Refrigerator Ice Transfer Chute for Door Ice Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators face challenges in efficiently making and storing ice due to increased power consumption and reduced accommodation space, as the ice making process often requires continuous cool air supply, which can elevate power usage and diminish storage capacity.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design incorporating an ice maker in the freezing compartment and an ice bank on the door, with an ice transfer device featuring an ice chute that extends at an angle and a transfer member with lifters to efficiently transfer ice from the maker to the bank, optimizing ice storage and reducing the need for continuous cool air supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the ice making compartment is provided as an independent insulation space in the refrigerating compartment door, then ice can be made and stored, but the volume of the refrigerating compartment door is increased and the accommodation space in the back surface is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making compartment is extracted from the refrigerating compartment door and relocated to the freezing compartment. This separation allows the refrigerating compartment door to maintain its original volume and accommodation space while the ice making function is preserved in a different location within the refrigerator body.
2Productivity
If cool air is continuously supplied to the ice making compartment, then ice can be made effectively, but power consumption is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making compartment is merged with the freezing compartment, allowing both functions to share the same thermal environment. This eliminates the need for separate cool air supply systems and reduces overall power consumption while maintaining effective ice making through the shared cooling resources of the freezing compartment.
3Volume of stationary object
If the ice maker is disposed in the freezing compartment, then accommodation space in the refrigerating compartment door is increased, but ice transfer to the door-mounted ice bank requires efficient transfer mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
An ice transfer device with a transfer member featuring lifters is introduced as an intermediary mechanism between the ice maker in the freezing compartment and the ice bank on the door. This intermediary system efficiently transports ice cubes through a chute, enabling space optimization while maintaining simple and reliable ice transfer operation.
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 ice making efficiency, reduces power consumption, and expands storage capacity by allowing ice production within the freezing compartment, minimizing the need for continuous cool air and preventing ice damage during transfer.
Implementation Method 1
cool air generated through heat-exchange with a refrigerant circulating a refrigeration cycle
Implementation Method 2
refrigerant circulating a refrigeration cycle
Implementation Method 3
Cool air introduced into the cool air inlet 42 cools the inside of the ice making compartment 40 to make ice
Implementation Method 4
a transfer member accommodated within the housing and configured to transfer ice from the housing into the ice chute
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3
AI summary
A refrigerator (100) includes a freezing compartment (113) and a refrigerating compartment (112), a refrigerating compartment door (121), an ice maker (200) disposed in the freezing compartment (113), and an ice bank (140) disposed on the door (121). The refrigerator (100) also includes an ice transfer device (300) configured to transfer ice made by the ice maker (200) to the ice bank (140) through an ice chute (340). The ice transfer device (300) includes a housing (310) and a transfer member (320) configured to transfer ice from the housing (310) into the ice chute (340). An inlet end of the ice chute (340) is located at a point that is spaced upward from a bottom surface of the housing (310) and extends upward from a horizontal plane at an angle θ that is less than an angle between the horizontal plane and a tangent that passes through an outer circumferential surface of the housing (310) at a lower end of the inlet end of the ice chute (340).