Deformable Ice Tray Assembly for Clear Spherical Ice Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice makers often produce cloudy or opaque ice due to trapped air bubbles, and existing methods to form clear ice are inefficient in ensuring consistent ice shape and transparency.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker design featuring a dual assembly system with a deformable lower tray that expands outward to accommodate ice growth, forming a spherical shape, and a heating mechanism to control temperature differences within the ice making chambers, allowing for clear and transparent ice production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a rigid lower tray is used to maintain chamber shape, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the tray cannot accommodate ice expansion during freezing
Solution Approach 1:
The lower tray is designed with a deformable portion that can dynamically change shape during the ice making process. The tray transitions from a rigid state during assembly to a flexible state during freezing to accommodate ice expansion, and then returns to its original shape for ice ejection. This dynamic adaptability resolves the contradiction between maintaining consistent chamber shapes and accommodating ice expansion.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable portion of the lower tray is constructed using flexible material that can elastically deform to accommodate the expanding ice. This flexible portion allows the tray to expand outward during freezing while maintaining the overall chamber shape, and then retract to eject the ice piece without damage to the tray structure.
2Productivity
If air bubbles are trapped during ice making, then the ice making process is simpler, but the ice pieces become cloudy or opaque
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making chambers are designed with spherical or curved geometries rather than sharp corners. This curved shape promotes uniform freezing from all directions and facilitates the natural rise and escape of air bubbles during the freezing process, resulting in transparent ice pieces without compromising production efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs controlled temperature gradients during the freezing process, with different heating zones applied to different portions of the ice making chamber. By carefully controlling the temperature parameters and freezing rate, air bubbles are allowed to escape while the ice forms uniformly, achieving both high transparency and efficient production.
3Use of energy by stationary object
If uniform freezing is applied throughout the chamber, then energy consumption is reduced, but temperature control precision is insufficient for clear ice formation
Solution Approach 1:
The heating system is designed with multiple heating zones that can independently control temperature in different regions of the ice making chamber. This allows precise local temperature control to manage heat distribution during freezing, ensuring uniform ice formation while allowing air bubbles to escape, without excessive energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating system operates in periodic cycles rather than continuously, with heating phases followed by cooling phases. This periodic action allows controlled temperature variations that facilitate clear ice formation while minimizing overall energy consumption compared to continuous heating.
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 and ensures consistent, transparent ice production by utilizing a deformable tray to accommodate ice expansion and controlled temperature heating, improving ice clarity and shape consistency.
Implementation Method 1
The lower tray includes a deformable portion that is configured to, based on an outward expansion of the ice piece within the ice making chamber during ice generation, change from a first shape to a second shape
Implementation Method 2
a heater that contacts an outer surface of each of the plurality of lower chamber walls, that is configured to supply heat to the lower portions of the plurality of ice making chambers
Implementation Method 3
Each of the plurality of ice making chambers is configured to: based on rotation of the lower assembly relative to the upper assembly, receive water, and based on joining of the upper portions and the lower portions of the plurality of ice making chambers, generate an ice piece
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker of a refrigerator includes an upper assembly having an upper tray that defines upper portions of a plurality of ice making chambers as well as a lower assembly located vertically below the upper assembly that is configured to rotate relative to the upper assembly. The lower assembly includes a lower tray that defines lower portions of the plurality of ice making chambers. Each of the plurality of ice making chambers is configured to receive water when the lower assembly rotates relative to the upper assembly and generate an ice piece within when the upper and lower portions of the ice making chambers are joined. The lower tray includes a deformable portion that is configured to, based on an outward expansion of the ice piece within the ice making chamber during ice generation, change from a first shape to a second shape.