Microwave ice-making device and refrigerator

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of ice making, in particular to a microwave ice making device and a refrigerator. The microwave ice-making device comprises a microwave sealing chamber, an ice-making box unit and a microwave generating unit; the microwave sealing chamber is provided with a microwave resonant cavity, the ice-making box unit is arranged in the microwave resonant cavity, and the ice-making box unit is provided with ice grids for storing water and making ice; the microwave generating unit is arranged in the microwave resonant cavity and is used for transmitting microwaves with preset frequency and power to the ice-making box unit; the microwave ice-making device provided by the utility model can emit the microwaves with the preset frequency and power to the ice-making box unit in the ice-making stage, control the degree of supercooling and the nucleation process of water, form smaller, uniform and full ice crystals, avoid bubbles in ice cubes, improve the transparency of the ice cubes and improve the quality of the ice cubes.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In industrial production, ice cubes are often used for cooling and preservation; in daily life, with the improvement of living conditions, people pay more attention to the quality of life, such as adding ice to drinks to improve the taste of drinks, ice cubes are used to store wine and mix cocktails, etc. In recent years, the market share of small household ice makers has also been increasing year by year.

[0003] In a traditional refrigerator with an ice-making system, the ice-maker is usually placed in the freezer and relies on the evaporator to make ice. In this ice-making method, ice cubes freeze from the outside to the inside, and the ice crystals inside the ice cubes are uneven in size and the ice layer is relatively hollow. At the same time, the air remaining in the water cannot be discharged, so there are bubbles in the generated ice cubes, and the ice cubes are of poor quality and opaque. At present, there are ice-making devices on the market that use evaporators to make ice, and the ice cubes produced are also of poor quality. Utility Model Content

[0004] The present application provides a microwave ice-making device and a refrigerator. The microwave ice-making device can emit microwaves of preset frequency and power to an ice-making box unit during the ice-making stage, control the supercooling degree and nucleation process of water, form smaller and uniformly full ice crystals, avoid the appearance of bubbles in ice cubes, enhance the transparency of ice cubes, and improve the quality of ice cubes.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a microwave ice-making device, comprising:

[0006] A microwave sealed chamber, provided with a microwave resonant cavity;

[0007] An ice-making box unit is arranged in the microwave resonance cavity, and the ice-making box unit is provided with an ice tray for storing water and making ice;

[0008] The microwave generating unit is arranged in the microwave resonance cavity and can emit microwaves of preset frequency and power toward the ice making box unit.

[0009] In some embodiments, a first temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the microwave resonance cavity and / or a second temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the ice-making box unit is disposed inside the microwave sealed chamber.

[0010] In some embodiments, the microwave containment chamber comprises:

[0011] A sealed chamber housing is provided with an installation opening for taking in and placing the ice-making box unit;

[0012] A sealing cover plate is connected to seal the installation opening and cooperates with the sealing chamber shell to form the microwave resonant cavity.

[0013] In some embodiments, the inner wall of the sealed chamber shell is provided with a microwave reflecting layer and / or a reflecting groove.

[0014] In some embodiments, the bottom of the sealed chamber housing is provided with an ice outlet and an ice-removing hole cover sealing the ice outlet; the ice-making box unit comprises:

[0015] Ice box holder;

[0016] An ice box body is flipped and connected to the ice box bracket;

[0017] The turning motor is fixed to the ice box support and is rotatably connected to the ice box body, and is used to drive the ice box body to turn over relative to the ice box support to remove ice.

[0018] In some embodiments, the de-icing hole cover rotates to seal the ice outlet, and an elastic reset member is connected between the de-icing hole cover and the sealing chamber shell, and the elastic reset member is used to drive the de-icing hole cover to rotate and reset to a state of sealing the ice outlet.

[0019] In some embodiments, an ice storage box is provided below the microwave sealed chamber, and the ice outlet is arranged corresponding to the opening of the ice storage box.

[0020] In some embodiments, a position sensor for detecting a rotation angle of the de-icing hole cover is provided between the de-icing hole cover and the sealing chamber shell.

[0021] In some embodiments, it also includes an ice-making controller, a first air door and a second air door, wherein the first air door and the second air door are used to blow cold air toward the microwave sealed chamber;

[0022] The first temperature sensor, the second temperature sensor, the flip motor, the microwave generating unit, the first damper, and the second damper are all connected to the ice-making controller.

[0023] In some embodiments, the microwave ice-making device further includes a water storage tank, a water pump and a water supply pipeline, wherein the water supply pipeline is connected to the water tank and supplies water to the ice-making box unit, and the water pump is disposed in the water supply pipeline and connected to the ice-making controller.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present application provides a refrigerator, using the microwave ice-making device provided in the above embodiment, the refrigerator includes a freezing chamber, and the microwave sealing chamber is arranged in the freezing chamber.

[0025] In a third aspect, the present application provides a microwave ice making method, comprising:

[0026] detecting the temperature of the microwave resonance cavity, and entering an ice-making mode when the temperature of the microwave resonance cavity is lower than a first preset temperature;

[0027] Controlling the microwave resonant cavity to cool down, and emitting microwaves of preset frequency and power to the ice box unit of the microwave resonant cavity;

[0028] detecting the temperature of the ice-making box unit, and turning off the microwave generator when the temperature of the ice-making box unit does not change within a preset time;

[0029] When the duration of entering the ice-making mode reaches the preset duration, the ice-making mode is exited.

[0030] In some embodiments, it further includes a damper assembly for blowing cold air into the microwave sealed chamber, and the step of controlling the temperature reduction of the microwave resonance cavity includes controlling all of the damper assemblies to be opened;

[0031] The step of shutting down the microwave generator also includes shutting down part of the damper assembly.

[0032] In some embodiments, emitting microwaves of a preset frequency and power to the ice box unit of the microwave resonant cavity comprises:

[0033] emitting microwaves of a preset frequency to the ice-making box unit at a first power for a first time period;

[0034] continuously emitting microwaves of a preset frequency to the ice-making box unit at a second power until the microwave generator is turned off;

[0035] The first power is greater than the second power, and the second power is less than 10W.

[0036] Compared with the prior art, the above technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application has the following advantages: the microwave sealed chamber can be set in the freezer of the refrigerator. When making ice, water is poured into the ice tray of the ice making box unit. When the water in the ice tray is cooled to the supercooling point and undergoes phase change crystallization, the microwave generating unit can cooperate with the microwave resonant cavity to generate microwaves of preset frequency and power and emit them toward the ice making box unit. This causes the water molecules to be arranged in a directional manner, the original hydrogen bonds to be broken, and the size of the water molecule clusters to be reduced, which is beneficial to controlling the supercooling degree and the nucleation process, thereby producing small, uniformly sized, and evenly distributed ice crystals. At the same time, microwave irradiation also accelerates the rate of various reactions occurring in the water, enhances hydration, is beneficial to the discharge of internal air, reduces bubbles inside the ice cubes, improves the transparency of the ice cubes, and improves the quality of the ice cubes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0038] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0039] One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by pictures in the corresponding drawings, and these exemplified descriptions do not constitute limitations on the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings represent similar elements, and unless otherwise stated, the figures in the drawings do not constitute proportional limitations.

[0040] Figure 1 A longitudinal sectional view of a microwave ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A visual diagram of the microwave containment chamber;

[0042] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the middle ice box unit;

[0043] Figure 4 A logic diagram of a microwave ice-making device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 5 This is the time-temperature curve diagram of pure water freezing and ice making process;

[0045] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a refrigerator using a microwave ice-making device is provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 7 An ice making flow chart of a refrigerator provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 8 A flow chart of a microwave ice-making method is provided for this embodiment of the application.

[0048] Description of reference numerals:

[0049] 10-Refrigerator; 11-Freezer;

[0050] 20-microwave sealing chamber; 21-sealing chamber housing; 211-reflection groove; 22-sealing cover plate; 23-ice-removing hole cover; 24-elastic reset member; 25-position sensor; 26-first temperature sensor; 27-second temperature sensor; 28-damper assembly;

[0051] 30- microwave generating unit;

[0052] 40-Ice making controller;

[0053] 50-ice box unit; 51-ice box bracket; 52-ice box body; 53-flip motor;

[0054] 60- water storage tank; 61- water supply pipeline; 62- water pump;

[0055] 70-Ice storage box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution 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 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 this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0057] The disclosure below provides many different embodiments or examples to realize the different structures of the present application. In order to simplify the disclosure of the present application, the parts and settings of specific examples are described below. Of course, they are only examples, and the purpose is not to limit the present application. In addition, the present application can repeat reference numbers and / or letters in different examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity, and does not itself indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and / or settings discussed.

[0058] For ease of description, spatial relative terms may be used herein to describe the relative positional relationship or movement of one element or feature relative to another element or feature as shown in the figure, such as "inside", "outside", "inner side", "outer side", "below", "below", "above", "above", "front", "back", etc. Such spatial relative terms are intended to include different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figure. For example, if the device in the figure undergoes a position flip or a posture change or a motion state change, then these directional indications also change accordingly, for example: an element described as "below other elements or features" or "below other elements or features" will subsequently be oriented as "above other elements or features" or "above other elements or features". Therefore, the example term "below..." may include both upper and lower orientations. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or in other directions) and the spatial relative descriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly.

[0059] In order to solve the technical problem of poor quality of ice cubes prepared in the prior art, the present application provides a microwave ice-making device, a refrigerator 10 and a microwave ice-making method. The microwave ice-making device can emit microwaves of preset frequency and power to the ice-making box unit 50 during the ice-making stage, control the supercooling degree and nucleation process of water, form smaller and uniform ice crystals, avoid bubbles in the ice cubes, improve the transparency of the ice cubes, and improve the quality of the ice cubes. It should be noted that although the present application discloses an ice-making controller 40, the main purpose is to protect the connection relationship between the ice-making controller 40 and corresponding components such as the position sensor 25, the first temperature sensor 26, the second temperature sensor 27, the damper assembly 28 and the flip motor 53. The ice-making controller can be a single-chip microcomputer, a programmable logic control controller or an industrial control computer.

[0060] The present application embodiment provides a microwave ice making device, such as Figures 1 to 3 As shown, the microwave ice making device mainly includes a microwave sealed chamber 20, an ice making box unit 50 and a microwave generating unit 30. The microwave sealed chamber 20 is provided with a microwave resonant cavity, the ice making box unit 50 is arranged in the microwave resonant cavity, and the ice making box unit 50 is provided with an ice tray for storing water and making ice, and ice cubes of a set shape can be prepared by injecting water into the ice tray. The present application does not limit the number and shape of the ice tray, which can be adaptively adjusted according to the needs of users.

[0061] The microwave generating unit 30 is arranged in the microwave resonant cavity, and generally includes a magnetron, a waveguide, a pulse modulation module and a power amplifier module. For details, reference can be made to the existing microwave generator settings. Microwaves are generated by the magnetron, enter the microwave resonant cavity through an adjustable waveguide, and generate microwaves of a preset frequency through coupling. The generated microwaves are pulse modulated by the pulse modulation module as required, and then generate the required power through the power amplifier module.

[0062] That is, the microwaves generated by the microwave generating unit 30 can not only adjust the frequency and power, but also perform pulse modulation to realize continuous microwave emission or microwave emission in the form of specific long pulses or short pulses. The microwave generating unit 30 generates microwaves of a preset frequency and emits microwaves of a preset power toward the ice making box unit 50, so that the water in the ice tray fully absorbs the energy of the microwaves during the freezing process, promotes the discharge of bubbles and the generation of uniformly and closely arranged ice crystals, thereby improving the transparency of the ice cubes and the quality of the ice cubes.

[0063] The mechanism by which the microwave ice-making device improves ice-making quality is as follows:

[0064] like Figure 5As shown in the figure, the freezing of pure water is divided into two processes, namely the cooling stage and the crystallization stage. In the cooling stage, the temperature of water continues to drop below the freezing point and reaches a supercooled state. After that, the water undergoes a phase change and transforms into ice crystals. During the phase change process, the latent heat of phase change is released, causing the temperature of the water to rise slightly and reach an equilibrium point, namely the freezing point. Water freezing is also divided into two processes: nucleation and ice crystal growth. Nucleation refers to the thermodynamic process of gathering a sufficient number of water molecules in space to form a water molecule cluster with a stable structure, which is divided into homogeneous nucleation and heterogeneous nucleation. The ice crystal growth rate refers to the rate at which liquid water molecules migrate and diffuse to the crystal surface after reaching the critical diameter and continuously increase the size of the ice crystal, which mainly depends on the phase interface and the mass and heat transfer process in the liquid phase. In the process of water crystallization, the interaction between nucleation and ice crystal growth jointly determines the morphology, size and position distribution of the ice crystals, which is a random process full of variables. Therefore, controlling the supercooling and nucleation process, and then producing small, uniform and evenly distributed ice crystals, is crucial to improving the quality of freezing.

[0065] Water is a polar molecule, which produces orientation polarization and displacement polarization under the action of an external field, resulting in the conversion of external field energy into potential energy of water molecules, which is then stored. Under the action of an alternating electric field, microwave energy is converted into the internal energy of water molecules, which strengthens the vibration of water molecules. After water molecules gain energy, hydrogen bonds are broken, the structure of water molecule clusters is destroyed, and the structure of water molecules becomes smaller. Therefore, when microwaves are emitted to liquid water, water molecules are oriented, the original hydrogen bonds are broken, and the size of water molecule clusters is reduced, which is conducive to controlling the degree of supercooling and the nucleation process, resulting in the production of small, uniformly sized, and evenly distributed ice crystals. At the same time, microwave irradiation also accelerates the rate of various reactions occurring in water, enhances hydration, facilitates the discharge of internal air, and reduces bubbles inside ice cubes, thereby improving the quality of ice cubes.

[0066] Combined with reference Figure 4The microwave ice-making device provided in one embodiment of the present application includes an ice-making controller 40, a first temperature sensor 26 and a second temperature sensor 27. The first temperature sensor 26, the second temperature sensor 27 and the microwave generating unit 30 are all connected to the ice-making controller 40. The first temperature sensor 26 is arranged in the microwave resonant cavity and is used to detect the temperature T1 in the microwave resonant cavity. The second temperature sensor 27 is arranged at the bottom of the ice-making box unit 50 and is used to detect the temperature T2 of the ice-making box unit 50. The ice-making controller 40 can control whether to enter the ice-making mode and control the operation of the microwave generating unit 30 according to the temperatures detected by the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 27. Therefore, the ice-making controller 40 can control the microwave generating unit 30 to emit microwaves of different specifications to the ice-making box unit 50 at different ice-making stages, so as to improve the ice-making quality and avoid excessive extension of ice-making time (avoiding excessive microwave power so that ice crystals are continuously absorbed and converted into internal energy during growth, which causes a significant increase in ice-making time). Here, microwaves of different specifications mainly refer to the emission power and emission duration of the microwaves, that is, the balance between ice-making quality and ice-making time is achieved by adjusting the microwave emission power and emission time.

[0067] For example, when the temperature T1 in the microwave resonant cavity detected by the first temperature sensor 26 is lower than the first preset temperature, such as T1≤10°C, water can be added to the ice tray of the ice making box unit 50 and the ice making mode can be entered; the ice making controller 40 controls the microwave generating unit 30 to emit 2.45 GHz microwaves to the ice making box unit 50 at a first power, such as 700 W, for a first duration of 5S; then controls the microwave generating unit 30 to emit 2.45 GHz microwaves to the ice making box unit 50 at a second power, until the temperature of the ice making box unit 50 detected by the second temperature sensor 27 does not change within the preset time, that is, the ice making enters a stable crystallization stage. It should be noted that the second power refers to the average power, which is usually less than 10W.

[0068] The microwaves emitted at the second power may be low-power long-pulse microwaves, such as LPLP: 8S / 6W~8S / 0W, that is, continuously emitting 8S at a power of 6W, then stopping emitting 8S, and then continuously emitting 8S at a power of 6W again... and so on. The microwaves emitted at the second power may also be high-power short-pulse microwaves, such as SPHP: 4S / 12W~4S / 0W, that is, continuously emitting 4S at a power of 12W, then stopping emitting 4S, and then continuously emitting 4S at a power of 12W again... and so on. In addition, the microwaves emitted at the second power may also be low-power continuous microwaves, such as continuously emitting at a power of 3W. The present application preferably uses a low-power long-pulse form to emit microwaves to the ice-making box unit 50, so that during the transition from the cooling stage to the crystallization stage, by controlling the average power of the microwave generating unit 30, it is avoided that the ice crystals absorb too much internal energy converted and cause the ice crystals to crystallize and melt repeatedly, thereby achieving a balance between ice-making quality and ice-making time.

[0069] By emitting microwaves at a second power far lower than the first power to the ice making box unit 50, the temperature rise of liquid water is reduced during the transition from the overcooling stage to the crystallization stage during the ice making process. The first power, i.e., the higher power, microwave irradiation time is only 5 seconds. If the microwave radiation is stopped at this time, the ice cubes will gradually freeze from the outside to the inside due to the phase change heat release and the heat exchange between the water in the ice tray and the low-temperature air. At this time, applying microwave irradiation with the second power destroys the hydrogen bonds between water molecules, disturbs the ice formation heat transfer process, promotes the gradual freezing of ice cubes from the inside to the outside, and is conducive to the discharge of bubbles. At the same time, due to the low microwave power, the temperature rise of water is also small, which has little effect on the ice making time.

[0070] In some embodiments, Figure 2 As shown, the microwave sealed chamber 20 includes a sealed chamber shell 21 and a sealed cover plate 22, both of which are made of materials with good thermal conductivity, so that when cold air is blown to the outer wall of the microwave sealed chamber 20, the microwave resonant cavity can be quickly and fully cooled. The sealed chamber shell 21 is a rectangular parallelepiped shell, the shell has a cavity and a mounting opening on one side (the front side as shown in the figure), and the sealed cover plate 22 is detachably connected to the shell to seal or open the mounting opening to clean and sterilize the ice box unit 50. When the sealed cover plate 22 is buckled into the mounting opening, it cooperates with the inner cavity of the sealed chamber shell 21 to form a microwave resonant cavity.

[0071] Positioning ridges are provided inwardly at the middle of the inner walls on the left and right sides of the sealing chamber shell 21, and positioning grooves that slidably cooperate with the positioning ridges can be provided on both sides of the ice box unit 50, so that the ice box unit 50 can be slidably installed through the cooperation of the positioning ridges and the positioning grooves.

[0072] The microwave generating unit 30 is installed on the top inner wall of the microwave sealed chamber 20. In order to achieve sufficient reflection of microwaves in the microwave resonant cavity and improve the sufficient absorption of microwaves by water in the ice box unit 50, the inner wall of the microwave sealed chamber 20 provided in the embodiment of the present application is also provided with a microwave reflecting layer. In addition, a reflecting groove 211 can also be provided on the top inner wall and the bottom inner wall of the microwave sealed chamber 20. The reflecting groove 211 increases the microwave reflection area, so that the microwaves emitted by the microwave generating unit 30 are fully absorbed by the water after multiple reflections.

[0073] In some embodiments, an ice outlet and an ice-removing hole cover 23 sealing the ice outlet are provided at the bottom of the sealed chamber housing 21, and the ice-making box unit 50 adopts a flip-over ice-removing form, so that after ice making is completed, the ice-removing hole cover 23 is opened to open the ice outlet, and the ice-making box unit 50 is flipped to make the ice cubes fall out of the ice tray. Figure 1 and Figure 3The ice box unit 50 includes an ice box support 51, an ice box body 52 and a flip motor 53. The ice box support 51 adopts a rectangular frame structure, and positioning grooves are provided on the left and right sides to cooperate with the positioning convex strips. The middle part of the ice box support 51 and the ice box body 52 are connected by a rotating shaft; the flip motor 53 is fixed to the ice box support 51, and the output shaft of the flip motor 53 is connected to the ice box body 52. ​​The flipping and deicing and flipping and resetting of the ice box body 52 are realized by the forward and reverse rotation of the flip motor 53. The flip motor 53 is connected to the ice making controller 40, so that after ice making is completed, the ice making controller 40 controls the flip motor 53 to drive the ice box body 52 to flip and deiced.

[0074] Among them, the de-icing hole cover 23 rotates to seal the ice outlet. Specifically, one side of the de-icing hole cover 23 is rotatably connected to the sealing chamber shell 21 through a rotating shaft, and an elastic reset member 24 is connected between the de-icing hole cover 23 and the sealing chamber shell 21, and the elastic reset member 24 can be a spring. The de-icing hole cover 23 is pulled by the elastic force of the spring to maintain the state of sealing the ice outlet. And when ice cubes are carried on the top of the de-icing hole cover 23, the torque generated by the gravity of the ice cubes acting on the de-icing hole cover 23 can overcome the reset torque generated by the elastic force of the elastic reset member 24, so that the de-icing hole cover 23 is automatically opened, which is convenient for automatic flipping to de-ice and ice outlet.

[0075] Correspondingly, an ice storage box 70 is provided below the microwave sealed chamber 20, and an opening is provided on the top of the ice storage box 70. The opening of the ice storage box 70 corresponds to the ice outlet of the microwave sealed chamber 20, so as to collect ice cubes that automatically fall off from the ice outlet after ice making is completed.

[0076] A position sensor 25 is provided between the deicing hole cover 23 and the sealed chamber housing 21. The position sensor 25 is used to detect the rotation angle of the deicing hole cover 23 relative to the sealed chamber housing 21. Specifically, an encoder provided between the two can be used. The position sensor 25 is connected to the ice making controller 40, so that after the ice making controller 40 controls the flip motor 53 to complete deicing, it detects that the deicing hole cover 23 flips and resets to the state of sealing the ice outlet, that is, when the rotation angle θ of the deicing hole cover 23 is 0°, the microwave ice making device is controlled to enter the ice making mode to make the next round of ice.

[0077] The microwave ice-making device provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes a damper assembly 28. The microwave sealed chamber 20 of the microwave ice-making device can be arranged in the freezer chamber 11 of the refrigerator 10. The damper assembly 28 is correspondingly arranged at the periphery of the microwave sealed chamber 20 and is used to blow cold air toward the microwave sealed chamber 20. Since the freezing of water into ice includes a cooling stage and a crystallization stage, the cooling stage needs to control the temperature of the microwave resonant cavity to drop rapidly to the supercooling point, while the temperature of the crystallization stage is basically constant, mainly absorbing the latent heat of phase change, and the cooling requirements of different stages are different.

[0078] Therefore, the damper assembly 28 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes a plurality of first dampers and second dampers, both of which are connected to the ice making controller 40. The first damper can be arranged corresponding to the rear outer wall of the microwave sealed chamber 20, and is mainly used for adjusting the temperature of the freezer 11 of the refrigerator 10. The second dampers can be arranged corresponding to the front and left and right outer walls of the microwave sealed chamber 20, respectively, and are used to quickly cool down the microwave sealed chamber 20 and its microwave resonant cavity. In the cooling stage of rapidly cooling to the supercooling point, the ice making controller 40 controls all the first dampers and the second dampers to open; in the crystallization stage, that is, when the second temperature sensor 27 detects that the temperature of the ice making box unit 50 is stable, the ice making controller 40 controls the second damper to close.

[0079] refer to Figure 6 The microwave ice-making device provided in one embodiment of the present application further includes a water storage tank 60, a water pump 62 and a water supply pipeline 61. The water storage tank 60 can be arranged in the cold storage room of the refrigerator 10. One end of the water supply pipeline 61 is connected to the water storage tank 60, and the other end passes through the microwave sealing chamber 20 and extends to the top of the ice tray of the ice-making box unit 50. The water pump 62 is connected to the water storage pipeline to extract water from the water storage tank 60 and fill the ice tray with water. The water pump 62 is connected to the ice-making controller 40 so that after entering the ice-making mode, the ice-making controller 40 controls the water pump 62 to automatically fill the ice tray of the ice-making box unit 50 with water. A liquid level sensor can be arranged in the water storage tank 60, and the liquid level sensor is connected to the ice-making controller 40 and the display module. The liquid level of the water storage tank 60 is detected by the liquid level sensor and displayed through the display module. At the same time, when the liquid level in the water storage tank 60 is lower than the preset liquid level, it reminds to add water.

[0080] The present application also provides a refrigerator 10, including the microwave ice-making device provided in the above embodiment. Figure 6 As shown, the refrigerator 10 includes a freezer compartment 11 and a refrigerator compartment, the water storage tank 60 is arranged in the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator 10, and the microwave sealing chamber 20 is arranged in the freezer compartment 11 of the refrigerator 10. The ice making controller 40 can be arranged separately or integrated with the refrigerator 10 controller.

[0081] The process of the refrigerator 10 and its microwave ice making device is as follows: Figure 7 As shown:

[0082] (1) The temperature T1 in the microwave sealed chamber 20, i.e., the microwave resonance cavity, is detected by means of the first temperature sensor 26. When the temperature T1 of the microwave resonance cavity is ≤ -10°C and the flip angle θ of the ice-removing hole cover 23 detected by the position sensor 25 is 0°, the ice-making controller 40 controls the microwave ice-making device to enter the ice-making mode;

[0083] (2) The water pump 62 of the ice making controller 40 is turned on, and the water in the water storage tank 60 flows into the ice making box unit 50 through the water supply pipe 61. The water pump 62 stops after working for a time t1;

[0084] (3) The ice making controller 40 controls the damper assembly 28, i.e., the first damper and the second damper, to be fully opened, so that the microwave sealed chamber 20 is cooled rapidly;

[0085] (4) Microwave transmitting device working (cooling stage):

[0086] The first step is to emit 2.45GHz, 700W microwave radiation for 5S;

[0087] The second step is to switch to low-power long pulse (LPLP: 8S / 6W~8S / 0W) microwaves, the frequency of which is also 2.45GHz;

[0088] (5) The temperature T2 of the ice box unit 50 detected by the second temperature sensor 27 does not change for a period of time greater than 5 seconds (phase change crystallization stage), and the microwave generating unit 30 is controlled to stop emitting microwaves;

[0089] (6) The second air door is closed, and the microwave sealed chamber 20 exits the rapid refrigeration and is cooled together with the freezing chamber 11 through the first air door;

[0090] (7) judging the ice formation condition according to the ice making time and the second temperature sensor 27, when the ice making time t2 ≥ 90 minutes and the temperature T2 of the ice making box unit 50 detected by the second temperature sensor 27 ≤ -12°C, it is judged that solid ice has been formed;

[0091] (8) The ice making controller 40 drives the flip motor 53 to work, driving the ice box body 52 to rotate together, and the ice cubes fall off. Under the action of gravity, the ice-removing hole cover 23 is driven to flip open, and the ice cubes automatically fall into the ice storage box 70 below the microwave sealing chamber 20;

[0092] (9) When the flip angle θ of the ice-removing hole cover 23 is greater than 0°, the ice-making controller 40 controls the microwave generating device to exit the ice-making mode; when the ice-removing hole cover 23 is reset to the flip angle θ=0° and there is a demand for ice-making, the ice-making controller 40 controls the microwave ice-making device to enter the next round of ice-making cycle.

[0093] The present application also provides a microwave ice making method. Figure 8 As shown, including:

[0094] Step S10: detecting the temperature of the microwave resonance cavity, and entering an ice-making mode when the temperature of the microwave resonance cavity is lower than a first preset temperature;

[0095] Step S20: controlling the microwave resonant cavity to cool down, and emitting microwaves of a preset frequency and power to the ice box unit 50 of the microwave resonant cavity;

[0096] Step S30: detecting the temperature of the ice-making box unit 50, and when the temperature of the ice-making box unit 50 does not change within a preset time, turning off the microwave generator;

[0097] Step S40: When the duration of entering the ice-making mode reaches a preset duration, exiting the ice-making mode.

[0098] The microwave ice-making method provided in the present application is applicable to the above-mentioned refrigerator 10 and its microwave ice-making device. When the ice-making controller 40 determines whether to enter the ice-making mode, it first detects the temperature T1 of the microwave resonant cavity by means of the first temperature sensor 26. When the temperature T1 of the microwave resonant cavity is lower than or equal to the first preset temperature such as -10°C, that is, T1≤-10°C, the ice-making controller 40 controls the microwave ice-making device to enter the ice-making mode. When the microwave ice-making device includes an ice-shedding hole cover 23 and a position sensor 25 for detecting the position of the ice-shedding hole cover 23, step S10 also includes detecting the position of the ice-shedding hole cover 23 relative to the microwave sealing chamber 20, that is, the opening angle θ; when and only when θ=0° and T1≤-10°C, the ice-making controller 40 controls the microwave ice-making device to enter the ice-making mode.

[0099] After entering the ice-making mode, the ice-making controller 40 first controls the microwave resonant cavity to rapidly cool down, and at the same time controls the water pump 62 to inject water into the ice-making box unit 50. The ice-making controller 40 rapidly cools down the microwave sealed chamber 20 and its microwave resonant cavity by controlling all the damper assemblies 28 on the periphery of the microwave sealed chamber 20, namely the first damper and the second damper, to open.

[0100] After the ice box unit 50 is filled with water, the ice making controller 40 controls the microwave generating unit 30 to emit microwaves of preset frequency and power to the ice box unit 50. The process mainly includes, in the rapid cooling stage, emitting microwaves of preset frequency to the ice box unit 50 at a first power for a first duration, then adjusting the power and emission mode of the microwave generating unit 30, and continuously emitting microwaves of preset frequency to the ice box unit 50 at a second power until the microwave generator is turned off, and the second power is the average power, and the average power is less than 10W. The steps of emitting microwaves by the microwave generating unit 30 specifically include the first step of emitting 2.45GHz, 700W microwave radiation for 5S; the second step of switching to low-power long pulse (LPLP: 8S / 6W~8S / 0W) microwaves, and the frequency of the microwaves is also 2.45GHz.

[0101] It should be noted that in the second step, low power such as 3W can be used to continuously emit microwaves to the ice box unit 50, and high power short pulses can be used to emit pulse microwaves to the ice box unit 50, such as SPHP: 4S / 12W~4S / 0W, that is, 12W is used to continuously emit microwaves for 4S, then stop emitting microwaves for 4S, and then 12W is used to continuously emit microwaves for 4S again... and so on. The present application preferably uses low power long pulses to emit microwaves to the ice box unit 50, so that during the transition from the cooling stage to the crystallization stage, the average power of the microwave generating unit 30 is controlled to avoid ice crystals absorbing too much internal energy and causing ice crystals to crystallize and melt repeatedly, thereby achieving a balance between ice quality and ice making time.

[0102] Step S30 includes detecting the temperature T2 of the ice making box unit 50. When the temperature of the ice making box unit 50 is stable within a preset time (eg, a time greater than 5 seconds), the Figure 5 As shown, it indicates that the ice-making process has entered the crystallization stage, and the microwave generator can be turned off at this time; at the same time, the ice-making controller 40 controls part of the damper assembly 28, that is, the second damper is closed, and only the first damper is used to adjust the temperature of the freezing chamber 11 and cool the microwave sealed chamber 20 for ice making.

[0103] When the duration of entering the ice-making mode reaches a preset duration, i.e., the ice-making duration t2 ≥ 90 minutes detected by the ice-making timer, the ice-making controller 40 controls the ice-making box unit 50 to flip over and remove ice, and controls the microwave ice-making device to exit the ice-making mode. In order to improve the reliability of ice-making detection, step S40 also includes detecting and determining whether the temperature T2 of the ice-making box unit 50 is lower than a preset temperature such as -12°C. Only when T2 ≤ -12°C and the ice-making duration t2 ≥ 90 minutes, the microwave ice-making device is controlled to exit the ice-making mode.

[0104] It should be understood that the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific example embodiments and are not intended to be limiting. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "an" and "said" as used herein may also be meant to include plural forms. The terms "include", "comprise", "contain", and "have" are inclusive, and therefore specify the existence of stated features, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, parts, and / or combinations thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not interpreted as necessarily requiring them to be performed in the specific order described or illustrated, unless the execution order is clearly indicated. It should also be understood that additional or alternative steps may be used.

[0105] Although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used in the text to describe multiple elements, components, regions, layers and / or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and / or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms can only be used to distinguish an element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Unless the context clearly indicates, terms such as "first", "second" and other numerical terms do not imply order or sequence when used in the text. Therefore, the first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below can be referred to as the second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teaching of the example embodiments.

[0106] The above description is only a specific implementation of the present application, so that those skilled in the art can understand or implement the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but will conform to the widest range consistent with the principles and novel features applied for herein.

Claims

1. A microwave ice-making device, characterized in that: include: A microwave sealed chamber, provided with a microwave resonant cavity; An ice-making box unit is arranged in the microwave resonance cavity, and the ice-making box unit is provided with an ice tray for storing water and making ice; The microwave generating unit is arranged in the microwave resonance cavity and can emit microwaves of preset frequency and power toward the ice making box unit.

2. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A first temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the microwave resonance cavity and / or a second temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the ice box unit are disposed inside the microwave sealed chamber.

3. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The microwave sealed chamber comprises: A sealed chamber housing is provided with an installation opening for taking in and placing the ice-making box unit; A sealing cover plate is connected to seal the installation opening and cooperates with the sealing chamber shell to form the microwave resonant cavity.

4. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The inner wall of the sealed chamber shell is provided with a microwave reflecting layer and / or a reflecting groove.

5. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The bottom of the sealed chamber housing is provided with an ice outlet and an ice-removing hole cover sealing the ice outlet; the ice-making box unit comprises: Ice box holder; An ice box body is flipped and connected to the ice box bracket; The turning motor is fixed to the ice box support and is rotatably connected to the ice box body, and is used to drive the ice box body to turn over relative to the ice box support to remove ice.

6. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The deicing hole cover rotates to seal the ice outlet, an elastic reset member is connected between the deicing hole cover and the sealing chamber shell, and the elastic reset member is used to drive the deicing hole cover to rotate and reset to a state of sealing the ice outlet.

7. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 6, characterized in that: An ice storage box is arranged below the microwave sealed chamber, and the ice outlet is arranged corresponding to the opening of the ice storage box.

8. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 6, characterized in that: A position sensor for detecting the rotation angle of the deicing hole cover is provided between the deicing hole cover and the sealing chamber shell.

9. The microwave ice-making device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that: It also includes an ice-making controller, a first air door and a second air door, wherein the first air door and the second air door are used to blow cold air toward the microwave sealed chamber; The first temperature sensor, the second temperature sensor, the flip motor, the microwave generating unit, the first damper, and the second damper are all connected to the ice-making controller.

10. The microwave ice-making device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The microwave ice-making device further comprises a water storage tank, a water pump and a water supply pipeline. The water supply pipeline is connected to the water tank and supplies water to the ice-making box unit. The water pump is arranged on the water supply pipeline and connected to the ice-making controller.

11. A refrigerator, characterized in that: Using the microwave ice-making device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the refrigerator comprises a freezing chamber, and the microwave sealing chamber is arranged in the freezing chamber.

Images