KR200328424Y1 - Wator supply system for ice makers of a refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ice maker water supply device of a refrigerator, a water tank (1), a water supply valve (3) for selective water supply from the water supply to the water tank through the water supply pipe (2), and from the water tank to the ice making container. A drain valve 6 for selective drainage of the water tank, which measures the weight of the water tank and outputs a signal to the microprocessor 10 to check the weight of the water reservoir and the water drained in the water tank 1 It further comprises a load cell (8) provided to the drain valve 6 is opened by the control of the microprocessor 10 when the ice making signal is input to drain the water to the ice making container, and from the load cell (8) After confirming by the signal that the required amount of water was drained from the water tank to the ice-making vessel once, close the drain valve 6 and drain the water from the water tank by the amount reduced by the drainage to the ice-making vessel. To be supplied by Since the water supply valve 3 is controlled to open, the water supply and drainage is always performed in a constant amount by the load cell in the water tank of the ice maker despite the change in the water pressure depending on the region, so that the ice making operation can be performed stably at all times. .

Description

Refrigerator Ice Maker Water Supply Equipment {WATOR SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR ICE MAKERS OF A REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator ice maker water supply device, and more particularly, to a water supply device that can provide a fixed amount of water to the ice maker of the automatic ice maker.

Recently, refrigerators are provided with an automatic ice maker which automatically supplies water to an ice maker, makes ice, and then ices the container containing ice cubes. Such automatic ice makers provide a predetermined amount of water to an ice maker in a water hydrant or a water tank. A water supply system for supplying water is essential.

The conventional water supply device opens the drain valve to the ice maker for the time required to supply the water contained in the ice maker, which is set in advance in the microprocessor, or by the rotational speed set in advance in the microprocessor using a Hall IC. Is to supply water.

However, the conventional water supply method as described above is greatly affected by the difference in tap water supply pressure in various regions, and the difference in the amount of water supplied to the ice making container depends on the difference in the water supply pressure. If the water supply is not constant, that is, the pressure is too high, the water supply may overflow the ice making container, and if the pressure is low, the water supply may not be sufficient for the ice making container, and this may cause a mistake in the ice maker water supply system. There might have been a problem.

The present invention is devised to solve the problems in the above-mentioned conventional refrigerator ice maker water supply device, and to provide a refrigerator ice maker water supply device that can always be constantly supplied to the ice maker container regardless of the difference in the water supply pressure according to the region. It is done.

1 is a block diagram showing a refrigerator ice maker water supply configuration according to the present invention.

2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerator ice maker water supply device according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

1: water tank 3: water supply valve

6: drain valve 8: load cell

10 microprocessor

In order to achieve the above object, the refrigerator ice maker water supply device according to the present invention is provided with a water tank, a water supply valve for selective water supply from the water supply to the water tank, and a drain valve for selective drainage from the water tank to the ice maker. A water supply device for a refrigerator, comprising: a load cell provided at the bottom of the water tank to measure the weight of the water tank to provide a signal to the microprocessor to check the weight of the water stored in the water tank and the drained water; When the drain valve is opened under the control of the microprocessor, the water is drained to the ice maker, and the signal from the load cell drains the required amount of water from the water tank to the ice maker once, then closes the drain valve. And control the opening of the water supply valve to supply the reduced amount of water from the water supply to the water tank.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as a description of an embodiment according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the refrigerator ice maker water supply device is connected to a water tank 1 provided in the ice maker through a water supply pipe 2, and the water supply pipe 2 provides a water supply valve 3 to selectively supply water to the water tank. ) Is provided. In addition, a drain valve 6 is also provided in a drain pipe 5 provided below the water tank 1 to supply water to the ice maker 4 of the ice maker. The water supply valve 3 and the drain valve 6 are preferably solenoid valves that are electronically controlled to be controlled by a microprocessor.

According to the present invention, a load cell 8 is provided at the bottom of the water tank 1 of the ice maker, and outputs a signal to the microprocessor about the weight of the water tank which changes as water is stored in the water tank.

In FIG. 2, a signal generated with respect to the weight of the water tank in which water is stored from the load cell 8 provided at the bottom of the water tank is input to the microprocessor 10, and the weight of the water tank itself is input in advance to the microprocessor. In this case, by subtracting the weight of the water tank itself from the weight corresponding to the signal input from the load cell, the amount of water stored in the water tank is checked. To this end, the microprocessor 10 is previously inputted with data on the amount of water contained in the ice making container 4 for ice making.

In addition, the weight of the water tank containing a certain amount of water may be set to recognize "0" in the load cell, from which the opening of the water supply valve may be to detect the increase in the weight of the water required for the ice making vessel.

Referring to the water supply method of the ice maker water supply device according to the present invention, when the deicing signal is input to the microprocessor in a state in which a certain amount of water is stored in the ice maker water tank, the drain valve 6 is opened to allow water to flow from the water tank to the ice maker container. In this case, it is determined by the signal from the load cell that the weight is reduced in the water tank by the amount of water contained in the ice making container, and the load cell may cause a signal of "0" to be generated, or the total amount of stored water You can also display the amount.

When a signal of, for example, "0" is input from the load cell, the microprocessor determines that draining of a predetermined amount of water to be contained in the ice making container is completed and controls to close the drain valve 6, while the water tank Open the water supply valve (3) to replenish the same amount of water as the reduced water, and check the weight of the water tank that is changed from the load cell to open the water supply valve (3) when the weight increase corresponds to the drainage to the ice making vessel. Control to close

Then, start de-icing as pre-programmed, and after the de-icing process is completed, open the drain valve (6) again to feed water from the water tank to the ice tray, close the drain valve, and close the drain water valve (3). Open to repeat the process of replenishing the water tank.

As described above, based on the weight signal from the load cell attached to the bottom of the water tank, the water supply valve 3 and the drain valve 6 are sequentially provided so that the water supply and drainage are always performed by the microprocessor as much as the amount of water required for one-time deicing. By controlling the water, a certain amount of water is always supplied to the ice making container, and the water tank can be replenished with the same amount of water so that the ice making process can be stably performed.

According to the present invention, despite the change in the water pressure according to the region, the water supply and drainage of the water tank of the ice maker by the load cell is always made by a constant amount, so that the ice making operation can be performed stably at all times. The problem is solved easily.

Claims (1)

A water tank (1), a water supply valve (3) for selective water supply from the water supply to the water tank through the water supply pipe (2), and a drain valve (6) for selective drainage from the water tank to the ice making container In the refrigerator water supply apparatus, the load cell (8) provided at the bottom of the water tank (1) to measure the weight of the water tank and output a signal to the microprocessor (10) to check the weight of the water stored in the water tank and drained water It further includes, when the deicing signal is input, the drain valve 6 is opened by the control of the microprocessor 10 to drain the water to the ice making vessel, the ice from the water tank by the signal from the load cell (8) After confirming that the required amount of water has been drained through the container, the drain valve 6 is closed, and the water supply valve (3) is supplied with the amount of water reduced by the drainage to the ice maker from the hydrant to the water tank. Controlled to open Refrigerator ice maker water supply consisting of.