Icemaker and refrigerator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers in refrigerators struggle to produce transparent ice due to supercooling issues, which are often addressed with nucleation agents that may be harmful for food and beverages, complicating their use and consumer acceptance.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design incorporating a tray assembly with controlled temperature and water supply mechanisms, along with a heater and cooler system, to manage supercooling and facilitate transparent ice production without additives, using a controller to regulate ice formation and separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If nucleation agents are added to reduce supercooling, then ice transparency is improved, but ice purity and safety for food and beverage are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the harmful nucleation agents from the ice making process. Instead of adding chemicals to water, the system uses a physical approach where a separate nucleation source (ice seed or metal object) is introduced into the freezing chamber to initiate crystallization without contaminating the water being frozen into ice cubes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary nucleation source (such as a metal object or ice seed) that mediates the phase change process. This intermediary provides the nucleation sites needed to prevent supercooling without becoming part of the final ice product, thus maintaining ice purity while achieving transparent ice formation.
2Manufacturing precision
If nucleation agents are used to prevent supercooling, then ice making quality is improved, but device complexity and operation difficulty are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the complex storage and injection systems for nucleation agents from the refrigerator. The nucleation function is achieved through a simple, passive metal object or ice seed placed in the freezing chamber, eliminating the need for sophisticated delivery mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The nucleation source (metal object or ice seed) is a passive, self-contained element that automatically provides nucleation sites when exposed to supercooled water vapor or droplets. No active control, storage, or injection mechanisms are needed—the system self-regulates the nucleation process through the physical properties of the nucleation source.
3Productivity
If rapid phase change occurs during freezing, then ice making speed is improved, but ice transparency is worsened due to supercooling
Solution Approach 1:
The invention prepares the freezing chamber environment in advance by introducing a nucleation source before water freezing begins. This preliminary action ensures that when water vapor or droplets contact the cold surface, immediate nucleation occurs, preventing supercooling and enabling rapid formation of transparent ice without the need for chemical additives.
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 system effectively produces transparent ice by managing supercooling and bubble migration, ensuring clean and pure ice production without the need for harmful additives, enhancing user acceptance and ice quality.
Implementation Method 1
a first tray assembly and a second tray assembly defining an ice making cell in which water is phase-changed into ice by cold supplied by the cooler
Implementation Method 2
a heater configured to be positioned adjacent to at least one of the first tray assembly and the second tray assembly... control the heater to be turned on in at least some section while the cooler supplies cold so that bubbles dissolved in the water inside the ice making cell move from an ice-generating portion to liquid water
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator includes a first tray configured to form a portion of each of a plurality of ice making cells, and a second tray configured to be rotatable with respect to the first tray and to form the other portion of each of the plurality of ice making cells. Water supply is performed at a water supply position of the second tray. When water supply is completed, the second tray is moved to an ice making position. One or more of the first tray and the second tray is provided with a communication hole for communicating the plurality of ice making cells at the ice making position of the second tray.