Ice Maker Water Distributor Integration for Uniform Freeze Plate Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice makers face challenges in achieving uniform water distribution and efficient ice harvesting due to the orientation of the freeze plate, which affects the performance and efficiency of the ice making process.
Innovation Solution
The ice maker incorporates a water distributor with specific features such as a bottom wall with a ramp surface and a weir, along with a two-piece distributor design that allows for uniform water flow and easy maintenance, integrated into the evaporator housing to direct water uniformly across the freeze plate, enhancing ice formation and harvesting efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the freeze plate is oriented horizontally with conventional water distribution, then the ice maker structure is simple, but water distribution uniformity is poor and ice harvesting efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The distributor is divided into a two-piece construction: a housing piece and a distributor piece. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for its specific function while maintaining overall uniform water distribution, resolving the contradiction between distribution uniformity and structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributor incorporates locally optimized features including a ramp surface at the front end, a weir structure at the rear end, and specific flow restrictions at defined locations. These localized structural qualities ensure uniform water distribution across the freeze plate without requiring complex overall design.
2Productivity
If the freeze plate is oriented to enable gravity-based ice harvesting, then ice harvesting efficiency improves, but water distribution uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The distributor is designed with dynamic flow control features including the ramp surface that directs water flow and the weir that regulates distribution. These dynamic elements maintain uniform water distribution even when the freeze plate is tilted for gravity-based harvesting, resolving the contradiction between harvesting efficiency and distribution uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributor acts as an intermediary device between the water supply and the freeze plate. It mediates the water flow to ensure uniform distribution across the tilted freeze plate surface, enabling both gravity-based harvesting and uniform water distribution to occur simultaneously.
3Ease of manufacture
If the distributor is designed as a single integrated piece, then manufacturing is simple, but maintenance and cleaning are difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The distributor is segmented into a housing piece and a distributor piece that can be separated. This allows the distributor piece to be removed for easy cleaning and maintenance of internal flow passages, while the housing piece remains as a simple structural component. The segmentation enables both ease of manufacture and ease of maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributor piece is designed to be preliminarily assembled into the housing piece during manufacturing, creating a complete distributor assembly. This preliminary action simplifies manufacturing while maintaining the ability to disassemble for maintenance, as the pre-assembled unit can be easily removed and reinstalled.
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 ensures uniform ice formation and efficient harvesting by directing water uniformly across the freeze plate, allowing for quick ice harvesting using gravity, while also facilitating easy maintenance and assembly.
Implementation Method 1
The downstream end portion of the bottom wall defines a downwardly curving surface tension curve. The downwardly curving surface tension curve is configured so that surface tension causes the water imparted through the distributor to adhere to the curve and be directed downward by the curve toward the top end portion of the freeze plate.
Implementation Method 2
Refrigerant tubing extends along the back of the freeze plate and forms an evaporator configured to cool the freeze plate.
Implementation Method 3
a freeze plate defining a plurality of molds in which the ice maker is configured to form ice
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker includes an evaporator configured to freeze water into ice as it flows vertically down a freeze plate. A distributor distributes the water along the top of the freeze plate to form ice across the width of the freeze plate as the water flows downward along the freeze plate. The distributor can be integrated into the evaporator. For example, the distributor and evaporator can have a part in common. The distributor can be formed from two pieces that come together to form the freeze plate. The distributor can have various features that aid in providing a desirable distribution of water along the width of the freeze plate. The freeze plate can be mounted in an ice maker enclosure in thermal communication with the evaporator and to slant forward.