An ice maker

Abstract

The utility model discloses an ice maker, including the ice making cup for containing water, the ice making cup has the turnover mechanism, is used for the integral turnover of ice making cup certain angle, the evaporation pipe passes from ice making cup top, is equipped with several protruding refrigeration end on the evaporation pipe, still include the ice box, for containing the ice block of preparation, still include the cold water tank, ice box volume less than the cold water tank, place in the cold water tank, and there is the gap between the lateral wall of ice box and cold water tank, turnover mechanism have at least three angles, and respectively be the horizontal angle of ice making cup, first turnover angle and second turnover angle, the utility model discloses can achieve ice water separation, and no water or only have very small amount of water in the ice box finally, thereby make the ice block obtained more beautiful.

Description

Technical Field

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

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

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

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

[0005] As can be seen from the above description, after ice making, the ice maker contains both frozen ice and water that has not yet frozen. When the ice maker is turned upside down, a mixture of ice and water is poured out. Although the ice box has a filter at the bottom to allow water to drain out while leaving only the ice in the box, some of the ice in the ice-water mixture tends to melt during this process, changing its original shape and resulting in less aesthetically pleasing ice. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide an ice maker that separates ice and water.

[0007] Therefore, this utility model adopts the following technical solution: an ice maker, including an ice-making cup for holding water, the ice-making cup having a flipping mechanism for flipping the ice-making cup as a whole at a certain angle; an evaporation tube passing over the ice-making cup, the evaporation tube having several protruding cooling ends that extend into the ice-making cup; and an ice box for holding the ice cubes; characterized in that: it also includes a cold water tank, the ice box being smaller in volume than the cold water tank and placed inside the cold water tank, with a gap between the side walls of the ice box and the cold water tank; the flipping mechanism has at least three angles, namely the horizontal angle of the ice-making cup, a first flipping angle, and a second flipping angle.

[0008] Furthermore, the edge of the ice-making cup has a flow channel corresponding to the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank.

[0009] The ice box has filter holes at the bottom.

[0010] The working process of this invention is as follows: During ice making, the flipping mechanism positions the ice-making cup at a horizontal angle, at which point the ice-making cup can be filled with water. The water is cooled by the evaporator tube, forming ice around the cooling end. When ice making is complete, the ice-making cup contains both made ice and undried water. Then, the flipping mechanism flips the ice-making cup to the first flipping angle. At this point, the undried water flows out of the ice-making cup, specifically from the guide groove on the edge of the ice-making cup, through the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank, and into the cold water tank. Then, the flipping mechanism continues to flip to the second flipping angle, while the evaporator tube heats up, causing the ice to detach from the cooling end and fall into the ice box.

[0011] As can be seen from the above description, this utility model can achieve ice-water separation, and the final ice box contains no water or only a very small amount of water, thus making the resulting ice cubes more aesthetically pleasing. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 2 This is a diagram of an ice maker.

[0014] Figures 3 to 5 This is a diagram showing the ice cup at different angles. Detailed Implementation

[0015] See Figure 1 , Figure 2 This embodiment includes an ice maker 3, an ice box 6, and a cold water tank 5. The ice box is placed inside the cold water tank, with a gap between them. The ice maker also contains an evaporator tube and its cooling end 21. The ice maker has an overflow port 33 on one side and a guide groove 32 on the other side.

[0016] See Figures 3 to 5 When making ice, the ice maker cup is shaped like this: Figure 3 As shown, the container is kept horizontal and filled with water until it flows out of the overflow outlet 33, thus it is in a state of full water storage. The cooling end 21 acts as the cold core, and the water in the surrounding space condenses into ice blocks with it as the core.

[0017] After the ice is made, invert the ice maker to... Figure 4 The shape shown represents the first inversion angle. At this point, the unfrozen water flows out from the guide channel, passes through the gap between the ice box 6 and the cold water tank 5, and flows into the cold water tank. Then the ice maker is further inverted to... Figure 5 The shape shown is the second flip angle. At this point, there is no liquid water in the ice maker, and the heating element causes the ice cubes to fall into the ice box.

Claims

1. An ice maker, comprising an ice-making cup for holding water, the ice-making cup having a flipping mechanism for flipping the ice-making cup at a certain angle; an evaporating tube passing over the ice-making cup, the evaporating tube having a plurality of protruding cooling ends extending into the ice-making cup; and an ice box for holding the produced ice cubes; characterized in that: It also includes a cold water tank, the ice box being smaller in volume than the cold water tank and placed inside the cold water tank, with a gap between the ice box and the side wall of the cold water tank; the flipping mechanism has at least three angles, namely the horizontal angle of the ice cup, the first flipping angle, and the second flipping angle.

2. The ice maker as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The ice-making cup has a flow channel on its edge, corresponding to the gap between the ice box and the cold water tank.

3. The ice maker as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The ice box has filter holes at the bottom.

Images