KR20180137713A - Water purifier having ice manufacturing function and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a water purifier having an ice making function, capable of detecting a frozen auger module and autonomously dissolving a frozen state, and a control method thereof. According to the present invention, the water purifier having an ice making function comprises: the auger module including a cooling unit including a space to supply a refrigerant therethrough, a flowing unit formed in an inner space surrounded by the cooling unit, and receiving and supplying inflow water, a separating and transferring unit rotated in the flowing unit to separate and discharge ice formed in the flowing unit, and a motor to rotate the separating and transferring unit; a current sensor to measure a feedback current of the motor; and a control unit to detect a frozen state of the auger module based on a motor current value transferred from the current sensor upon start of an icing operation by the auger module and to interrupt the operation of the auger module for a preset time when the frozen state is detected.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water purifier having an ice-

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

A water purifier is a device for purifying raw water supplied from the outside and providing purified water. Recently, in addition to providing purified water, a water purifier for generating and providing ice using a purified water is widely used.

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

Here, in the auger type ice making system, the refrigerant flows around the flow space in which the water flows, so that ice is generated on the inner circumferential surface of the flow space, and the screw is rotated in the flow space to separate ice from the inner circumferential surface of the flow space And then discharged to the outside.

The auger module that generates ice by the auger type ice-making system may be freezing according to circumstances such as the external environment. When the auger module is frozen, the screw is restrained. If the ice maker continues to operate while the screw is locked, the product may be damaged.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art to detect the frozen state of the auger module and to solve it.

In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a water purifier provided with an icemaker.

The water purifier provided with the ice making function includes a cooling part in which a space through which the coolant flows is formed, a flow part formed in an internal space surrounded by the cooling part and adapted to receive and flow the incoming water, A separation unit for separating and discharging the ice generated in the moving unit, and a motor for rotating the separation unit. A current sensor for measuring a feedback current of the motor; And a controller for detecting an icing state of the auger module based on a motor current value transmitted from the current sensor when an icing operation is started by the auger module and stopping the operation of the auger module for a predetermined time And a control unit for controlling the control unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for a water purifier having an icemaker.

A control method for a water purifier provided with an ice making function includes a water purifier having an auger module for generating ice by an auger type ice-making system, the method comprising the steps of: when an ice- Measuring a feedback current of the motor; Sampling the motor current value for a predetermined time if the feedback motor current value is equal to or greater than a predetermined first current value; Determining a frozen state of the auger module if the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sampled data is equal to or greater than a predetermined value; And controlling the operation of the auger module to stop for a predetermined time if it is determined that the auger module is in a freezing state.

In addition, the means for solving the above-mentioned problems are not all enumerating the features of the present invention. The various features of the present invention and the advantages and effects thereof will be more fully understood by reference to the following specific embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to detect the icing of the auger module during icing and solve the icing condition by itself.

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

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in order that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a 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. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings.

In addition, in the entire specification, when a part is referred to as being 'connected' to another part, it may be referred to as 'indirectly connected' not only with 'directly connected' . Also, to "include" an element means that it may include other elements, rather than excluding other elements, unless specifically stated otherwise.

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

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, A controller 160, a sensor 170, and a display 180.

The filter unit 110 may include a sediment filter, a pre-carbon filter, a reverse osmosis membrane filter, and a post-carbon filter. The filter unit 110 includes at least one filter, The number and the order of the filters may be changed according to the filtering method of the water purifier 100 or the filtering performance required of the water purifier 100. For example, a hollow fiber membrane filter may be provided instead of the reverse osmosis membrane filter. In addition, a post-carbon filter may not be provided, or a micro filter MF or another functional filter may be provided in place of or in addition to the above-described filter.

The constant storage unit 120 passes through the filter unit 110, stores the purified integer, and can selectively discharge the stored constant.

For example, the constant stored in the constant storage unit 120 may be extracted to the extraction unit 150 such as a powder set or the cold water and ice storage unit 130 through the first flow path switching valve SV1.

The first flow path switching 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, You can switch.

For example, the first flow-path switching valve SV1 may be implemented as a two-way valve so that a constant stored in the constant storage 120 may be provided to the extractor 150, The flow path can be switched to be provided to the cold water and ice storage unit 130. [

In this case, the purified water passing through the filter unit 110 may be directly extracted into the extracting unit 150 or the cold water and ice storage unit 130 ). ≪ / RTI >

The cold water and ice storage unit 130 may store cold water or ice that is 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 divided into a first storage space for storing cold water by a partition (not shown) provided therein and a second storage space for storing ice, have.

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

However, as shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit for storing the cold water and the ice is not necessarily formed as one unit, but the cold water storage unit and the ice storage unit may be located adjacent to each other.

The pump P1 and the second flow path switching valve SV2 may be provided in the 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, for example, as a motor so that cold water stored in the first storage space may be provided to the auger module 140. [

The second flow path switching valve SV2 may be implemented, for example, as a two-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, 140). ≪ / RTI >

On the other hand, the second storage space of the cold water and ice storage unit 130 is provided with a transfer means (not shown) for transferring ice, and the ice transferred by the transfer means is extracted through the extraction unit 150 .

The auger module 140 is for generating cold water and ice by cooling the cold water (or purified water) provided from the cold water and ice storage part 130 by the auger type ice-making method.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the auger module shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the auger module shown in FIG. 1. The auger module 140 includes a cooling unit 142, A transfer unit 144, a separation transfer unit 146, and a motor 148. [

The cooling unit 142 constitutes the outer periphery of the auger module 140 and the cooling unit 142 is formed with a space through which the refrigerant can flow so that the coolant supplied from the cooler 145, .

In addition, the fluid portion 144 formed in the inner space surrounded by the cooling portion 142 receives and flows the cold water provided from the cold water and ice storage portion 130. The cold water flowing in the flow portion 144 is further cooled by the refrigerant flowing in the cooling portion 142 and ice can be generated on the surface in contact with the cooling portion 142. [

Here, the flow rate of the cold water flowing through the flow portion 144 may vary depending on whether the pump P1 is driven. For example, when the pump P1 is driven, the flow velocity is increased, so that no ice is generated in the flow portion 144 or only a relatively small amount of ice can be generated. On the other hand, if the pump P1 is not driven, the flow velocity is slowed and ice can be sufficiently generated.

The separating transfer part 146 is implemented, for example, as a screw rotating in the floating part 144 to separate and transfer the generated ice to the surface in contact with the cooling part 142 and discharge it to the cold water and ice storage part 130 have.

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

The cold water generated by the auger module 140 is supplied 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 ice storage unit 130 And may be provided as a second storage space.

Meanwhile, the auger module 140 configured as described above can be frozen according to circumstances such as an external environment, and in this case, the separation transfer unit 146 can be restrained. The motor 148 drives the separating and conveying unit 146 to rotate in one direction while the separating and conveying unit 146 is in the restrained state, The forward rotation and the reverse rotation are repeated by the constraint.

The cooler 145 is for providing the coolant to the cooling unit 142 of the auger module 140 and includes a compressor for compressing the coolant and a cooler for cooling the coolant by discharging heat from the coolant of high temperature and pressure, And a condenser for allowing the refrigerant to flow.

The extraction unit 150 is for selectively extracting the cold water stored in the first storage space and the ice stored in the second storage space of the purified water, cold water, and ice storage unit 130 stored in the purified water storage unit 120, And can be implemented as a powder set for extracting purified water and cold water and as an extracting bowl for extracting ice.

The control unit 160 controls the overall operation of the water purifier 100 and includes a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) Programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like.

For example, when the ice making operation by the auger module 140 is started, the controller 160 detects a freezing state of the auger module 140 based on a signal received from the sensor unit 170, which will be described later, The operation of the auger module 140 is stopped for a predetermined time period so that the auger module 140 can be thawed.

If the number of times that the operation of the auger module 140 is stopped is detected more than a predetermined number of times, the controller 160 determines that the product is abnormal and displays an error display through the display unit 180 have.

A specific method for the controller 160 to detect the icing state of the auger module 140 according to an input signal and to control the operation of the water purifier 100 according to the detection result will be described with reference to FIG.

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 current sensor that measures the feedback current of the motor 148 included in the auger module 140. [

The display unit 180 displays information related to the operation of the water purifier 100 and may be implemented by a display device such as an LED, an LCD, or the like.

For example, when the controller 160 determines that the product is abnormal, the display unit 180 may display error display information and the like.

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

Referring to FIG. 4, when the ice making operation by the auger module is started (S40), the feedback current of the motor included in the auger module can be measured (S41).

If the feedback motor current value is equal to or greater than a predetermined first current value (for example, 180mA) (S42), the motor current value is sampled for a preset time (for example, 30 motor current values are sampled for 3 seconds) (S43), and the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sampled data can be calculated (S44). Here, the first current value indicates the value of the motor current fed back in the restrained state of the auger module, and may be set differently depending on the type of the motor and the like. In addition, the time and frequency of sampling the motor current value can also be variously changed.

If the calculated difference value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (for example, 40mA) (S45), the ice maker determines that the auger module is in a freezing state and stops the ice making operation by the auger module for a predetermined time So that the auger module can be thawed naturally (S46), and the error count can be increased by one (S47). On the other hand, if the calculated difference value is only a predetermined value, the process may re-enter the above-described step S41 to repeat the above-described steps. Here, the predetermined value indicates a deviation of the motor current value fed back when the motor repeats forward rotation and reverse rotation, and may be set differently depending on the type of the motor and the like. Also, the time for natural defrosting of the auger module can be changed according to the deicing performance of the auger module, the external temperature, and the like.

Thereafter, if the error count is equal to or greater than the preset number of times (for example, five times) (S48), it is determined that the product is abnormal and error display information can be provided through a display or the like provided in the water purifier (S49). On the other hand, if the error count is less than the preset number, the process may re-enter the above-described step S40 to repeat the above-described steps.

On the other hand, if the motor current value is less than a predetermined first current value (for example, 180mA) (S42) and further the motor current value is less than the preset second current value (for example, 160mA) ), It is determined that the auger module is thawed naturally and the error count is initialized (S51). On the other hand, if the motor current value is less than the first current value or exceeds the second current value, the process may re-enter the above-described step S41 to repeat the above-described steps.

As described above, according to the present invention, by detecting that the screw included in the auger module repeatedly performs the forward rotation and the reverse rotation on the basis of the difference value between the maximum value and the minimum value of the motor current value sampled for a predetermined time, It is possible to more accurately detect the icing state of the ice.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

100: water purifier
110:
120:
130: cold water and ice storage
140: auger module
145: Cooler
150:
160:
170:
180:

Claims (12)

A moving part formed in the inner space surrounded by the cooling part to receive and flow the incoming water; and a rotating part rotating in the moving part to separate the ice generated in the moving part And a motor for rotating the separating and sending unit;
A current sensor for measuring a feedback current of the motor; And
When the ice-making operation is started by the auger module, the ice-making module detects the icing state of the auger module based on the motor current value transmitted from the current sensor, and stops the operation of the auger module for a predetermined time And a controller for controlling the operation of the water purifier.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit samples the motor current value for a preset time if the motor current value is equal to or greater than a preset first current value and if the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sampled data is greater than a predetermined value, A water purifier having an ice-making function for judging whether or not an ice-
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the control unit has an ice-making function for increasing the error count by one when it is determined that the auger module is in a freezing state.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the control unit controls the ice maker to perform the ice making operation again by the auger module when the error count is less than the preset number of times.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the control unit has an ice making function for determining an abnormal state when the error count is equal to or greater than a preset number of times.
6. The method of claim 5,
And a display unit for displaying error display information when it is determined that the controller is in an abnormal state by the controller.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the control unit has an icing function for initializing the error count if the motor current value is less than a predetermined second current value.
A control method for a water purifier including an auger module for generating ice by an auger type ice-making system,
Measuring a feedback current of a motor included in the auger module when an ice-making operation is started by the auger module;
Sampling the motor current value for a predetermined time if the feedback motor current value is equal to or greater than a predetermined first current value;
Determining a frozen state of the auger module if the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sampled data is equal to or greater than a predetermined value; And
And controlling the operation of the auger module to stop for a predetermined time when it is determined that the auger module is in a freezing state.
9. The method of claim 8,
Further comprising increasing an error count by one when it is determined that the auger module is in a freezing state.
10. The method of claim 9,
Determining an abnormal state when the error count is equal to or greater than a predetermined number; And
And displaying error display information when the abnormal state is determined.
10. The method of claim 9,
Controlling the ice maker to perform an ice-making operation again by the auger module when the error count is less than a predetermined number of times, and measuring the feedback current of the motor included in the auger module again .
12. The method of claim 11,
And initializing the error count if the motor current value is less than a predetermined second current value.

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