Refrigerator with door-mounted icemaking system
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Solution Overview
Problem
The design of door-mounted ice dispensers in bottom mount refrigerators is complicated due to the low placement of freezer compartments, leading to reduced energy efficiency, increased costs, and reduced storage capacity, as existing solutions often require complex arrangements of ducts and ports to maintain icemakers at suitable temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A door-mounted icemaking system that includes an icemaking mold, an ice storage bin, a cold wall evaporator, and a reversible refrigeration circuit, allowing for direct cooling and heat dissipation, with a hot wall condenser to optimize ice production and ejection, and a controller to regulate refrigerant flow for efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a door-mounted ice dispenser is installed in a bottom mount refrigerator, then ice dispensing functionality is provided, but the dispenser is located too low for convenient user access and requires complex duct arrangements to maintain proper ice production temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The refrigeration system is segmented into separate components: an evaporator mounted on the interior wall of the door, a cold plate in thermal contact with the evaporator, and an ice storage bin. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex duct arrangements while providing adequate cooling for ice production and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
A cold plate acts as an intermediary thermal medium between the evaporator and the ice storage bin. The cold plate transfers cooling from the evaporator to the ice bin, eliminating the need for direct duct connections while maintaining proper temperature for ice production.
2Ease of operation
If an ice dispenser is mounted on a fresh food compartment door, then ergonomic ice dispensing is achieved, but the dispenser is oriented opposite the above-freezing fresh food compartment making ice production difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented with the evaporator mounted on the interior wall of the fresh food door, separated from the ice storage bin by the door wall. This segmentation allows the dispenser to be positioned ergonomically on the fresh food door while the evaporator provides focused cooling to the ice bin through the wall, maintaining proper sub-freezing temperatures for ice production.
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 solution enhances energy efficiency, reduces costs, and increases storage capacity by optimizing ice production and ejection within the door-mounted icemaking system, addressing the challenges of low freezer compartment placement in bottom mount refrigerators.
Implementation Method 1
a cold wall evaporator disposed proximate the ice storage bin and along at least one interior wall among the one or more interior walls of the door
Implementation Method 2
an icemaking evaporator disposed between the exterior wall and the one or more interior walls of the door and in thermal contact with the icemaking mold to directly cool the icemaking mold
Implementation Method 3
a reversible self-contained in-door refrigeration circuit... configured to selectively reverse refrigerant flow to the icemaking evaporator to heat the icemaking mold when ejecting ice from the icemaking mold
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator and method utilize a door-mounted icemaking system including an icemaking mold, an ice storage bin and a cold wall evaporator disposed proximate the ice storage bin along an interior wall of the door to provide cooling proximate the ice storage bin. In some instances, the cold wall evaporator may be in addition to an icemaking evaporator that provides direct cooling of the icemaking mold, and furthermore, in some instances, the cold wall and icemaking evaporators may be separately controllable to optimize cooling within the door-mounted icemaking system. In addition, in some instances, a hot wall condenser may be used in a door-mounted icemaking system to dissipate heat generated by a refrigeration circuit through an exterior wall of a door. Further, in some instances a reversible refrigeration circuit may be used in connection with an icemaking evaporator to assist in ejecting ice from an icemaking mold.