Direct-Cooled Ice Tray Assembly for Fresh Food Compartment Ice Making
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Solution Overview
Problem
In refrigeration appliances, particularly bottom-mount refrigerators, placing an ice maker in the freezer compartment is impractical due to the need for users to retrieve ice from a low location, and integrating it in the fresh food compartment poses challenges in maintaining freezing temperatures.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker is integrated within the fresh food compartment, featuring an evaporator coil in direct contact with an ice tray, a refrigerant tube that cools the ice mold via thermal conduction, and a system for circulating cooled air to maintain ice formation and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the ice maker is placed in the freezer compartment, then the ice can be made at proper freezing temperatures, but users must retrieve ice from a low location close to the floor
Solution Approach 1:
The ice maker is segmented into two separate locations: the ice making mechanism remains in the freezer compartment where proper freezing temperatures exist, while the ice storage bin and dispenser are located in the fresh food compartment at user-accessible heights. This segmentation allows each component to be optimally positioned for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary refrigerant tube system with evaporator coils is used to transfer cooling capacity from the freezer compartment to the fresh food compartment. The refrigerant tube passes through the refrigerator wall and includes an evaporator in the fresh food compartment that cools the ice storage bin without requiring the entire compartment to be frozen.
2Ease of operation
If the ice maker is placed in the fresh food compartment, then ice can be stored at convenient heights, but maintaining freezing temperatures becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
Only the specific region where ice is stored and dispensed (the ice bin area in the fresh food compartment) is cooled to freezing temperatures, while the rest of the fresh food compartment maintains its normal refrigerated temperature above freezing. This localized cooling is achieved through strategically placed evaporator coils and refrigerant tubes.
Solution Approach 2:
The refrigerant tube acts as an intermediary cooling element that extends from the freezer compartment through the refrigerator wall into the fresh food compartment. This allows direct thermal coupling between the cold freezer environment and the ice storage area, enabling freezing temperatures to be maintained in the ice bin without cooling the entire fresh food compartment.
3Ease of operation
If a conveyor system is provided to transport ice from the freezer to the dispenser, then ice can be delivered to convenient locations, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice storage bin and dispenser mechanism are extracted from the freezer compartment and placed in the fresh food compartment. This eliminates the need for conveyor systems to transport ice between compartments, as the ice is made in the freezer but stored and dispensed from the fresh food compartment where users can easily access it.
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 configuration allows for efficient ice production and storage within the fresh food compartment, overcoming the practicality issues of bottom-mount refrigerators by maintaining ice formation within a compartment typically above freezing temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
an ice maker refrigerant tube abutting at least one lateral side surface of the ice mold and cooling the ice mold to a temperature below 0° C. via thermal conduction
Implementation Method 2
an evaporator coil in direct contact with an ice tray of the ice maker for cooling the ice tray
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigeration appliance includes a fresh food compartment for storing food items in a refrigerated environment having a target temperature above 0° C., a freezer compartment for storing food items in a sub-freezing environment having a target temperature below 0° C., a system evaporator for providing a cooling effect to at least one of the fresh food compartment and the freezer compartment, and an ice tray assembly disposed within the fresh food compartment for freezing water into ice pieces. The ice tray assembly includes an ice mold with an upper surface comprising a plurality of cavities formed therein for the ice pieces, a heater disposed on the ice mold and an ice maker refrigerant tube abutting at least one lateral side surface of the ice mold and cooling the ice mold to a temperature below 0° C. via thermal conduction and a cover having a water fill cup integrated into the cover and an outlet aligned with an inlet of the ice mold.