Dual-Tray Ice Maker with Heater Control for Transparent Ice Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice makers in refrigerators produce opaque ice due to air trapped inside, making it difficult to create transparent and spherical ice, which is not feasible at sub-zero temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring a dual tray system where one tray is inclined and spaced apart from the other to form ice making cells, with a heater adjacent to the trays to control temperature and ice formation, allowing for the production of transparent and spherical ice by managing heat generation and ice separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If water is frozen in all directions in a conventional ice maker, then ice is produced quickly, but air is collected inside the ice making it opaque
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making cell is divided into two separate trays (first tray and second tray) that can move relative to each other. This segmentation allows control over the freezing direction and prevents air entrapment while maintaining efficient heat transfer for rapid ice making.
Solution Approach 2:
The second tray is designed to move between a water supply position (spaced apart from the first tray) and an ice making position (in contact with the first tray). This dynamic positioning enables both water supply access and controlled directional freezing, resolving the contradiction between transparency and making rate.
2Manufacturing precision
If a heater is used to control temperature for transparent ice, then ice transparency improves, but excessive melting may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The heater is positioned to provide localized heat only to specific areas of the trays during the ice separation process, not to the entire ice making cell. This localized heating melts the interface between ice and tray for easy separation while preserving the overall ice structure and transparency.
Solution Approach 2:
The heater operates periodically or intermittently during the ice making cycle, activating only when needed for separation. This periodic operation prevents continuous heating that would cause melting, while still achieving reliable ice release when required.
3Ease of manufacture
If the second tray is inclined and spaced apart from the first tray for water supply, then water distribution improves, but the ice making cell structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The second tray's inclination and spacing are achieved through dynamic positioning mechanisms that allow the tray to assume different configurations. When spaced and inclined, it facilitates water distribution; when in contact with the first tray, it forms the complete ice making cell, thus managing complexity through motion rather than fixed complex structure.
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 enables the consistent production of transparent ice by regulating ice making rates, preventing excessive melting, and ensuring reliable ice separation, while maintaining a uniform ice supply.
Implementation Method 1
the heater may be driven to supply heat to one or more trays of the first tray and the second tray
Implementation Method 2
While cold air is supplied to the first tray and the second tray to make ice
Implementation Method 3
the heater may be in contact with the second tray in the ice separation process
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker comprises: a first tray forming a part of an ice-making cell; a second tray forming another part of the ice-making cell; and a heater which is disposed so as to be adjacent to the first or the second tray, wherein the heater operates during a period when cold air is supplied to the first tray and the second tray and ice making takes place, and supplies heat to the first tray and/or the second tray.