Quick-Freezing Chamber Layout for Food Quality and Humidity Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators with quick-freezing functions lack the ability to separately store food for immediate use and quick-freeze it efficiently, leading to tissue damage, loss of taste and nutrition, and poor humidity control, resulting in a short fresh period for fruits and vegetables.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design with a main body containing a freezing chamber divided into portions, featuring a quick-freezing chamber, a freezing evaporator, and a quick-freezing fan, along with a separate refrigerating chamber and fan, controlled by a controller to optimize quick-freezing and refrigeration processes, ensuring maximum ice crystal formation and maintaining food quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the freezing chamber is not partitioned and uses a single evaporator system, then the device complexity is reduced, but the productivity of quick-freezing is insufficient and food quality deteriorates due to inability to pass through maximum ice crystal formation zone quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The freezing chamber is segmented into a normal freezing chamber and a quick-freezing chamber, allowing independent temperature control and airflow management for each zone. This segmentation enables the quick-freezing chamber to operate at lower temperatures with dedicated cold air supply, achieving rapid freezing that quickly passes through the maximum ice crystal formation zone without requiring complete redesign of the entire freezing system.
2Device complexity
If a single evaporator in the freezing chamber is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the loss of energy increases due to long air duct travel and large airflow resistance in single-system refrigerators
Solution Approach 1:
The refrigerating system is segmented into a single-system configuration with the evaporator located in the freezing chamber, serving both freezing and refrigerating functions. This segmentation avoids the complexity of multi-evaporator systems while minimizing energy loss by positioning the evaporator optimally and using a refrigerating fan to directly circulate cold air to the refrigerating chamber, reducing air duct travel distance and airflow resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
A refrigerating fan is introduced as an intermediary device to actively transport cold air from the evaporator to the refrigerating chamber. This mediator overcomes the limitations of passive air circulation, reducing airflow resistance and energy loss by creating controlled, efficient airflows that directly deliver cooling energy where needed without requiring long duct runs.
3Device complexity
If cold air performs large circulation among freezing chamber, ice-making chamber and refrigerating chamber, then the device complexity is reduced, but the humidity of vegetables and fruits is hard to keep and air drying phenomenon occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The air circulation system is segmented into separate circulation zones: a freezing chamber circulation system with freezing fan, an ice-making chamber circulation system with ice-making fan, and a refrigerating chamber circulation system with refrigerating fan. This segmentation prevents large-scale cross-chamber air circulation that causes drying, while maintaining independent humidity control in each zone. The refrigerating chamber can maintain high humidity for fresh produce without affecting the freezing chamber's low humidity environment.
4Device complexity
If the evaporator is disposed in the freezing chamber with long air duct travel, then the device complexity is reduced, but the volume utilization of the refrigerating chamber is greatly decreased
Solution Approach 1:
The evaporator is extracted from the refrigerating chamber and positioned in the freezing chamber, where it serves the primary freezing function. This extraction eliminates the need for long air ducts extending into the refrigerating chamber, freeing up valuable storage volume. The refrigerating chamber receives cold air through optimized, shorter ducting from the evaporator location, maintaining cooling efficiency while maximizing usable storage space.
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 allows for efficient quick-freezing that preserves food quality, extends the freshness of fruits and vegetables, and improves user experience by maintaining taste and nutrition while reducing energy loss and increasing volume utilization.
Implementation Method 1
a freezing evaporator disposed in the main body and behind the at least one freezing chamber... configured to blow cold air generated by the freezing evaporator into the at least one freezing chamber
Implementation Method 2
a quick-freezing fan corresponding to the at least one quick-freezing chamber... configured to blow cold air generated by the freezing evaporator into the at least one quick-freezing chamber... controls the quick-freezing fan to quick-freeze the at least one quick-freezing chamber
Implementation Method 3
under the quick-freezing mode, the food can pass a zone of maximum ice crystal formation thereof quickly, thus ensuring a quality of the food to a maximum extent, maintaining taste and nutrition of the food
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator having a quick-freezing function includes: a main body; at least one freezing chamber disposed in the main body and comprising at least one quick-freezing chamber; a freezing evaporator disposed in the main body, and spaced apart from the at least one freezing chamber via a freezing air duct cover plate; a freezing fan corresponding to the at least one freezing chamber and a quick-freezing fan corresponding to the at least one quick-freezing chamber, and configured to blow cold air generated by the freezing evaporator into the at least one freezing chamber and the at least one quick-freezing chamber respectively; and a controller configured to control the freezing fan and the quick-freezing fan. The refrigerator can maintain the taste and nutrition of foods through quick-freezing, and prolong the fresh period of vegetables and fruits.