Door-Mounted Crisper with Moisture Screen to Prevent Produce Spoilage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators with door-mounted crispers face challenges in maintaining optimal temperature and controlling moisture and sweating, leading to premature spoilage of fruits and vegetables sensitive to cold temperatures, as the cold air discharge is inefficient and causes condensation, resulting in direct contact with foodstuffs.
Innovation Solution
A door pocket receptacle with a double-walled structure and a moisture screen featuring perforations and embossments is designed, allowing for increased temperature without a heater, improved insulation, and effective moisture management, preventing direct contact between foodstuffs and moisture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a heater is used to maintain temperature in the crisper, then the temperature can be kept at +8°C, but the heat effect spreads into the body and causes other foodstuffs to deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The door is divided into a door pocket region with thinned insulation (30mm) and the main body with normal insulation. The receptacle is placed in this segmented door pocket, creating a thermal zone that is warmer than the body but isolated from it. This segmentation allows the crisper to be warmer without heating the entire refrigerator body.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulation thickness is made non-uniform: 30mm in the door pocket region where the receptacle is located, and thicker in the main body. This local quality change creates a temperature gradient that allows the receptacle to be warmer (+7-8°C) while the body remains cold (+4°C), preventing heat spread to other foodstuffs.
2Shape
If the receptacle is designed to be deep and narrow for door placement, then it fits the door space, but moisture cannot easily leave and sweating is observed on the cold front wall and base
Solution Approach 1:
A moisture screen with a plurality of holes is introduced into the receptacle. This porous structure allows moisture that condenses on the front wall and base to drain through the holes, preventing sweating from accumulating and contacting the foodstuffs. The moisture screen transforms the solid wall structure into a permeable one that manages condensation.
Solution Approach 2:
The moisture screen acts as an intermediary element between the cold front wall/base and the foodstuffs. It intercepts the sweating and condensation that forms on the cold surfaces and channels it away through its holes, preventing direct contact with the produce. This mediator resolves the conflict between the deep-narrow geometry and moisture management.
3Temperature
If the insulation at the inner lining of the door is thinned by 30mm to create a door pocket, then the receptacle temperature increases to 7-8°C, but the insulation of the compartment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The door insulation is segmented into two zones: a 30mm thinned region in the door pocket where the receptacle sits (allowing warmer temperature of +7-8°C), and the remaining door structure maintaining normal insulation thickness. This segmentation localizes the reduced insulation to only where needed for the receptacle temperature.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulation thickness is optimized locally: 30mm in the door pocket region to allow the receptacle to reach +7-8°C, and thicker insulation in the main door and body to maintain overall energy efficiency. This local quality adjustment achieves the temperature goal without excessive energy loss.
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 maintains tropical fruits and vegetables fresh for longer by maintaining a temperature of 7-8°C and preventing moisture contact, thereby reducing spoilage and extending the shelf life of sensitive produce.
Implementation Method 1
condensation is observed on the surfaces of the receptacle since the foodstuffs stored in the receptacle continue their metabolic activities during the storage process
Implementation Method 2
a moisture screen having a plurality of holes and positioned so as to contact at least one of the base, the front wall, the side walls or the rear wall
Implementation Method 3
The door pocket comprises a first cavity and a second cavity... the temperature of the receptacle is increased with respect to the temperature of the body without using any heater
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention relates to a refrigerator (1) comprising a body (2); a door (3) which provides access into the body (2); and a receptacle (7) which is suitable for vegetables and fruits therein and which has a perforated cover (8) for discharging the moisture therein into the body (2), a lid (9) which is placed on the perforated cover (8), a base (11), a front wall (10), side walls (13) and a rear wall (12), wherein the receptacle (7) is, when the door (3) is closed, seated into a door pocket (4) formed on the side of the door (3) facing the body (2) and having a first cavity (5) and a second cavity (6), and has a moisture screen (14) having a plurality of holes (15) and positioned so as to contact at least one of the base (11), the front wall (10), the side walls (13) and the rear wall (12) such that the vegetables and fruits do not come into contact with moisture.