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

Abstract

An ice-making method includes obtaining temperatures affecting ice making, determining, based on the temperatures affecting ice making, an operation sequence and a running mode for a refrigeration system and an ice scraping assembly of an ice-making apparatus, and controlling, based on the operation sequence and the running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate.

Claims

1. An ice-making method comprising: obtaining temperatures affecting ice making; determining, based on the temperatures affecting ice making, an operation sequence and a running mode for a refrigeration system and an ice scraping assembly of an ice-making apparatus; and controlling, based on the operation sequence and the running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate.

2. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein determining the operation sequence and the running mode includes: determining that the temperatures affecting ice making are greater than or equal to a threshold temperature; and in response to the determination that the temperatures affecting ice making are greater than or equal to the threshold temperature, determining that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate successively.

3. The ice-making method according to claim 2, further comprising: determining, based on the temperatures affecting ice making, a pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system; wherein controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate includes: controlling the ice scraping assembly to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for the pre-cooling duration.

4. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein determining the operation sequence and the running mode includes: determining that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than a first temperature and greater than or equal to a second temperature, the second temperature being smaller than or equal to 0 C.; and in response to the determination that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the first temperature and greater than or equal to the second temperature, determining that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate simultaneously.

5. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein determining the operation sequence and the running mode includes: determining that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than a threshold temperature that is smaller than or equal to 0 C.; and in response to the determination that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the second temperature, determining that the ice scraping assembly and the refrigeration system operate successively.

6. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein determining the operation sequence and the running mode includes determining, based on the temperatures affecting ice making: a first operating speed of the refrigeration system when an operation duration of the refrigeration system is smaller than or equal to an operation duration threshold; a first operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when an operation duration of the ice scraping assembly is smaller than or equal to the operation duration threshold; a second operating speed of the refrigeration system when the operation duration of the refrigeration system is greater than the operation duration threshold; and a second operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when the operation duration of the ice scraping assembly is greater than the operation duration threshold.

7. The ice-making method according to claim 6, wherein: the first operating speed of the refrigeration system is greater than or equal to the second operating speed of the refrigeration system; and the first operating speed of the ice scraping assembly is smaller than or equal to the second operating speed of the refrigeration system.

8. The ice-making method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining a target ice output; wherein determining the operation sequence and the running mode includes: determining, based on the temperatures affecting ice making and the target ice output, an inlet water volume and an operation duration of the refrigeration system; and determining, based on the operation duration of the refrigeration system, an operating cycle of the ice scraping assembly and an operating speed of the ice scraping assembly within the operating cycle.

9. The ice-making method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining a set operation mode, the set operation mode being an ice cube-making operation mode or a shaved ice-making operation mode; controlling, in the ice cube-making operation mode, the ice scraping assembly to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for a pre-cooling duration; and controlling, in the shaved ice-making operation mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate simultaneously.

10. The ice-making method according to claim 1, further comprising, subsequent to controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate: detecting an actual operating current flowing through a drive motor of the ice scraping assembly and obtaining stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes; determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than a stall current corresponding to a current operation mode, and controlling the drive motor to maintain operating, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode; and determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, and controlling, based on a set safe duration, the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode.

11. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein the temperatures affecting ice making include at least one of an ambient temperature, an evaporation temperature, and an inlet water temperature.

12. The ice-making method according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate: controlling an opening degree of a throttle device of the refrigeration system to be adjusted to an initial opening degree; and determining, subsequent to the throttle device operating at the initial opening degree for a predetermined time, the opening degree of the throttle device based on an air discharge temperature of the refrigeration system, and controlling a condenser and a fan of the refrigeration system to be activated.

13. An ice-making apparatus, comprising: an ice-making drum provided with an ice scraping assembly; a refrigeration system including a compressor, a condenser, a throttle device, and an evaporator, that are sequentially in communication to form a refrigeration cycle loop, the evaporator being configured to cool the drum, to enable water in the drum to freeze into ice; and a controller storing an ice-making control program and configured to execute the ice-making control program to: obtain temperatures affecting ice making; determine, based on the temperatures affecting ice making, an operation sequence and a running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly; and controlling, based on the operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate.

14. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to, when determining the operation sequence and the running mode: determine that the temperatures affecting ice making are greater than or equal to a threshold temperature; and in response to the determination that the temperatures affecting ice making are greater than or equal to the threshold temperature, determine that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate successively.

15. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to: determine, based on the temperatures affecting ice making, a pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system; and when controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate, control the ice scraping assembly to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for the pre-cooling duration.

16. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to, when determining the operation sequence and the running mode includes: determine that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than a first temperature and greater than or equal to a second temperature, the second temperature being smaller than or equal to 0 C.; and in response to the determination that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the first temperature and greater than or equal to the second temperature, determine that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate simultaneously.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to: obtain temperatures affecting ice making; determine, based on the temperatures affecting ice making, an operation sequence and a running mode for a refrigeration system and an ice scraping assembly of an ice-making apparatus; and control, based on the operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate.

18. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to, when determining the operation sequence and the running mode: determine, based on the temperatures affecting ice making: a first operating speed of the refrigeration system when an operation duration of the refrigeration system is smaller than or equal to an operation duration threshold; a first operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when an operation duration of the ice scraping assembly is smaller than or equal to the operation duration threshold; a second operating speed of the refrigeration system when the operation duration of the refrigeration system is greater than the operation duration threshold; and a second operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when the operation duration of the ice scraping assembly is greater than the operation duration threshold.

19. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: obtain a set operation mode, the set operation mode being an ice cube-making operation mode or a shaved ice-making operation mode; control, in the ice cube-making operation mode, the ice scraping assembly to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for a pre-cooling duration; and control, in the shaved ice-making operation mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate simultaneously.

20. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to, subsequent to controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate: detect an actual operating current flowing through a drive motor of the ice scraping assembly and obtaining stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes; determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than a stall current corresponding to a current operation mode, and controlling the drive motor to maintain operating, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode; and determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, and control, based on a set safe duration, the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] 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.

[0005] 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.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a specific schematic flowchart illustrating one embodiment of S200 of an ice-making method according to the present disclosure.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a specific schematic flowchart illustrating another embodiment of S200 of an ice-making method according to the present disclosure.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a partial schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0010] FIG. 5 is a partial schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0011] FIG. 6 is a specific schematic flowchart illustrating one embodiment of S300 of an ice-making method according to the present disclosure.

[0012] FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an ice-making method according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a refrigeration system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 9 is a simplified view of a structure of an ice-making apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] 100 ice-making apparatus; 101 ice outlet; 102 water inlet; 110 ice-making drum; 120 drive motor; 130 ice scraping screw; [0016] 200 ice extrusion head; [0017] 300 ice cutting head; 310 deflector; [0018] 410 compressor; 420 condenser; 430 evaporator; 4301 evaporator inlet; 4302 evaporator outlet; 440 throttle device; 450 water tank.

[0019] 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

[0020] 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.

[0021] 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.

[0022] In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, phrases like at least one of A, B, and C and at least one of A, B, or C both mean only A, only B, only C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0023] A conventional ice-making apparatus directly controls refrigeration, ice-extruding and ice-dispensing immediately after startup. An ice scraping assembly configured to extrude and dispense ice and a refrigeration system generally operate simultaneously. During ice-making, it is common to encounter issues such as watery ice being dispensed and ice failing to form into shapes quickly, which can result in inability to dispense ice and insufficient hardness of produced ice in an early stage of ice-making. In this way, not only can user experience, including the taste of the ice when consumed, be affected, but waste can also occur.

[0024] Most of the conventional ice-making apparatuses focus on mechanical control of the ice-making apparatus itself, and ignore influence of actual temperatures such as an ambient temperature on ice-making. As illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9, a main solution of an embodiment of the present disclosure addresses issues like watery ice being dispensed and ice failing to form into shapes quickly due to simultaneous control of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly in the related art. By providing a user with an ice-making method, an ice-making apparatus, a storage medium, and a computer program product, operation of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are individually controlled based on temperatures affecting ice making such as an ambient temperature, an evaporation temperature, and an inlet water temperature, in such a manner that the produced ice can meet user's hardness requirements, optimizing ice-making experience, and inlet water waste and electrical consumption caused by the inability to dispense ice and the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing an ice-making cost.

[0025] 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.

[0026] 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 the ice-making apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 1, in an embodiment, the ice-making apparatus has a refrigeration system and an ice scraping assembly.

[0027] In some technical solutions of the present disclosure, the ice-making apparatus includes an ice-making drum; a refrigeration system, in which in particular, an evaporator of the refrigeration system is configured to refrigerate of the ice-making drum; and an ice scraping assembly disposed in the ice-making drum. The water from an external water tank or a water tank or other water storage device configured by the ice-making apparatus itself enters the ice-making drum through a water inlet arranged in the ice-making drum. Specifically, incoming water is sprayed onto an inner wall of the ice-making drum, forming a water film on the inner wall. The evaporator lowers a temperature, causing the water on the inner wall of the drum to freeze into ice. The ice scraping assembly, particularly an ice scraping screw 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 an ice outlet formed at the ice-making drum.

[0028] To obtain different forms of ice required and meet different ice needs of users, in an exemplary embodiment, the ice-making apparatus has a non-solid ice operation mode and a solid ice operation mode. When operating in the non-solid ice operation mode (such as a 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 bars 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 200 having a 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.

[0029] In some specific embodiments of the present disclosure, the refrigeration system includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttle device, and an evaporator 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.

[0030] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the ice-making method includes following operations.

[0031] At S100, temperatures affecting ice making are obtained.

[0032] Further, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the temperatures affecting ice making include, but are not limited to, an ambient temperature, an evaporation temperature, and an inlet water temperature. The temperatures affecting ice making can be any one, multiple, or any combination of these factors: the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature. The specific configuration can be set as desired and is not limited herein.

[0033] It should be understood that 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.

[0034] At S200, an operation sequence and a running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are determined based on the temperatures affecting ice making.

[0035] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the temperatures affecting ice making include at least one of an ambient temperature, an evaporation temperature, and an inlet water temperature. In this way, influence of different temperatures in the ice-making process can be fully considered, facilitating better control over ice-making, ice-extruding, and ice-dispensing. By further determining the operation sequence and the running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly based on the at least one of the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature, flexibility of ice-making control can be enhanced, meeting ice-making requirements of various application scenarios.

[0036] At S300, based on the determined operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate.

[0037] In this way, an efficiency of ice-making control and reliability of ice-making can be improved, and an issue arising from only being able to control the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly simultaneously, which can result in the dispensing of watery ice and the failure of ice to quickly form into shapes, can be avoided. This approach effectively addresses problems such as inability to dispense ice and insufficient hardness of the produced ice. In this way, the approach can also meet usage requirements such as edible taste and thus optimize the user experience. In addition, the inlet water waste and electrical consumption caused by issues like the inability to dispense ice and the failure of ice to form into shapes can be reduced, lowering the ice-making cost.

[0038] In the present disclosure, the operation sequence and the running mode of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are determined based on the temperatures affecting ice making, and operation of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are individually controlled based on the determined operation sequence and operation mode. Specifically, the determined operation sequence can be: controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate successively; controlling the ice scraping assembly and the refrigeration system to operate successively; or controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate simultaneously, which can meet different requirements of various application scenarios, enhance ice-making quality while improving an ice-making speed, and reduce the ice-making cost.

[0039] In addition, it should be noted that in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the operation sequence of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly may be further determined, based on an actual ice making process, as controlling the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate alternately, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a first temperature, a second temperature, etc. may be specifically set based on the temperatures affecting ice making to determine an inlet water status and a refrigerant status, which can help to further determine an operation mode of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly. A first temperature of the ambient temperature, a first temperature of the evaporation temperature, and a first temperature of the inlet water temperature may be the same or different. A second temperature of the ambient temperature, a second temperature of the evaporation temperature, and a second temperature of the inlet water temperature may be the same or different. A first temperature may be a specific temperature value, or a temperature range. The same is true for the second temperature. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard. The first temperature and the second temperature can be regarded as threshold temperatures (threshold temperature values or threshold temperature ranges) and hence can also be referred to as a first threshold temperature and a second threshold temperature, respectively.

[0041] As illustrated in FIG. 2, in an embodiment, determining an operation sequence and a running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly based on the temperatures affecting ice making (S200) includes at least one of the following operations.

[0042] At S2111, it is determined that the temperatures affecting ice making are greater than or equal to a first temperature.

[0043] At S2112, in response to the determination that the temperatures affecting ice making are greater than or equal to a first temperature, it is determined that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate successively.

[0044] When at least one of the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, or the inlet water temperature is greater than or equal to a corresponding first predetermined temperature, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate successively. In scenarios where the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, or the inlet water temperature are relatively high, when operating in modes that require ice cube making such as an ice-cube-making operation mode, or when operating in modes that require higher hardness of the produced ice, the refrigeration system is controlled to operate first and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate, which ensures rapid ice dispense when the ice scraping assembly is activated and avoids issues such as the inability to dispense ice or insufficient ice hardness in the early stages of ice-making, effectively improving ice 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 dispense ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing the ice-making cost.

[0045] At S2121, it is determined that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the first temperature and greater than or equal to a second temperature.

[0046] At S2122, in response to the determination that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the first temperature and greater than or equal to a second temperature, it is determined that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate simultaneously.

[0047] When at least one of the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, or the inlet water temperature is smaller than the corresponding first predetermined temperature and greater than or equal to a corresponding second predetermined temperature, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate simultaneously. In scenarios where the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, or the inlet water temperature are relatively suitable, when operating in modes that requires shaved ice such as a shaved ice-making operation mode, or when operating in modes that require higher hardness of the produced ice, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate simultaneously, which can avoid the energy loss caused by ice-making ahead of time and a problem that due to hardness of ice in the ice-making drum is too high, the ice in the ice-making drum is not easily produced, effectively improving the ice-making speed, reducing electrical consumption, and thus lowering the ice-making cost.

[0048] At S2131, it is determined that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the second temperature.

[0049] At S2132, in response to the determination that at least one of the temperatures affecting ice making is smaller than the second temperature, it is determined that the ice scraping assembly and the refrigeration system operate successively.

[0050] When the temperatures affecting ice making are smaller than the second temperature, the ice scraping assembly and the refrigeration system are controlled to operate successively, which is used in scenarios where the temperatures affecting ice making are relatively low, such as in extremely cold environments, or when a cooling demand is not high, or when producing shaved ice that does not require high ice hardness. By controlling the ice scraping assembly to operate first and then controlling the refrigeration system to operate, energy loss caused by ice-making ahead of time can be avoided, effectively improving the ice-making speed, reducing electrical consumption, and thus lowering the ice-making cost. Taking an application scenario such as an extremely cold environment where an ambient temperature is below 0 C. as an example, when the inlet water temperature is below 0 C., inlet water itself is non-solid ice. By controlling the ice scraping assembly to operate first and then controlling the refrigeration system to operate, ice dispense can also be achieved.

[0051] As a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, the first temperature is greater than the second temperature and the second temperature is smaller than or equal to 0 C. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first temperatures set corresponding to the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature are smaller than the second temperatures set corresponding to the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature. The second temperatures set corresponding to the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature are smaller than or equal to 0 C.

[0052] In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in particular, based on a temperature range of 0 C. to 40 C. or a refrigeration apparatus applied in practice, an arbitrary temperature value within the temperature range is used as the first temperature of the ambient temperature. In addition, the second temperature of the ambient temperature is determined based on other temperatures smaller than the first temperature. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on a temperature range of 5 C. to 30 C. or the refrigeration apparatus applied in practice, an arbitrary temperature value within the temperature range is used as the first temperature of the inlet water temperature. In addition, the second temperature of the inlet water temperature is determined based on other temperatures smaller than the first temperature. It should be noted that the first temperature and the second temperature of the evaporation temperature are smaller than or equal to 0 C. In particular, the evaporation temperature is determined based on a refrigerant actually used and a refrigeration mechanism of the ice-making apparatus. In addition, based on a temperature range of 25 C. to 0 C. or the refrigeration apparatus applied in practice, an arbitrary temperature value within the temperature range is used as the first temperature of the evaporation temperature. Further, the second temperature of the evaporation temperature is determined based on other temperatures smaller than the first temperature.

[0053] In an embodiment, the ice-making method further includes, in response to the determination that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate successively: determining a pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system based on the temperatures affecting ice making.

[0054] In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in particular, the pre-cooling duration can be set according to the refrigeration apparatus applied in practice and the temperatures affecting ice making corresponding to ice-making hardness requirements. In response to the determination that the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly operate successively, the pre-cooling duration can be directly determined by invoking pre-cooling durations set for different temperatures affecting ice making. Or, a relationship between the pre-cooling durations and the temperatures affecting ice making corresponding to the pre-cooling durations can be established, and the pre-cooling duration can be determined by invoking the established relationship. Or, machine learning can be used to directly determine the pre-cooling duration corresponding to the obtained temperature affecting ice making. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0055] Further, controlling, based on the determined operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate (S300) includes: controlling the ice scraping assembly to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for the pre-cooling duration.

[0056] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system is determined based on any one or more of the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature to realize the pre-cooling. The refrigeration system is controlled to operate for the pre-cooling duration and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to start operating, to improve reliability of control, ensuring that effective and rapid ice dispense is achieved when the ice scraping assembly is in operation, improving the ice-making quality.

[0057] It should be noted that this example is applicable except to the embodiment in which the determined operation sequence is to control the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate successively and control the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to stop operating simultaneously. This example is also applicable to an embodiment in which the determined operation sequence is to control the refrigeration system to start operating and then control the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate alternately, as well as applicable to other embodiments that require first control of the operation of the refrigeration system, and in which the determined operation sequence is to control the refrigeration system to start operating and control the refrigeration system to operate intermittently in multiple cycles, and thus details thereof will be omitted here.

[0058] In addition, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: obtaining a pre-cooling duration set by a user.

[0059] Controlling, based on the determined operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate (S300) may further include: obtaining the determined pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system based on the temperatures affecting ice making.

[0060] In response to a difference between a predetermined cooling duration and the pre-cooling duration set by the user being smaller than or equal to a predetermined threshold, subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for the pre-cooling duration set by the user, the ice scraping assembly is controlled to start operation.

[0061] In response to a difference between a predetermined cooling duration and the pre-cooling duration set by the user being greater than a predetermined threshold, subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for the predetermined cooling duration, the ice scraping assembly is controlled to start operation.

[0062] In this way, ice with desired hardness can be freely customized by the user setting the pre-cooling duration while ensuring the ice-making quality.

[0063] Further, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice-making apparatus may further provide options of a plurality of ice forms for users to select corresponding to ice of different hardness or ice of different forms produced, and further realize production of ice of different forms by determining different pre-cooling durations, operating speeds (operating speeds of the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly). Or, a plurality of pre-cooling duration options may be provided for users to select corresponding to the produced ice of different hardness or ice of different forms, to produce the ice of different forms. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0064] In an embodiment, determining the operation sequence and the running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly based on the temperatures affecting ice making (S200) includes: determining, based on the temperatures affecting ice making: a first operating speed of the refrigeration system when an operation duration of the refrigeration system is smaller than or equal to a first operation duration; a first operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when the operation duration of the ice scraping assembly is smaller than or equal to the first operation duration; a second operating speed of the refrigeration system when the operation duration of the refrigeration system is greater than the first operation duration; and a second operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when the operation duration of the ice scraping assembly is greater than the first operation duration. The first operation duration and the second operation duration described below can be regarded as operation duration thresholds, and can be referred to as first operation duration threshold and second operation duration threshold, respectively.

[0065] It should be understood that an operation duration and a first operation duration may specifically be an operation duration subsequent to the ice-making apparatus being activated. In this case, an operation duration of the refrigeration system and an operation duration of the ice scraping assembly are the same. Or, the operation duration may be separately determined for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly. The first operation duration may be separately set for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly. The first operation duration of the refrigeration system and the first operation duration of the ice scraping assembly may be the same or different, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0066] The first operation duration is set, and the operating speed of the refrigeration system and the operating speed of the ice scraping assembly are determined based on the first operation duration. The refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate based on a corresponding first operating speed when the operation duration is smaller than or equal to the first operation duration, and the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate based on a corresponding second operating speed when the operation duration is greater than the first operation duration.

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the operation of the refrigeration system is controlled in a form of rapid refrigeration and then slow refrigeration, to ensure quick entry into a cooling state and prevent excessive ice formation after a period of cooling, which can lead to blockage fault. In addition, the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate in a manner of slow rotation followed by fast rotation, which can ensure that ice is dispensed only after the ice is formed, to avoid issues such as the failure of ice to form into shapes caused by the ice scraping assembly rotating too quickly during the early stages of ice formation, effectively improving quality of dispensed ice. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first operating speed of the refrigeration system is greater than or equal to the second operating speed of the refrigeration system. The first operating speed of the ice scraping assembly is smaller than or equal to the second operating speed of the refrigeration system.

[0068] In addition, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, determining the second operating speed of the refrigeration system and the second operating speed of the ice scraping assembly when the operation duration is greater than the first operation duration may be further detailed as follows: the second operating speed includes a first speed and a second speed. In particular, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate at a corresponding first speed when the operation duration is greater than the first operation duration and smaller than or equal to the second operation duration, and the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate at a corresponding second speed when the operation duration is greater than the second operation duration. The first speed of the refrigeration system is greater than or equal to the second speed of the refrigeration system. The first speed of the ice scraping assembly is greater than or equal to the second speed of the ice scraping assembly. In particular, a refrigeration efficiency can be reduced by lowering a refrigeration speed after a period of refrigeration, to avoid occurrence of blockage fault due to excessive ice making. In addition, the operation speed of the ice scraping assembly can be reduced after a period of refrigeration, preventing occurrence of motor failure due to continuous long-time and rapid rotation of the ice scraping assembly when there is a large amount of accumulated ice.

[0069] This approach above can be used to make ice based on an ice output required by the user and meet the user's usage requirements, also realizing energy saving and avoiding waste caused by excessive ice making. As illustrated in FIG. 3, in an embodiment, the ice-making method further includes: obtaining a target ice output set by a user.

[0070] Further, determining the operation sequence and the running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly based on the temperatures affecting ice making (S200) includes following operations.

[0071] At S221, an inlet water volume and an operation duration of the refrigeration system are determined based on the temperatures affecting ice making and the target ice output.

[0072] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the inlet water volume is further determined based on the target ice output, the inlet water, operation of the ice-making apparatus, and water losses that may be caused by the temperatures affecting ice making, to improve control of the inlet water volume. This approach is used to determine the water inlet volume and the operation duration of the refrigeration system based on the required ice output, realizing quantitative ice making, which can reduce the ice making cost while improving the ice making efficiency, and avoid excess water and ice staying in the ice making drum caused by excessive water inlet, resulting in pollution and affecting quality of next ice making.

[0073] At S222, an operating cycle of the ice scraping assembly and an operating speed of the ice scraping assembly within the operating cycle are determined based on the operation duration of the refrigeration system.

[0074] In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the operating cycle of the ice scraping assembly and the operating speed of the ice scraping assembly within the operating cycle are determined, at least one operating cycle can be set as desired, or a plurality of operating cycles that are the same or different can be set. The ice scraping assembly can operate at different operating speeds in different operating cycle. In this way, the ice scraping assembly can be prevented from overheating and malfunctioning due to continuous operation for a long time, which in turn may affect the refrigeration efficiency. In addition, one operation duration of the refrigeration system or a plurality of operation durations of the refrigeration system may be provided. When a plurality of operation durations of the refrigeration system are provided, the operation duration of the refrigeration system may be optionally regarded as an operation buffer duration of the ice scraping assembly. Or, the operation duration of the refrigeration system may be determined as an operating cycle with a slower operating speed among a plurality of operating cycles of the ice scraping assembly, which can be set as desired. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0075] The operation of the ice scraping assembly is controlled according to the operation of the refrigeration system, which is used for avoiding the problem like ice failing to form into shapes when the operating speed of the ice scraping assembly is too fast in the early stage of ice making, and is also used for realizing rapid ice dispense by increasing the operating speed of the ice scraping assembly after ice making for a period of time, to avoid freezing and blocking in the ice making drum.

[0076] As illustrated in FIG. 4, in an embodiment, the ice-making method further includes following operations.

[0077] At S510, an operation mode set by a user is obtained. The operation mode includes an ice cube-making operation mode and a shaved ice-making operation mode.

[0078] The ice cube-making operating mode is mainly used to make solid ice having high hardness requirements such as ice pellets, ice cubes, and ice sticks. The shaved ice-making operation mode is mainly used to make non-solid ice having relatively low hardness requirements, such as shaved ice, crushed ice, and ice pops.

[0079] At S521, in the ice cube-making operation mode, the ice scraping assembly is controlled to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for a pre-cooling duration.

[0080] In the ice cube-making operation mode, the refrigeration system is controlled to operate first and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to operate, and the refrigeration system (mainly a compressor of the refrigeration system is controlled) is controlled to operate based on the pre-cooling duration determined based on the temperatures affecting ice making, to ensure rapid ice dispense when the ice scraping assembly is activated and avoid issues such as the inability to dispense 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 water waste and electrical consumption caused by problems like the inability to dispense ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing the ice-making cost.

[0081] At S522, in the shaved ice-making operation mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly are controlled to operate simultaneously.

[0082] In the shaved ice-making 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 the ice-making speed, reducing electrical consumption, and thus lowering the ice-making cost.

[0083] In an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the ice-making method further includes following operations after controlling, based on the determined operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate (S300).

[0084] At S610, an actual operating current flowing through the drive motor is detected and stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes are obtained.

[0085] The actual operating current flowing through the drive motor is detected when the ice-making apparatus is in operation. When ice is normally dispensed, a current of the drive motor is stable. When the motor is stuck due to the stall failure, the current of the drive motor is abnormal. By detecting the actual operating current flowing through the drive motor, a motor abnormal problem caused by the stall failure can be detected in time, effectively improving an abnormality detection efficiency.

[0086] At S621, it is determined that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than a stall current corresponding to the operation mode, and the drive motor is controlled to maintain operating, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than a stall current corresponding to the operation mode.

[0087] At S622, it is determined that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the operation mode, and based on a set safe duration, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the operation mode.

[0088] Controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating can control the drive motor in time to stop operating, to avoid motor damage and effectively enhance safety. Controlling the refrigeration system to stop operating can 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 the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the stall current corresponding to the operation mode, which can avoid directly controlling power-off and shutdown to affect production capacity when abnormality does not affect safe progress of an ice making process, and effectively reduce influence of abnormal treatment on ice making, to improve the ice making efficiency while timely dealing with stall and optimizing safety.

[0089] In an embodiment, the refrigeration system includes a throttle device, a condenser, and a fan.

[0090] As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, after starting the refrigeration apparatus, operation of the throttle device of the refrigeration system is controlled first, and then operation of the compressor of the refrigeration system is controlled. The method further includes following operations prior to controlling, based on the determined operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate.

[0091] At S301, an opening degree of the throttle device is controlled to be adjusted to an initial opening degree.

[0092] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining a start-up instruction or starting the refrigeration 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.

[0093] At S302, based on an air discharge temperature of the refrigeration system, the opening degree of the throttle device is determined, subsequent to the throttle device operating at the initial opening degree for a first predetermined time, and the condenser and the fan are controlled to be activated.

[0094] Adjusting the opening degree of the throttle device based on an operation state of the refrigerating apparatus after operating for a period of time, and controlling the condenser and the fan to be activated, ensures 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. In this way, energy saving and extension of service life of the ice-making apparatus are achieved while achieving refrigeration and improving the refrigeration efficiency.

[0095] 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.

[0096] As illustrated in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the present disclosure also 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. 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 evaporator 430 is configured to cool the drum, to enable water in the drum to freeze into ice.

[0097] 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 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, 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.

[0098] 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 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.

[0099] 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.

[0100] 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.

[0101] 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.

[0102] 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.

[0103] 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.

[0104] 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.

[0105] 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.

[0106] 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 inability to dispense ice, insufficient ice hardness, and failure of ice to form into shapes quickly, optimizing use experience and avoiding waste. 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.

[0107] 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.

[0108] 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.

[0109] 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.

[0110] 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.

[0111] 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.

[0112] 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 may: obtain temperatures affecting ice making; determine an operation sequence and a running mode for the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly based on the temperatures affecting ice making; and control, based on the determined operation sequence and running mode, the refrigeration system and the ice scraping assembly to operate, respectively.

[0113] 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).

[0114] 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.

[0115] 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.

[0116] 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 inability to dispense ice, insufficient ice hardness, and failure of ice to form into shapes quickly, optimizing the use experience and avoiding waste. 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.

[0117] The present disclosure provides the computer program product. The computer program product includes the computer program. The computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the ice-making method according to the above.

[0118] The computer program product provided by the present disclosure can solve the technical problems of inability to dispense ice, insufficient ice hardness, and failure of ice to form into shapes quickly, optimizing the use experience and avoiding waste. 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.

[0119] 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.

[0120] 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.