Ice Tray Coupling Mechanism to Minimize Overflow and Air Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators with ice making devices face issues such as water overflow and leakage of cool air when coupling ice trays to the housing and removing ice cubes, leading to contamination and inefficient energy use.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a tray coupling portion that protrudes from the case with a lever coupling mechanism, rotation protrusions, and a tray accommodation portion that fixes the ice tray to prevent movement, allowing water to be poured directly onto the tray before mounting, minimizing overflow and enabling easy ice cube separation without opening the door.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the ice tray is separated from the housing and then mounted, then the ice tray can be filled with water, but water may overflow due to inclined state or hand trembling
Solution Approach 1:
The ice tray is pre-mounted to the housing in a horizontal position before water filling. The tray coupling portion with lever mechanism is预先 configured to maintain the tray in a stable horizontal state, eliminating the risk of overflow during the filling operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray coupling portion acts as an intermediary mechanism between the user's hand and the ice tray. The lever coupling mechanism provides mechanical support and stabilization, preventing hand trembling from directly affecting the tray's position during water filling.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the ice tray is separated and mounted one by one, then each tray can be individually filled, but the process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making device is segmented into multiple ice trays that can be independently mounted and removed. Each tray is coupled to the housing through the standardized tray coupling portion, allowing individual operation while maintaining system organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray coupling portion with lever mechanism serves as a universal coupling system for all ice trays. The same coupling structure is used for mounting, stabilizing, and removing trays, simplifying the overall operation despite having multiple trays.
3Ease of operation
If the door is opened to remove ice cubes, then ice cubes can be accessed, but cool air leaks and power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice tray is extracted from the housing through the tray coupling portion's lever mechanism, allowing ice cubes to be accessed by removing the tray rather than opening the door. This extracts the ice retrieval function from the door opening action, preventing cool air leakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray coupling portion enables self-service ice retrieval by allowing the tray to be easily removed and remounted through the lever mechanism. Users can access ice cubes without requiring door operation, making the system serve itself for ice dispensing.
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 solution reduces water overflow and cool air leakage, maintains the ice tray's horizontal state, and allows for efficient ice cube separation, expanding storage space and minimizing energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
a lever coupling mechanism
Implementation Method 2
an ice making device configured to make ice cubes
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A refrigerator having an ice making device, comprises: a case having an opening at one side thereof; a tray accommodation portion having opened upper and lower surfaces, and configured to be inserted into or withdrawn from the case through the opening; an ice tray accommodated in the tray accommodation portion, and containing water to be frozen to ice cubes; and an accommodation portion coupling unit for coupling the tray accommodation portion to the case. Water is poured onto the ice tray in a state that the ice tray has been accommodated in the tray accommodation portion, and then the ice tray is carried to be mounted to the case. This may solve the conventional problem that each ice tray has to be carried. Furthermore, since an external force such as hand trembling is transmitted to the ice tray via the tray accommodation portion, overflow of water is minimized.