refrigerator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerators with transparent doors or viewable interiors lack the ability to display information and can cause unnecessary cold air loss due to frequent door openings to identify stored food.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring a panel assembly with a light guide plate, diffuser, and backlight system that allows clear visibility of the interior while preventing cold air leakage, using a diffuser to scatter light uniformly and adjustable bezels to manage transparency and insulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a transparent door or viewable interior is provided, then the user can see the inside of the refrigerator, but information cannot be displayed and the door must still be opened to identify food
Solution Approach 1:
A light guide plate is introduced as an intermediary component between the storage space and the door. This plate captures light from LEDs positioned behind the door and distributes it uniformly across the door surface, enabling the door to function as a display medium that shows stored food items without requiring the door to be opened
2Loss of information
If the door is made transparent to view the interior, then food visibility is improved, but insulation performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The door is designed with non-uniform optical properties - a light guide plate with light-diffusing characteristics is positioned at the front, while the rear portion remains transparent. This allows different regions of the door to serve different functions: the front diffuses light for visibility, while the rear maintains transparency for viewing, both contributing to energy efficiency by reducing the need to open the door
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
Enables clear viewing of stored food without cold air loss, maintaining insulation, and allowing adjustable transparency to enhance user convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a light guide plate disposed to be spaced backward from the display; and a backlight disposed on an end-side of the light guide plate... the panel assembly comprises a see-through part... light emitted from the backlight is scattered by the light diffuser
Implementation Method 2
a transparent panel assembly for shielding the see-through portion and becoming transparent or opaque so as to selectively visualize the see-through portion
Implementation Method 3
a heat insulating member, formed along a perimeter of the transparent panel assembly, for insulating a perimeter portion of the transparent panel assembly
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a refrigerator (1). The refrigerator (1) includes a cabinet (10), a door (20, 30, 50) configured to open and close the cabinet (10) and having an opening (41), a panel assembly (60) configured to shield the opening (41) and including a see-through part, and a light provided further inward from the refrigerator (1) than the panel assembly (60) to illustrate a rear side of a door (20, 30, 50) so that the inside of the refrigerator (1) is visible through the see-through part. The wherein the panel assembly (60) includes a transparent front panel (51, 61) defining a front surface thereof, a display (62) disposed on a rear surface of the front panel (51, 61), a light guide plate (100A, 64, 68) disposed to be spaced apart from the display (62), a backlight (68) configured to emit light toward an end (833, L1, L2, L3, L4) of the light guide plate (100A, 64, 68), and a rear panel (65) made of a transparent material, spaced apart from the front panel (51, 61) to define a heat insulation space in which the display (62), the light guide plate (100A, 64, 68), and the backlight (68) are accommodated. The light may emit light to a rear region of the light guide plate (100A, 64, 68) from the outside of the light guide plate (100A, 64, 68) and be disposed at an angle between a direction parallel to the light guide plate (100A, 64, 68) and a rear side crossing the light guide plate (100A, 64, 68).