Spherical Ice Maker with Deformable Lower Tray for Clear Ice Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ice makers often produce cloudy or opaque ice due to trapped air bubbles, and existing methods to form clear ice are inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker design featuring an upper and lower assembly with hemispherical ice making chambers, where the lower tray is deformable to accommodate ice expansion and includes a support to restrict outward expansion, allowing for the formation of spherical ice pieces with a lower ejector unit to discharge ice pieces effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional ice making methods are used, then ice pieces can be formed quickly, but air bubbles become trapped inside the ice leading to cloudy appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The ice making chamber is divided into an upper assembly and a lower assembly that can move relative to each other. The lower tray is segmented into a rigid portion and a deformable portion, allowing different regions to serve different functions during the ice making process.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower tray includes a deformable portion that can dynamically change shape during ice formation. The lower assembly can rotate relative to the upper assembly, and the lower ejector unit can push the lower tray through the lower support, creating dynamic movement that facilitates air bubble escape and ice ejection.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the lower tray is made rigid to maintain chamber shape, then structural stability is improved, but the tray cannot accommodate ice expansion effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The lower tray is divided into a rigid portion that maintains the overall chamber shape and a deformable portion that accommodates ice expansion. This segmentation allows each part to fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the lower tray have different mechanical properties. The rigid portion provides structural stability while the deformable portion provides flexibility to accommodate ice expansion. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction between stability and adaptability.
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 design enables the production of clear, transparent spherical ice by allowing air bubbles to escape and effectively managing ice expansion, resulting in a more efficient and clear ice formation process.
Implementation Method 1
a lower tray that is deformable to accommodate ice expansion
Implementation Method 2
Each of the plurality of ice making chambers is configured to: based on rotation of the lower assembly relative to the upper assembly, receive water; and based on joining of the upper portions and the lower portions of the plurality of ice making chambers, generate the ice piece
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker of a refrigerator includes an upper assembly having an upper tray that defines upper portions of a plurality of spherical ice making chambers. The ice maker also includes a lower assembly located vertically below the upper assembly and configured to rotate relative to the upper assembly about a rotation shaft and having lower tray that defines lower portions of the plurality of spherical ice making chambers. The ice maker also includes a lower ejector unit that is located vertically below the lower tray and that is configured to, based on the lower assembly rotating away from the upper assembly, push the lower tray through the lower support to thereby discharge the ice piece from the ice making chamber. The lower tray includes a deformable portion at each of the plurality of spherical ice making chambers that is configured to be pushed by the lower ejector unit.