Rotating Silicone Ice Tray Structure to Prevent Spherical Ice Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ice makers face challenges with complex upper tray structures and risk of deformation due to expansive forces, rotational forces, and transfer forces, which can prevent the production of spherical ice.
Innovation Solution
The ice maker design features an upper tray and a lower tray made of silicone material, with a rotational center outside the ice chambers, allowing the trays to contact and rotate relative to each other to prevent gap widening and deformation, thus enabling the production of spherical ice.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If the upper tray includes link guide parts and connection unit simultaneously with forming the upper cells, then the ice maker can transfer ice automatically, but the structure of the upper tray becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The upper tray is divided into separate functional components: the tray body for forming upper cells, and separate link guide parts and connection units that are added subsequently. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, reducing the overall structural complexity while maintaining automatic ice transfer functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The link guide parts and connection units are extracted as separate elements from the upper tray body. Instead of integrating all functions into a single complex tray structure, these components are taken out and positioned separately, simplifying the upper tray design while preserving the automatic ice transfer mechanism.
2Productivity
If the upper tray receives expansive force of water, rotational force of the lower tray and transfer force of the link, then the ice making process can proceed, but the upper tray will be damaged or deformed
Solution Approach 1:
Reinforcement ribs are added to the upper tray structure before the ice making process begins. These ribs provide pre-established structural support that cushions the tray against the expansive force of water, rotational force from the lower tray, and transfer force from the link mechanism, preventing damage and deformation while maintaining productive ice making operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The upper tray employs a composite structure combining the base tray material with integrated reinforcement ribs. This composite design creates a stronger, more rigid structure that can withstand the multiple forces applied during ice making without compromising the reliability of the upper tray.
3Shape
If the upper tray is deformed at one time, then the structural changes occur, but it is not possible to make sphere-like ice
Solution Approach 1:
The reinforcement ribs are designed to counteract deforming forces before they can cause permanent structural changes to the upper tray. By providing preemptive structural support, the ribs prevent the tray from deforming under the expansive, rotational, and transfer forces, thereby maintaining the precise spherical shape of the ice being formed.
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker of the present embodiment comprises: an upper tray including an upper tray body defining an upper chamber that is a portion of an ice chamber for generating ice; and a lower tray rotated relative to the upper tray based on a rotational center, and including a lower tray body defining a lower chamber that is another portion of the ice chamber, wherein a top surface of the lower tray body can contact a bottom surface of the upper tray body, the rotational center is disposed outside of the upper chamber and the lower chamber, the bottom surface of the upper tray body includes a first surface and a second surface disposed farther from the rotational center than the first surface, and before the top surface of the lower tray body contacts the bottom surface of the upper tray body, the second surface is lower than the first surface.