Cooling appliance having an ice maker assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic ice maker assemblies face issues with ice sticking together and sublimation, leading to reduced ice delivery and potential water overflow due to incomplete ice removal.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker assembly design featuring a rotatable ice mold with a protrusion that slides through a conduit with varying recess widths, creating an impact to dislodge ice pieces, ensuring complete ice removal and preventing water overflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the ice mold is rotated to release ice pieces, then ice pieces are removed from the mold, but some ice pieces remain stuck in the mold
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies mechanical vibration by creating an impact force through the protrusion hitting the cap during ice mold rotation. This vibration dislodges ice pieces that are stuck to the mold, ensuring complete ice removal and improving both productivity and reliability of the ice making system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by positioning the protrusion to hit the cap before the ice mold completes its rotation cycle. This pre-impact loosens the ice pieces from the mold walls, making them easier to fall out completely when the mold finishes rotating, thus ensuring reliable ice removal.
2Productivity
If the ice mold rotates to free ice, then ice pieces are released, but water overflows onto the frame
Solution Approach 1:
The impact-induced vibration causes ice pieces to break away completely from the mold in a controlled manner, preventing them from detaching prematurely and causing water overflow. The vibration ensures complete ice release only at the intended moment in the rotation cycle.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses periodic rotation of the ice mold with a specific cycle that includes the impact moment. This periodic action ensures ice pieces are released at the optimal time when they can fall into the collection container without overflowing onto the frame, maintaining both efficiency and preventing harm.
3Reliability
If the protrusion slides through a conduit with varying recess widths, then an impact is created to dislodge ice, but the mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the recess widths at specific locations along the conduit rather than making the entire conduit complex. The first and second recesses have different widths at the impact zone, creating the necessary impact force while keeping the rest of the structure simple and easy to manufacture.
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 all ice from the mold, enhancing ice production capacity and preventing water overflow, thus improving the efficiency and functionality of the ice maker assembly.
Implementation Method 1
the protrusion passes from the first recess into second recess... the protrusion makes a pulsed motion and hits the second recess and the cap which creates an impact. The impact, vibrates the ice mold which in turn helps the release of ice pieces formed inside the ice mold.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a cooling appliance comprising; an ice maker assembly (1); the ice maker assembly (1) comprising; a frame (2) comprising a support member (3), wherein the support member (3) comprises a body (4) accommodating a first recess (5) and a cap (6) enclosing the first recess (5), wherein the cap (6) comprises a second recess (7) seated on the first recess (5), forming a conduit (8); an ice mold (9) comprising a plurality of cavities into where the water to be frozen is filled, and a protrusion (10) seated into the conduit (8) and rotatably supporting the ice mold (9) on the frame (2), wherein the protrusion (10) is configured to slide and rotate along the conduit (8) upon rotation of the ice mold (9).