ICE-MAKING METHOD, ICE-MAKING APPARATUS, STORAGE MEDIUM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410873296.1 filed on Jun. 28, 2024, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a specific technical field, and more particularly, to an ice-making method, an ice-making apparatus, a storage medium, and a computer program product.

BACKGROUND

Currently, a conventional ice-making apparatus suffers from a problem of limited functionality, as most can only produce ice in a single form or with a single hardness level, which restricts the ice-making apparatus to very specific scenarios, making the ice-making apparatus inconvenient for widespread use. However, producing different forms of ice requires varying ice-making processes. Most conventional ice-making apparatuses lack an ability to automatically adjust operational parameters. If users are required to manually set the parameters every time to obtain the desired form ice, issues such as multiple operational steps, complex procedures, and inconvenient operation may occur, impacting user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Accompanying drawings herein, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the specification, serve to explain principles of the present disclosure.

To more clearly illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure, accompanying drawings required to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly described below. Obviously, other drawings can be obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on these drawings without any inventive efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a specific schematic flowchart illustrating one embodiment of S200 of an ice-making method according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a specific schematic flowchart illustrating another embodiment of S200 of an ice-making method according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a specific schematic flowchart illustrating one embodiment of S220 of an ice-making method according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a partial schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a refrigeration system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a simplified view of a structure of an ice-making apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

• • 100 ice-making apparatus; 101 ice outlet; 102 water inlet; 110 ice-making drum; 120 drive motor; 130 ice scraping screw;
  • 200 ice extrusion head;
  • 300 ice cutting head; 310 deflector;
  • 410 compressor; 420 condenser; 430 evaporator; 4301 evaporator inlet; 4302 evaporator outlet; 440 throttle device; 450 water tank.

Implementations of the objects, functional features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be further described in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for illustration of technical solutions of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

To better understand the technical solutions of the present disclosure, the following provides a detailed explanation with reference to accompanying drawings and specific embodiments of the specification.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 8, a main solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure is based on a problem that most ice-making apparatuses can only produce ice cubes of a single shape or even single hardness, and having a single applicable scenario, which is inconvenient for widespread use. By providing an ice-making method, an ice-making apparatus, a storage medium, and a computer program product for users, solid ice and non-solid ice of different forms can be produced by disposing different operation modes, to meet different ice-using requirements.

In the present embodiment, for convenience of description, a control apparatus such as a controller of the ice-making apparatus, and a control board provided with the controller, a terminal device connected to the ice-making apparatus, or another control apparatus is mainly described as an execution body. The controller may be disposed in the ice-making apparatus or may be disposed independently of each component of the ice-making apparatus, and may execute various appropriate operations and processes in accordance with a program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) or a program loaded from a storage device into a Random Access Memory (RAM). In the RAM, various programs and data necessary for the ice making operation are also stored. The controller and storage modules such as the ROM and the RAM are connected to each other via a bus. The storage module may further include a storage device such as a magnetic tape, a hard disk, or the like. An input/output (I/O) interface is also connected to the bus. Generally, the following systems may be connected to the I/O interface: an input device including for example a touch screen, a touch pad, a keyboard, a mouse, an image sensor, a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or the like, as an input module; an output device including for example a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a speaker, a vibrator, or the like, as an output module; and a communication device. The communication device may allow the ice-making apparatus to be in wireless communication with or in wired communication with other devices to exchange data.

In the present disclosure, for convenience of description, a control apparatus such as the controller or a control device having control functionality is mainly described as an execution body. The ice-making method is applied to an ice-making apparatus. The ice-making apparatus includes an ice scraping assembly. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the ice-making method includes following operations.

At S100, an operation mode set by a user is obtained, and an operating parameter of the ice scraping assembly is determined based on the operation mode. The operation mode includes a solid ice operation mode and a non-solid ice operation mode.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the solid ice operation mode is the ice cube-making operation mode. The solid ice operation mode is mainly used to make solid ice having high hardness requirements such as ice pellets, ice cubes, and ice sticks. The non-solid ice operation mode is the shaved ice-making operation mode. The non-solid ice operation mode is mainly used to make non-solid ice having low hardness requirements, such as fluffy ice, crushed ice, and ice pops. This step is used to produce solid ice and non-solid ice with different forms through different operation modes, to meet different ice-using requirements.

At S200, the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate based on the operating parameter to produce ice in a form corresponding to the set operation mode.

The ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate based on the determined operating parameter to produce ice in a form corresponding to the set operation mode. Problems of multiple operating procedures, complex operation, and inconvenient operation that occur when the users need to set the operating parameter by themselves to obtain ice of the desired form are avoided. Producing ice in different forms is facilitated, effectively optimizing user experience and improving an ice-making efficiency.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the ice-making apparatus is configured to provide the user with options of a plurality of operation modes, in such a manner that the user can determine and select the set operation mode based on the required prepared ice form. Or, the user can set the operation mode by setting the operating parameter of the drive motor by himself. When executing S100 of obtaining the operation mode set by the user, in each specific embodiment of the present disclosure, regarding how to obtain the operation mode set by the user, optionally, the refrigeration apparatus or a computer control apparatus is provided with a communication terminal, an input terminal connected to information obtaining components such as a touch-control module (e.g., a touch screen, a touch pad), an input button (e.g., a keyboard, an input key), and a voice module (e.g., a microphone), or other connection terminals. The refrigeration apparatus and the computer control apparatus are configured to directly obtain an operating parameter input or modified by the user through the connection terminals. The controller or the memory optionally pre-stores operating parameters corresponding to a plurality of operation modes. The operating parameters at least include operating parameters of the ice scraping assembly. After obtaining the operation mode set by the user, the corresponding stored operating parameters are directly called. The ice-making apparatus or the computer control apparatus is provided with the communication terminal, the input terminal connected to information obtaining components such as the touch-control module (e.g., the touch screen, the touch pad), the input button (e.g., the keyboard, the input key), and the voice module (e.g., the microphone), or other connection terminals. The refrigeration apparatus and the computer control apparatus are configured to directly obtain operating parameters such as an operating speed, an operating duration, and an operating cycle of the drive motor set or modified by the user. A controller of the ice-making apparatus or other control apparatus is set to have network connectivity, after obtaining the operation mode set by the user, which is used to search for an operation parameter of the refrigeration system and the drive component corresponding to the operation mode set by the user or a to-be-produced form of ice. In addition, from the obtained operation parameters, operating parameters of the drive motor such as the operating speed, the operating duration, and the operating cycle of the drive motor are determined as recommended parameters for the user to confirm. Then, the recommended parameters confirmed by the user are used as the operating parameters of the ice scraping assembly. The controller of the ice-making apparatus or other control apparatus is set to have machine-learning capabilities, after the user sets the operation mode, which is used to determine the operating parameters of the ice scraping assembly corresponding to the operation mode through machine learning. An implementation method of determining the operating parameters can be set as desired. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In an embodiment, the operating parameter includes any one or a combination of an operating speed, an operating duration, and an operating cycle.

Different forms of ice require different operating parameters such as different operating speeds, different operating durations, and different operating cycles. In an ice-making process, the same operating speed can be used during operation from the beginning. Or, the ice scraping assembly is set to operate in different operation modes with different operating cycles, and the repeated executed operating speed and the repeated executed operating duration are determined through the operating cycles. Or, the operating duration is set to include a plurality of operating time periods, which in turn determine a plurality of operating stages. Operating speeds during different operating time periods can be the same or different. The plurality of operating time periods can be set continuously or at intervals, preventing the ice-scraping assembly from prolonged continuous operation, which can lead to overheating, malfunctions, and a reduced refrigeration efficiency. The operating parameters can be set as desired. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to obtain different forms of ice required and meet different ice-using needs of users, optionally, when operating in the non-solid ice operation mode (such as the shaved ice-making operation mode), ice is dispensed through the ice outlet to dispense shaved ice, ice pops, or other types of non-solid ice. It is also possible that ice cubes, ice strips or other types of solid ice are extruded through the ice outlet when operating in the solid ice operation mode (e.g., ice cube-making operation mode). In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an ice extrusion head having the forming cavity is disposed at the ice outlet. The forming cavity has one or more different shapes. Ice cubes of different shapes are produced through the forming cavity of the ice extrusion head.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in an embodiment, controlling, based on the operating parameter, the ice scraping assembly to operate (S200) includes following operations.

At S210, in the solid ice operation mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at the first operating speed. The solid ice operation mode is mainly used to make solid ice having high hardness requirements such as ice pellets, ice cubes, and ice sticks.

At S220, in the non-solid ice operation mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at the second operating speed. The non-solid ice operation mode is mainly used to make non-solid ice having low hardness requirements, such as fluffy ice, crushed ice, and ice pops. The second operating speed is greater than or equal to the first operating speed.

In a process of producing the solid ice, ice dispense is affected by the ice in the ice-making drum and the forming cavity of the ice extrusion head. Therefore, it is needed to set the second operating speed to be greater than or equal to the first operating speed, to avoid motor to be struck caused by a stall fault and improve operational safety and stability.

Further, the first operating speed ranges from 5 rpm to 10 rpm. The second operating speed is 1.5 times to 2 times the first operating speed. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first operating speed and the second operating speed can be set according to operation mechanisms of the ice-making apparatus and the ice scraping assembly actually applied. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: the ice scraping assembly is controlled in the solid ice operation mode to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system is controlled to operate for a pre-cooling duration.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in the solid ice operation mode, the refrigeration system is controlled to operate first and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate. In addition, the refrigeration system (mainly a compressor of the refrigeration system) is controlled to operate first based on the pre-cooling duration. The pre-cooling duration is determined based on actual temperatures such as an ambient temperature, an evaporation temperature, and an inlet water temperature. This way ensures rapid ice dispense when the ice scraping assembly is activated, and avoids issues such as inability to discharge ice or insufficient ice hardness in the early stages of ice production, effectively improving ice making quality. Also, usage requirements such as edible taste can be met, optimizing the user experience, and inlet water waste and electrical consumption caused by problems like the inability to discharge ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing an ice-making cost.

In the non-solid ice operation mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate simultaneously.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in the non-solid ice operation mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate simultaneously, which means that the compressor of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are mainly controlled to operate simultaneously. In this way, energy loss caused by ice-making ahead of time can be avoided and issues such as excessive ice hardness inside the ice-making drum, which can lead to difficulties in dispensing ice, can be avoided, effectively improving an ice-making speed, reducing the electrical consumption, and thus lowering the ice-making cost.

When ice production is normal, the drive motor has a stable current. When the motor is stuck due to the stall fault, the drive motor has an abnormal current. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: detecting, in response to the ice-making apparatus being in operation, an actual operating current flowing through the drive motor; and controlling, in response to determining that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

It should be understood that the safety protection condition refers to a safety threshold or a measure set to avoid safety problems caused by abnormal conditions such as the stall of the drive motor. A protection mechanism is triggered where the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating when the safety protection condition is met or the set safety threshold is exceeded. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more safety protection conditions are set correspondingly according to abnormalities such as the stall that may occur during operation of the drive motor. In addition, whether the drive motor meets the set safety protection condition is determined based on the actual operating current of the drive motor. Only when the actual operating current of the drive motor meets the safety protection condition, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating.

By detecting the actual operating current flowing through the drive motor, a motor abnormal problem caused by the stall fault can be detected in time, effectively improving an abnormality detection efficiency. In response to determining that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating serves two purposes: controlling the drive motor in time to stop operating, to avoid motor damage and effectively enhance safety; controlling the refrigeration system to stop operating, to avoid losses caused by maintaining cooling when the drive motor fails to operate, and effect on subsequent operation or maintenance of the drive motor.

The drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating only when that the drive motor is determined to reach the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, which can avoid directly controlling power-off and shutdown to affect the production capacity when abnormality does not affect safe progress of the ice-making process, and effectively reduce an effect of abnormal treatment on ice making. While addressing stall conditions in time and optimizing safety, this method also can improve the ice-making efficiency.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in the solid ice operation mode and in the safety protection condition, the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a first predetermined current, and the first predetermined current is a stall current for the solid ice operation mode. In this way, it can be determined whether there is ice-making abnormality when the ice-making apparatus is in the solid ice operation mode.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, by comparing the actual operating current and the first predetermined current of the drive motor in the solid ice operation mode, whether the solid ice operation mode reaches the set safety protection condition can be directly determined, and when the safety protection condition is reached, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. This way further improves the reliability, the accuracy, and the safety of abnormality treatment, and ensures safe and stable operation of the drive motor and the refrigeration system in different operation modes.

In the non-solid ice operation mode and in the safety protection condition, the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a second predetermined current, and the second predetermined current is a stall current for the non-solid ice operation mode. In this way, it can be determined whether there is ice-making abnormality when the ice-making apparatus is in the non-solid ice operation mode.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, by comparing the actual operating current and the second predetermined current of the drive motor in the non-solid ice operation mode, whether the non-solid ice operation mode reaches the set safety protection condition can be directly determined, and when the safety protection condition is reached, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. This way further improves the reliability, the accuracy, and the safety of abnormality treatment, and ensures safe and stable operation of the drive motor and the refrigeration system in different operation modes.

Since resistance encountered by the drive motor when driving the ice scraping blade to rotate in the solid ice operation mode is larger than that in the non-solid ice operation mode, the stall current for the solid ice operation mode is greater than or equal to the stall current for the non-solid ice operation mode. Further, the first predetermined current is greater than or equal to the second predetermined current.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice scraping assembly includes a drive motor and an ice scraping blade. The drive motor is configured to drive the ice scraping blade disposed in the ice-making drum to rotate, to drive the ice scraping blade to scrape off ice in the ice-making drum and transfer the ice to an ice outlet of the ice-making drum. Ice hanging on an inner wall of the ice-making drum is scraped off by the ice scraping assembly, and the scraped ice is delivered out of the ice-making apparatus.

To obtain different forms of ice required and meet different ice needs of users, optionally, when operating in the non-solid ice operation mode (such as the shaved ice-making operation mode), ice is dispensed through the ice outlet to produce shaved ice, ice pops, or other types of non-solid ice. It is also possible that ice cubes, ice strips or other types of solid ice are extruded through the ice outlet when operating in the solid ice operation mode (e.g., ice cube-making operation mode). In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an ice extrusion head having the forming cavity is disposed at the ice outlet. The forming cavity has one or more different shapes. Ice cubes of different shapes are produced through the forming cavity of the ice extrusion head.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an ice cutting head is disposed at the ice-making drum or the ice extrusion head. The ice-making apparatus automatically cuts the discharged ice through the ice cutting head when ice is produced or discharged. The ice cutting head has a deflector obliquely disposed towards the ice outlet of the ice making drum to disconnect discharged ice cubes at a predetermined length, or enable the discharged ice cubes to be discharged in a predetermined direction. By setting different ice extrusion heads or different deflectors, different solid ice such as ice pellets, ice cubes, and ice sticks are produced.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in an embodiment, the solid ice operation mode includes a pellet ice mode, a cube ice mode, and a strip ice mode. The first operating speed includes a first speed, a second speed, and a third speed. In the solid ice operation mode, controlling the drive motor to rotate at the first operating speed (S210) includes following operations.

At S211, in the pellet ice mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at the first speed based on a predetermined first operating duration, which is used to produce smaller solid ice such as ice pellets using the pellet ice mode to meet requirements of different application scenarios such as food production and emergency cold compress.

At S212, in the cube ice mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at the second speed based on a predetermined second operating duration, which is used to produce solid ice having a set volume or a moderate volume such as ice cubes using the cube ice mode to meet the requirements of different application scenarios such as food production.

At S213, in the strip ice mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at the third speed based on a predetermined third operating duration, which is used to produce large-volume solid ice such as ice strips or other ice having high requirements for ice extrusion using the strip ice mode to meet the requirements of different application scenarios such as food production, transportation and storage, and ice sculpture processing.

The first operating duration is greater than or equal to the second operating duration, the second operating duration is greater than or equal to the third operating duration, the first speed is greater than or equal to the second speed, and the second speed is greater than or equal to the third speed.

Since the resistance encountered by the drive motor when driving the ice-scraping blade to rotate in the solid ice operation mode is greater than that in the non-solid ice operation mode, the first operating duration is set to be greater than or equal to the second operating duration, the second operating duration is set to be greater than or equal to the third operating duration, the first speed is set to be greater than or equal to the second speed, and the second speed is set to be greater than or equal to the third speed. This arrangement not only improves the ice-making efficiency but also ensures normal ice production and dispensing, while avoiding issues such as the stall caused by excessively high operating speeds, which can lead to abnormal motor operation or even motor damage.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, in an embodiment, the non-solid ice operation mode includes a fluffy ice mode, a crushed ice mode, and a slush ice mode. The second operating speed includes a fourth speed, a fifth speed, and a sixth speed. In the non-solid ice operation mode, controlling the drive motor to rotate at the second operating speed (S220) includes following operations.

At S221, in the fluffy ice mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at a fourth speed based on a predetermined first operating cycle, which is used to make more delicate and soft ice such as fluffy ice using the fluffy ice mode to meet the requirements of different application scenarios such as food production and emergency cold compress.

At S222, in the crushed ice mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at a fifth speed based on a predetermined second operating cycle, which is used to make crushed ice and other ice without fixed shape mixed with jam, juice, water, etc. and liquid or finely crushed using the crushed ice mode, to meet the requirements of different application scenarios such as food production.

At S223, in the slush ice mode, the drive motor is controlled to rotate at a sixth speed based on a predetermined third operating cycle, which is used to produce softer ice, such as slush ices made from liquids like milk, cream, or yogurt, to meet the requirements of different application scenarios such as food production.

The first operating cycle is smaller than or equal to the second operating cycle, the second operating cycle is smaller than or equal to the third operating cycle, the fourth speed is greater than or equal to the fifth speed, and the fifth speed is greater than or equal to the sixth speed.

In the solid ice operation mode, more consideration needs to be given to adding fruit juice or other ingredients, as the ice-making process may result in material sticking to walls of the drum. However, excessive stirring or rotation can affect flavor. Therefore, it is needed to control the ice scraping blade to operate intermittently through the operating cycle. The first operating cycle is set to be smaller than or equal to the second operating cycle, the second operating cycle is set to be smaller than or equal to the third operating cycle, the fourth speed is set to be greater than or equal to the fifth speed, and the fifth speed is set to be greater than or equal to the sixth speed, ensuring ice discharge quality while improving the ice-making efficiency.

In an embodiment, the ice-making apparatus further includes a refrigeration system. The ice-making method further includes, prior to S200 of controlling the ice scraping assembly to operate: determining a pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system based on the operation mode, and controlling the refrigeration system to operate based on the pre-cooling duration.

Further, a pre-cooling duration corresponding to the solid ice operation mode is greater than or equal to a pre-cooling duration corresponding to the non-solid ice operation mode.

The refrigeration system is controlled to operate first and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate. In this way, rapid ice discharge can be ensured when the ice scraping assembly is activated and issues such as inability to discharge ice or insufficient ice hardness in the early stages of ice production can be avoided, effectively improving the ice making quality. Also, usage requirements such as edible taste can be met, optimizing the user experience, and inlet water waste and electrical consumption caused by problems like the inability to discharge ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing the ice-making cost.

The pre-cooling duration corresponding to the solid ice operation mode can be optionally set to 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or any other duration suitable for actual use. The pre-cooling duration corresponding to the non-solid ice operation mode can be optionally set to 0 minute, 1 minute, 3 minutes, or any other duration suitable for actual use.

In addition, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: in the solid ice operation mode, controlling the ice scraping assembly to start operating after controlling the refrigeration system to operate for a pre-cooling duration; in the non-solid ice operation mode, controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate simultaneously.

In the solid ice operation mode, the refrigeration system is controlled to operate first and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate. In addition, the refrigeration system (mainly a compressor of the refrigeration system) is controlled to operate based on the pre-cooling duration, to ensure rapid ice discharge when the ice scraping assembly is activated and avoid issues such as inability to discharge ice or insufficient ice hardness in the early stages of ice production, effectively improving the ice making quality. Also, usage requirements such as edible taste can be met, optimizing the user experience, and water waste and electrical consumption caused by problems like the inability to discharge ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing the ice-making cost.

In the non-solid ice operation mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate simultaneously, which means that the compressor of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are mainly controlled to operate simultaneously. In this way, energy loss caused by ice-making ahead of time can be avoided and issues such as excessive ice hardness inside the ice-making drum, which can lead to difficulties in discharging ice, can be avoided, effectively improving the ice-making speed, reducing the electrical consumption, and thus lowering the ice-making cost.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the temperatures affecting ice making such as the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature are obtained through detection. Based on the temperatures affecting ice making such as the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature, the pre-cooling duration corresponding to the operation mode is determined. The ambient temperature refers to a temperature of an environment outside the ice-making apparatus, especially the ice-making drum. The ambient temperature directly affects a heat dissipation effect, an ice-making efficiency, and operation of the ice-making apparatus. Obtaining the ambient temperature, and further controlling operation of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly based on the obtained ambient temperature can reduce influence of the ambient temperature on operation of the ice-making apparatus, avoid influence of the ambient temperature on a refrigeration process, and ensure efficient operation of the condenser. The evaporation temperature refers to a corresponding temperature when refrigerant absorbs heat in the evaporator. The evaporation temperature directly affects the refrigeration effect and energy consumption. If the evaporation temperature is too low, incomplete evaporation of the refrigerant may occur. If the evaporation temperature is too high, the refrigerant may rapidly evaporate. The evaporation temperature is obtained, and the operation of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly is further controlled based on the obtained evaporation temperature, which can further improve control accuracy and reliability of the refrigeration system and optimize a refrigeration effect. The inlet water temperature refers to a temperature of water entering the ice-making apparatus through the water inlet, mainly a temperature of water entering the ice-making drum. If the inlet water temperature is overheated, an ice-making duration may be long. The inlet water temperature is obtained, and the operation of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly is further controlled based on the obtained inlet water temperature, which can further improve control of an operation duration of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system, especially a pre-cooling duration of the compressor, is determined based on any one or more of the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature. The compressor is controlled to operation for the pre-cooling duration and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to start operate, to improve reliability of control and achieve advanced cooling. Rapid ice dispense can be ensured when the ice scraping assembly is activated and issues such as inability to discharge ice or insufficient ice hardness in the early stages of ice production can be avoided, effectively improving ice making quality. Also, usage requirements such as edible taste can be met, optimizing the user experience, and inlet water waste and electrical consumption caused by problems like the inability to discharge ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing an ice-making cost.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, in an embodiment, the ice-making apparatus includes an ice-making drum. The ice-making drum has an ice outlet. In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the ice extrusion head is detachably mounted at the ice-making drum. Ice cubes of different shapes can be made by mounting ice extrusion heads having different forming cavities, to facilitate change in shapes of ice as desired.

The ice extrusion head is detachably mounted at the ice-making apparatus. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, different ice extrusion heads can be provided corresponding to different forming cavities. A plurality of ice extrusion heads can be replaced and mounted as replacement heads. At least one forming cavity is arranged on each ice extrusion head. Different ice extrusion heads have different forming cavities. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a number, a size, a position, a shape, or the like of the forming cavity arranged on different ice extrusion heads are not completely the same.

When the operation mode set by the user is the solid ice operation mode, it is required to make ice cubes or ice strips of a certain shape. Therefore, an ice extrusion head having the forming cavity needs to be mounted.

The ice-making apparatus further includes, prior to S200 of controlling the ice scraping assembly to operate: S010, detecting, in the solid ice operation mode, the ice outlet of the ice-making apparatus; S020, determining that no ice extrusion head for forming ice into an ice cube is provided at the ice outlet; and S030, outputting, in response to the determination that no ice extrusion head for forming ice into an ice cube is provided at the ice outlet, an alert signal.

This way is used to remind the user to mount the ice extrusion head, and only when the ice extrusion head is determined to be mounted can the corresponding solid ice operation mode be controlled and executed.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, in the present disclosure, after starting the refrigeration apparatus, optionally, operation of a throttle device of the refrigeration system is controlled first, and then operation of the compressor of the refrigeration system is controlled. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: controlling an opening degree of the throttle device to be adjusted to an initial opening degree; and determining, subsequent to the throttle device operating at the initial opening degree for a first predetermined time, the opening degree of the throttle device based on an air discharge temperature of the refrigeration system, and controlling the condenser and the fan to be activated.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining a start-up instruction or starting the ice-making apparatus in other ways, the opening degree of the throttle device is controlled to be adjusted to the initial opening degree, to ensure that the throttle device can operate in a relatively reasonable state at an initial start-up stage. The opening degree of the throttle device is adjusted based on an operation state of the refrigerating apparatus after operating for a period of time, and activation of the condenser and the fan are controlled to ensure that the condenser is controlled to operate when the throttle device moves to a best operation state, to avoid unnecessary loss. By activating the fan, the condenser can be sufficiently cooled and the temperature of the condenser can be prevented from being too high to affect a refrigeration effect. This way achieves energy saving and extension of service life of the ice-making apparatus while achieving refrigeration and improving the refrigeration efficiency.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a target air discharge temperature may be predetermined for reducing a flow rate of refrigerant by reducing the opening degree of the throttle device when a current air discharge temperature is higher than the target air discharge temperature. Also, the flow rate of the refrigerant is increased by increasing the opening degree of the throttle device when the current air discharge temperature is lower than the target air discharge temperature. In this way, the refrigeration efficiency can be improved, and the refrigeration system can operate efficiently and stably, to reduce operation failures while reducing energy consumption.

In addition, to achieve the above objectives, as illustrated in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the present disclosure further provides an ice-making apparatus 100. The ice-making apparatus 100 includes an ice-making drum 110, a refrigeration system, and a controller. The ice-making drum 110 is provided with an ice scraping assembly and an ice outlet 101. The ice scraping assembly includes a drive motor 120 and an ice scraping blade. The drive motor 120 is configured to drive the ice scraping blade disposed in the ice-making drum 110 to rotate. The refrigeration system includes a compressor 410, a condenser 420, a throttle device 440, and an evaporator 430 that are sequentially in communication to form a refrigeration cycle loop. The compressor is configured to draw in low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant vapor and convert the vapor into high-temperature and high-pressure superheated vapor through compression. The condenser is configured to receive high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant vapor from the compressor, cool the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant vapor and condense the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant vapor into a liquid refrigerant through heat exchange. The throttle device is configured for throttling and decompressing the high-pressure liquid refrigerant flowing out of the condenser to enable the high-pressure liquid refrigerant to become low-pressure and low-temperature refrigerant liquid or a gas-liquid mixture. The evaporator is configured to receive the low-pressure refrigerant liquid or the gas-liquid mixture from the throttle device, and by absorbing heat of the cooled object, the refrigerant is evaporated into a gas. In this process, a temperature of the cooled object is reduced to realize a cooling and refrigeration effect. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the evaporator 430 is configured to cool the drum, to enable water in the drum to freeze into ice.

The ice-making drum 110 is refrigerated by the evaporator 430, to enable water in the ice-making drum 110 to freeze into ice. The drive motor 120 is configured to drive the ice scraping blade disposed in the ice-making drum 110 to rotate, to drive the ice scraping blade to scrape off ice in the ice-making drum 110 and transfer the ice to an ice outlet 101 of the ice-making drum 110. Ice hanging on an inner wall of the ice-making drum 110 is scraped off by the ice scraping assembly, and the scraped ice is delivered out of the ice-making apparatus 100 to obtain the required ice of different forms.

As an exemplary embodiment, the evaporator 430 is disposed around the drum for refrigerating the drum, to enable water in the drum to freeze into ice. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the evaporator 430 is covered outside an ice-making body. A low-temperature liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator 430 from an evaporator inlet 4301 is converted into a low-temperature gas by the evaporator 430 before being discharged from an evaporator outlet 4302 to the compressor 410. The low-temperature liquid refrigerant becomes the low-temperature gas while the ice-making body is subjected to temperature reduction treatment, enabling water entering the ice-making body from water storage devices, such as a water tank 450 via a water inlet 102, to freeze into ice. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the incoming water may be sprayed onto the inner wall of the ice-making drum, forming the water film on the inner wall. The evaporator lowers the temperature, causing the water on the inner wall of the drum to freeze into ice. The ice scraping assembly, particularly the ice scraping screw 130 or other types of ice scraping blade disposed inside the ice-making drum, scrapes off the ice from the inner wall of the drum. The scraped ice is delivered out of the ice-making apparatus through the ice outlet formed at the drum.

To obtain different forms of ice required and meet different ice needs of users, in an exemplary embodiment, when operating in the non-solid ice operation mode (such as the shaved ice-making operation mode), ice is dispensed through the ice outlet to produce shaved ice, ice pops, or other types of non-solid ice. It is also possible that ice cubes, ice strips or other types of solid ice are extruded through the ice outlet when operating in the solid ice operation mode (e.g., ice cube-making operation mode). In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the ice extrusion head 200 having the forming cavity is disposed at the ice outlet. The forming cavity has one or more different shapes. Ice cubes of different shapes are produced through the forming cavity of the ice extrusion head.

As another exemplary embodiment, the ice-making apparatus 100 further includes a cooling pipe circuit disposed around the drum for cooling the drum, to enable water in the drum to freeze into ice. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a circuit for flowing refrigerant of the evaporator 430 may be used as the cooling pipe circuit. The cooling pipe circuit may be arranged around the ice-making body to cool the ice-making body, to enable water entering the ice-making body through the water inlet 102 to become ice. Or, another cooling pipe circuit or the like is provided as the cooling pipe circuit to cool the ice-making body, to enable water entering the ice-making body through the water inlet 102 to become ice. The embodiment of the ice-making apparatus 100 reducing the temperature by the cooling pipe circuit is analogous to the previously described embodiment, in which the evaporator 430 covers an exterior of the ice-making body to achieve cooling, and thus details thereof will be omitted here.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an ice cutting head 300 is disposed at the ice-making drum 110 or the ice extrusion head 200. The ice-making apparatus 100 automatically cuts the dispensed ice through the ice cutting head 300 when ice is produced or dispensed. The ice cutting head 300 has a deflector 310 obliquely disposed towards the ice outlet 101 of the ice making drum 110 to disconnect dispensed ice cubes at a predetermined length, or enable the ice cubes to be dispensed in a predetermined direction.

In the present disclosure, a controller has an ice-making control program stored thereon and is configured to execute the ice-making control program. When executing the program, the controller is configured to implement the steps of the ice-making method according to the above.

The controller in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include, but is not limited to, mobile terminals such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, a digital broadcast receiver, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Portable Application Description (PAD), a Portable Media Player (PMP), a vehicle terminal (for example, a vehicle navigation terminal), or the like, and fixed terminals such as a digital TV, a desktop computer, or the like.

The controller may include a processing device (for example, a central processing unit, a graphics processor, or the like) that may perform various appropriate actions and processes in accordance with a program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) or a program loaded into a Random Access Memory (RAM) from a storage device. In the RAM, various programs and data necessary for the operation of the ice-making apparatus are also stored. The processing device, the ROM, and the RAM are connected to each other via a bus. The input/output (I/O) interface is also connected to the bus. Generally, the following systems may be connected to the I/O interface: an input device including for example a touch screen, a touch pad, a keyboard, a mouse, an image sensor, a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or the like; an output device including for example an Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a speaker, a vibrator, or the like; a storage device including for example magnetic tape, hard disk, or the like; and a communication device. The communication device may allow the ice-making apparatus to be in wireless communication with or in wired communication with other devices to exchange data.

In particular, according to embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts may be implemented as computer software programs. For example, the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure include a computer program product, which includes a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium. The computer program includes a program code for performing the method shown in the flowchart. In such embodiments, the computer program may be downloaded and mounted from a network via the communication apparatus, or mounted from the storage apparatus, or mounted from the ROM. When the computer program is executed by the processing device, the computer program implements the above-described functions defined in the method of the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure.

The ice-making apparatus provided by the present disclosure adopts the ice-making method in the above-described embodiments, which can solve technical problems of single-type ice production and difficulty in producing different forms of ice. Compared with the related art, advantageous effects of the ice-making apparatus provided in the present disclosure are the same as those of the ice-making method according to the above-described embodiments, and other technical features of the ice-making apparatus are the same as those disclosed in the method of the previous embodiment, and thus details thereof will be omitted here.

It should be understood that each part of the present disclosure can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. In the description of the above embodiments, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

The above descriptions are merely specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. Any person skilled in the art can easily conceive variations or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure, all of which should fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be defined by the claims.

In an embodiment, the ice-making apparatus further includes a memory. The memory is configured to store operating parameters of the ice scraping assembly corresponding to different operation modes. The operation mode includes a solid ice operation mode and a non-solid ice operation mode.

By retrieving the operating parameters stored in the memory to directly control operation of the ice-making apparatus, a need for users to manually set the operating parameters to obtain the desired ice form is eliminated, addressing issues such as multiple operational steps, complex procedures, and inconvenient operation. Producing ice of different forms can be facilitated, effectively optimizing the user experience and improving the ice-making efficiency.

In addition, the memory is further configured to store and update operating parameters reset by the user and readjusted during the ice-making process, also configured to store operating parameters updated based on the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, the inlet water temperature, which can be set as desired. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

The present disclosure provides a storage medium. The storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium and has a computer program stored thereon. The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the ice-making method according to the above embodiments.

The computer-readable storage medium provided by the present disclosure may be, for example, a USB flash drive, but is not limited to systems, apparatuses, or devices based on electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor technologies, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, electrical connections having one or more wires, a portable computer magnetic disk, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-only memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a flash memory, an optical fiber, a portable Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. In this embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, system, or device. A computer program contained on the computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including, but not being limited to, wires, optical cables, Radio Frequency (RF), etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

The computer-readable storage medium may be included in the ice-making apparatus, and may also exist alone without being fitted into the ice-making apparatus.

The above computer-readable storage medium carries one or more programs. When the one or more programs are executed by the ice-making apparatus, the ice-making apparatus is made to: obtain an operation mode set by a user, and determine, based on the operation mode, an operating parameter of the ice scraping assembly, the operation mode including a solid ice operation mode and a non-solid ice operation mode; and control, based on the operating parameter, the ice scraping assembly to operate to produce ice in a form corresponding to the set operation mode.

Computer program codes for performing the operations of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages, or combinations thereof. The above programming languages include object-oriented programming languages, such as Java, Smalltalk, C++, as well as conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” language or similar programming languages. The program code may be executed entirely or partially on the user's computer, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or a server. In cases involving the remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any kind of network, including an Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computer (e.g., using an Internet service provider to connect to the user's computer over the Internet).

Flowcharts and block diagrams in the drawings illustrate architecture, functionality, and operations of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or the block diagram may represent a module, a program segment, or portion of a code that contains one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may also occur in a different order than those noted in the drawings. For example, two connected representations of blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel. Sometimes, they may be executed in a reverse order, depending on the function involved. It should also be noted that each block in the block diagrams and/or the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or the flowcharts may be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs specified functions or operations, or may be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

The modules described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by software or hardware. A name of the module does not constitute a limitation of the unit itself in some cases.

The readable storage medium provided by the present disclosure is the computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable program instructions (i.e., computer programs) for executing the above-described ice-making method, which can solve technical problems of single-type ice production and difficulty in producing different forms of ice. Compared with the related art, advantageous effects of the computer-readable storage medium provided by the present disclosure are the same as those of the ice-making method according to the above-described embodiments, and thus details thereof will be omitted here.

The present disclosure provides the computer program product. The computer program product includes the computer program. The computer program implements, when executed by the processor, the steps of the ice-making method according to the above.

The computer program product provided by the present disclosure can solve the technical problems of single-type ice production and difficulty in producing different forms of ice. Compared with the related art, advantageous effects of the computer program product provided by the present disclosure are the same as those of the ice-making method according to the above-described embodiments, and thus details thereof will be omitted here.

Since the ice-making apparatus, the storage medium, and the computer program product of the present disclosure can realize the above-described ice-making method, and have technical features of the ice-making method in the above-described embodiments, the ice-making apparatus, the storage medium, and the computer program product of the present disclosure have at least all the advantageous effects brought by the technical solutions of the above-described embodiments, and will not be described here to avoid repetition.

Although some embodiments of the present disclosure are described above, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments. Under the concept of the present disclosure, any equivalent structure transformation made using the contents of the specification and the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure, or any direct or indirect application of the contents of the specification and the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure in other related fields, shall equally fall within the scope of the present disclosure.