Ice maker and ice making method

Abstract

The invention discloses an ice maker which comprises an ice making cup used for containing water, and the ice making cup is provided with an overturning mechanism used for overturning the whole ice making cup by a certain angle; the evaporating pipe passes through the upper part of the ice-making cup, a plurality of raised refrigerating ends are arranged on the evaporating pipe, and the refrigerating ends extend into the ice-making cup; a vibrating reed is arranged in the ice-making cup and can vibrate relative to the ice-making cup, so that water in the ice-making cup fluctuates. The invention further discloses an ice making method, the ice making machine is adopted, water is contained in the ice making cup, the evaporation pipe is used for cooling, and the water in the ice making cup begins to condense with the refrigeration end of the evaporation pipe as the core; in the condensation process, the vibrating reed vibrates to enable water to fluctuate. The ice making effect is better, and clarified and transparent ice blocks can be obtained.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention pertains to household appliances, and in particular relates to an ice maker and a method for making ice. Background Technology

[0002] The demand for ice has been long-standing. Originally, ice was obtained by filling molds with water and freezing it in the freezer compartment of a refrigerator. However, in more demanding settings like upscale restaurants and bars, a smaller, dedicated machine was desired to produce ice, leading to the development of ice makers. The basic structure of such an ice maker consists of an ice-making cup filled with water; an evaporator tube runs above the cup, with several protruding cooling ends that extend into the cup. These cooling ends gradually condense the water around them into ice. Before the ice on each cooling end solidifies, the cup is inverted, and the evaporator tube heats up, removing the ice from the cooling ends. This yields the same number of ice blocks as the cooling ends. Because temperature diffusion is isotropic, ice produced in this way has a uniform thickness in all directions; for example, when the cooling end has a hemispherical head, the resulting ice block also has a hemispherical head. Clearly, traditional ice-making methods cannot achieve this effect.

[0003] CN223307123U discloses a stainless steel ice maker evaporator, including an evaporator body, an evaporation tube, and multiple cylindrical ice molds. The cylindrical ice molds are made of stainless steel, and their bottoms are welded to the evaporation tube. The evaporation tube is made of stainless steel flat tubing, with refrigerant inlet and outlet pipes welded to both ends. The cylindrical ice molds are welded to the larger cooling surface of the stainless steel flat tubing. The cylindrical ice molds are the cooling end mentioned above, and can be used to obtain ice blocks that are essentially cylindrical.

[0004] CN118960276A discloses an energy-saving, ice-storage type high-efficiency ice maker, including a body. An evaporator is installed inside the body, and several evaporation tubes are fixedly connected to the bottom of the evaporator. The body also contains a high-efficiency, energy-saving de-icing component to enhance the cooling and heating effect of the evaporator. This component includes several striped protrusions fixedly connected to the outer surface of the evaporation tubes. These striped protrusions are the cooling ends.

[0005] Existing ice-making technologies produce ice that is not clear and transparent enough, with a visual effect somewhat like frosted glass, affecting its aesthetic appeal. The applicant's research found that this phenomenon is caused by microbubbles in the water, which solidify and remain within the ice, thus making the ice appear less transparent. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide an ice maker with better ice-making effect, as well as a method for making ice.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: an ice maker, including an ice-making cup for holding water, the ice-making cup having a flipping mechanism for flipping the ice-making cup as a whole at a certain angle; an evaporation tube passing over the ice-making cup, the evaporation tube having a plurality of protruding cooling ends, these cooling ends extending into the ice-making cup; characterized in that: a vibrating plate is provided inside the ice-making cup, which can vibrate relative to the ice-making cup, causing the water in the ice-making cup to ripple.

[0008] Furthermore, the vibrating plate is installed inside the ice-making cup via a rotating shaft, and the vibrating plate oscillates by driving the rotating shaft to rotate.

[0009] The ice-making cup has corrugated sidewalls; the vibrating plate is a corresponding corrugated thin sheet, arranged parallel to the sidewalls.

[0010] The ice-making cup has an arc-shaped bottom with several raised ridges; the end of the cooling end is spherical; the raised ridges correspond to the gaps between the cooling ends.

[0011] Furthermore, the ice-making cup is placed on top of the cold water tank and the ice box, the ice box being smaller in volume than the cold water tank and placed inside the cold water tank, with a gap between the side walls of the ice box and the cold water tank; the edge of the ice-making cup has a guide groove corresponding to the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank.

[0012] The present invention also employs the following technical solution: an ice-making method using the aforementioned ice maker, with water placed in the ice-making cup, and the evaporator cooling the water so that the water in the ice-making cup begins to condense around the cooling end of the evaporator; during the condensation process, the vibrating plate vibrates to cause the water to ripple.

[0013] Furthermore, after ice making is completed, the flipping mechanism drives the ice maker cup to flip at a certain angle, so that the guide channel of the ice maker cup is aligned with the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank, and is held for a certain period of time; then it continues to flip at a certain angle, while the evaporator tube switches to heating, causing the ice cubes to fall off the cooling end and into the ice box.

[0014] The core of this invention lies in the fact that water retains a certain degree of fluidity during the freezing process. However, this fluidity, or fluctuation, is quite slow, not affecting the overall shape of the water surface or the final form of the ice. The part of the cooling end that extends into the water is the lowest point, or the ice nucleus. Water closer to the cooling end freezes first and then gradually diffuses outwards, resulting in larger and larger ice blocks. In each microscopic region, when water freezes into ice, the microbubbles within it always tend to move towards spaces with increasing entropy. Because the water is fluid at this point, this movement of microbubbles is facilitated. Therefore, the microbubbles always flow towards areas with higher temperatures, i.e., areas that have not yet frozen. The final result is that the formed ice block contains no microbubbles, thus obtaining a completely clear and transparent ice block.

[0015] By using a two-stage flipping method, when the ice maker cup is flipped to the first angle, the water that has not yet frozen flows into the cold water tank along the guide channel. When it is flipped to the second angle, there is no water left in the ice maker cup, and only ice cubes fall into the ice box. This ensures that the ice box contains only ice cubes, rather than a mixture of ice and water, which can better extend the melting time.

[0016] It is evident that the present invention has a better ice-making effect and can produce clearer and more transparent ice. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an ice maker and an evaporator.

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a vibrating plate.

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the ice maker and evaporator from another angle.

[0022] Figure 6 This is a diagram of an ice maker.

[0023] Figure 7 This is a cross-sectional view of an ice maker.

[0024] Figures 8-10 This is a diagram showing an ice maker at different angles.

[0025] The attached diagram is labeled as follows: 1-Ice maker; 2-Evaporator tube; 21-Refrigeration end; 3-Ice cup; 31-Side wall of ice cup; 32-Guide groove; 33-Overflow port; 34-Bottom edge; 4-Vibrating plate; 40-Electromagnet; 41-Iron block; 42-Pivot; 5-Cold water tank; 6-Ice box. Detailed Implementation

[0026] See Figure 1 , Figure 2 This embodiment includes an ice-making cup 3, an ice box 6, and a cold water tank 5. The ice box is placed inside the cold water tank, with a gap between them. The ice-making cup also contains an evaporator tube and a cooling end 21 attached to it, which extends into the ice-making cup.

[0027] See Figure 3 , Figure 4The ice maker's side wall 3 is corrugated, and a vibrating plate 4 is provided on the inner side of this side wall. The vibrating plate 4 has a corrugated shape parallel to the side wall 3 of the ice maker's side wall. The vibrating plate 4 is rotatably connected to the ice maker's side wall 3 via pivots 42 at both ends. One end is provided with an iron block 41, which cooperates with an electromagnet 40 on the outside of the ice maker's side wall. The electromagnet 40 is intermittently switched on and off, thereby intermittently generating magnetism, which allows it to attract or release the iron block 41; through this design, the vibrating plate 4 can intermittently oscillate around its pivot 42.

[0028] See Figure 3 , Figure 5 The ice maker 3 has a guide groove 32 and an overflow port 33 on each side. When water is poured into the ice maker, excess water will flow out from the overflow port; and when the ice maker is turned upside down, the water flows out in an orderly manner through the guide groove 32.

[0029] See Figure 2 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 The bottom of the ice cup 3 is curved and has several raised ridges 34; Figure 7 The angles shown are arc-shaped and ridge-shaped in the direction perpendicular to the paper. The end of the cooling end 21 of the evaporator tube is spherical; the protruding ridge 34 corresponds to the gap between the cooling ends 21.

[0030] See Figures 8 to 10 When making ice, the ice maker cup is shaped like this: Figure 8 As shown, the container is kept horizontal and filled with water until it overflows from the overflow port 33, thus it is full of water. The cooling end 21 acts as the cold core, and the water in the surrounding space condenses into ice cubes with it as the core. At the same time, the electromagnet 40 is intermittently switched on and off, causing the vibrating plate 4 to oscillate. The amplitude and frequency of this oscillation are very small, not enough to affect the overall shape of the water in the ice-making cup, but it can make the water have a certain fluidity.

[0031] After the ice is made, invert the ice maker to... Figure 9 The shape shown represents the first inversion angle. At this point, the unfrozen water flows out from the guide channel 32, passes through the gap between the ice box 6 and the cold water tank 5, and flows into the cold water tank 5. Then the ice maker is further inverted to... Figure 10 The shape shown is the second flip angle. At this point, there is no liquid water in the ice maker, and the heating element causes the ice cubes to fall into the ice box 6.

Claims

1. An ice maker, comprising an ice-making cup for holding water, the ice-making cup having a flipping mechanism for flipping the ice-making cup at a certain angle; an evaporating tube passing over the ice-making cup, the evaporating tube having a plurality of protruding cooling ends extending into the ice-making cup; characterized in that: The ice maker is equipped with a vibrating plate that vibrates relative to the ice maker, causing the water in the ice maker to ripple.

2. An ice maker as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The vibrating plate is installed inside the ice maker via a rotating shaft, and the vibrating plate oscillates by driving the rotating shaft to rotate.

3. An ice maker as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The ice-making cup has corrugated sidewalls; the vibrating plate is a corresponding corrugated thin sheet, arranged parallel to the sidewalls.

4. An ice maker as described in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that: The ice-making cup has an arc-shaped bottom with several raised ridges; the end of the cooling end is spherical; the raised ridges correspond to the gaps between the cooling ends.

5. An ice maker as described in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that: An ice maker is placed on top of a cold water tank and an ice box. The ice box is smaller than the cold water tank and is placed inside the cold water tank. There is a gap between the side walls of the ice box and the cold water tank. The edge of the ice maker has a flow channel corresponding to the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank.

6. A method for making ice, characterized in that: An ice maker as described in any one of claims 1-5 is used, wherein water is placed in the ice cup, and the evaporator is cooled down, so that the water in the ice cup begins to condense with the cooling end of the evaporator as the core; during the condensation process, the vibrating plate vibrates, causing the water to ripple.

7. The ice-making method as described in claim 6, characterized in that: After ice making is complete, the flipping mechanism rotates the ice cup at a certain angle, aligning the ice cup's guide channel with the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank, and holds this position for a certain period of time. Then, it continues to rotate at a certain angle, while the evaporator switches to heating mode, causing the ice cubes to fall from the cooling end into the ice box.

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