Domestic refrigeration appliance having an external housing of an icemaker and a frame at the front
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Solution Overview
Problem
Domestic refrigeration appliances with icemakers face issues of undesired deformation and damage due to relatively thin material thicknesses at specific points, affecting thermal insulation and seal-tightness, especially when exposed to mechanical forces from shaped ice elements.
Innovation Solution
A separate frame is arranged on the front edge of the icemaker's external housing to protect against mechanical forces, with a compressible sealing element and rib structure enhancing thermal insulation and seal-tightness, and a receiving container design that allows ice discharge without opening the door, using a chute and screw conveyor for efficient ice handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the external housing of the icemaker is manufactured by deep drawing method, then the manufacturing process is simple and cost-effective, but the material thickness becomes relatively thin at specific points making it vulnerable to deformation and damage
Solution Approach 1:
The external housing is divided into a front section and a rear section that are separately formed and then joined together. The front section includes a front wall and side walls forming a front corner region, while the rear section includes a rear wall and side walls forming a rear corner region. This segmentation allows each section to be optimized independently - the front section can be reinforced to withstand mechanical forces from ice elements while the rear section maintains the benefits of deep drawing manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The external housing combines different material structures in its front and rear sections. The front section is designed with enhanced structural properties to resist mechanical forces, while the rear section uses standard deep drawing construction. This composite approach allows the housing to have both strength where needed and manufacturing efficiency where applicable.
2Ease of manufacture
If the internal container walls are made with standard deep drawing method, then manufacturing is efficient, but thin material thicknesses result that may deform or damage under mechanical forces from ice elements
Solution Approach 1:
The internal container is segmented into regions with different structural characteristics. The front wall region, which is exposed to mechanical forces from the icemaker, is reinforced with additional material or structural features, while other regions of the internal container maintain standard deep drawing construction for manufacturing efficiency.
3Temperature
If the icemaker is accessible only when the door is open, then thermal insulation is maintained when closed, but user convenience is reduced requiring door opening for ice discharge
Solution Approach 1:
The ice discharge function is extracted from the main refrigerator compartment and placed in a separate accessible location. The front wall of the external housing includes a discharge opening that provides access to the icemaker from the front of the appliance, allowing users to remove ice elements without opening the refrigerator door. This separates the ice dispensing function from the temperature-controlled storage function.
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 effectively protects the icemaker components from damage, maintains thermal insulation, and ensures reliable ice discharge without compromising seal-tightness, improving user convenience and appliance durability.
Implementation Method 1
compressible sealing element arranged between the frame and the external housing of the icemaker
Data Source
AI summary
A domestic refrigeration appliance has a housing in which there is formed at least one receiving space for food that is delimited by walls of an internal container. An icemaker has an external housing that is separate from the internal container and that is preferably inserted in an inset region of the internal container and that has a charging opening. A separate frame is arranged on a front edge of the external housing. The separate frame delimits the charging opening.