KR102546663B1 - Water purifier having ice manufacturing function and operation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a water purifier having an ice making function and an operation method thereof. The water purifier having the ice-making function includes a filter unit including one or more filters and filtering and purifying incoming raw water; a cold water and ice storage unit for storing cold water and ice generated by cooling purified purified water passing through the filter unit and selectively discharging the stored cold water or ice; an auger module generating cold water and ice by cooling the water supplied from the cold water and ice storage unit by an auger-type ice making method; a cooler providing refrigerant to the auger module; a control unit that receives signals for setting a cooling function to generate cold water and an ice-making function to generate ice; and a controller that individually controls cooling and ice-making operations performed by the auger module based on the signal transmitted from the manipulation unit.

Description

Water purifier with ice making function and method of operation thereof {WATER PURIFIER HAVING ICE MANUFACTURING FUNCTION AND OPERATION METHOD THEREOF}

The present application relates to a water purifier having an ice making function and an operation method thereof.

A water purifier is a device for providing purified water by purifying raw water supplied from the outside. Recently, a water purifier that generates and provides ice using purified water in addition to providing purified water has been widely used.

There are various methods such as an immersion-type ice-making method, a spray-type ice-making method, a flowing water-type ice-making method, and an auger-type ice-making method as a method of generating ice.

Here, the auger-type ice making method allows the refrigerant to flow around the flow space through which water flows so that ice is created on the inner circumferential surface of the flow space, and the screw rotates in the flow space to separate the ice from the inner circumferential surface of the flow space. It is a method of transporting and discharging to the outside.

This auger-type ice making method is mainly used in ice makers used for businesses. Commercial ice makers use high-performance coolers, so they can make ice regardless of the water temperature. However, when a cooler has poor performance, such as a household water purifier, normal ice making is difficult using room temperature water.

Therefore, in the case of a water purifier having only one cold water tank while adopting the auger-type ice-making method, a cooling function for lowering the temperature of water must be accompanied in order to perform the ice-making function. In this case, there is a limitation that the cooling function and the ice making function cannot be set separately.

Therefore, in the related art, there is a demand for a method of separately setting a cooling function and an ice making function in a water purifier having one cold water tank while employing an auger type ice making method.

In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention provides a water purifier having an ice making function.

The water purifier having the ice-making function includes a filter unit including one or more filters and filtering and purifying incoming raw water; a cold water and ice storage unit for storing cold water and ice generated by cooling purified purified water passing through the filter unit and selectively discharging the stored cold water or ice; an auger module for generating cold water and ice by cooling the water supplied from the cold water and ice storage unit by an auger-type ice making method; a cooler providing refrigerant to the auger module; a control unit that receives signals for setting a cooling function to generate cold water and an ice-making function to generate ice; and a controller that individually controls cooling and ice-making operations performed by the auger module based on a signal transmitted from the manipulation unit.

Meanwhile, another embodiment of the present invention provides a method of operating a water purifier having an ice making function.

The method of operating a water purifier with an ice-making function includes: receiving an input for setting a function of the water purifier; controlling to generate both cold water and ice by the auger module when both a cooling function for generating cold water and an ice-making function for generating ice are ON; controlling to generate cold water by the auger module when the cooling function is ON and the ice making function is OFF; controlling to generate both cold water and ice by the auger module when the cooling function is OFF and the ice making function is ON; and stopping the operation of the auger module when both the cooling function and the ice making function are OFF.

In addition, the solution to the above problem does not enumerate all the features of the present invention. Various features of the present invention and the advantages and effects thereof will be understood in more detail with reference to specific embodiments below.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a cooling function and an ice making function may be separately set in a water purifier having one cold water tank while employing an auger-type ice making method.

Furthermore, power consumption can be minimized by appropriately performing a power saving operation in each setting environment.

1 is a configuration diagram of a water purifier having an ice making function according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the auger module shown in FIG. 1 .
3 is a flowchart of an operating method of a water purifier having an ice making function according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily practice the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, in describing a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for parts having similar functions and actions.

In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is said to be 'connected' to another part, this is not only the case where it is 'directly connected', but also the case where it is 'indirectly connected' with another element in between. include In addition, 'including' a certain component means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components unless otherwise stated.

1 is a configuration diagram of a water purifier having an ice making function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the water purifier 100 includes a filter unit 110, a purified water storage unit 120, a cold water and ice storage unit 130, an auger module 140, a cooler 145, an extraction unit 150, It may include a control unit 160, a sensor unit 170, a control unit 180 and a display unit 190.

The filter unit 110 is composed of one or more filters to sequentially filter and purify raw water, and may include a sediment filter, a pre-carbon filter, a reverse osmosis membrane filter, and a post-carbon filter, but the type of filter, The number and order may be changed according to the filtration method of the water purifier 100 or the filtration performance required of the water purifier 100. For example, a hollow fiber membrane filter may be provided instead of a reverse osmosis membrane filter. In addition, the post carbon filter may not be provided, and a micro filter (MF) or other functional filters may be provided instead of or in addition to the above-mentioned filter.

The purified water storage unit 120 may pass through the filter unit 110 and store purified purified water and selectively discharge the stored purified water.

For example, the purified water stored in the purified water storage unit 120 may be extracted to an extraction unit 150 such as a faucet through the first flow path conversion valve SV1 or provided to the cold water and ice storage unit 130 .

Here, the first flow path conversion valve SV1 is provided in a flow path connecting the purified water storage unit 120 and the cold water and ice storage unit 130 and the extraction unit 150, and controls the flow path according to the control of the control unit 160. can switch

For example, the first flow path conversion valve (SV1) is implemented as a 2-way valve so that the purified water stored in the purified water storage unit 120 is provided to the extraction unit 150 or the purified water stored in the purified water storage unit 120 is supplied to the extraction unit 150. The flow path may be switched to provide the cold water and ice storage unit 130 .

In some cases, the purified water storage unit 120 may not be provided. In this case, the purified water passing through the filter unit 110 is directly extracted to the extraction unit 150, or the cold water and ice storage unit 130 ) can be provided.

The cold water and ice storage unit 130 stores cold water or ice generated by being provided from the purified water storage unit 120 and cooled by the auger module 140 to be described later, and may selectively discharge the stored cold water or ice.

The cold water and ice storage unit 130 may be partitioned into a first storage space for storing cold water and a second storage space for storing ice by a partition wall (not shown) provided therein so as to store cold water and ice, respectively. there is.

In this case, the purified water provided from the purified water storage unit 120 may flow into the first storage space and then be provided to the auger module 140 to be described later to be cooled. In addition, the cold water cooled by the auger module 140 and generated may be supplied to the cold water and ice storage unit 130 again and stored in the first storage space. Meanwhile, ice generated by the auger module 140 may be provided to the cold water and ice storage unit 130 and stored in the second storage space.

However, as shown in FIG. 1 , the storage unit for storing cold water and ice does not necessarily have to be formed as one, and the cold water storage unit and the ice storage unit made independently may be positioned adjacent to each other.

In addition, a pump P1 and a second flow path conversion valve SV2 may be provided in a flow path connecting the first storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 and the auger module 140 .

Here, the pump P1 may be implemented as, for example, a motor to provide cold water stored in the first storage space to the auger module 140 .

In addition, the second flow path conversion valve (SV2) is implemented as, for example, a 2-way valve so that the cold water stored in the first storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 is supplied to the extraction unit 150, or the auger module ( 140), the flow path may be switched.

Meanwhile, a transfer means (not shown) for transferring ice is provided in the second storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130, and the ice transported by the transfer means is configured to be extracted through the extraction unit 150. can

The auger module 140 cools the cold water (or purified water) provided from the cold water and ice storage unit 130 by an auger-type ice making method to generate cold water and ice.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the auger module shown in FIG. 1. The auger module 140 may include a cooling unit 142, a moving unit 144, a separation transfer unit 146, and a motor 148. there is.

Here, the cooling unit 142 constitutes the outside of the auger module 140, and a space in which the refrigerant can flow is formed in the cooling unit 142 so that the refrigerant supplied from the cooler 145 described later can flow. .

In addition, the flow part 144 formed in the inner space surrounded by the cooling part 142 receives the cold water supplied from the cold water and ice storage part 130 and allows it to flow. The cold water flowing in the flow part 144 is further cooled by the refrigerant flowing in the cooling part 142 , and ice may be formed on a surface in contact with the cooling part 142 .

Here, the flow rate of the cold water flowing through the flow unit 144 may vary depending on whether the aforementioned pump P1 is driven. For example, when the pump P1 is driven, the flow rate increases, and accordingly, ice may not be generated in the flow part 144 or only a relatively small amount of ice may be generated. On the other hand, when the pump P1 is not driven, the flow rate slows down, and accordingly, ice can be sufficiently generated.

The separation and transfer unit 146 is implemented as, for example, a screw rotating in the moving unit 144 to separate and transfer ice generated on the surface in contact with the cooling unit 142 and discharge it to the cold water and ice storage unit 130. there is.

The motor 148 may be driven to rotate the separation transfer unit 146 .

The cold water generated by the auger module 140 described above is provided to the first storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130, and the ice generated by the auger module 140 is supplied to the cold water and ice storage unit 130. It may be provided as a second storage space.

The cooler 145 provides refrigerant to the cooling unit 142 of the auger module 140, and liquefies the refrigerant by releasing heat from a compressor that compresses the refrigerant and a high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant compressed in the compressor. It may be configured to include a condenser to do.

The extraction unit 150 is for selectively extracting purified water stored in the purified water storage unit 120, cold water stored in the first storage space of the ice storage unit 130, and ice stored in the second storage space. For example, it may be implemented as a faucet for extracting purified water and cold water and a spout for extracting ice.

The control unit 160 is for controlling the overall operation of the water purifier 100, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field It can be implemented with a processor such as Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA).

For example, the control unit 160 controls the flow path switching valves SV1 and SV2, the pump P1, and the auger module 140 based on a signal received from the sensor unit 170 or a signal received from the manipulation unit 180, which will be described later. ) may be controlled to generate cold water and ice, selectively extract purified water, cold water, and ice, or perform a power saving function.

A detailed method of controlling the operation of the water purifier 100 by the controller 160 according to an input signal will be described later with reference to FIG. 3 .

The sensor unit 170 is for sensing information necessary for controlling the operation of the water purifier 100 .

For example, the sensor unit 170 may include a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of cold water stored in the first storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 and a temperature sensor stored in the second storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130. A full ice detection sensor for detecting whether ice is full may be included.

The control unit 180 is to receive an input from a user to set the function of the water purifier 100, and may be implemented as a button-type or touch-type input means, for example.

For example, signals for setting a cooling function and an ice making function of the water purifier 100 may be received through the control unit 180 . Here, the cooling function refers to a function of generating cold water, and the function of making ice refers to a function of generating ice.

Combinations of functions that can be set through the control unit 180 are shown in Table 1.

No Cooling ice making One ON ON 2 ON OFF 3 OFF ON 4 OFF OFF

The display unit 190 is for displaying operation-related information of the water purifier 100, and may be implemented as a display device such as an LED or LCD.

For example, the display unit 190 may display function setting related information, power saving function related information, and the like of the water purifier 100 input by the manipulation unit 180 .

3 is a flowchart of an operating method of a water purifier having an ice making function according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , first, an input for setting a function of the water purifier may be received through the manipulation unit 180 (S30).

When both the ice making function and the cooling function are turned on according to the function setting input (S31 and S32), the controller 160 may control the water purifier 100 to perform cooling and ice making operations, and thus, purified water, cold water and ice are provided. It can be selectively extracted (S33).

In this case, in order to save power, when ice is generated by the ice making operation and the second storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 is filled with ice, that is, full ice is detected, the controller 160 controls the controller 160 for a preset time (eg, For example, for 4 hours), the ice making operation may be stopped (S35).

In addition, the control unit 160 may enter a power saving mode and stop the cooling operation by the auger module 140 when a predetermined condition is satisfied (S36). Here, the preset condition is, for example, when the temperature of the cold water stored in the first storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 reaches a preset temperature (eg, 4 degrees) or when the corresponding temperature is reached. This may be a case in which an additional cooling operation is performed for a certain period of time afterward.

Thereafter, the controller 160 may re-perform the cooling operation by the auger module 140 when the temperature of the cold water stored in the first storage space exceeds a preset first temperature (eg, 6.8 degrees) (S37). .

Meanwhile, when the ice making function is turned on and the cooling function is turned off according to the function setting input (S31 and S32), the controller 160 controls the water purifier 100 to perform cooling and ice making operations, while selectively selecting only purified water and ice. It can be controlled to extract (S34).

As described above, in order to generate ice in a water purifier having only one cold water tank while adopting the auger-type ice making method, a cooling operation for lowering the temperature of water must be performed. However, in order to meet the user's demand for setting the cooling function to OFF, even if the user selects cold water extraction, the flow path switching valve (SV1) can be controlled so that the cold water is not extracted and the purified water stored in the purified water storage unit 120 is extracted. there is.

Even in this case, in order to save power, when ice is generated by the ice making operation and the second storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 is full of ice, that is, full ice is detected, the controller 160 controls the controller 160 for a predetermined time ( For example, the ice making operation may be stopped for 4 hours) (S35).

In addition, the control unit 160 may enter a power saving mode and stop the cooling operation by the auger module 140 when a preset condition is satisfied (S36), and the temperature of the cold water stored in the first storage space is set to a preset first temperature. When the temperature exceeds (eg, 6.8 degrees), the cooling operation by the auger module 140 may be performed again (S37).

On the other hand, when the ice making function is turned off and the cooling function is turned on according to the function setting input (S31 and S38), the controller 160 may control the water purifier 100 to perform a cooling operation, thereby providing purified water and cold water. It can be selectively extracted (S39).

In this case, for power saving, the control unit 160 may enter a power saving mode and stop the cooling operation by the auger module 140 when a preset condition is satisfied (S40). Here, the preset condition is, for example, when the temperature of the cold water stored in the first storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 reaches a preset temperature (eg, 4 degrees) or when the corresponding temperature is reached. This may be a case in which an additional cooling operation is performed for a certain period of time afterward.

Thereafter, the controller 160 may re-perform the cooling operation by the auger module 140 when the temperature of the cold water stored in the first storage space exceeds a predetermined second temperature (eg, 10 degrees) (S41). . Here, the second temperature may be set to a higher temperature than the first temperature. This means that when the ice making function is set to ON, it is necessary to keep the temperature of cold water low in order to normally perform the ice making operation, but when the ice making function is set to OFF, cold water is provided only enough to provide cold water when the user extracts cold water. to maintain the temperature of

Meanwhile, when both the cooling function and the ice-making function are turned off according to the function setting input (S31 and S38), the controller 160 may control the water purifier 100 not to perform cooling and ice-making operations, and accordingly, only purified water can be extracted. It can (S42).

The present invention is not limited by the foregoing embodiments and accompanying drawings. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the components according to the present invention can be substituted, modified, and changed without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.

100: water purifier
110: filter unit
120: integer storage unit
130: cold water and ice storage unit
140: auger module
145: cooler
150: extraction unit
160: control unit
170: sensor unit
180: control panel
190: display unit

Claims (20)

A filter unit including one or more filters and filtering and purifying incoming raw water;
a cold water and ice storage unit for storing cold water and ice generated by cooling purified purified water passing through the filter unit and selectively discharging the stored cold water or ice;
an auger module for generating cold water and ice by cooling the water supplied from the cold water and ice storage unit by an auger-type ice making method;
a cooler providing refrigerant to the auger module;
a control unit that receives signals for setting a cooling function to generate cold water and an ice-making function to generate ice; and
A control unit that individually controls cooling and ice-making operations performed by the auger module based on a signal transmitted from the operation unit;
When the cooling function is OFF and the ice making function is ON, the control unit controls to generate both cold water and ice by the auger module and selectively extracts purified water and ice,
Wherein the control unit controls to extract purified water when a cold water extraction signal is input.
The method of claim 1, wherein the auger module,
a cooling unit constituting the outside of the auger module and forming a space in which the refrigerant supplied from the cooler flows;
a flow part formed in the inner space surrounded by the cooling part and accommodating and flowing the cold water supplied from the cold water and ice storage part;
a separation transfer unit which rotates in the moving unit to separate ice formed on a surface of the moving unit in contact with the cooling unit, and discharges the cold water cooled in the moving unit and the separated ice to the cold water and ice storage unit; and
A water purifier having an ice making function including a motor for rotating the separation transfer unit.
According to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit controls to generate both cold water and ice by the auger module and selectively extracts purified water, cold water and ice when both the cooling function and the ice making function are ON.
According to claim 1,
wherein the controller controls to generate cold water by the auger module and selectively extracts purified water and cold water when the cooling function is ON and the ice-making function is OFF.
delete delete According to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit stops the operation of the auger module and controls to extract purified water when both the cooling function and the ice making function are OFF.
According to claim 1,
The cold water and ice storage unit is divided into a first storage space for storing cold water and a second storage space for storing ice by a partition wall and having an ice making function for storing the cold water and ice generated by the auger module, respectively.
According to claim 8,
The water purifier having an ice making function further comprising a sensor unit including a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the cold water stored in the first storage space and a full ice detection sensor for detecting whether or not the ice stored in the second storage space is full.
According to claim 9,
The water purifier having an ice making function for controlling the controller to perform a power saving function of the water purifier based on a signal received from the sensor unit.
According to claim 10,
wherein the control unit controls to stop the ice making operation by the auger module for a predetermined time when full ice is detected by the full ice detection sensor when the ice making function is ON.
According to claim 11,
Wherein the control unit enters a power saving mode and controls to stop the cooling operation by the auger module when the ice making function is ON and a predetermined condition is satisfied.
According to claim 12,
The control unit controls the cooling operation by the auger module to be re-performed when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than a preset first temperature.
According to claim 10,
Wherein the control unit enters a power saving mode and controls to stop the cooling operation by the auger module when a predetermined condition is satisfied when the cooling function is ON and the ice making function is OFF.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the control unit controls the cooling operation by the auger module to be re-performed when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than a preset second temperature.
According to claim 1 or 10,
The water purifier with an ice making function further includes a display unit that displays function setting related information or power saving function related information input by the manipulation unit.
A method of operating a water purifier having an auger module for generating ice by an auger-type ice making method,
Receiving an input for setting a function of a water purifier;
controlling to generate both cold water and ice by the auger module when both a cooling function for generating cold water and an ice-making function for generating ice are ON;
controlling to generate cold water by the auger module when the cooling function is ON and the ice making function is OFF;
controlling to generate both cold water and ice by the auger module when the cooling function is OFF and the ice making function is ON;
stopping the operation of the auger module when both the cooling function and the ice making function are OFF; and
and extracting purified water when the cold water extraction signal is input when the cooling function is OFF and the ice making function is ON.
delete 18. The method of claim 17,
When the ice making function is ON,
stopping the ice making operation by the auger module for a predetermined time when full ice is detected by a full ice sensor installed in the ice tank;
stopping a cooling operation by the auger module by entering a power saving mode when a predetermined condition is satisfied; and
Re-performing the cooling operation by the auger module when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor installed in the cold water tank is equal to or higher than the preset first temperature.
According to claim 19,
When the cooling function is ON and the ice making function is OFF,
stopping a cooling operation by the auger module by entering a power saving mode when a predetermined condition is satisfied; and
Re-performing the cooling operation by the auger module when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor is equal to or greater than a preset second temperature;
The second temperature is set to a higher temperature than the first temperature.

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