Smart ice machine with separately fabricated cups for the ice tray
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of different sizes of ice-making machines incurs substantial tooling costs due to the need for various ice-tray configurations, which are typically manufactured using metal dies, making it inefficient and costly to produce a range of ice cube tray sizes.
Innovation Solution
A modular ice-tray design using separately fabricated cups with laterally extending channels that can be assembled into a frame to produce trays of varying sizes, reducing the need for multiple tooling setups and allowing for efficient manufacturing of different tray sizes with reduced costs, along with a sensor system for detecting ice formation and a heater for releasing ice cubes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If different sizes of die cast metal ice-trays are produced to fit various refrigerator sizes, then adaptability to different consumers' needs is improved, but tooling costs increase substantially due to the need for different metal dies
Solution Approach 1:
The ice tray is divided into multiple separate cup modules that can be independently manufactured and then assembled into different tray configurations. This segmentation allows the same cup design to be reused across multiple tray sizes, eliminating the need for entirely different tooling for each tray size while maintaining adaptability to various refrigerator configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
A universal cup module design is created that can serve multiple functions and be assembled into different tray sizes. The same cup prototype can be used in 6-cube, 12-cube, 18-cube, or 21-cube tray configurations by simply varying the number of cups assembled, making the manufacturing process universally applicable across all tray sizes and significantly reducing tooling costs.
2Productivity
If multiple die cast metal ice-tray configurations are manufactured for different sizes, then productivity for various refrigerator sizes is improved, but device complexity increases due to managing multiple tooling setups
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the ice tray into standardized cup modules, the system simplifies the manufacturing process. Instead of managing complex tooling for entirely different tray designs, the same cup module can be assembled in various quantities to produce different tray sizes, reducing device complexity while maintaining productivity across product lines.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular cup assembly approach introduces flexibility and adaptability to the manufacturing system. The same basic cup design can be dynamically configured into different tray sizes by simply changing the number of cups assembled, allowing the production system to adapt to different product requirements without retooling, thereby reducing complexity while preserving productivity.
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
The modular design allows for the efficient production of ice-trays in various sizes with reduced tooling costs, enables faster ice cycling by accurately detecting ice formation, and facilitates quicker freezing and heat release, while minimizing the thermal mass and complexity of the tray.
Implementation Method 1
the ice-tray will be a metal die-cast part incorporating an electrical resistance heater which heats the ice-tray to above the melting point of water to release the ice
Implementation Method 2
The fabricated cup may provide two electrically isolated halves forming the sensor pair. The circuit may analyze at least one of a value of resistance and capacitance between the sensor electrodes to compare that value against a threshold indicating frozen water and unfrozen water.
Data Source
AI summary
An ice-tray for ice-making machines is formed by modular fabricated cups that can assembled together within a frame to create an ice-tray of arbitrary dimensions allowing a sharing of components among a variety of ice-tray sizes. Individual cups may include ice formation sensors or heaters or may be heated by an induction heating system.