A vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of ice maker technology and discloses a vertically falling, narrow-body ice maker. The ice-making water tank is located below the evaporator mold, and the ice-making water tank is connected to a rotating structure. The axis of the rotating structure is perpendicular to the front and rear surfaces of the ice maker. A water tank is located below the ice-making water tank, and an ice storage box is installed between the water tank and the ice-making water tank. In a top view, the rear end of the water tank extends beyond the ice storage box, and the extended portion forms a water receiving area. The ice-making water tank has a drain outlet at the corresponding end above the water receiving area. When the rotating structure switches the ice-making water tank from ice-making state to drainage state, the liquid inside the ice-making water tank falls directly into the water receiving area through the drain outlet. This invention solves the problem in the prior art that water passing through the ice storage basket causes secondary freezing inside the ice storage basket or ice blocks sticking together, while adding a guide channel increases costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of ice maker technology, specifically to a vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker. Background Technology

[0002] In existing ice-making technology, the tilting water tank is a key structure for ice removal. During ice making, the evaporator mold is immersed in water in the tank, where refrigeration causes the water to freeze, forming the desired ice cubes. During ice removal, the refrigeration system switches to reverse circulation, heating the evaporator mold, while the water tank tilts, emptying the unfrozen water into the ice storage basket. The bottom of the ice storage basket has drainage holes, allowing water to drain to the water tank below. This tilting and drainage process directly affects ice-making efficiency, ice quality, and the long-term reliability of the equipment, making it one of the core design elements of an ice-making machine.

[0003] However, in the tilting drainage structure, the water in the tank needs to pass through the ice storage basket to reach the water tank. When the water spills to the bottom of the ice storage basket, some water remains in the gaps between the ice blocks or at the bottom of the ice storage basket, causing secondary freezing inside the ice storage basket or adhesion between the ice blocks, affecting the smoothness of ice removal and damaging the shape of the ice. To address this, the commonly used solution in existing technologies is to design an openable double-layer structure at the bottom of the tank, with holes at the bottom of the upper layer to allow water to flow into the lower guide plate and then into the water tank. However, this design increases the number of tanks, making the structure more complex and increasing the cost. Summary of the Invention

[0004] (a) Technical problems to be solved

[0005] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker, which has the advantage of directly draining water from the water tank into the water container without the need for additional components. This solves the problems in existing technologies where water passing through the ice storage basket causes secondary freezing inside the basket or ice blocks sticking together, while adding a guide channel increases costs.

[0006] (II) Technical Solution

[0007] To achieve the aforementioned goal of directly draining water from the water tank into the water container, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a vertical ice-dropping narrow-body ice maker, wherein the ice maker has an ice-collecting port side as its front, and includes an evaporator mold, an ice-making water tank, an ice storage box, and a water tank. The ice-making water tank has two states: ice-making state and drainage state. In the ice-making state, the ice-making water tank is located below the evaporator mold, and the ice-making water tank is connected to a rotating structure. The axis of the rotating structure is perpendicular to the front and rear surfaces of the ice maker, and the rotating structure can drive the ice-making water tank to rotate axially. The water container is located below the ice-making water tank, and the ice storage box is installed between the water container and the ice-making water tank. In the upward view, the rear end of the water container extends beyond the ice storage box, and the extended part forms a water receiving area. The ice-making water tank has a drain outlet at the corresponding end above the water receiving area, and a water-blocking edge is provided on the same side as the drain outlet. The height of the water-blocking edge on the ice-making water tank is higher than that of the drain outlet.

[0008] The rotation axis of the rotating structure is perpendicular to the front and rear surfaces of the ice maker. When the rotating structure changes the ice-making water tank from the ice-making state to the drainage state, the ice-making water tank gradually changes from horizontal to vertical. During the rotation, the height of the drain outlet gradually decreases below the horizontal plane and begins to drain. During the drainage process, the height of the water-blocking edge is always higher than the horizontal plane. The liquid inside the ice-making water tank falls directly into the water receiving area through the drain outlet.

[0009] Preferably, the drain outlet is located at the edge of the opening of the ice-making water tank, and the drain outlet is the lowest point of the edge of the ice-making water tank.

[0010] Preferably, the width of the end of the ice-making water tank near the drain outlet is greater than that of the other end; a reinforcing rib structure is provided on the inner surface of the end of the ice-making water tank near the drain outlet; the reinforcing rib structure protrudes into the ice-making water tank.

[0011] Preferably, a guide plate is provided below the ice-making water tank. The guide plate is located at the upper end of the water receiving area. A drain outlet is opened on the bottom surface of the guide plate. The guide plate is installed at an angle. The end of the guide plate near the ice storage box is lower. When the ice maker removes ice, the ice blocks enter the ice storage box through the guide plate.

[0012] Preferably, the ice storage box has a placement plate at the bottom, the placement plate is arc-shaped, and the end of the placement plate near the ice dispensing port is higher than the end near the interior of the ice maker; the ice storage box is on the upper surface of the placement plate and can be pulled towards the ice dispensing port, and the bottom of the ice storage box is an arc-shaped structure that matches the upper surface of the placement plate.

[0013] Preferably, the ice storage box has a drain outlet at the lower end of its arc-shaped bottom surface, which corresponds to the water receiving area, and there is no placement plate below the drain outlet.

[0014] Preferably, the bottom of the ice-making water tank is provided with rib structures protruding inward therein, and the number of rib structures is not less than two, which are distributed in an array at the bottom of the ice-making water tank.

[0015] (III) Beneficial Effects

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides a vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker, which has the following features:

[0017] Beneficial effects:

[0018] 1. This vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker optimizes the spatial layout of existing technologies. Compared with the traditional ice maker where the rotation axis of the ice-making water tank is parallel to the front of the equipment, this technical solution redesigns the rotation axis of the ice-making water tank to be perpendicular to the front of the equipment. This vertically arranged rotation axis allows the ice-making water tank to be installed closer to the inner wall of the equipment, thereby effectively reducing the waste of internal space.

[0019] 2. This vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker extends the water tank backward to form a water receiving area behind the ice storage box. Utilizing a water tank position perpendicular to existing technologies, a drain outlet is provided in the corresponding area of ​​the water tank within the water receiving area. This allows water to slowly drain from the lowest point of the tank's side wall (the drain outlet) during rotation, directly into the water tank below. Compared to existing technologies, this eliminates the step of water entering the ice storage box and then draining from the drain outlet, preventing water residue inside the ice storage box and thus avoiding ice sticking together. Furthermore, compared to the complex design of traditional double-layered opening structures at the bottom of the water tank with guide plates, this invention achieves superior drainage simply by providing a drain outlet on the side wall of the water tank. This simplifies the overall structure, reduces the number of parts, and significantly lowers production costs and maintenance difficulty, offering significant advantages such as simple structure, thorough drainage, and reliable operation.

[0020] 3. This vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker, by setting a guide plate below the ice-making water tank, can guide the ice blocks generated by the evaporator mold corresponding to the water receiving area into the ice storage box. It also has a drain outlet on its lower surface, which not only ensures that the water in the ice-making water tank can fall smoothly into the water tank, but also realizes the directional delivery of ice blocks, forming an efficient and reliable ice-water separation system, effectively avoiding the problem of resource waste caused by ice blocks accidentally entering the water tank. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the interior of the ice maker of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 This is a top view schematic diagram of the ice maker of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 This is a side sectional view of the ice maker of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 This is a side view of the ice-making water tank and evaporator mold of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the ice-making water tank structure of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the ice storage box structure of the present invention.

[0027] In the picture:

[0028] 1. Ice outlet; 2. Evaporator mold;

[0029] 3. Ice-making water tank; 31. Drain outlet; 32. Reinforcing rib structure; 33. Water-retaining edge; 34. Rib structure;

[0030] 4. Ice box storage; 41. Drain outlet;

[0031] 5. Water tank; 6. Rotating structure;

[0032] 7. Guide plate; 71. Drain outlet;

[0033] 8. Placement board. Detailed Implementation

[0034] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] Please see Figures 1-4A vertically falling, narrow-body ice maker is described. The ice maker has an ice-collecting port 1 on one side as its front. The ice maker includes an evaporator mold 2, an ice-making water tank 3, an ice storage box 4, and a water tank 5. Other existing structures, such as the refrigeration system, are not shown in the attached drawings. The ice-making water tank 3 has two states: ice-making and drainage. In the ice-making state, the ice-making water tank 3 is positioned below the evaporator mold 2 and contains water, facilitating the formation of ice blocks by the evaporator mold 2 within the water tank 3. The ice-making water tank 3 is connected to a rotating structure 6, which is existing technology and specifically includes a rotating... Unlike existing technologies, in this invention, the axis of the rotating structure 6 is perpendicular to the front and rear surfaces of the ice maker. The rotating structure 6 can drive the ice-making water tank 3 to rotate axially, significantly reducing the lateral width of the ice maker's internal space, thus reducing its footprint and achieving the beneficial effect of a narrow ice maker. A water tank 5 is located below the ice-making water tank 3, supplying water to the entire ice-making system. An ice storage box 4 is installed between the water tank 5 and the ice-making water tank 3 to store the finished ice. In this embodiment, the ice storage box 4 is located inside the upper part of the water tank 5. Viewed from above, the water tank 5... The rear end extends beyond the ice storage box 4, forming a water receiving area. A drain outlet 31 is provided at the corresponding end above the water receiving area in the ice-making water tank 3. A water-blocking edge 33 is provided on the same side as the drain outlet 31. The height of the water-blocking edge 33 on the ice-making water tank 3 is higher than that of the drain outlet 31. In this embodiment, the drain outlet 31 is located at the edge of the ice-making water tank 3. However, in actual design, the drain outlet 31 can also be designed as a separate hole in the side wall of the ice-making water tank 3. When the rotating structure 6 changes the ice-making water tank 3 from the ice-making state to the drainage state, the ice-making water tank 3 gradually changes from horizontal to vertical. During the rotation process... In the process, the height of the drain outlet 31 gradually decreases below the horizontal plane and begins to drain water. During the drainage process, the height of the water-blocking edge 33 remains above the horizontal plane. The liquid inside the ice-making water tank 3 falls directly into the water receiving area through the drain outlet 31. Compared with the traditional complex design that uses a double-layer opening and closing structure at the bottom of the water tank with a guide plate, this invention only needs to open the drain outlet 31 on the side wall of the ice-making water tank 3 to achieve a better drainage effect. It not only simplifies the overall structure and reduces the number of parts, but also significantly reduces production costs and maintenance difficulty. It has outstanding advantages such as simple structure, thorough drainage, and reliable operation.

[0036] Please see Figures 4-5 The drain outlet 31 is located at the edge of the opening of the ice-making water tank 3. The drain outlet 31 is the lowest point of the edge of the ice-making water tank 3. In actual use, the rotating motor in the rotating structure 6 can be controlled to slowly rotate the ice-making water tank 3 to ensure that the water inside the ice-making water tank 3 will only be discharged from the drain outlet 31.

[0037] Please see Figures 4-5Since the drain outlet 31 is located at one end, the water inside the ice-making water tank 3 will move towards the end with the drain outlet 31 when it is rotating to drain. Therefore, in this invention, the width of the end of the ice-making water tank 3 near the drain outlet 31 is greater than that of the other end, increasing the internal capacity of the end with the drain outlet 31. A reinforcing rib structure 32 is provided on the inner surface of the end of the ice-making water tank 3 near the drain outlet 31 to enhance the internal structural strength. The reinforcing rib structure 32 protrudes into the ice-making water tank 3 to prevent water from remaining inside the ice-making water tank 3. The bottom of the ice-making water tank 3 is provided with a rib structure 34 protruding into it. There are no fewer than two rib structures 34. The array distribution of the rib structure 34 at the bottom of the ice-making water tank 3 increases the structural strength of the ice-making water tank 3 and reduces the amount of water used when making ice, allowing a higher water level to be achieved with less water.

[0038] Please see Figure 3 A guide plate 7 is installed below the ice-making water tank 3. The guide plate 7 is located at the upper end of the water receiving area. It compensates for the narrow interior of the ice maker, where the evaporator mold 2 extends beyond the ice storage box 4, causing some ice to fall into the water tank 5 below, resulting in waste and low ice-making efficiency. The bottom surface of the guide plate 7 has a drain outlet 71. The guide plate 7 is installed at an angle, with the end of the guide plate 7 closer to the ice storage box 4 being lower. When the ice maker thaws, the ice blocks enter the ice storage box 4 through the guide plate 7. This ensures that the water in the ice-making water tank 3 can fall smoothly into the water tank 5, and also realizes the directional transportation of ice blocks, forming an efficient and reliable ice-water separation system, effectively avoiding the resource waste caused by ice blocks accidentally entering the water tank 5.

[0039] Please see Figure 3 and Figure 6 The ice storage box 4 has a placement plate 8 at its bottom. The placement plate 8 has an overall arc-shaped structure. The end of the placement plate 8 near the ice dispensing port 1 is higher than the end near the inside of the ice maker, thus forming an inwardly curved arc inside the ice maker. The ice storage box 4 can be pulled out towards the ice dispensing port 1 from the upper surface of the placement plate 8. The bottom of the ice storage box 4 has an arc-shaped structure that matches the upper surface of the placement plate 8. The lower end of the arc-shaped structure on the bottom surface of the ice storage box 4 has a drain outlet 41, which corresponds to the water receiving area. There is no placement plate 8 below the drain outlet 41. This design allows the water inside the ice storage box 4 to flow along the arc-shaped trajectory to the lowest end where there is no placement plate 8, and then fall from the drain outlet 41 into the water tank 5 below.

[0040] In summary, this vertical ice-falling narrow-body ice maker achieves space optimization and performance improvement through three key technological innovations: First, the innovative design of the rotating axis of the ice-making water tank 3 is perpendicular to the front of the equipment. Compared with the traditional parallel arrangement, this allows the water tank to be installed closer to the inner wall of the equipment, significantly reducing internal space waste. Second, by extending the water tank 5 backward to form a dedicated water receiving area, and opening a drain outlet 31 on the side wall of the ice-making water tank 3 at the corresponding position, the internal liquid can be directly discharged from the drain outlet 31 into the water receiving area when the water tank is tilted, eliminating the need for water to be collected in the traditional design. The intermediate step of draining water through the drain hole of the ice storage box 4 avoids the problem of ice sticking caused by residual water in the ice storage box 4, and simplifies the overall structure, eliminating the need for the traditional double-layer guide plate design and significantly reducing production costs. Finally, the guide plate 7 set below the ice-making water tank 3, together with the drain outlet 71 on its lower surface, not only achieves precise guiding and conveying of ice blocks generated by the evaporator mold 2, but also ensures the smooth flow of water, forming a highly efficient ice-water separation system. This completely solves the problem of resource waste caused by ice blocks accidentally entering the water tank 5, and gives the equipment significant advantages such as compact structure, thorough drainage, and reliable operation.

[0041] It should be noted that, in this document, terms such as "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0042] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A vertical ice-dropping narrow-body ice maker, wherein the ice maker has an ice-collecting port (1) on one side as the front, the ice maker includes an evaporator mold (2), an ice-making water tank (3), an ice storage box (4), and a water tank (5), the ice-making water tank (3) is divided into an ice-making state and a drainage state, in the ice-making state, the ice-making water tank (3) is located below the evaporator mold (2), the ice-making water tank (3) is connected to a rotating structure (6), the rotating structure (6) can drive the ice-making water tank (3) to rotate axially; the water tank (5) is located below the ice-making water tank (3), and the ice storage box (4) is installed between the water tank (5) and the ice-making water tank (3), characterized in that: In the upward view, the rear end of the water tank (5) extends beyond the ice storage box (4), and the extended part forms a water receiving area. The ice-making water tank (3) has a drain outlet (31) at the corresponding end above the water receiving area. A water-blocking edge (33) is provided on the same side as the drain outlet (31). The height of the water-blocking edge (33) on the ice-making water tank (3) is higher than that of the drain outlet (31). The rotation axis of the rotating structure (6) is perpendicular to the front and rear surfaces of the ice maker. When the rotating structure (6) changes the ice-making water tank (3) from the ice-making state to the drainage state, the ice-making water tank (3) gradually changes from horizontal to vertical. During the rotation, the height of the drain outlet (31) gradually decreases below the horizontal plane and begins to drain water. During the drainage process, the height of the water-blocking edge (33) is always higher than the horizontal plane. The liquid inside the ice-making water tank (3) falls directly into the water receiving area through the drain outlet (31).

2. The vertical drop ice narrow-body ice maker according to claim 1, wherein: The drain outlet (31) is located at the edge of the opening of the ice-making water tank (3), and the drain outlet (31) is the lowest point of the edge of the ice-making water tank (3).

3. The vertical drop ice narrow-body ice maker according to claim 1, wherein: The ice-making water tank (3) has a wider end near the drain outlet (31) than the other end; a reinforcing rib structure (32) is provided on the inner surface of the end of the ice-making water tank (3) near the drain outlet (31); the reinforcing rib structure (32) protrudes into the ice-making water tank (3).

4. The vertical drop ice narrow-body ice maker according to claim 1, wherein: A guide plate (7) is provided below the ice-making water tank (3). The guide plate (7) is located at the upper end of the water receiving area. A drain outlet (71) is opened on the bottom surface of the guide plate (7). The guide plate (7) is installed at an angle. The end of the guide plate (7) near the ice storage box (4) is lower. When the ice maker removes ice, the ice blocks enter the ice storage box (4) through the guide plate (7).

5. The vertical drop ice narrow-body ice maker according to claim 1, wherein: The ice storage box (4) has a placement plate (8) at the bottom. The placement plate (8) has an overall arc-shaped structure. The end of the placement plate (8) near the ice dispensing port (1) is higher than the end near the inside of the ice maker. The ice storage box (4) is on the upper surface of the placement plate (8) and can be pulled towards the ice dispensing port (1). The bottom of the ice storage box (4) has an arc-shaped structure that matches the upper surface of the placement plate (8).

6. The vertical drop ice narrow-body ice maker according to claim 5, wherein: The bottom arc structure of the ice storage box (4) is provided with a water leakage opening (41) at a lower end, the water leakage opening (41) corresponds to the position of the water receiving area, and the water leakage opening (41) is not provided with the placing plate (8) below.

7. The vertical drop ice cube narrow icemaker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The ice making water tank (3) is provided with a rib structure (34) protruding to the inside of the bottom, the number of the rib structure (34) is not less than two, and the rib structure (34) is arrayed distributed on the bottom of the ice making water tank (3).

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