KR101075059B1 - Cooling unit controllering method of water purifier having ice-maker - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of driving an ice making unit of an ice water purifier capable of preventing supercooling from occurring and breaking the ice making unit.

The ice making unit driving method of the ice purifier includes: an initial driving determination step of determining whether the ice making unit is driven for the first time after power input; When the ice maker unit is driven for the first time after power is input, the drip member is moved to a defrosting position, and the temperature of the evaporator is determined to be lower than a preset temperature so that excessive cooling does not occur in the drip member during the ice making process. Deicing the ice making unit for the first time after inputting power; And operating a compressor to supply hot gas to the evaporator when the temperature of the evaporator is lower than the set temperature, and moving the drip member to an ice making position and performing ice making when the temperature of the evaporator is not lower than the set temperature. ; Characterized in that it comprises a.

According to the ice-making unit driving method of the ice purifier it is possible to prevent the supercooling occurs in the drip member to damage the motor or to damage the ice-making unit.

Ice Water Purifier, Compressor, Evaporator, Hot Gas

Description

Ice Ice Purifier Driving Method {COOLING UNIT CONTROLLERING METHOD OF WATER PURIFIER HAVING ICE-MAKER}

The present invention relates to a method of driving an ice making unit for generating ice in an ice water purifier, and more particularly, to a method of driving an ice making unit of an ice water purifier capable of preventing the ice making unit from breaking due to subcooling.

In general, an ice water purifier is a device for supplying ice by purifying raw water such as tap water to freeze purified water (or cold water) as well as purified water and cold water and / or hot water. Ice water purifiers typically include a filter unit for purifying raw water, a purified water tank for storing purified water, a cold water tank for cooling purified water, and an ice making unit for making ice, and a hot water tank for heating and storing purified water. You may.

Such ice water purifiers are typically provided with ice trays for receiving raw water for icemaking from a purified water tank or a cold water tank, thereby cooling the raw ice water contained in the drip tray by the ice making unit to generate ice. As such, the generated ice is stored in the ice reservoir through a defrosting process, and discharged from the ice reservoir when the extraction instruction of the user is given.

With reference to Figure 1, looks at the submerged ice making unit of a conventional ice water purifier.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the immersion type ice making unit 10 commonly used in an ice water purifier includes a compressor 11 constituting a refrigeration cycle and a gas at high temperature and high pressure while the compressor 11 is operated. Condenser 12 for exchanging heat with liquid refrigerant, capillary 13 for converting the medium and high pressure liquid refrigerant heat-exchanged in the condenser 12 into a low temperature low pressure liquid refrigerant, and a low temperature through the capillary tube 13 It comprises an evaporator 14 through which the low pressure liquid refrigerant is circulated. At this time, the immersion tube 14 ′ connected to the evaporator 14 so as to be immersed in the drip member 20 drops the temperature of the water contained in the drip member 20 rapidly, thereby causing ice around the immersion tube 14 ′. Is formed.

In this state, when the immersion type ice making unit 10 is driven for a predetermined time, ice of a predetermined size is formed around the immersion pipe 14 ', and thus, the driving of the compressor 11 is terminated through a controller (not shown). The ice making process of (10) ends.

When the ice making process is completed, the drip member 20 is rotated to a freezing position so that the ice separated from the immersion tube 14 ′ of the evaporator 14 may fall into an ice reservoir (not shown). The refrigerant gas of the high temperature and high pressure for the ice removal flows into the evaporator 14 of the immersion type ice making unit 10 through the ice removal line 15 by the solenoid valve 16 while the drip member 20 is rotated to the ice removal position. As a result, the ice suspended in the dip tube 14 'of the evaporator 14 is temporarily defrosted, and thus the ice suspended in the dip tube 14' of the evaporator 14 is dropped and loaded into the ice reservoir.

After the defrosting is completed as described above, the solenoid valve 16 is closed, and the drip member 20 is then returned to the ice making position to prepare for ice making.

As such, the immersion type ice making unit 10 used in the ice water purifier 10 forms the ice around the immersion tube 14 ′ by immersing the immersion tube 14 ′ of the evaporator 14 in water contained in the drip member 20. Done. Therefore, when the evaporator 14 is supercooled or the cooling system is operated for a long time, the water contained in the drip member 20 may freeze completely, which causes ice formed around the dip tube 14 'to drip the drip member 20. ) May not be separated. Accordingly, in the case of the immersion type ice making unit 10, the operating time of the cooling system or the like is considered in consideration of the temperature of the ice making raw water flowing into the drip member 20 so as to form a predetermined size of ice around the immersion pipe 14 '. It is necessary to control the intensity.

However, in the process of using the ice water purifier may be the case that the power is cut off and re-supplied due to a sudden power failure or carelessness of the user. At this time, if the ice making process is performed immediately before the power is re-input, ice is already formed in the immersion pipe 14 'or the temperature of the ice making raw water accommodated in the drip member 20 is considerably lowered.

In this case, if the normal ice making process is performed again, the water contained in the drip member 20 is excessively cooled, so that the size of the ice formed around the dip tube 14 'becomes considerably larger or in the neighboring dip tube 14'. Even if the ice is formed and adheres to each other, the ice discharge port of the ice storage can be closed even if the ice is removed and stored in the ice storage.

In addition, if the power supply is immediately turned on in the state where the ice making process is substantially performed, freezing may occur not only around the dip tube 14 'but also the entire water contained in the drip member 20.

In this state, when the drip member 20 and the dip tube 14 'are completely attached by the ice, the drip member 20 cannot be rotated to the freezing position, so that the motor driving the drip member 20 is overloaded. Can cause damage to the motor. In addition, when the motor forcibly rotates the drip member 20, a fatal problem such as the evaporator 14 and the dip tube 14 ′ may be damaged and the refrigerant may flow out.

The present invention has been made to solve at least some of the above-described problems, the ice making unit of the ice water purifier that can not only prevent the supercooling occurs in the drip member due to power outage or carelessness of the user, but also can generate ice of a certain size It is an object to provide a driving method.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of driving an ice making unit of an ice water purifier that can prevent the cooling of the ice making unit by subcooling occurs in the drip member.

The present invention to achieve the above object,
A method of driving an immersion type ice making unit of an ice water purifier for immersing an immersion tube of an evaporator provided in an ice making unit in raw water for ice making received in a drip member and generating ice around the immersion tube.
An initial driving determination step of determining whether the ice-making unit is driven for the first time after power input;
When the ice maker unit is driven for the first time after power is input, the drip member is moved to a defrosting position, and the temperature of the evaporator is determined to be lower than a preset temperature so that excessive cooling does not occur in the drip member during the ice making process. ,
Deicing the ice making unit for the first time after power input; And
When the temperature of the evaporator is lower than the set temperature, the compressor is operated to supply hot gas to the evaporator,
Moving the drip member to an ice making position and performing ice making if the temperature of the evaporator is not lower than the set temperature;
It provides an ice making unit driving method of the ice purifier comprising a.

Preferably, the ice-making unit driving method of the ice purifier according to the present invention comprises the steps of moving the drip member to the ice making position after the step of supplying hot gas to the evaporator and performing ice making; It may further include.

At this time, the step of supplying hot gas to the evaporator is preferably performed after a predetermined delay time after the operation of the compressor.

More preferably, the operation of the compressor is the ice water purifier driving method of the ice purifier, characterized in that after the predetermined drive delay time has elapsed after moving the drip member to the defrosting position.

According to one embodiment of the present invention as described above, even if the power is cut off immediately after the de-icing operation due to power outages or carelessness of the user, the ice formed in the immersion pipe is removed by performing de-icing The supercooling occurs in the drip member to overload the motor, thereby preventing the motor from being damaged or damaging the ice making unit due to excessive rotation of the motor.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention checks the temperature of the evaporator in the state that the power is re-supplied, if the temperature of the evaporator is lower than the set temperature to supply the hot gas to remove the ice attached to the evaporator is produced by the ice making operation Not only is the size of the ice to be constant, but also the effect of preventing the blockage of the ice outlet of the ice reservoir due to excessively large ice can be obtained.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by driving the compressor after the elapse of the driving grace time in the state where the power is re-supplied, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon that the compressor does not operate because the pressure is not balanced between the evaporator and the compressor.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a partial cutaway perspective view showing an example of an ice water purifier, FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an internal structure of the ice water purifier shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a drip member provided in the ice water purifier shown in FIG. 2. 5 is a cross-sectional view sequentially showing the operating state of the drip member of the ice water purifier shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a state where ice is supplied to an ice reservoir at a freezing position of the drip member, and FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating a state where ice is supplied to a cold water tank at a freezing position of the drip member, and FIG. 8 is a view of FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an immersion type ice making unit of an ice water purifier shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a method of driving an ice making unit of an ice water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, an example of an ice water purifier will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 8.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ice water purifier 100 according to an embodiment stores the drip member 200 for receiving raw water for ice making and the ice generated through the ice making unit 300 (see FIG. 8). The ice reservoir 140, the cold water tank 130 for cooling the water contained therein using the ice generated through the ice making unit, and the ice generated in the ice making unit is the ice reservoir 140 or the cold water tank ( It may be configured to include a guide member 150 for guiding supply selectively to 130.

6 and 7, the cold water tank 130 is configured to cool the water contained therein by using ice generated through the ice making unit, and a plurality of water level sensors such as a full water level sensor 131. And the temperature sensor 132 is installed may be configured to adjust the water level and temperature of the cold water tank (130).

2 to 5 and 8, looks at the configuration of the drip member 200 of the ice water purifier 100 according to an embodiment.

The drip member 200 is an ice making drip tray 210 for receiving raw water for ice so as to generate ice through the immersion type ice making unit 300 (FIG. 8), and raw water for ice making by the immersion type ice making unit 300. In the process of emptying the ice tray drip tray 210 after cooling it, it may be provided with an auxiliary drip tray 220 for receiving raw water for ice remaining in the ice tray drip tray 210.

The ice tray 210 has an accommodation space of a predetermined size to accommodate the raw water for ice making at the ice making position shown in FIG. In addition, the auxiliary drip tray 220 is connected to one side of the deicing drip tray 210 to cool the raw water for deicing and then defrosting the deicing drip tray 210 remaining in the deicing process for emptying the deicing drip tray 210 Raw water can be configured to be moved and received.

In addition, the guide grill 230 may be installed on the auxiliary drip tray 220. Referring to FIG. 4, the guide grill 230 includes an auxiliary drip tray 220 through the water inlet 231 of the raw water for deicing remaining in the drip tray 210 during the de-icing process of emptying the drip tray 210. ) To be introduced into the inside of the ice to fall to the ice storage 140 or cold water tank 130 side.

Referring to Figure 5, looks at the action of the drip member 200.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a) illustrating an ice making position of the drip member 200, raw water for ice making is received from the cold water tank 130 or the purified water tank 110 into the ice making tray 210 during initial ice making. . In this ice making position, the immersion pipe 121 connected to the evaporator 120 of the ice making unit is immersed in raw water for ice making to perform a cooling operation.

When the ice generating operation is completed, the drip member 200 is rotated clockwise as shown in FIG. 5 (b) by a drip rotation means such as the motor 180.

When the drip member 200 is further rotated as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the raw ice water remaining in the ice tray 210 is passed through the water inlet 231 of the guide grill 230 to support the auxiliary water tray ( 220) is completely moved to the side is received.

FIG. 5 (d) shows a state in which the drip member 200 is completely rotated to the freezing position. When the hot gas is supplied to the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120 in this defrosting position, the ice I generated by the heat of the hot gas is made. You lose. At this time, the defrosted ice drops along the surface of the inclined guide grill 230 to the ice reservoir 140 (see FIG. 6) or the cold water tank 130 (see FIG. 7) according to the position of the guide member 150. Will move.

Thereafter, the drip member 200 is returned to the ice making position shown in FIG. 5 (a) for the next ice making operation, and the cold ice water remaining in the auxiliary drip tray 220 in the process is transferred to the guide grill 230. Passing through the water inlet 231 is returned to the ice tray 210 for deicing. At this time, additional water is supplied from the cold water tank 130 or the purified water tank 110 in order to supply insufficient ice water.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ice reservoir 140 is installed at a position lower than the drip member 200 so as to accommodate ice desorbed in the dip tube 121 of the evaporator 120. The ice reservoir 140 may be provided with ice discharge means 141, such as a screw for extracting the ice. When the ice discharge means 141 rotates in a forward direction about the rotation shaft 141a by the driving of a driving motor (not shown), the ice loaded in the ice reservoir 140 is discharged through the ice discharge port (not shown). .

Next, with reference to Figure 8 looks at an example of the immersion type ice making unit 300 provided in the ice water purifier.

The immersion type ice making unit 300 forms a cooling cycle similar to that provided in a conventional cooling device.

Specifically, the immersion type ice making unit 300 is a compressor (311) of the cooling (freezing) cycle while operating the condenser (312) for heat-exchanging the high-temperature and high-pressure gas to medium-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant, and the condenser ( A capillary tube 313 for converting the medium and high pressure liquid refrigerant heat-exchanged at 312 into a low temperature and low pressure liquid refrigerant, and an evaporator 120 through which the low temperature and low pressure liquid refrigerant passed through the capillary tube 313 is circulated. At this time, the immersion tube 121 connected to the evaporator 120 so as to be immersed in the drip member 200 to drop the temperature of the water accommodated in the drip member 200 rapidly, thereby forming ice around the immersion tube 121 do.

In this state, when the immersion type ice making unit 300 is driven for a predetermined time, since ice of a predetermined size is formed around the immersion tube 121, the driving of the compressor 311 or the like is terminated through a controller (not shown). The ice making process of 300 is terminated.

When the ice making process is completed, the drip member 200 is rotated to the freezing position so that the ice separated from the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120 may fall into the ice reservoir (not shown) (see FIG. 5 (e)). ]. In the evaporator 120 of the immersion type ice making unit 300 while the drip member 200 is rotated to a defrosting position, a refrigerant gas having a high temperature and high pressure for defrosting is introduced through the desorbing line 315 by the solenoid valve 316. While the ice suspended in the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120 is temporarily defrosted, the ice suspended in the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120 is dropped and loaded into the ice storage.

After the defrosting is completed, the solenoid valve 316 is closed, and the drip member 200 is then returned to the ice making position of FIG. 5 (a) to prepare for ice making.

Hereinafter, a method of driving an ice making unit of an ice water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. The ice making unit driving method of the ice purifier according to the present invention is described with reference to the ice purifier 100 shown in FIGS. 2 to 8, but is not limited to the ice purifier 100, and the immersion tube of the evaporator 120. It can be applied to all ice water purifiers having an immersion type ice making unit 300 to produce ice by immersing the 121 in the drip member 200.

8 and 9, an ice making unit driving method (S100) of an ice water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention is an evaporator 210 provided in the ice making unit 300 in the raw water for ice received in the drip member 200. It relates to a method of driving the immersion type ice making unit 300 to immerse the immersion tube 211 of the) and to generate ice around the immersion tube 211.

First, it is determined whether the immersion type ice making unit 300 is driven for the first time after power input (S110). If the immersion type ice making unit 300 is driven for the first time after the power input, the drip member 200 is moved to the defrosting position (S120). It is determined that the cooling cycle of the normal operation does not perform the step after S120 for the protection of the ice making unit 300. In other words, if it is not driven for the first time after the power input, the normal ice making process is performed.

At this time, if the power is cut off while the ice making process is performed, if the compressor 311 is driven immediately after the power is turned on again, the pressure is not balanced between the evaporator 120 and the compressor 311 so that the compressor 311 operates. It may not be.

In order to prevent such a phenomenon, it is preferable not to operate the ice making unit 300 for a preset driving grace time after rotating the drip member 200 to a defrosting position. That is, it is determined whether the preset driving grace time has elapsed (S130), and after the preset driving grace time (for example, 5 minutes) elapses, whether the evaporator 120 temperature of the ice making unit 300 is higher than the preset temperature. It is determined (S140).

For example, when the temperature of the evaporator 120 is lower than 3 ° C., it may be determined that ice is formed in the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120.

In this state, if the ice making process is performed immediately, supercooling may occur to completely freeze the water contained in the drip member 200, which may cause the drip member 200 to not rotate to the freezing position. At this time, forcibly rotating the drip member 200 causes an overload of the motor 180 that rotates the drip member 200, thereby damaging the motor 180 or causing excessive rotation of the motor 180. The evaporator 120 may be broken. Therefore, it is necessary to forcibly defrost the ice formed in the immersion pipe 121.

To this end, the compressor 311 is driven (S150), and after a predetermined compressor driving time (for example, 3 minutes) has elapsed to smoothly supply hot gas (S160), ice is formed in the immersion tube 121 to be defrosted. In order to supply the hot gas (S170).

After the predetermined hot gas supply setting time (for example, 1 minute) has elapsed (S180) to ensure complete defrosting in the immersion tube 121 (S180), the drip member 200 is moved back to the ice making position. (S190).

When the ice making process is performed afterwards, the ice is not attached to the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120, and the pressure balance between the compressor 311 and the evaporator 120 is also maintained, so it is smooth and stable. It is possible to perform an ice making operation.

On the other hand, if the temperature of the evaporator 120 is higher than 3 ℃ ice is not formed in the immersion tube 121 of the evaporator 120, and the ice making process is not being performed or the ice making process is being performed before the power supply again. Even though it may be determined that the cooling cycle is stabilized after a considerable time has elapsed, in this case, the operation after the step S150 for the protection of the ice making unit 300 is not performed.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to particular embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. I want to make it clear.

In particular, the ice-making unit driving method of the ice water purifier according to the present invention is not limited to the ice water purifier 100 shown in FIGS. 2 to 7, and the immersion type ice-making unit shown in FIG. It can be applied to any ice water purifier with 300).

1 is a schematic view showing the immersion ice making unit of a conventional ice water purifier.

2 is a partial cutaway perspective view showing an example of an ice water purifier.

3 is a schematic view showing the internal structure of the ice water purifier shown in FIG.

4 is a perspective view of the drip member provided in the ice purifier shown in FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view sequentially showing the operating state of the drip member of the ice water purifier shown in FIG.

6 is a schematic view of a state in which ice is supplied to the ice reservoir at the freezing position of the drip tray member;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which ice is supplied to the cold water tank in the defrosting position of the drip member.

8 is a schematic view showing an immersion type ice making unit of the ice water purifier shown in FIG.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving an ice making unit of an ice water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100 ... ice water purifier 110 ... water purification tank

120 ... Deicing evaporator 121 ... Immersion tube

130 ... cold water tank 140 ... ice cellar

150 ... guide member 200 ... drip member

210 ... Ice tray drip tray 211 ... Drip tray axis

220 ... Auxiliary drip tray 230 ... Guide grille

231 ... Water inlet 300 ... Submerged ice machine

311 ... Compressor

Claims (4)

A method of driving an immersion type ice making unit of an ice water purifier for immersing an immersion tube of an evaporator provided in an ice making unit in raw water for ice making received in a drip member and generating ice around the immersion tube. An initial driving determination step of determining whether the ice-making unit is driven for the first time after power input; When the ice maker unit is driven for the first time after power is input, the drip member is moved to a defrosting position, and the temperature of the evaporator is determined to be lower than a preset temperature so that excessive cooling does not occur in the drip member during the ice making process. , Deicing the ice making unit for the first time after power input; And When the temperature of the evaporator is lower than the set temperature, the compressor is operated to supply hot gas to the evaporator, Moving the drip member to an ice making position and performing ice making if the temperature of the evaporator is not lower than the set temperature; Ice making unit driving method of the ice purifier comprising a. The method of claim 1, Moving the drip member to an ice making position and performing ice making after supplying hot gas to the evaporator; Ice-making device driving method of the ice purifier, characterized in that it further comprises. The method of claim 1, Supplying hot gas to the evaporator is an ice making unit driving method of the ice water purifier, characterized in that performed after a predetermined delay time after the operation of the compressor. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The operation of the compressor is the ice water purifier driving method of the ice water purifier, characterized in that after the predetermined drive delay time has elapsed after moving the drip member to the defrosting position.

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