KR100339531B1 - Assembly for filtering water of automatic ice-maker and disperser in refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A water filter assembly of a refrigerator is provided to improve the reliability by supplying filtered water to a water tank with filtering edible water after measuring pollution level of water, and to reduce waste by supplying inedible water to a washing machine. CONSTITUTION: A water filter assembly of a refrigerator comprises a filter cap(110) having a water inlet(111) flowing water in, a first drain port(112) supplying edible water to a dispenser or an automatic ice machine, and a second drain port(113) discharging inedible water; an inner cap(140) having an inlet and an outlet connected to the water inlet and the first drain port; a filter can(150) connected to the inner cap to insert a filter member between the inlet and the outlet of the inner cap; a check valve(120) connecting the water inlet and the first drain port or the second drain port respectively; and a control unit guiding edible water to the dispenser or the ice machine and discharging inedible water with measuring the pollution level of water from the water inlet. The reliability is improved with deciding edible or inedible water by measuring the pollution level before filtering.

Description

ASSEMBLY FOR FILTERING WATER OF AUTOMATIC ICE-MAKER AND DISPERSER IN REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to a water filter assembly of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a water filter assembly for filtering tap water supplied to an ice making and a dispenser.

In general, automatic deicing and dispensers (hereinafter referred to as "dispensers") account for about 20% of the total material cost of refrigerators, but are already becoming more common in developed countries such as the United States.

Recently, as the dietary culture of Korea has gradually become westernized, the ice consumption rate has increased greatly. As the ice consumption rate has increased, the demand for automatic deicing and dispensers has increased rapidly in general households.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional side by side refrigerator equipped with a conventional automatic de-icing and dispenser. As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the water tank 1 installed inside the refrigerator main body is firstly formed. It is connected to the water valve (2) and is in communication with the automatic ice maker (3) while the other end is in communication with the dispenser (5) by the connecting hose (4), the other end of the first water valve (2) is in communication with the faucet It is connected to a water filter assembly 10 for filtering the water to be used in the ice making and water dispenser.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water filter assembly 10 communicates with a faucet, etc., and a water outlet 11a through which tap water flows in, and a drain 11b through which the filtered water flows out through the first water valve 2. Filter cap 11 formed on the upper and lower sides is fixedly mounted to a predetermined bracket B, and the inlet 12a and the outlet 12b which are differentially communicated with the water supply port 11a and the drain port 11b are internally, Inner caps 12 respectively formed on the outside are mounted on and fixed to a filter can 13 in which a carbon filter 13a is incorporated.

A packing 14 is interposed between the inner circumferential surface of the filter can 13 and the outer circumferential surface of the inner cap 12 to prevent water from being lost during filtering.

In addition, a conical check valve 15 is installed at an upper portion of the filter cap 11, that is, an upper end of the inlet 12a of the inner cap 12 to open and close the water supply port 11a and the inlet 12a. The valve 15 is preferably installed between the inlet 12a and the outlet 12b of the inner cap 12.

The inlet 12a extends long to the lower end of the carbon filter 13a and communicates with the outer circumferential surface of the filter 13a. The outlet 12b extends only to the upper end of the carbon filter 13a, It is in communication with the inner circumference.

In the drawings, reference numeral 6 denotes an ice storage container, 7 a second water valve, and 16, 17, and 18 are o-rings, respectively.

When the user presses the water or ice selection pressing plate (not shown) in the refrigerator equipped with the conventional automatic deicing and dispenser as described above, water flows along the connection hose 4 from the water tank 1 and dispenses to the outside. Or a predetermined amount of ice was dispensed from the ice reservoir 6.

Here, in order to supply new water to the water tank (1) or to supply new water to the automatic ice maker (3), new water must be introduced from the tap, and the incoming tap water is provided with the second water valve (7). After passing through the water filter assembly 10, the purified water passing through the water filter assembly 10 is separated from the first water valve 2 and flows into the water tank 1 or the automatic ice maker 3. .

As described above, the operation of the water filter assembly, which allows the user to intake tap water with confidence, is as follows.

That is, tap water flowing into the water inlet 11a formed on the upper side of the filter cap 11 penetrates into the lower end of the conical check valve 15 lifted by the inner cap 12 to inlet 12a of the inner cap. It flows down to the bottom surface of the filter can (13), and the flow of tap water is radially pushed out of the filter can (13) and passes through the carbon filter (13a) from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface, the filter (13a) The purified tap water is continuously pushed up again through the outlet 12b of the inner cap 12 and flows into the drain 11b communicating with the outlet 12b and finally flows into the first water valve 2. Was to go in.

At this time, the packing 14 and each of the o-rings 16, 17 and 18 serve to prevent the tap water from escaping from the water filter assembly 10 while being purified.

However, the automatic deicing and dispenser of the refrigerator provided with the water filter assembly as described above, only tap water is purified by the carbon filter 13a, but this is in view of the objection that the public has in the tap water. ) Is not satisfactory, and there is a problem in that it is reluctant to use the automatic deicing and dispenser already installed in the refrigerator.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, to determine in advance whether the tap water flowing into the water filter assembly is suitable for drinking water after filtering to provide a water filter assembly for a refrigerator that can supply only suitable tap water to drinking water. The purpose is.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator equipped with a conventional water filter assembly.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a water filter assembly of a conventional refrigerator.

Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator provided with a water filter assembly of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the water filter assembly of the present invention refrigerator.

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the operation when the water filter assembly of the refrigerator connected to the washing machine of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: filter cap 111: water inlet

112: first drain port 113: second drain port

120: check valve 130: contamination measurement sensor

131: light emitting unit 132: light receiving unit

140: inner cap 150: filter can

In order to achieve the object of the present invention, the water inlet and tap water flowing from the outside and the first drain to communicate with the water inlet to the dispenser or automatic ice maker and the water inlet independently communicated with the water inlet A filter cap having a second drain for discharging the impossible water to the outside for recycling to the outside; an inner cap having an inlet communicating with the water outlet of the filter cap and an outlet communicating with the first drain; ; A filter can interposed between the inlet and the outlet of the inner cap so as to be in communication with the inner cap, the filter can being interposed between the water supply port of the filter cap and the first and second drain ports. A check valve for communicating with the first drain or the feed and the second drain independently; It is installed inside the filter cap to measure the degree of contamination of the water flowing through the water supply port and if the water is available as drinking water to communicate with the water supply port and the first drain port to guide the dispenser or automatic ice maker, if it is impossible to drink water and There is provided a water filter assembly of a refrigerator, comprising a control means configured to communicate the second drain so as to discharge the water passing through the water outlet as it is to the outside.

Hereinafter, the water filter assembly of the refrigerator according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator provided with a water filter assembly of the present invention, Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a water filter assembly of the refrigerator of the present invention.

In the refrigerator equipped with the water filter assembly according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, one end of the water tank 1 installed inside the refrigerator main body is connected to the first water valve 2 to the automatic ice maker 3. While the other end is in communication with the dispenser (5) by the connecting hose (4), the other end of the first water valve (2) is in communication with the faucet to filter the water to be used for ice making and dispenser 100 It is connected to the water filter assembly 100, the pollution degree sensor (described later) is added, while measuring the pollution degree of the tap water flowing from the faucet, if the pollution degree is less than the reference value by filtering the water tank (1) and automatic If the pollution degree is higher than the reference value while sending to the ice maker 3, it is configured to send to a washing machine or the like using a separate drain (described later).

4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the water filter assembly according to the present invention, as shown in the present invention, the water filter assembly 100 of the present invention is in communication with the faucet, etc., the water supply port 111 and the water inlet (2) 111, which is selectively communicated with the water tank (shown in FIG. 3) and communicated with the first drain port 112 through which the filtered water flows out, and the water supply port 111, the tap water that is impossible to drink with the refrigerator A filter cap 110 made of a transparent body formed with a second drain port 113 for discharging to the outside, and is installed between the water supply port 111 and the first drain port 112 to prevent the tap water from flowing back The check valve 120 and the filter cap 110 are fitted to the upper end, and the light emitting part 131 and the light receiving part 132 are molded on both sides thereof, and the light receiving part 132 is an A / D converter. (Not shown) and tap water contaminated with Micom (not shown) Inner cap 140 having a pollution degree measuring sensor 130 to measure the degree, the inlet 141 communicating with the water supply port 111 and the outlet 142 communicating with the first drain 112 are formed inside and outside. ) And a filter can 150 having a carbon filter 151 embedded therein so that the inlet 141 and the outer circumferential surface of the inner cap 140 communicate with each other, and the inner circumferential surface thereof communicates with the outlet 142.

In this case, the filter cap 110 is preferably in contact with the light emitting unit 131 and the light receiving unit 132 of the contamination measurement sensor 130 is formed in a plane to prevent the refraction of light.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in the prior art.

In the drawings, reference numeral 152 denotes a packing, B denotes a bracket, and O denotes an o-ring.

In the automatic deicing and dispenser of a refrigerator equipped with a water filter assembly according to the present invention as described above, the general operation, that is, tap water is introduced from the tap and filtered through the water filter assembly, the filtered water once the water tank Stored in the water dispenser or transferred to the water dispenser or automatic ice maker, so detailed description thereof will be omitted.

However, in the water filter assembly of the present invention, the tap water flowing from the tap is not filtered as it is, but the contamination level of the tap water flowing before the filtering is measured. If the pollution degree is more than the reference value to be discharged to the water supply port of the washing machine through the second drain, which will be described in more detail according to the flow chart shown in FIG.

That is, tap water is introduced from the faucet through the water supply port 111 (hereinafter, reference numerals refer to FIGS. 3 and 4) and at the same time, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 131 of the contamination measurement sensor 130 is supplied to the water supply. The light is absorbed by the light receiving unit 132 through the tap water, and at this time, the light received by the light receiving unit 132 changes its transmittance according to the pollution degree of the water that the light passes through, so as to detect the transmittance received by the light receiving unit 132 above. When the / D converter (not shown) changes the signal and transmits the signal to the microcomputer (not shown), the degree of contamination of the tap water introduced by the current value set by the microcomputer is determined.

In this way, when the incoming tap water is contaminated above the reference value, the conical check valve 120 is closed as it is, the tap water is discharged to the water supply port of the washing machine (not shown) through the second drain 113.

Here, the washing machine detects whether the washing machine is being dehydrated. If the washing machine is dehydrated, it waits until the dehydration stroke is completed. In contrast, when the washing machine is not being dehydrated, the tap water discharged while the separate water pump (not shown) is turned on is washed with It is watering.

On the other hand, when the tap water is determined to be less than the reference value by the contamination measuring sensor 130, as described above, the conical check valve 120 is opened while tap water is introduced into the gap and filtered by the carbon filter 151 Through the outlet 142 and the first drain 112 is to flow into the water tank (1) or automatic ice maker (3).

In the above-described embodiment, tap water, which is not suitable for drinking water, is used as washing water of a washing machine. However, within the scope to which the gist of the present invention is applied, other utilization methods may be used in addition to simply connecting to the washing machine.

The water filter assembly of the refrigerator according to the present invention is equipped with a contamination measuring sensor that checks the contamination level in advance before filtering tap water in a filter cap covering a filter can with a built-in filter. The water is configured to further include a drain to discharge to a washing machine, and before the water is filtered with the filter cap to determine whether it is suitable for drinking water by measuring its pollution degree in advance, and after filtering if it is suitable as drinking water. If it is sent to the water tink, but not suitable for drinking water, it is sent to the washing machine to be used as washing water, thereby improving the reliability of the tap water and at the same time recycling the inappropriate tap water to reduce the waste of resources.

Claims (3)

A first drain port that is in communication with the tap water from the outside and the water inlet and discharges the drinking water to the dispenser or automatic ice maker, and discharged to the outside for recycling the drinking water is independently connected to the water supply port A filter cap provided with a second drain hole; An inner cap each having an inlet communicating with the water supply port of the filter cap and an outlet communicating with the first drain port; A filter can interposed between the inlet and the outlet of the inner cap so as to be in communication with the inner cap; A check valve interposed between the water supply port of the filter cap and the first drain port and the second drain port to independently communicate the water supply port with the first drain port or the water supply port with the second drain port; It is installed inside the filter cap to measure the degree of contamination of the water flowing through the water supply port and if the water is available as drinking water to communicate with the water supply port and the first drain port to guide the dispenser or automatic ice maker, if it is impossible to drink water and The water filter assembly of the refrigerator, characterized in that the control means for communicating with the second drain to discharge the water passed through the water outlet as it is outside. The microcomputer according to claim 1, wherein the control means is attached to a filter cap to measure a pollution level of water flowing into the filter cap, and a microcomputer connected to the pollution measurement sensor to determine whether water supply is executed according to a test result. And a water supply valve connected to the micom and sending water flowing through the filter cap's water inlet to the dispenser or the automatic ice maker, and connected through the water supply of the filter cap in the order of non-drinking water. The water filter assembly of the refrigerator, characterized in that consisting of a drain valve for discharging the water to the outside. According to claim 2, The pollution sensor is a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit is installed on both sides of the filter cap, the light receiving unit receives the light projected from the light emitting unit to detect the transmittance by detecting the transmittance of the microcom The water filter assembly of the refrigerator, characterized in that it is made to deliver.

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