FIELD OF DISCLOSURE
The present disclosure relates to an improved ice tray for faster ice formation. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an ice tray which has depressions on its base adaptive to receive the upper protruding portion of evaporator tubes/plates arranged in the freezing unit of a refrigerating device.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
It is that known in the art that existing ice trays are used in refrigerating devices for preparation of ice cubes. As shown in Figure 1, ice trays include an upper portion for forming individual ice cubes.
As shown in Figure 2, ice trays are kept in the freezing units of the refrigerating devices for preparation of ice cubes. The lower portion of the ice trays remains in contact with upper portion of the evaporator plates in the freezing units of the dc refrigerating devices. Ice cubes are formed in the upper portion of the ice trays.
It is also known that the existing ice trays generally are made of a moulded plastic material that is defined by a number of receptacles. The receptacles are constructed and arranged in the ice tray to be filled with water which is frozen to produce ice cubes. The receptacles are arranged in a number of rows and columns. There are multiple receptacles in each column and each row. Also, there are many types of ice trays which include a lid to cover the ice formed in the receptacles. The inventors of the present disclosure found that the time taken for ice formation in such type of ice trays is 2-3 hours in the freezing unit of a refrigerating device.
Therefore, in cases ice trays are made of metals or alloys to lower the ice preparation time. In such cases, the time for ice preparation was reduced however the user observed that ice got stuck to the metal surface which thereby resulting in breaking up of ice while removing the same from the ice trays.
Therefore, the inventors of the proposed disclosure felt a need to design and develop an ice tray which produces ice in a shorter period of time without changing the setup of the existing freezing unit or the dc refrigerating device.
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It is an aim of the present disclosure to develop an ice tray that is capable to produce ice quicker as compared to conventional ice trays.
The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
One or more shortcomings of conventional apparatus are overcome and additional advantages are provided through the provision of ice tray as claimed in the present disclosure.
Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.
Accordingly, the present disclosure relates to ice trays. The ice tray for a refrigerator comprises a plurality of compartments each having a base surface. Each compartment comprises of at least one depression on its base surface. The said depressions may be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof.
In an embodiment, depression in the base surface are in conformity with the upper protrusions of a plurality of evaporator plates in a freezing unit of the refrigerator.
In an embodiment, the ice tray provides an improved contact surface area with between the base surface and the evaporator plates.
In an embodiment, the ice tray is made of plastic material.
In an embodiment, a composite ice tray is disclosed. The composite ice tray comprises a plurality of compartments each having a base surface. Each compartment comprises at least one depression on its base surface. The said depressions may be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof. The base surface is embedded or attached with a metal plate or is coated with any metal or an alloy material.
In an embodiment, the metal plate is formed of highly conductive materials such as copper, aluminium, silver, gold, etc.
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In an embodiment, the metal plate improves the heat transfer mechanism between the ice tray and the evaporator plates.
In an embodiment, a composite ice tray is disclosed. The composite ice tray comprises a plurality of compartments each having a base surface. Each compartment comprises at least one depression on its base surface. The said depressions may be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof. The base surface is embedded or attached with a metal plate or is coated with any metal or an alloy material in line with the plurality of depressions provided in the base surface.
It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.
The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
Figure 1 illustrates an existing ice tray.
Figure 2 illustrates an existing ice tray kept in the freezing unit of a refrigerating device.
Figure 3 illustrates an ice tray with depressions according to the present disclosure.
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Figure 4 illustrates an isometric view of the ice tray with depressions according to the present disclosure.
Figure 5a-5b illustrates an ice tray with depressions kept in the freezing unit of a refrigerating device.
Figure 6a-6b illustrates the top and bottom view of ice tray with depressions respectively according to the present disclosure.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TABLES
Table 1 illustrates the comparison of heat transfer rate by changing the contact surface area.
Table 2 illustrates the comparison of heat transfer rate for different bottom thickness of ice tray.
Table 3 illustrates the comparison of heat transfer rate for different materials.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF GRAPHS
Graph 1 shows the estimated time for ice making with different thicknesses for HDPE material.
DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
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Before describing in detail embodiments it may be observed that the novelty and inventive step that are in accordance with the present disclosure resides in the ice trays. It is to be noted that a person skilled in the art can be motivated from the present disclosure and modify the various constructions, which are varying from refrigerating device to refrigerating device. However, such modification should be construed within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings are showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.
A dc refrigeration device generally comprises of a cooling unit and a freezing unit. The freezing unit is mounted on the cooling unit. Evaporator coils and plates are mounted in the area between the cooling unit and the freezing unit. Evaporator coils and plates circulate the refrigerant in the freezing unit for the purpose of cooling and ice preparation.
The evaporator tubes/plates have an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portions of the evaporator tubes/plates acting as contours in arcuate shape form an equidistant protrusion arrangement in the freezing unit. Due to such contours of evaporator plates, while the ice trays laid in the freezing unit are not laid in proper contact with freezing unit base, in other words, the contact area is a line contact between the ice tray and evaporator plates which results in less contact surface area between the ice tray base and the evaporator plates.
The following paragraphs describe the present disclosure with reference to Figures 3
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to 6b. In the figures, the same element or elements which have same functions are indicated by the same reference signs.
Accordingly, the present disclosure relates to an ice tray (1) comprising a plurality of compartments wherein each compartment (2) having at least one depression (4) on its base surface (3), the said depressions (4) can be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof.
The design of the ice tray (1) is made such in a way that it has depressions in its base to be in conformity with the upper protrusions (contours) of the evaporator tubes/plates (5). Due to such measures, the time taken for ice formation is reduced considerably from 2-3 hours to 1-1.5 hours.
Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the present disclosure relates to an improvement in production of ice in refrigerating devices where roll bond plate type evaporators are used. The roll bond evaporators have inflated circuits through which the refrigerant flows in the freezing units. As in existing dc refrigerating devices, ice trays (1) are kept on the roll bond evaporator plates inside the freezing unit of the refrigerating device.
As shown in Figures 5a-5b, the present disclosure relates an ice tray (1) which provides improved contact surface area between the ice tray base and the evaporator plates of the refrigerating device.
The ice tray base surface (3) can be made of any shape for example semi-circular, circular, hexagonal, square, etc. and the shape will completely depend upon the shape of the evaporator tubes/plates (5) installed in the freezing unit of the refrigerating device.
As shown in Figure 6a, the ice tray (1) has a plurality of compartments (2) of pre-defined shape and size with a base surface (3). A depression (4) is formed in each unit of compartment (2) at the base surface (3) to be placed on the evaporator coil/plate (5).
According to an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, the ice tray (1) comprises a plurality of compartments, wherein the base surface (3) is embedded or
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attached with a metal plate (6) or being coated by any metal or an alloy material thereby providing a composite ice tray (1).
According to another alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, a composite ice tray (1) wherein each compartment (2) having at least one depression (4) on the base surface (3) and the base surface (3) is embedded or attached with a metal plate (6) or being coated by any metal or an alloy material in line with depressions provided in the base surface (3) of the ice tray thereby providing a composite ice tray (1).
Referring to Figure 6b, the present disclosure provides a composite ice tray (1) which has a metal sheet (6) joined to the bottom surface by means of sticking, gluing or pasting, etc. The plastic material of the ice tray (1) at the base surface (3) is joined by highly conductive metals such as copper, aluminium, silver and gold. The material of the ice tray (1) can be of the same metal as of the evaporator plates as well. Further the metal sheet (6) can be attached to the base surface of the ice tray (1) in accordance to the contours or depressions (4) provided in the bottom surface (3) of each unit of the ice tray compartments.
The time taken by such ice trays (1) to convert water into ice is significantly reduced due to increase in the contact surface area by providing specific constructional modification in the ice tray bottom surface (3) and further by improving the heat transfer mechanism by incorporating the metal plate attachment or metal plate coating at the bottom surface of the ice tray.
The inventors have been working on some other factors as well which affect the rate of ice production. Such factors include dimensions of the ice tray referred as tray dimension stability or flatness, the material of the ice tray, the evaporator plate temperature, etc. The same can be herein disclosed by the tables and graphs as described below.
As shown by calculations in Tables 1, if the surface contact area of the bottom surface of ice tray with evaporator coils/tubes is increased, there will be an improvement in Heat Transfer rate by approximately 77% in new ice tray as compared to the existing ice tray.
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As shown by calculations in Table 2, if the thickness of the bottom surface of the ice tray is decreased, the ice making time will also decrease as the heat transfer between water and the evaporator plate will increase.
Referring to Graph 1, the variation of ice making time with respect of thickness of base surface of ice tray is shown.
Further, various modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure covers such modifications and variations provided they come within the ambit of the appended claims and their equivalents.
ADVANTAGES OF DISCLOSURE
The primary advantages of the present disclosure are providing an ice tray which produces ice cubes in shorter period of time without changing the setup of the freezing unit or the refrigerating device. The secondary advantage of the present disclosure is that it provides an ice tray which has depressions in its base surface which results in high amount of surface contact area between the ice tray base and evaporator plates.
EQUIVALENTS:
With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly
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recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to disclosures containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.
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A. COMPARISON OF EXISTING TRAY VS NEW ICE TRAY
1) COMPARISION OF HEAT TRANSFER RATE IN EXISTING TRAY VS NEW TRAY
Table-1
2) COMPARISION OF HEAT TRANSFER RATE FOR DIFFERENT BOTTOM THICKNESSES OF TRAY
Table- 2
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3) COMPARISION OF HEAT TRANSFER RATE FOR DIFFERENT MATERIALS OF TRAY
Table-3
4) COMPARISION OF ICE MAKING TIME WITH DIFFERENT THICKNESSES FOR HDPE MATERIAL
Graph -1
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List of Reference Numerals
Ice Tray (1)
Compartment (2)
Base surface (3)
Depression (4)
Evaporator plates (5)
Metal plate (6)

We Claim:
1. An ice tray (1) for a refrigerator comprising a plurality of compartments each having a base surface (3) wherein;
each compartment (2) comprises at least one depression (4) on its base surface (3);
the said depressions (4) may be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof.
2. The ice tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the depression (4) in the base surface (4) are in conformity with the upper protrusions of a plurality of evaporator plates (5) in a freezing unit of the refrigerator.
3. The ice tray (1) as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the ice tray provides an improved contact surface area with between the base surface (3) and the evaporator plates (5).
4. The ice tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the ice tray is made of plastic material.
5. A composite ice tray comprising a plurality of compartments each having a base surface (3) wherein
each compartment (2) comprises at least one depression (4) on its base surface (3);
the said depressions (4) may be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof;
wherein the base surface is embedded or attached with a metal plate (6) or is coated with any metal or an alloy material.
6. The composite ice tray as claimed in claim 5 wherein, the metal plate (6) is formed of highly conductive materials such as copper, aluminium, silver, gold, etc.
7. The composite ice tray as claimed in claim 5 wherein, the metal plate (6) improves the heat transfer mechanism between the ice tray and the evaporator plates.
8. A composite ice tray comprising a plurality of compartments each having a base surface (3) wherein
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each compartment (2) comprises at least one depression (4) on its base surface (3);
the said depressions (4) may be of circular, semi-circular, hexagonal or a square shape, or any combination thereof;
wherein the base surface is embedded or attached with a metal plate (6) or is coated with any metal or an alloy material in line with the plurality of depressions provided in the base surface (3).