Ice maker ice bucket seal assembly and ice maker

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of ice machines, and discloses an ice machine ice bucket sealing assembly and an ice machine. The sealing assembly comprises an ice machine body, a support, a first sealing ring, a transmission assembly and a handle. The ice machine body is provided with a circular ice falling opening, the support is annular and is sleeved with the inner wall of the ice falling opening, and the support can rotate axially relative to the ice falling opening. The inner wall of the ice falling opening is provided with a first guide part, the outer wall of the support is provided with a second guide part, the first guide part and the second guide part are matched through a slope, so that the support moves up and down while rotating; the first sealing ring is arranged at the bottom of the support; the handle is movably arranged on the outer side of the ice machine body and at least partially penetrates into the interior of the ice machine body; the transmission assembly is transmissionally connected between the handle and the support; and the handle is used for driving the support to rotate axially through the transmission assembly. Through the above mode, reliable sealing of the ice bucket can be realized, and the melting speed of ice blocks is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of ice maker technology, specifically to an ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker and an ice maker. Background Technology

[0002] In existing ice makers, during the ice removal process after ice making, ice cubes fall into the ice-making tray, and then a flipping ice-scooping plate pushes the ice cubes from the tray into an ice basket. The ice basket does not have a cooling function, making the ice cubes melt more easily. Utility Model Content

[0003] In view of the above problems, this application provides an ice bucket sealing assembly and an ice maker, which can reliably seal the ice inlet of the ice bucket, thereby slowing down the heat transfer rate between the ice in the ice bucket and the external environment as much as possible and reducing the melting speed of the ice.

[0004] According to one aspect of the embodiments of this application, an ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker is provided, comprising: an ice maker body, a bracket, a first sealing ring, a transmission assembly, and a handle; the ice maker body has a circular ice outlet, the bracket is annular and sleeved on the inner wall of the ice outlet, the bracket is axially rotatable relative to the ice outlet, and an ice-receiving space is provided below the ice outlet for placing an ice bucket, the ice outlet being configured to correspond to the ice-receiving opening of the ice bucket; a first guide portion is provided on the inner wall of the ice outlet, and a second guide portion is provided on the outer wall of the bracket, at least one of the first and second guide portions having an inclined surface, the first guide portion and the second guide portion cooperating through the inclined surface to allow the bracket to move up and down along the axial direction of the ice outlet while rotating relative to the ice maker body; the bottom of the bracket protrudes from the ice outlet, and the first sealing ring is disposed at the bottom of the bracket; the handle is movably disposed on the outside of the ice maker body and at least partially inserted into the interior of the ice maker body, the transmission assembly is movably disposed inside the ice maker body and is transmissionally connected between the handle and the bracket, the handle being used to drive the bracket to rotate axially through the transmission assembly.

[0005] In one alternative embodiment, the transmission assembly includes a rack and a helical gear, the helical gear having a coaxial helical gear ring and a spur gear ring; the bracket located inside the ice maker body is provided with a helical gear section, the helical gear is rotatably mounted on the ice maker body, and the helical gear ring meshes with the helical gear section; the rack is located inside the ice maker body, the upper section of the rack is connected to the handle, and the lower section meshes with the spur gear ring.

[0006] In one alternative embodiment, the ice maker body has vertically extending strip-shaped holes, through which a handle is inserted and fixedly connected to a rack. The inner walls at the upper and lower ends of the strip-shaped holes are used to abut against the handle to limit its movement.

[0007] In one alternative, the part of the handle that extends into the body of the ice maker is provided with a toothed ring that meshes with the upper part of a rack, so that rotating the handle causes the rack to move up and down.

[0008] In one alternative configuration, the first guide portion is an inclined slide, and the second guide portion is a slider; or, the first guide portion is a slider, and the second guide portion is an inclined slide. The slider is slidably disposed in the slide, and the inner wall of the slide that rubs against the slider forms an inclined surface, so that when the support rotates, it moves up and down relative to the ice maker body under the guiding action between the inclined surface and the slider.

[0009] In one alternative approach, at least two first guide portions are arranged circumferentially along the inner wall of the ice drop opening, at least two second guide portions are arranged circumferentially along the outer wall of the support, and each slide corresponds to at least one slider.

[0010] In one alternative embodiment, the ice maker body has a flange on the outer periphery of the ice inlet, and the flange extends into the interior of the ice maker body; the ice maker body has an installation port on the outer periphery of the flange, a bracket portion extends into the installation port, and a second sealing ring is provided between the portion of the bracket extending into the installation port and the flange.

[0011] In one alternative embodiment, the bottom of the bracket is provided with an annular groove, and a first sealing ring is disposed within the annular groove, with a portion protruding from the annular groove.

[0012] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, an ice maker is provided, including an ice bucket and an ice bucket sealing assembly as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0013] In one alternative embodiment, the ice bucket is made of insulating material, and the outer diameter of the first sealing ring is larger than the inner diameter of the ice inlet of the ice bucket; as the first sealing ring rotates and moves downward with the support, it abuts against the inner wall of the ice inlet to seal the ice inlet.

[0014] The sealing component provided in this application embodiment can connect with and seal the ice bucket after it is placed into the ice-receiving space, preventing the ice inside the ice bucket from melting too quickly. Through the inclined engagement of the first and second guide portions, the bracket moves up and down simultaneously when rotated, ensuring that the bracket does not tilt during this movement and guaranteeing the reliability of the seal. The handle and bracket form a transmission relationship, allowing the user to drive the bracket by operating the handle, improving the convenience of product use.

[0015] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of this application. In order to better understand the technical means of this application and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of this application more obvious and understandable, the following are specific embodiments of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 This is an exploded structural diagram of the sealing assembly provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0018] Figure 2 and Figure 3 These are schematic diagrams showing the structure of the sealing assembly provided in the application embodiment when the bracket is in the highest and lowest positions, respectively.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a sealing assembly provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the bracket in a sealing assembly provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the support in the sealing assembly provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0022] Figure 7 A cross-sectional structural diagram of the sealing component provided in this application embodiment when it is used with an ice bucket and sealed;

[0023] Figure 8 for Figure 7 A magnified structural diagram at point A;

[0024] Figure 9 This is a cross-sectional structural diagram of an ice maker provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0025] The reference numerals in the detailed embodiments are as follows:

[0026] 100. Sealing components;

[0027] 110. Ice maker body; 111. Ice inlet; 112. Ice receiving space; 113. First guide section; 1131. Slider; 114. Strip hole; 115. Flange; 116. Mounting port;

[0028] 120. Bracket; 121. Second guide section; 1211. Inclined surface; 1212. Slide rail; 122. Helical gear section; 123. Annular groove;

[0029] 130. First sealing ring;

[0030] 140. Transmission assembly; 141. Rack; 142. Helical gear; 1421. Helical ring gear; 1422. Spur ring gear;

[0031] 150. Handle;

[0032] 160. Second sealing ring;

[0033] 200. Ice bucket; 210. Ice inlet;

[0034] 500. Ice maker. Detailed Implementation

[0035] The embodiments of the technical solution of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of this application and are therefore merely examples, and should not be used to limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0036] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains; the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the application; the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, in the specification, claims, and foregoing description of the drawings are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion.

[0037] In the description of the embodiments of this application, technical terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number, specific order, or primary and secondary relationship of the indicated technical features. In the description of the embodiments of this application, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly defined.

[0038] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0039] In the description of the embodiments in this application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A exists, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the related objects before and after it have an "or" relationship.

[0040] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "multiple" refers to two or more (including two), similarly, "multiple sets" refers to two or more (including two sets), and "multiple pieces" refers to two or more (including two pieces).

[0041] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the technical terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," and "circumferential" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the embodiments of this application and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the embodiments of this application.

[0042] In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, technical terms such as "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the embodiments of this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0043] In response to the problem that existing ice storage baskets do not have a cold preservation function and the ice cubes melt easily, this application provides an ice bucket sealing component for an ice maker. By connecting with the ice bucket that receives the ice cubes and sealing the ice inlet of the ice bucket, it ensures that the cold air inside the ice bucket is better retained, thereby slowing down the rate at which the temperature inside the ice bucket rises and making the ice cubes less likely to melt too quickly.

[0044] This application uses a bracket that can move the sealing ring up and down. By using the up and down movement of the bracket, space avoidance is achieved during the placement of the ice bucket, and the sealing ring and the ice bucket are sealed after placement.

[0045] Considering that the sealing method where the sealing ring moves downward with the bracket and abuts against the edge of the ice bucket's inlet may lead to uneven distribution of downward force on the bracket, causing the sealing ring to become misaligned and resulting in sealing failure, this application also incorporates a transmission component between the handle and the bracket. This design allows the bracket to rotate axially under the influence of the handle and the transmission component. This driving method prevents the bracket from being directly subjected to downward driving force, thus ensuring that the bracket is less prone to misalignment leading to sealing failure. With this driving mechanism, the inclined plane guides the bracket to move up and down simultaneously while rotating, achieving proper positioning during ice bucket placement and ensuring a secure seal after the ice bucket is placed.

[0046] Based on the above concept, please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 An exploded view of the ice bucket sealing assembly of an ice maker according to an embodiment of this application is shown. As shown in the figure, the sealing assembly 100 includes: an ice maker body 110, a support 120, a first sealing ring 130, a transmission assembly 140, and a handle 150. The support 120, the transmission assembly 140, and the handle 150 are all movably mounted on the ice maker body 110, and the handle 150 drives the support 120 to rotate and move up and down simultaneously via the transmission assembly 140. The first sealing ring 130 is disposed at the bottom of the support 120 to seal against the ice bucket 200 when the support 120 moves downward.

[0047] As shown in the figure, the ice maker body 110 is provided with a circular ice-feeding opening 111. Below the ice-feeding opening 111 is an ice-receiving space 112, which is used to place an ice bucket 200. The ice-feeding opening 111 is set to correspond to the ice-receiving opening 210 of the ice bucket 200 so that the ice falling from the ice-feeding opening 111 can smoothly enter the ice bucket 200. The support 120 is annular and fits into the inner wall of the ice-feeding opening 111. The support 120 can rotate axially relative to the ice-feeding opening 111. Specifically, the support 120 can rotate along... Figure 1 and Figure 2 The axis shown by the dashed line at the midpoint rotates relative to the ice maker body 110.

[0048] The inner wall of the ice outlet 111 is provided with a first guide portion 113, and the outer wall of the support 120 is provided with a second guide portion 121. At least one of the first guide portion 113 and the second guide portion 121 is provided with an inclined surface 1211. The first guide portion 113 and the second guide portion 121 cooperate through the inclined surface 1211, so that the support 120 rotates relative to the ice maker body 110 while moving up and down along the axial direction of the ice outlet 111. When the support 120 rotates and moves upward, it can avoid a part of the top area of ​​the ice receiving space 112, so that the ice bucket 200 can be easily placed into the ice receiving space 112. At the ice bucket 200 placement opening, by rotating and moving the support 120 downward, a sealing contact with the ice bucket 200 is achieved.

[0049] For details, please refer to further information. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The figure shows the structure of the bracket 120 in the highest and lowest positions respectively. The bottom of the bracket 120 protrudes from the ice drop opening 111, and the first sealing ring 130 is disposed at the bottom of the bracket 120.

[0050] exist Figures 1 to 3 In the specific embodiment shown, the first guide part 113 is a slider 1131 fixed to the inner wall of the ice drop opening 111, and the second guide part 121 is a slide 1212 opened on the bracket 120 and inclined. The slider 1131 is slidably disposed in the slide 1212, and the inner wall of the slide 1212 that rubs against the slider 1131 forms the aforementioned inclined surface 1211.

[0051] The slider 1131 can be a pin as shown in the figure, and the slide rail 1212 can be a strip-shaped opening. The pin is fixedly installed on the inner wall of the ice drop opening 111 and inserted into the strip-shaped opening. When the bracket 120 rotates, the force between the pin and the upper and lower inner walls of the strip-shaped opening causes the bracket 120 to move up and down. In other embodiments, the slider 1131 can also be a protrusion integrally formed on the inner wall of the ice drop opening 111, and the slide rail 1212 can also be a strip-shaped groove, with the protrusion extending into the strip-shaped groove and sliding along the extension direction of the strip-shaped groove.

[0052] exist Figure 2 In the state shown, there is still a certain gap X between the first sealing ring 130 at the bottom of the bracket 120 and the ice bucket 200, which allows the ice bucket 200 to be smoothly placed into the ice receiving space 112 in the horizontal direction in this state.

[0053] From a top-down perspective, in Figure 2Based on the state shown, when the support 120 rotates clockwise, the slide 1212 slides relative to the slider 1131. Since the slider 1131 is fixed to the inner wall of the ice drop opening 111, its height remains unchanged. Under the friction and guiding action between the inclined plane 1211 and the slider 1131, the support 120 moves downward and eventually reaches the desired position. Figure 3 The state shown.

[0054] exist Figure 3 In the shown state, the first sealing ring 130 at the bottom of the bracket 120 (in) Figure 3 (Opposite to the view of the ice bucket 200) is pressed against the outer periphery of the ice inlet 210 at the top of the ice bucket 200 to seal the internal space of the ice bucket 200, thereby achieving the cold preservation effect of the ice bucket 200.

[0055] Conversely, in Figure 3 Based on the state shown, from a top-down perspective, after rotating the bracket 120 counterclockwise, the bracket 120 will rotate and move upwards along with the first sealing ring 130. The first sealing ring 130 will separate from the ice bucket 200 at the bottom, and the ice bucket 200 can then be taken out from the ice receiving space 112.

[0056] It is understandable that the aforementioned correspondence between the rotation and vertical movement of the support 120° is only based on... Figure 2 and Figure 3 The description of the specific embodiments shown does not constitute a limitation on the correspondence between the rotation direction and the up-down movement direction of the bracket 120. In different implementations, the correspondence between the rotation direction and the up-down movement direction of the bracket 120 can be changed by adjusting the tilt direction of the inclined surface 1211. Furthermore, the up-down movement distance of the bracket 120 based on a certain rotation angle can be changed by adjusting the tilt angle of the inclined surface 1211.

[0057] In another embodiment, the positions of slider 1131 and slide rail 1212 can also be interchanged; please refer to the following for details. Figure 4 and Figure 5 , Figure 5 A modified structure of the bracket 120 is shown, in which the first guide part 113 on the ice maker body 110 is set as a slide rail 1212, and the second guide part 121 on the bracket 120 is set as a slider 1131. Through the frictional engagement between the slider 1131 and the inclined side wall of the slide rail 1212, the bracket 120 can also be rotated and moved up and down at the same time.

[0058] To ensure a more even distribution of force on the support 120 during its rotation and simultaneous up-and-down movement, such as Figures 3 to 6As shown, at least two first guide portions 113 can be arranged circumferentially along the inner wall of the ice drop opening 111, and at least two second guide portions 121 can be arranged circumferentially along the outer wall of the support 120. Each slide 1212 corresponds to at least one slider 1131, so that when the support 120 is rotated under force, multiple positions along the circumferential direction will be abutted and guided by the inclined surface 1211, and these positions can be further evenly distributed along the circumferential direction, thereby enabling the support 120 to rotate and move up and down more smoothly, and it is not easy for it to tilt during the movement.

[0059] In different implementation schemes, the first sealing ring 130 at the bottom of the bracket 120 can seal the ice bucket 200 by pressing against the top surface of the ice receiving port 210, or by extending into the ice receiving port 210 and abutting against the inner wall of the ice receiving port 210. The rotation and synchronous up-and-down movement of the bracket 120 ensures smooth movement of the bracket 120 and uniform pressure distribution on the first sealing ring 130, thereby ensuring a reliable seal on the ice receiving port 210. For the scheme where the first sealing ring 130 extends into the ice receiving port 210 and abuts against the inner wall of the ice receiving port 210 for sealing, the synchronous rotation and downward movement of the bracket 120 driving the first sealing ring 130 also makes the insertion of the first sealing ring 130 into the ice receiving port 210 smoother.

[0060] Please refer to it again. Figures 1 to 3 The handle 150 is slidably disposed on the outside of the ice maker body 110 and at least partially inserted into the interior of the ice maker body 110. The transmission component 140 is movably disposed inside the ice maker body 110 and is connected to the handle 150 and the bracket 120. The handle 150 is used to drive the bracket 120 to rotate axially through the transmission component 140.

[0061] Specifically, the handle 150 can rotate the support 120 by moving it up and down or rotating it relative to the ice maker body 110. Please refer again. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The transmission assembly 140 includes a rack 141 and a helical gear 142, the helical gear 142 having a coaxial helical gear ring 1421 and a spur gear ring 1422.

[0062] Please combine further Figure 6 The support 120 shown has a three-dimensional structure. The part of the support 120 located inside the ice maker body 110 is provided with a helical gear 122. The helical gear 142 is rotatably mounted on the ice maker body 110, and the helical gear ring 1421 on it meshes with the helical gear 122 on the support 120. When the helical gear ring 1421 rotates, it drives the support 120 to rotate relative to the ice maker body 110.

[0063] The rack 141 is located inside the ice maker body 110. The upper section of the rack 141 is connected to the handle 150, and the lower section meshes with the spur gear 1422 on the helical gear 142. Thus, when the handle 150 is moved up and down, the rack 141 moves up and down accordingly, driving the helical gear 142 to rotate, thereby driving the rotation of the bracket 120.

[0064] To prevent rack 141 from slipping, a limiting design can also be implemented; please refer to the following for details. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The ice maker body 110 has a vertically extending strip-shaped hole 114. The handle 150 passes through the strip-shaped hole 114 and is fixedly connected to the rack 141. The inner walls at both ends of the strip-shaped hole 114 abut against the handle 150 to limit the movement of the handle 150 and prevent the rack 141 from slipping off. To ensure the flexibility and straightness of the rack 141's sliding, the rack 141 and the inner wall of the ice maker body 110 can also be connected by a slide rail and a slider.

[0065] Understandably, the rack 141 can also be made to slide horizontally or tilt, and the position of the handle 150 can be adjusted adaptively according to the rack 141.

[0066] In practice, the vertical movement space of the bracket is approximately a few millimeters (e.g., 1-5 mm), which is less than the tooth height of the helical gear ring 1421 of the helical gear 142 and the helical tooth portion 122 on the bracket 120, thereby ensuring that the two will not disengage during the vertical movement of the bracket 120.

[0067] The handle 150 can also drive the bracket 120 to rotate by rotation. Specifically, in Figure 2 and Figure 3 Based on the embodiment shown, the handle 150 can be rotatably mounted on the ice maker body 110. The part of the handle 150 that passes into the ice maker body 110 is fixedly connected to the helical gear 142. The spur gear ring 1422 no longer needs to be set on the helical gear 142. By rotating the handle 150, the helical gear 142 can be directly driven to rotate. Then, by using the meshing transmission between the helical gear ring 1421 and the helical gear part 122 on the bracket 120, the rotation drive of the bracket 120 can be realized.

[0068] Alternatively, the spur gear ring 1422 on the rack 141 and helical gear 142 can be retained, and the transmission relationship between the rack 141, helical gear 142 and helical gear 122 remains unchanged. An additional gear ring is provided on the part of the handle 150 that extends into the ice maker body 110. This gear ring meshes with the upper part of the rack 141. When the handle 150 is rotated, the gear ring rotates and drives the rack 141 to move. In turn, through the transmission between the rack 141, helical gear 142 and helical gear 122, the bracket 120 is driven to rotate.

[0069] In summary, the sealing assembly 100 provided in this application embodiment, by providing a vertically movable bracket 120 on the inner wall of the ice outlet 111 and a first sealing ring 130 at the bottom of the bracket 120, not only is positional avoidance achieved when the ice bucket 200 is placed into the ice receiving space 112, but it can also connect and seal with the ice bucket 200 after it is placed in, thereby improving the cold preservation effect of the ice bucket 200. Furthermore, by cooperating with the inclined surface of the first guide portion 113 on the inner wall of the ice outlet 111 and the second guide portion 121 on the outer wall of the bracket 120, the bracket 120 can move vertically simultaneously while being rotated. This utilizes the more stable characteristics of the rotation drive to ensure that the bracket 120 is not prone to tilting during vertical movement, thus ensuring the reliability of its seal on the ice receiving port 210 of the ice bucket 200.

[0070] A handle 150 is provided on the outside of the ice maker body 110. The handle 150 is connected to the bracket 120 through the transmission component 140 inside the ice maker body 110. Users can drive the bracket 120 by operating the handle 150, which improves the convenience of using the product.

[0071] To ensure the sealing performance at the joint between the bracket 120 and the ice maker body 110, please refer to... Figure 7 and Figure 8 , Figure 7 A cross-sectional structure of the sealing assembly 100 is shown. Figure 8 It shows Figure 7 Enlarged structure at point A. As shown in the figure, the ice maker body 110 has a flange 115 on the outer periphery of the ice inlet 111, and the flange 115 extends into the interior of the ice maker body 110. The ice maker body 110 has an installation port 116 on the outer periphery of the flange 115 (which can be accessed from...). Figure 3 (As can be seen more intuitively in the image), the bracket 120 extends into the mounting port 116, and a second sealing ring 160 is provided between the portion of the bracket 120 extending into the mounting port 116 and the flange 115.

[0072] In this embodiment, by providing an inwardly extending flange 115 on the outer periphery of the ice drop opening 111, and fitting the bracket 120 onto the outer periphery of the flange 115, and by providing a second sealing ring 160 between the bracket 120 and the flange 115, the assembly gap between the bracket 120 and the ice maker body 110 is sealed, thereby preventing the cold air in the ice bucket 200 from dissipating from the assembly gap between the bracket 120 and the ice maker body 110, thus achieving the purpose of better keeping the ice bucket 200 cold.

[0073] For details on the installation of the first sealing ring 130 on the bracket 120, please refer to [link / reference needed]. Figure 8The bottom of the bracket 120 is provided with an annular groove 123, and the first sealing ring 130 is disposed in the annular groove 123, and a part of the first sealing ring 130 protrudes out of the annular groove 123.

[0074] When docking with the ice bucket 200, the support bracket 120 can be used as follows: Figure 8 As shown, the first sealing ring 130 is embedded in the inner circumference of the ice inlet 210 at the top of the ice bucket 200 and forms an interference fit with the inner wall of the ice inlet 210 to achieve a reliable seal of the ice inlet 210.

[0075] By opening an annular groove 123 at the bottom of the bracket 120 and installing the first sealing ring 130 in the annular groove 123, the annular groove 123 can play a good positioning role for the first sealing ring 130, preventing the first sealing ring 130 from falling off during the process of being stressed and rubbing and squeezing against the inner wall of the ice inlet 210, thus ensuring the stability of the installation of the first sealing ring 130.

[0076] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, an ice maker is provided, please refer to [the specific details]. Figure 9 The figure shows a cross-sectional structure of an ice maker 500 provided in an embodiment of this application. The ice maker 500 includes an ice bucket 200 and a sealing assembly 100 as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0077] It should be noted that, for the ice maker 500, the ice maker body 110 in the sealing assembly 100 can be the main structure of the ice maker 500, or it can be a part of the structure installed on the housing of the ice maker 500 and forming the ice drop outlet 111.

[0078] The ice maker 500 provided in this application embodiment can achieve convenient placement and removal of the ice bucket 200 in the ice receiving space 112 and reliable sealing of the ice bucket 200 by adopting the sealing component 100 in the above embodiment.

[0079] Furthermore, such as Figure 9 As shown, the ice bucket 200 can be made of insulating material, such as a stainless steel inner liner, to achieve good insulation. The outer diameter D1 of the first sealing ring 130 is larger than the inner diameter D2 of the ice inlet 210 at the top of the ice bucket 200. This allows the first sealing ring 130 to abut against the inner wall of the ice inlet 210 as it rotates and moves downward with the support 120, thus sealing the ice inlet 210 and providing a good cooling effect for the ice bucket 200.

[0080] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and not to limit them. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features therein; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application. In particular, as long as there is no structural conflict, the various technical features mentioned in the various embodiments can be combined in any way.

Claims

1. A sealing assembly for an ice bucket of an ice maker, characterized in that, include: Ice maker body, support frame, first sealing ring, transmission components and handle; The ice maker body has a circular ice inlet, the bracket is annular and fitted into the inner wall of the ice inlet, the bracket can rotate axially relative to the ice inlet, and there is an ice-receiving space below the ice inlet for placing an ice bucket. The ice inlet is set to correspond to the ice-receiving inlet of the ice bucket. The inner wall of the ice drop opening is provided with a first guide portion, and the outer wall of the bracket is provided with a second guide portion. At least one of the first guide portion and the second guide portion is provided with an inclined surface. The first guide portion and the second guide portion cooperate through the inclined surface so that the bracket can move up and down along the axial direction of the ice drop opening while rotating relative to the ice maker body. The bottom of the bracket protrudes from the ice-falling opening, and the first sealing ring is disposed at the bottom of the bracket; The handle is movably disposed on the outside of the ice maker body and at least partially inserted into the interior of the ice maker body. The transmission assembly is movably disposed inside the ice maker body and is connected to the handle and the bracket. The handle is used to drive the bracket to rotate axially through the transmission assembly.

2. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transmission assembly includes a rack and a helical gear, the helical gear having a coaxial helical gear ring and a spur gear ring; The bracket is provided with a helical toothed portion within the ice maker body. The helical gear is rotatably mounted on the ice maker body, and the helical gear ring meshes with the helical toothed portion. The rack is disposed inside the body of the ice maker, with the upper section of the rack connected to the handle and the lower section meshing with the spur gear ring.

3. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to claim 2, characterized in that, The ice maker body has a vertically extending strip-shaped hole. The handle is inserted into the strip-shaped hole and fixedly connected to the rack. The inner walls at the upper and lower ends of the strip-shaped hole are used to abut against the handle to limit the movement of the handle.

4. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to claim 2, characterized in that, The part of the handle that extends into the body of the ice maker is provided with a toothed ring, which meshes with the upper section of the rack, so that rotating the handle drives the rack to move up and down.

5. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first guide portion is an inclined slide, and the second guide portion is a slider; or, the first guide portion is a slider, and the second guide portion is an inclined slide. The slider is slidably disposed in the slide rail, and the inner wall of the slide rail that rubs against the slider forms the inclined surface, so that when the bracket rotates, it moves up and down relative to the ice maker body under the guiding action between the inclined surface and the slider.

6. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to claim 5, characterized in that, At least two first guide portions are arranged circumferentially along the inner wall of the ice drop opening, and at least two second guide portions are arranged circumferentially along the outer wall of the support, and each slide corresponds to at least one slider.

7. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The ice maker body is provided with a flange on the outer periphery of the ice drop opening, and the flange extends into the interior of the ice maker body. The ice maker body has an installation port on the outer periphery of the flange, the bracket portion extends into the installation port, and a second sealing ring is provided between the portion of the bracket extending into the installation port and the flange.

8. The ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The bottom of the bracket is provided with an annular groove, and the first sealing ring is disposed in the annular groove, with a portion protruding out of the annular groove.

9. An ice maker, characterized in that, Includes an ice bucket and an ice bucket sealing assembly for an ice maker according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. The ice maker according to claim 9, characterized in that, The ice bucket is made of insulating material, and the outer diameter of the first sealing ring is larger than the inner diameter of the ice inlet of the ice bucket. As the first sealing ring rotates and moves downward with the bracket, it abuts against the inner wall of the ice inlet to seal the ice inlet.

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