Flexible Tray Ice Maker Design for Clear Ice Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers often produce cloudy or opaque ice due to trapped air bubbles, and methods to remove bubbles are inefficient, resulting in suboptimal ice clarity.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker design featuring a tray assembly with a flexible upper and lower tray, where the lower tray rotates relative to the upper tray, and a heater is used to supply heat through the flexible tray, facilitating the formation of clear, transparent ice by managing ice expansion and deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid tray is used to maintain structural stability, then the tray can support ice weight, but the tray cannot accommodate ice expansion causing deformation and poor ice clarity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible tray made of elastomeric material that can deform to accommodate ice expansion during freezing. This flexibility prevents air bubbles from being trapped while maintaining structural integrity, thereby producing clear ice without requiring a rigid tray structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the tray material from rigid to flexible (elastomeric), allowing the tray to dynamically adjust its shape during the freezing process. This parameter change enables the tray to accommodate expanding ice while preventing bubble entrapment, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and ice clarity.
2Manufacturing precision
If air bubbles are allowed to escape during ice making, then clear ice is formed, but the process becomes inefficient and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible tray automatically facilitates air bubble escape through its deformation during ice expansion. The tray's elastic properties create natural pathways for bubbles to escape without requiring external intervention or complex mechanisms, thus maintaining both ice clarity and manufacturing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of ice expansion (which could cause tray deformation) into a beneficial effect. By using a flexible tray, the expansion force is utilized to actively push air bubbles out of the ice, transforming a potential problem into a mechanism that enhances ice clarity while maintaining process efficiency.
3Manufacturing precision
If a flexible tray is used to accommodate ice expansion, then clear ice is produced, but the tray deformation becomes uncontrolled
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric tray provides controlled flexibility through its material properties. It deforms sufficiently to accommodate ice expansion and facilitate bubble escape, yet maintains enough structural stability to retain its overall shape and support the ice weight, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and shape stability.
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 effectively removes air bubbles, producing clear and transparent ice by utilizing the flexible tray's deformation to accommodate ice expansion, thereby enhancing ice clarity and quality.
Implementation Method 1
a heater that is located between the case and the flexible tray, that is configured to contact the flexible tray, and that is configured to supply heat to the plurality of ice making chambers through the flexible tray
Implementation Method 2
at least one of the upper tray or the lower tray includes a flexible tray made of a flexible material... utilizing the flexible tray's deformation to accommodate ice expansion
Implementation Method 3
a lower tray that is located vertically below the upper tray, that is configured to rotate relative to the upper tray
Implementation Method 4
each of the plurality of ice making chambers being configured to receive water and generate an ice piece
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker of a refrigerator includes a tray assembly having an upper tray that defines upper portions of a plurality of ice making chambers. Each of the plurality of ice making chambers is configured to receive water and generate an ice piece. The tray assembly also includes a lower tray that is located vertically below the upper tray, that is configured to rotate relative to the upper tray, and that defines lower portions of the plurality of ice making chambers, wherein at least one of the upper tray or the lower tray comprises a flexible tray made of a flexible material. Additionally, a case is configured to accommodate the flexible tray to restrict a deformation of the flexible tray. A heater that is located between the case and the flexible tray is configured to supply heat to the plurality of ice making chambers through the flexible tray.