Refrigerator and ice-making assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice-making assemblies in refrigerators face issues with ice detection failures due to assembly tolerance errors, where the ice detecting arm rubs or collides with surrounding structures, and ice gets caught between the arm and the ice-making dish during rotation.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a detecting lever with a pivot center positioned lower than the ice maker's rotation shaft, allowing it to pivot without interference, and a driver mechanism that includes a cam gear and operating lever to detect the full ice state without requiring additional space on the refrigerator door, ensuring smooth ice separation and detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the ice detecting arm is positioned on the side of the DC motor and rotated to detect ice, then the ice amount can be detected, but the ice detecting arm may rub against or collide with surrounding structures due to assembly tolerance errors, resulting in detection failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cam mechanism as an intermediary between the ice detecting arm and the DC motor. The cam converts the rotational motion of the detecting arm into linear motion, allowing the arm to detect ice amount without directly rotating near the motor. This intermediary mechanism eliminates the collision problem caused by assembly tolerances while maintaining detection accuracy.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If the ice detecting arm is rotated to detect ice amount, then the detection function is achieved, but additional space on the refrigerator door is required for the rotation of the ice detecting arm
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the detection mechanism from a two-dimensional rotational motion on the door surface to a three-dimensional cam-based linear motion. The detecting arm moves vertically along the cam groove rather than rotating horizontally on the door, effectively utilizing the third dimension (depth) to perform detection without occupying additional door surface area.
3Measurement precision
If the ice detecting arm is in the storage container after rotation, then ice can be detected, but ice may get caught between the ice detecting arm and the ice-making dish, causing jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the detecting arm from the storage container space by positioning it on the side of the ice-making assembly. The cam mechanism allows the arm to detect ice levels without extending into the container where ice cubes are stored, thereby eliminating the harmful effect of ice jamming between the arm and ice-making dish.
Data Source
AI summary
An ice-making assembly of the present disclosure an ice maker for making ice, an ice bin located below the ice maker, wherein the ice bin stores ice separated from the ice maker therein, and a detecting lever located below the ice maker and including a pivotable detecting body, wherein the detecting lever detects a full ice state of the ice bin.