Ice Maker
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice makers produce ice cubes with high bubble and crack rates, leading to low transparency, and require complex structures and additional measurement boxes, increasing cost.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker design that eliminates the measurement box by using a water pump to repeatedly fill and drain a spherical cavity within the ice making mold, combined with a water spraying mechanism to form a water curtain for demolding, enhancing transparency and simplifying the structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a measurement box is added to ensure quantitative water feeding, then water feeding precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the measurement box component from the system entirely. Instead of adding a measurement box to ensure quantitative water feeding, the invention uses the spherical cavity itself as the measurement container, eliminating the need for separate measurement equipment and simplifying the overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The spherical cavity serves multiple functions: it acts as both the ice making mold and the water measurement container. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for a separate measurement box, reducing device complexity while maintaining precise water feeding control.
2Manufacturing precision
If water is fed multiple times quantitatively to reduce bubbles and impurities, then ice cube transparency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic water feeding actions where water is fed into the spherical cavity in multiple cycles. Each cycle allows bubbles and impurities to be discharged before the next feeding, progressively improving ice cube transparency without requiring complex additional equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The spherical cavity design allows the system to self-regulate water feeding and bubble discharge. The cavity's geometry and the freezing process itself facilitate the periodic discharge of bubbles and impurities, eliminating the need for complex external control mechanisms.
3Manufacturing precision
If a spherical cavity is used for water feeding, then ice cube transparency is improved, but water feeding control difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spherical cavity provides a uniform geometric shape that facilitates consistent water distribution and freezing. The spherical geometry creates equipotential conditions for water flow and heat transfer, making the feeding process more predictable and easier to control despite the unconventional shape.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameter of the mold from conventional shapes to a spherical cavity. This parameter change affects water flow patterns and freezing characteristics, improving transparency while the spherical geometry's mathematical properties actually simplify certain aspects of flow control and prediction.
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
Reduces bubble and crack formation in ice cubes, improves transparency, and lowers fabrication costs by eliminating the need for a measurement box and simplifying the ice maker's design.
Implementation Method 1
the water pump of the present invention pumps the waters into the spherical cavity from the water tank via the supply tube
Implementation Method 2
In a demolding process, the evaporator is heated to remove the ice cubes from the evaporator
Implementation Method 3
the waters of the water tank are pumped by the water pump to the spraying element via the water tube so as to produce the water curtain, and the water curtain is poured to a top of the ice making mold, thus melting the ice cubes
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker contains: a body and a water tank, and the body includes an evaporator, an ice making mold, a movable slider, a fixed holder, and a drive mechanism. The evaporator and the ice making mold have at least one hemispheric cavity which are connected to produce a spherical cavity. A gap is defined between the movable slider and the fixed holder, and the ice making mold has at least one feeding mouth. A water feeding mechanism and a water spraying mechanism are defined between the body and the water tank. The water feeding mechanism includes a water pump and a supply tube, and a slit is defined between at least one nozzle and at least one feeding mouth. The water spraying mechanism includes a water pump, a water tube, and a spraying element.