Ice maker capable of producing ice cubes with various shapes
By designing a separate storage system between the inner liner and the ice storage basket in the ice maker, the problems of fast melting ice and high power consumption are solved, and the production and storage of low-cost ice cubes are achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202510892347.X
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-06-30
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-08
AI Technical Summary
Existing ice makers cannot effectively store ice cubes, resulting in the ice melting speed and high power consumption, and the cost of producing multiple shapes of ice cubes is high.
An ice maker including a box, an inner liner, an ice storage basket and an ice making equipment is designed. The ice cubes and water are stored separately in the inner liner. The melting speed is reduced through the design of the inner liner and the ice storage basket, and the manufacturing cost is reduced by separating the inner liner.
The separation and storage of ice cubes and water is achieved, reducing the melting speed of ice cubes and the power consumption of the ice maker, while reducing the cost of producing multiple shapes of ice cubes.
Smart Images
Figure CN120444798A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of ice making machines, and in particular to an ice making machine capable of producing ice cubes of various shapes. Background Art
[0002] An ice maker is a refrigeration machine that cools water through an evaporator using the refrigerant in the refrigeration system to produce ice. It is a common and indispensable device in our daily lives. Currently, to achieve different tastes, cooling speeds, long-lasting cooling, and applicable scenarios, as well as to meet the needs of different beverages and enhance the user experience, it is often necessary to produce ice cubes in different shapes, such as cube ice, bullet ice, and chewable ice.
[0003] In the prior art, ice-making equipment, such as a compressor, condenser, and evaporator, is installed in the lower space of the ice-making machine housing, and ice-making molds are installed in the upper space of the ice-making machine housing. Therefore, to produce ice cubes, water must first be added to the ice-making mold. After the water in the ice-making mold is transformed into ice cubes by the compressor, condenser, evaporator, and other ice-making equipment, the ice cubes in the ice-making mold are then ejected upward from the bottom of the ice-making mold to produce ice cubes. To produce ice cubes of different shapes, the ice-making mold must be removed from the ice-making machine housing and replaced with an ice-making mold of a different shape before producing ice cubes of a different shape.
[0004] However, conventional ice makers cannot store ice cubes, so after making ice, they must be removed from the ice molds promptly. If ice cubes are stored in the molds, the melted water cannot be separated from the ice, accelerating the melting of the ice. Keeping the compressor, condenser, and evaporator running to prevent ice melting increases the power consumption of the ice maker. Furthermore, the production of multiple ice shapes in conventional ice makers is relatively costly.
[0005] Therefore, how to store ice cubes made by ice makers, reduce the production cost of various ice cube shapes, and reduce the melting speed of ice cubes and the power consumption of ice makers are technical problems that technicians in this field urgently need to solve. Summary of the Invention
[0006] The present application provides an ice maker that can produce ice cubes of various shapes, thereby reducing the production cost of ice cubes of various shapes, storing the ice cubes produced by the ice maker, and reducing the melting speed of the ice cubes and the power consumption of the ice maker.
[0007] To solve the above technical problems, this application provides the following technical solutions:
[0008] An ice maker capable of producing ice cubes of various shapes, comprising: a box body, a box cover, an ice-making mold, an ice-making device, an inner liner, an inner liner reinforcement plate, and an ice storage basket; wherein the ice-making device, the inner liner, and the inner liner reinforcement plate are installed in the box body, and the ice-making device is located on the left side of the lower space in the box body, the lower part of the inner liner extends to the right side of the lower space in the box body, the upper part of the inner liner covers the entire upper space in the box body, the left side of the inner liner reinforcement plate faces the ice-making device, the right side of the inner liner reinforcement plate faces the inner liner, the lower edge of the inner liner reinforcement plate is fixed to the bottom plate of the box body, and the upper edge of the inner liner reinforcement plate The edge is supported to the left part of the upper part of the inner liner; the inner liner includes: a left inner liner and a right inner liner; the lower right edge of the left inner liner is bent downward to form a first plug-in wall, the first plug-in wall is plugged into the upper left edge of the right inner liner, and the right edge of the left inner liner is plugged / spliced with the left edge of the right inner liner; the ice-making mold and the ice storage basket are installed in the inner liner, and the ice-making mold is located on the left side of the upper space in the inner liner, and the ice storage basket is located in the lower space in the inner liner, and there is a certain distance between the bottom of the ice storage basket and the bottom of the lower part of the inner liner; the box lid is covered to the upper edge of the box body to close the box body.
[0009] In the ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes as described above, it is preferred that the bottom surface and / or side surface of the ice storage basket have water leakage holes.
[0010] As described above, the ice maker can produce a variety of ice shapes, wherein preferably, the first plug-in wall of the left inner tank and the upper left edge of the right inner tank are connected by ultrasonic welding, and the right edge of the left inner tank and the left edge of the right inner tank are connected by ultrasonic welding.
[0011] As described above, the ice maker capable of producing a variety of ice shapes, wherein preferably, the lower end of the first insertion wall of the left inner container has a first insertion groove concave upward, and the upper left edge of the right inner container is inserted into the first insertion groove.
[0012] In the ice maker capable of producing various ice shapes as described above, preferably, the inner surface of the first inserting wall of the left inner container is flush with the inner surface corresponding to the upper left edge of the right inner container.
[0013] As described above, the ice maker that can produce ice cubes of various shapes, wherein preferably, the inner liner reinforcement plate has a reinforcement plate insertion groove extending to the left near its upper edge, the right edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate is inserted into the reinforcement plate insertion groove, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate is supported to a position near the left edge of the left inner liner.
[0014] As described above, the ice maker capable of producing a variety of ice shapes, wherein preferably, a second plug-in wall extends downwardly from the left inner tank near its left edge, and the left edge of the inner tank secondary reinforcement plate is bent upward and plugged into the second plug-in wall.
[0015] As described above, the ice maker capable of producing a variety of ice shapes, wherein preferably, the lower end of the second insertion wall of the left inner tank has a second insertion groove concave upward, and the left edge of the inner tank secondary reinforcement plate is inserted into the second insertion groove.
[0016] As described above, the ice maker can produce ice cubes of various shapes, wherein preferably, the upper edge of the left inner liner extends outward and bends downward to form a left inner liner hanging groove, and the left inner liner hanging groove is hung to the left part of the upper edge of the box body; the upper edge of the right inner liner extends outward and bends downward to form a right inner liner hanging groove, and the right inner liner hanging groove is hung to the right part of the upper edge of the box body.
[0017] In the ice maker capable of producing ice cubes of various shapes as described above, preferably, a plurality of vertically arranged supporting wings extending from left to right are provided on the bottom surface of the left inner container.
[0018] Compared with the above-mentioned background technology, the ice maker provided by the present application, which can produce ice cubes of various shapes, when making ice, the ice cubes and the water generated during ice stripping are separated from the ice-making mold and fall on the inner tank, and then the ice cubes fall into the ice storage basket, and the water flows into the water storage basin along the inner tank; the melted water of the ice cubes stored in the ice storage basket will also flow into the water storage box located below the ice storage basket, so the present application realizes the separation of ice cubes and water during the ice stripping process and the ice storage process. Therefore, the present application not only realizes the storage of ice cubes, but also reduces the melting speed of ice cubes and the power consumption of the ice maker. In addition, when preparing different types of ice cubes, it is only necessary to replace the left inner tank and the corresponding ice-making mold, which is simple to operate and can also reduce the cost of ice making. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments described in the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.
[0020] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an ice maker capable of producing various shapes of ice cubes provided in Example 1;
[0021] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of an ice maker capable of producing a variety of ice shapes provided in Example 2;
[0022] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of an ice maker capable of producing a variety of ice shapes provided in Example 3;
[0023] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the inner tank of the ice maker capable of producing various shapes of ice cubes provided in Example 1;
[0024] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the inner tank of an ice maker capable of producing ice cubes of various shapes provided in Example 2;
[0025] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the inner tank of the ice maker provided in Example 3 that can produce ice cubes of various shapes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] The following describes in detail embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. In addition, spatial relationship terms such as "upper," "lower," "front," "back," "left," "right," etc. are used for convenience of description to explain the positional relationship between two components. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.
[0027] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the present application provides an ice making machine that can produce ice cubes of various shapes, including: a box body 10, a box cover 20, an inner liner 30, an inner liner reinforcement plate 40, an ice storage basket 50, an ice making mold 60 and an ice making device 70.
[0028] The ice-making device 70 is installed within the housing 10 and is located on the left side of the lower space within the housing 10. This leaves the right side of the lower space free to accommodate the lower portion of the inner tank 30, which serves as a water storage box. The ice-making device 70 is a general term for equipment that can convert water in the ice mold 60 into ice cubes, such as a compressor, condenser, and evaporator.
[0029] The liner 30 is installed in the box body 10; and its lower part extends to the right side of the lower space in the box body 10, and is used as a water storage box to hold water for making ice and receive water falling from the ice storage basket 50 and water poured out of the ice making mold 60 when removing ice; its upper part covers the entire upper space in the box body 10, and is used for installing the ice making mold 60 and the ice storage basket 50.
[0030] The ice-making mold 60 is installed in the inner tank 30 and is located on the left side of the upper space in the inner tank 30, so that the ice-making mold 60 is located directly above the ice-making device 70, which makes it convenient for the ice-making device 70 to cool the water in the ice-making mold 60 to make ice, and makes the ice cubes and the water that come out of the ice-making mold 60 fall first on the bottom surface of the left side of the inner tank 30, so that the ice cubes and water begin to separate from the bottom surface of the left side of the inner tank 30, thereby reducing the melting rate of the ice cubes.
[0031] The ice basket 50 is mounted within the inner liner 30 and positioned in the lower space within the inner liner 30. A certain distance exists between the bottom of the ice basket 50 and the bottom of the lower portion of the inner liner 30, allowing the ice basket 50 to be positioned directly above the water storage box. This allows water melted from the ice in the ice basket 20 to fall into the water storage box, reducing the melting rate while ensuring a sufficient water storage capacity in the water storage box. Furthermore, the ice basket 50's location in the lower space within the inner liner 30 facilitates ice cubes that fall from the ice mold 60 and land on the bottom surface of the upper portion of the inner liner 30 to fall back into the ice basket 50, thereby allowing the ice to be stored there. Optionally, the bottom and / or sides of the ice basket 50 may have drainage holes to allow water melted in the ice basket 50 to flow into the water storage box below.
[0032] Such an inner liner 30 is relatively large in size, and the cost of making a mold for such an inner liner 30 is also relatively high. In order to produce ice cubes of different shapes, different types of ice-making molds 60 are required. Therefore, the upper part of the inner liner 30 for mounting the ice-making molds 60 needs to adapt to different types of ice-making molds 60, which requires different types of inner liner 30, thereby further increasing the cost of making the mold for the inner liner 30.
[0033] For this reason, Figures 4 to 6 As shown, the inner liner 30 in this application includes: a left inner liner 31 and a right inner liner 32; the lower right edge of the left inner liner 31 is bent downward to form a first insertion wall 311, which is inserted into the upper left edge of the right inner liner 32; the right edge of the left inner liner 31 is inserted / spliced with the left edge of the right inner liner 32. Optionally, the insertion point between the first insertion wall 311 of the left inner liner 31 and the upper left edge of the right inner liner 32 can also be ultrasonically welded, and the insertion / splicing point between the right edge of the left inner liner 31 and the left edge of the right inner liner 32 can also be ultrasonically welded.
[0034] By dividing the inner liner 30 into a left inner liner 31 and a right inner liner 32, the left inner liner 31 and the right inner liner 32 can be processed separately. This not only reduces the volume of the mold for processing the inner liner, making it less complex and thus reducing the cost of making the inner liner mold, but also allows the same part of the inner liner (the right inner liner 32) of different types to be produced using the same mold, thereby reducing the cost of making the inner liner mold. In addition, by arranging the connection between the left inner liner 31 and the right inner liner 32 in a vertical direction, moisture in the inner liner 30 can be prevented from penetrating to the outside of the inner liner 30, thereby providing a dry working environment for the ice making device 70.
[0035] The lower end of the first insertion wall 311 of the left inner liner 31 has an upwardly concave first insertion slot, into which the upper left edge of the right inner liner 32 is inserted. After insertion, the inner surface of the first insertion wall 311 of the left inner liner 31 is flush with the inner surface of the corresponding upper left edge of the right inner liner 32, further preventing moisture from penetrating the outer surface of the inner liner 30 from the connection between the left and right inner liner 31 and 32.
[0036] Based on the above, the upper edge of the left inner liner 31 extends outward and bends downward, forming a left inner liner attachment slot 312. The left inner liner attachment slot 312 is attached to the left portion of the upper edge of the housing 10. The upper edge of the right inner liner 32 extends outward and bends downward, forming a right inner liner attachment slot 321. The right inner liner attachment slot 321 is attached to the right portion of the upper edge of the housing 10. The attachment of the left and right inner liner 31, 32 to the housing 10 further stabilizes the connection between the inner liner 30 and the housing 10, preventing the inner liner 30 from sloshing within the housing 10 and, consequently, the water in the water storage box from sloshing.
[0037] The liner reinforcement plate 40 is installed in the box body 10, with its left side facing the ice-making device 70 and its right side facing the liner 30. Its lower edge is fixed to the bottom plate of the box body 10, and its upper edge is supported to the left part of the upper part of the liner 30 (i.e., the left liner 31), thereby providing reinforcement for the liner 30.
[0038] Optionally, the inner liner reinforcement plate 40 has a reinforcement plate insertion groove extending to the left near its upper edge. When the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80 is installed, the right edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80 is inserted into the reinforcement plate insertion groove, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80 is supported to the left part of the upper part of the inner liner 30 (i.e., the left inner liner 31) near its left edge. The inner liner 30 is supported and reinforced by the inner liner reinforcement plate 40 and the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80, thereby ensuring that the inner liner 30 has a certain strength. Optionally, a second insertion wall 313 extends downward near the left edge of the left inner liner 31, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80 is bent upward and inserted into the second insertion wall 313. Optionally, the lower end of the second insertion wall 313 of the left inner liner 31 has a second insertion groove that is concave upward, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80 is inserted into the second insertion groove.
[0039] The box cover 20 covers the upper edge of the box body 10, thereby closing the box body 10, so that ice making can be carried out in a relatively closed environment, and a low-temperature environment can be provided and maintained for ice making.
[0040] On the basis of the above, if Figure 4As shown, the bottom surface of the left inner liner 31 adapted for the ice-making mold 60 for producing cube ice first extends horizontally from left to right, then bends downward and extends vertically, then bends to the right and extends obliquely downward, then bends downward and extends vertically, and finally bends to the right and extends obliquely downward; the ice-making mold 60 for producing cube ice is set on the upper surface of the bottom portion extending obliquely downward on the left side; the upper surface of the bottom portion extending obliquely downward on the right side has a plurality of vertically arranged and extending from left to right support wings to facilitate supporting the ice cubes that are released from the ice-making mold 60 and separating the released ice cubes from the water. The "vertical" here refers to the direction perpendicular to the bottom surface on which the support wings are set. Optionally, the upper edge of the support wing is flush with the upper surface of the bottom portion extending obliquely downward on the left side to avoid blocking the ice cubes from escaping from the ice-making mold 60.
[0041] In addition, if Figure 5 As shown, the bottom surface of the left inner liner 31 adapted for the ice mold 60 for producing bullet ice first extends horizontally from left to right, then bends downward and extends vertically, then bends to the right and extends obliquely downward, then bends downward and extends vertically, and finally bends to the right and extends obliquely downward; the ice mold 60 for producing bullet ice is located above two bottom surface portions extending obliquely downward; the upper surface of the bottom surface portion extending obliquely downward on the right side has a plurality of vertically arranged and extending from left to right support wings so as to support the ice cubes that are released from the ice mold 60 and separate the released ice cubes from the water. The "vertical" here refers to the direction perpendicular to the bottom surface on which the support wings are set. Optionally, the upper edge of the support wing is flush with the upper surface of the bottom surface portion extending obliquely downward on the left side, so that the ice cubes fall smoothly into the ice storage basket 50.
[0042] In addition, if Figure 6 As shown, the bottom surface of the left inner liner 31 adapted for the chewable ice mold 60 first extends vertically downward from left to right, then bends rightward and extends horizontally, then bends upward and extends vertically, then bends rightward and extends horizontally, then bends downward and extends vertically, and finally bends rightward and extends obliquely downward. The chewable ice mold 60 passes from below the left inner liner 31 through the second horizontally extending bottom portion from left to right and extends above the left inner liner 31. The upper surface of the obliquely downward extending bottom portion may have multiple vertically arranged support wings extending from left to right to facilitate adaptation to the left inner liner 31 adapted for other types of ice cubes. "Vertical" here refers to the direction perpendicular to the bottom surface where the support wings are provided. When installing the left inner liner 31 adapted for the chewable ice mold 60, since the inner liner 30 is supported by the chewable ice mold 60, the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate 80 may not be installed in this case.
[0043] When using the ice maker of the present application to make ice, the ice cubes and the water generated during ice shedding are released from the ice mold 60 and fall onto the inner liner 30. The ice cubes then fall into the ice storage basket 50, where the water flows into the water storage basin along with the inner liner 30. The water melted from the ice cubes stored in the ice storage basket 50 also flows into the water storage box located below the ice storage basket. Therefore, the present application achieves separation of ice cubes and water during both the ice shedding and ice storage processes. The ice maker of the present application achieves ice storage and reduces the melting rate of ice cubes and the power consumption of the ice maker. To prepare different types of ice cubes, the left inner liner 31 and the corresponding ice mold 60 can be replaced to produce different types of ice cubes. Therefore, the present application is simple to operate and can also reduce the cost of ice making.
[0044] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above and that the invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered in all respects as illustrative and non-restrictive, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, not the foregoing description, and all variations within the meaning and range of equivalents of the claims are intended to be included therein. Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim to which it relates.
[0045] In addition, it should be understood that although this specification is described in terms of implementation methods, not every implementation method contains only one independent technical solution. This narrative method of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other implementation methods that can be understood by those skilled in the art.
Claims
1. An ice making machine capable of producing ice cubes of various shapes, comprising: The box body, box cover, ice making mold and ice making equipment are characterized in that they also include: an inner liner, an inner liner reinforcement plate and an ice storage basket; The ice-making device, the inner liner and the inner liner reinforcement plate are installed in the box body, and the ice-making device is located on the left side of the lower space in the box body, the lower part of the inner liner extends to the right side of the lower space in the box body, and the upper part of the inner liner covers the entire upper space in the box body. The left side of the inner liner reinforcement plate faces the ice-making device, and the right side of the inner liner reinforcement plate faces the inner liner. The lower edge of the inner liner reinforcement plate is fixed to the bottom plate of the box body, and the upper edge of the inner liner reinforcement plate is supported to the left part of the upper part of the inner liner. The inner liner includes: a left inner liner and a right inner liner; the lower right edge of the left inner liner is bent downward to form a first plug-in wall, the first plug-in wall is plugged into the upper left edge of the right inner liner, and the right edge of the left inner liner is plugged / spliced into the left edge of the right inner liner; The ice making mold and the ice storage basket are installed in the inner container, and the ice making mold is located on the left side of the upper space in the inner container, and the ice storage basket is located in the lower space in the inner container, with a certain distance between the bottom of the ice storage basket and the bottom of the lower part of the inner container; The box cover is covered to the upper edge of the box body to close the box body.
2. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom and / or side of the ice storage basket are provided with water leakage holes.
3. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first plug-in wall of the left inner liner and the upper left edge of the right inner liner are connected by ultrasonic welding, and the plug-in / splicing point between the right edge of the left inner liner and the left edge of the right inner liner is connected by ultrasonic welding.
4. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The lower end of the first plug-in wall of the left inner container is provided with a first plug-in slot which is concave upwards, and the upper left edge of the right inner container is inserted into the first plug-in slot.
5. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 4, characterized in that: The inner surface of the first inserting wall of the left inner container is flush with the inner surface corresponding to the upper left edge of the right inner container.
6. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The inner liner reinforcement plate has a reinforcement plate insertion slot extending to the left near its upper edge, the right edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate is inserted into the reinforcement plate insertion slot, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate is supported to the position of the left inner liner near its left edge.
7. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 6, characterized in that: A second plugging wall extends downward from a position near the left edge of the left inner liner, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate is bent upward and plugged into the second plugging wall.
8. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 7, characterized in that: The lower end of the second plug-in wall of the left inner liner is provided with an upwardly concave second plug-in slot, and the left edge of the inner liner secondary reinforcement plate is inserted into the second plug-in slot.
9. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The upper edge of the left inner liner extends outward and bends downward to form a left inner liner hanging groove, and the left inner liner hanging groove is hung to the left part of the upper edge of the box body; The upper edge of the right inner liner extends outward and bends downward to form a right inner liner hanging groove, and the right inner liner hanging groove is hung to the right part of the upper edge of the box body.
10. The ice making machine capable of producing a variety of ice shapes according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The bottom surface of the left inner container is provided with a plurality of vertically arranged supporting wings extending from left to right.