Ice-Making Compartment Airflow Layout for Uniform Tray Freezing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Airflow within an ice-making compartment in refrigerators is not uniform, affecting the freezing rate of water in ice trays due to the varying location of the trays relative to the inlet for air entry.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a housing with an inlet duct that directs air to ice trays positioned at different heights, using an inlet aperture positioned higher than the outlet aperture, and an arcuate deflector to redirect air from one surface of the ice tray to another, ensuring balanced airflow across the trays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If air enters the ice-making compartment via a single inlet at a fixed location, then the structure is simple, but the airflow is not uniform over the ice tray affecting freezing rate
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet duct is divided into multiple separate ducts, each directing airflow to different regions of the ice tray. This segmentation allows independent optimization of airflow to various areas, achieving uniform cooling across the entire tray while maintaining relatively simple individual duct structures.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the ice tray are provided with customized airflow through locally adapted inlet duct configurations. Each duct is designed to deliver appropriate airflow volume and direction to its specific target area, ensuring that each local region receives optimal cooling conditions.
2Manufacturing precision
If ice trays are positioned at varying heights to improve airflow distribution, then airflow uniformity improves, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a single-plane ice tray arrangement to a multi-level vertical arrangement. By utilizing the vertical dimension within the housing, multiple ice trays can be positioned at different heights, each receiving optimized airflow from corresponding inlet ducts, thereby achieving uniform airflow distribution without requiring complex lateral adjustments.
3Ease of operation
If a single inlet aperture is used, then the device structure is simple, but the airflow direction control is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The single inlet aperture is segmented into multiple inlet apertures, each associated with a dedicated inlet duct. This allows independent control of airflow direction and volume to different regions of the ice trays, significantly improving airflow direction control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple inlet ducts collectively serve the function of a single unified airflow distribution system. Each duct performs the basic function of delivering cooled air, but together they provide multi-directional and multi-regional coverage, making the system universally effective for cooling entire ice trays regardless of their position or orientation.
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 airflow distribution and increases the ice-making rate by ensuring uniform cooling across the ice trays, improving the efficiency of the ice-making process.
Implementation Method 1
An inlet duct is in fluid communication with the inlet aperture and is configured to direct air toward the first ice tray and the second ice tray
Implementation Method 2
An arcuate deflector is positioned in an upper portion of the housing opposing the inlet duct. The arcuate deflector redirects air from a first surface of the at least one ice tray to a second surface of the at least one ice tray
Implementation Method 3
An outlet duct is in fluid communication with the outlet aperture and is configured to direct the air out of the housing
Data Source
AI summary
An appliance ice-making compartment includes a housing which defines an inlet aperture and an outlet aperture. A first ice tray is disposed at a first height within the housing. A second ice tray is disposed at a second height within the housing where the first height is closer to a top of the housing compared to the second height. The second ice tray is closer to the inlet aperture compared to the first ice tray. An inlet duct is in fluid communication with the inlet aperture and configured to direct air toward the first ice tray and the second ice tray.