refrigerator

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional refrigerators require opening the door to confirm the presence and location of stored food, leading to unnecessary cool air leakage and increased power consumption, as the storage space inside the refrigerator cannot be visually verified without opening it.

Innovation Solution

A refrigerator with a transparent door panel that allows users to see inside without opening the door, featuring a transparent display assembly with a light guide plate, spacers, and insulation layers to maintain thermal insulation and reduce power consumption.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of energy

If the door is made opaque to maintain insulation, then thermal insulation performance is improved, but the ability to visually verify stored food without opening the door deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecool air leakageVSAvoidvisibility of stored food

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The door panel incorporates a transparent display assembly that can dynamically change between opaque and transparent states. When the display is off, the panel appears opaque to maintain insulation. When the display is activated, it becomes transparent allowing users to see inside the refrigerator without opening the door, thus resolving the contradiction between insulation and visibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The optical properties of the door panel are changed by controlling the power consumption of the transparent display assembly. By adjusting the power state of the display, the panel transitions between transparent and opaque states, enabling the system to adapt to different user needs while maintaining thermal insulation performance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Loss of information

If a transparent display assembly is added to the door, then visibility of stored food is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvevisibility of stored foodVSAvoiddoor structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The transparent display assembly serves multiple functions: it acts as both a display interface for showing information and as a controllable optical element that can switch between transparent and opaque states. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby managing complexity while achieving visibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The transparent display assembly is integrated within the door structure, with components such as the light guide plate, spacers, and insulation layers nested within each other. The display assembly is positioned between the front and rear panels of the door, with insulation layers nested between the display components, creating a compact multi-layered structure that minimizes overall complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Loss of energy

If the door thickness is increased to improve insulation, then thermal insulation performance is improved, but the overall refrigerator size increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvethermal insulationVSAvoiddoor thickness

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSLength of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The door employs a composite structure combining transparent display assembly components with insulation layers. The insulation layers are integrated between the display components and door panels, providing thermal insulation without requiring increased overall door thickness. This composite approach allows high insulation performance within a compact thickness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

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 users to verify the contents of the refrigerator without opening it, reducing cool air leakage and power consumption while maintaining the door's insulation performance and thickness.

Implementation Method 1

an inert gas is injected between the front panel and the light guide plate through an injection hole of the outer spacer to provide an insulation layer

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectThermal insulation: Thermal Insulation

Data Source

PatentEP4056934B1refrigerator

Publication Date: 2024.06.12 LG ELECTRONICS INC

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AI summary

Provided is a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a cabinet defining a storage space, a door opening and closing the cabinet, and a transparent display assembly which covers an opening of the door and through which an inner space of the refrigerator is seen. The transparent display assembly includes a front panel defining at least a portion of a front surface of the door, a rear panel defining at least a portion of a rear surface of the door, an outer spacer maintaining a distance between the front panel and the rear panel and disposed along circumferences of the front panel and the rear panel to define a sealed space therein, a display disposed on a rear surface of the front panel in the sealed space, a light guide plate spaced apart from the display to brighten up the display, and a first spacer supporting the light guide plate in the sealed space and maintaining a distance between the display and the light guide plate. An inert gas is injected between the front panel and the light guide plate through an injection hole of the outer spacer to provide an insulation layer.