KR0139254Y1 - Illumination arrangement for water dispensor of a refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a lighting device of the beverage supply device of the refrigerator, the beverage dispensing space 70 formed on the outside of the refrigerating chamber door 60, and the water supply switch 71 is provided in the beverage dispensing space 70 to be operated by the user. ), The beverage container 50 that is stored inside the refrigerating chamber door 60 and stores the beverage, and the water supply switch 71 operates to discharge the beverage stored in the beverage container 50. In the beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator provided with a motor pump 43 for driving, The light sensor 78 detects the illuminance around the beverage dispensing space 70 and is installed around the beverage dispensing space 70, and The water supply switch 71 is turned on so that the user can operate it correctly, and the light emitting diode 77 installed adjacent to the water supply switch 71 and the water supply amount of the beverage discharged to the beverage dispensing space 70 can be checked by the user. Lit and drink outlet When the illumination lamp 74 installed in the 70 and the illuminance sensed by the light sensor 78 are lower than the standard illuminance, that is, the illumination intensity around the beverage dispensing space 70 is detected by the light sensor 78. It is characterized in that it comprises a control unit 80 for controlling the operation of lighting the lighting lamp 74 and the light emitting diode 77 in conjunction with the motor pump 43 only when it is dark.

Description

Lighting device of the beverage supply device of the refrigerator

The present invention relates to a lighting device for a beverage supply device of a refrigerator, and in particular, by installing an illumination lamp and an optical sensor in a beverage taking-out space formed outside the refrigerating chamber door, a user can drink a beverage by lighting the lighting lamp when the illumination around the beverage taking-out space is dark. The present invention relates to a lighting device for a beverage supply device of a refrigerator, which can check a water supply amount of a beverage discharged to a discharge space and prevent unnecessary power consumption.

Recently, a refrigerator that can be supplied with a cool drink through a beverage dispensing space provided outside the door by installing a beverage supply device in the refrigerator has been developed and widely spread. The beverage supply device of the refrigerator uses a beverage dispensing device for discharging the beverage stored in the beverage container to the outside. It can be distinguished by using an electric means for driving and discharging the beverage. Since the method of using the former mechanical means depends on the lever operation, not only the ease of use is reduced, but also the installation structure is complicated, and the contents of the refrigerator are reduced due to the limitation of the installation space. The means using the means is to arrange the water supply switch in the beverage dispensing space formed in the refrigerator door and to drive the motor pump when in operation of the water supply switch forcibly discharging the beverage stored in the beverage container to the outside of the refrigerator.

However, the beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator according to the prior art does not have a lighting means for illuminating the position of the beverage preparation space or the water supply switch, so that when the surroundings of the beverage delivery space are dark at night, the user may use the lever or the water supply switch. As well as difficulty in finding the user because the user could not check the water supply amount, there was a problem that the reliability of the product is reduced, such as overflowing the drink.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, by installing the lighting lamp and the light sensor in the beverage take-out space formed on the outside of the refrigerating chamber door by lighting the lighting lamp when the ambient light is dark, such as at night It is an object of the present invention to provide a lighting device for a beverage supply device of a refrigerator so that the amount of water discharged from the beverage can be easily checked.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a beverage supply device of a refrigerator applied to the present invention.

2 is a perspective view schematically showing a beverage dispensing space in FIG.

3 is an electric circuit diagram of the lighting device of the beverage supply device of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

23: first guide conduit 23a: free end

30: water storage room 31: beverage outlet

40: beverage discharge chamber 41: valve opening and closing member

42: connection conduit 43: motor pump

50: beverage container 51: beverage discharge valve

52: stopper 53: rod member

54: spring 55: drink supply port

56: cover 60: refrigerator compartment door

61: collecting member 62: second guide conduit

63: insulation wall 70: beverage dispensing space

71: water supply switch 72: protective cover

73: auxiliary circuit board 74: lighting lamp

75: transparent window 76: cup

77: light emitting diodes 78: light sensor

79: main circuit board 80: control unit

An object of the present invention as described above is a beverage takeout space formed on the outside of the refrigerating chamber door, a water supply switch provided in the beverage takeout space operated by the user, the beverage container is stored inside the refrigerator compartment door to store the beverage; A beverage supply apparatus of a refrigerator having a motor pump driven when the water supply switch is operated to discharge a beverage stored in the beverage container, the beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator sensing the illumination around the beverage dispensing space and surrounding the beverage dispensing space. An installed optical sensor; A light emitting diode which is turned on so that the user can operate the water supply switch correctly and is installed adjacent to the water supply switch; An illumination lamp that is turned on so that a user can check the water supply amount of the beverage discharged to the beverage dispensing space and is installed in the beverage dispensing space; And illuminating the lighting lamp and the light emitting diode in conjunction with the motor pump only when the illuminance sensed by the optical sensor is lower than a reference illuminance, that is, when the illuminance of the optical sensor indicates that the illuminance around the beverage dispensing space is dark. It is achieved by a control unit for controlling the operation to make.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a beverage supply device of a refrigerator applied to the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a beverage taking out space in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the beverage supply device applied to the present invention is typically housed with the beverage container 50 lying sideways in the water storage compartment 30 provided inside the refrigerator compartment door 60, and the refrigerator compartment door 60 The beverage dispensing space 70 is formed on the outside of the), the beverage outlet is formed at the lower end of the front surface (insertion direction reference) of the beverage container 50, the beverage discharge valve 51 is installed in the beverage outlet do.

The beverage discharge valve 51 is a stopper 52 which is opened when discharging the beverage stored in the beverage container 50, the rod member 53 formed integrally with the stopper 52 and the withdrawal of the beverage container 50. And a spring 54 for returning the rod member 53 at the time.

The upper portion of the beverage container 50 is formed with a beverage supply port 55 for injecting a beverage, the beverage supply port 55 is closed by a cover 56 that can be opened and closed.

On the other hand, the beverage outlet 31 is formed at the lower end of the rear storage compartment 30 in the position facing the beverage discharge valve 51 when the beverage container 50 is received. The beverage outlet 31 is equipped with a valve opening and closing member 41 for opening the stopper 52 by pushing the end of the rod member 53 when combined with the beverage discharge valve 51.

The beverage outlet 31 is connected to the inlet of the motor pump 43 via the connecting pipe 42. The outlet of the motor pump 43 is connected to the first guide conduit 23 for guiding a beverage to the refrigerator door 60 side.

A funnel-shaped catching member 61 is mounted at an appropriate position inside the refrigerating chamber door 60, and the collecting member 61 is a free end of the first guide conduit 23 when the refrigerating chamber door 60 is closed. Located directly below (23a) to collect the free-falling drink through the first guide conduit (23). A second guide conduit 62 drawn through the heat insulating wall 63 of the refrigerating chamber door 60 and drawn out in the beverage dispensing space 70 is connected to the discharge port of the collecting member 61. The rear surface of the beverage dispensing space 70 is equipped with a water supply switch 71 for supplying power to the motor pump 43 by closing the contact when the pressure is applied.

The front surface of the water supply switch 71 is covered with a protective cover 72 made of soft rubber to prevent the water supply switch 71 from malfunctioning due to water or foreign matter.

An illumination lamp 74 is mounted on the beverage dispensing space 70 to illuminate the interior of the beverage dispensing space 70 during water supply. On the other hand, a light emitting element 77 for indicating the position of the water supply switch 71 is mounted around the water supply switch 71. In addition, in place of the beverage dispensing space 70 is equipped with an optical sensor 78 for detecting the illuminance around the beverage dispensing space (70).

In the figure, reference numeral 75 denotes a transparent window protecting the lighting lamp 74, and 76 denotes a cup. The lighting lamp 74 is implemented as a large-capacity light emitting diode or a pilot lamp, it is preferable to use a green or blue light emitting to give a refreshing feeling.

The beverage supply device of the refrigerator applied to the present invention having the configuration as described above, when the user grips the cup 76 and presses the water supply switch 71, the motor pump 43 operates the beverage container 50 The beverage stored in the water is collected by the water collecting member 61 via the connecting conduit 42, the motor pump 43, and the first guide conduit 23, and then guided by the second conduit 62. The water is naturally dropped into the cup 76 disposed in the beverage dispensing space 70. Although not shown, the refrigerator is usually provided with a door open / close detection means, and the motor pump 43 may be discharged by operating the motor pump 43 only when the refrigerating chamber door 60 is closed by the door open / close detection means.

In addition, the present invention to check the water supply amount of the beverage discharged to the beverage dispensing space (70) when the user operates the water supply switch 71 in a dark state around the beverage dispensing space (70), such as night The lighting lamp 74 is turned on.

3 is an electric circuit diagram of the lighting device of the beverage supply device of the refrigerator according to the present invention, the water supply switch 71 shows an example using a tact switch provided on the auxiliary circuit board 73 with a small current capacity. .

As shown in FIG. 3, the present invention provides an optical sensor 78 for detecting illuminance around the beverage dispensing space 70 and a light emitting diode that is turned on so that a user can operate the water supply switch 71 accurately. 77), the illumination lamp 74 is turned on so that the user can check the water supply amount of the beverage discharged to the beverage dispensing space 70, and the detection result of the optical sensor 78 around the beverage dispensing space 70 The control unit 80 controls the operation of lighting the lighting lamp 74 and the light emitting diode 77 in cooperation with the motor pump 43 only when the illuminance is dark.

One end of the water supply switch 71 is connected to the positive terminal of the DC power supplied from the main circuit board 79 via a reverse current blocking diode D1, and the other end is well implemented as a phototransistor. It is connected to the optical sensor 78, the combined resistor (R1) and the resistor (R4). The connection point of the optical sensor 78 and the resistor R3 is connected to the inverting terminal (-) of the first comparator OP1, and the connection point of the voltage divider R1 and the voltage divider resistor R2 is the first comparator OP1. Is connected to the non-inverting terminal (+). The output terminal of the first comparator OP1 is connected to the inverting terminal (-) of the second comparator OP2 through the reverse current blocking diode D3 and the illumination lamp 74 via the resistor R8. Is connected to.

The non-inverting terminal (+) of the second comparator (OP2) is connected to the feed switch 71 via a resistor (R4), the output terminal of the diode (D3) through the reverse current blocking diode (D2). It is connected to the cathode terminal of and is connected to the base terminal of the emitter grounding transistor Q1 via the bias setting resistors R5 and R6 and the capacitor C1. Both terminals of the motor pump 43 are connected between the collector terminal of the transistor Q1 and the diode D1, and the emitter terminal is grounded.

In FIG. 3, reference numerals R7 and C3 denote resistors and capacitors for preventing the transistor Q1 from malfunctioning due to a counter voltage applied when the motor pump 43 is turned off.

Hereinafter will be described the operation of the lighting device of the beverage supply device of the refrigerator according to the present invention having the above-described configuration.

First, when the water supply switch 71 is not pressed by the user while the power is applied to the refrigerator, the transistor Q1 is turned off, so the motor pump 43 is kept in the off state, and the first comparator ( Since the OP1) and the second comparator OP2 are in the low level state, the light emitting diode 77 and the illumination lamp 74 for position display remain off. On the other hand, if a commercial user pushes the water supply switch 71 with the cup 76, that is, the contact of the water supply switch 71 is closed and operated, the resistance (non-inverting terminal +) of the first comparator OP1 may be The voltage divided by R3) is applied. At this time, when the circumference of the beverage dispensing space 70 is dark, as the light sensor 78 is turned off, the voltage level of the inverting terminal (-) of the first comparator OP1 is non-inverting terminal (+). Since the voltage level is lower than the first comparator OP1, the first comparator OP1 outputs a high level state, that is, a driving signal. Accordingly, the light emitting diodes 77 and the lighting lamps 74 are turned on, and the transistor Q1 is turned on so that a current is supplied to the motor pump 43, and the motor pump 43 is driven. The beverage stored in the beverage container 50 is discharged into the beverage dispensing space 70. Therefore, the user can press the water supply switch 71 precisely because the illumination lamp 74 and the light emitting diode 77 are turned on, and the user can receive the desired amount of water while checking the water supply amount.

On the other hand, when the illumination intensity around the beverage dispensing space 70 is bright when the user operates the water supply switch 71, the optical sensor 78 is turned on to the inverting terminal (-) of the first comparator OP1. ), The voltage level applied to the non-inverting terminal (+) is high, so that the low level, that is, the driving signal is not output. However, since the voltage level applied to the non-inverting terminal (+) of the second comparator (OP2) is higher than the voltage level applied to the inverting terminal (−), the driving signal is output at a high level. Accordingly, the transistor Q1 is turned on so that a current is supplied to the motor pump 43, and the beverage stored in the beverage container 50 is stored in the beverage dispensing space 70 as the motor pump 43 is driven. To be discharged.

As a result, the lighting lamp 74 and the light emitting diode 77 are turned on only when the beverage dispensing space 70 is dark when the water supply switch 71 is operated, but the motor pump 43 is the beverage. It is driven by the operation of the water supply switch 71 irrespective of the illuminance around the take-out space 70.

As described above, the present invention enables the water supply switch to be operated accurately by lighting the lighting lamp and the light emitting diode installed in the beverage dispensing space by an optical sensor that detects the illuminance around the beverage dispensing space when the user operates the water switch. It is possible to check the water supply amount of the beverage discharged to improve the reliability of the product, it is effective to reduce the power consumption by preventing unnecessary lighting of the lighting lamp and the light emitting diode.

Claims (2)

Beverage dispensing space 70 formed on the outer side of the refrigerating chamber door 60, a water supply switch 71 provided in the beverage dispensing space 70 to be operated by a user, and stored inside the refrigerator compartment door 60 The beverage supply device of the refrigerator provided with a beverage container 50 for storing and storing, and a motor pump 43 for operating the water supply switch 71 to discharge the beverage stored in the beverage container 50. In the, the illumination sensor senses the illumination around the beverage dispensing space (70) and is installed around the beverage dispensing space (70) (78); A light emitting diode 77 which is turned on so that the user can operate the water supply switch 71 correctly and is installed adjacent to the water supply switch 71; An illumination lamp 74 which is turned on so that a user can check the water supply amount of the beverage discharged to the beverage dispensing space 70 and installed in the beverage dispensing space 70; And when the illuminance detected by the optical sensor 78 is lower than a reference illuminance, that is, when the illuminance around the beverage dispensing space 70 is dark as a result of the detection of the optical sensor 78. And a control unit (80) for controlling an operation of lighting the lighting lamp (74) and the light emitting diode (77) in cooperation with the lighting device of the refrigerator. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein the lighting lamp (74) is a large-capacity light emitting diode or a pilot lamp that emits green light or blue light to give a user a refreshing feeling.