Ice maker and refrigerator

By designing an ice maker including a U-shaped shell, guide plate, motor assembly, left mold half and right mold half, the problem that the ice maker equipped with existing refrigerators cannot produce spherical ice, and the production of refrigerators is realized The ice machine is able to make spherical ice and improves the performance and user experience of the ice machine.

CN222438253UActive Publication Date: 2025-02-07CHANGHONG MEILING CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202420994122.6
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Utility models(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-05-09
Publication Date
2025-02-07
Estimated Expiration
2034-05-09

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The ice maker equipped with existing refrigerators can only make square ice or crescent ice, and cannot make spherical ice, resulting in mold opening and closing structure design, ice removal structure design, water addition structure design and mold core during the spherical ice production process. Cavity sealing problem.

Method used

An ice maker including a U-shaped shell, a guide plate, a motor assembly, a left mold half and a right mold half are designed. The motor assembly drives the left mold half and the right mold half to form a spherical mold cavity or separate each other to realize the refrigerator. The equipped ice maker is capable of making spherical ice.

Benefits of technology

The ice maker equipped with the refrigerator can make spherical ice, solving the problem that existing ice maker cannot make spherical ice, and through optimized structural design, the performance and user experience of the ice maker are improved.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The utility model provides an ice maker and a refrigerator, the ice maker comprises a U-shaped shell, the bottom of the shell is provided with an opening, and the top of the shell is provided with a water adding port; the guide plates are connected with the shell and are oppositely arranged on the two sides of the shell; the motor assembly is connected with the shell and is arranged in the opening; the left half mold is arranged in the opening, and the left half mold is in sliding connection with the guide plate through the motor assembly; the right half die and the left half die are the same in structure, the right half die and the left half die are oppositely arranged in the opening, and the right half die is in sliding connection with the guide plate through the motor assembly; wherein the right half mold and the left half mold are close to each other through the motor assembly to form a spherical mold cavity or are separated from each other, so that the problem that an ice making machine arranged on an existing refrigerator can only make square ice or crescent ice is solved.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of refrigeration equipment, and in particular to an ice maker and a refrigerator. Background Art

[0002] With the formation of ice drink culture, in order to meet users' daily ice needs, an ice-making room for making and storing ice cubes is set in the refrigerator. The ice makers equipped in existing refrigerators can only make cube ice or crescent ice.

[0003] Compared with cube ice or crescent ice, spherical ice has the advantages of crystal clear appearance, high transparency, ability to maintain the temperature and taste of drinks, good thermal insulation effect, slow melting speed, and no dilution of wine, etc., and is deeply loved by users.

[0004] However, due to the special shape of spherical ice, the existing cube ice and crescent ice ice making methods cannot achieve the production of spherical ice. In order to remove ice and retain water, the spherical ice making machine needs two half molds to form a core cavity to complete ice making, which brings many technical problems, such as: mold opening and closing structure design, ice removal structure design, water adding structure design and sealing problem when the two half molds of the core cavity are closed. Utility Model Content

[0005] The present application provides an ice maker and a refrigerator to solve the technical problem that the ice maker equipped in the existing refrigerator can only make cube ice or crescent ice.

[0006] The first aspect of the present application provides an ice making machine, comprising:

[0007] A shell, wherein the shell is U-shaped, an opening is provided at the bottom of the shell, and a water inlet is provided at the top of the shell;

[0008] A guide plate, the guide plate is connected to the shell and is arranged on two sides of the shell opposite to each other;

[0009] A motor assembly, the motor assembly is connected to the housing and is disposed in the opening;

[0010] A left half mold, the left half mold is arranged in the opening, and the left half mold is slidably connected with the guide plate through the motor assembly;

[0011] A right half mold, which has the same structure as the left half mold and is relatively arranged in the opening, and the right half mold is slidably connected to the guide plate through the motor assembly;

[0012] Wherein, the right half mold and the left half mold are brought closer to each other to form a spherical mold cavity or separated from each other through the motor assembly.

[0013] In some embodiments, the guide plate comprises:

[0014] Guide plate body;

[0015] A guide rod, one end of which is fixed to the guide plate body, and the other end of which passes through a hole provided on the shell and extends toward the opening;

[0016] A demoulding ejector rod, one end of which is fixed to the guide plate body, and the other end of which passes through a hole provided on the shell and extends toward the opening.

[0017] In some embodiments, the motor assembly comprises:

[0018] A motor, the motor is connected to the housing and is provided with a rotating part;

[0019] a first gear, the first gear being rotatably connected to the rotating part;

[0020] a transmission rod, one end of which is rotatably connected to the first gear;

[0021] A second gear is rotatably connected to the other end of the transmission rod.

[0022] In some embodiments, the left mold half comprises:

[0023] An outer mold shell, wherein the outer mold shell is provided with a plurality of first through holes;

[0024] An inner mold shell, wherein a plurality of second through holes are arranged on the inner mold shell; the inner mold shell is connected with the outer mold shell to form a plurality of hemispherical mold cavities;

[0025] Wherein, the center of the hemispherical mold cavity and the direction of the guide rod are in the same horizontal direction.

[0026] In some embodiments, the left half mold further comprises:

[0027] A soft inner shell is arranged between the outer shell and the inner shell, and a heating wire is arranged at the through hole of the soft inner shell.

[0028] In some embodiments, guide holes are disposed on opposite sides of the outer mold shell; the left half mold is slidably connected to the guide rod through the guide holes;

[0029] Gear rods are disposed opposite to each other on two sides of the outer mold shell, the gear rods are rotatably connected to the second gear, and the direction of the gear rods is perpendicular to the direction of the transmission rod;

[0030] Wherein, the tooth surfaces of the gear rods of the left half mold and the right half mold are in opposite directions; the gear rods of the left half mold and the right half mold are respectively arranged on both sides of the second gear.

[0031] In some embodiments, the ice making machine further comprises:

[0032] A water adding tank, the water adding tank is snap-connected with the shell and is arranged in the water adding port; a water adding conduit is arranged at the bottom of the water adding tank;

[0033] A water adding hole is arranged on the top of the hemispherical mold cavity, and the water adding conduit runs through the water adding hole.

[0034] In some embodiments, the water adding holes are interconnected.

[0035] A second aspect of the present application provides a refrigerator, comprising:

[0036] An ice maker as described in any one of the first aspects above, arranged in a freezing compartment;

[0037] The ice maker is arranged in the refrigeration room;

[0038] The refrigeration compartment is also provided with an ice drawer, and the ice drawer is arranged at the bottom of the ice maker.

[0039] In some embodiments, the refrigeration room is further provided with a cube ice maker;

[0040] The freezing drawer is provided with a partition so as to separate the freezing drawer into a first chamber and a second chamber; the first chamber is used for storing spherical ice, and the second chamber is used for storing cube ice.

[0041] The present application provides an ice maker and a refrigerator, the ice maker comprising: a shell, the shell being U-shaped, an opening being provided at the bottom of the shell, and a water inlet being provided at the top of the shell; a guide plate, the guide plate being connected to the shell and being relatively arranged at two sides of the shell; a motor assembly, the motor assembly being connected to the shell and being arranged in the opening; a left half mold, the left half mold being arranged in the opening, the left half mold being slidably connected to the guide plate through the motor assembly; a right half mold, the right half mold having the same structure as the left half mold, being relatively arranged in the opening, and the right half mold being slidably connected to the guide plate through the motor assembly; wherein the motor assembly enables the right half mold and the left half mold to be brought together to form a spherical mold cavity or to be separated from each other, so that the ice maker equipped with the refrigerator can make spherical ice. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0043] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an ice-making machine in one embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an ice maker in another embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the ice making machine in this application;

[0046] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of some components of the ice making machine in this application;

[0047] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the motor assembly in this application;

[0048] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the left half mold and the right half mold in this application;

[0049] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of each element in the left half mold in this application;

[0050] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure after the water tank is connected to the spherical mold cavity in this application;

[0051] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the refrigerator in this application.

[0052] Description of reference numerals:

[0053] 1-shell; 2-guide plate; 21-guide plate body; 22-guide rod; 23-demolding ejector rod; 3-motor assembly; 31-motor; 32-first gear; 33-transmission rod; 34-second gear; 4-left half mold; 41-outer mold shell; 411-first through hole; 412-guide hole; 413-tooth rod; 42-inner mold shell; 421-second through hole; 43-soft inner shell; 431-heating wire; 5-right half mold; 6-water adding tank; 61-water adding conduit; 611-water adding hole; 7-icing drawer; 71-partition; 8-spherical ice maker; 9-square ice maker. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described 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, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0055] Since in some technologies, the ice maker equipped with the refrigerator can only make ice cubes or crescent ice, in order to solve this technical problem, the present application provides an ice maker and a refrigerator. The structures of the various parts of the ice maker and the refrigerator are described below:

[0056] Depend on Figures 1 to 3 It can be seen that the first aspect of the present application provides an ice making machine, comprising: a shell 1, the shell 1 is U-shaped, the bottom of the shell 1 is provided with an opening, and the top of the shell 1 is provided with a water inlet; the shell 1 is used to fix the guide plate 2, the motor assembly 3, and the water inlet 6; the guide plate 2, the guide plate 2 is connected to the shell 1, and is relatively arranged on both sides of the shell 1; the guide plate 2 is used to guide the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5; the motor assembly 3, the motor assembly 3 is connected to the shell 1, and is arranged in the opening; the motor assembly 3 is used to drive the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5. The left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 are brought close to and separated from each other, thereby realizing the opening and closing of the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5; the left half mold 4, the left half mold 4 is arranged in the opening, and the left half mold 4 is slidably connected to the guide plate 2 through the motor assembly 3; the right half mold 5, the right half mold 5 has the same structure as the left half mold 4, is relatively arranged in the opening, and the right half mold 5 is slidably connected to the guide plate 2 through the motor assembly 3; wherein, the right half mold 5 and the left half mold 4 are brought close to each other to form a spherical mold cavity or separated from each other through the motor assembly 3.

[0057] The present application provides an ice making machine, which adds water into the spherical mold cavity formed by the right half mold 5 and the left half mold 4 through a water inlet, and forms spherical ice after the water in the spherical mold cavity freezes. Figure 1 As shown, the right half mold 5 and the left half mold 4 are separated from each other by the motor assembly 3. Figure 2 As shown, the spherical ice is separated from the right half mold 5 or the left half mold 4, so that the ice making machine can make spherical ice.

[0058] Depend on Figure 4It can be seen that the guide plate 2 includes: a guide plate body 21; a guide rod 22, one end of the guide rod 22 is fixed to the guide plate body 21, and the other end passes through the hole set on the shell 1 to extend toward the opening; the guide rod 22 is partially set in the opening, and the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 are sleeved on the guide rod 22 and slidably connected to the guide rod 22; a demolding ejector rod 23, one end of the demolding ejector rod 23 is fixed to the guide plate body 21, and the other end passes through the hole set on the shell 1 to extend toward the opening. The demoulding push rod 23 is used to separate the spherical ice from the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5. When the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 move toward the direction of the guide plate body 21, the spherical ice hanging on the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 passes through the demoulding push rod 23, and the spherical ice that has not separated from the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 is squeezed out of the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 so that it falls off, so as to prevent part of the spherical ice from being unable to fall off the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 when the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 are separated from each other.

[0059] Depend on Figure 5 It can be seen that the motor assembly 3 includes: a motor 31, which is connected to the housing 1 and is provided with a rotating part; the motor 31 is used to provide power to rotate the rotating part; a first gear 32, which is rotatably connected to the rotating part; a transmission rod 33, one end of which is rotatably connected to the first gear 32; and a second gear 34, which is rotatably connected to the other end of the transmission rod 33. The motor 31 drives the first gear 32 to rotate, the first gear 32 drives the transmission rod 33 to rotate, and the transmission rod 33 drives the second gear 34 to rotate, and the rotation of the second gear 34 drives the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 to move closer to and separate from each other, thereby realizing the opening and closing of the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5.

[0060] Depend on Figure 7 It can be seen that the left half mold 4 includes: an outer mold shell 41, on which a plurality of first through holes 411 are provided; an inner mold shell 42, on which a plurality of second through holes 421 are provided; the inner mold shell 42 is connected with the outer mold shell 41 to form a plurality of hemispherical mold cavities; wherein the center of the hemispherical mold cavity is in the same horizontal direction as the direction of the guide rod 22. The left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 have the same structure, and the first through holes 411 and the second through holes 421 of the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 form a hemispherical mold cavity, and when the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 are molded together, a complete spherical mold cavity is formed to generate spherical ice.

[0061] Depend on Figure 7It can be seen that the left half mold 4 also includes: a soft inner shell 43, the soft inner shell 43 is arranged between the outer mold shell 41 and the inner mold shell 42, and a heating wire 431 is arranged at the through hole of the soft inner shell 43. The soft inner shell 43 makes the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 connected more closely, so that when water is injected into the spherical mold cavity formed between the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5, the injected water will not overflow from the spherical mold cavity. Through the arrangement of the heating wire 431, the heating wire 431 is automatically turned on when demolding, thereby further preventing the spherical ice from adhering to the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5, making the spherical ice easier to demold.

[0062] Depend on Figure 6 and Figure 7 It can be seen that the outer mold shell 41 is provided with guide holes 412 on both sides thereof; the left mold half 4 is slidably connected to the guide rod 22 through the guide holes 412; the guide holes 412 are used to penetrate the guide rod 22, realize the positioning of the guide rod 22, and thus the guide rod 22 is slidably connected to the guide plate 2; the outer mold shell 41 is provided with gear rods 413 on both sides thereof, the gear rods 413 are rotatably connected to the second gear 34, and the direction of the gear rods 413 is perpendicular to the direction of the transmission rod 33; wherein the tooth surfaces of the gear rods 413 of the left mold half 4 and the right mold half 5 are in opposite directions; the gear rods 413 of the left mold half 4 and the right mold half 5 are respectively provided on both sides of the second gear 34. The tooth surfaces of the gear rods 413 are in opposite directions, and the left mold half 4 and the right mold half 5 are moved simultaneously under the drive of the gear rods 413 by the rotation of the second gear 34, so as to realize the mold opening and mold closing between the left mold half 4 and the right mold half 5.

[0063] Depend on Figure 8 It can be known that the ice making machine further includes: a water adding tank 6, which is snap-fitted with the housing 1 and arranged in the water adding port; a water adding conduit 61 is arranged at the bottom of the water adding tank 6; a water adding hole 611 is arranged at the top of the hemispherical mold cavity, and the water adding conduit 61 runs through the water adding hole 611. Through the arrangement of the water adding tank 6, the water adding conduit 61 arranged below the water adding tank 6 can directly extend into the spherical mold cavity formed between the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5, so as to accurately inject the water to be frozen into the spherical mold cavity and prevent the injected water from overflowing outside the spherical mold cavity.

[0064] like Figure 8 As shown, the water adding holes 611 are interconnected. By setting the water adding holes 611 to be interconnected, uneven water injection into the spherical mold cavity is prevented. For example, when the water in one spherical mold cavity is full, the overflowing water is transferred to the unfilled spherical mold cavity through the connecting pipe, so that the generated spherical ice is fuller in shape, thereby improving user satisfaction.

[0065] The present application provides an ice maker. When a user needs to make ice, water must first be added to the water tank 6. The ice-making water flows through the water-adding conduit 61 to the water-adding hole 611 to fill all the spherical mold cavities. After filling, the required ice balls are formed in the spherical mold cavities through the refrigeration function of the refrigerator. When the user needs ice balls or wants to store them in the freezing drawer 7, the left half mold 4 and the right half mold 5 are controlled to separate from each other. Through the action of the demoulding ejector rod 23 and the heating wire 431, the ice balls are detached from the left half mold 4 or the right half mold 5 and fall into the freezing drawer 7 for the user to use or store.

[0066] Depend on Fig. 9 It can be seen that the second aspect of the present application provides a refrigerator, comprising: an ice maker as described in any of the above embodiments arranged in a freezer compartment; the ice maker is arranged in a refrigeration compartment; the refrigeration compartment is also provided with an ice drawer 7, and the ice drawer 7 is arranged at the bottom of the ice maker. The ice drawer 7 is used to receive the spherical ice made by the ice maker. The effects of the above refrigerator embodiments can refer to the effects of the above ice maker embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0067] Depend on Fig. 9 It can be seen that the refrigeration room is also provided with a cube ice maker 9; the icing drawer 7 is provided with a partition 71 to separate the icing drawer 7 into a first chamber and a second chamber; the first chamber is used to store spherical ice, and the second chamber is used to store cube ice. The refrigerator provided in the present application is not only provided with the ice maker provided in the present application, i.e., the spherical ice maker 8, but also provided with a cube ice maker 9, and the cube ice and spherical ice made by the ice maker are received by the icing drawer 7 provided below the above-mentioned ice maker, wherein the icing drawer 7 is provided with a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber corresponds to the spherical ice generation port of the spherical ice maker 8 provided in the present application for storing spherical ice, and the second chamber corresponds to the cube ice generation port of the cube ice maker 9 for storing cube ice, so that the refrigerator can not only make cube ice but also make spherical ice. Among them, although cube ice melts faster, it can achieve the effect of rapid cooling. Spherical ice has a crystal clear appearance, high transparency, good thermal insulation effect, and a slow melting speed. It can be used on beverages, can maintain the temperature and taste of the beverage, and will not dilute the taste of the beverage. Users can choose according to their needs.

[0068] The above specific implementation methods further explain in detail the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the above are only specific implementation methods of the embodiments of the present application and are not used to limit the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. An ice making machine, characterized in that: include: A shell (1), the shell (1) being U-shaped, the bottom of the shell (1) being provided with an opening, and the top of the shell (1) being provided with a water inlet; A guide plate (2), the guide plate (2) being connected to the shell (1) and being arranged on two sides of the shell (1) opposite to each other; A motor assembly (3), the motor assembly (3) being connected to the housing (1) and arranged in the opening; A left half mold (4), the left half mold (4) being arranged in the opening, the left half mold (4) being slidably connected to the guide plate (2) via the motor assembly (3); a right half mold (5), the right half mold (5) having the same structure as the left half mold (4), being arranged relatively in the opening, the right half mold (5) being slidably connected to the guide plate (2) via the motor assembly (3); The motor assembly (3) causes the right half mold (5) and the left half mold (4) to move closer together to form a spherical mold cavity or to separate from each other.

2. An ice making machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide plate (2) comprises: Guide plate body (21); A guide rod (22), one end of the guide rod (22) being fixed to the guide plate body (21), and the other end of the guide rod (22) passing through a hole provided on the shell (1) and extending toward the opening; A demoulding ejector rod (23), one end of which is fixed to the guide plate body (21), and the other end of which passes through a hole provided on the shell (1) and extends towards the opening.

3. An ice making machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The motor assembly (3) comprises: A motor (31), the motor (31) being connected to the housing (1), and the motor (31) being provided with a rotating part; A first gear (32), the first gear (32) being rotatably connected to the rotating part; a transmission rod (33), one end of the transmission rod (33) being rotationally connected to the first gear (32); A second gear (34), the second gear (34) being rotationally connected to the other end of the transmission rod (33).

4. An ice making machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The left half mold (4) comprises: An outer mold shell (41), wherein the outer mold shell (41) is provided with a plurality of first through holes (411); An inner mold shell (42), wherein a plurality of second through holes (421) are provided on the inner mold shell (42); the inner mold shell (42) is connected to the outer mold shell (41) to form a plurality of hemispherical mold cavities; The center of the hemispherical mold cavity and the direction where the guide rod (22) is located are in the same horizontal direction.

5. An ice making machine according to claim 4, characterized in that: The left half mold (4) also includes: A soft inner shell (43), wherein the soft inner shell (43) is arranged between the outer shell (41) and the inner shell (42), and a heating wire (431) is arranged at a through hole of the soft inner shell (43).

6. The ice making machine according to claim 4, characterized in that: Guide holes (412) are arranged opposite to each other on two sides of the outer mold shell (41); the left half mold (4) is slidably connected to the guide rod (22) through the guide holes (412); Gear rods (413) are arranged opposite to each other on two sides of the outer mold shell (41), the gear rods (413) are rotatably connected to the second gear (34), and the direction of the gear rods (413) is perpendicular to the direction of the transmission rod (33); The tooth surfaces of the toothed rods (413) of the left half-mold (4) and the right half-mold (5) are in opposite directions; and the toothed rods (413) of the left half-mold (4) and the right half-mold (5) are respectively arranged on both sides of the second gear (34).

7. The ice making machine according to claim 4, characterized in that: Also includes: A water adding tank (6), the water adding tank (6) being snap-connected with the housing (1) and arranged in the water adding port; a water adding conduit (61) is arranged at the bottom of the water adding tank (6); A water adding hole (611) is provided at the top of the hemispherical mold cavity, and the water adding conduit (61) passes through the water adding hole (611).

8. An ice making machine according to claim 7, characterized in that: The water adding holes (611) are interconnected.

9. A refrigerator, characterized in that: include: An ice maker as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 disposed in a freezing compartment; The ice maker is arranged in the refrigeration room; The refrigeration compartment is also provided with an ice drawer (7), and the ice drawer (7) is arranged at the bottom of the ice maker.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, characterized in that: The refrigeration room is also provided with a cube ice maker; A partition (71) is provided in the freezing drawer (7) so as to separate the freezing drawer (7) into a first chamber and a second chamber; the first chamber is used for storing spherical ice, and the second chamber is used for storing cube ice.