Door Ice Maker Airflow Duct for Faster Ice Making
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerators with door-in-door structures face challenges in maintaining a separate chiller room at a temperature different from the refrigerating compartment, ensuring efficient cool air supply, and optimizing the space for ice making and storage, while also preventing ice clogging and improving ice making efficiency and dispenser thickness.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design with a cool air guide duct mounted on the ice maker's bottom surface, an ice tray with cool air guide ribs, and a chiller room positioned below the ice making room, along with a slim dispenser and improved insulation material injection process to prevent foamed insulation material non-filled regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a door-in-door structure is used to minimize cool air loss, then energy efficiency is improved, but the space available for installing a separate temperature chiller room is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The chiller room is nested within the door structure of the refrigerator. The door assembly includes an outer door and an inner door with the chiller room positioned between them, effectively utilizing the door thickness and space to house a separate temperature control zone without increasing the overall refrigerator footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The chiller room is positioned in the vertical dimension within the door structure, utilizing the height available in the door assembly. The ice making room is located above the chiller room, and both are integrated into the vertical space of the door, maximizing utilization of available three-dimensional space.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the chiller room is maintained at a different temperature from the refrigerating compartment, then storage versatility is improved, but the complexity of the cooling system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into distinct zones: the ice making room with its own evaporator and cooling system, and the chiller room that receives cooled air from the ice making room. This segmentation allows each zone to be optimized for its specific temperature requirements while maintaining overall system efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice making room serves as an intermediary cooling zone between the main refrigerating compartment and the chiller room. Cool air is generated in the ice making room and then supplied to the chiller room, acting as a mediator that enables the chiller room to maintain a different temperature from the main refrigerating compartment without requiring a completely separate cooling system.
3Volume of moving object
If the ice making room is positioned in the upper side of the refrigerating compartment, then space utilization is improved, but the vertical width required for the ice making room increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making room is nested within the upper portion of the door structure, utilizing the vertical space available in the door assembly. By positioning the ice making room in the door rather than in the main refrigerating compartment, the design efficiently uses the door's internal volume while maintaining adequate vertical dimensions for ice making operations.
4Length of stationary object
If a slim dispenser is designed to reduce door thickness, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but the complexity of accommodating ice making components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making components are arranged in the vertical dimension within the door structure. The ice making room is positioned in the upper portion of the door with the dispenser located below it on the front surface. This vertical arrangement allows the dispenser to be slim in the horizontal direction while still accommodating all necessary ice making and dispensing components within the door thickness.
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 design allows for efficient cool air supply to the chiller room, reduces ice making time, minimizes ice clogging, and maintains insulation performance while allowing for a slim dispenser and convenient ice dispensing without opening the main door, thus enhancing overall refrigeration efficiency and user convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a cool air supply duct connecting the evaporation chamber and the cool air inflow hole of the ice making room such that cool air of the evaporation chamber is supplied to the ice making room
Implementation Method 2
a cool air guide duct mounted on a bottom surface of the ice maker to guide cool air supplied from the cool air inflow hole toward the bottom surface of the ice maker; an ice tray comprising a plurality of cool air guide ribs protruding from a bottom surface thereof
Implementation Method 3
improved insulation material injection process to prevent foamed insulation material non-filled regions
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a cabinet provided with a refrigerating compartment and an evaporation chamber; a door rotatably connected to the cabinet to open and close the refrigerating compartment; an ice making room provided in the door and having a cool air inflow hole formed at one side thereof: a cool air supply duct connecting the evaporation chamber and the cool air inflow hole of the ice making room such that cool air of the evaporation chamber is supplied to the ice making room; an ice maker provided inside the ice making room; a cool air guide duct mounted on a bottom surface of the ice maker to guide cool air supplied from the cool air inflow hole toward the bottom surface of the ice maker; and an ice bin provided below the ice maker to store ice made in the ice maker, wherein the ice maker comprises: an ice tray comprising a plurality of cool air guide ribs protruding from a bottom surface thereof; and an ice separating guide covering a front surface of the ice tray and a portion of a top surface thereof, the cool air guide rib extends from one side of the ice tray in a direction of the other side and spaced apart from a front surface of a tray body toward a rear surface, and bottom parts of the plurality of cool air guide ribs are spaced apart from a bottom part of the cool air guide duct.