Ice Maker Temperature Sensor Positioning to Prevent Wire Twisting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers face issues with temperature sensor accuracy due to twisting wires and interference with heaters, leading to reduced sensing precision and complex mounting processes, especially when making spherical ice.
Innovation Solution
The ice maker design incorporates a temperature sensor accommodated in a recessed sensor accommodation part on the upper tray, with installation ribs and a pressing rib system to maintain contact and prevent wire twisting, ensuring accurate temperature sensing without interference from the upper heater.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the temperature sensor and heater are rotated with the ice-making dish, then the sensor can continuously monitor the ice-making process, but the wires connected to the sensor and heater will twist and the fixing structure becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The ice-making dish is divided into separate components: the dish body, the temperature sensor mounted on the stationary housing, and the heater. This segmentation allows the sensor to remain fixed while still monitoring the ice-making process, eliminating wire twisting issues.
Solution Approach 2:
A stationary housing structure acts as an intermediary between the rotating ice-making dish and the temperature sensor. The housing remains stationary while the dish rotates, allowing the sensor to monitor temperature without being subjected to rotational forces that would twist wires.
2Productivity
If the upper tray is heated to transfer ice, then ice can be efficiently removed from the tray, but the exposed upper portion of the heater loses heat to cold air reducing heating efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The heater is designed with different configurations for different portions: the lower portion is positioned to efficiently heat the tray bottom, while the upper portion is minimized or shielded to prevent heat loss to cold air. This local quality optimization ensures efficient ice transfer without excessive energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The heater design accepts that some upper portion exposure to cold air is inevitable, but compensates by optimizing the lower portion heating efficiency and controlling the overall heating cycle timing, thereby converting the unavoidable heat loss into a manageable parameter that does not significantly impact overall ice transfer efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If the thermistor and heater are in contact with the ice-making dish during rotation, then temperature monitoring is continuous, but the structure for fixing their positions becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The temperature sensor is extracted from the rotating ice-making dish and mounted on the stationary housing instead. This extraction eliminates the complexity of providing a rotating mounting structure while maintaining continuous temperature monitoring capability through the stationary sensor's proximity to the ice-making process.
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 enhances temperature sensing accuracy, simplifies sensor mounting, and prevents heat-induced deterioration, allowing for the production of transparent spherical ice while maintaining operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
an upper heater configured to provide heat to the upper tray
Implementation Method 2
a lower heater providing heat to the lower tray
Implementation Method 3
The temperature sensor is in contact with the upper tray
Implementation Method 4
an elastic member configured to press the lower tray against the upper tray
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an ice maker and a refrigerator having the ice maker. An ice maker according to the present disclosure includes: an upper assembly (120) including an upper tray forming an upper chamber, which is a portion an ice chamber, and having an upper opening, and a temperature sensor (500) configured to sense temperature of the ice chamber in contact with the upper tray; and a lower assembly being rotatable with respect to the upper assembly and having a lower tray forming a lower chamber that is another portion of the ice chamber, in which a contact portion between the temperature sensor and the upper tray is positioned closer to a contact surface of the upper tray and the lower tray than the upper opening.