Refrigerator Ice Transfer Layout for Low-Power Door Ice Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigerator designs with icemakers in refrigerating compartments face issues such as increased power consumption, ice adherence, and prolonged ice delivery times due to long transfer distances and inefficient ice transfer mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
The refrigerator design separates the ice transfer section into a cabinet and door sections, using independent ice transfer devices to reduce power consumption, prevent ice adherence, and enhance transfer efficiency, with an icemaker located in the freezing compartment to increase storage capacity and reduce ice production time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single transfer device is used to transfer ice from the icemaker to the ice bank, then the structure is simple, but power consumption increases and transfer efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice transfer device is divided into two independent sections: a cabinet section with a first transfer mechanism and a door section with a second transfer mechanism. Each section has its own drive motor, allowing independent operation. This segmentation reduces the power consumption of each individual motor while maintaining overall transfer efficiency, directly resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and energy efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If ice is continuously transferred along a long ice chute, then ice can reach the ice bank, but ice spheres adhere to each other on the transfer path
Solution Approach 1:
The ice transfer path is divided into two separate sections with independent transfer mechanisms. The first transfer mechanism in the cabinet section moves ice a shorter distance, and the second transfer mechanism in the door section completes the transfer to the ice bank. This segmentation reduces the continuous ice contact time on the chute, preventing adhesion and improving transfer reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice chute is designed as an intermediary structure that guides ice from the first transfer mechanism to the second transfer mechanism. By positioning the chute strategically and using it as a temporary holding and guiding structure, the system enables reliable ice transfer while minimizing adhesion issues through reduced contact time and proper positioning.
3Volume of moving object
If the icemaker is located in the refrigerating compartment, then the structure is compact, but the ice bank size is limited and production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making assembly is segmented into two parts: the icemaker located in the freezing compartment and the ice bank located in the door section. This spatial segmentation allows the ice bank to be positioned in a location with sufficient space, increasing storage capacity while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure through the use of independent transfer mechanisms for each section.
Data Source
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AI summary
A refrigerator, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: a cabinet including a refrigerator compartment, and a freezer compartment provided under the refrigerator compartment; a refrigerator compartment door rotationally connected to the front side of the cabinet to open/close the refrigerator compartment and including an ice compartment for storing ice; an ice bank which is provided to the ice compartment and stores ice; an icemaker which comprises an upper tray forming a hemispherical upper cell, a lower tray forming a hemispherical lower cell, and a rotating shaft for rotating the lower tray, and which is provided in the freezer compartment; a housing which accommodates the icemaker in an upper space thereof and has an ice collector, provided to a lower part thereof, for collecting ice separated from the icemaker; an ice transfer duct for connecting the housing and the ice bank; and an ice transfer device for transferring the ice collected in the ice collector to the ice bank along the ice transfer duct, wherein the ice transfer device can include: a transfer cable; a pusher connected to an end of the transfer cable; and a transfer case for accommodating the transfer cable which is wound therein.