Transparent Fridge Dividers as Light Guides for Uniform Illumination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Domestic refrigeration appliances with interior illumination struggle to provide a clear and user-friendly viewing scenario when the door is open, especially when the interior is full, due to non-uniform lighting.
Innovation Solution
The appliance features a lighting apparatus with light sources arranged in the top wall to provide uniform illumination above and below plate-type compartment dividers made of light-permeable materials, which act as light guides to distribute light evenly across the interior, ensuring no significant brightness differences and improving visibility of stored foodstuffs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If light sources are positioned in the interior of the refrigeration appliance, then the interior can be illuminated while the door is open, but the viewing scenario and user-friendly identification of foodstuffs is limited due to non-uniform illumination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a light guide as an intermediary component between the light source and the interior space. The light guide receives light from a localized source and distributes it uniformly across the interior, acting as a mediator that transforms concentrated light into diffuse illumination, thereby improving both illumination uniformity and viewing quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical lighting arrangements (multiple light sources positioned throughout the interior) with an optical system using a light guide. This substitution allows a single or few light sources to achieve the effect of multiple distributed sources through optical principles, improving illumination uniformity without increasing device complexity
2Illumination intensity
If multiple light sources are distributed throughout the interior to achieve uniform illumination, then the viewing scenario improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the functions of multiple light sources into a single light guide component. Instead of installing and managing multiple separate light sources throughout the interior, the light guide integrates light distribution functionality into one element, reducing device complexity while maintaining illumination uniformity
Solution Approach 2:
The light guide serves multiple functions: it acts as a structural element within the refrigeration appliance, a light distribution medium, and an illumination source itself. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional dedicated lighting components, thereby simplifying the overall device complexity
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 allows for a more uniform and extensive illumination of the interior, enabling easier identification of foodstuffs even when the appliance is fully loaded, enhancing user experience and visibility.
Implementation Method 1
the compartment divider, the functionality of which is designed to separate and configure sub-volumes of the interior and which represents a base for the positioning of foodstuffs at least for a sub-volume configured above it, is used for the further functionality of light guidance
Data Source
AI summary
A domestic refrigeration appliance includes an interior for receiving foodstuffs which is bounded by walls, a door for closing the interior, a lighting apparatus which is configured to illuminate the interior at least while the door is open and at least one plate-shaped compartment divider which is disposed in the interior and is made of a transparent material. The lighting apparatus has a plurality of light sources which are disposed in a top wall bounding the interior and are oriented in such a way that the interior has substantially uniform illumination above and below the compartment divider because of the emitted light of the light sources.