JP2006162224A - Water supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To alternately supply water in a water supply tank to an ice maker and a humidifier by a simple composition. <P>SOLUTION: During normal rotation of an impeller 52, the water in the water supply tank 41 is supplied to the ice maker from a normal rotation output port 44 through a water supply hose 60, and during reverse rotation of the impeller 52, the water in the water supply tank 41 is supplied to the humidifier from a reverse rotation output port 45 through a different water supply hose. By this, since a selector valve alternately opening the normal rotation output port 44 and the reverse rotation output port 45 becomes unnecessary, the composition becomes simple. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a water supply apparatus configured to supply water in a water supply tank to an object to be supplied with a driving force of a water supply motor.

There exists a thing of the structure which supplies the water in a water supply tank alternatively to a 1st water supply object and a 2nd water supply object through a 1st water supply path and a 2nd water supply path in the said water supply apparatus.
JP 2003-65643 A

  In the case of the above-described conventional configuration, the inlet of the first water supply path and the inlet of the second water supply path are selectively opened based on the electrical operation of the switching valve, and the water in the water supply tank is supplied to the first water supply tank. It flows alternatively in the water supply path and in the second water supply path. For this reason, since a switching valve is needed, a structure becomes complicated.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The objective provides the water supply apparatus which can flow the water in a water supply tank in a 1st water supply path | route and a 2nd water supply path | route with a simple structure. There is to do.

  A water supply device of the present invention includes a water supply tank for storing water, a casing immersed in water in the water supply tank, an impeller housed in the casing, a water supply motor that performs forward rotation operation and reverse rotation operation of the impeller, and A suction port for sucking water in the water supply tank into the casing during forward rotation and reverse rotation of the impeller, and water sucked into the casing from the suction port during forward rotation of the impeller. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a normal rotation discharge port that discharges to the outside and a reverse discharge port that discharges the water sucked into the casing from the suction port when the impeller is reversely rotated to the outside of the water supply tank.

  Water in the water supply tank is discharged from the normal rotation outlet into the first water supply path based on the forward rotation of the impeller, and water in the water supply tank is discharged from the reverse discharge outlet based on the reverse operation of the impeller. It can discharge in a 2nd water supply path | route. For this reason, since the switching valve which switches a 1st water supply path | route and a 2nd water supply path | route becomes unnecessary, a structure becomes simple.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cabinet 1 is composed of a heat insulating box formed by filling a heat insulating material between the outer box and the inner box. In the cabinet 1, a refrigerator room 2, a vegetable room 3, An ice making chamber 4 is formed. The refrigerator compartment 2 to the ice making chamber 4 refer to a space portion whose front surface is open. The refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 3 are partitioned by a partition plate 5, and the vegetable compartment 3 and the ice making chamber 4 have a partition plate 6. It is partitioned through. The partition plate 5 is a non-insulating material made of a single synthetic resin, and the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 3 are commonly refrigerated based on the supply of cold air from a common refrigerator evaporator. It is cooled to the temperature zone. The partition plate 6 is a heat insulating material formed by filling a hollow container with a heat insulating material, and the ice making chamber 4 is supplied with cold air from a freezer room evaporator and the inside of the refrigerator room 2 and the vegetable room 3. It is cooled to a refrigeration temperature zone different from the inside.

  The cabinet 1 is equipped with a refrigerator compartment door 7, a vegetable compartment door 8, and an ice making compartment door 9 in order from the top. The refrigerating room door 7 is rotatable about a vertical axis, and the front surface of the refrigerating room 2 is opened and closed based on the revolving operation of the refrigerating room door 7. The vegetable room door 8 and the ice making room door 9 are linearly movable in the front-rear direction, and the front of the vegetable room 3 and the front of the ice making room 4 are the vegetable room door 8 and the ice making room door 9 in the front-rear direction. Opened and closed based on moving operation.

  A vegetable container 10 is detachably attached to the vegetable compartment door 8, and a vegetable container 11 is detachably attached to the vegetable container 10. The vegetable container 10 and the vegetable container 11 have upper surfaces that are opened for taking in and out of vegetables, and the vegetable compartment door 8 is pulled out to a use state in which the vegetables can be put in and out based on the front open state. Then, the vegetable compartment door 8 is stored in the vegetable compartment 3 on the basis of the rear closed state. In the vegetable compartment 3, a crisper cover 12 for storing humidity is stored. The crisper cover 12 is relatively stationary with respect to the vegetable container 10 and the vegetable container 11, and the upper surface of the vegetable container 10 and the vegetable container 11 are controlled based on the vegetable chamber door 8 being operated in a closed state. The upper surface is closed, and the upper surface of the vegetable container 10 and the upper surface of the vegetable container 11 are opened based on the vegetable chamber door 8 being operated in an open state.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a hopper 13 is formed in the crisper cover 12, and a water supply port 14 having a through hole is formed in the lowest part of the hopper 13. The hopper 13 refers to a funnel-shaped portion of the crisper cover 12, and a humidifier 20 is fixed to the lowest part of the hopper 13 as shown in FIG. 3. The humidifying device 20 humidifies the inside of the vegetable container 10 and the inside of the vegetable container 11 based on the scattering of water in the vegetable container 10 and the vegetable container 11, and water is supplied from the hopper 13 through the water supply port 14. The Hereinafter, the humidifier 20 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a humidifying tank 21 is fixed to the lowest part of the hopper 13. The humidification tank 21 has a dish shape with an upper surface opened, and water is supplied into the humidification tank 21 from the hopper 13 through the water supply port 14. A cylindrical core holder 23 is fixed to the bottom plate of the humidifying tank 21. A water supply core 22 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the core receiver 23, and an upper end portion of the water supply core 22 is inserted into the humidifying tank 21 through a bottom plate. The water supply core 22 is made of felt fiber, and the water stored in the humidifying tank 21 is impregnated in the water supply core 22.

  The upper end portion of the amplification spring 24 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the core receiver 23. The amplification spring 24 is composed of a compression coil spring, and a vibrator 25 is fixed to the lower end portion of the amplification spring 24. The vibrator 25 vibrates based on the application of an electric signal, and the lower end surface of the water supply core 22 is in contact with the upper surface of the vibrator 25. The vibrator 25 has a plate shape for receiving water dropped from the water supply core 22, and the water dropped on the vibrator 25 is contained in the vegetable container 10 and the vegetable container 11 based on the vibration of the vibrator 25. To splash.

  The control circuit 16 is composed mainly of a microcomputer, and controls the refrigeration cycle based on the detected temperature in the refrigerating chamber 2 and the detected temperature in the ice making chamber 4 to control the inside of the refrigerating chamber 2 to the ice making. The inside of the chamber 4 is controlled to a set temperature. A vibrator 25 is connected to the control circuit 16, and the control circuit 16 vibrates the vibrator 25 based on the application of an electric signal having a set frequency to the vibrator 25, so that the inside of the vegetable container 10 and the vegetable container 11 are vibrated. Sprinkle water inside. That is, the control circuit 16 corresponds to cooling operation control means and humidification operation control means.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ice container 15 is detachably mounted on the ice making chamber door 9. The ice container 15 has an upper surface opened for taking out ice, and is drawn into a usable state in which the ice can be taken out based on the operation of the ice making chamber door 9 in the front open state. Is housed in the ice making chamber 9 based on the rear closed state. An ice making device 30 is accommodated in the ice making chamber 9, and ice is automatically put into the ice container 15 from the ice making device 30. Hereinafter, the ice making device 30 will be described.

  An ice tray table 31 and a motor table 32 are stored in the ice making chamber 4. The ice tray table 31 and the motor table 32 are fixed to the partition plate 6, and an ice tray 33 is mounted on the ice tray table 31 so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis. An ice removing motor 34 is accommodated. The ice removing motor 34 reciprocates the ice tray 33 between a horizontal water receiving position and an ice removing position that reverses from the water receiving position. The ice tray 33 moves forward from the water receiving position to the ice removing position. Based on this, the stopper of the ice tray table 31 is contacted. This stopper restrains the ice making tray 33 at the ice removing position, and the ice removing motor 34 continuously drives the ice making tray 33 in the forward movement direction while moving forward from the water receiving position to the ice removing position. Based on this, the ice tray 33 is elastically deformed, and the ice is peeled off from the ice tray 33 and naturally dropped into the ice container 15.

  A water supply device 40 is accommodated in the refrigerator compartment 2. The water supply device 40 automatically supplies humidifying water and ice making water to the humidifying device 20 and the ice making device 30, and is configured as follows.

  A water supply tank 41 whose upper surface is open is stored in the refrigerator compartment 2. The water supply tank 41 corresponds to a storage container that stores water for humidification and water for ice making, and is detachably held on the partition plate 5. A tank cover 42 and a water supply cover 43 are attached to the upper end of the water supply tank 41 so as to be located in the latter half and the front half. The tank cover 42 and the water supply cover 43 share and close the upper surface of the water supply tank 41, and the tank cover 42 is fixed to the water supply tank 41 so as not to be detached. The water supply cover 43 is detachably attached to the water supply tank 41, and the water supply tank 41 is taken out from the refrigerator compartment 2 when water is supplied into the water supply tank 41. Then, the water supply cover 43 is removed from the water supply tank 41, and water is injected into the water supply tank 41 from the upper surface.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the tank cover 42 is formed with a normal discharge outlet 44 and a reverse discharge outlet 45. As shown in FIG. 4A, the forward discharge outlet 44 and the reverse discharge outlet 45 are L-shaped pipes arranged in the left-right direction, and the front end portion of the forward discharge outlet 44 and the reverse discharge outlet. A front end portion of the outlet 45 is accommodated in the water supply tank 41. As shown in FIG. 4B, the upper end portion of the normal rotation connection hose 46 and the upper end portion of the reverse rotation connection hose 47 are connected to the front end portion of the normal rotation discharge port 44 and the front end portion of the reverse rotation discharge port 45. The forward connection port 49 and the reverse connection port 50 of the casing 48 are connected to the lower end portion of the normal connection hose 46 and the lower end portion of the reverse connection hose 47. The casing 48 has a cylindrical shape having a through-hole-like suction port 51 at the center, and the forward rotation connection port 49 and the reverse rotation connection port 50 are circular with respect to a vertical line CL passing through the center point of the suction port 51. It is composed of pipes arranged at a uniform angle α in the circumferential direction.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, an impeller 52 is mounted in the casing 48 so as to be rotatable about a shaft 53. The impeller 52 is of a centrifugal type in which a plurality of blades 55 are radially arranged on a circular main plate 54. When the impeller 52 rotates forward in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The water is sucked into the casing 48 from the suction port 51 and is discharged from the normal rotation discharge port 44 through the normal rotation connection port 49 and the normal rotation connection hose 46. Further, when the impeller 52 is reversed in the direction of the opposite arrow in FIG. 4B, the water in the water supply tank 41 is sucked into the casing 48 from the suction port 51, and the reverse discharge port through the reverse connection port 50 and the reverse connection hose 47. 45 is discharged.

  When the impeller 52 rotates forward, a small amount of water is discharged from the reverse connection port 50 as compared to the normal rotation connection port 49. The discharge flow rate is set to a value that does not reach the top of the reverse discharge port 45. When the impeller 52 rotates forward, water is not discharged from the reverse discharge port 45 and is discharged only from the normal discharge port 44. Further, when the impeller 52 is reversely rotated, a small amount of water is discharged from the forward rotation connection port 49 compared to the reverse rotation connection port 50. The discharge flow rate is set to a value that does not reach the top of the normal rotation discharge port 44, and water is not discharged from the normal rotation discharge port 44 when the impeller 52 is reversely rotated, but is discharged only from the reverse rotation discharge port 45.

  Each blade 55 of the impeller 52 is curved in the reverse direction from the center point of the impeller 52 toward the outer periphery as shown in FIG. 4B, and when the impeller 52 rotates forward in the direction of the arrow, the casing A relative strong water flow that flows along the inner wall of the casing 48 is generated, and a relatively weak water flow that flows along the inner wall of the casing 48 is generated when the impeller 52 is reversed. That is, the impeller 52 has a different discharge capacity at the time of forward rotation and a discharge capacity at the time of reverse rotation, and the flow rate discharged from the normal rotation discharge port 44 when the impeller 52 rotates forward is discharged from the reverse discharge port 45 at the time of reverse rotation. A large amount is set compared to the flow rate.

  A water supply motor 56 is fixed in the refrigerator compartment 2 as shown in FIG. A circular magnetic plate 57 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the water supply motor 56, and the magnetic plate 57 faces the main plate 54 of the impeller 52 from the outside through the rear plate of the water supply tank 41. The main plate 54 is made of a magnetic plate, and is connected to the magnetic plate 57 of the water supply motor 56 by a magnetic attractive force. That is, the main plate 54 of the impeller 52 and the magnetic plate 57 of the water supply motor 56 are connected in a non-contact state, and the impeller 52 is rotated from the outside of the water supply tank 41 based on the drive of the water supply motor 56. . The casing 48 and the impeller 52 constitute a water supply pump using a water supply motor 56 as a drive source.

  A water receiver 58 is fixed in the refrigerator compartment 2. The water receiver 58 is opposed to the outlet of the normal rotation outlet 44 from below, and the water discharged from the normal outlet 44 is discharged into the water receiver 58. The water receiver 58 has a pipe-shaped outlet 59 with a small diameter, and the upper end of the water supply hose 60 is connected to the outlet 59. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower end portion of the water supply hose 60 is disposed above the ice tray 33 through the partition plate 6, and the impeller 52 rotates forward when the water supply motor 56 rotates forward. Accordingly, a relatively large amount of water is discharged from the forward discharge outlet 44 into the water receiver 58 and supplied from the water receiver 58 into the ice tray 33 through the water supply hose 60.

  An upper end portion of the water supply hose 61 is connected to the reverse discharge port 45 of the water supply tank 41. The lower end portion of the water supply hose 61 passes through the partition plate 5 and is disposed above the hopper 13. When the water supply motor 56 rotates in the reverse direction, the impeller 52 rotates in the reverse direction so as to pass through the water supply hose 61 from the reverse discharge port 45. A relatively small amount of water is discharged into the hopper 13 and injected into the humidification tank 21 of the humidifier 20 from the water supply port 14 of the hopper 13. The water supply motor 56 is connected to the control circuit 16, and the control circuit 16 supplies water from the water supply device 40 to the ice making device 30 and the humidifying device 20 based on the rotation operation of the water supply motor 56 in the normal rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction. Alternatively supplied.

  According to the first embodiment, the water in the water supply tank 41 is alternatively discharged from the forward discharge port 44 and the reverse discharge port 45 based on the forward rotation operation and the reverse rotation operation of the impeller 52. The water in the water supply tank 41 can be alternatively supplied to the ice making device 30 and the humidifying device 20 through the water supply hose 60 and the water supply hose 61 from the forward discharge port 44 and the reverse discharge port 45. For this reason, since the switching valve which selectively opens the water supply hose 60 and the water supply hose 61 is not necessary, the configuration is simplified.

  The water supply device 40 is configured to selectively supply water to the humidifying device 20 and the ice making device 30. For this reason, since it becomes unnecessary to provide the water supply apparatus which supplies water to the humidification apparatus 20, and the water supply apparatus which supplies water to the ice making apparatus 30, both a number of parts and a space are reduced.

  The discharge capacity of the water supply device 40 was made different between the forward rotation and the reverse rotation of the impeller 52. For this reason, since a small amount of water and a large amount of water can be supplied to the humidifying device 20 and the ice making device 30 in the same operation time, the humidifying device 20 and the ice making device can be simply processed by simply rotating the water supply motor 56 forward and backward. An appropriate amount of water can be supplied to the device 30.

  In the said Example 1, although it was set as the structure which discharges a lot of water and a small amount of water from the normal rotation discharge port 44 and the reverse rotation discharge port 45 of the water supply apparatus 40, it is not limited to this, For example, normal rotation discharge A small amount of water and a large amount of water may be discharged from the outlet 44 and the reverse discharge port 45.

  In the said Example 1, although the discharge capability of the water supply apparatus 40 was made to differ at the time of forward rotation and reverse rotation, it is not limited to this, For example, you may set to the same.

  In the said Example 1, although what humidified the inside of the vegetable compartment 3 was illustrated as the humidification apparatus 20, it is not limited to this, For example, the inside of a chilled room may be humidified.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the upper end portion of the water supply hose 71 is connected to the reverse discharge port 45 of the water supply device 40. The lower end portion of the water supply hose 71 passes through the partition plate 6 and is disposed above the ice tray 33, and the control circuit 16 passes through the water supply hose 71 from the reverse discharge port 45 based on the reverse operation of the water supply motor 56. A relatively small amount of water is supplied into the ice tray 33, and a relatively large amount of water is supplied into the ice tray 33 from the normal discharge outlet 44 through the water supply hose 60 based on normal operation of the water supply motor 56. To do.

  A crisper cover 72 is housed in the refrigerator compartment 2, and the crisper cover 72 closes the upper surface of the vegetable container 10 and the upper surface of the vegetable container 11 based on the vegetable chamber door 8 being operated in a closed state. The upper surface of the vegetable container 10 and the upper surface of the vegetable container 11 are opened based on the vegetable room door 8 being operated in the open state. The crisper cover 72 is made of a metal having excellent rust prevention such as aluminum and stainless steel, and the chopper cover 72 has a hopper 73 recessed in a funnel shape. The hopper 73 collects water condensed by the crisper cover 72, and the condensed water collected by the hopper 73 is supplied to the humidifier 20 through a water supply port of the hopper 73.

  According to the second embodiment, the discharge flow rate from the normal rotation discharge port 44 and the discharge flow rate from the reverse discharge port 45 of the water supply device 40 are made different from each other, and the common ice making device 30 is changed from the normal rotation discharge port 44 and the reverse discharge port 45. It was set as the structure which supplies water to. For this reason, since a large amount of water and a small amount of water can be supplied to the ice making device 30 in the same operation time, simple processing for simply rotating the water supply motor 56 forward and backward with respect to the size of ice generated by the ice making device 30. Can be adjusted with content.

  In the second embodiment, different flow rates of water are supplied into the common ice tray 33 from the forward discharge port 44 and the reverse discharge port 45 of the water supply device 40, but the present invention is not limited to this. Different flow rates of water may be supplied into the dish, or the same flow rate of water may be supplied into different ice trays.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a cold water dispenser 80 is attached to the lower end of the refrigerator compartment door 7. The cold water dispenser 80 includes a container base 82 on which a drinking container 81 is placed and a water receiving tray 83 that receives water to be injected into the drinking container 81. A water supply hose 84 is disposed above the water receiving tray 83. The front end portion is disposed, and the rear end portion of the water supply hose 84 is connected to the reverse discharge port 45 of the water supply device 40.

  A dispenser switch 85 is attached to the container base 82. The dispenser switch 85 is a self-returning push switch. When the drinking container 81 is placed on the container table 82, the dispenser switch 85 is turned on based on the pressing of the drinking container 81 by the drinking container 81. When the container 81 is removed from the container table 82, the dispenser switch 85 is turned off by the self-returning force. The dispenser switch 85 is connected to the control circuit 16, and the control circuit 16 reversely operates the water supply motor 56 on the basis of detecting the dispenser switch 85 being turned on, and on the basis of detecting the dispenser switch 85 being turned off. The reverse operation of the water supply motor 56 is stopped. That is, when the drinking container 81 is placed on the container stand 82, cold water is automatically supplied from the reverse discharge port 45 through the water supply hose 84 into the water tray 83 and into the drinking container 81 through the outlet 86 of the water tray 83. Injected. When the drinking container 81 is removed from the container stand 82 in the cold water injection state, the water supply operation to the water tray 83 is automatically stopped, and the cold water discharge operation from the water tray 83 is stopped.

  According to the third embodiment, water is selectively supplied from the water supply device 40 to the ice making device 30 and the cold water dispenser 80. For this reason, it is not necessary to separately provide a water supply device for supplying water to the ice making device 30 and a water supply device for supplying water to the cold water dispenser 80, so that both the number of parts and space are reduced.

  In the said Example 3, although it was set as the structure which discharges a lot of water and a small amount of water from the normal rotation discharge port 44 and the reverse rotation discharge port 45 of the water supply apparatus 40, it is not limited to this, For example, normal rotation discharge A small amount of water and a large amount of water may be discharged from the outlet 44 and the reverse discharge port 45.

  In the said Example 3, although the discharge capability of the water supply apparatus 40 was made to differ at the time of forward rotation and reverse rotation, it is not limited to this, For example, you may set to the same.

  In the said Example 1-Example 3, it was set as the structure which discharges the water in the water supply tank 41 only from the normal rotation discharge port 44 at the time of the normal rotation of the impeller 52, However It is not limited to this, For example, normal rotation You may discharge from both the discharge port 44 and the reverse rotation discharge port 45. FIG. In this case, it is preferable to discharge a relatively large amount of water from the normal rotation discharge port 44 and discharge a relatively small amount of water from the reverse rotation discharge port 45.

  In the first to third embodiments, the water in the water supply tank 41 is discharged only from the reverse discharge port 45 when the impeller 52 is reversely rotated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 44 and the reverse discharge port 45 may be discharged. In this case, it is preferable that a relatively large amount of water is discharged from the reverse discharge port 45 and a relatively small amount of water is discharged from the normal rotation discharge port 44.

  In the first to third embodiments, the water supply motor 56 is configured to indirectly operate the impeller 52 in the water supply tank 41 in a non-contact manner. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the rotation shaft of the water supply motor 56 It is good also as a structure which operates the impeller 52 directly based on connecting to the impeller 52 mechanically.

  In the said Example 1- Example 3, although this invention was applied to the water supply apparatus of a refrigerator, it is not limited to this, For example, it applies to the water supply apparatus of a tea machine, and water supply according to the kind of tea leaf The flow rate may be changed. In short, the present invention can be applied to a water supply apparatus configured to supply water in a water supply tank to an object to be supplied with driving force of a water supply motor.

The figure which shows Example 1 (sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of a refrigerator compartment, a vegetable compartment, and an ice-making room) The figure which shows a crisper cover (a is the arrow Xa view, b is sectional drawing which follows Xb line, c is sectional drawing which follows Xc line) Sectional view showing humidifier Sectional drawing which shows water supply apparatus (a is a figure which expands and shows an impeller, a water supply motor, etc., b is sectional drawing which follows an X-ray) FIG. 1 equivalent diagram showing Example 2. FIG. 1 equivalent diagram showing Example 3.

Explanation of symbols

Reference numeral 40 denotes a water supply device, 41 denotes a water supply tank, 44 denotes a forward discharge port, 45 denotes a reverse discharge port, 48 denotes a casing, 51 denotes a suction port, 52 denotes an impeller, and 56 denotes a water supply motor.

Claims (1)

A water supply tank for storing water,
A casing immersed in water in the water supply tank;
An impeller housed in the casing;
A water supply motor for forward and reverse operation of the impeller;
A suction port for sucking water in the water supply tank into the casing at the time of forward rotation and reverse rotation of the impeller;
A normal rotation discharge port for discharging water sucked into the casing from the suction port during normal rotation of the impeller; and
A water supply device comprising: a reverse discharge port for discharging water sucked into the casing from the suction port when the impeller is reversely rotated to the outside of the water supply tank.

Images