Ice making method for refrigerator and refrigerator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice-making devices in refrigerators produce white ice with many air gaps due to rapid freezing, resulting in poor aesthetics and fragility.
Innovation Solution
A method involving controlled temperature variations and heating to expel air from water before freezing, using multiple preset temperatures and refrigeration capacities to ensure gradual cooling and uniform temperature changes, reducing air gaps and enhancing ice transparency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If water is frozen directly by the cold generated by an evaporator, then the ice making process is simple and fast, but the ice contains many air gaps, has poor aesthetics, and is fragile
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by heating the water supply pipe through the condenser before freezing to expel air from the water. This preliminary air removal action prevents air gaps in the final ice product, improving transparency and quality before the actual freezing process begins.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temperature parameter of the water by heating it through the condenser before freezing. This parameter change (increasing water temperature temporarily) allows air bubbles to rise and escape, resulting in clearer ice with fewer air gaps while maintaining efficient freezing through controlled temperature gradients.
2Productivity
If rapid freezing is used to produce ice quickly, then productivity increases, but air gaps are trapped in the ice, reducing aesthetics and increasing fragility
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary air expulsion by heating the water through the condenser before the rapid freezing process. This preliminary action removes air bubbles that would otherwise be trapped during quick freezing, ensuring the ice maintains high strength and aesthetic quality even when produced rapidly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes phase transition control by first heating water (liquid phase), then transitioning it to ice (solid phase) through the evaporator. The controlled phase transition process, combined with preliminary heating, ensures air is expelled before freezing, producing strong, durable ice with excellent aesthetics.
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 method produces transparent or clear ice by minimizing air entrapment, improving ice quality and durability.
Implementation Method 1
the water supply pipe is thermally connected to the refrigerator's condenser, thereby heating the water in the supply pipe
Implementation Method 2
providing cold energy to the ice making compartment according to a first refrigeration capacity, enabling the temperature in the ice making compartment to sequentially drop to reach multiple first preset temperatures
Implementation Method 3
by communicating the ice making compartment with the external environment, the temperature inside the ice making compartment is raised to or above the first preset value
Data Source
AI summary
An ice making method for a refrigerator and a refrigerator. The ice making method for a refrigerator comprises: enabling the temperature in an ice making compartment to be higher than or equal to a first preset value; filling an ice making container in the ice making compartment with water; providing cold energy to the ice making compartment according to a first refrigeration capacity, enabling the temperature in the ice making compartment to sequentially drop to reach multiple first preset temperatures, and when the temperature in the ice making compartment drops to reach each first preset temperature, maintaining the temperature in the ice making compartment at the first preset temperature for a corresponding first preset duration, among two adjacent first preset temperatures, the first preset duration corresponding to the lower first preset temperature being shorter than the first preset duration corresponding to the higher first preset temperature.