ICE CUBE TRAY

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of ice cube molds, in particular to an ice cube tray.

BACKGROUND

With improvement of living standards, people have a higher requirement for living quality. In daily life, there are more and more application scenarios of ice blocks. Therefore, development of ice making technologies is concerned.

In common ice-making methods, ice cube trays are filled with water to be frozen. Most ice-making forms of existing ice cube trays are large ice blocks or ice balls, and shapes are limited. More special-shaped ice blocks are used gradually. For example, annular ice blocks have a pain point that an ice-making structure is complex or difficult to demold. Existing ice-making technologies are difficult to simultaneously meet manufacturing convenience and demolding operation of the annular ice blocks, and an improved technology needs to be proposed.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure aims at solving the above problems in the prior art. Therefore, an objective of the present disclosure is to provide an ice cube tray. Annular ice blocks can be prepared by disposing an annular inner mold and an annular outer mold, and the ice blocks can be released by configuring the inner mold that can be elastically deformed and can be easily demolded. The ice cube tray is simple in structure, good in ice making effect, and easy in demolding operation.

In order to achieve the foregoing objective, the technical solution of the present disclosure is as follows.

An ice cube tray includes:

a tray body, provided with an upward opening accommodating space;

a cover body, capable of covering the accommodating space;

ice cubes, detachably accommodated in the accommodating space, wherein the ice cube comprises a cylindrical outer mold wall and a cylindrical inner mold wall located in the outer mold wall, a bottom of the outer mold wall is sealed and connected to a bottom of the inner mold wall, a top of the inner mold wall is closed, a top of the inner mold wall is not lower than a top of the outer mold wall, an annular ice slot for ice making is formed between the outer mold wall and the inner mold wall, and the inner mold wall is made of a flexible material; and

a demolding rod, configured to be capable of pushing against the inner mold wall to be elastically deformed from the top to the bottom so as to release ice blocks in the annular ice slot.

Preferably, the ice cube further includes a top wall and a bottom wall. The top wall is connected to a top peripheral edge of the inner mold wall. A deformation demolding space is formed between the inner mold wall and the top wall. The top wall and the inner mold wall are configured to be elastically deformed from the top to the bottom. The bottom wall is respectively connected to a bottom peripheral edge of the outer mold wall and a bottom peripheral edge of the inner mold wall. The outer mold wall, the inner mold wall, and the bottom wall form the annular ice slot.

Preferably, the ice cube tray further includes a mounting frame. The mounting frame is able to be limited and adaptively mounted on a top of the accommodating space. The ice cubes are able to be adaptively mounted in the mounting frame. Bottoms of the ice cubes and a bottom of the accommodating space are spaced apart.

Preferably, the ice cube further includes a limit flange extending outward from a top peripheral edge of the outer mold wall. The mounting frame is provided with a limit slot in limit fit with the limit flange correspondingly.

Preferably, the mounting frame includes a hollow substrate. The limit slot is disposed as a step slot in a hollow part of the substrate. The substrate is provided with vertically conductive drain holes.

Preferably, the mounting frame further includes an annular side plate extending vertically from an outer edge of the substrate and a mounting flange extending outward from a middle part of the annular side plate. A first mounting space adapted to the tray body is formed between a lower part of the annular side plate and the mounting flange. A second mounting space adapted to the cover body is formed between an upper part of the annular side plate and the mounting flange.

Preferably, there are at least two ice cubes. Outer sizes of the limit flanges of the at least two ice cubes are the same, and sizes of the outer mold wall and/or the inner mold wall of the at least two cubes are different.

Preferably, the demolding rod includes a rod seat, a main rod body, and a telescopic rod body. One end of the main rod body is supported on the rod seat. The telescopic rod body is configured to be contracted in the main rod body and stretch out of one end that is of the main rod body and that gets away from the rod seat to be limited.

Preferably, a deformation demolding space is formed between a top and a side of the inner mold wall, and the deformation demolding space is able to be further configured to cooperate with the tray body to accommodate the demolding rod.

Preferably, the ice cubes are of an integrated flexible structure.

According to the ice cube tray provided in the present disclosure, the outer mold wall and the inner mold wall that are disposed relative to each other are disposed in the ice cube. On the one hand, annular ice blocks can be made. Compared with a conventional ice block of an integral structure, an ice making structure is optimized. In addition, compared with an ice block having the same volume, an actual ice making volume of the ice block is reduced, so that the ice making effect can be improved. On the other hand, by means of a flexible design of the inner mold wall and a cooperative use of the demolding rod, a user can demold ice blocks by needing only a simple operation. In this way, the demolding efficiency can be improved, that is, the ice making efficiency is further improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a composite structural schematic diagram of a novel ice cube tray according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of an exploded state and a demolding rod of an ice cube tray in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section-view structural schematic diagram of an ice cube tray along a line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sterochemical structural schematic diagram of a part of elements in a first demolding preparation state in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a sterochemical structural schematic diagram of a part of elements in a second demolding preparation state in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments are described in detail herein, and examples of the exemplary embodiments are presented in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the accompanying drawings, unless specified otherwise, same numbers in different accompanying drawings represent a same or similar element. The enforcement modes described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all enforcement modes which are the same as the disclosure. Oppositely, those are examples of devices which are expatiatory in the claims and are the same in some aspects of the disclosure.

The terms used in the present disclosure are merely intended to describe specific embodiments but not intended to limit the present disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, technical or scientific terms used in the present disclosure are to be taken in ordinary meanings as understood by one of those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Similar words such as "one" or "a" used in the specification and claims of the present disclosure also indicate no quantitative limitation, but at least one. "A plurality of" includes two, equivalent to at least two. Similar terms such as "include" or "contain" indicate that elements or objects present before "include" or "contain" cover elements or objects listed after "include" or "contain" and their equivalents, and are not rule out other elements or objects. Similar terms such as "connection" or "linking" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, and may include electrical connections, regardless of direct connections or indirect connections. In the specification and appended claims of the present disclosure, singular forms "a/an", "the", and "this" are intended to include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of associated listed items.

The present disclosure provides an ice cube tray, which is used for household ice making. A user holds water in the ice cube tray. The ice cube tray is frozen in a refrigerator to make ice. The user performs a demolding operation to obtain ice blocks, so that a corresponding use requirement can be met, for example, ice blocks are added to a beverage.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 together, the ice cube tray specifically includes:

a tray body 10, provided with an upward opening accommodating space 11;

a cover body 20, capable of covering the accommodating space 11; and

ice cubes 30, detachably accommodated in the accommodating space 11, where the ice cube 30 includes a cylindrical outer mold wall 31 and a cylindrical inner mold wall 32 located in the outer mold wall 31, a bottom of the outer mold wall 31 is sealed and connected to a bottom of the inner mold wall 32, a top of the inner mold wall 32 is closed, a top of the inner mold wall 32 is not lower than a top of the outer mold wall 31, an annular ice slot 33 for ice making is formed between the outer mold wall 31 and the inner mold wall 32, and the inner mold wall 32 is made of a flexible material; and the inner mold wall 32 is configured to be capable of being elastically deformed from the top to the bottom so as to release ice blocks in the annular slot 33.

The ice cube tray further includes a demolding rod 50, configured to be capable of pushing against the inner mold wall 32 to be elastically deformed from the top to the bottom. In this embodiment, the demolding rod 50 pushes against the inner mold wall 32 to be elastically deformed, so as to perform a demolding operation.

In this embodiment, the outer mold wall 31 and the inner mold wall 32 are spaced apart, so that annular ice blocks can be rapidly made. In addition, the flexible inner mold wall 32 is operationally deformed to disengage from contact with the annular ice blocks. Demolding is completed inside the ring ice blocks, and the ice cubes 30 are inverted. The annular ice blocks may be demolded relative to the outer mold wall 31 under gravity. In addition, the cylindrical shape may be a straight tube shape, and may alternatively be a tapered tube shape. Therefore, the cylindrical ice slot 33 formed by the outer mold wall 31 and the inner mold wall 32 may be not limited to a cylindrical ring structure, or may be a tapered structure. For example, the inner mold wall 32 may be a tapered tube with a radial dimension decreasing from the bottom to the top. In this way, the inner mold wall 32 is separated from the ice blocks, and the outer mold wall 31 may be a tapered tube with a radial dimension increasing from the bottom to the top, so that the ice blocks can be smoothly separated from the outer mold wall 31. The radial dimension becomes larger or smaller, and a gradually changing form is preferably used, which may be a regular cone surface, or may be a smooth transition surface.

further, the ice cube 30 further includes a top wall 34 and a bottom wall 35. The top wall 34 is connected to a top peripheral edge of the inner mold wall 32. A deformation demolding space 36 is formed between the inner mold wall 32 and the top wall 34. The top wall 34 and the inner mold wall 32 are configured to be elastically deformed from the top to the bottom. The bottom wall 35 is respectively connected to a bottom peripheral edge of the outer mold wall 31 and a bottom peripheral edge of the inner mold wall 32. The outer mold wall 31, the inner mold wall 32, and the bottom wall 35 form the annular ice slot 33. In this embodiment, the top wall 34 connected to the inner mold wall 32 is disposed, so that operation convenience of demolding is increased. The top wall 34 is pushed to move toward the bottom, so that the inner mold wall 32 can be driven, thereby implementing demolding inside the ice blocks. The bottom wall 35 is disposed between the inner mold wall 32 and the outer mold wall 31, so that the inner mold wall 32 is in smooth connection with the outer mold wall 31 at the bottom, and the formed annular ice slot 33 is stable in structural form.

Further, the ice cube tray further includes a mounting frame 40. The mounting frame 40 is able to be limited and adaptively mounted on a top of the accommodating space 11. The ice cubes 30 are able to be adaptively mounted in the mounting frame 40. Bottoms of the ice cubes 30 and a bottom of the accommodating space 11 are spaced apart. In this embodiment, detachable cooperation between the ice cubes 30 and the accommodating space 11 is implemented by using the mounting frame 40. In addition, the ice cubes 30 and the bottom of the accommodating space 11 are spaced apart and suspended, so as to ensure stability of an ice making structure, and avoid the ice cubes 30 from being frozen and bonded to the tray body 10, thereby increasing demolding difficulty.

Further, the ice cube 30 further includes a limit flange 37 extending outward from a top peripheral edge of the outer mold wall 31. The mounting frame 40 is provided with a limit slot 41 in limit fit with the limit flange 37 correspondingly. In this embodiment, by cooperating with a limit structure, mounting stability of the ice cubes 30 can be increased. In addition, a blind operation can be further implemented, thereby improving efficiency.

Further, the mounting frame 40 includes a hollow substrate 42. The limit slot 41 is disposed as a step slot in a hollow part of the substrate 42. The substrate 42 is provided with vertically conductive drain holes 421. In this embodiment, the substrate 42 is adapted to the tray body 10, so that the mounting frame 40 is adaptively mounted on the top of the accommodating space 11. The drain holes 421 are disposed on the substrate 42, so as to clean water above the ice cubes 30, avoid water from remaining above the ice cubes 30 to cause freezing and bonding after ice making and then difficulty in demolding.

Further, the mounting frame 40 further includes an annular side plate 43 extending vertically from an outer edge of the substrate 42 and a mounting flange 44 extending outward from a middle part of the annular side plate 43. A first mounting space adapted to the tray body 10 is formed between a lower part of the annular side plate 43 and the mounting flange 44. A second mounting space adapted to the cover body 20 is formed between an upper part of the annular side plate 43 and the mounting flange 44. In this embodiment, a flange-like structure can be used to implement stable mounting adaptation. The first mounting space is symmetrical to the second mounting space, and the mounting frame 40 is tilted up and down, so that the first mounting space and the second mounting space can still be adaptively mounted on the tray body 10.

Preferably, there are at least two ice cubes 30. Outer sizes of the limit flanges 37 of the at least two ice cubes 30 are the same, and sizes of the outer mold wall 31 and/or the inner mold wall 32 of the at least two cubes 30 are different. In this embodiment, a structure that the outer mold wall 31 and the inner mold wall 32 of different sizes cooperate with each other implement making of ice blocks of different sizes. The limit flanges 37 are of the same size, and can be adaptively assembled with the mounting frame 40. In an ice cube tray having a plurality of ice cubes 30, a placement sequence of the ice cubes 30 is not limited, and operation is convenient.

It may be understood that the ice cubes 30 of the ice cube tray may be freely combined in sizes. Sizes corresponding to the ice cubes 30 may be adapted to different cup types, for example, adapting to Stanley 20oz (ounces), Stanley 40oz, Owala 12oz, Owala 15oz, Owala 16oz, Owala 24oz, and Owala 32oz, and the like. A user may select corresponding ice cubes 30 for combination based on a use status of a household cup, so as to meet diversified ice making requirements of family members.

Specifically, in the embodiment shown in the figure, there are three ice cubes 30, and corresponding sizes may be Stanley 20oz, Stanley 40oz, and Owala 12oz correspondingly. It may be understood that another combination may also be selected for the sizes of the three ice cubes 30, so as to adapt to another size cup type. Further, there may be four, five, or six ice cubes 30, or the like. The ice cubes 30 may be respectively adapted to different size cup types correspondingly, or two, three, four, or five ice cubes 30 may be of the same size, and remaining ice cubes 30 are of different sizes, so as to adapt to an ice use requirement of a scenario such as a multi-member family or a family party, and may also meet ice use requirements of different cup types.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, further, the demolding rod 50 is configured to be capable of pushing against the inner mold wall 32 to be elastically deformed from the top to the bottom. In another embodiment, a demolding action may also be performed by using a manual operation, for example, by pressing with a finger.

Preferably, the demolding rod 50 includes a rod seat 51, a main rod body 52, and a telescopic rod body 53. One end of the main rod body 52 is supported on the rod seat 51. The telescopic rod body 53 is configured to be contracted in the main rod body 52 and stretch out of one end that is of the main rod body 52 and that gets away from the rod seat 51 to be limited. In this embodiment, the demolding rod 50 has two states, such as first state which is a non-working state in which the telescopic rod body 53 is contracted to the main rod body 52, and an extension state in which the telescopic rod body 53 stretches out of the main rod body 52. The extension state is specifically used to cooperate with the ice cubes 30 to perform the demolding operation. After the telescopic rod body 53 stretches out of the main rod body 52, the telescopic rod body 53 can be limited, and a screw-thread fit manner may be used. After the telescopic rod body 53 is stretches out of the main rod body 52, a bottom thread of the telescopic rod body 53 is in screw-thread fit and locked with a top thread of the main rod body 52, or a pin fitting structure may also be used. In addition, a top disc 531 is further disposed in the telescopic rod body 53, and the top disc 531 is configured to push against the inner mold wall 32 to perform the demolding operation, so as to provide uniform force. A size of the top disc 531 is greater than a diameter of the top of the main rod body 52. In a contraction state, the top disc 531 is limited outside the top of the main rod body 52, so as to facilitate next extension operation.

Further, a deformation demolding space 36 is formed between a top and a side of the inner mold wall 32, and the deformation demolding space 36 is able to be further configured to cooperate with the tray body 10 to accommodate the demolding rod 50. In this embodiment, when the ice cube tray does not work, the demolding rod 50 may be accommodated in the tray body 10, and is corresponding to the deformation demolding space 36 of the ice cubes 30 without an additional storage structure.

Further, the ice cubes are of an integrated flexible structure. In this embodiment, the inner mold wall 32 is first molded with the ice blocks, and then the outer mold wall 31 is operated to demolded with the ice blocks, so that operation is easy.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, specific demolding operation steps of the ice cube tray provided in the present disclosure are as follows:

Take out the ice cubes 30 and the mounting frame 40 from the tray body 10.

Pull out the telescopic rod body 53 of the demolding rod 50 from the bottom of the tray body 10, and rotate and lock the demolding rod 50.

Invert the ice cubes 30 and the mounting frame 40, so that the top disc 531 of the telescopic rod body 53 is in contact with the top wall 34 of the ice cube 30.

Press the ice cubes 30 and the mounting frame 40, so that the mounting frame 40 and the tray body 10 are adaptively mounted. In this case, the inner mold wall 32 is detached from connection to the ice blocks, the ice cubes 30 are continuously pressed, the ice blocks move downward, and gradually disengage from connection to the outer mold wall 31 until the ice blocks are in contact with the bottom of the tray body 10. The ice blocks are basically detached from the outer mold wall 31, and demolding is completed. The ice cubes 30 and the mounting frame 40 are taken out upward, and the ice blocks remain in the tray body 10.

The basic principles, principal features and advantages of the present disclosure are shown and described above. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present disclosure is not limited by the above-described embodiments, the above-described embodiments and specification are merely illustrative of the principles of the present disclosure, various changes and modifications may occur to the present disclosure under the premise of without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and these changes and modifications fall within the scope of the present disclosure as claimed. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.