KR20160012253A - Apparatus for supplying cold water - Google Patents

Abstract

A cool water supply device is disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cool water supply device comprises: a water supply unit supplying water; and a cooling container storing ice, converting water supplied from the water supply unit into cool water with the ice, and discharging the cool water to the outside. One aspect of the purpose of the present invention is to easily produce the cool water with a simple configuration without a cool water tank to be supplied to a user. Another aspect of the purpose of the present invention is to produce the cool water with small energy and reduced time.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING COLD WATER [0002]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cold water supply device, and more particularly, to a cold water supply device capable of easily producing cold water with a simple configuration by making water into cold water by ice contained in a cooling container.

Conventionally, in order to supply cooled water, that is, cold water to a user, water is first supplied to a cold water tank provided with a cooling unit such as an evaporator through which refrigerant flows.

Then, the water supplied to the cold water tank is cooled to a predetermined desired temperature by a cooling unit such as an evaporator, and is made into cold water and supplied to the user.

Other than this, ice made in a freezing unit including an evaporator or the like is supplied to a cold water tank in which water is stored. Accordingly, the water stored in the cold water tank is cooled by ice to become cold water. Then, cold water stored in the cold water tank is supplied to the user.

Therefore, since the cold water tank is required to supply the cold water, the structure is relatively complicated. In addition, since all of the water stored in the cold water tank must be cooled to a predetermined desired temperature and made into cold water, it takes much time and energy to make cold water.

The present invention is realized by recognizing at least any one of the above-mentioned conventional needs or problems.

One aspect of the object of the present invention is to make cold water easily and easily supplied to a user without a cold water tank in a simple configuration.

Another aspect of the object of the present invention is to make cold water with less energy and less time.

Another aspect of the object of the present invention is to make only the required amount of water cold water.

A cold water supply apparatus according to an embodiment for realizing at least one of the above problems may include the following features.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cold water supply apparatus including: a water supply unit for supplying water; And a cooling vessel containing ice and making the water supplied from the water supply unit be made cold by ice and discharged to the outside; . ≪ / RTI >

In this case, the cooling vessel may be provided with an inlet for receiving ice, an inlet connected to the receiving space and detachably connected to the water supplying unit, and an outlet connected to the receiving space for discharging the cold water to the outside.

Further, the water supply unit may include a supply pipe to which the inlet port is detachably connected; And a supply valve provided in the supply pipe; . ≪ / RTI >

The upper portion of the cooling vessel may be opened so that the ice is introduced into the cooling vessel.

In addition, the inlet may be provided on a side surface of the cooling vessel.

The outlet may be provided on the lower surface of the cooling vessel.

In addition, the inlet may extend a predetermined distance to the receiving space.

The inflow port side end of the inflow port may be provided with an injection nozzle for radially injecting water into the accommodation space.

In addition, the water contained in the accommodation space can be cooled by the ice making unit to contain ice in the accommodation space.

The ice-making unit may be provided in a cooling container.

The outlet may be inclined to a lower side of a predetermined height from a lower surface of the cooling vessel.

An ice reservoir for supplying ice to the cooling vessel; As shown in FIG.

In addition, the cooling vessel may be movably provided below the ice discharge port provided in the ice reservoir.

And, the cooling container can be moved between the cold water supply position and the ice supply position by the mobile unit.

The moving unit may further include a moving plate on which the cooling container is placed; A gear engaged with a gear portion formed on a lower surface of the moving plate; And a motor coupled to the gear; . ≪ / RTI >

The outlet may guide the ice discharged from the ice discharge port to the outside at the ice supply position.

The outlet may be inclined to a lower side of a predetermined height from a lower surface of the cooling vessel.

Further, a part of the outlet may be a plate-like shape.

Further, the supply pipe included in the water supply unit may be a flexible pipe.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily produce cold water and supply it to a user with a simple configuration without a cold water tank.

Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, cold water can be made with less energy and less time.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, only a required amount of water can be made into cold water and supplied.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In order to facilitate understanding of the features of the present invention as described above, a cold water supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described based on embodiments best suited for understanding the technical characteristics of the present invention, and the technical features of the present invention are not limited by the illustrated embodiments, It is to be understood that the present invention may be implemented as illustrated embodiments. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments to be described below, in the reference numerals shown in the accompanying drawings, among the constituent elements which perform the same function in each embodiment, the related constituent elements are indicated by the same or an extension line number.

First Embodiment

Hereinafter, a cold water supply apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The cold water supply apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention may include a water supply unit 200 and a cooling vessel 300.

The water supply part 200 can supply water. To this end, the water supply unit 200 may include a supply pipe 210 and a supply valve 220 as shown in FIG.

An inlet 310 provided in a cooling container 300 to be described later may be detachably connected to the supply pipe 210.

For example, the inlet 310 of the cooling vessel 300 may be fitted to the supply pipe 210 so that the inlet 310 may be detachably connected to the supply pipe 210. However, the structure in which the inlet 310 of the cooling vessel 300 is detachably connected to the supply pipe 210 may be any other known configuration such as being detachably connected by a separate connection pipe (not shown) Do.

The supply tube 210 may also be connected to a water source (not shown). For example, the inlet 310 of the cooling vessel 300 may be connected to one side of the supply pipe 210, and the other side of the supply pipe 210 may be connected to a water supply source.

The water supply source to which the supply pipe 210 is connected may be a water tank (not shown), a water filter (not shown) for filtering water, or an aqueous tank (not shown) for storing water filtered in the water filter . However, the water supply source is not particularly limited, and any known one can be used as long as the supply pipe 210 is connected and can supply water to the supply pipe 210.

The supply valve 220 may be provided in the supply pipe 210. Then, when the supply valve 220 is opened, water can be supplied to the supply pipe 210 from the water supply source as shown in Fig. Further, when the supply valve 220 is closed, the supply of water from the water supply source to the supply pipe 210 can be stopped.

The water supply unit 200 may be provided separately from the cooling vessel 300. For example, the water supply unit 200 may be provided in a device including a water supply source separately from the cooling container 300, for example, water or water purifier.

However, the water supply unit 200 may be provided together with the cooling vessel 300. For example, the water supply unit 200 may be connected to a device including a water supply source such as the water supply unit and the water purifier, which are provided together with the cooling container 300.

The cooling vessel 300 may contain ice (I). To this end, the cooling container 300 may be formed with a receiving space S containing ice (I). Further, the upper portion of the cooling vessel 300 can be opened. Therefore, ice (I) can be introduced through the opened upper portion of the cooling vessel 300 to contain the ice (I) in the receiving space S of the cooling vessel 300.

1, the water supplied from the water supply unit 200 is turned into cold water by the ice (I) and can be discharged to the outside.

Therefore, the cold water can be easily prepared and supplied to the user with a simple configuration without a cold water tank. In addition, only the required amount of water can be supplied as cold water. And, you can make cold water with less energy and less time.

For this purpose, the cooling vessel 300 may be provided with an inlet 310 and an outlet 320.

The inlet 310 may be connected to the receiving space S of the cooling vessel 300 and may be detachably connected to the water supply 200. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, one side of the inlet 310 may be connected to the receiving space S of the cooling vessel 300, and the other side may be detachably connected to the water supply unit 200.

When the supply valve 220 is opened in a state where the other side of the inlet port 310 is connected to the water supply section 200, that is, the supply pipe 210 of the water supply section 200 as described above, And the inlet 310 to the receiving space S of the cooling vessel 300. [

The water introduced into the accommodation space S of the cooling vessel 300 can be made cold by the ice I contained in the accommodation space S. [ That is, heat can be transferred from water to ice (I), and water can be cooled to become cold water.

The inlet 310 may be provided on a side surface of the cooling vessel 300 as shown in FIG. Accordingly, water can be supplied from the water supply part 200 to the accommodation space S of the cooling vessel 300 through the upper side surface of the cooling vessel 300.

However, the position of the inlet port 310 in the cooling container 300 is not particularly limited, and any position is possible as long as the water can be supplied from the water supply section 200 to the accommodation space S.

The discharge port 320 is connected to the accommodation space S and the cold water can be discharged to the outside. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, one side of the discharge port 320 is connected to the accommodation space S and the cold water may be discharged to the outside through the other side of the discharge port 320.

The outlet 320 may be provided on the lower surface of the cooling vessel 300 as shown in FIG. The cold water produced by the ice I in the receiving space S of the cooling vessel 300 can be discharged to the outside through the discharge port 320 provided on the lower surface of the cooling vessel 300 and supplied to the user .

However, the position of the discharge port 320 in the cooling container 300 is not particularly limited, and the cold water produced by the ice I in the receiving space S of the cooling container 300 is discharged to the outside and supplied to the user Any location can be used.

Second Embodiment

Hereinafter, a cold water supply apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the cold water supply apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention differs from the cold water supply apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1 in that the inlet 310 extends a predetermined distance to the accommodation space S.

Therefore, the different configurations are mainly described, and the remaining configurations can be replaced with those described with reference to FIG.

The inlet 310 of the cooling vessel 300 in the cold water supplying apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is configured such that the inlet 310 is extended a predetermined distance to the receiving space S have. That is, one side of the inlet 310 may extend a predetermined distance into the accommodation space S.

For example, one side of the inlet 310 may extend to the center of the receiving space S as shown in FIG. However, the distance by which the inlet port 310 extends into the receiving space S is not particularly limited, and any distance is possible as long as one side of the inlet port 310 can be located in the receiving space S.

In this way, since the inlet 310 extends a certain distance into the receiving space S, the water can be more likely to contact the ice I than it does not. In this way, the water can be cooled more quickly and become cold water.

Third Embodiment

Hereinafter, a cold water supply apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The cold water supply device according to the third embodiment of the present invention differs from the cold water supply device described with reference to FIG. 1 in that the inlet 310 extends a predetermined distance from the accommodation space S, There is a difference in that an injection nozzle 330 is provided at an end portion of the nozzle S side.

Therefore, the different configurations are mainly described, and the remaining configurations can be replaced with those described with reference to FIG.

The inlet 310 of the cooling vessel 300 in the cold water supplying apparatus 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is similar to the inlet 310 of the cold water supplying apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, Can be extended to the accommodation space S by a predetermined distance.

In addition, an injection nozzle 330 may be provided at the end of the inlet 310 on the accommodation space S side. 3, water can be radially injected into the receiving space S of the cooling container 300 by the injection nozzle 330. [

For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of injection holes 331 may be formed on the outer circumference of the injection nozzle 330. However, the shape and the configuration of the injection nozzle 330 are not particularly limited, and any shape or configuration may be used as long as it is provided at the end of the inlet 310 on the side of the accommodation space S and water can be radially injected into the accommodation space S. Configuration is possible.

As described above, since the water is radially injected into the receiving space S by the spraying nozzle 330, the water can be more contacted with the ice I. And, water can be cooled faster and become cold water.

Fourth Embodiment

Hereinafter, a cold water supply apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the cold water supply device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is different from the cold water supply device described with reference to FIG. 1 in that water contained in the accommodation space S of the cooling container 300 is supplied by the ice making unit 340 (I) is contained in the accommodation space (S).

Therefore, the different configurations are mainly described, and the remaining configurations can be replaced with those described with reference to FIG.

The cold water supplying apparatus 100 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention cools the water contained in the receiving space S of the cooling vessel 300 by the ice making unit 340 and inserts the ice I ) Can be included.

For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 4, a cooling unit 300 may be provided with a freezing unit 340. The water contained in the accommodation space S of the cooling vessel 300 can be cooled by the ice making unit 340 provided in the cooling vessel 300 to make ice I. [ This allows ice (I) to be contained in the accommodating space (S) of the cooling container (300) without supplying the ice (I) to the cooling container (300) from the outside. The upper part of the cooling vessel 300 may not be opened to receive the ice (I). Further, the melting speed of the ice (I) contained in the accommodation space S of the cooling container 300 may be slowed.

4, the freezing unit 340 may include a thermoelectric module 341 including a thermoelectric element that transfers heat from one side to the other side when electricity is applied. The cooling sink 342 connected to the cooling side of the thermoelectric module 341 and the cooling container 300, the hot case 343 connected to the heating side of the thermoelectric module 341, and the cooling And a fan 344.

With this configuration, first, a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the accommodating space S of the cooling container 300 through the water supply unit 200. When electricity is applied to the thermoelectric module 341 of the ice-making unit 340, the thermoelectric module 341 can be transferred from the cooling side to the heating side. Thereby, the cold sink 342 can be cooled and the hot mixer 343 can be heated. In addition, a predetermined amount of water contained in the cooling vessel 300 may be cooled to ice (I).

The ice-making unit 340 is not particularly limited, and any known means such as an evaporator (not shown) in which the refrigerant flows can be used as long as it can make ice (I) .

When the ice making unit 340 is provided in the cooling vessel 300, the outlet 320 may be inclined to the lower side of the predetermined height from the lower surface of the cooling vessel 300. Accordingly, a predetermined amount of water, which will be ice (I), can be easily contained in the cooling vessel 300. In addition, the cold water generated by the ice (I) produced by the ice making unit 340 can be easily discharged to the outside and supplied to the user.

The ice making unit 340 is not limited to the one provided in the cooling vessel 300 as described above. The freezing unit 340 may be provided separately from the cooling vessel 300, such as a freezer of a refrigerator, (I) by cooling the water contained in the accommodation space (S) of the cooling container (300) when the ice maker (300) is inserted so as to be hermetically sealed with the outside.

Fifth Embodiment

Hereinafter, a cold water supply apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

5 and 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating a cold water supply apparatus and its operation according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the cold water supply apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention differs from the cold water supply apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1 in that it further includes an ice reservoir 400.

Therefore, the different configurations are mainly described, and the remaining configurations can be replaced with those described with reference to FIG.

The cold water supply apparatus 100 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention may further include an ice reservoir 400.

Ice (I) may be stored in the ice reservoir (400). The ice (I) stored in the ice reservoir 400 may be supplied to the cooling container 300. For this purpose, the ice reservoir 400 may be provided with an ice discharge port 410 through which the ice I is discharged to the outside. A transfer screw (not shown) may be rotatably installed in the ice storage 400 so that the ice I stored in the ice storage 400 is transferred to the ice discharge opening 410.

However, the shape and configuration of the ice reservoir 400 are not particularly limited, and any shape or configuration can be used as long as the ice can be supplied to the cooling container 300.

In this case, when the ice storage 400 is included, the cooling container 300 may be movably provided below the ice discharge port 410 of the ice storage 400. In order to move the cooling vessel 300, the supply pipe 210 of the water supply unit 200 may be a flexible tube.

The cooling vessel 300 can be moved by the moving unit 350 between the cold water supply position as shown in Fig. 5 and the ice supply position as shown in Fig.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the cold water supply position, the cooling vessel 300 may contain ice (I) discharged from the ice discharge port 410 of the ice storage 400. The water supplied from the water supply unit 200 to the cooling vessel 300 can be supplied to the user as cold water by the ice (I) contained in the cooling vessel 300.

In addition, at the ice supply position, the cooling vessel 300 can supply the ice (I) discharged from the ice discharge port 410 of the ice storage 400 to the user as shown in FIG.

5 and 6, the moving unit 350 for moving the cooling vessel 300 may include a moving plate 351, a gear 352, and a motor 353.

The moving plate 351 can be placed in the cooling container 351. The shape of the moving plate 351 is not particularly limited, and any shape such as a plate shape can be used as long as the cooling container 351 is placed thereon.

The gear 352 can be engaged with the gear portion 351a formed on the lower surface of the moving plate 351. [ The gear 352 may be one as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. However, the number of gears 352 is not particularly limited, and any number can be used.

The motor 353 is connected to the gear 352 to rotate the gear 352. The motor 353 is not particularly limited, and any known motor may be used as long as it is connected to the gear 352 to rotate the gear 352.

In this configuration, when the motor 353 is driven, the gear 352 is rotated. Then, the moving plate 351 can be moved as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 by this. Then, the cooling container 300 can be moved between the ice supply positions as shown in Fig. 6 at the cold water supply position as shown in Fig.

However, the structure of the mobile unit 350 is not particularly limited, and any known structure can be used as long as the structure can move the cooling vessel 300 between the cold water supply position and the ice supply position.

6, the outlet 320 can guide the ice I discharged from the ice discharge port 410 to be supplied to the outside at the ice supply position. For this, the outlet 320 of the cooling vessel 300 may be inclined to a lower side of a predetermined height from the lower surface of the cooling vessel 300.

6, the outlet 320 of the cooling container 300 may be positioned below the ice discharge port 410 at the ice supply position. The ice (I) discharged from the ice discharge port (410) can be dropped into the discharge port (320) of the cooling container (300). In addition, the ice (I) dropped into the discharge port 320 can be guided by the inclined discharge port 320 and supplied to the outside.

Accordingly, the user can receive cold water at the cold water supply position of the cooling container 300 as shown in FIG. 5, and at the ice supply position of the cooling container 300 as shown in FIG. 6, .

The outlet 320 may be partially plate-shaped as shown in FIG. Thereby, the guide of the discharge port 320 for supplying the ice I discharged from the ice discharge port 410 to the outside can be facilitated.

As described above, by using the cold water supplying apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to easily make cold water and supply it to a user with a simple configuration without a cold water tank, to make cold water with less energy and less time, It can be made from cold water and supplied.

The above-described cold water supply apparatus can be applied to a limited number of configurations of the above-described embodiments, but the embodiments may be configured such that all or some of the embodiments are selectively combined so that various modifications can be made .

100: cold water generating device 200: water supply part
210: supply pipe 220: supply valve
300: cooling vessel 310: inlet
320: Outlet 330: Injection nozzle
331: injection hole 340: freezing unit
341: thermoelectric module 342: cold sink
343: HotSink 344: Cooling fan
350: moving unit 351: moving plate
351a: gear portion 352: gear
353: Motor 400: Ice storage
410: ice outlet S: accommodation space
I: Ice

Claims (19)

A water supply part for supplying water; And
A cooling vessel for containing ice and making water supplied from the water supply unit into cold water by ice and discharging the water to the outside;
. [2] The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the cooling vessel is provided with an accommodation space for containing ice, an inlet port connected to the accommodation space and detachably connected to the water supply unit, a discharge port connected to the accommodation space, Is provided. The water treatment system according to claim 2,
A feed pipe to which the inlet is detachably connected; And
A supply valve provided in the supply pipe;
. 3. The cold water supply apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cooling vessel is opened at an upper portion to receive and contain ice. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inlet is provided on a side surface of the cooling vessel. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the discharge port is provided on a lower surface of the cooling vessel. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the inlet extends a predetermined distance to the accommodation space. 8. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 7, wherein an end of the inflow port is provided with an injection nozzle for radially injecting water into the accommodation space. 3. The cold water supply device according to claim 2, wherein the water contained in the accommodation space is cooled by a freezing unit so that ice is contained in the accommodation space. The cold water supply device according to claim 9, wherein the ice making unit is provided in the cooling container. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the outlet is provided at an inclined lower side of a predetermined height from a lower surface of the cooling vessel. The ice maker according to claim 2, further comprising: an ice reservoir for supplying ice to the cooling container; Further comprising: 13. The cold water supply apparatus of claim 12, wherein the cooling vessel is movably provided below the ice discharge port provided in the ice storage. 14. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the cooling vessel moves between a cold water supply position and an ice supply position by a mobile unit. 15. The mobile terminal of claim 14,
A moving plate on which the cooling vessel is placed;
A gear engaged with a gear portion formed on a lower surface of the moving plate; And
A motor coupled to the gear;
And a cold water supply device. 15. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the discharge port guides the ice discharged from the ice discharge port to the outside at the ice supply position. 17. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the outlet is provided at an inclined lower side of a predetermined height from a lower surface of the cooling vessel. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a part of the discharge port is plate-shaped. 14. The cold water supply apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the supply pipe included in the water supply section is a flexible pipe.

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