Conductive Protrusion Assembly With Insulated Section for Spherical Ice
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice-making machines produce irregularly shaped ice blocks due to refrigerant circulation throughout conductive protrusion assemblies, leading to reduced cooling efficiency and increased time for ice production, especially in large quantities.
Innovation Solution
The conductive protrusion assembly is divided into a cooling section and an insulating section, with the insulating section packed with insulation material and a conductive lid that separates the chamber to allow for efficient refrigerant flow, focusing cooling on the tip for spherical ice formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If refrigerant is circulated throughout the entire conductive protrusion assembly, then the ice blocks can be formed along the length of the assembly, but the cooling efficiency is reduced and the ice blocks become irregularly shaped
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive protrusion assembly is divided into a cooling section and an insulating section. The cooling section receives refrigerant circulation to form ice, while the insulating section is thermally isolated to prevent unwanted ice formation. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by concentrating cooling only where needed for spherical ice block formation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the conductive protrusion assembly are given different thermal properties. The cooling section has high thermal conductivity for efficient heat transfer, while the insulating section has low thermal conductivity to prevent heat transfer. This local differentiation of properties enables precise control over ice formation location and shape.
2Productivity
If refrigerant is circulated throughout the conductive protrusion assembly, then ice can form along the entire length, but the surface area to be cooled increases reducing overall efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive protrusion assembly is segmented into a cooling section with limited surface area and an insulating section that is excluded from cooling. This segmentation reduces the total surface area requiring refrigerant circulation, thereby improving ice production efficiency without sacrificing ice block formation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of cooling the entire conductive protrusion assembly, only the necessary cooling section is cooled to the extent required for spherical ice block formation. This partial action approach avoids the energy waste of cooling unnecessary portions while still achieving the desired productivity.
3Ease of operation
If the conductive protrusion assembly is cooled throughout its length, then ice blocks can be harvested easily, but the ice blocks become elongated and irregular rather than spherical
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive protrusion assembly is divided into a cooling section where spherical ice blocks form and an insulating section that remains warmer. This segmentation ensures ice blocks form only at the tip with spherical geometry while the insulating section prevents elongation, maintaining both shape integrity and harvestability.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling and insulating sections have different thermal properties localized to specific regions. The cooling section promotes spherical ice formation at the tip, while the insulating section prevents ice extension along the assembly length, ensuring proper shape without compromising harvesting ease.
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 design enhances the spherical shape of ice blocks and improves the operational efficiency of the ice-making machine by cooling a smaller surface area, allowing for faster and more efficient ice production.
Implementation Method 1
The insulating section of the conductive cup is packed with an insulation material
Implementation Method 2
a means for supplying a refrigerant fluid to the tips, to extract heat from the tips and thereby cool them to ice forming temperature
Implementation Method 3
When water is exposed to sub-zero temperatures i.e., freezing temperatures, water turns from a liquid state to a solid state
Data Source
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AI summary
A conductive protrusion assembly (100) is disclosed. The conductive protrusion assembly (100) includes a conductive cup (1) defining a chamber (C). The conductive cup (1) is supportable by a support plate (8) of the evaporator (101). A conductive lid (2) is fixed within the chamber (C), dividing the chamber into a cooling section (A) and an insulating section (B) where, the insulating section (B) of the conductive cup (1) is packed with an insulation material. The conductive lid (2) is defined with an inlet port (15a) and an outlet port (15b) for circulate a cooling fluid through the cooling section (A) and the insulating section (B) is defined with a flow passage to allow flow of a defrost fluid. The conductive protrusion assembly (100) with an insulating section (B) and a cooling section (A) enables spherical shaped ice blocks (7) to be produced without the use of a mould.