Evaporator for an ice making assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice making assemblies face challenges in efficiently cooling large ice billets, particularly at the bottom or farthest regions from the evaporator, leading to increased energy consumption and time in shaping and melting.
Innovation Solution
The proposed ice making assembly features a plurality of mold bodies with evaporators that include caps, inlet, and outlet tubes, forming evaporation chambers between the caps and mold bodies, allowing for efficient refrigerant flow to enhance cooling, with the evaporator being in direct contact with the mold body to improve heat transfer and prevent ice formation issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single evaporator is used to cool large ice billets, then the device complexity is reduced, but the cooling efficiency at the bottom and farthest regions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The evaporator is divided into multiple segments including a first evaporator and a second evaporator positioned at different locations. Each evaporator segment independently cools specific regions of the ice mold, ensuring uniform cooling distribution throughout the large ice billet including bottom and farthest regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The evaporators are positioned at different spatial dimensions within the ice mold cavity - the first evaporator at a first location and the second evaporator at a second location. This multi-dimensional arrangement ensures comprehensive heat extraction from all regions of the ice billet.
2Reliability
If the evaporator is positioned away from the ice mold to avoid thermal cracking, then the reliability improves, but the heat transfer efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple evaporators positioned at different locations within the ice mold cavity. This allows each evaporator to operate at optimal distances from the mold walls, preventing thermal cracking while maintaining efficient heat transfer through distributed cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
Different evaporators are positioned at different locations (first location and second location) within the ice mold cavity, providing localized cooling where needed. This ensures that each region of the ice mold receives appropriate cooling intensity, preventing thermal cracking in critical areas while maintaining overall heat transfer efficiency.
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 configuration ensures faster and more efficient cooling of the ice mold, preventing thermal cracking and uneven ice formation, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving the quality of large ice billets.
Implementation Method 1
The evaporator is in direct contact with the mold body to improve heat transfer
Implementation Method 2
An evaporator is coupled to the plurality of mold bodies... directing a flow of refrigerant into the evaporation chambers
Data Source
AI summary
An ice making assembly includes a mold body defining an ice-making cavity. An evaporator is coupled to the mold body. The evaporator includes a cap positioned on the mold body such that an open end of the cap is positioned at the mold body. An inlet tube is mounted to the cap. An outlet tube is also mounted to the cap. An evaporation chamber is formed between the cap and the mold body. The inlet tube is configured for directing a flow of refrigerant into the evaporation chamber, and the outlet tube configured for directing the flow of refrigerant out of the evaporation chamber.