KR101439831B1 - Cold water tank - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a cold water tank capable of preventing raw water flowing into a tank and cold water already cooled in a tank from being mixed with each other, thereby providing cold water of a desired temperature to a user.
The cold water tank is provided with a tank main body having an inner space and having a water inlet pipe and a water outlet pipe connected to the inner space; And at least one flow port for communicating the upper and lower inner spaces by forming a space between the rim and the inner wall of the tank body; .

Description

Cold water tank {COLD WATER TANK}

The present invention relates to a cold water tank, and more particularly, to a cold water tank capable of preventing raw water flowing into a tank and cold water already cooled in a tank from being mixed with each other, .

The cold water tank is provided in a water treatment apparatus such as a water purifier, a cold water heater or the like, and is a device for cooling the water flowing into the inside and supplying the water to a user.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a structure in which a cold water tank 20 according to a conventional technique is provided in the water treatment apparatus 10. FIG.

1, a cold water tank 20 according to a conventional technology provided in the water treatment apparatus 10 is connected to a raw water supply unit such as a water supply unit and includes a water supply pipe 30 for supplying raw water to the inside of the cold water tank 20 And a water pipe 40 connected to the cock or faucet 50 to extract cold water cooled in the cold water tank 20 and supply the cold water to the user.

However, when the pressure of the raw water flowing into the cold water tank 20 is high, the cold water tank 20 according to the related art can not stay in the tank for a sufficient cooling time because the inflow speed of the raw water is fast, .

In this case, when cold water already cooled in the cold water tank 20 is mixed with raw water having a relatively high temperature, the temperature of the cold water that flows out is increased, and the user is not provided with cold water of a desired temperature.

Particularly, in the case of the miniaturized direct water treatment apparatus 10, since the cooling time of the raw water is shorter than the method of storing and cooling a large amount of cold water for a long time, there is a great demand for solving this problem.

Since the cold water exists in the lower end portion of the tank in the cold water tank 20 and the relatively high temperature water exists in the upper end portion of the tank, the cold water tank 20 according to the conventional technique as shown in FIG. Since the cold water existing in the lower end portion of the tank is mixed and the cold water present in the upper end portion of the tank is extracted so that the cooling water existing in the lower end portion is cooled again by the increased temperature, There is a problem that it is lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a cold water tank which can provide cold water of a desired temperature to a user.

The present invention also provides, as one aspect, a cold water tank having improved cooling efficiency.

In order to attain at least part of the above objects, the present invention provides a tank comprising: a tank body having an inner space and having a water inlet pipe and a water outlet pipe connected to the inner space; And at least one flow port for communicating the upper and lower inner spaces by forming a space between the rim and the inner wall of the tank body; Thereby providing a cold water tank containing the water.

Preferably, the flow passageway is provided in a shape in which the partition wall member is drawn inward in a rim contacting the inner side wall of the tank body, thereby forming a space between the partition wall member and the inner side wall of the tank body.

In one embodiment, the inlet pipe may be connected to an upper portion of the partitioned internal space, and the water pipe may be connected to a lower portion of the partitioned internal space, respectively.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the upper inner space may include a flow rate reduction unit for reducing the flow rate of water flowing into the inner space of the tank body through the water inlet pipe.

Preferably, the flow rate reduction portion may be provided as a plate disposed laterally with respect to the inflow direction of the water flowing in the water inlet pipe.

Still more preferably, the apparatus may further include an outflow pipe communicating with the water outlet pipe and extending to a lower end of the internal space of the tank body.

Also preferably, at least a part of the extension pipe can extend vertically through the partition member.

Further, in the embodiments of the present invention, the water inlet pipe and the water outlet pipe may be connected to the upper portion of the tank body.

Preferably, the tank body may include cooling means for cooling water contained in the internal space.

Also preferably, the cooling means may comprise a thermoelectric module.

On the other hand, in another embodiment, the partition member may have a shape corresponding to an end surface of the inner space of the tank body.
Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the partition member may be slidably mounted on a mounting rail provided on an inner wall of the tank body.
In addition, a bracket for mounting the cooling means provided in the tank body may be provided on the inner surface of the tank body, and a groove may be formed in the partition wall member to fit the bracket.
In addition, the groove provided in the partition member may be formed in a shape corresponding to the bracket.
Further, the partition member may be an insulating material.
Further, the outflow extension pipe may be a heat exchange pipe.
In addition, the outflow pipe may be made of stainless steel.
In addition, the outflow extension pipe may be provided with a larger diameter than the outflow pipe.
The water pipe may include a pipe extending from an upper end of the tank body to a lower end of the tank body. The water pipe may be provided outside the tank body and connected to a lower end of the tank body internal space.
In yet another embodiment, the tank body may be provided with a plurality of the partition members.
Here, the plurality of partition members may be provided in the height direction from the center to the upper side of the tank body.
In addition, the flow passages of the respective partition members may be formed at positions which are offset from the flow passages of the other partition members positioned adjacent to each other.

According to the embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration, the raw water introduced into the tank is prevented from being mixed with the cold water that is cooled first in the tank, thereby providing cold water of a desired temperature to the user .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is no problem of raising the temperature of the cold water due to the mixing of the raw water having a relatively high temperature and the already cooled cold water, so that it is not necessary to re-cool the cold water to the set temperature. An effect of improving the cooling efficiency can be obtained.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the outflow channel can be formed of a double pipe structure including an outflow pipe and an outflow pipe, thereby providing a user with a desired temperature and a desired amount of first cold water.

1 is a schematic view showing a conventional cold water tank.
2 is an exploded perspective view of a cold water tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a rear perspective view showing the inner space of the cold water tank shown in Fig.
4 is a rear view showing the inner space of the cold water tank shown in Fig.
5 is a rear perspective view showing an inner space of a cold water tank according to another embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a rear view showing the inner space of the cold water tank shown in Fig.
7 is a side cross-sectional view of a cold water tank according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Furthermore, the singular forms "a", "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 2, the overall structure of a cold water tank according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a cold water tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the cold water tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tank body 110, a thermoelectric module 120, a cold sink 130, a bracket 140, a heat sink 150, The heat insulating member 190 may include a ventilation fan 160 and a partition member 170 and may block heat exchange between the heat sink 150 and the tank body 110.

The tank body 110 is configured to have an internal space capable of receiving water. In one embodiment, the tank body 110 may comprise a first body 111 and a second body 112, wherein the first body 111 and the second body 112 are joined together, It is possible to construct a space inside the tank that can be accommodated.

The first body 111 includes a water inlet pipe 115 through which water can be introduced into the tank body 110 and a water outlet pipe 116 through which water contained in the tank body 110 can be extracted May be provided.

In an embodiment, the second body 112 has a thermoelectric module 120 attached to the outer surface thereof to transfer the heat of the thermoelectric module 120 to the water contained in the tank body 110 can do.

In one embodiment, the first body 111 may be made of synthetic resin, and the second body 112 may be made of metal.

In addition, in one embodiment, the second body 112 may have a cladding structure in which dissimilar metals are bonded. For example, the inside (the inner surface of the tank body) is made of stainless steel, And the outer surface (outer surface of the tank body) may be made of aluminum or copper having excellent thermal conductivity. In this way, when the second body 112 is formed of a cladding structure, it is advantageous that not only the thermal conductivity is extremely excellent but also there is no fear of corrosion.

In an embodiment, a sealing member 117 may be provided at the joint between the first body 111 and the second body 112 to seal the inner space of the tank.

Meanwhile, when the thermoelectric module 120 is a thermoelectric module, an endothermic reaction occurs at one side and an exothermic reaction occurs at the other side. The thermoelectric module 120 may be coupled to the outer surface of the second body 112 to cool water contained in the tank body 110.

In addition, the heat sink module 130 may be attached to one side of the cold sink 130 and the other side of the second body 112. That is, the cold sink 130 may be disposed between the thermoelectric module 120 and the second body 112 to transmit the heat of the thermoelectric module 120 to the second body 112.

Here, the cold sink 130 may be attached to the second body 112 through bolting, and the cold sink 130 and the second body 112 may be attached to the inner side of the second body 112 A bracket 140 to which the bolts are fastened can be provided.

The cold sink 130 may be made of a material having a high heat transfer efficiency (for example, aluminum), and a thermal grease for increasing thermal conductivity may be applied to the bonding surface with the thermoelectric module 120.

Meanwhile, the heat sink 150 may emit heat of the thermoelectric module 120 in contact with the exothermic reaction side of the thermoelectric module 120. In one embodiment, the heat sink 150 may have a heat radiating fin structure having an excellent heat radiation efficiency by enlarging a contact area with air.

Also, the blowing fan 160 may be provided outside the heat sink 150 to blow external air to the heat sink 150. The air blowing fan 160 may function to cool the heat sink 150 through the external air blown to the heat sink 150.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the heat insulating member 190 may cover the outer surface of the second body 112 to prevent heat exchange between the second body 112 and the outside. Particularly, since the heat insulating member 190 is mounted between the second body 112 and the heat sink 150, the heat of the heat sink 150 heated by the thermoelectric module 120 is transmitted to the second body 112 . An opening may be formed at the center of the second body 112 to allow the cold sink 130 to be installed.

On the other hand, the partition member 170 has a shape corresponding to the end surface of the tank internal space, and is mounted in the internal space of the tank, so that the internal space of the tank can be divided up and down.

The partition member 170 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 and 4 are a rear perspective view and a rear view showing the inner space of the cold water tank 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The partition member 170 may be provided with a flow port 175 along an edge, that is, a portion contacting the inner wall of the tank body 110. The flow port 175 is a hole through which water can flow between the spaces partitioned by the partition member 170, and is formed to have a small diameter so that water can be slowly flowed. In one embodiment, a plurality of such flow ports 175 may be provided along the rim of the partition member 170.

The partition member 170 may divide the inner space of the tank to prevent a large amount of water present in each of the divided spaces from being mixed with each other and allow the water to flow through the flow port 175 by a small amount .

In this way, when the cold water flows out, the raw water flowing into the upper portion of the tank interior is first cooled and not rapidly mixed with the cold water present in the lower portion, and the cold water existing in the lower portion of the tank internal space is extracted through the water outlet pipe .

Particularly, the cold water tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used in a direct water treatment apparatus. In such a direct water treatment apparatus, when the raw water flows in through the water inlet pipe 115, The cold water stored in the tank main body 110 is extracted to the water outlet pipe 116 in proportion to the amount of water introduced into the tank main body 110. At this time, mixing of raw water and cold water introduced through the partition member 170 can be prevented. Thus, the cold water tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can provide cold water of a desired temperature to the user.

Here, the partition member 170 is preferably made of a heat insulating material so as to minimize heat transfer between the water existing in the upper part and the lower part of the partition member 170

4, the raw water introduced into the water inlet pipe 115 is supplied to the tank body 110 (110), and the water supply pipe So that the time for the introduced raw water to stay in the tank main body 110 is prolonged and the cooling time of the raw water can be sufficiently secured.

When the flow port 175 is provided at the rim of the partition member 170 as described above, even if water is present in the upper space of the partition member 170, The temperature of the introduced raw water can be distributed to the lower space of the partition member 170 in a state where the temperature of the introduced raw water is minimized.

The partition member 170 may be slidably mounted on a mounting rail 118 provided on the inner wall of the tank body 110 and the flow port 175 may be formed on the partition wall member 170, May be formed in an open form.

The tank internal space may further include a flow rate reduction unit 180 that reduces the flow rate of water flowing into the tank internal space from the water inlet pipe 115. The flow rate reducing unit 180 may be provided on the side of the water inlet pipe 115 in the tank internal space and may be formed of a plate arranged in the lateral direction with respect to the inflow direction of the water flowing through the water inlet pipe 115 in one embodiment have.

The flow rate reduction unit 180 may function as a blocking wall against which the raw water flowing into the water supply pipe 115 with a high water pressure collides with the water flowing through the gap 182 between the inner side wall of the tank body 110 formed on one side It is possible to distribute the raw water to the space inside the tank. At this time, it is preferable that one side of the flow rate reduction portion 180 is formed in a curved shape in order to reduce the noise generated when the raw water hits the flow rate reduction portion 180.

Meanwhile, in the cold water tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the water pipe 116 may have a structure extending to the lower end of the inner space of the tank so as to extract cold water present in the lower portion of the inner space of the tank .

In this configuration, the cold water tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include an outflow extension pipe 200. The outflow extension pipe 200 communicates with the water discharge pipe 116 and can extend to the lower end of the inner space of the tank.

4, the lower end of the water outlet pipe 116 protrudes into the inner space of the tank, and the water outlet extension pipe 200 surrounds the protrusion of the water outlet pipe 116 and extends to the lower end of the inner space of the tank .

The outflow extension pipe 200 may be cooled by heat exchange with cold water existing in the lower portion of the inner space of the tank, thereby allowing the water present in the pipe to be further cooled and kept cool.

To this end, the outgoing extension pipe 200 may be made of a stainless steel material having an excellent thermal conductivity.

Since the cold water present in the outflow extension pipe 200 is extracted into the first reservoir during the cold water extraction through the water outlet pipe 116, the outflow pipe 200 is connected to the water outlet pipe 116). ≪ / RTI >

As described above, in the case of the double pipe structure having the outflow extension pipe 200 communicating with the water discharge pipe 116, the upper and lower ends of the outflow extension pipe 200 can be configured to be opened to the inner space of the tank, And the air in the inner space of the tank can be discharged through the upper end of the outflow extension pipe 200. [

The operation of discharging the air in the inner space of the tank through the upper end of the outgoing extension pipe 200 will be described below. When the inner space of the tank is filled with air and the raw water is introduced through the inlet pipe 115, The air in the tank in proportion to the volume can be discharged to the outside of the tank body 110 through the water pipe 116 provided at the upper end of the water pipe 200 and the water pipe.

When the lower end of the water outlet pipe 116 is submerged in the water and the raw water flows into the water outlet pipe 116, the path through which the air is discharged by the water is cut off and is present in the water outlet extension pipe 200 in proportion to the amount of water The cold water is extracted through the water outlet pipe 116.

Next, a cold water tank according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 and 6 are a rear perspective view and a rear view illustrating an inner space of the cold water tank according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the cold water tank 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention, unlike the cold water tank 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, A plurality of partition members 170 may be provided.

When the tank body 110 is provided with the plurality of partition members 170, it is possible to further reduce the flow rate of the raw water introduced into the tank body 110, compared with the case where one partition member 170 is provided, It is possible to more reliably block the mixing of the cold water present in the lower portion of the inner space of the tank.

On the other hand, when the partition member 170 disposed at the lowermost end of the plurality of partition member 170 is disposed at the lower portion of the tank main body 110 excessively, The amount of the first cold water that can be extracted may become insufficient.

In consideration of this point, in one embodiment, the plurality of partition members 170 are preferably provided in the height direction from the center to the upper side of the tank body 110.

Further, in one embodiment, the flow port 175 of each partition member 170 is preferably formed at a position offset from the flow port 175 of another partition member 170 positioned adjacent thereto. 5, the flow port 175 'of the upper side wall member 170' is not disposed on the vertical line with the flow port 175 of the lower side wall member 170 but is formed at a position displaced from the other .

Water flowing down through the flow port 175 'of the upper partition member 170' can be prevented from flowing directly under the lower partition member 170 to the lower portion of the lower partition member 170. That is, the water flowing downward from the inner space of the tank can be blocked by the upper side partition wall member 170 'and the lower side partition wall member 170 by the second order.

However, as shown in FIG. 5, the cold water tank 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention is limited to the configuration in which the plurality of partition members 170 and 170 'have the flow ports 175 and 175' But it is also possible that any one of the partition member 170 among the partition member 170 positioned adjacent to each other is provided with the flow port 175 in the inner portion rather than the rim.

The cold water tank 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a water inlet pipe 115, a water outlet pipe 116, a thermoelectric module 120, a cold sink 120, The brackets 140, the heat sinks 150, the blowing fans 160 and the heat insulating members 190 are installed in the cold water tank 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention described above with reference to FIGS. And description thereof will be omitted.

Finally, referring to FIG. 7, a cold water tank according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of a cold water tank according to another embodiment of the present invention.

7, in the cold water tank 100-1 according to another embodiment of the present invention, the water pipe 116 is a pipe extending from the upper end of the tank body 110 to the lower end of the tank body 110 And is disposed outside the tank body 110 and connected to the lower end of the tank internal space.

To this end, in one embodiment, the tank body 110 may include an extended section E with a lower end portion extended forward, the water outlet pipe 116 is disposed outside the tank body 110 And a lower end connected to the extension section E to extract cold water stored in the tank main body 110. [

The cold water tank 100-1 according to another embodiment of the present invention having such a structure is a structure for facilitating the assembly of the partition member 170. [

In other words, in the cold water tank 100 according to the embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, since the outflow extension pipe 200 serving as the outflow pipe 116 is disposed in the inner space of the tank, The extension pipe 200 penetrates the partition member 170 in order to prevent the partition member 170 from interfering with the partition member 170. In this case, it is not easy to assemble the partition member 170 have.

7, in the cold water tank 100-1 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, the water outlet pipe 116 avoids the partition member 170, And may be disposed outside the body 110.

However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which the extension section E is formed in the tank body 110 and the water pipe 116 is formed in a straight line, as described above. And the lower end of the water discharge pipe 116 is bent and connected to the tank main body 110.

In this structure, a heat insulating material (not shown) may be additionally provided on the outer circumferential surface of the water pipe 116 to prevent the temperature of the cold water extracted by the water pipe 116 from being exchanged with the outside air.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims I would like to make it clear.

100, 100-1: cold water tank
110: tank body 111: first body
112: second body 115: inlet pipe
118: mounting rail 116:
117: sealing member 120: thermoelectric module
130: Cold sink 140: Bracket
150: heat sink 160: blowing fan
170: partition wall member 175:
180: flow rate reduction unit 190: heat insulating member
200: Outgoing water pipe

Claims (22)

A tank body having an inner space and having a water inlet pipe and a water outlet pipe connected to the inner space; And
A partition wall member dividing the inner space into upper and lower parts and having a space between the rim and the inner wall of the tank body so that at least one flow hole communicating with the upper and lower inner spaces is provided;
.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the flow passage is formed in a shape in which the partition member is drawn inwardly in a rim contacting the inner side wall of the tank body to form a space between the partition wall member and the inner side wall of the tank body.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the water inlet pipe is connected to an upper portion of the partitioned internal space and the water outlet pipe is connected to a lower portion of the partitioned internal space, respectively.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the upper internal space is provided with a flow rate reduction portion for reducing a flow rate of water flowing into the internal space of the tank body through the water inlet pipe.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the flow rate reduction portion is provided as a plate arranged in a transverse direction with respect to an inflow direction of water flowing in the water inlet pipe.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising an outflow extension pipe communicating with the water outlet pipe and extending to a lower end portion of the inner space of the tank body.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein at least a part of the outflow extension pipe extends vertically through the partition member.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the water inlet pipe and the water outlet pipe are connected to an upper portion of the tank main body.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the tank body includes cooling means for cooling water contained in the internal space.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the cooling means comprises a thermoelectric module.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the partition member has a shape corresponding to an end surface of the inner space of the tank body.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the partition member is slidably mounted on a mounting rail provided on an inner wall of the tank body.
The method according to claim 1,
A bracket for mounting cooling means provided in the tank main body is provided on one surface of the tank main body in an inner space of the tank main body,
And the partition wall member is provided with a groove to fit the bracket.
14. The method of claim 13,
And the groove provided in the partition member is provided in a shape corresponding to the bracket.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the partition member is an insulating material.
The method according to claim 6,
The outflow extension pipe is a cold water tank, which is a heat exchange tube.
17. The method of claim 16,
Wherein the outflow extension pipe is made of stainless steel.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the outflow extension pipe is provided with a larger diameter than the outflow pipe.
The method according to claim 1,
The water-
And a pipe extending from an upper end of the tank main body to a lower end portion of the tank main body, the cool water tank being provided on an outer side of the tank main body and connected to a lower end portion of the inner space of the tank main body.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a plurality of said partition members are provided in said tank body.
21. The method of claim 20,
Wherein the plurality of partition members are provided in an upper portion from a center portion in a height direction of the tank main body.
21. The method of claim 20,
Wherein the flow holes of each of the partition members are formed at positions offset from the flow holes of the other partition members positioned adjacent to each other.

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