Ice making device and refrigerator

Abstract

The invention provides an ice making device and a refrigerator, the ice making device comprises a box body, and the box body is provided with an accommodating space; the bracket and the switch are arranged in the accommodating space, and the bracket and the switch are respectively connected with the inner wall of the box body; the ice making assembly is connected with the support in a sliding mode so that the ice making assembly can move between a first position and a second position in a reciprocating mode; when the ice-making assembly is located at the first position, the ice-making assembly is in extrusion contact with the switch; the processor is connected with the switch, and the processor is used for starting to calculate ice making duration when the switch is extruded and contacted by the ice making assembly; when the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time, prompting that the ice-making assembly is in an ice-making state; and when the ice-making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, prompting that the ice-making assembly is in a state of waiting to take ice. The embodiment of the invention provides an ice making device and a refrigerator. The ice making state can be indicated in the ice making process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of ice making, and in particular to an ice making device and a refrigerator. Background Art

[0002] As consumers' demand for ice cubes grows, modern refrigerator designs gradually incorporate simple ice-making functions as standard features. Such ice-making devices rely on built-in ice trays to shape and make ice cubes. It is worth noting that traditional ice trays are not made of transparent materials, which means that users must manually take out the ice tray to check whether the ice-making process is complete. This operation undoubtedly increases the user's operating steps, which in turn has an adverse impact on the overall ease of use and user experience. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide an ice-making device and a refrigerator, which can indicate the ice-making status during the ice-making process.

[0004] The present application provides an ice-making device, comprising:

[0005] A box body, wherein the box body has a containing space;

[0006] A bracket and a switch, wherein the bracket and the switch are arranged in the accommodating space, and the bracket and the switch are respectively connected to the inner wall of the box;

[0007] an ice-making assembly, the ice-making assembly being slidably connected to the bracket so that the ice-making assembly can reciprocate between a first position and a second position; when the ice-making assembly is located at the first position, the ice-making assembly is in compression contact with the switch;

[0008] A processor is connected to the switch, and is used for:

[0009] When the switch is pressed and contacted by the ice-making assembly, the ice-making duration starts to be calculated;

[0010] When the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time, it is prompted that the ice-making component is in the ice-making state;

[0011] When the ice-making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, it is prompted that the ice-making component is in the ice-taking state.

[0012] An embodiment of the present application also provides a refrigerator, which includes the above-mentioned ice-making device.

[0013] In the ice-making device and refrigerator provided in the embodiment of the present application, the ice-making device includes a housing, a bracket, a switch, an ice-making assembly and a processor, and the ice-making assembly can be squeezed into contact with the switch. The processor is connected to the switch, and the processor is used to: when the switch is squeezed into contact with the ice-making assembly, start calculating the ice-making duration; when the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time, prompt the ice-making assembly to be in the ice-making state; when the ice-making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, prompt the ice-making assembly to be in the ice-taking state. As mentioned above, the ice-making device in the present application not only avoids the tediousness of the user frequently manually checking the ice-making status, but also improves the transparency and controllability of the ice-making process, greatly improving the user experience. In addition, since the processor can make accurate judgments based on the ice-making time, it can also effectively avoid the waste problem caused by prematurely taking out incompletely formed ice cubes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative work.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the first structure of the ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0016] Figure 2 A second structural schematic diagram of the ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0017] Figure 3 for Figure 2 An enlarged schematic diagram of local A.

[0018] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the ice-making process of the ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of an ice-making assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 6 A third structural schematic diagram of the ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0022] The embodiment of the present application provides an ice-making device and a refrigerator, which can indicate the ice-making status during the ice-making process.

[0023] See also Figures 1 to 3 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the first structure of the ice-making device provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 A second structural schematic diagram of the ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 for Figure 2 The present application provides an ice-making device 100, which refers to a device for automatically making ice cubes in a refrigerator or an independent device.

[0024] The ice-making device 100 includes a housing 10, a bracket 20, a switch 30, an ice-making assembly 40, a processor, and the like.

[0025] The housing 10 is a peripheral structure of the ice-making device 100 and has a receiving space 11 for receiving other structures.

[0026] The bracket 20 is used to support or fix the structure of other components. In the ice-making device 100 , the bracket 20 is disposed in the accommodating space 11 and connected to the inner wall of the box body 10 to position the ice-making assembly 40 .

[0027] The switch 30 is an electronic or mechanical device, and can also be called a sensor, for detecting the position of the ice-making assembly 40. In the ice-making device 100 of the present application, the switch 30 is arranged in the accommodating space 11 and the switch 30 is connected to the inner wall of the box 10. In other words, the positions of the switch 30, the box 10 and the bracket 20 are relatively fixed. The switch 30 can be a fan-shaped switch 30.

[0028] The ice-making assembly 40 is mainly used for making ice cubes. The ice-making assembly 40 is slidably connected to the bracket 20 so that the ice-making assembly 40 can reciprocate between the first position and the second position. For example, the first position may be that the ice-making assembly 40 is fully extended into the accommodation space 11, and the second position may refer to that the ice-making assembly 40 is basically extended out of the accommodation space 11. For the ice-making device 100, the first position refers to the position where the ice-making assembly 40 is in the accommodation space 11 and can achieve good ice making, and the second position refers to the position where the ice-making assembly 40 is outside the accommodation space 11 and the user can easily inject water into the ice-making assembly 40. In different ice-making devices 100, the settings of the first position and the second position are often different, but the conditions that the ice-making assembly 40 can achieve ice making when the ice-making assembly 40 is in the first position and the user can easily inject water when the ice-making assembly 40 is in the second position belong to the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0029] When the ice-making assembly 40 is located at the first position, the ice-making assembly 40 is pressed and contacted with the switch 30 to trigger the opening and closing of the circuit by using the change of the physical position.

[0030] The processor refers to a central processing unit (CPU) or a microcontroller, which is used to process data, execute program instructions or control device operation. The processor is connected to the switch 30 and determines the position of the ice making assembly 40 by detecting the state of the switch 30.

[0031] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an ice making process of an ice making device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The processor can be used to implement the following steps.

[0032] S1. When the switch 30 is pressed and contacted by the ice-making assembly 40, the ice-making duration starts to be calculated. When the ice-making assembly 40 starts to make ice and moves to the position in contact with the switch 30, the processor starts to count the ice-making duration. The ice-making duration refers to the length of time from the start of the ice-making function to the current moment. During this process, the processor determines the progress of ice-making according to the preset algorithm logic.

[0033] S2. When the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time (for example, the shortest time required for ice cubes to be completely formed according to experimental data), it is prompted that the ice-making assembly 40 is in the ice-making state. For example, the processor informs the user through a prompt such as an indicator light, a display screen or a sound prompt that the ice-making assembly 40 is still in the ice-making state and asks the user to wait patiently.

[0034] S3: When the ice making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, the ice making assembly 40 is prompted to be in the ice removal state. When the ice making duration reaches or exceeds the first preset time, the processor determines that the ice cubes have been formed, and informs the user through a corresponding prompting method that the ice making assembly 40 has entered the ice removal state, and the ice cubes can be safely taken out or the user is prompted to place the ice cubes in the ice storage box 50.

[0035] The first preset time refers to a preset time threshold, which is a reference standard for judging whether the ice making process enters the ice removal state. The first preset time can be 60 minutes to 120 minutes, such as 70 minutes, 100 minutes, etc. The selection of the first preset time can be determined based on experimental data such as the scale and temperature of the ice making device 100. In the following embodiment, the first preset time can be selected as 120 minutes.

[0036] In the ice-making device 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application, not only does it avoid the tediousness of the user frequently manually checking the ice-making status, but it also improves the transparency and controllability of the ice-making process in an intelligent manner, greatly improving the user experience. In addition, since the processor can make accurate judgments based on the ice-making time, it can also effectively avoid the waste problem caused by prematurely taking out incompletely formed ice cubes.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present application, when the ice making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, it is prompted that the ice making component 40 is in the ice-waiting state, and the processor is used to: when the ice making duration is greater than the first preset time and less than the second preset time, it is prompted that the ice making component 40 is in the first ice-making completion state; when the ice making duration is greater than or equal to the second preset time, it is prompted that the ice-making component 40 is in the second ice-making completion state.

[0038] The processor utilizes a variety of intuitive and user-friendly methods, such as different colors or flashing modes of indicator lights, clear text prompts on the display screen, and different tones of sound prompts or voice broadcasts, to inform the user that the ice-making component 40 is in the first ice-making completion state or the second ice-making completion state, so as to remind the user to take ice in time.

[0039] It is understandable that the first ice-making completion state and the second ice-making completion state respectively represent the time until the ice-making is completed. For example, the first ice-making completion state indicates that the ice cubes have been made, but there is still a certain amount of time margin for the user to prepare to take the ice; the second ice-making completion state means that the ice cubes have been made for a long time and may be close to the edge of melting, and the user needs to take them urgently. This subdivision not only improves the flexibility of user operation, but also effectively reduces resource waste.

[0040] According to the above description, the second preset time is another time threshold longer than the first preset time, and is used to further subdivide the standard of the ice making completion state. The second preset time can be 400 minutes to 500 minutes, such as 450 minutes, 480 minutes, etc. The selection of the second preset time can be determined according to user habits or experimental data such as ice cube state. In the following embodiment, the second preset time can be selected as 480 minutes.

[0041] The processor is further configured to: when the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time, detect that the switch 30 is separated from the ice-making assembly 40, that is, the switch 30 is not pressed and contacted by the ice-making assembly 40, and then stop calculating the ice-making duration. In other words, if the switch 30 is separated from the ice-making assembly 40, that is, the switch 30 is not pressed and contacted by the ice-making assembly 40, the processor will immediately recognize this state change and make a corresponding response.

[0042] In actual application, this situation may occur when the user or maintenance personnel manually moves the ice-making assembly 40. For example, during the ice-making process, the user may need to temporarily interrupt ice-making for some reason, so he manually moves the ice-making assembly 40. At this time, the squeeze contact between the switch 30 and the ice-making assembly 40 is broken, and the processor immediately stops calculating the ice-making duration and resets the accumulated time to zero. This design avoids timing errors caused by the accidental interruption of the ice-making process and ensures the accuracy of the data.

[0043] This design also takes into account the possible operations of the user in actual use, and improves the flexibility and adaptability of the system. For example, when the user needs to temporarily interrupt the ice making process, they can do so by manually moving the ice making assembly 40 without shutting down the entire ice making system. This not only saves energy and time, but also improves the efficiency of the system.

[0044] In some embodiments, the ice-making device 100 in the embodiment of the present application further includes a display screen, which is connected to a processor, and the processor is used to indicate the state of the ice-making device 100 according to the duration of ice-making. For example, when the duration of ice-making is less than the first preset time, the processor is used to control the display screen to display "ice-making"; when the duration of ice-making is greater than the first preset time and less than the second preset time, the processor is used to control the display screen to display "ice-making completed"; when the duration of ice-making is greater than the second preset time, the processor is used to control the box to control the display screen to display "ice-making tray not in use". In the embodiment of the present application, the display content of the display screen is only used as an example, and other solutions for displaying content to indicate the state of the ice-making device 100 all belong to the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application.

[0045] Please continue reading Figure 1 The ice making device 100 further includes an ice storage box 50, which is a container for storing ice cubes made by the ice making assembly 40, and the ice storage box 50 is connected to the bracket 20. The bracket 20 is used to support and fix the structural members of the various components of the ice making device 100 to ensure the stable operation of the entire ice making device 100. When the ice making assembly 40 is located at the first position, the ice storage box 50 is located below the ice making assembly 40, so that the ice cubes prepared by the ice making assembly 40 can fall into the ice storage box 50, which not only avoids the scattering and waste of ice cubes, but also facilitates the subsequent use of the user.

[0046] The ice storage box 50 is detachably connected or slidably connected to the bracket 20, so that the user can easily take out ice. The detachable connection means that the ice storage box 50 and the bracket 20 can be easily separated and reconnected without being damaged. The sliding connection means that the components can slide along a specific track within a certain range. The user can easily remove the ice storage box 50 from the bracket 20 or slide it to a position convenient for taking out ice according to actual needs. This design not only improves the convenience of taking out ice, but also facilitates the cleaning and maintenance of the ice storage box 50.

[0047] The support 20 is provided with a guide rail groove, and the ice storage box 50 is provided with a guide rail, and the guide rail is correspondingly connected to the guide rail groove, so that the ice storage box 50 and the support 20 move relative to each other, ensuring that the ice storage box 50 does not deviate from a predetermined track during movement.

[0048] The ice-making assembly 40 includes an ice-making tray 41 and a knob 42 , and the knob 42 is connected to the ice-making tray 41 .

[0049] The ice making grid 41 is a mold for forming ice cubes, and is usually composed of a series of small grids, each of which can independently produce a small ice cube.

[0050] The knob 42 is a manual operation component, which plays a role in controlling the flipping of the ice tray 41. The knob 42 is arranged on the side of the ice tray 41 away from the storage space 11. Such a design not only prevents the knob 42 from being interfered by the items in the storage space 11 during operation, but also facilitates the user to operate from the outside. The knob 42 can drive the ice tray 41 to flip to face the ice storage box 50, realize the automatic collection of ice cubes, and save the user's time and energy. When the user needs to take ice, he only needs to rotate the knob 42 to drive the ice tray 41 to flip to the position facing the ice storage box 50, so that the ice cubes can fall smoothly into the ice storage box 50.

[0051] Please continue reading Figure 5 as well as Figure 6 , Figure 6 A third structural schematic diagram of the ice-making device provided in the embodiment of the present application. A guide rail groove 21 is provided on the bracket 20, and a guide rail 43 is provided on the ice-making assembly 40. In the embodiment of the present application, the guide rail groove 21 refers to a groove-like structure designed on the bracket 20, which is used to guide and limit the movement trajectory of the guide rail 43. The guide rail 43 refers to a guide mechanism installed on the ice-making assembly 40, which is used to cooperate with the guide rail groove 21 to realize the relative movement of the ice-making assembly 40 on the bracket 20.

[0052] The guide rail 43 is connected to the guide groove 21 correspondingly, so that the ice-making assembly 40 and the bracket 20 can move relative to each other, ensuring that the ice-making assembly 40 does not deviate from the predetermined track during movement. This design not only improves the overall stability of the ice-making device 100, but also extends the service life of the device. The design of the guide rail 43 needs to match the shape and size of the guide groove 21 to ensure that the two can fit closely and slide smoothly. This design enables the ice-making assembly 40 to achieve a stable and smooth relative movement on the bracket 20, thereby improving the efficiency of ice making.

[0053] The ice making assembly 40 includes an ice making grid 41 and a protrusion 44, and the protrusion 44 is arranged on the outer surface of the ice making grid 41. The protrusion 44 is an additional component protruding from the outer surface of the ice making grid 41, and has a specific function or effect. When the ice making assembly 40 is located at the first position, the protrusion 44 is pressed and contacted with the switch 30.

[0054] It is worth noting that the protrusion 44 is a reinforcing rib. As a common structural member, the reinforcing rib mainly increases the strength and rigidity of an object. In the ice-making assembly 40, the protrusion 44 in the form of a reinforcing rib can not only effectively prevent the ice-making tray 41 from being deformed or damaged when subjected to force, but also improve the durability and service life of the entire ice-making assembly 40.

[0055] In some scenarios, when making ice, the user first pulls out the ice-making assembly 40 from the accommodation space 11 (it is recommended to turn the knob 42 to turn over the ice in the ice-making tray 41 before taking it out), and then pushes the ice-making assembly 40 into the accommodation space 11 along the guide groove 21 on the bracket 20 after adding water. After ice making is completed, turn the knob 42, and the ice cubes will turn over from the ice-making tray 41 to the ice storage box 50, completing an ice-making cycle, and continuous ice making can be achieved in this cycle.

[0056] When the ice making assembly 40 is pushed into the accommodation space 11 along the guide groove 21 on the bracket 20, the reinforcing rib presses the contact switch 30. The processor starts to calculate the ice making duration according to the signal of the reinforcing rib pressing the contact switch 30, and controls the display screen to display different states, thereby realizing precise control of the ice making process.

[0057] When "Ice Making" is displayed, if the user takes out the ice tray 41 (it is forbidden to turn the knob 42 to turn the ice), the timer is reset; when the contact switch 30 is reinstalled and squeezed, the processor restarts the timing, avoiding ice making failure due to misoperation.

[0058] When "Ice making completed" or "Ice tray not in use" is displayed, the user can freely flip the ice tray 41, take out ice cubes and add water to make ice again. The processor will re-enter the ice making process according to the new operation, realizing intelligent and flexible ice making control.

[0059] The embodiment of the present application also provides a refrigerator, which includes the ice-making device 100 in the above embodiment. The refrigerator in the embodiment of the present application realizes efficient production and convenient storage of ice cubes by integrating the ice-making device 100 in the above embodiment. Users can easily obtain the required ice cubes in the refrigerator without having to purchase an additional ice maker, which greatly improves the convenience and practicality of use.

[0060] In the ice-making device 100 and refrigerator provided in the embodiment of the present application, the ice-making device 100 includes a housing 10, a bracket 20, a switch 30, an ice-making assembly 40 and a processor, and the ice-making assembly 40 can be pressed and contacted with the switch 30. The processor is connected to the switch 30, and the processor is used to: when the switch 30 is pressed and contacted by the ice-making assembly 40, start calculating the ice-making duration; when the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time, it prompts the ice-making assembly 40 to be in the ice-making state; when the ice-making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, it prompts the ice-making assembly 40 to be in the ice-taking state. As mentioned above, the ice-making device 100 in the present application not only avoids the tediousness of the user frequently manually checking the ice-making state, but also improves the transparency and controllability of the ice-making process, greatly improving the user experience. In addition, since the processor can make accurate judgments based on the ice-making time, it can also effectively avoid the waste problem caused by prematurely taking out incompletely formed ice cubes.

[0061] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0062] In the description of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features.

[0063] The positioning device and gong plate equipment provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail above. Specific examples are used herein to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the present application. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of ​​the present application, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as limiting the present application.

Claims

1. An ice-making device, characterized in that: include: A box body, wherein the box body has a containing space; A bracket and a switch, wherein the bracket and the switch are arranged in the accommodating space, and the bracket and the switch are respectively connected to the inner wall of the box; an ice-making assembly, the ice-making assembly being slidably connected to the bracket so that the ice-making assembly can reciprocate between a first position and a second position; when the ice-making assembly is located at the first position, the ice-making assembly is in compression contact with the switch; A processor is connected to the switch, and is used for: When the switch is pressed and contacted by the ice-making assembly, the ice-making duration starts to be calculated; When the ice-making duration is less than the first preset time, it is prompted that the ice-making component is in the ice-making state; When the ice-making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, it is prompted that the ice-making component is in the ice-taking state.

2. The ice-making device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the ice making duration is greater than or equal to the first preset time, it is indicated that the ice making component is in the ice taking state, and the processor is used to: When the ice-making duration is greater than the first preset time and less than the second preset time, it is prompted that the ice-making component is in the first ice-making completion state; When the ice-making duration is greater than or equal to a second preset time, the ice-making assembly is lifted to a second ice-making completion state.

3. The ice-making device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The processor is further configured to: when the ice-making duration is less than a first preset time, detect that the switch is separated from the ice-making assembly, and then stop calculating the ice-making duration.

4. The ice-making device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: It also includes an ice storage box connected to the bracket; when the ice-making assembly is located at the first position, the ice storage box is located below the ice-making assembly.

5. The ice-making device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The ice storage box is detachably connected to the bracket or slidably connected to the bracket.

6. The ice-making device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The ice-making assembly includes an ice-making grid and a knob, wherein the knob is connected to the ice-making grid and is disposed on a side of the ice-making grid away from the accommodating space, and the knob can drive the ice-making grid to flip toward the ice storage box.

7. The ice-making device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The support is provided with a guide rail groove, the ice-making assembly is provided with a guide rail, and the guide rail is correspondingly connected to the guide rail groove so that the ice-making assembly and the support can move relative to each other.

8. The ice-making device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The ice-making assembly includes an ice-making tray and a protrusion, wherein the protrusion is arranged on an outer surface of the ice-making tray; when the ice-making assembly is located at the first position, the protrusion is in compression contact with the switch.

9. The ice-making device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The protrusion is a reinforcing rib.

10. A refrigerator, characterized in that: The refrigerator comprises the ice-making device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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