KR102630821B1 - Insulated storage bin and apparatus for supplying drinking water including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a storage tank including an ice storage unit, at least one outlet through which inflow and outflow water passes, and which is formed to protrude on the outside of the storage container and is coupled to a fitting device, and is disposed on one side of the storage container and connected to the outlet. At least one coupler connected to enable communication by piping and an insulating material that covers at least one side of the storage container to insulate or cool the storage container, wherein the outlet is embedded in the insulating material. A storage bin is provided.

Description

Storage bin with insulating material and drinking water supply device including the same {INSULATED STORAGE BIN AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING DRINKING WATER INCLUDING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a storage tank with an insulating material and a drinking water supply device including the same. More specifically, it relates to a storage container including an ice storage unit for storing ice generated by an ice making means and a drinking water supply device including the same. .

A water purifier is a device that purifies raw water through filters or membranes and provides purified water for drinking. Conventionally, purified water, cold water, and hot water could be supplied, but the need for ice was required, and Korean Patent Registration No. 0407867 discloses a cold and hot water purifier with an ice maker that can also provide ice.

In addition, Korean Patent Registration No. 0729962 and Korean Utility Model Publication No. 2010-0011185 enable ice-making and cold water to be obtained at the same time using a single evaporator, thereby saving energy and obtaining cold water at the same time as ice-making with a small compressor. We are disclosing information that will allow you to do so.

Recently, as cold and hot water purifiers with ice-making functions require diversification of product lines, the demand for miniaturization and compactness of cold and hot water purifiers is increasing. Accordingly, the size of the water purifier has reached a limit where it can no longer be miniaturized due to the components provided inside. In particular, in the case of a water purifier in which an ice-making means 20 for generating ice is provided in a storage container 10 for storing ice generated by the ice-making device 20, the outer circumferential surface of the storage container 10 is insulated (cooled). ) or an insulating material (or insulating material) is wrapped for insulation, and the raw water supply pipe, purified water inflow and outflow pipe, refrigerant outflow and inlet pipe, thaw water outflow and/or residual water outflow and inlet pipe are connected to the storage container (10). ) has reached a limit where it can no longer be miniaturized due to the connection type of each pipe connected to it or the solenoid valves (for example, solenoid valves) installed on each pipe.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement technology that can overcome the limitations of miniaturizing and compacting hot and cold water purifiers.

KR 10-0407867 B1 KR 10-0729962 B1 KR 20-2010-0011185 A1

The present invention is a storage tank with insulation material that can minimize the size of the drinking water supply device and at the same time promote ease and speed of diagnosis of the pipes flowing in and out of the storage tank and the valves installed on the pipes, and a drinking water supply device including the same. We would like to provide.

The present invention relates to a storage tank including an ice storage unit, at least one outlet through which inflow and outflow water passes, and which is formed to protrude on the outside of the storage container and is coupled to a fitting device, and is disposed on one side of the storage container and connected to the outlet. At least one coupler connected to enable communication by piping and an insulating material that covers at least one side of the storage container to insulate or cool the storage container, wherein the outlet is embedded in the insulating material. A storage bin is provided.

According to one embodiment, the connecting pipe may also be embedded in the insulation material.

According to one embodiment, it is installed spaced apart from one side of the storage bin and further includes a bracket for fixing at least one solenoid valve, wherein the solenoid valve fixed to the bracket may be coupled to the coupler exposed to the insulation material. there is.

According to one embodiment, the bracket may include an electromagnetic valve fixture for fastening and fixing the electromagnetic valve.

In addition, the present invention provides a drinking water supply device for supplying purified water purified from raw water, comprising a storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is provided with an ice storage unit in which ice generated by the ice making means is stored. It provides a drinking water supply device that further includes.

In the storage tank with an insulating material and the drinking water supply device including the same according to the present invention, the overall size can be further miniaturized compared to conventional products by embedding the fitting device connected to the outlet and the piping connected to the inlet in the insulating material surrounding the storage tank and at least part of the piping connected thereto. .

Conventionally, condensation occurred on the outside of the pipe due to cold water passing through the pipe connected to the storage tank, so the outside of the pipe had to be wrapped with pipe insulation. However, in the present invention, the pipe through which cold water passes is wrapped with insulation and is not exposed to the outside, so condensation occurs. Since this does not occur, the pipe insulation required conventionally is unnecessary.

In addition, the pipes connecting the storage tank to the outside and the solenoid valves installed on the pipes are gathered on one side, making it possible to diagnose and repair the pipes and solenoid valves easily and quickly.

In addition, when foam molding the insulation in a storage tank, the fitting device or piping is embedded inside the insulation, so the position can be aligned and maintained using the fitting device or piping during foam molding, and the fitting device or piping is used in the insulation material. Since the pipe is buried and the fitting device or pipe supports the insulation material, it can prevent the insulation material from falling out of the storage tank.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a storage bin for storing ice produced by a conventional ice making means.
Figure 2 is a diagram showing a fitting device and an electromagnetic valve being combined with a storage tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a fitting device coupled to a storage tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a bracket installed in a storage bin according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an electromagnetic valve coupled to a storage tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments disclosed in the present specification will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. However, identical or similar components will be assigned the same reference numbers regardless of reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions thereof will be omitted. The suffixes “unit” and “unit” for components used in the following description are given or used interchangeably only for the ease of preparing the specification, and do not have distinct meanings or roles in and of themselves. Additionally, in describing the embodiments disclosed in this specification, if it is determined that detailed descriptions of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the embodiments disclosed in this specification, the detailed descriptions will be omitted. In addition, the attached drawings are only for easy understanding of the embodiments disclosed in this specification, and the technical idea disclosed in this specification is not limited by the attached drawings, and all changes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention are not limited. , should be understood to include equivalents or substitutes.

Terms containing ordinal numbers, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms.

The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

When a component is said to be "connected" or "connected" to another component, it is understood that it may be directly connected to or connected to the other component, but that other components may exist in between. It should be. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that a component is “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between.

Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In this specification, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to indicate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but are not intended to indicate the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

The "drinking water supply device" described in this specification and claims refers to a device that includes a typical water purifier and cold and hot water machine.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drinking water supply device with an ice-making function includes an ice-making means 20 for generating ice, and an ice storage unit for storing/storing the ice generated by the ice-making means 20. It may include a storage bin (10).

In addition, the drinking water supply device so that users can drink drinking water includes a cold water line connected to the filter unit - cold water tank - discharge, a hot water line connected to the filter unit - hot water tank - discharge, and a purified water line connected to the filter unit - discharge. It may be configured, and the discharge unit may be configured separately for discharging cold water, hot water, and purified water, or some or all of it may be integrated.

The filter unit refers to a means for generating purified water by filtering raw water, ordinary tap water, or bottled water. The filter unit may be composed of a sediment filter, pre-carbon filter, membrane filter, post-carbon filter, and other complex filters. In addition, the filter unit can purify raw water. It may be a known thing that can be done, and is not particularly limited in the present invention.

The ice-making means 20 is a means for generating ice, and includes an ice-making bin 30 in which ice-making water is received, an evaporation tube 21 through which refrigerant flows, and a protruding form from the evaporation tube 21 that is immersed in the ice-making water to make ice. It may include a plurality of ice-making nozzles 22 that perform ice removal.

A compressor for converting ordinary refrigerant into a high-temperature/high-pressure gas, a condenser for heat-exchanging the high-temperature/high-pressure gas that has passed through the compressor into a medium-temperature/high-pressure refrigerant, and converting the medium-temperature/high-pressure refrigerant heat-exchanged in the condenser into a low-temperature/low-pressure refrigerant. Ice is created by cooling the ice-making water, including a converter that converts it and an evaporator to which the low-temperature/low-pressure refrigerant converted by the converter is supplied. The ice-making water is cooled through the operation of the cooling cycle consisting of compression stroke - condensation stroke - expansion stroke - evaporation stroke, and here, the evaporation pipe 21 corresponds to the evaporator.

According to one embodiment, one compressor may operate two evaporators, and one of the two evaporators may be configured as an ice-making means and the other may be configured as a direct cooling device for producing direct cooling water.

After ice making is completed, when the valve is opened from the ice removal line branched from the pipe connecting the compressor and the condenser, high temperature and high pressure hot gas is supplied to the ice making nozzle 22, and the ice contact surface is formed in contact with the ice making nozzle 22. The ice is separated by melting it. The separated ice falls into the ice-making bin 30 and is supplied to the ice storage unit or storage bin 100 through a guiding member.

The ice contained in the ice storage unit is ice formed on the front of the storage bin 100 by the screw 40 rotating by driving a power means such as a motor (not shown), specifically, the screw blade pushes the ice to the front. It can be discharged to the outside through the outlet.

Meanwhile, the storage bin 100 including the ice storage unit is wrapped with an insulating material on the outer peripheral surface to keep the stored ice cool or insulate it. The insulating material may cover at least one side of the storage container 100, but is preferably formed to cover the entire side of the storage container 100.

The material or molding method of the insulating material is not particularly limited as long as it can insulate (or cool) the ice contained in the storage bin 100. However, according to one embodiment, the insulating material is formed by foaming polyurethane foam. It could be.

Conventionally, the insulating material surrounds the outer surface of the ice storage unit or the storage container containing the same, but the various inflows and outflows from the storage container, the fitting device connected thereto, and the connection pipe connected to the fitting device were not embedded in the insulating material.

That is, a fitting device is coupled to and mounted on an outlet inlet protruding outward from a storage tank wrapped with an insulating material, and a connecting pipe is coupled to the fitting device, and an electromagnetic valve (for example, a solenoid valve) is installed on the connecting pipe. Therefore, the storage tank wrapped with insulating material, the fitting device directly connected to the outlet formed in the storage container, and the connecting pipe connected thereto are each separable, which has the advantage of making it easy to replace parts. As the connecting pipe was connected, the length of the fitting device and the connecting pipe was further extended, which limited the miniaturization of the entire product.

In addition, because condensation occurs on the surface of the connecting pipe through which cold water flows due to the temperature difference with the outside air, there was a problem that additional pipe insulation had to be wrapped to prevent this.

However, the storage tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has an insulating material wrapped around the outer circumferential surface, and at least a portion of the fitting device directly connected to the outlet and inlet protruding from the outside of the storage tank 100 and the connecting pipe connected thereto. By embedding it in the insulation material, it is not easy to separate the fitting device and connecting pipe, but it has the effect of solving the above problems, miniaturizing the product and preventing condensation. However, since damage to the fitting device and connecting pipes does not occur even after long-term use, the above disadvantages can be offset by great advantages.

In other words, most or all of the inflow and outflow of water from the outside around the storage tank 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention flows in and out through one side of the storage tank 100, and the inflow and outflow of the storage tank 100. The communicable coupler 121 may be disposed on one side of the storage tank 100.

Accordingly, at least one coupler 121 located on one side of the storage bin 100 (for example, the front - the back of the direction (↗) in which the storage bin 100 shown in FIG. 3 is facing) is connected to the storage bin 100. ) can be connected to the fitting device 122 and the connecting pipes 131 and 132 to communicate with at least one outlet 101 formed in the.

Here, the outflow inlet of the storage tank 100 and the corresponding coupling port 121 may be a raw water supply pipe, a purified water inflow and outflow pipe, a melting water outflow and/or a residual water outflow and inlet pipe, etc., but may vary depending on the embodiment, so the present invention does not specifically limit this.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing a fitting device and an electromagnetic valve being combined with a storage tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage bin 100 may have at least one outlet 101 protruding from the outside, and the size or size of the ice maker, ice discharge means, ice storage unit, etc. provided in the storage bin 100. Considering placement, etc., the outlet 101 may be located in all directions of the storage tank 100.

As shown in FIG. 2, if the outlet 101 is facing in the same direction as the coupler 121 located on one side (eg, the front) of the storage bin 101, an I-type fitting is installed at the outlet 101. The device 110 may be fastened, but otherwise, if the outlet 101 is located on the other side (for example, the left and right sides) of the storage bin 101, an L-type fitting device 122 is installed at the outlet 101. It can be fastened (see Figure 3).

The inflow and outflow of water flowing in and out of the inflow and outflow port 101 of the storage tank 100 passes through the coupler 121 located on one side (e.g., the front) of the storage tank 100, and the coupler facing in one direction ( In order to connect 121) and the outlet 101 of the storage tank 101 to enable communication, the coupler 121 and the outlet 101 are connected to various types of fitting devices (L type, T type, I type, + type). , Y type, etc.) and connection pipes (131, 132).

Ultimately, at least a portion of the outlet 101 protruding from the outside of the storage tank 100, the fitting devices 101 and 122 directly connected thereto, and the connecting pipes 131 and 132 connected thereto are insulating material surrounding the outer peripheral surface of the storage tank 100. By being buried in (C) and the coupler 121 exposed to the outside, problems of condensation that may occur in conventional piping or limitations in product miniaturization can be resolved.

Here, as described above, the connecting pipes 131 and 132 may be pipes connecting the fitting device 110 directly connected to the outlet 101 and the coupler 121, but are not limited to this and are not limited to this, and are connected to the storage tank ( It may be a pipe connecting the outlet and inlet 101 of 100), and this pipe may be entirely embedded in the insulation material (C).

In addition, when foam molding the insulation material (C) in the storage tank 100, since the fitting device or piping is embedded in the insulation material, the position can be aligned and maintained using the fitting device or pipe during foam molding. , Since the fitting device or pipe is embedded in the insulation material (C) and the fitting device or pipe supports the insulation material, it is possible to prevent the molded insulation material (C) from falling out of the storage container (100).

Meanwhile, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a bracket 200 may be installed spaced apart from one side of the storage bin 100 where the coupler 121 is located (see FIGS. 2 and 4).

As shown in FIG. 5, the bracket 200 fixes the solenoid valve (for example, solenoid valve) 111 and exposes the coupler 121 through the hole formed in the bracket 200, thereby forming the reservoir 100. ) can be easily connected through a connection pipe between the external components of the unit and the coupler 121.

By placing the coupling port 121 in communication with the outlet 101 provided in the storage tank 100 on one side, the operator can make it very easy to connect piping with other components. To this end, the name of the coupler 121 may be displayed around the exposed coupler 121 on the surface of the bracket 200.

Likewise, since the solenoid valves coupled to the coupler 121 are also gathered on one side, diagnosis and repair of the solenoid valve can be performed easily and quickly. In other words, in order to diagnose or repair a malfunction of the solenoid valve, the operator only needs to remove the product cover of the part where the bracket 200 is located, and there is no need to remove the entire product cover.

As shown in FIG. 2, the storage bin 100 equipped with the bracket 200 may be filled with an insulating material (C) between the bracket 200 and one outer surface of the storage bin 100, where the filling thickness of the insulating material is Since may vary depending on implementation, it is not particularly limited in the present invention.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the bracket 200 may include an electromagnetic valve fixture 210 for fixing the electromagnetic valve 111 coupled to the coupler 121.

Typically, wings with bolt fastening holes are formed on both left and right sides of the solenoid valve as fastening means to secure the solenoid valve 111. To enable the wings of the solenoid valve 111 to be inserted and fixed, the bracket 200 may include guide protrusions 211 and 212 on the upper and lower sides, respectively, centered on the wing insertion path 213.

That is, the left and right wings of the solenoid valve 111 can be respectively inserted and fixed into the pair of wing insertion paths 213 formed by the two pairs of upper and lower guide parts 211 and 212, and the fixed solenoid valve 111 is directly or indirectly connected to the coupler 121 and can control the flow of inflow and outflow of water through the outlet 101 in communication with the coupler 121 by opening and closing operations.

At this time, in order to easily insert the solenoid valve 111 blade into the upper and lower guide parts 211 and 212, it is preferable that the protruding length of the upper guide part 211 is shorter than the protruding length of the lower guide part 212. This is because, when the blades of the solenoid valve 111 are first inserted while leaning against the protruding lower guide portion 212, the blades of the solenoid valve 111 can be easily guided to the blade insertion path 213.

Meanwhile, according to one embodiment, the bracket 200 may have a hole formed to fasten a power means for providing power to the rotationally driven screw 40, and a support means to support the power means. In consideration of the weight of the power means, it is preferable to protrude on one side of the storage container 100 rather than being provided on the bracket 200.

Above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. The description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing its technical idea or essential features.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims described later rather than the detailed description above, and all changes or modified forms derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts are included in the scope of the present invention. must be interpreted.

10, 100: storage bin 20: ice making means
21: Evaporation tube 22: Ice-making nozzle
30: Ice bucket 40: Screw
101: outlet inlet 102: support means
110: fitting device 111: solenoid valve
121: Coupler 122: L-type fitting device
131, 132: Connecting pipe 200: Bracket
210: Electronic valve fixture 211: Upper guide part
212: Lower guide part 213: Wing insertion path
F: Filter C: Insulation

Claims (5)

In a storage bin including an ice storage unit,
at least one outlet through which inflow and outflow water passes, and which protrudes from the outside of the reservoir and is coupled to a fitting device;
At least one coupler disposed on one side of the storage bin and connected to the outlet and the inlet through a connecting pipe to enable communication;
A thermal insulation material that covers at least one side of the storage tank to insulate or cool the storage tank; and
a bracket installed to be spaced apart from one side of the storage bin and for fixing at least one solenoid valve;
Further comprising, wherein the outlet is embedded in the insulating material, and the solenoid valve fixed to the bracket is coupled to the coupling port exposed to the insulating material. According to claim 1,
A storage bin with an insulating material, characterized in that the connecting pipe is embedded in the insulating material. delete According to claim 1,
The bracket is,
An electromagnetic valve fixture for fastening and engaging the electromagnetic valve;
A storage bin with an insulating material comprising a. In a drinking water supply device that supplies purified water from raw water,
The storage bin according to any one of claims 1, 2, and 4, including an ice storage unit in which ice generated by the ice making means is stored;
A drinking water supply device further comprising:

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