Refrigerator having drawer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators with ice-making units in freezing compartments often waste space and compromise convenience due to separate structures that occupy additional space and require pulling out the entire drawer to access ice, leading to cold air loss and reduced efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An integrated drawer system with a slidable ice-making unit that includes a cold air inlet hole and a rotatable ice-making tray, allowing the ice-making unit to be pushed in or pulled out through an entrance/exit opening, reducing unnecessary space usage and enhancing user convenience by minimizing cold air loss during ice retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an ice-making unit is installed in a freezing compartment as a separate structure, then ice-making function is provided, but space utilization of the freezing compartment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The ice-making unit is integrated into the drawer structure, merging the ice-making function with the storage compartment. The ice-making tray and receptacle are incorporated within the drawer boundaries, eliminating the need for separate ice-making structures in the freezing compartment and improving space utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The drawer is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as both a storage compartment for frozen goods and an ice-making unit. The same drawer structure houses both the storage space and the ice-making components, allowing one element to perform multiple functions and reduce overall space requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the entire drawer is pulled out to access ice-making unit, then ice retrieval is possible, but cold air loss increases and convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The ice-making unit is segmented from the main drawer body, allowing the ice-making tray and receptacle to be independently accessed. The entrance/exit opening enables the ice-making components to be pulled out separately from the entire drawer, allowing users to retrieve ice without removing the whole drawer and minimizing cold air loss.
Solution Approach 2:
An entrance/exit opening acts as an intermediary interface between the drawer interior and exterior, allowing selective access to the ice-making unit. This opening enables the ice-making components to be partially extracted for ice retrieval while maintaining the sealed environment of the main drawer, reducing unnecessary cold air loss.
3Stability of the object's composition
If ice-making unit is fixed in position, then structural stability is maintained, but flexibility and adaptability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The ice-making unit is designed with dynamic characteristics, allowing it to be moved in and out through the entrance/exit opening. The tray and receptacle can be selectively extracted and repositioned, providing flexibility for ice retrieval, cleaning, and maintenance while maintaining structural stability when in the closed position within the drawer.
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 configuration improves space utilization in the freezing compartment, reduces ice-making time, and increases user convenience by allowing easy access to the ice-making unit without losing cold air, thus enhancing refrigeration efficiency and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
A cold air inlet hole, through which cold air is supplied into the ice-making unit, may be provided in a wall of the drawer defining the receiving space in which the ice-making unit is received.
Implementation Method 2
The ice-making unit includes an ice-making tray in which ice is made
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A refrigerator having a drawer to be pushed into or pulled out of a storage compartment. An ice-making unit is integrally mounted in the drawer so as to be pushed into or pulled out of the drawer through an opening perforated in a front wall of the drawer, resulting in improved use convenience and space utilization.