Select-Temperature Refrigerator Compartment With Dual Evaporator Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dual evaporator refrigerators face issues with humidity and odor transfer between compartments, and limited temperature control options, particularly in the fresh food compartment, which restricts the ability to store items at specific temperatures outside the standard range.
Innovation Solution
A dual evaporator refrigerator design with separate evaporators for the fresh food and freezer compartments, along with an auxiliary fan and enclosed pan within the fresh food compartment, allows for independent temperature control using a three-way valve and stepper motor to direct refrigerant flow and fan operation, enabling precise temperature management within the enclosed pan.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single evaporator is used to cool both fresh food and freezer compartments, then device complexity is reduced, but humidity control deteriorates and odor transfer occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single evaporator system into two separate evaporators: a fresh food evaporator disposed in the fresh food compartment and a freezer evaporator disposed in the freezer compartment. This segmentation prevents moisture transfer and odor contamination while maintaining reasonable system complexity through dedicated cooling zones for each compartment.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the fresh food evaporator from the freezer compartment and places it directly within the fresh food compartment. This extraction eliminates the harmful effect of moisture being drawn to the freezer evaporator, thereby preventing humidity loss and odor transfer to the freezer while maintaining separate cooling control.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a dual evaporator system is used, then humidity and odor control improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the dual evaporator system with a multi-way valve that selectively directs refrigerant flow between the fresh food evaporator and freezer evaporator. This merging allows the system to function as a unified refrigeration system while maintaining separate cooling control, balancing the complexity of having two evaporators with the efficiency of shared refrigerant distribution.
3Reliability
If the fresh food evaporator temperature range is limited to 34°F to 45°F, then the evaporator operates within safe parameters, but temperature flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the temperature control function by creating a separate enclosed pan with its own cooling system independent of the main fresh food evaporator. This allows the enclosed pan to achieve temperatures below the standard fresh food evaporator range (34°F to 45°F) while the main evaporator maintains reliable operation within its safe temperature parameters, thus providing both reliability and temperature flexibility.
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 configuration effectively prevents humidity and odor transfer while allowing for independent temperature control of the enclosed pan, enabling storage at temperatures outside the standard fresh food compartment range, such as for defrosting or specific item storage needs without affecting the main compartment temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
one or more evaporators for exchanging heat with the fresh food and freezer compartments
Implementation Method 2
a refrigeration evaporator with a first refrigeration fan for moving air from the refrigeration evaporator to the refrigeration compartment for cooling the refrigeration compartment
Implementation Method 3
A compressor provides refrigerant flow to the freezer and the refrigeration evaporators
Implementation Method 4
a compressor, one or more evaporators for exchanging heat with the fresh food and freezer compartments, and a condenser
Data Source
AI summary
A dual evaporator refrigerator includes a freezer compartment and a refrigeration compartment with an enclosed pan. A freezer evaporator with a freezer fan is in the freezer compartment for cooling the freezer compartment and a refrigeration evaporator with a first refrigeration fan is in the refrigeration compartment for cooling the refrigeration compartment. A compressor provides refrigerant flow to the freezer and the refrigeration evaporators. A second refrigeration fan moves air from the refrigeration evaporator to the enclosed pan.