Refrigerator Touch Pad Dispenser With Water and Ice Level Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulty in determining the remaining water and ice quantities in a refrigerator without opening or operating the appliance, which is inefficient and inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
A water/ice dispenser system for refrigerators that employs a touch pad lever as a switch for discharging water, featuring a PCB substrate with a touch pad-type lever, a user presence detector, and quantity detectors to display remaining water and ice quantities, allowing users to control dispensing without manual interaction and providing information on the appliance's contents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a mechanical switch is used in the water/ice discharge lever, then the device structure is simple and reliable, but the user experience is poor and manual interaction is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical switch with a touch sensor that detects user input through capacitive or resistive touch technology. This allows users to control water and ice dispensing through simple finger touches without mechanical contact, improving ease of operation while eliminating complex mechanical switch mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a touch-sensitive interface as an intermediary between the user and the dispensing mechanism. The touch sensor acts as a mediator that translates user intent into control signals without requiring direct mechanical interaction with the discharge levers, thereby simplifying the overall system while enhancing user experience.
2Loss of information
If users want to check remaining water and ice quantities, then they must open or operate the refrigerator, but this is inefficient and inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism through a display unit that continuously shows the remaining quantities of water and ice to users. This real-time feedback eliminates the need for users to open or operate the refrigerator to check contents, providing immediate information access and saving time while reducing information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection and display of water and ice quantities before users need to access the refrigerator. By continuously monitoring and displaying inventory levels in advance, the system prepares information proactively, eliminating the need for users to physically check contents and reducing both time loss and information accessibility issues.
Data Source
AI summary
A dispenser on refrigerator including a touch pad-type of lever for dispensing water supplied from a water purifier. The dispenser includes a main body, an ice discharge port, an ice guide, an ice discharge lever and a water discharge port. A PCB substrate is mounted on the front side of the ice guide. The touch pad-type lever is mounted on the PCB substrate and configured to receive a user request for discharging water and accordingly control a state of the water discharge port. The refrigerator also ice maker coupled to the dispenser, and detectors for detecting the amount of ice and water contained in the ice maker and the water purifier respectively. The touch pad on the touch pad-type of lever can display the amount of ice and water contained in the ice maker and the water purifier respectively.