Ice-making method, ice-making apparatus, storage medium, and computer program product

Abstract

An ice-making method includes detecting an actual operating current flowing through a drive motor of an ice scraping assembly of an ice-making apparatus. The drive motor is configured to drive an ice scraping blade of the ice-scraping assembly to rotate. The method further includes determining that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, and controlling, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition, the drive motor and a refrigeration system of the ice-making apparatus to stop operating.

Claims

1. An ice-making method comprising: detecting an actual operating current flowing through a drive motor of an ice scraping assembly of an ice-making apparatus, the drive motor being configured to drive an ice scraping blade of the ice-scraping assembly to rotate; determining that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor; and controlling, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition, the drive motor and a refrigeration system of the ice-making apparatus to stop operating.

2. The ice-making method according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating: obtaining stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes; wherein controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches a stall current corresponding to a current operation mode; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

3. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein the drive motor reaching the safety protection condition includes the actual operating current of the drive motor being greater than or equal to a threshold current.

4. The ice-making method according to claim 3, wherein the threshold current is a first current; the method further comprising: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than a second current and smaller than the first current; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the second current and smaller than the first current, the drive motor to maintain operating; wherein the second current is smaller than a stall current in a current operation mode.

5. The ice-making method according to claim 3, further comprising: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than a predetermined duration; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and the duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than the predetermined duration, the drive motor to maintain operating.

6. The ice-making method according to claim 3, further comprising: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and a number of times the actual operating current becomes greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than a predetermined number of times; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and the number of times the actual operating current becomes greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than the predetermined number of times, the drive motor to maintain operating.

7. The ice-making method according to claim 3, wherein the threshold current is a first current; the method further comprising: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than a second current and smaller than the first current; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the second current and smaller than the first current, the drive motor to rotate in an original rotation direction after controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation by a predetermined number of times.

8. The ice-making method according to claim 3, wherein the threshold current is a first current; the method further comprising: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than a second current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined duration; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the third current and the duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than the predetermined duration, the drive motor to rotate in the original rotation direction after controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation by a predetermined number of times.

9. The ice-making method according to claim 1, wherein: the ice-making apparatus has an ice cube-making operation mode and a shaved ice-making operation mode; in the ice cube-making operation mode, the drive motor reaching the safety protection condition includes the actual operating current of the drive motor being greater than or equal to a first stall current for the ice cube-making operation mode; in the shaved ice-making operation mode, the drive motor reaching the safety protection condition includes the actual operating current of the drive motor being greater than or equal to a second stall current for the shaved ice-making operation mode; and the first stall current is greater than or equal to the second stall current.

10. The ice-making method according to claim 1, the actual operating current flowing through the drive motor is a first actual operating current, and the safety protection condition is a first safety protection condition; the method further comprising: detecting a second actual operating current flowing through a compressor of the refrigeration system; determining that the drive motor reaches the first safety protection condition based on the first actual operating current, determining that the compressor reaches a second safety protection condition based on the second actual operating current, or determining that the drive motor reaches the first safety protection condition based on the first actual operating current and determining that the compressor reaches the second safety protection condition based on the second actual operating current; and controlling, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the first safety protection condition based on the first actual operating current, in response to the determination that the compressor reaches the second safety protection condition based on the second actual operating current, or in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the first safety protection condition based on the first actual operating current and the determination that the compressor reaches the second safety protection condition based on the second actual operating current, the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

11. An ice-making apparatus comprising: an ice-making drum provided with an ice scraping assembly, the ice scraping assembly including a drive motor and an ice scraping blade, and the drive motor being configured to drive the ice scraping blade to rotate; a refrigeration system including a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and a throttle device 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: detect an actual operating current flowing through the drive motor; determine that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor; and control, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition, the drive motor and a refrigeration system of the ice-making apparatus to stop operating.

12. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to: prior to controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating, obtain stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes; and when controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches a stall current corresponding to a current operation mode; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

13. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than a first current and greater than a second current, the second current being smaller than a stall current in a current operation mode; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than the first current and greater than the second current, the drive motor to maintain operating.

14. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a threshold current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than a predetermined duration; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and the duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than the predetermined duration, the drive motor to maintain operating.

15. The ice-making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to execute the ice-making control program to: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a threshold current and a number of times the actual operating current becomes greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than a predetermined number of times; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and the number of times the actual operating current becomes greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than the predetermined number of times, the drive motor to maintain operating.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program stored that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to: detect an actual operating current flowing through a drive motor of an ice scraping assembly of an ice-making apparatus, the drive motor being configured to drive an ice scraping blade of the ice-scraping assembly to rotate; determine that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor; and control, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition, the drive motor and a refrigeration system of the ice-making apparatus to stop operating.

17. The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: prior to controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating, obtain stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes; and when controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches a stall current corresponding to a current operation mode; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

18. The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than a first current and greater than a second current, the second current being smaller than a stall current in a current operation mode; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is smaller than the first current and greater than the second current, the drive motor to maintain operating.

19. The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a threshold current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than a predetermined duration; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and the duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than the predetermined duration, the drive motor to maintain operating.

20. The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, further causes the processor to: determine that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a threshold current and a number of times the actual operating current becomes greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than a predetermined number of times; and control, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the threshold current and the number of times the actual operating current becomes greater than or equal to the threshold current is smaller than the predetermined number of times, the drive motor to maintain operating.

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 current waveform diagram of a drive motor according to the present disclosure.

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

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

[0010] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a refrigeration system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0011] FIG. 6 is a simplified structural diagram of an ice-making apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] 100 ice-making apparatus; 101 ice outlet; 102 water inlet; 110 ice-making drum; 120 drive motor; 130 ice scraping screw; 200 ice extrusion head; [0013] 300 ice cutting head; 310 deflector; [0014] 410 compressor; 420 condenser; 430 evaporator; 4301 evaporator inlet; 4302 evaporator outlet; 440 throttle device; 450 water tank.

[0015] 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

[0016] 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.

[0017] 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.

[0018] Since a drive motor of the ice-making apparatus is prone to stall during operation, it is necessary to reduce icing and prevent the stall through power-off and shutdown. However, when the stall or other anomalies do not impact safe progress of the ice-making process but direct power-off shutdown is controlled, an ice-making efficiency can be significantly reduced, affecting production capacity.

[0019] As illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6, a main solution of an embodiment of the present disclosure is based on a problem of directly cutting off power when the stall occurs in the related art. By providing an ice-making method, an ice-making apparatus, a storage medium, and a computer program product for users, in which only when the stall affects safe operation of the ice-making apparatus, the drive motor and a refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating, effect on the ice-making process can be avoided while the stall in time is handled and safety is optimized.

[0020] 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.

[0021] 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. The refrigeration system has a compressor. The ice scraping assembly has a drive motor and an ice scraping blade. The drive motor is configured to drive the ice scraping blade to rotate.

[0022] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the ice-making method includes the following operations.

[0023] At block S100, an actual operating current flowing through the drive motor is detected.

[0024] When ice is normally dispensed, a current of the drive motor is stable. When the motor is stuck due to a 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.

[0025] At block S200, it is determined that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor.

[0026] At block S300, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating.

[0027] It should be understood that the safety protection condition refers to a safety threshold or a measure set to avoid safety problems caused by abnormal conditions such as the stall of the drive motor. A protection mechanism is triggered where the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating when the safety protection condition is met or the set safety threshold is exceeded. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more safety protection conditions are set correspondingly according to abnormalities such as the stall that may occur during operation of the drive motor. In addition, whether the drive motor meets the set safety protection condition is determined based on the actual operating current of the drive motor. Only when the actual operating current of the drive motor meets the safety protection condition, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating.

[0028] In response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating serves two purposes: controlling the drive motor in time to stop operating, to avoid motor damage and effectively enhance safety; controlling the refrigeration system to stop operating, to avoid losses caused by maintaining cooling when the drive motor fails to operate, and effect on subsequent operation or maintenance of the drive motor.

[0029] The drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating only when that the drive motor is determined to reach the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, which can avoid directly controlling power-off and shutdown to affect the production capacity when abnormality does not affect safe progress of the ice-making process, and effectively reduce an effect of abnormal treatment on ice making. While addressing stall conditions in time and optimizing safety, this method can improve the ice-making efficiency.

[0030] In an embodiment, the ice-making method further includes, prior to block S300 of the controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating: obtaining stall currents of the drive motor in different operation modes and designating each stall current as a first current for respective operation mode.

[0031] It should be understood that the stall current is a current generated when the drive motor cannot rotate due to excessive load or excessive resistance during operation. Specifically, the stall current can be set based on a maximum operation current of the drive motor. The ice-making apparatus has a variety of operation modes. In different operation modes, the operating current of the drive motor is different, and the stall current of the drive motor is also different. The drive component is controlled to operate based on different set operation modes, which can meet different ice consumption requirements and effectively optimize user experience. In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, to produce different forms of ice, operation modes are set based on the different forms of ice produced. The operation mode includes a solid ice operation mode (such as an ice cube-making operation mode) and a non-solid ice operation mode (such as a shaved ice-making operation mode). The solid ice operation mode is used to produce ice cubes, ice sticks, or other types of solid ice. The non-solid ice operation mode is used to make shave ice, ice pops, or other types of non-solid ice. In addition, a plurality of different operation modes may be set based on different operating speeds of the drive motor, different operating cycles of the drive motor, or the like, which can be set as desired. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0032] Further, block S300 of the controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches a stall current corresponding to a current operation mode; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

[0033] When the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the drive motor is determined to have a stall fault, and the motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. This block is used to realize abnormal handling in combination with an actual operation mode, avoid abnormality of the drive motor from affecting a current ice-making process, and thus further improve safety and reliability of ice-making control. By controlling the drive motor and refrigeration system to stop operating, shutdown caused by overcurrent burning and even safety accidents are avoided. The ice-making apparatus includes an ice-making drum. The ice scraping blade of the ice scraping assembly is disposed in the ice-making drum of the ice-making apparatus. The actual operating current of the drive motor is too large, which may be caused by a fact that the ice scraping blade cannot rotate normally due to ice being full, accumulation of ice on the ice scraping blade, ice being blocked between the ice scraping blade and the ice-making drum, and may also be caused by abnormalities in the drive components themselves. By controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating, on the one hand, ice in the ice-making drum can be melted by stopping ice making, and stall caused by excessive ice making can be solved. On the other hand, it is possible to check whether the actual operating current of the drive motor being too large is caused by a machine failure of the drive component itself through shutdown, to provide timely maintenance and treatment.

[0034] In addition, it should be noted that controlling the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating may be controlling the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating based on a set safety time.

[0035] A safety time is set, and in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating based on the set safety time. The block is used for ensuring that there is enough time to melt the ice, and solving abnormal operation of the drive motor caused by full ice, accumulation of ice on the ice scraping blade, ice blocking between the ice scraping blade and the ice-making drum, and also used to reserve a predetermined time for a user to check the ice-making apparatus without affecting a processing process, to facilitate for the user to determine subsequent maintenance and treatment and solve the abnormal operation of the drive motor caused by the machine failure of the drive component itself.

[0036] In one embodiment, in the safety protection condition, the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current. The first current, and the second current and the third current described below, can be considered as certain threshold currents for controlling operation of the drive motor.

[0037] In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, when the ice-making method is applied to an ice-making apparatus having different operation modes, the first current may be, but is not limited to, the stall current in a corresponding operation mode. The first current is determined based on a maximum operating current or a current value detected during actual operation of the drive motor. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard. An operating state of the motor is obtained by detecting the actual operating current of the drive motor, and further whether ice making abnormality exists in the ice-making apparatus is determined. Without user participation, whether the set safety protection condition is reached can be directly determined by comparing the actual operating current of the drive motor and the set first current. In addition, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating when the safety protection condition is reached, effectively improving the reliability, accuracy, and safety of abnormality treatment, and ensuring safe and stable operation of the drive motor and the refrigeration system.

[0038] Taking the first current as the stall current in a corresponding operation mode as an example, block S300 of the controlling the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor reaches the stall current corresponding to the current operation mode, the motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating. This block is used to, after determining a current operation mode of the ice-making apparatus, and in response to the actual operating current of the drive motor being greater than or equal to the stall current in a corresponding operation mode, control the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

[0039] To avoid directly controlling power-off and shutdown to affect the production capacity when abnormality does not affect safe progress of the ice-making process, and to improve the ice-making efficiency while optimizing safety, the present disclosure may optionally be implemented by adopting any one, multiple, or other embodiments described below.

[0040] As illustrated in FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the ice-making method further includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than a second current and smaller than the first current; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the second current and smaller than the first current, the drive motor to maintain operating.

[0041] The second current is smaller than the stall current in each operation mode.

[0042] The second current may be, but is not limited to, a shaped current, an average current, or any other current value detected when the drive motor normally operates in the corresponding operation mode. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard. This block is used to control normal operation of the drive motor in the corresponding operation mode under conditions such as an unstable current or rotational resistance caused by an excessive ice volume in the ice-making drum, which does not affect the safe progress of the ice-making process.

[0043] In another embodiment, the ice-making method further includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined duration; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined duration, the drive motor to maintain operating.

[0044] This block is used to control the drive motor to operate normally in the corresponding operation mode by determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current and the duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than the predetermined duration, under conditions such as the unstable current or a brief stall of the drive motor that do not affect the safe progress of the ice-making process.

[0045] In yet another embodiment, the ice-making method further includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current and the number of times the actual operating current is greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined number of times; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current and the number of times the actual operating current is greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined number of times, the drive motor to maintain operating.

[0046] This block is used to control normal operation of the drive motor in the corresponding operation mode by determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to the first current and the number of times the actual operating current is greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined number of times, under the condition that the current is unstable or the like that are not enough to affect the safe progress of the ice-making process.

[0047] When the ice scraping blade cannot rotate normally because of full ice, accumulation of the ice on the ice scraping blade, ice blocking between the ice scraping blade and the ice-making drum, etc., ice blocked in the ice-making drum can be cleaned by controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation for a predetermined number of times (or a predetermined time), or controlling the drive motor to rotate in a reverse direction for a predetermined number of times (or a predetermined time).

[0048] In yet another embodiment, the ice-making method further includes: determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than a third current and smaller than the first current; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than a third current and smaller than the first current, the drive motor to rotate in an original rotation direction subsequent to an alternation between forward rotation and reverse rotation based on a predetermined number of times.

[0049] This block is used to control the drive motor to rotate in the original rotation direction by controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times to clean the ice blocked in the ice-making drum to improve the stall condition, under conditions such as the unstable current or rotational resistance caused by the excessive ice volume in the ice-making drum, which do not affect the safe progress of the ice-making process. After controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times, if the actual operating current of the drive motor is still greater than the third current when the drive motor is controlled to rotate in the original rotation direction, the drive motor is continuously controlled to alternate between the forward rotation and the reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times. In addition, in this embodiment, it may be further defined that, when the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the third current, and the number of times the actual operating current is smaller than the first current is greater than the predetermined number of times is determined, the safety protection condition is reached is determined, and the motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. In this way, it can further wait for ice to melt or check whether the drive motor fails to operate to avoid motor damage by controlling the drive motor to stop operating in time. By controlling the refrigeration system to stop operating, losses caused by continuous refrigeration when the drive motor fails to operate can be avoided, and subsequent operation or maintenance of the drive motor can be prevented from being affected by the refrigeration.

[0050] Or, the ice-making method further includes determining that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the third current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined duration; and controlling, in response to the determination that the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the third current and a duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is smaller than a predetermined duration, the drive motor to rotate in the original rotation direction subsequent to an alternation between the forward rotation and the reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times.

[0051] The drive motor is controlled to rotate in the original rotation direction by controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times, to clean the ice blocked in the ice-making drum to improve the stall condition, under conditions such as the unstable current or the brief stall of the drive motor that do not affect the safe progress of the ice-making process. After controlling the drive motor to alternate between forward rotation and reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times, if the actual operating current of the drive motor is still greater than the third current when the drive motor is controlled to rotate in the original rotation direction, the drive motor is continuously controlled to alternate between the forward rotation and the reverse rotation based on the predetermined number of times. In addition, in this embodiment, it may be further defined that, when the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than the third current, and the duration for which the actual operating current remains greater than or equal to the first current is greater than or equal to the predetermined duration is determined, that the safety protection condition is reached is determined, and the motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating, to further wait for the ice to melt or check whether the drive motor fails to operate to avoid motor damage by controlling the drive motor to stop operating in time. By controlling the refrigeration system to stop operating, losses caused by continuous refrigeration when the drive motor fails to operate can be avoided, and subsequent operation or maintenance of the drive motor can be prevented from being affected by the refrigeration.

[0052] In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in the foregoing embodiments, the third current is greater than or equal to the second current and is smaller than or equal to the first current. The third current may be, but is not limited to, an operating current detected when a brief stall occurs in the corresponding operation mode. The third current is determined based on the maximum operating current or the current value detected during the actual operation of the drive motor, which can be set as desired. The present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

[0053] In an embodiment, the ice-making apparatus is described as having the ice cube-making operation mode and the shaved ice-making operation mode as an example.

[0054] In the ice cube-making operation mode and in the safety protection condition, the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a first predetermined current, and the first predetermined current is a stall current for the ice cube-making operation mode. In this way, it can be determined whether there is ice-making abnormality in ice-making when the ice-making apparatus is in the ice cube-making operation mode.

[0055] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, by comparing the actual operating current and the first predetermined current of the drive motor in the ice cube-making operation mode, whether the ice cube-making operation mode reaches the set safety protection condition can be directly determined, and when the safety protection condition is reached, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. This way further improve the reliability, the accuracy, and the safety of abnormality treatment, and ensure safe and stable operation of the drive motor and the refrigeration system in different operation modes.

[0056] In the shaved ice-making operation mode and in the safety protection condition, the actual operating current of the drive motor is greater than or equal to a second predetermined current, and the second predetermined current is a stall current for the shaved ice-making operation mode. In this way, it can be determined whether there is ice-making abnormality in the ice-making when the ice-making apparatus is in the shaved ice-making operation mode.

[0057] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, by comparing the actual operating current and the second predetermined current of the drive motor in the shaved ice-making operation mode, whether the shaved ice-making operation mode reaches the set safety protection condition can be directly determined, and when the safety protection condition is reached, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. This way further improves the reliability, the accuracy, and the safety of abnormality treatment, and ensure safe and stable operation of the drive motor and the refrigeration system in different operation modes.

[0058] Since resistance received by the drive motor to drive the ice scraping blade to rotate in the ice cube-making operation mode is larger than that in the shaved ice-making operation mode, the stall current for the ice cube-making operation mode is greater than or equal to the stall current for the shaved ice-making operation mode. Further, the first predetermined current is greater than or equal to the second predetermined current.

[0059] As illustrated in FIG. 3, in an embodiment, the ice-making method includes operations at blocks.

[0060] At block S310, an actual operating current flowing through the compressor is detected.

[0061] The compressor uses the drive motor as a power source. When the compressor operates normally, a current in the compressor remains stable. When the stall fault occurs causing the motor to be stuck, the current in the compressor becomes abnormal. By detecting the actual operating current flowing through the compressor, abnormalities caused by stall faults or other refrigeration-related issues can be detected promptly, effectively improving an efficiency of anomaly detection.

[0062] At block S320, it is determined that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, it is determined that the compressor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the compressor, or it is determined that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor and it is determined that the compressor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the compressor.

[0063] At block S330, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, in response to the determination that the compressor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the compressor, or in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches a safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor and the determination that the compressor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the compressor, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating.

[0064] When that the compressor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the compressor is determined, the drive motor and refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating, to avoid anomalies such as stall faults in the drive motor of the compressor from affecting the refrigeration process, ensuring prompt handling of stall conditions, optimizing safety, and improving the ice-making efficiency.

[0065] An embodiment in which when that the compressor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the compressor is determined, can specifically refer to the previously described embodiment in which when that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor is determined, the drive motor and the refrigeration system are controlled to stop operating. Since the embodiment adopts all technical solutions of the above-described embodiments, the embodiment at least has all advantageous effects brought by the technical solutions of the above-described embodiments, and thus details thereof will be omitted here.

[0066] As illustrated in and FIG. 4, in the present disclosure, after activating the ice-making apparatus, optionally, operation of a throttle device of the refrigeration system is controlled, and then operation of the compressor of the refrigeration system is controlled. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: controlling an opening degree of the throttle device to be adjusted to an initial opening degree; and determining, subsequent to the throttle device operating at the initial opening degree for a first predetermined time, the opening degree of the throttle device based on an air discharge temperature of the refrigeration system, and controlling the condenser and the fan to be activated.

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining a start-up instruction or starting the ice-making apparatus in other ways, the opening degree of the throttle device is controlled to be adjusted to the initial opening degree, to ensure that the throttle device can operate in a relatively reasonable state at an initial start-up stage. The opening degree of the throttle device is adjusted based on an operation state of the refrigerating apparatus after operating for a period of time, and activation of the condenser and the fan are controlled to ensure that the condenser is controlled to operate when the throttle device moves to a best operation state, to avoid unnecessary loss. By activating the fan, the condenser can be sufficiently cooled and the temperature of the condenser can be prevented from being too high to affect a refrigeration effect. This way achieves energy saving and extension of service life of the ice-making apparatus while achieving refrigeration and improving the refrigeration efficiency.

[0068] 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.

[0069] As illustrated in FIG. 4, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice-making method further includes: obtaining an ambient temperature, an evaporation temperature, and an inlet water temperature; determining a pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system based on the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature; controlling the ice scraping assembly to start operating subsequent to the refrigeration system being controlled to operate for the pre-cooling duration.

[0070] 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.

[0071] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pre-cooling duration of the refrigeration system, especially a pre-cooling duration of the compressor, is determined based on any one or more of the ambient temperature, the evaporation temperature, and the inlet water temperature. The compressor is controlled to operation for the pre-cooling duration and then the ice scraping assembly is controlled to start operate, to improve reliability of control and achieve advanced cooling. Rapid ice dispense can be ensured when the ice scraping assembly is activated and issues such as inability to discharge ice or insufficient ice hardness in the early stages of ice production can be avoided, effectively improving ice making quality. Also, usage requirements such as edible taste can be met, optimizing the user experience, and inlet water waste and electrical consumption caused by problems like the inability to discharge ice or the failure of ice to form into shapes can be avoided, reducing an ice-making cost.

[0072] As illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the present disclosure further provides an ice-making apparatus 100. The ice-making apparatus 100 includes an ice-making drum 110, a refrigeration system, and a controller. The ice-making drum 110 is provided with an ice scraping assembly. The ice scraping assembly includes a drive motor 120 and an ice scraping blade. The drive motor 120 is configured to drive the ice scraping blade disposed in the ice-making drum 110 to rotate. The refrigeration system includes a compressor 410, a condenser 420, an evaporator 430, and a throttle device 440 that are sequentially in communication to form a refrigeration cycle loop. The compressor is configured to draw in low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant vapor and convert the vapor into high-temperature and high-pressure superheated vapor through compression. The condenser is configured to receive high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant vapor from the compressor, cool the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant vapor and condense the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant vapor into a liquid refrigerant through heat exchange. The throttle device is configured for throttling and decompressing the high-pressure liquid refrigerant flowing out of the condenser to enable the high-pressure liquid refrigerant to become low-pressure and low-temperature refrigerant liquid or a gas-liquid mixture. The evaporator is configured to receive the low-pressure refrigerant liquid or the gas-liquid mixture from the throttle device, and by absorbing heat of the cooled object, the refrigerant is evaporated into a gas. In this process, a temperature of the cooled object is reduced to realize a cooling and refrigeration effect. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the evaporator 430 is configured to cool the drum, to enable water in the drum to freeze into ice.

[0073] The ice-making drum 110 is refrigerated by the evaporator 430, to enable water in the ice-making drum 110 to freeze into ice. The drive motor 120 is configured to drive the ice scraping blade disposed in the ice-making drum 110 to rotate, to drive the ice scraping blade to scrape off ice in the ice-making drum 110 and transfer the ice to an ice outlet 101 of the ice-making drum 110. Ice hanging on an inner wall of the ice-making drum 110 is scraped off by the ice scraping assembly, and the scraped ice is delivered out of the ice-making apparatus 100 to obtain the required ice of different forms.

[0074] 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.

[0075] 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.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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.

[0078] 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.

[0079] 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.

[0080] 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.

[0081] 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.

[0082] The ice-making apparatus provided by the present disclosure adopts the ice-making method in the above-described embodiments, which can deal with the stall in time when the stall affects safe operation of the ice-making apparatus, to avoid affecting the ice-making process while dealing with the stall in time and optimizing safety. 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.

[0083] 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.

[0084] 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.

[0085] 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.

[0086] 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.

[0087] 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.

[0088] The above computer-readable storage medium carries one or more programs that, when executed by the ice-making apparatus, cause the ice-making apparatus to: detect the actual operating current flowing through the drive motor; determine that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor; control, in response to the determination that the drive motor reaches the safety protection condition based on the actual operating current of the drive motor, the drive motor and the refrigeration system to stop operating.

[0089] 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).

[0090] 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.

[0091] 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.

[0092] 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 deal with the stall in time when the stall affects the safe operation of the ice-making apparatus, to avoid affecting the ice-making process while dealing with the stall in time and optimizing safety. 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.

[0093] The present disclosure provides the computer program product. The computer program product includes the computer program. The computer program implements, when executed by the processor, the steps of the ice-making method according to the above.

[0094] The computer program product provided by the present disclosure can deal with the stall in time when the stall affects the safe operation of the ice-making apparatus, to avoid affecting the ice-making process while dealing with the stall in time and optimizing safety. 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.

[0095] 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.

[0096] 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.