阅读说明：本技术 一种制冰机及其控制方法 (Ice maker and control method thereof ) 是由 郭建刚 谭志云 干凌峰 于 2020-06-15 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明实施例提供了一种制冰机及其控制方法,制冰机包括上水箱、制冰组件以及水泵组件。上水箱上连接有进水管道和排水管道。制冰组件包括上端敞口的制冰桶,制冰桶通过连通管道与上水箱连通,以将由连通管道进入制冰组件内的水制成冰块后由敞口端排出；上水箱的箱壁设有连通至制冰桶的敞口端的溢流通道,以在清洗制冰机或融化制冰机内的冰时,上水箱内的水由溢流通道经由敞口端流入制冰桶内。水泵组件连接于连通管道,用于在清洗制冰机时,通过连通管道将制冰组件内的水抽入上水箱内,以使水在制冰组件内和上水箱内循环流动。上述结构能够缩短在制冰机冻结时融冰的时间,还能够利用循环水清洗上水箱和制冰桶,提升了用户的使用体验。(The embodiment of the invention provides an ice machine and a control method thereof. The upper water tank is connected with a water inlet pipeline and a water discharge pipeline. The ice making assembly comprises an ice making barrel with an open upper end, and the ice making barrel is communicated with the upper water tank through a communicating pipeline so as to make water entering the ice making assembly from the communicating pipeline into ice blocks and discharge the ice blocks from the open end; the wall of the upper water tank is provided with an overflow channel communicated with the open end of the ice making barrel, so that when the ice maker is cleaned or melted, water in the upper water tank flows into the ice making barrel from the overflow channel through the open end. The water pump assembly is connected with the communicating pipeline and used for pumping water in the ice making assembly into the upper water tank through the communicating pipeline when the ice making machine is cleaned, so that the water circularly flows in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank. The ice melting time of the ice maker can be shortened, the upper water tank and the ice making barrel can be cleaned by utilizing circulating water, and the use experience of a user is improved.)

1. An ice maker, comprising:

the upper water tank is connected with a water inlet pipeline and a water drainage pipeline;

the ice making assembly comprises an ice making barrel with an open upper end, and the ice making barrel is communicated with the upper water tank through a communicating pipeline so as to discharge water entering the ice making assembly from the communicating pipeline after being made into ice blocks; the wall of the upper water tank is provided with an overflow channel communicated to the open end of the ice making barrel, so that when the ice maker is cleaned or ice in the ice maker is melted, water in the upper water tank flows into the ice making barrel from the overflow channel through the open end;

and the water pump assembly is connected to the communication pipeline and is used for pumping water in the ice making assembly into the upper water tank through the communication pipeline when the ice making machine is cleaned so as to enable the water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank.

2. The ice-making machine of claim 1, further comprising an ice-discharging assembly for transporting ice cubes made by said ice-making assembly and discharged from said open end, wherein a plurality of overflow holes are provided in a side of said ice-discharging assembly adjacent to said open end, and a water-receiving chamber is provided below said plurality of overflow holes and in communication with said water-discharging duct, such that water overflowing from said ice-making assembly can be discharged from said overflow holes into said water-discharging duct when said ice-making machine is cleaned or ice in said ice-making machine is melted.

3. The ice-making machine of claim 1, wherein a liquid level switch is disposed in said upper water tank, a first solenoid valve electrically connected to said liquid level switch is disposed on said water inlet pipe, and when said ice-making machine is used for making ice, said first solenoid valve controls the water inlet amount to make the liquid level in said upper water tank between a first threshold and a second threshold; when the ice maker is cleaned or ice in the ice maker is melted, the liquid level switch sends a closing signal to the first electromagnetic valve when the liquid level in the upper water tank exceeds a third threshold value;

wherein the third threshold is greater than the second threshold, which is greater than the first threshold.

4. The ice-making machine of claim 1, wherein said drain line is connected to said communication line by a first branch line, said first branch line having a second solenoid valve thereon, said first branch line being located downstream of said water pump assembly in the direction of flow of water from said header tank into said ice-making assembly, said second solenoid valve being activated to drain water from said header tank and said ice-making assembly in a purge state.

5. The ice maker as claimed in claim 4, wherein the water inlet end of the water pump assembly is communicated with the communication pipe through a second branch pipe, and the water outlet end thereof is communicated with the upper water tank through a third branch pipe, so that when the ice maker is cleaned, the water pump assembly pumps the water in the upper water tank and the ice making bucket into the third branch pipe through the communication pipe and the second branch pipe and enters the upper water tank.

6. The ice-making machine of claim 2, wherein said ice-out assembly has an arcuate first baffle disposed about said open end, one end of said overflow passage being connected to said first baffle and communicating with an area bounded by said first baffle.

7. The ice-making machine of claim 6, wherein said ice-discharging assembly further comprises a slide plate disposed at a downward inclination and second shutters disposed at two opposite sides of said slide plate, said second shutters are formed by extending and inclining two ends of said first shutter downward, and an ice storage box for storing ice cubes is disposed at a side of said slide plate away from said open end.

8. A method of controlling an ice making machine, the method comprising:

supplying water to an upper water tank of the ice maker;

water in the upper water tank enters the ice making assembly through an ice making water supply pipe, and the water in the upper water tank overflows into an ice making barrel of the ice making assembly;

the water overflowed by the ice making assembly enters the ice outlet assembly and overflows from the ice outlet assembly to a drainage pipeline.

9. The control method of an ice maker according to claim 8, further comprising:

adding a cleaning agent into the water in the upper water tank to form cleaning water;

starting a water pump assembly respectively connected with the water feeding tank and the ice making assembly to pump water in the ice making assembly into the water feeding tank, and enabling the cleaning water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly and the water feeding tank so as to clean the ice making assembly and the water feeding tank;

and after the cleaning is finished, draining the cleaning water in the upper water tank and the ice-making assembly.

10. The control method of an ice maker according to claim 9, further comprising:

after the cleaning water in the upper water tank and the ice-making assembly is drained, adding water into the upper water tank;

the water in the upper water tank enters the ice making assembly through an ice making water supply pipe, and the water in the upper water tank overflows into an ice making barrel of the ice making assembly;

starting the water pump assembly to enable water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank so as to clean the residual cleaning water in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank;

and after the cleaning is finished, draining water in the upper water tank and the ice-making assembly.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the field of refrigeration technology application, and particularly relates to an ice making machine and a control method thereof.

Background

At present, ice makers are widely applied to the fields of food, light industry, medical treatment and the like, for example, ice cubes are needed to keep a low-temperature environment in the transportation and production processes of seafood and meat, the cooling process in a chemical process and the like. However, after the traditional ice maker is used for a long time, scales are easily generated on a water tank and an ice making barrel of the ice maker, and the quality of ice cubes made subsequently cannot be guaranteed. For example, chinese patent publication No. CN106352639A discloses an ice maker including a water tank, an ice box, and an evaporator above a plurality of ice cells to transmit cooling energy to the ice cells, which is not only incapable of rapidly cleaning the water tank and the ice making tub, but also incapable of rapidly melting ice by a user when ice remaining in the ice cells affects ice making again, which is not beneficial to user operation and use.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the technical problems in the prior art, the invention provides an ice maker and a control method thereof, wherein the ice maker can quickly clean the upper water tank and the ice making barrel and quickly melt ice in the ice making barrel when the upper water tank and the ice making barrel are frozen through an overflow channel connected between the upper water tank and the ice making barrel and a water pump assembly capable of pumping water in the ice making assembly into the upper water tank, so that a user can conveniently use the ice maker and the user experience is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an ice making machine, including:

the upper water tank is connected with a water inlet pipeline and a water drainage pipeline;

the ice making assembly comprises an ice making barrel with an open upper end, and the ice making barrel is communicated with the upper water tank through a communicating pipeline so as to discharge water entering the ice making assembly from the communicating pipeline after being made into ice blocks; the wall of the upper water tank is provided with an overflow channel communicated to the open end of the ice making barrel, so that when the ice maker is cleaned or ice in the ice maker is melted, water in the upper water tank flows into the ice making barrel from the overflow channel through the open end;

and the water pump assembly is connected to the communication pipeline and is used for pumping water in the ice making assembly into the upper water tank through the communication pipeline when the ice making machine is cleaned so as to enable the water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank. The ice melting time of the ice maker can be shortened, the upper water tank and the ice making barrel can be cleaned by utilizing circulating water, and the use experience of a user is improved.

In some embodiments, the ice maker further comprises an ice discharging assembly for transporting ice cubes made by the ice making assembly and discharged from the open end, a plurality of overflow holes are formed in one side, close to the open end, of the ice discharging assembly, and a water containing cavity communicated with the water discharging pipeline is arranged below the plurality of overflow holes, so that when the ice maker is cleaned or ice in the ice maker is melted, water overflowing from the ice making assembly can be discharged into the water discharging pipeline through the overflow holes, and therefore the condition that the ice cubes in the ice storage box are polluted due to the fact that the water used for cleaning or ice melting enters the ice storage box through the ice discharging assembly is avoided.

In some embodiments, a liquid level switch is arranged in the upper water tank, a first electromagnetic valve electrically connected with the liquid level switch is arranged on the water inlet pipeline, and when the ice maker is used for making ice, the first electromagnetic valve controls the water inlet quantity to enable the liquid level in the upper water tank to be between a first threshold value and a second threshold value; when the ice maker is cleaned or ice in the ice maker is melted, the liquid level switch sends a closing signal to the first electromagnetic valve when the liquid level in the upper water tank exceeds a third threshold value;

wherein the third threshold is greater than the second threshold, which is greater than the first threshold. The liquid level in the upper water tank can be controlled in real time through the liquid level switch, and the use by a user is facilitated.

In some embodiments, the drainage pipeline is communicated with the communication pipeline through a first branch pipe, the first branch pipe is provided with a second electromagnetic valve, the first branch pipe is located at the downstream of the water pump assembly in the flowing direction of water in the communication pipeline from the upper water tank to the ice making assembly, and the second electromagnetic valve is started to drain water in the upper water tank and the ice making assembly in a cleaning state, so that water in the upper water tank and the ice making assembly is drained quickly, and the residual of cleaning water is avoided.

In some embodiments, the water inlet end of the water pump assembly is communicated with the communication pipeline through a second branch pipe, and the water outlet end of the water pump assembly is communicated with the upper water tank through a third branch pipe, so that when the ice maker is cleaned, the water pump assembly pumps water in the upper water tank and the ice making bucket into the third branch pipe through the communication pipeline and the second branch pipe and enters the upper water tank. When making to go up the interior cleaner that adds of water tank through above-mentioned structure, can make the water in the upper water tank and the water in the ice-making subassembly through water pump assembly when the circulation flows, can also stir cleaner and water in the upper water tank, make cleaner and hydroenergy enough intensive mixing

In some embodiments, the ice discharging assembly has a first baffle plate with an arc shape around the open end, one end of the overflow channel is connected to the first baffle plate, and the overflow channel is communicated with the area enclosed by the first baffle plate, the first baffle plate can guide ice blocks to be discharged from the open side of the first baffle plate to the ice discharging assembly during ice making, and can guide the flow direction of water overflowing from the ice making bucket during cleaning or ice melting, so as to avoid water overflowing around.

In some embodiments, the ice discharging assembly further comprises a sliding plate arranged in a downward inclined manner and second baffles arranged on two opposite sides of the sliding plate, the second baffles are formed by extending and inclining two ends of the first baffle downwards, and an ice storage box used for containing ice blocks is arranged on one side of the sliding plate away from the open end. The ice made by the ice making assembly can directly slide into the ice storage box through the sliding plate by the structure, so that the ice made by the ice making assembly can be conveniently stored and stored.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a control method of the ice making machine, which comprises the following steps:

supplying water to an upper water tank of the ice maker;

water in the upper water tank enters the ice making assembly through an ice making water supply pipe, and the water in the upper water tank overflows into an ice making barrel of the ice making assembly;

the water overflowed by the ice making assembly enters the ice outlet assembly and overflows from the ice outlet assembly to a drainage pipeline. By the method, the upper water tank and the ice making barrel can be quickly cleaned and ice in the ice making barrel can be quickly cleaned and melted when the ice making barrel is frozen, so that a user can conveniently use the ice making machine, and the user experience is improved.

In some embodiments, the control method further comprises:

adding a cleaning agent into the water in the upper water tank to form cleaning water;

starting a water pump assembly respectively connected with the water feeding tank and the ice making assembly to pump water in the ice making assembly into the water feeding tank, and enabling the cleaning water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly and the water feeding tank so as to clean the ice making assembly and the water feeding tank;

and after the cleaning is finished, draining the cleaning water in the upper water tank and the ice-making assembly. By the method, the ice maker can be quickly cleaned, the defect that cleaning can be carried out only by detaching the water feeding tank and the ice making assembly is avoided, and the use experience of a user is improved.

In some embodiments, the control method further comprises:

after the cleaning water in the upper water tank and the ice-making assembly is drained, adding water into the upper water tank;

the water in the upper water tank enters the ice making assembly through an ice making water supply pipe, and the water in the upper water tank overflows into an ice making barrel of the ice making assembly;

starting the water pump assembly to enable water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank so as to clean the residual cleaning water in the ice making assembly and the upper water tank;

after the ice making machine is cleaned, water in the upper water tank and the ice making assembly is drained completely to avoid the situation that cleaning water is remained so as to influence the quality of ice blocks made by a subsequent ice making machine.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that: according to the ice making device, the overflow channel communicated with the open end of the ice making barrel is arranged on the wall of the upper water tank, so that when the ice making machine is frozen, water in the upper water tank enters the ice making barrel through the overflow channel and the open end to melt ice blocks frozen in the ice making barrel, or when the ice making machine needs to be cleaned, the water in the upper water tank and the water in the ice making barrel circularly flow to clean through the overflow channel and the water pump assembly capable of pumping the water in the ice making assembly into the upper water tank, and the defect that the ice making machine needs to be detached to clean in the prior art is overcome. The ice melting time of the ice maker can be shortened, the upper water tank and the ice making barrel can be cleaned by utilizing circulating water, and the use experience of a user is improved.

Drawings

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like reference numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like reference numerals having letter suffixes or different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate various embodiments generally by way of example and not by way of limitation, and together with the description and claims serve to explain the disclosed embodiments. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts, where appropriate. Such embodiments are illustrative, and are not intended to be exhaustive or exclusive embodiments of the present apparatus or method.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another schematic structural diagram of an ice making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of water inlet to an ice making machine prior to cleaning according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an ice-making machine according to an embodiment of the present invention in a purge state;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the drainage of water after the ice maker of the embodiment of the invention is cleaned;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an ice maker in an ice-melting state according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The members denoted by reference numerals in the drawings:

1-a water feeding tank; 11-an overflow channel; 2-a water inlet pipeline; 21-a first solenoid valve; 3-a drainage pipeline; 31-a first branch tube; 32-a second solenoid valve; 4-an ice-making assembly; 41-an ice making barrel; 42-a connecting pipe; 5-a water pump assembly; 51-a second branch; 52-third branch pipe; 6-an ice discharging assembly; 61-overflow holes; 62-a first baffle; 63-a slide plate; 64-a second baffle; 7-liquid level switch.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions of the present invention better understood, the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of embodiments of the invention, but is not intended to limit the invention.

The use of "first," "second," and similar terms in the present application do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather the terms are used to distinguish one element from another. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element preceding the word covers the element listed after the word, and does not exclude the possibility that other elements are also covered. "upper", "lower", "left", "right", and the like are used merely to indicate relative positional relationships, and when the absolute position of the object being described is changed, the relative positional relationships may also be changed accordingly.

In the present invention, when it is described that a specific device is located between a first device and a second device, there may or may not be an intervening device between the specific device and the first device or the second device. When a particular device is described as being coupled to other devices, that particular device may be directly coupled to the other devices without intervening devices or may be directly coupled to the other devices with intervening devices.

All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs unless specifically defined otherwise. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an ice maker, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, including an upper water tank 1, an ice making assembly 4, and a water pump assembly 5. The upper water tank 1 is connected with a water inlet pipeline 2 and a water outlet pipeline 3 (as shown in figure 3). The ice making assembly 4 comprises an ice making barrel 41 with an open upper end, the ice making barrel 41 is communicated with the upper water tank 1 through a communication pipeline 42 (as shown in fig. 3) so as to make the water entering the ice making assembly 4 from the communication pipeline 42 into ice blocks and then discharge the ice blocks from the open end; the wall of the upper water tank 1 is provided with an overflow passage 11 (shown in fig. 2 and 3) communicating to the open end of the ice making tub 41 so that water in the upper water tank 1 flows into the ice making tub 41 through the open end from the overflow passage 11 when the ice maker is washed or the ice in the ice maker is melted. The water pump assembly 5 is connected to a communication pipe 42 (shown in fig. 2 and 3), and the water pump assembly 5 is used for pumping water in the ice making assembly 4 into the upper water tank 1 through the communication pipe 42 when the ice making machine is cleaned, so that the water circularly flows in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1.

It can be understood that, when the ice maker makes ice, water is supplied into the upper water tank 1 through the water inlet pipe 2, the water in the upper water tank 1 enters the ice making tub 41 through the communication pipe 42, and the ice cubes made in the ice making tub 41 are discharged from the open end of the ice making tub 41.

It is understood that the overflow passage 11 may be an overflow tank with an open upper portion, or an overflow pipe, which enables water in the upper water tank 1 to enter the ice making tub 41 through the open end of the ice making tub 41 when a predetermined water level is reached (i.e., the water level rises to the height of the overflow passage 11).

It can be understood that when the ice making machine is cleaned, water is supplied into the upper water tank 1 through the water inlet pipeline 2, as shown in fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the ice making machine in a cleaning state, water in the upper water tank 1 can enter the ice making assembly 4 through the overflow channel 11 and can also enter the ice making assembly 4 through the communication pipeline 42, the water pump assembly 5 can be turned on after water inlet is completed (as shown in fig. 4 and fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the ice making machine in a cleaning state), the water pump assembly 5 is used for pumping water in the ice making assembly 4 into the upper water tank 1 through the communication pipeline 42, so that water circularly flows in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1 for cleaning, and after the cleaning time reaches a preset time, water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4 is drained through the water drainage pipeline 3 (as shown in fig. The effect of cleaning the ice maker quickly can be realized through the structure, the problem that the ice maker can be cleaned only by detaching the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4 is avoided, and the use experience of a user is improved.

It can be understood that when the ice maker is frozen, water is supplied into the upper water tank 1 through the water inlet pipe 2, as shown in fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the ice maker in an ice-melting state, water in the upper water tank 1 can enter the ice making assembly 4 through the overflow channel 11, and can also enter the ice making assembly 4 through the communication pipe 42, water entering the ice making assembly 4 through the overflow channel 11 can melt ice blocks generated by freezing the open end of the ice making barrel 41, and the ice-melted water enters the ice making barrel 41, when too much water in the ice making barrel 41 overflows from the open end thereof, the overflowed water can be discharged from the ice discharging assembly 6 connected with the ice making assembly 4, and can also be discharged through the water discharge pipe 3, and the discharged water can take away the cold energy of the water used for melting the ice blocks in the ice making barrel 41, so that the water temperature in the ice making barrel 41 cannot be frozen again due to the gradual reduction of the temperature of the ice blocks in the ice making barrel 41, and partial cold energy is taken away by the discharged water, so that the ice melting efficiency of the ice maker can be improved, and quick ice melting is realized.

According to the invention, the overflow channel 11 communicated with the open end of the ice making barrel 41 is arranged on the wall of the upper water tank 1, so that when the ice maker is frozen, water in the upper water tank 1 enters the ice making barrel 41 through the overflow channel 11 and the open end to melt ice blocks frozen in the ice making barrel 41, or when the ice maker needs to be cleaned, the water in the ice making assembly 4 can be pumped into the water pump assembly 5 in the upper water tank 1 through the overflow channel 11, so that the water in the upper water tank 1 and the water in the ice making barrel 41 circularly flow to be cleaned, and the defect that the cleaning can be carried out only when the ice maker needs to be detached in the prior art is avoided. The ice melting time of the ice maker can be shortened, the upper water tank 1 and the ice making barrel 41 can be cleaned by using circulating water, and the use experience of a user is improved.

In some embodiments, the ice maker further comprises an ice discharging assembly 6 (shown in fig. 1 and 2) for transporting ice pieces made by the ice making assembly 4 and discharged through the open end, wherein when the ice making assembly 4 completes making ice, the ice pieces are discharged through the open end and transported through the ice discharging assembly 6 into an ice bin capable of receiving ice pieces. A plurality of overflow holes 61 (as shown in fig. 1 and 2) are arranged on one side of the ice outlet assembly 6 close to the open end, a water containing cavity communicated with the drainage pipeline 3 is arranged below the plurality of overflow holes 61, water overflowing from the ice making barrel 41 is discharged from the open end and then enters the water containing cavity through the overflow holes 61, so that when the ice making machine is cleaned or ice in the ice making machine is melted, the water overflowing from the ice making assembly 4 can be discharged into the drainage pipeline 3 through the overflow holes 61, and therefore the water used for cleaning or ice melting is prevented from entering the ice storage box through the ice outlet assembly 6, and ice cubes in the ice storage box are prevented from being polluted.

In some embodiments, a liquid level switch 7 (shown in fig. 1 and 2) is arranged in the upper water tank 1, a first electromagnetic valve 21 electrically connected with the liquid level switch 7 is arranged on the water inlet pipe 2, and when the ice maker is used for making ice, the first electromagnetic valve 21 controls the water inlet quantity to enable the liquid level in the upper water tank 1 to be between a first threshold value and a second threshold value; when the ice maker is cleaned or the ice in the ice maker is melted, the liquid level switch 7 sends a closing signal to the first electromagnetic valve 21 when the liquid level in the upper water tank 1 exceeds a third threshold value; wherein the third threshold is greater than the second threshold, which is greater than the first threshold.

It can be understood that when the ice maker is in the ice making state, the liquid level switch 7 controls the liquid level in the upper water tank 1 to be between the first threshold and the second threshold, so that the water in the upper water tank 1 can be continuously supplied into the ice making assembly 4, thereby enabling the ice maker to continuously make ice. When the ice maker is in a cleaning state or an ice melting state, water in the upper water tank 1 needs to enter the ice making assembly 4 through the overflow channel 11, so that a third threshold value which is larger than the first threshold value and the second threshold value is set for the liquid level switch 7, the water in the upper water tank 1 can enter the ice making assembly 4 through the overflow channel 11, the liquid level in the upper water tank 1 can exceed the third threshold value, and when the water in the upper water tank 1 overflows from a tank opening of the upper water tank 1, the first electromagnetic valve 21 is closed in time to stop supplying water to the upper water tank 1. The above-mentioned setting of the liquid level switch 7 enables the water level in the upper water tank 1 to be effectively controlled, which is convenient for the user to use the ice maker.

In some embodiments, the drainage pipeline 3 is communicated with the communication pipeline 42 through a first branch pipe 31, as shown in fig. 3 to 6, a second electromagnetic valve 32 is arranged on the first branch pipe 31, the first branch pipe 31 is positioned at the downstream of the water pump assembly 5 in the flowing direction of water in the communication pipeline 42 from the upper water tank 1 to the ice making assembly 4 (as shown in fig. 3), and the second electromagnetic valve 32 is started to drain water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4 in a cleaning state. As shown in fig. 5, when the washing is completed, the second solenoid valve 32 is opened to drain water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4. Since the water used in the cleaning process is the cleaning water containing the cleaning agent, the second electromagnetic valve 32 can quickly drain the water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4, and the residual cleaning water is avoided.

In some embodiments, the water inlet end of the water pump assembly 5 is communicated with the communication pipe 42 through the second branch pipe 51, and the water outlet end thereof is communicated with the upper water tank 1 through the third branch pipe 52, so that when the ice maker is washed, the water pump assembly 5 pumps the water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice making bucket 41 into the third branch pipe 52 through the communication pipe 42 and the second branch pipe 51 and into the upper water tank 1. As shown in fig. 4, the above structure enables water in both the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4 to flow from the communication pipe 42 to the second branch pipe 51 to flow to the water inlet end of the water pump assembly 5 connected to the second branch pipe 51, and water entering from the water inlet end is pumped into the upper water tank 1 through the third branch pipe 52 by the water pump assembly 5.

It can be understood that, as shown in fig. 4, the second branch pipe 51 divides the communication pipeline 42 into a first sub-communication pipeline connected to the upper water tank 1 and a second sub-communication pipeline communicated with the ice making assembly 4, water in the upper water tank 1 flows to the water inlet end of the water pump assembly 5 through the first sub-communication pipeline and is pumped to the upper water tank 1 through the water pump assembly 5, so that after the cleaning agent is added to the upper water tank 1, the cleaning agent and the water in the upper water tank 1 can be stirred by the water pump assembly 5, and the cleaning agent and the water can be sufficiently mixed.

In some embodiments, the ice discharging assembly 6 has an arc-shaped first baffle 62 (as shown in fig. 2) disposed around the open end, one end of the overflow channel 11 is connected to the first baffle 62, and the overflow channel 11 is communicated with the area enclosed by the first baffle 62, the first baffle 62 can guide ice cubes to be discharged from the open side of the first baffle 62 to the ice discharging assembly 6 during ice making, and can guide the flow direction of water overflowing from the ice making bucket 41 during cleaning or ice melting, so as to prevent the water from overflowing around to damage the operation of other structures, such as a motor and the like driving the operation of the ice making assembly 4.

In some embodiments, the ice discharging assembly 6 further has a sliding plate 63 disposed at a downward inclination, and second blocking plates 64 (shown in fig. 2) disposed at two opposite sides of the sliding plate 63, wherein the second blocking plates 64 are formed by extending and inclining two ends of the first blocking plate 62 downward, and an ice storage box for containing ice cubes is disposed at a side of the sliding plate 63 away from the open end. The above structure enables the ice made by the ice making assembly 4 to be directly slid into the ice storage box by the sliding plate 63, facilitating the storage and retrieval of the made ice pieces.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a control method of the ice making machine, which comprises the following steps:

supplying water into the upper water tank 1 of the ice maker;

the water in the upper water tank 1 enters the ice-making assembly 4 through the ice-making water supply pipe, and the water in the upper water tank 1 overflows into the ice-making bucket 41 of the ice-making assembly 4;

the water overflowed from the ice making assembly 4 enters the ice outlet assembly 6 and overflows from the ice outlet assembly 6 to the water discharge pipeline 3.

It can be understood that when the ice block generated by freezing in the ice maker is melted, the first electromagnetic valve 21 is opened to supply water to the upper water tank 1 of the ice maker through the water inlet pipe 2, and the water in the upper water tank 1 can not only enter the ice making assembly 4 through the ice making water supply pipe to melt the ice block generated by freezing in the ice making barrel 41, but also enter the ice making barrel 41 through the overflow passage 11 and the open end of the ice making barrel 41 to melt the ice generated by freezing at the open end of the ice making barrel 41, so that the ice in the ice making barrel 41 can be sufficiently melted by the above method. In addition, when the ice maker is in an ice melting state, the water inlet pipeline 2 can continuously supply water for the upper water tank 1, when the water in the ice making barrel 41 overflows excessively, the overflowed water can be discharged into the water discharge pipeline 3 through the overflow hole 61 on the ice outlet assembly 6, and the overflowed water can take away the cold energy of the water for melting ice in the ice making barrel 41, so that the water temperature in the ice making barrel 41 cannot be frozen again due to the gradual reduction of the temperature of ice blocks in the ice making barrel 41, the ice melting efficiency of the ice maker can be improved, and the ice can be melted quickly.

It can be understood that when the ice maker is cleaned, the first electromagnetic valve 21 is opened to supply water to the upper water tank 1 of the ice maker through the water inlet pipe 2, the water in the upper water tank 1 can enter the ice making assembly 4 through the ice making water supply pipe and can also enter the ice making barrel 41 through the overflow channel 11 and the open end of the ice making barrel 41, and when the water for cleaning in the ice making barrel 41 overflows excessively, the overflowed water can be discharged into the water discharge pipe 3 through the overflow hole 61 on the ice outlet assembly 6.

In some embodiments, the control method further comprises:

adding a cleaning agent into the water in the upper water tank 1 to form cleaning water;

starting a water pump assembly 5 respectively connected with the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 to pump water in the ice-making assembly 4 into the upper water tank 1, and enabling cleaning water to circularly flow in the ice-making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1 to clean the ice-making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1;

after the cleaning is finished, the cleaning water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 is drained.

It can be understood that when the ice maker is cleaned, the cleaning agent is added into the water in the upper water tank 1, and the cleaning agent and the water are fully mixed to form cleaning water, at this time, the first electromagnetic valve 21 can be closed, so that the cleaning water is prevented from overflowing from the open end of the ice making tub 41. And then, start the water pump assembly 5 who is connected respectively with upper water tank 1 and ice-making subassembly 4 to in with the water suction in the ice-making subassembly 4 in upper water tank 1, make the washing water circulate in ice-making subassembly 4 and upper water tank 1, in order fully to wash upper water tank 1 and ice-making subassembly 4, after the washing time reaches the preset time, arrange the water in upper water tank 1 and ice-making subassembly 4 through drainage pipe 3 completely. By the method, the ice maker can be quickly cleaned, the defect that cleaning can be carried out only by detaching the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4 is avoided, and the use experience of a user is improved.

In some embodiments, the control method further comprises:

after the cleaning water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 is drained, water is added into the upper water tank 1;

the water in the upper water tank 1 enters the ice-making assembly 4 through the ice-making water supply pipe, and the water in the upper water tank 1 overflows to the ice-making bucket 41 of the ice-making assembly 4;

starting the water pump assembly 5 to enable water to circularly flow in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1 so as to clean the residual cleaning water in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1;

after the cleaning is finished, the water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 is drained.

It can be understood that, when the ice maker is cleaned and the cleaning water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice making assembly 4 is drained, the first electromagnetic valve 21 is opened again to add water into the upper water tank 1 through the water inlet pipe 2, the water in the upper water tank 1 enters the ice making barrel 41 through the ice making water supply pipe and the overflow channel 11 again, at this time, the water pump assembly 5 is started to make the water circularly flow in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1 to clean the cleaning water remained in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1, and the second electromagnetic valve 32 on the water drainage pipe 3 is opened after cleaning for a certain time, so that the water in the ice making assembly 4 and the upper water tank 1 can be drained completely, and the cleaning water is prevented from remaining, thereby affecting the quality of ice made by the subsequent ice maker. In addition, after the water in the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 is drained, water can be added into the upper water tank 1 again to clean the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 again, thereby ensuring that the upper water tank 1 and the ice-making assembly 4 are cleaned completely.

Moreover, although exemplary embodiments have been described herein, the scope thereof includes any and all embodiments based on the present invention with equivalent elements, modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of various embodiments across), adaptations or alterations. The elements of the claims are to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. It is intended, therefore, that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.

The above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or more versions thereof) may be used in combination with each other. For example, other embodiments may be used by those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the above description. In addition, in the above-described embodiments, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as an intention that a disclosed feature not claimed is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description as examples or embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment, and it is contemplated that these embodiments may be combined with each other in various combinations or permutations. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

The above embodiments are only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims. Various modifications and equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the present invention, and such modifications and equivalents should also be considered as falling within the scope of the present invention.