KR0149910B1 - Water dispenser of a refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a beverage supply device of the refrigerator, the beverage container (50) for storing the beverage, the water storage compartment (30) for storing the beverage container 50, and the lower portion of the water storage compartment (30) A beverage discharge mechanism which is built in the beverage discharge chamber 40 and discharges the beverage of the beverage container 50 to the refrigerator door 60 through the first guide tube 23, and the first guide tube 23. And a second guide tube 61 for guiding the beverage discharged by the water supply pipe 62 installed to be exposed to the beverage dispensing space 70 provided outside the refrigerator door 60. Therefore, the present invention has the effect of reducing the void space of the door portion and increasing the capacity of the beverage container. In addition, since it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the temperature of the refrigerating compartment or the specialty compartment within a predetermined range in a general refrigerator, the temperature of the beverage can be arbitrarily adjusted by storing the beverage container in the space in the refrigerating chamber as in the present application, and the freezing point is approximately freezing point. Since the beverage container is installed in the water storage compartment which partitions the specialty room which maintains temperature, the temperature of beverage can be lowered more. In addition, since the beverage discharge mechanism is operated through an electrical switch that is switched when the beverage discharge mechanism is in contact with the cup, there is an effect of improving space use efficiency and operation convenience.

Description

Beverage supply device of refrigerator

The present invention relates to a beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator, and in particular, to accommodate the beverage container inside the refrigerator compartment and to receive the beverage discharged to the door side by the guide tube from the outside of the refrigerator to reduce the void space of the door portion, space use efficiency and operation The present invention relates to a beverage supply apparatus of a refrigerator so as to improve convenience of an upper box.

In recent years, a refrigerator that can be supplied with a cool drink through the beverage dispensing space provided on the outside of the door by installing a beverage supply device in the refrigerator has been developed and widely spread, and as a typical example, the beverage supply device as shown in FIG. Was installed inside the door.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a beverage supply apparatus of a conventional refrigerator. As shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator, a supporting container 2 supporting the beverage container 2 is provided inside the door 1, and a beverage is provided on the outside of the door 1. Form a beverage dispensing space (4) that can be received. The discharge port of the beverage container (2) is equipped with a beverage discharge mechanism (5) for discharging the beverage if there is a discharge demand of the beverage by the user. The beverage discharge mechanism (5) is formed of a stopper (6) for opening and closing the outlet of the beverage container (2), the rod member (7) which is formed integrally with the stopper (6) and moves the stopper (6) to the open position when discharging the beverage. And a spring 8 for moving the stopper 6 to the closed position to return the rod member 7 to its original position when discharging the beverage. On the other hand, the support barrel (3) guides the beverage discharged from the beverage container (2), the slide valve (9) for driving the bar member (7) by converting the horizontal force when discharging the beverage into a vertical force, the beverage dispensing space (4) And a spring 11 for returning the slide valve 9 to its original position when the discharge of the beverage is stopped. In addition, the beverage dispensing space 4 is provided with a water supply lever 12 that operates by the inflow of the cup.

The beverage supply device of the conventional refrigerator is a slide valve (9)-bar member (7)-stopper (6) as the water supply lever 12 is flipped when the user pushes the cup water supply lever (12) Was delivered to open the outlet of the beverage container (2), the beverage discharged from the beverage container (2) in this open state was guided to the water supply pipe (10) was dropped into the cup can receive the drink without opening the door .

However, in the conventional beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator, since the beverage container and the beverage discharge mechanism are mounted on the door, there is a problem that the temperature of the beverage is high in addition to the invalid space that cannot be used on the door, and the beverage discharge mechanism is mechanically made. Therefore, there was a problem in that the installation space or location is limited.

An object of the present invention is to maximize the use of the space of the door by using a beverage container and a beverage dispensing mechanism in the refrigerating compartment to allow the beverage to be supplied from the outside of the refrigerator door, and to use a beverage container of a larger capacity. The present invention provides a beverage supply apparatus of a refrigerator, which can be changed according to temperature so that the temperature of the beverage can be maintained at a relatively low temperature.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a beverage supply apparatus of a refrigerator, which improves the convenience of operation because the beverage discharge mechanism is operated through an electrical switch switched when the contact with a container such as a cup to instruct a beverage discharge operation.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a beverage supply device of a conventional refrigerator.

2 is a perspective view schematically showing a beverage supply device of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a beverage supply apparatus in a state in which the door of the refrigerator according to the invention is closed.

4 is a perspective view schematically showing a beverage dispensing space in the beverage supply device according to the present invention.

5 is an electric circuit diagram according to various embodiments of the beverage supply apparatus of the present invention (a) to (d).

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

20: cold room 21: specialty room

22: vertical wall 23: the first guide building

30: water storage room 31: beverage outlet

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

42: connector 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: second guide building 62: water supply pipe

63: insulation wall 64: on-off valve

70: beverage ejection space 71: water supply switch

72: protective cover 73: auxiliary circuit engine

74: lighting lamp 75: transparent window

76: cup 77: light emitting element

An object of the present invention as described above is a refrigerator which can receive a beverage stored in the refrigerator from the outside of the refrigerator without opening and closing the refrigerator door by forming a beverage take-out space on the outside of the refrigerator door, the beverage container for storing the beverage; A storage compartment which is formed by partially partitioning a refrigerator compartment and accommodates the beverage container; An opening and closing valve for supplying and blocking a beverage discharged from the beverage container, a valve opening member for opening the opening and closing valve when the beverage container is stored in the water storage compartment, and pumping the beverage discharged from the beverage container. A motor pump, a connecting pipe for guiding the beverage discharged from the beverage container to the motor pump, and a first guide tube for guiding the beverage discharged by the motor pump to the refrigerator door side, wherein the refrigerator door is A beverage discharging mechanism for discharging the beverage stored in the beverage container to the refrigerator door side when the beverage discharging request is made in the closed state; A second guide tube provided inside the refrigerator door and configured to receive a beverage falling freely from the first guide tube when the refrigerator door is in a closed state and guide the outside of the refrigerator door; And one side is connected to the second guide tube is provided so that the other side is exposed to the beverage dispensing space is achieved by a water supply pipe for discharging the beverage guided by the second guide tube to the outside.

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

2 is a perspective view schematically showing a beverage supply device of a refrigerator according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention includes a beverage container 50 for storing a beverage, a water storage compartment 30 for storing the beverage container 50, and the water storage. A beverage discharge mechanism which is built in the beverage discharge chamber 40 provided at the lower portion of the chamber 30 and discharges the beverage of the beverage container 50 to the refrigerator door 60 through the first guide tube 23; And a second guide tube 61 for guiding the beverage discharged by the first guide tube 23 to the water supply pipe 62 installed to be exposed to the beverage dispensing space 70 provided outside the refrigerator door 60. .

The water storage compartment 30 is formed in a space in which the refrigerating compartment 20 is partially partitioned, and partitions the special compartment 21 into the vertical wall 22 that can maintain the temperature relatively lower than the surrounding by maintaining the freezing point temperature. To form.

The first guide pipe 23 has a free end on one side is exposed to the upper side of the vertical wall 22 and the other side is connected to a motor pump 43 to be described later.

When the second guide tube 61 is closed in the refrigerating chamber door 60, the second guide tube 61 is positioned below the first guide tube 23 to be supplied with a funnel to receive a beverage. It is provided inside.

The water supply pipe 62 is installed such that the other side is exposed to the beverage dispensing space 70 so that one side is connected to the second guide tube 61 and the beverage can be discharged to the outside.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a beverage supply apparatus in a state in which the door of the refrigerator according to the present invention is closed. As shown in FIG. 3, the beverage container 50 is configured to be stored in the water storage compartment 30 while lying on its side, and has a lower end of the front surface of the beverage container 50 (based on the insertion direction). The beverage discharge valve 51 is provided.

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. It is made with a spring 54 which returns 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 side of the motor pump 43 is connected to the first guide pipe 23 for guiding a beverage to the refrigerator door 60 side.

The second guide tube 61 is located directly below the first guide tube 23 when the refrigerator door 60 is closed and receives a beverage guided through the first guide tube 23 to receive the water supply pipe ( 52). The water supply pipe 52 penetrates through the heat insulation wall 63 of the refrigerator door 60, and one end of the water supply pipe 52 is exposed to the beverage dispensing space 70, and a cup is positioned directly below it. When the beverage is not discharged between the second guide pipe 61 and the water supply pipe 62, the second guide pipe 61 to prevent the outside air from flowing into the refrigerator door 60. Between the water supply pipe 62 and the on-off valve 64 is provided.

On the back of the beverage dispensing space 70, a water supply switch 71 for supplying power to the motor pump 43 by switching when contacting with a container such as a cup is installed while being covered by a protective cover 72 of rubber material. The water supply switch 71 is mounted while connected to the auxiliary circuit board 73 separated from the main circuit board (not shown). The protective cover 72 prevents malfunction of the water supply switch 71 by water or foreign matter. An upper portion of the beverage dispensing space 70 is equipped with an illumination lamp 74 that illuminates the interior of the beverage dispensing space 70 during water supply.

In the figure, reference numeral 75 denotes a transparent window protecting the illumination 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 light emitting device for generating light of green or blue system in order to give a refreshing feeling.

4 is a view showing the front state of the beverage supply apparatus of the present invention, the water supply switch 71 is fixedly arranged on the rear side of the beverage dispensing space 70 while being supported by the auxiliary circuit board 73, In front of the 71 is a protective cover 72 of rubber material. Around the water supply switch 71, the word press to engrave the protective cover 72 as an example for guiding the water supply start operation, the light emitting element 77 is mounted so that it can be easily identified at night.

(A) to (d) of the electric circuit according to various embodiments of the beverage supply apparatus of the present invention, (a) is a water supply switch (71) in the case of using a tact switch having a small current capacity Is a circuit diagram. As shown in FIG. 5A, one end of the water supply switch 71 is provided with a reverse current blocking diode D1 at a positive terminal of a DC power supplied from a main circuit board (not shown). The other end is connected to the base terminal of the emitter grounded transistor (Q). The collector terminal of the transistor Q is coupled between the positive terminal of the DC power supply and the ground terminal via the motor pump 43, and the position display light emitting element 77 is irrespective of the water supply switch 71. It is coupled between DC power supply and ground terminal. Accordingly, the light emitting element 77 is always driven, and the lighting lamp 74 is turned on only when the water supply switch 71 is gradually closed. The motor pump 43 is powered and driven by a series of closed circuits (illustrated by arrows) via the transistor Q which is turned on at the time of closing of the water supply switch 71. In the circuit, the resistor R1 and the capacitor C1 coupled to both ends of the motor pump 43 are used to prevent the transistor Q from malfunctioning due to a counter voltage applied when the motor pump 43 is turned off. Is given.

FIG. 5B is an electric circuit diagram in which the water supply switch 71a corresponding to the water supply switch 71 in FIG. 5A is removed by removing the position display light emitting element 77 in FIG. (D) of FIG. 5 removes the position display light emitting element 77 from (a) of FIG. 5 and employs a water supply switch 71c corresponding to the feed switch 71 of FIG. The lighting lamp 74 is a circuit diagram in which a light emitting device having a large capacity is replaced with a pilot lamp. FIG. 5C is a circuit diagram in which the driving transistor Q is removed by using the micro switch 71b having a large current capacity as the water supply switch 71.

In the beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention, when the user grabs the cup 76 and presses the water supply switch 71, the motor pump 43 operates and the beverage stored in the beverage container 50 is discharged through the beverage outlet 31. It is discharged and falls naturally to the 2nd guide pipe 61 via the connection pipe 42, the motor pump 43, and the 1st guide pipe 23 sequentially. Thereafter, when the user recovers the cup 76, the water supply switch 71 is turned off to stop the operation of the motor pump 43, thereby stopping the supply of the beverage.

In addition, although the present invention is not shown, the refrigerator is normally provided with a door opening / closing detecting means. While the refrigerator door 60 is opened based on a signal provided from the door opening / closing detecting means, the contact point of the water supply switch 71 is provided. Note that the motor pump 43 is controlled so as not to operate even if it is closed.

As described above, the present invention has the effect of reducing the void space of the door part and increasing the capacity of the beverage container by disposing the beverage container and the beverage discharge mechanism in a space in which the refrigerator compartment is partially partitioned. In addition, in the general refrigerator, since the temperature of the refrigerating compartment or the specialty compartment can be arbitrarily adjusted within a predetermined range, the temperature of the beverage can be arbitrarily adjusted by storing the beverage container in the refrigerator compartment as in the present application. Since the beverage container is installed in the water storage compartment which partitions the specialty room which maintains temperature, the temperature of beverage can be lowered more. In addition, since the beverage discharge mechanism is operated through an electrical switch that is switched when the beverage discharge mechanism is in contact with the cup, there is an effect of improving space use efficiency and operation convenience.

Claims (6)

In the refrigerator to form a beverage dispensing space 70 on the outside of the refrigerator door 60 to receive the beverage stored in the refrigerator from the outside of the refrigerator without opening and closing the refrigerator door 60, a beverage container for storing the beverage ( 50); A storage compartment 30 formed by partially partitioning the refrigerating compartment 20 and accommodating the beverage container 50; Opening and closing valve 51 for supplying and blocking the beverage discharged from the beverage container 50, and when the beverage container 50 is accommodated in the correct position of the water storage chamber 30, the opening and closing valve 51 is opened To open the valve opening member 41, the motor pump 43 for pumping the beverage discharged from the beverage container 50, and the beverage discharged from the beverage container 50 to the motor pump 43. It consists of a first guide tube 23 for guiding the discharged by the pipe 42 and the motor pump 43 to the refrigerator door 60 side, the beverage in the state in which the refrigerator door 60 is closed Drink discharging mechanism for discharging the beverage stored in the beverage container (50) to the refrigerator door 60 when there is a discharge request; The refrigerator door 60 is provided inside the refrigerator door 60, and when the refrigerator door 60 is in a closed state, receives a drink falling free from the first guide tube 23 and guides the refrigerator door 60 to the outside of the refrigerator door 60. 2 guide building (61); And a water supply pipe 70 having one side connected to the second guide tube 61 and the other side exposed to the beverage dispensing space 70 to discharge the beverage guided by the second guide tube 61 to the outside. Beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator comprising a. The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the water storage compartment (30) is formed by partially partitioning a space (specialty chamber 21) having a relatively low temperature even in the refrigerating compartment (20). The water supply switch 71 of claim 1, further provided in the beverage dispensing space 70 to drive the motor pump 43 in a state in which the refrigerator door 60 is closed. Beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator, characterized in that provided. The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising lighting means (74) for illuminating the beverage dispensing space (70) while the contact point of the water supply switch (71) is closed. 5. The beverage supply apparatus of the refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the lighting means (74) emits blue or green light. 5. The beverage supply apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a position display light emitting element (77) indicating the position of the water supply switch (71).