Door Ice Maker Vertical Freezing Cores for Uniform Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing ice-making chamber in refrigerators is inefficient in supplying cool air to the ice tray, resulting in reduced ice-making volume and difficulty in producing uniform-sized clear ice.
Innovation Solution
The refrigerator design includes a cool air introduction part on the upper side of the ice-making unit, which directs cool air vertically to freezing cores, ensuring uniform temperature distribution and efficient ice production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If cool air is supplied into the ice-making chamber using the related art structure, then the ice-making chamber can operate, but the cool air is not efficiently supplied to the ice tray resulting in decreased ice-making volume
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vertical dimension to the cool air supply by providing a cool air introduction part on the upper side of the freezing core, allowing cool air to flow downward vertically onto the ice tray. This vertical airflow pattern improves cooling efficiency and ice-making volume compared to horizontal or indirect supply methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The freezing core acts as an intermediary element between the cool air supply and the water in the ice tray. The cool air first cools the freezing core, which then transfers the cold to the water, enabling efficient heat transfer and ice formation. This intermediary mechanism resolves the inefficiency of direct cool air supply to the ice tray.
2Manufacturing precision
If cool air supply structure is simplified, then device complexity is reduced, but uniform temperature distribution cannot be achieved making it difficult to obtain clear ices having uniform sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by positioning the cool air introduction part specifically on the upper side of the freezing core, creating a localized cooling zone. This targeted approach ensures uniform temperature distribution across the ice tray surface, producing uniform clear ice cubes without requiring complex overall system design.
3Productivity
If cool air is supplied from the lower portion of the ice-making chamber, then the structure is simple, but the freezing cores cannot be maintained at low temperature efficiently reducing ice-making volume
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of supplying cool air from the lower portion upward (conventional approach), the patent inverts the airflow direction by supplying cool air from the upper side downward onto the freezing core and ice tray. This inverted vertical airflow pattern efficiently maintains freezing core temperature and maximizes ice-making volume.
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 enhances ice-making volume and produces ice with uniform sizes and clarity by maintaining freezing cores at a low temperature with uniform cooling.
Implementation Method 1
cool air is supplied from an upper side of the ice-making chamber provided to the refrigerator door, so that the cool air is directly supplied toward the freezing cores
Implementation Method 2
a freezing core arranged in the ice-making unit and cooled by the cool air; and an ice tray, where supplied water is converted into ice
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a refrigerator configured to improve the structure of an ice-making chamber provided to a refrigerator door, thereby efficiently supplying cool air into the ice-making chamber. The refrigerator includes a main body including a storage chamber, a refrigerator door rotatably coupled to the main body, an ice-making device provided to the refrigerator door and configured to make ice, an ice-making unit provided to the ice-making device and including a cool air introduction part, a freezing core vertically arranged in the ice-making unit and cooled by cool air, and an ice tray configured to receive at least one portion of the freezing core therein, wherein the cool air introduction part is provided on an upper side of the freezing core. Cool air is efficiently introduced into the ice-making chamber, thereby increasing the amount of ice made.