, and two protrusions 33 are arranged at two ends of the water storage box 30 respectively, when the water storage box 30 is driven by the driving mechanism to move downwards to the ice outlet position, the protrusions 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 falling 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 falling from the ice making mold 20.

[0045] In some embodiments, the ice making assembly further comprises a water supply assembly 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 be 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.

[0046] In some embodiments, the support frame 10 comprises a tray 101 and support frames 102 arranged at two ends of the tray 101 respectively. The tray 101 is arranged to collect the water dripping from the water storage box 30 and the ice making mold 20 during the ice dropping process, to avoid the water dripping into the storage box 80 at the bottom.

[0047] In some embodiments, the ice making assembly further comprises a water supply assembly 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 be 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.

[0048] The evaporator of the refrigeration device introduces refrigerant to the ice making mold 20 through the refrigerant conveying pipe 22, so that the ice making mold 20 is cooled and refrigerated, the flow of the refrigerant is controlled by the throttling valve, the surface temperature of the ice making mold 20 is reduced to -1℃ to -15℃, and the water in the water storage box 30 is slowly frozen on the surface of the ice making mold 20, so that transparent ice is obtained.

[0049] After ice making is completed, the driving motor 40 drives the water storage box 30 to descend to an ice outlet position, and the water storage box 30 pushes the convex column 33 at the end thereof into the groove 511 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 during the descending process; then the heating assembly 23 starts to work, 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, thus completing the ice making process of the transparent ice. The water storage box 30 at the ice outlet position is driven by the driving motor 40 to return to the ice making position, and then the water supply pipe 12 of the water supply assembly supplies water again, and the next ice making process starts.

[0050] The application also provides a refrigerator incorporating the ice making assembly. Figure 4 As shown in the drawings, the refrigerator comprises a cabinet 60 and the above-mentioned ice making assembly, the cabinet 60 defines a refrigeration compartment 61, and the ice making assembly is installed in the refrigeration compartment 61 via the mounting member.

[0051] In some embodiments, the mounting member is an L-shaped plate 70, and a heat insulation layer is arranged on the L-shaped plate 70. The L-shaped plate 70 with the heat insulation layer is arranged around the ice making assembly to prevent the ice made by the ice making assembly from melting too fast.

[0052] 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 in the refrigerator, and greatly improves the available volume of the refrigerator.

[0053] 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, the technical solutions of the application can be variously modified, and in order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the application will not be described again for various possible combinations. However, the simple modifications and combinations should also be regarded as the disclosed content of the application, and all belong to the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. An ice-making component, characterized in that, It includes a support frame (10) and an ice-making mold (20) and a water storage box (30) disposed on the support frame (10), wherein the ice-making mold (20) and the water storage box (30) have ice-making positions close to each other and ice-discharging positions far apart from each other; The ice mold (20) is provided with a refrigerant delivery pipe (22) for delivering cold energy to the ice mold (20), and the refrigerant delivery pipe (22) is provided with a throttle valve for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant; 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). 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 correspondingly 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 evaporating plate (21) and a plurality of ice grids or ice columns (211) protruding outward on one side. The refrigerant delivery pipe (22) is laid on the side of the evaporating plate (21) away from the plurality of ice grids or ice columns (211).

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 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.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, 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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