KR200328422Y1 - Water-supply system for an automatic ice maker - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a water supply device for an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator, and receives a water supply from a water supply hydrant and a water supply provided to a water supply pipe connected to the water supply pipe connected to the water supply container connected to the water supply container to supply water to the water storage container Water level sensing means (4, 5) for detecting the water level of the water stored in the water tank provided in the valve (1), the drain valve (2) provided in the drain pipe from the water tank to the ice-making vessel, and stored in the water tank (4, 5) ), A valve driver 9, 10 for driving the water supply valve 1 and the drain valve 2 according to the signal from the water level sensing means provided in the water tank according to the ice making signal input to the automatic ice maker. By including a microprocessor (7) for outputting a signal for controlling the control unit, it is always possible to remove a certain amount of ice making water from the bucket irrespective of the water supply pressure of the water supply to each home Therefore able to supply the courage, to give further enhance the commercial value to allow the ice to work to solve the problems did not facilitate a smooth operation of the automatic ice maker according to the pressure difference in each home, as is conventional.

Description

Water supply device for refrigerator automatic ice maker {WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR AN AUTOMATIC ICE MAKER}

The present invention relates to a water supply device for an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an ice maker configured to automatically control a water supply valve and a drain valve according to a change in the water level in the water tank when water is supplied from the hydrant to the water tank and when the water is discharged from the water tank to the ice container. It relates to a water supply device.

The automatic ice maker of the refrigerator is configured to automatically perform a series of processes, such as automatic ice removal, ice removal, and water supply to an ice maker. In addition, when the water supply for ice making or dispenser in the refrigerator is not suitable to use a small capacity bucket, water is supplied from the water pipe directly to the refrigerator to increase the convenience of water supply.

As such, when water supply system of water direct type is adopted, water supply control must supply water as much as capacity required for ice making vessel from water pipe, so precise control of water supply valve is absolutely necessary. Various devices are used to control the water supply, such as control by using or using Hall IC.

However, in the case of using the water directly connected to the refrigerator in this way, since the water pressure of the tap water supplied to each home is different, there is a problem that it is difficult to always supply a certain amount of water to the ice maker of the automatic ice maker.

The present invention is devised to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional refrigerator automatic ice maker water supply device, and the water supply valve provided in the water supply pipe from the water supply so that water can be supplied from the water supply by the amount drained from the bucket to the ice maker. It is an object of the present invention to provide a water supply device for an automatic ice maker that can always supply a fixed quantity of water to an ice maker by controlling the control of the drain valve provided in the drain pipe from the bucket to the ice maker.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a water supply device for an automatic refrigerator ice maker according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a circuit diagram for the control of the water supply for automatic ice maker of Figure 1;

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1: water supply valve 2: drain valve

3: bucket 4,5: sensing rod

7: microprocessor 8, 9: valve drive unit

In order to achieve the above object, the refrigerator automatic ice maker water supply apparatus according to the present invention is supplied to the water supply pipe connected to the water supply pipe connected to the bucket from the water supply and the reservoir for receiving water from the water supply to drain the water to the ice making container A valve, a drain valve provided in the drain pipe from the bucket to the ice-making vessel, a level sensor for sensing the level of water stored in the bucket and outputting a signal, and controlling water supply according to an ice maker signal input to the automatic ice maker. And a microprocessor which performs ice making control and outputs a signal for controlling the valve driving units for driving the water supply valve and the drain valve in accordance with a signal from the water level sensing means provided in the water tank.

The water level sensing means generates first and second sensing rods spaced up and down at predetermined intervals to detect the difference in water level, and potential signals in a state in which the sensing rods are submerged and not locked, and the microprocessor detects the level. It is configured to determine the water supply time to the water tank and the water discharge time to the ice-making vessel according to the signal of the means, and output control signals for opening and closing the water supply valve and the drain valve to the respective valve driving units.

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

As schematically shown in Figure 1, the water supply apparatus of the automatic refrigerator ice maker according to the present invention is supplied with water to the water supply pipe through the water supply valve (1) through the drain valve (2) to drain the water to the ice storage container Two sensing rods 4 and 5 are provided in the water tank 3 so as to be spaced up and down at predetermined intervals, and the potential signals when the sensing rods are submerged in the water of the water tank and not locked are shown in FIG. Input to the microprocessor through the circuit.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the sensing rod 4 is submerged in water, a high level (H) signal according to the high potential is input to the microprocessor 7, while the lower sensing rod 5 is also submerged in water. Inverted through the inverter 8 at the high potential in the state, the low level (L) signal is input to the microprocessor, and in this case, it is determined that there is enough water in the water reservoir to supply the ice making vessel from the bucket, Opening the drain valve (2) generates a control signal to the drain valve drive unit 9 so that water is supplied from the bucket to the ice maker. At this time, the water level difference corresponding to the signal of the non-submerged signal in the signal state of the upper sensing rod 4 is set to the interval of the sensing rods (4, 5) to be equal to the quantity supplied to the ice making container. It is desirable to.

On the other hand, when the water level is lowered as the water is supplied to the ice making container from the bucket 3 and lowers below the sensing rod 4, a low level signal for low potential is input to the microprocessor and the sensing rod is input. With (5) still submerged in water, a low-level signal is input to the microprocessor, in which case the drain valve (2) is closed to stop draining from the water tank to the ice container as previously programmed. Signals for opening the water supply valve 1 to supply water to the valve driving units 9 and 10 are output.

In addition, when the low level signal is input from the sensing rod 4 and the high level (H) signal is input from the sensing rod 5, it is determined that the water is completely empty in the water tank. The valve driving unit 9 is controlled to keep the water supply valve 1 open until a sufficient amount of water is supplied to the water tank and a signal indicating that the sensing rods 4 and 5 are all submerged is input. At this time, the drain valve 2 controls the valve driving unit 10 to be kept in a closed state.

As described above, according to the present invention, by installing two sensing means in the water tank of the automatic ice maker and controlling the water supply valve and the drain valve in the microprocessor by the signal of the water level change of the water stored in the water tank, Regardless of the water supply pressure, it is possible to supply a certain amount of ice making water from the bucket to the ice making container at all times. It can be done to enhance the value of the product.

Claims (2)

A water container (3) provided in the ice making container to receive water from the hydrant and draining the water for draining to the ice making container, a water supply valve (1) provided in the water supply pipe connected to the water container from the hydrant, and the water container to the ice making container. Water supply control according to an ice making signal input to the water discharge valve (2) provided in the drain pipe, the water level sensing means (4, 5) provided to the water tank (3) to output the signal by detecting the water level of the water stored in the water tank And a microprocessor (7) which performs ice making control and outputs a signal for controlling the valve driving units (9, 10) for driving the water supply valve (1) and the drain valve (2) according to a signal from the water level sensing means provided in the water tank. Water supply for automatic refrigerator ice maker configured to include. 2. The first and second sensing rods according to claim 1, wherein the water level sensing means generates a potential signal in a submerged state and a submerged state by being spaced up and down at a predetermined interval to detect a level difference. (5), the microprocessor (7) includes the high level signal (H) when the sensing rod (4) is submerged in water and the low level signals (L) in the submerged state, In each case, the input signal combinations of the low level signal L inverted by the inverter 8 with the sensing rod 5 submerged and the high level signals H when not submerged in water are programmed in advance. The water supply device for an automatic ice maker of a refrigerator, characterized in that for outputting a signal for controlling the valve driving units (9, 10) to control the opening and closing of the water supply valve (1) and the drain valve (2).