Ice maker

Abstract

The invention provides an ice maker which comprises a water tank, an ice barrel and a water supply pipe, and the water tank is provided with a water storage cavity, a water outlet and a containing cavity penetrating through the water storage cavity; the ice barrel is at least partially arranged in the accommodating cavity, and the ice barrel comprises an ice making cavity and a water inlet communicated with the ice making cavity; and two ends of a water supply pipe are communicated with the water outlet and the water inlet. According to the ice maker provided by the invention, the ice cylinder is arranged in the range of the water tank, and the cold source of the ice cylinder is used for refrigerating water in the water tank, so that ice making and water refrigerating are realized at the same time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration equipment, and particularly to an ice maker. Background Art

[0002] An ice-making system usually consists of a water tank, a water supply pipe, and an ice-making space. During the ice-making process, the water tank transfers a certain volume of water to the ice-making space through the water supply pipe. After the cooling and ice-making are completed, the ice is removed and taken out. Usually, the water tank and the ice-making space are separated and located at different positions, but this brings two problems: one is that the cooling capacity of the ice-making cannot be fully utilized, and part of the cooling capacity is dissipated to the outside; the other is that if chilled water is required, an additional set of refrigeration devices is needed. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ice maker, in which at least part of the ice cylinder is arranged in the water tank, and the cooling capacity of the ice cylinder is used to cool the water in the water tank, so as to realize the simultaneous production of ice and chilled water, and solve the problems of heat dissipation of the ice maker and the need for additional refrigeration devices for chilled water in the prior art.

[0004] To achieve one of the above-mentioned invention purposes, an embodiment of the present invention provides an ice maker, including:

[0005] A water tank, provided with a water storage cavity, a water outlet, and a receiving cavity penetrating through the water storage cavity;

[0006] An ice cylinder, at least part of which is arranged in the receiving cavity, and the ice cylinder includes an ice-making cavity and a water inlet communicating with the ice-making cavity;

[0007] A water supply pipe, with both ends communicating with the water outlet and the water inlet.

[0008] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the water tank is further provided with an inner shell, and the receiving cavity is formed inside the inner shell to separate the water storage cavity and the receiving cavity through the inner shell.

[0009] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the ice cylinder is spaced from the inner wall of the receiving cavity; the ice maker further includes an evaporation pipe, and the evaporation pipe is arranged between the ice cylinder and the inner wall of the receiving cavity.

[0010] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the evaporation pipe is arranged around the outer periphery of the ice cylinder.

[0011] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a first spiral groove is formed on the outer side of the ice cylinder, and the evaporation pipe is a spiral evaporation pipe, and the spiral evaporation pipe is arranged in the first spiral groove.

[0012] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a second spiral groove corresponding to the first spiral groove is formed on the inner side of the inner shell, the spiral evaporation tube is also arranged in the second spiral groove, and the first spiral groove and the second spiral groove are arranged on both sides of the evaporation tube.

[0013] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a water intake is arranged at the bottom of the water tank.

[0014] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a water pump and a return pipe are further included, the water pump is communicated with the water outlet and the water inlet, and the return pipe is communicated with the ice-making cavity and the water storage cavity.

[0015] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the ice-making cavity is a cylindrical cavity, an ice outlet is further arranged at one end of the ice cylinder close to the top, and the ice outlet is communicated with the ice-making cavity;

[0016] The ice maker is also provided with a scraping screw, the scraping screw is arranged in the ice-making cavity, and includes a screw body and screw teeth, and the screw teeth are spirally arranged from one end of the screw body to the other end.

[0017] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the ice cylinder is also provided with a ice guiding groove, the ice guiding groove is communicated with the ice outlet, and in the direction away from the ice outlet, the bottom of the ice guiding groove has a downward extending trend.

[0018] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a ice scraping piece is further arranged at the top of the screw body, and the ice scraping piece rotates with the screw body to scrape the ice in the ice-making cavity to the ice outlet to realize ice discharging.

[0019] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the refrigerant flow direction in the evaporation tube is from top to bottom.

[0020] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, the water tank is also provided with an exhaust pipe, the exhaust pipe is communicated with the water storage cavity, the bottom end of the exhaust pipe is arranged at an interval from the bottom end of the water tank, and the bottom end of the exhaust pipe is within the height range of the ice-making cavity, and the heights of the water outlet and the water inlet are lower than the bottom end of the exhaust pipe.

[0021] As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, a valve for connecting or disconnecting the water supply is arranged on the water supply pipe.

[0022] One or more technical solutions provided by the present invention have at least the following technical effects or advantages:

[0023] The ice maker provided by the present invention sets the ice barrel within the range of the water tank, and uses the cold quantity of the ice barrel to refrigerate the water in the water tank, so as to refrigerate water while making ice. Description of the Drawings

[0024] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the ice maker in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 is Figure 1 The top view of the ice maker in

[0026] Figure 3 is Figure 2 The sectional view along line A-A in

[0027] Figure 4 is Figure 3 The enlarged view at C in

[0028] Figure 5 is Figure 2 The sectional view along line B-B in

[0029] Figure 6 is Figure 3 The schematic structural diagram of the scraping screw in

[0030] 1. Ice barrel; 11. Ice making cavity; 111. Inner wall of the cavity; 12. Water inlet; 13. Ice outlet; 14. Ice guiding groove; 15. First spiral groove; 2. Water tank; 21. Water storage cavity; 22. Water outlet; 23. Exhaust pipe; 24. Water filling port; 241. Water filling plug; 25. Water receiving port; 26. Inner shell; 261. Second spiral groove; 3. Evaporation pipe; 4. Water supply pipe; 41. Valve; 5. Scraping screw; 51. Screw body; 52. Screw teeth; 53. Ice scraping piece; 6. Driving mechanism; 7. Water pump; 8. Return pipe. Detailed Embodiment

[0031] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0032] Spatial relative position terms used herein, such as "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., are used for the purpose of facilitating description to describe the relationship of one unit or feature relative to another unit or feature as shown in the accompanying drawings. The spatial relative position terms may be intended to include different orientations of the device in use or operation other than the orientations shown in the figures.

[0033] For example, if the device in the figure is flipped, the unit described as being "below" or "beneath" other units or features will be located "above" other units or features. Therefore, the exemplary term "below" can encompass both the upper and lower orientations. The device can be oriented in other ways (rotated 90 degrees or other orientations), and the spatially related descriptive terms used herein can be interpreted accordingly.

[0034] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms "installed", "connected", and "coupled" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0035] Moreover, it should be understood that although terms such as first, second, etc. can be used herein to describe various elements or structures, the objects described should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish these described objects from each other. For example, the first helical groove can be called the second helical groove, and similarly the second helical groove can also be called the first helical groove, which does not deviate from the protection scope of the present application.

[0036] An embodiment of the present invention provides an ice maker, as Figures 1-6 shown, including a water tank 2, an ice cylinder 1, and a water supply pipe 4 connecting the water tank 2 and the ice cylinder 1. The water tank 2 is provided with a water storage cavity 21, a water outlet 22, and a receiving cavity penetrating the water storage cavity 21; at least part of the ice cylinder 1 is disposed in the receiving cavity. The ice cylinder 1 includes an ice making cavity 11 and a water inlet 12 communicating with the ice making cavity 11; both ends of the water supply pipe 4 are communicated with the water outlet 22 and the water inlet 12.

[0037] The ice cylinder 1 is disposed through the water tank 2, so that while the cold source of the ice cylinder 1 cools the water in the ice making cavity 11 to obtain ice, the excess cold quantity is transferred to the water in the water tank 2, causing the temperature of the water in the water tank 2 to decrease to form ice water. The embodiment of the present invention avoids the loss of cold quantity to the outside, greatly improving the utilization rate of the cold source of the ice cylinder 1, making ice water while making ice, and the user does not need to additionally install a set of ice water making device.

[0038] Preferably, a water intake is provided at the bottom of the water tank 2. When the user needs cold water, opening the water intake at the bottom can obtain cold water conveniently and quickly.

[0039] Furthermore, as Figures 3-5 shown, the water tank 2 is further provided with an inner shell 26, and an accommodation cavity is formed inside the inner shell 26, so as to separate the water storage cavity 21 and the accommodation cavity through the inner shell 26. That is to say, the ice tube 1 transfers cold to the water in the water tank 2 through the inner shell 26.

[0040] The ice maker provided by the embodiment of the present invention further includes an evaporation tube 3. The evaporation tube 3 is arranged outside the ice tube 1, so that the ice tube 1 and the inner wall of the accommodation cavity are spaced apart. The evaporation tube 3 is arranged between the ice tube 1 and the inner wall of the accommodation cavity. Preferably, the evaporation tube 3 is arranged around the outer circumference of the ice tube 1, so that the contact area between the evaporation tube 3 and the ice tube 1 is larger, increasing the cold conduction efficiency and enabling more cold to be transferred into the ice making cavity 11.

[0041] More preferably, a first spiral groove 15 is formed on the outside of the ice tube 1, and the evaporation tube 3 is a spiral evaporation tube 3. The spiral evaporation tube 3 is arranged in the first spiral groove 15. The setting of the first spiral groove 15 makes the contact area between the evaporation tube 3 and the ice tube 1 larger, further increasing the cold conduction efficiency.

[0042] Further preferably, a second spiral groove 261 corresponding to the first spiral groove 15 is formed on the inner side of the inner shell 26. The spiral evaporation tube 3 is also arranged in the second spiral groove 261. The first spiral groove 15 and the second spiral groove 261 are arranged on both sides of the evaporation tube 3. As Figure 3 、 4 shown, the first spiral groove 15 is arranged inside the evaporation tube 3, and the second spiral groove 261 is arranged outside the evaporation tube 3. The setting of the second spiral groove 261 on the inner shell 26 increases the contact area between the evaporation tube 3 and the inner shell 26, also increasing the cold conduction efficiency of the evaporation tube 3 to the water in the water tank 2, effectively utilizing the cold of the evaporation tube 3 and preventing the loss of cold due to the transfer of cold from the gap between the evaporation tube 3 and the inner shell 26 to the outside atmosphere.

[0043] Furthermore, as Figure 5As shown in the figure, the ice maker provided by the present invention further includes a water pump 7 and a return water pipe 8. The water pump 7 is connected to the water outlet 22 and the water inlet 12, and the return water pipe 8 connects the ice making chamber 11 and the water storage chamber 21. The ice cylinder 1 penetrates through the water tank 2, enabling the water tank 2 to obtain cold from the evaporation pipe 3 that cools the ice cylinder 1 to produce cold water. However, there is a possibility that the water in the water supply pipe 4 or even the water storage chamber 21 may freeze. The ice making chamber 11 and the water storage chamber 21 are also connected through the return water pipe 8, which can cause the water in the water tank 2 and the water in the ice cylinder 1 to circulate. A water pump 7 is provided between the water outlet 22 of the water tank 2 and the water inlet 12 of the ice cylinder 1. Turning on the water pump 7 can accelerate the circulation, increase the water flow speed, and prevent freezing.

[0044] In some embodiments, the ice making chamber 11 is a cylindrical cavity. An ice outlet 13 is further provided at one end of the ice cylinder 1 near the top, and the ice outlet 13 is connected to the ice making chamber 11. The ice maker is also provided with a scraping screw 5. The scraping screw 5 is disposed in the ice making chamber 11 and includes a screw body 51 and screw teeth 52. The screw teeth 52 are spirally arranged from one end of the screw body 51 to the other end.

[0045] Specifically, as Figure 4 、 5 shown, the ice cylinder 1 further includes a cavity inner wall 111 formed around the ice making chamber 11. The ice outlet 13 is provided on the side of one end of the ice cylinder 1 near the top and passes through the cavity inner wall 111. A water passing hole (not shown) is provided at one end of the screw teeth 52 close to the screw body 51 for water flow to pass through. Since the evaporation pipe 3 is wound around the outside of the ice cylinder 1, in the radial direction of the ice making chamber 11, the temperature gradually decreases from the axis of the ice making chamber 11 to the cavity inner wall 111. Therefore, the formation of ice in the ice making chamber 11 starts from the cavity inner wall 111 and gradually forms towards the axis of the ice making chamber 11. The rotation of the screw body 51 drives the rotation of the screw teeth 52, scraping the ice formed on the cavity inner wall 111 from the cavity inner wall 111 to form ice sand.

[0046] An ice guiding groove 14 is further provided at the top of the ice cylinder 1. The ice guiding groove 14 is connected to the ice outlet 13, and in the direction away from the ice outlet 13, the bottom of the ice guiding groove 14 gradually extends downward. Specifically, as Figure 5 shown, the cross-section of the ice guiding groove 14 is C-shaped. One end of the ice guiding groove 14 close to the ice outlet 13 is flush with the bottom of the ice outlet 13. At the end away from the ice outlet 13, the bottom of the ice guiding groove 14 is gradually inclined downward to accelerate ice discharge.

[0047] Figure 5 The setting of the ice outlet 13 and the ice guiding groove 14 in

[0048] is applicable to making ice sand. When making ice pops, the ice outlet 13 is opened at the top of the ice cylinder 1, and no scraping screw 5 is provided in the ice making chamber 11 to obtain a complete ice pop. No illustration is provided here. Figure 6As shown, a chip-breaking blade 53 is provided at the top of the screw body 51. The chip-breaking blade 53 rotates with the screw body 51 to strip the ice in the ice-making chamber 11 to the ice outlet 13 for ice discharging. Every time the screw body 51 rotates one week, it will drive the chip-breaking blade 53 to deflect the ice sand scraped off and delivered upward by the screw teeth 52 into the ice guide groove 14.

[0049] Furthermore, the refrigerant in the evaporation tube 3 flows from top to bottom, enabling the top of the ice cylinder 1 to obtain cold energy preferentially to start refrigeration. Since the ice outlet 13 is provided at the top, compared with the refrigerant flowing from bottom to top, obtaining cold energy preferentially at the top can reduce the ice-making and ice-discharging time.

[0050] In some embodiments, the ice maker provided by the present invention further includes a driving mechanism 6. The driving mechanism 6 can be a motor or the like. The driving mechanism 6 is connected to the screw body 51 to drive the scraping screw 5 to rotate, so that the screw teeth 52 scrape the ice on the inner wall 111 of the ice-making chamber 11 to form ice sand and deliver the ice sand.

[0051] In some embodiments, as Figure 3 shown, the water tank 2 is further provided with an exhaust pipe 23. The exhaust pipe 23 communicates with the water storage chamber 21. The bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23 is spaced from the bottom end of the water tank 2, and the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23 is within the height range of the ice-making chamber 11. The heights of the water outlet 22 and the water inlet 12 are lower than the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23.

[0052] Specifically, the water outlet 22 is provided at the bottom end of the water tank 2, and the water inlet 12 is provided at the bottom of the ice cylinder 1 to facilitate the water supply of the water tank 2 and the water inlet of the ice cylinder 1. The exhaust pipe 23 is arranged against the inner wall of the water tank 2. Of course, the specific position of the exhaust pipe 23 is not limited in this embodiment. The exhaust pipe 23 can also be arranged in the water storage chamber 21 or against the outer wall of the water tank 2, or at other feasible positions.

[0053] The water tank 2 is further provided with a water filling port 24. The user can add water into the water storage chamber 21 through the water filling port 24. The water filling port 24 is preferably provided at the top of the water tank 2 to facilitate the user to add water. A water filling plug 241 is also provided at the water filling port 24. The water supply pipe 4 is provided with a valve 41 for connecting or disconnecting the water supply.

[0054] The water tank 2 and the exhaust pipe 23, the water supply pipe 4 and the ice cylinder 1 therein form a communicating vessel structure. During operation, first, the water supply of the water supply pipe 4 is disconnected through the valve 41, the water filling port 24 at the top of the water tank 2 is opened, water is added into the water tank 2, and after being filled, the water filling port 24 is closed by the water filling plug 241 to keep the space above the water surface in the water storage chamber 21 closed. The space above the water surface of the exhaust pipe 23 communicates with the atmosphere.

[0055] Open the valve 41 to put the water supply pipe 4 in a connected state. Water in the water tank 2 enters the ice cylinder 1 through the water supply pipe 4. The water level in the exhaust pipe 23 drops first. When the water level drops to the lowest line of the exhaust pipe 23 (i.e., the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23), the water level in the exhaust pipe 23 will remain unchanged. Thereafter, for each drop of water injected into the ice cylinder 1, a bubble will be sucked into the water storage cavity 21 from the exhaust pipe 23, cross the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23, and supplement the air layer sealed at the top of the water storage cavity 21 to maintain the air pressure balance inside and outside the water storage cavity 21 until the liquid level in the ice cylinder 1 reaches the position of the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23, and then the water supply stops.

[0056] If the scraping screw 5 is provided in the ice-making cavity 11, as the scraping screw 5 rotates, ice sand will continuously be discharged from the ice-making cavity 11, causing the liquid level in the ice-making cavity 11 to drop. Then the water tank 2 will supply water to the ice-making cavity 11 through the aforementioned communicating vessel structure. Correspondingly, an equal amount of air will enter the upper air layer of the water storage cavity 21 at the exhaust pipe 23, always keeping the water levels at the bottom end of the ice cylinder 1 and the exhaust pipe 23 unchanged during the ice-making process, so as to ensure continuous ice-making in the ice cylinder 1.

[0057] Preferably, in the height direction, the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 23 is arranged close to the top of the ice-making cavity 11, so that as much water as possible can be injected into the ice-making cavity 11 to avoid waste of the space in the ice-making cavity 11.

[0058] Of course, instead of disconnecting the water supply pipe 4 through the valve 41, the outlet of the ice cylinder 1, such as the ice outlet 13, can be blocked to prevent water from overflowing.

[0059] It should be understood that although this specification is described according to the embodiments, not every embodiment only contains an independent technical solution. This narrative way of the specification is only for clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0060] The series of detailed descriptions listed above are only specific descriptions of the feasible embodiments of the present invention, and they are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any equivalent embodiments or changes made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ice maker, characterized in that, Comprising: A water tank, provided with a water storage cavity, a water outlet, and a receiving cavity penetrating through the water storage cavity; An ice cylinder, at least partially disposed in the receiving cavity, the ice cylinder including an ice making cavity and a water inlet communicating with the ice making cavity; A water supply pipe, with both ends communicating with the water outlet and the water inlet.

2. The ice maker according to claim 1, wherein The water tank is further provided with an inner shell, and the receiving cavity is formed inside the inner shell to separate the water storage cavity and the receiving cavity through the inner shell.

3. The ice maker according to claim 2, characterized in that, The ice cylinder is spaced from the inner wall of the receiving cavity; the ice maker further includes an evaporation pipe, and the evaporation pipe is disposed between the ice cylinder and the inner wall of the receiving cavity.

4. The ice maker according to claim 3, wherein The evaporation pipe is disposed around the outer periphery of the ice cylinder.

5. The ice maker according to claim 4, characterized in that, A first spiral groove is formed on the outer side of the ice cylinder, the evaporation pipe is a spiral evaporation pipe, and the spiral evaporation pipe is disposed in the first spiral groove.

6. The ice maker according to claim 5, characterized in that, A second spiral groove corresponding to the first spiral groove is formed inside the inner shell, the spiral evaporation pipe is further disposed in the second spiral groove, and the first spiral groove and the second spiral groove are disposed on both sides of the evaporation pipe.

7. The ice maker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, A water intake is provided at the bottom of the water tank.

8. The ice maker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, It further includes a water pump and a return pipe, the water pump communicates with the water outlet and the water inlet, and the return pipe communicates the ice making cavity and the water storage cavity.

9. The ice maker according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that, The ice making cavity is a cylindrical cavity, and an ice outlet is further provided at one end of the ice cylinder close to the top, and the ice outlet communicates with the ice making cavity; The ice maker is further provided with a scraping screw, the scraping screw is disposed in the ice making cavity, and includes a screw body and screw teeth, and the screw teeth are spirally disposed from one end of the screw body to the other end.

10. The ice maker according to claim 9, wherein, The ice cylinder is further provided with a ice guiding groove, the ice guiding groove communicates with the ice outlet, and in the direction away from the ice outlet, the bottom of the ice guiding groove has a tendency to extend downward.

11. The ice maker according to claim 10, characterized in that, A ice peeling piece is further provided at the top of the screw body, and the ice peeling piece rotates with the screw body to peel the ice in the ice making cavity to the ice outlet to achieve ice discharging.

12. The ice maker according to claim 10, characterized in that, The refrigerant flow direction in the evaporation pipe is from top to bottom.

13. The ice maker according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that, The water tank is further provided with an exhaust pipe, the exhaust pipe communicates with the water storage cavity, the bottom end of the exhaust pipe is spaced from the bottom end of the water tank, and the bottom end of the exhaust pipe is within the height range of the ice making cavity, and the heights of the water outlet and the water inlet are lower than the bottom end of the exhaust pipe.

14. The ice maker according to claim 13, wherein, The water supply pipe is provided with a valve for connecting or disconnecting the water supply.

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