3D Vacuum Insulated Door Structure for Non-Planar Refrigerator Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerator door insulation technologies fail to maintain a consistent and effective vacuum insulation across non-planar surfaces, leading to heat transfer inefficiencies and gaps in insulation.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a continuous core insulation member with non-planar surfaces, surrounded by a barrier film envelope, where a tooling fixture presses the envelope against engaging surfaces to remove gas and create a hermetic vacuum insulation panel, which is then integrated between a liner and wrapper to form a continuous, efficient insulation structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional insulation technologies are used on non-planar surfaces, then manufacturing is simpler, but vacuum insulation consistency and effectiveness deteriorate due to gaps and heat transfer inefficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The door structure is segmented into modular vacuum insulated panels (VIPs), each providing consistent vacuum insulation. The segmentation allows each panel to be independently manufactured with precise vacuum sealing, ensuring uniform insulation quality across the entire non-planar door surface without requiring the entire door to be manufactured as a single complex unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The core insulation member is nested within a barrier film envelope that is hermetically sealed to create the vacuum environment. This nested structure allows the vacuum insulation layer to conform precisely to the non-planar outer surface while maintaining consistent vacuum quality, resolving the contradiction between insulation consistency and structural complexity.
2Loss of energy
If vacuum insulation is applied to non-planar surfaces, then thermal efficiency improves, but manufacturing precision and hermetic sealing become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible barrier film envelope is used to enclose the core insulation member. The flexible nature of the film allows it to conform to non-planar surfaces while maintaining hermetic sealing capability. The film's flexibility enables it to adapt to surface irregularities without compromising the vacuum seal, thus achieving both thermal efficiency and manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier film envelope acts as an intermediary between the core insulation member and the external environment. It provides the hermetic seal required for vacuum maintenance while accommodating non-planar geometries, thereby enabling effective vacuum insulation on complex door surfaces without requiring extremely precise manufacturing tolerances.
3Loss of energy
If a continuous vacuum insulation panel is used, then thermal efficiency improves, but the complexity of creating and maintaining the vacuum increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum is created and sealed in advance during the manufacturing process, before the panel is installed in the door. The barrier film envelope is hermetically sealed around the core insulation member in a controlled manufacturing environment, eliminating the need for complex vacuum maintenance mechanisms in the final product. This preliminary action simplifies the overall system while maintaining continuous vacuum insulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The hermetically sealed barrier film envelope creates a self-contained vacuum environment that maintains itself without external intervention. Once sealed, the vacuum insulation panel is self-sufficient, requiring no active maintenance or complex control systems to preserve the vacuum state, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining thermal efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach results in a consistent and effective vacuum insulation across non-planar surfaces, minimizing heat transfer and maintaining a consistent thickness, thereby enhancing the thermal efficiency of the refrigerator door.
Implementation Method 1
Substantially all of the air is removed from between the barrier film and the core insulation member such that the barrier film envelope engages the female engaging surfaces and the male engaging surfaces, and the core insulation member and the barrier film envelope together form a vacuum insulated panel
Implementation Method 2
the core insulation member and the barrier film envelope together form a vacuum insulated panel having a first side and a second side
Data Source
AI summary
A method for creating a vacuum insulated panel including preforming a continuous insulation member having male and female engaging surfaces and providing a barrier film envelope having an opening. The insulation member is disposed within the barrier film envelope and a tooling fixture is pressed against the barrier film envelope to press the barrier film envelope against the male and female engaging surfaces to remove gas from between the barrier film envelope and the male and female engaging surfaces. Substantially all gas is removed from within the barrier film envelope so that the barrier film envelope substantially conforms to an exterior surface of the insulation member. The opening of the barrier film envelope is then hermetically sealed, wherein the barrier film envelope forms a continuous layer over the core insulation member to form a vacuum insulated panel.