Door for home appliance, home appliance, and method for manufacturing the same
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing doors for refrigerators face challenges in achieving optimal foaming performance of thermal insulators due to increased foaming resistance, leading to incomplete filling and potential leakage of the insulator during the manufacturing process, especially when the foaming path is narrow and the door design includes a panel assembly for visibility without opening.
Innovation Solution
The door design incorporates a frame assembly with foaming injection holes at multiple ends, such as the upper, lower, left, and right surfaces, allowing for improved thermal insulator injection and distribution, reducing foaming resistance by aligning the injection direction with gravity and using a heating element to prevent dew formation at the panel and frame connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a panel assembly is added to the door for visibility without opening, then the user can see the inside of the refrigerator without opening the door, but the foaming path becomes narrow and foaming resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The foaming injection system is segmented into multiple injection holes distributed at different locations (upper end, lower end, left side, right side of the frame assembly) rather than a single central injection hole. This segmentation allows the thermal insulator to be injected from multiple directions simultaneously, reducing the effective foaming path length and foaming resistance in each segment, thereby solving the manufacturing difficulty caused by the narrow foaming path created by the panel assembly structure
2Device complexity
If the foaming path is narrow due to panel assembly structure, then the door structure is more compact, but the thermal insulator cannot be fully filled and may leak
Solution Approach 1:
The injection system transitions from a single-point (0D) or line (1D) injection approach to a distributed multi-point injection approach across two-dimensional surfaces of the frame assembly. By placing injection holes at the upper end, lower end, left side, and right side of the frame assembly, the thermal insulator is introduced from multiple spatial dimensions simultaneously, ensuring complete filling of the narrow foaming path between the frame assembly and panel assembly without leakage
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple foaming injection holes are provided at ends of the frame assembly, then the thermal insulator fills more evenly, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The frame assembly serves multiple functions: it provides structural support for the door, defines the foaming space, and acts as the injection system itself through its integrated injection holes. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for a separate complex injection system, as the frame assembly's structural elements double as the injection pathways, achieving uniform insulator distribution without proportionally increasing device complexity
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 filling efficiency of the thermal insulator, prevents leakage, and improves the overall insulation performance by ensuring the insulator is evenly distributed within the foaming space, thereby reducing energy loss and maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the door.
Implementation Method 1
using a heating element to prevent dew formation at the panel and frame connections
Implementation Method 2
filled with a thermal insulator such as polyurethane to make a door
Data Source
AI summary
A door for a home appliance, a home appliance, and a method for manufacturing the same, are disclosed. The door for a home appliance comprises a panel assembly; and a frame assembly defining a predetermined space having an opening connected with an edge of the panel assembly, and making a foaming space for receiving a thermal insulator by means of the predetermined space of the frame assembly and the edge of the panel assembly, wherein a foaming injection hole through which the thermal insulator is injected is provided on at least one of ends of an upper surface, a lower surface, a left side and a right side of the frame assembly.