Ice Maker with Unidirectional Cooling for Transparent Ice Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers cannot produce transparent ice due to air bubble incorporation, leading to unsatisfactory transparency and high production costs, requiring bars and restaurants to purchase bulky transparent ice and manually shape it, which is cumbersome and costly.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker design featuring a refrigeration box with unidirectional cooling, ice containers with specialized cavities, and a heating pipe to facilitate transparent ice production, ensuring minimal air bubble incorporation and efficient ice formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If common ice making process is used, then ice production is simple, but air bubbles are mixed into the ice resulting in unsatisfactory transparency
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making process is segmented into distinct phases: water filling, freezing, and demolding. The freezing phase is further divided into directional freezing (top-down) and lateral freezing stages. This segmentation allows control over ice crystal formation to achieve transparency while keeping each phase simple and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold is pre-cooled before water filling, and water is allowed to freeze from the top surface downward first, creating a transparent upper layer. This preliminary action establishes the transparent structure before lateral freezing occurs, ensuring high transparency is achieved before any potential bubble incorporation in later stages.
2Manufacturing precision
If bulky finished transparent ice is purchased, then transparency requirement is met, but manual cutting is required which is troublesome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The mold includes integrated demolding features where the bottom surface and side surfaces are designed with release agents or specific geometries that allow the ice to be easily removed intact. The ice automatically takes the desired shape during freezing, eliminating the need for post-processing cutting or shaping operations.
3Manufacturing precision
If existing transparent ice maker is used, then transparent ice can be produced, but the structure is complex and purchase cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system merges the freezing function into a single integrated mold that combines water filling, directional freezing, and demolding capabilities. The mold integrates the cooling channels and heating elements directly into its structure, eliminating the need for separate freezing chambers and complex control systems found in existing transparent ice makers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses controllable temperature parameters to achieve transparency: the mold is pre-cooled to a specific temperature range, freezing proceeds at controlled rates with top-down directional freezing followed by lateral freezing. By precisely controlling these temperature parameters rather than using complex mechanical structures, transparent ice is produced with a simplified system.
4Manufacturing precision
If unidirectional cooling is applied, then transparent ice with minimal air bubbles is produced, but cooling time may be extended
Solution Approach 1:
The freezing process uses periodic action with two distinct stages: first, top-down directional freezing occurs for a predetermined time to establish the transparent upper layer; then lateral freezing is activated to complete the ice formation. This periodic switching between freezing directions achieves transparency while minimizing total time compared to continuous single-direction freezing.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold is pre-cooled to the target temperature before water filling, and the top surface is frozen first to create a transparent shell. This preliminary action establishes the transparent structure quickly, allowing the remaining water to freeze faster in subsequent lateral freezing without compromising transparency, thus reducing overall ice making time.
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 design produces transparent ice with high transparency and consistent shape, reducing production time and costs by minimizing air bubbles and eliminating the need for post-shaping, while ensuring easy ice removal and controlled ice sizes.
Implementation Method 1
the fan and the evaporator are disposed in the refrigeration box and located above the ice containers... the refrigeration assembly is configured to cool water in the die cavities and the refrigeration box in a single direction
Implementation Method 2
a thermal insulation layer provided in the cabinet body and the cabinet door and wrapping the refrigeration box and the heating pipe
Implementation Method 3
a heating pipe provided in the cabinet body and wrapping the refrigeration box
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
An ice maker includes a cabinet body, and a refrigeration box and a refrigeration assembly provided in the cabinet body. The refrigeration box is connected to a water inlet pipe, a support member is provided in the refrigeration box, a grid tray is arranged on the support member, and ice containers are sequentially arranged on the grid tray. Die cavities are provided in the ice containers, water inlet holes communicated with the die cavities are formed in bottoms of the ice containers, and water outlet holes communicated with the die cavities are formed in tops of the ice containers. The refrigeration assembly includes a fan, an evaporator, a compressor, and a condenser. The fan and the evaporator are disposed in the refrigeration box, and the compressor and the condenser are disposed outside the refrigeration box. A heating pipe wraps the refrigeration box.