Refrigerator Ice Maker Tray Positioning and Transparency Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers struggle to produce spherical ice with uniform transparency and face issues with bubble dispersion, inconsistent solidification rates, and inaccurate tray positioning, leading to opaque or non-uniform ice formation and potential damage to components.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring a first and second tray assembly with a heater and driver system, controlled by a sensor, adjusts heating and cooling power based on water mass and heat transfer to ensure uniform transparency and accurate tray positioning, preventing ice drop and component damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If water is cooled in the ice making cell to form ice, then ice is produced, but bubbles are trapped in the ice making cell resulting in opaque ice
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes bubbles from the water before freezing by using a heater to generate convection currents that carry bubbles to the surface where they can escape, preventing bubble entrapment in the final ice product
Solution Approach 2:
The heater operates periodically during the ice making process, activating at specific stages to generate convection that removes bubbles, then deactivating to allow freezing to proceed, creating a cyclical process that ensures both transparency and proper ice formation
2Productivity
If the solidification rate is increased to improve ice production efficiency, then more ice is made faster, but convection in the water is insufficient resulting in non-uniform transparency
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit monitors the ice making process and adjusts heater operation based on detected conditions, creating a feedback loop that maintains optimal convection to ensure uniform transparency even at higher production rates
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the heating parameters dynamically during the ice making process, adjusting temperature and timing to maintain appropriate convection currents that ensure uniform bubble removal throughout the water volume
3Manufacturing precision
If the heating amount of the heater is increased to suppress solidification rate and maintain convection, then transparency is improved, but energy consumption increases and ice making time extends
Solution Approach 1:
The heater applies partial heating rather than continuous full heating, activating only at specific stages and locations where convection is needed to remove bubbles, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining transparency
Solution Approach 2:
The heater operates in periodic cycles rather than continuously, turning on to generate convection when needed and turning off to allow freezing to proceed, optimizing the balance between transparency achievement and energy consumption
4Productivity
If the second tray moves to a water supply position after power is cut off and restored, then ice making can resume, but the tray may be mispositioned causing ice to drop or component damage
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit performs preliminary positioning actions by moving the second tray to a predetermined safe position before resuming ice making operations after power restoration, preventing potential damage from mispositioning
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor provides feedback on the tray position to the control unit, which adjusts the tray movement accordingly to ensure accurate positioning at the water supply location, preventing ice drop and component damage
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 system produces transparent spherical ice with uniform transparency and prevents tray misalignment and component damage, ensuring efficient and reliable ice production.
Implementation Method 1
a heater configured to supply heat to the ice making cell... the heater is turned on in at least partial section while the cold air supply part supplies cold air to an ice making cell so that bubbles dissolved in water within ice making cell move from a portion at which ice is made toward liquid water to make transparent ice
Implementation Method 2
a first tray assembly forming one portion of an ice making cell in which water is phase-changed into ice by the cold air
Implementation Method 3
water is phase-changed into ice by the cold air
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A refrigerator of the present invention comprises: a storage chamber which stores food; a cold air supply means which supplies cold air to the storage chamber; a first tray which forms a part of an ice making cell that is a space where water is phase-changed into ice by the cold air; a second tray which forms another part of the ice making cell may come into contact with the first tray during an ice making process, and may be separated from the first tray during an ice transfer process; a heater which is positioned adjacent to at least one of the first tray and the second tray; a sensor which determines the position of the second tray in a movement process of the second tray; and a control unit which controls the heater. Once a second signal is output from the sensor at the point of time when an initialization operation of the second tray starts, the control unit controls the second tray so that the second tray moves in the reverse direction for A seconds and then moves in the forward direction for B seconds. Once a first signal is output from the sensor after the second tray moves in the forward direction for B seconds, the control unit controls the second tray so that the second tray moves in the forward direction until an output changes to the second signal in the sensor. At the point of time when the output of the sensor changes to the second signal, the control unit recognizes, as a water supply position, a place where the second tray is positioned. output from the sensor at the point of time when an initialization operation of the second tray starts, the control unit controls the second tray so that the second tray moves in the reverse direction for A seconds and then moves in the forward direction for B seconds. Once a first signal is output from the sensor after the second tray moves in