Clear ice maker assembly for production and storage of clear ice within a home refrigerator appliance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current standalone clear ice machines are inefficient in terms of energy and water usage, produce wet ice that clumps and has limited storage time, and lack a practical means for storing clear ice pieces without significant melting.
Innovation Solution
An automatic clear ice maker assembly integrated into a refrigerator, featuring a cooled evaporator plate, thermally non-conductive ice mold parts, a spray bar for water introduction, and an ejection system to produce dry clear ice pieces that can be stored without clumping, with interchangeable mold parts for various shapes and sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If standalone clear ice machines are used to produce clear ice pieces, then clear ice quality is improved, but energy consumption and water consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the clear ice making function with the refrigerator's existing evaporator and cooling system. The evaporator plate serves dual purposes: cooling the refrigerator compartment and producing clear ice. This integration eliminates the need for a separate standalone clear ice machine, thereby reducing energy and water consumption while maintaining clear ice quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The evaporator plate is designed to perform multiple functions: it cools the refrigerator compartment air and simultaneously freezes water to produce clear ice pieces. The spray bar system introduces water onto the evaporator plate where it freezes into clear ice. This multi-functionality approach allows the refrigerator's existing cooling infrastructure to be utilized for ice production, avoiding the need for dedicated ice-making equipment.
2Productivity
If conventional ice machines produce ice pieces, then ice production is achieved, but the ice pieces become wet and clump together during storage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs thermally non-conductive ice mold parts that create localized insulation around the forming ice pieces. These mold parts prevent heat transfer from the warmer storage environment to the ice, reducing melting and moisture formation. The localized thermal protection at the ice-mold interface maintains ice dryness and prevents clumping during storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice pieces are ejected from the molds onto a grate structure before being stored in the storage bucket. This preliminary ejection action allows excess meltwater to drain away from the ice pieces through the grate, preventing the ice from becoming wet and clumping together during subsequent storage. The drainage action occurs before the ice enters the storage phase.
3Ease of operation
If evaporator is heated to above freezing temperatures to release ice pieces, then ice harvesting is achieved, but significant ice melting occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary thermal management system between the evaporator and the ice pieces. A separate heating element or thermal control mechanism is used to facilitate ice release, allowing precise control of the heating process. This intermediary control enables the evaporator to be warmed sufficiently to release the ice pieces without excessive heating that would cause significant melting. The thermal intermediary allows for controlled, minimal heating sufficient only for ice release.
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 enables efficient production and storage of clear ice with reduced energy and water consumption, maintaining ice quality and extending storage time by producing dry, high-quality clear ice pieces that can be easily stored and reused.
Implementation Method 1
an evaporator plate that is cooled via contact with a refrigerant tube
Implementation Method 2
a spray bar having at least one opening for introducing water vertically into the ice mold cavity
Implementation Method 3
at least one thermally non-conductive ice mold part disposed below the evaporator plate
Implementation Method 4
an ejection system configured to eject the clear ice piece formed inside the ice mold cavity
Data Source
AI summary
A clear ice maker assembly for use in a home refrigerator appliance, the clear ice maker assembly including: an evaporator plate that is cooled via contact with a refrigerant tube; at least one thermally non-conductive ice mold part disposed below the evaporator plate and having one or more walls that together with a surface of the evaporator plate form an ice mold cavity; a spray bar having at least one opening for introducing water vertically into the ice mold cavity such that a clear ice piece forms on the surface of the evaporator plate inside the ice mold cavity of the at least one thermally non-conductive ice mold part; a water reservoir system configured to supply water to the spray bar; and an ejection system configured to eject the clear ice piece formed inside the ice mold cavity of the at least one thermally non-conductive ice mold part.