Clear Ice Maker with Cooling Plate and Interchangeable Press Molds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers produce visually cloudy ice due to impurities, affecting taste and appearance, and there is a need for a solution that can create clear ice and allow for customizable shaping.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker that forms clear ice billets using a mold cavity with a cooling plate and embedded cooling tube, followed by an ice press with interchangeable molds for shaping, integrated with a refrigerator for storage and customization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional ice makers are used to produce ice, then ice can be formed as solid cubes of prefixed shape, but the ice becomes visually cloudy due to impurities such as dissolved minerals and salts
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making process is divided into two separate stages: first, clear ice billets are formed in a mold cavity with controlled freezing; second, the formed billets are pressed and reshaped in an ice press. This segmentation allows the first stage to focus on producing clear ice by controlling freezing conditions, while the second stage handles shaping, thus resolving the contradiction between ice clarity and impurity exclusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice maker performs preliminary action by forming clear ice billets with controlled freezing conditions before the ice pressing stage. The mold cavity is designed to freeze water in a specific sequence, allowing impurities to be excluded during the initial freezing process, thereby ensuring clarity is achieved before any pressing or shaping occurs.
2Ease of operation
If ice is formed using conventional methods, then ice cubes are produced with fixed shape, but the ice lacks visual appeal and taste quality due to cloudiness
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the ice making process into two independent functional units: an ice maker that produces clear ice billets, and an ice press that provides shaping flexibility. This allows users to first obtain clear ice through controlled freezing, then apply various pressing operations to achieve desired shapes, thus simultaneously achieving both visual appeal and shaping versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice press incorporates interchangeable molds and adjustable pressing parameters, allowing dynamic adaptation to different shaping needs. The system can be configured for various ice shapes and sizes while maintaining the clarity achieved during the preliminary ice billet formation stage, thus providing operational flexibility without compromising ice quality.
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
Produces clear ice billets that maintain taste and appearance, and allows for customizable ice shapes, enhancing user experience and appliance functionality.
Implementation Method 1
The ice maker can include a mold cavity with an open end and a closed end, where the closed end is formed by a cooling plate. The ice maker can produce an ice billet by spraying water into the open end of the mold cavity to accumulate ice on the cooling plate, which is cooled by circulating refrigerant through a cooling tube embedded in the cooling plate.
Implementation Method 2
Once the ice billet is ready for harvesting, an electric heater embedded in the cooling plate can be activated to detach the ice billet from the cooling plate.
Implementation Method 3
When the ice press is turned on, the electric heaters may maintain the ice press and molds at a temperature of around 55° C., which can reduce the risk of the user burning their fingers and expedite the ice molding process.
Data Source
AI summary
An appliance described herein can include an ice maker and a cooled storage compartment. The ice maker can include a cooling plate coupled to a mold cavity, where the cooling plate includes a cooling tube and an electric heater. The cooling tube can cool the mold cavity during an ice production mode in which an ice billet is formed in the mold cavity by spraying water from a nozzle into the mold cavity. The electric heater can heat the mold cavity during an ice harvesting mode in which the ice billet is released from the mold cavity and guided along a guide ramp to the cooled storage compartment, where the ice billet can remain until needed. The appliance can also include an ice press, which can have one or more interchangeable molds and electric heaters to melt an ice billet into a shape of the molds.