Twist Ice Tray Reverse Rotation to Reduce Adhesion During Harvesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ice makers in refrigerator appliances often experience adherence of ice shapes to the mold tray during harvesting, leading to incomplete harvesting or failures due to adhesion, particularly with plastic or silicon ice trays.
Innovation Solution
An ice maker with a twist ice tray assembly that includes a motor-driven mold tray capable of rotating in both forward and reverse directions, with a scheduled reverse rotation during the ice making cycle to reduce adhesion, followed by resetting to a neutral position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a plastic or silicon ice tray is used to form ice shapes, then the ice making process can be simplified and the tray is easy to manufacture, but the ice adheres strongly to the tray during harvesting, causing incomplete harvesting or harvesting failures
Solution Approach 1:
The ice tray is made rotatable relative to the freezer chamber, transforming it from a static component to a dynamic one. This rotational movement allows the tray to be twisted during the harvesting phase, effectively breaking the adhesion between ice and tray without requiring complex harvesting mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic rotation of the ice tray during the ice making cycle. The tray rotates at specific intervals - during freezing to prevent adhesion, and during harvesting to facilitate ice release. This periodic action optimizes both ice formation and ice release processes
2Device complexity
If the ice tray remains stationary during the ice making cycle, then the device structure is simple, but the ice adheres to the tray causing harvesting failures
Solution Approach 1:
A simple rotational mechanism is introduced to make the ice tray dynamic. The tray can rotate about a vertical axis relative to the freezer chamber, providing the necessary movement for harvesting while maintaining overall structural simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating ice tray mechanism enables the system to harvest ice automatically without external intervention. The rotation itself generates the force needed to break adhesion and release ice cubes, making the harvesting process self-service
3Reliability
If the ice tray is rotated continuously during ice making, then ice adhesion is reduced, but energy consumption increases and ice formation may be disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The ice tray rotation is implemented as a periodic action rather than continuous rotation. The tray rotates at specific phases of the ice making cycle - during freezing to prevent adhesion buildup, and during harvesting to release ice. This periodic operation minimizes energy consumption while maintaining harvesting reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary rotation during the freezing phase to prevent ice adhesion before it becomes a problem. By rotating the tray periodically during freezing, ice cubes are prevented from adhering to the tray, eliminating the need for high-energy harvesting operations
Data Source
AI summary
An ice maker for a refrigerator appliance including a freezer compartment includes a frame; a mold tray selectively supported by the frame; a motor coupled to the frame and operably coupled with the mold tray to selectively rotate the mold tray with respect to the frame in each of a first direction and a second direction; and a controller operably coupled with the motor, the controller configured to perform an operation. The operation includes determining a schedule for performing a reverse rotation of the mold tray during an ice making cycle; executing the reverse rotation of the mold tray at a designated trigger time based on the determined schedule; and resetting the mold tray to a neutral position after performing the reverse rotation.