Refrigerator Decorative Member for Visual Humidity Indication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators lack a mechanism to allow users to conveniently recognize and maintain humidity levels inside the storage chamber, making it difficult to ensure optimal preservation conditions for stored items like vegetables and fruits.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design incorporating a decorative member with capillary tubes that utilize the capillary phenomenon and light refraction to display humidity levels, along with a humidity adjusting part to maintain optimal humidity, allowing users to visually assess and regulate humidity through the movement of condensate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If sand blasting method is used to create scratch pattern on plastic injection-mold, then predetermined pattern or shape can be introduced into external appearance, but uniform turbidity cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical sand blasting process with an injection molding process that directly forms the scratch pattern and turbidity into the plastic material. This substitution eliminates the inability to achieve uniform turbidity while maintaining the desired external appearance pattern, as the pattern is now created through controlled material injection rather than mechanical abrasion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and distribution of the plastic material during injection molding to create uniform turbidity. By controlling the injection parameters, temperature, and pressure, the material forms a consistent scratch pattern with uniform optical properties, resolving the turbidity uniformity issue that plagued the sand blasting method.
2Device complexity
If conventional refrigerator design is used, then simple structure is maintained, but user cannot recognize humidity inside storage container
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes changes in the optical properties (transparency/turbidity) of the plastic material to indicate humidity levels. As humidity changes inside the storage container, the injected plastic material responds with corresponding optical changes that users can visually observe, providing humidity information without adding complex electronic sensors or displays.
Solution Approach 2:
The injected plastic material serves multiple functions simultaneously: it maintains the structural integrity of the storage container, provides the desired aesthetic scratch pattern, and acts as a humidity indicator through its optical property changes. This multi-functionality allows humidity monitoring without increasing device complexity.
3Loss of information
If decorative member with capillary tubes is added to display humidity, then humidity recognition capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the decorative function and humidity indication function into a single integrated component. The scratch pattern and turbidity features are incorporated directly into the injection-molded plastic material, creating a unified decorative member that both aesthetics and provides humidity information, thereby avoiding the need for separate complex humidity sensing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastic material itself performs the humidity sensing and indication function through its inherent optical property changes in response to humidity variations. The material serves itself as both the structural component and the sensing indicator, eliminating the need for additional separate sensing devices or complex mechanical structures.
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 efficient monitoring and regulation of humidity levels, ensuring optimal storage conditions and uniform turbidity, which enhances the aesthetic appeal and functionality of the refrigerator.
Implementation Method 1
a path part formed in a capillary tube shape to generate a capillary phenomenon moving the movement of the condensate
Implementation Method 2
the decorative member configured to generate light refraction and guide a movement of condensate condensed in the storage container
Data Source
AI summary
A decorative member of a refrigerator and a method for fabricating the same are disclosed. A refrigerator includes a storage container provided in a storage chamber; and a decorative member provided in the storage container, the decorative configured to generate light refraction and guide a movement of condensate condensed in the storage container, and configured to be capable of displaying humidity inside the storage container according to the movement degree of condensate.