Clear Ice Maker With Bottom-Up Freezing and Bubble Release
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers produce cloudy ice due to trapped air, which affects the taste and appearance of beverages, and require costly processing techniques to produce clear ice.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker with a thermally conductive floor, a flexible grid, and a thermoelectric plate that rotates to invert and flex, allowing air bubbles to escape and forming clear ice without a drain, using a combination of thermal input, rocking motion, and materials with varying conductivities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional ice making process is used, then ice cubes are produced quickly and easily, but the ice cubes are cloudy due to trapped air
Solution Approach 1:
The ice maker inverts the traditional freezing approach by freezing water from the bottom up rather than from the top down. The thermally conductive floor acts as the freezing surface, allowing ice to form upward while air bubbles escape naturally during the freezing process, resulting in clear ice without complex processing techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice maker incorporates a rocking mechanism that dynamically moves the ice-making assembly during the freezing process. This motion facilitates air bubble escape and promotes uniform freezing from the bottom up, achieving clear ice through dynamic movement rather than static freezing.
2Manufacturing precision
If processing techniques are added to produce clear ice, then ice clarity improves, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making system performs self-service by automatically facilitating air bubble escape through the rocking motion and bottom-up freezing mechanism. The design inherently produces clear ice without requiring additional processing steps, chemical additives, or expensive equipment modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts air bubbles from the freezing water through the rocking motion and upward freezing process. By removing air during the freezing process itself rather than requiring post-processing, the system achieves clear ice at lower cost.
3Manufacturing precision
If a drain is used to remove air bubbles, then ice clarity improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the naturally rising air bubbles, which would normally be a problem requiring drainage, into a beneficial feature. The rocking motion and bottom-up freezing work with the natural buoyancy of air bubbles to facilitate their escape, eliminating the need for drain systems while improving ice clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a drain to remove air bubbles from the top, the system inverts the approach by freezing from the bottom up, allowing air bubbles to naturally escape during the freezing process itself, eliminating the need for drain infrastructure.
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
The solution effectively produces clear ice by removing air bubbles and facilitating their escape, resulting in clearer ice cubes that enhance beverage quality without the need for expensive processing techniques.
Implementation Method 1
a thermoelectric plate positioned in thermal contact with the floor of the basin
Implementation Method 2
capable of making substantially clear ice without the use of a drain... by agitating the ice cube trays during the freezing process to allow entrapped gases in the water to escape
Implementation Method 3
A motor drive is coupled to the basin for rotating the basin and the grid to an inverted position
Implementation Method 4
The link has an elongated slot into which the cam pin of the grid extends. The harvest motor rotates the link to a position beyond the first position so that the cam pin slides radially outwardly in the slot to rotate the grid out of the tray while flexing the grid to discharge ice cubes therefrom
Data Source
AI summary
An ice making tray has a water basin with a thermally conductive floor and a flexible grid positioned therein to define a plurality of ice making compartments. A motor is coupled to the basin to rotate the basin and grid to an inverted position, and a link is coupled between the motor and drive such that the grid is rotatable out of the basin and is flexed to release ice cubes formed therein.