KR101409478B1 - Water dispenser improved in heat insulation structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a drinking water supplier for a water purifier having a cooling cycle. The drinking water supplier according to the present invention includes: an evaporator which cools water or produces ice; a cooled water tank storing the water cooled by the evaporator; an insulation which is made of a foam-molded resin and surrounds the cooled water tank. The foam-molded insulation includes: capillaries supplying a liquid coolant to the evaporator; and a fluid separator which separates the liquid coolant included in the coolant gas discharged from the evaporator. The present invention integrally molds the capillaries and fluid separator to be included in the insulation to improve the manufacturing process and reduce the cost while enabling the drinking water supplier to be more compact and the cooled water tank to maintain a low temperature.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a water dispenser improved in heat insulation structure,

The present invention relates to a drinking water feeder having at least a cold water or ice supply function with a cooling cycle.

The drinking water supply device includes a water purifier for purifying raw water such as tap water and supplying the purified water to a user, and a device for supplying a user with drinking water such as bottled water. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a drinking water supply device which can further supply ice, cold water, and hot water manufactured by using purified water or bottled water and further includes a cooling unit for producing ice or cold water in the drinking water supply device and further includes a heating unit is widely spread.

The present invention relates to an insulated structure of a drinking water feeder having a cooling unit (cooling cycle) for providing at least cold water or ice in such a drinking water feeder.

A cooling cycle for producing cold water or ice in a drinking water feeder typically includes an evaporator for cooling or de-icing the surrounding water by liquid refrigerant vaporizing and absorbing ambient heat, A condenser for liquefying the refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor, a condenser for condensing the refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor, and a condenser for condensing the refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor, A capillary tube which is a pipe for supplying the liquid refrigerant liquefied by the condenser to the evaporator, and the like.

In addition, the drinking water supply device provided with such a cooling cycle to supply cold water or ice has a cold water tank or an ice reservoir for respectively storing cold water or ice produced by a cooling unit (evaporator). The ice reservoirs are usually partitioned by bulkheads and located adjacent to or within the cold water tanks and the evaporators are usually located above the cold water tanks to produce cold water or ice with water in the cold water tank supplied by the circulation pump. Further, the cold water tank or the ice reservoir may be provided with a sensor for detecting the level of the cold water or the degree of ice filled in the ice reservoir, or the circulation pump.

Also, in general, the outer surface of the cold water tank containing such an ice reservoir is surrounded by an insulating material to prevent cold spillage and condensation. This heat insulator is made of a synthetic resin having a widely used heat insulating function and is attached to the outer surface of the cold water tank to surround the cold water tank. However, the mold is formed so as to surround the cold water tank, .

In the case of using the foamed molding resin in this way, it is possible to assemble various electronic parts such as an evaporator, an ice reservoir, various sensors, circulation pumps, and the like arranged in the cold water tank, After the piping and wires are connected to each other, the foam molding process is performed. In addition, the cold water tank assembly having the heat insulating material formed through the foam molding process is connected to the cold water tank assembly and connected to the piping or parts, and is assembled and completed as a drinking water supply device. At this time, a compressor, a liquid separator, a condenser, a capillary, and the like which are not included in the cold water tank assembly except for the evaporator are to be connected or assembled during the cooling cycle described above. However, the evaporator, which is exposed to the outside of the cold water tank assembly (heat- And the liquid separator, and the piping composed of copper (copper) or copper alloy or stainless steel connecting the evaporator and the capillary respectively, is usually performed by welding.

Therefore, a troublesome process such as welding work after the foam molding process must be further carried out. In particular, the liquid separator, which becomes low in temperature during the execution of the cooling cycle, must be further wrapped with a heat insulating material in order to prevent condensation.

In addition, components such as liquid separator, compressor, condenser, and capillary tube must be disposed somewhere inside and outside the case of the drinking water supply device, which is a hindrance to miniaturization of the drinking water supply device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a drinking water supply device capable of reducing the number of times of welding work after foam molding and improving the heat insulating structure of the cold water tank so as to meet the miniaturization.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, the above-mentioned cooling cycle, that is, the compressor, the liquid separator, the condenser and the capillary, which are not included in the cold water tank assembly except for the evaporator disposed inside the cold water tank, Place a liquid separator and capillary in the foaming resin, which is scarce and does not have to be exposed to the outside for heat exchange.

That is, the drinking water supply device according to the present invention comprises: an evaporator for cooling water or producing ice; A cold water tank for storing cold water cooled in the evaporator; And a heat insulating material composed of a foamed molding resin surrounding the cold water tank, wherein the heat insulating material comprises: a capillary for supplying liquid refrigerant to the evaporator; and a liquid separator for separating the liquid refrigerant contained in the refrigerant gas discharged from the evaporator And is foam-molded integrally.

Preferably, the evaporator is provided on an upper side of the inside of the cold water tank, and an ice reservoir for storing ice produced by the evaporator is provided in the lower part of the evaporator.

The ice maker may further include a guide grill slantingly provided at a lower portion of the evaporator, for guiding the ice removed from the evaporator to the ice reservoir, and guiding the water cooled by the evaporator to the cold water tank.

Preferably, the ice reservoir is provided inside the cold water tank such that the bottom surface of the ice reservoir is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the cold water tank.

The drinking water supply device may be a water purifier that supplies the purified water by the filter unit and includes a filter unit that receives and filters the raw water and may cool and / or heat the mineral water to cool ice, It may be a cold / hot water supply machine for supplying the water.

According to the drinking water supply device of the present invention, since the liquid separator and the capillary tube are integrally formed so as to be contained in the heat insulating material (foamed molding resin), the welding work of piping connecting the evaporator and the liquid separator after the foam molding process, The welding work of the piping connecting the water supply pipe and the water supply pipe is reduced, so that the manufacturing process of the drinking water supply device can be less troublesome.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to separately perform wrapping with a heat insulating material in order to prevent dew condensation of the liquid separator which becomes low in temperature during the execution of the cooling cycle, thereby improving the manufacturing process and reducing the cost.

Further, according to the present invention, since the liquid separator and the capillary tube are included in the heat insulating material (foamed molding resin), it is possible to miniaturize the drinking water feeder.

Further, according to the present invention, the liquid separator, which becomes low in temperature during the execution of the cooling cycle, is contained in the foamed molding resin (heat insulating material) and adjoins the cold water tank, thereby helping to lower the temperature of the cold water tank.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a main portion of a water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a perspective view illustrating a cold water tank assembly in a water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the cold water tank assembly portion of the water purifier shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a water jet nozzle unit for spraying water for producing cold water or ice from an evaporator in the cold water tank assembly shown in FIG. 3; FIG.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which water is sprayed to the evaporator fingers in the water jet nozzle unit shown in FIG. 4. FIG.
6 is a perspective view of a guide grill disposed within the cold water tank assembly shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary terms, and the inventor should appropriately interpret the concepts of the terms appropriately It should be construed in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined. Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

In the drawings, the size of each element or a specific part constituting the element is exaggerated, omitted or schematically shown for convenience and clarity of description. Therefore, the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. In the following description, it is to be understood that the detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cold water tank assembly, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a cold water tank assembly part. That is, the present embodiment is a case where the present invention is applied to a water purifier that supplies purified water by the filter portion having a filter portion for receiving and filtering raw water (tap water). However, Or a cold / hot water supply unit for supplying cold water.

1 to 3, the water purifier of the present embodiment includes a case 100, a cold water tank assembly 200 mounted inside the case 100, a purified water tank 200 disposed adjacent to the cold water tank assembly 200, (400), a cooling cycle, a filter unit (not shown), and the like.

The case 100 includes a front cover 110, a top cover 120, a side cover 130, a back cover 140, and a bottom frame 150, each of which is separately formed Or all or a part of them may be formed integrally with each other.

The front cover 110 is provided with a control button 111 and a display or LED lamp 112 indicating the state of the water purifier and the like and is formed with a purified water / cold water / hot water outlet 113 at normal temperature and an ice outlet 114 have. A condenser 320 constituting a cooling cycle is disposed in the rear cover 140 and various components of a water purifier such as a compressor 310 and a filter constituting a cooling cycle are mounted on the floor frame 150. The side cover 130 and the rear cover 140 are formed with grilles 131 and 141 through which air can be circulated to facilitate the dissipation of heat generated in the condenser 320.

The cold water tank assembly 200 receives purified water from a purified water tank 400 that stores purified water by a filter unit (not shown), as shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, A cold water tank 210 for storing the cold water 10 cooled by the cooling water tank 210, a heat insulating material 220 comprising a foamed molding resin surrounding the entire cold water tank 210, and a cooling cycle (evaporator 340) The ice 20 produced by the ice reservoir 230 storing the ice 20 and the cooling cycle (evaporator 340) is guided to the ice reservoir 230 and the cooled water (cold water) A guide grill 240 for guiding the ice water 20 to the tank 210 and a circulation pump 240 for drawing up water 10 in the cold water tank 210 to the evaporator 340 so as to produce ice 20 and cold water in the evaporator 340, (250). A more detailed description of the cold water tank assembly 200 will be described later.

1 and 2, the cooling cycle includes a compressor 310 for compressing the refrigerant gas at a high temperature and a high pressure, a compressor 310 for compressing the refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor 310, A condenser 320 and a capillary tube 330 which is a pipe for supplying the liquid refrigerant liquefied by the condenser 320 to the evaporator 340. The liquid refrigerant absorbs the ambient heat and evaporates, An evaporator 340 for cooling or deicing the water and an accumulator 350 for separating the liquid refrigerant contained in the refrigerant gas evaporated in the evaporator 340 from the compressor 310 Respectively.

The evaporator 340 is installed at an upper side of the inside of the cold water tank 210, and is formed as a U-shaped pipe as viewed from above, and the refrigerant flows into the evaporator 340. One end of the evaporator 340 constituting the U-shaped tube is connected to the capillary tube 330 and the other end is connected to the liquid separator 350 through a refrigerant gas pipe 342. Further, a plurality of evaporator fingers 341 protruding downward below the evaporator 340 to generate ice or cool water are formed around the evaporator 340.

In addition, an electric heater 360 is provided as a de-iced water terminal for separating ice that has been de-iced adjacent to the evaporator 340 formed of a U-shaped tube through an electric wire 361. Accordingly, when the electric heater 360 is heated, high-temperature heat is transferred to the evaporator finger 341, and the ice 20 having been subjected to the ice-making process is separated.

Below the evaporator 340 of this embodiment, a water spray nozzle unit 370 for spraying water for producing ice or cold water to the evaporator finger 341 is disposed. 4, a flow path through which the water (cold water) 10 supplied through the cold water supply pipe 251 passes by the circulation pump 250 is formed inside the water injection nozzle unit 370 , And the end of the flow path is connected to the water injection nozzle 371. 5, when water is sprayed toward the evaporator finger 341 through the water injection nozzle 371, the ice 20 is generated around the evaporator finger 341, or the ice 20 is generated around the evaporator finger 341 The collided water is cooled and falls into the lower cold water tank 210 to produce the cold water 10.

A guide grill 240 inclined toward the ice reservoir 230 is disposed below the evaporator 340 and the water injection nozzle unit 370. 6, the guide grill 240 is formed with slits 241 of a size that does not allow the ice 20 to pass therethrough so that the ice 20 that has been scooped is transferred to the ice reservoir 230, Water can be guided to the cold water tank 210 through the slit 241.

Here, the guide grill 240 includes an upper plate 242, a lower plate 244 and an intermediate plate 243 provided in a lower layer of the upper plate 242 in a multi-layer structure, A side plate 245, and the like.

The upper plate 242 is sloped toward the ice reservoir 230 as described above and the slits 241 are formed so that the ice 20 is scooped up into the ice reservoir 230 and the water is slit 241 To the lower plate 244 and the intermediate plate 243.

The lower plate 244 is provided at a lower end of the upper plate 242 so as to be inclined in a direction opposite to the upper plate 242 and guides the water having passed through the slit 241 to the cold water tank 210, The water that has passed through the slit 241 can be guided to the cold water tank 210 independently of the lower plate 244.

In this way, the guide grill 240 is formed in a multi-layered plate structure, so that the water passing through the slit 241 can be uniformly supplied to the lower plate 244 and the intermediate plate 243 Can be dispersed. As a result, it is possible to reduce the noise generated when the water passing through the slit 241 falls on the water already on the plate.

The ice reservoir 230 is provided inside the cold water tank 210 so that its bottom surface is spaced from the bottom surface of the cold water tank 210 and stores the ice 20 guided by the guide grill 240. The ice reservoir 230 is provided with a screw 231 for conveying the stored ice to the ice outlet 114 and a motor 232 for rotating the screw 231 is provided. In addition, a hole 233 is formed in the bottom surface of the ice reservoir 230 so that the ice can be discharged, so that the ice melted water can naturally fall into the cold water tank 210 at the bottom.

The cold water tank 210 having the evaporator 340, the electric heater 360, the water spray nozzle unit 370, the ice reservoir 230, the guide grill 240, the circulation pump 250, The whole is surrounded by the heat insulating material 220 made of the foam molding resin.

Here, the heat insulating material 220 is formed by foam molding so that at least a capillary tube 330 and a liquid separator 350 constituting the cooling cycle are included in the heat insulating material 220, as shown in Fig. A refrigerant gas pipe 342 connecting the other end of the evaporator 340 having the U-shaped tube to the liquid separator 350 and a refrigerant gas pipe 343 extending from the liquid separator 350 to the compressor 310 are provided in the heat insulating material 220. [ And part of the pipe 351 is also included.

That is, the refrigerant gas pipe 342 connecting the evaporator 340, the capillary 330, the liquid separator 350, the other end of the evaporator 340 and the liquid separator 350 among the components provided inside and outside the cold water tank 210 And the refrigerant gas pipe 351 connecting the liquid separator 350 and the compressor 310 are integrally manufactured and assembled or assembled in the cold water tank 210 and the power supply wiring 361 of the electric heater 360 is mounted, When the circulation pump 250 is disposed inside the cold water tank 210, at least the power supply wiring and the like are assembled or mounted together to form the cold water tank assembly 200, and then the cold water tank assembly 200 And the heat insulating material 220 is formed by putting a resin material between the cold water tank assembly 200 and the molding die and performing foam molding.

In this way, by including the liquid separator 350 disposed inside the heat insulating material 220 outside the heat insulating material 220, the manufacturing process of the water purifier is simplified and the cost is reduced. That is, in the related art, welding work is required to connect the refrigerant gas pipe 342, which is connected to the other end of the evaporator 340 and exposed to the outside of the heat insulating material made of the foam molding resin, to the liquid separator, The cooling cycle from the capillary tube 330 to the refrigerant gas pipe 351 for connecting the liquid separator 350 and the compressor 310 is integrally manufactured and the refrigerant gas pipeline 351 mounted in the cold water tank 210 By forming the heat insulating material 220 by the subsequent foaming molding, at least one welding work becomes unnecessary, and an operation of wrapping the liquid separator with another heat insulating material is not necessary.

By including the liquid separator 350 in the heat insulating material 220, the utilization of the internal space of the case 100 is improved correspondingly, and furthermore, the liquid separator 350, which becomes low in temperature during the execution of the cooling cycle, 220) and adjacent to the cold water tank 210, so that it is also helpful to maintain the cold water tank 210 at a low temperature.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. And various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the evaporator 340 has the evaporator finger 341 formed in the U-shaped pipe. However, the evaporator may be disposed on the back surface of the ice- In one embodiment, water and cold water are produced by spraying water to the evaporator finger 341 through the water spray nozzle unit 370. However, it is also possible to deform the water to spray water into the ice tray, It can also be implemented in such a way that water is poured or filled in the water reservoir. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the electric heater 360 is provided as a de-iced water stage, but it is also possible to perform de-icing by supplying hot gas at a high temperature into the evaporator.

In the above-described embodiment, the ice reservoir 230 is disposed apart from the bottom of the cold water tank 210. However, the ice reservoir may be separated from the cold water tank through the partition wall, They may be disposed adjacent to each other. Further, although the circulation pump 250 is described as being disposed inside the cold water tank 210 in the above-described embodiment, the circulation pump may be disposed outside the cold water tank.

Case: 100 Front cover: 110
Top cover: 120 Side cover: 130
Rear cover: 140 Base frame: 150
Cold water tank assembly: 200 Cold water tank: 210
Insulation: 220 Ice storage: 230
Guide grill: 240 Circulating pump: 250
Compressors: 310 Condensers: 320
Capillary: 330 evaporator: 340
Liquid separator: 350 electric heater (de-iced water): 360
Water injection nozzle part: 370 water tank: 400

Claims (5)

An evaporator for cooling water or producing ice;
A cold water tank for storing cold water cooled in the evaporator; And
And a heat insulating material formed of a foamed molding resin surrounding the cold water tank,
Wherein the heat insulating material is integrally foam molded so as to include a capillary for supplying liquid refrigerant to the evaporator and a liquid separator for separating the liquid refrigerant contained in the refrigerant gas discharged from the evaporator. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the evaporator is provided at an upper side of the inside of the cold water tank,
And an ice reservoir for storing ice produced by the evaporator in a lower portion of the evaporator is provided in the cold water tank. 3. The method of claim 2,
And a guide grill slantingly provided at a lower portion of the evaporator for guiding the ice removed from the evaporator to the ice reservoir and guiding the water cooled by the evaporator to the cold water tank. . The method of claim 3,
Wherein the ice reservoir is provided inside the cold water tank such that the bottom surface of the ice reservoir is spaced from the bottom surface of the cold water tank. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein the drinking water supply device is a water purifier for supplying purified water by the filter unit, the filter being provided with a filter unit for receiving and filtering raw water.

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