KR101281588B1 - Ice dropping process control method and ice making water purifier and ice making hot and cold water dispenser controlled by the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a ice removing operation control method and an ice water purifier and an ice cold water heater controlled by the ice removing operation control method. The ice removing operation control method according to the present invention can perform an ice making operation and a ice removing operation, and promotes ice removal. Water is sprayed on the ice making unit for at least a predetermined period of time during the defrosting operation.

Description

Ice dropping process control method and ice making water purifier and ice making hot and cold water dispenser controlled by the same}

It relates to a ice-breaking operation control method and an ice water purifier and an ice cold water heater controlled by the ice-breaking operation control method, and more particularly, to a ice-breaking operation control method for preventing the ice-breaking failure or determining the ice-breaking failure and returning the ice-making operation to normal. The present invention relates to an ice water purifier and an ice cold / hot water controller controlled by a method of controlling a defrosting operation.

Ice water purifiers and ice cold and hot water dispensers can produce ice as well as cold water.

The ice purifier includes a filter unit for purifying raw water, a purified water tank for storing purified water, a cold water tank for storing cold water, and an ice making unit for producing ice. Moreover, the hot water tank which stores hot water as needed is provided. Ice-cold water heaters, on the other hand, are devices that do not have purified water tanks and filters, but instead have water reservoirs containing potable water.

The ice purifier and ice cold water dispenser solved the hassle of using ice by separating the ice from the ice tray after freezing by placing water in the ice tray of the refrigerator.

Here, the ice water purifier or ice cold water machine alternately performs an ice making operation and a defrosting operation. When the ice making unit still adheres to the ice making unit without defrosting at the time of transition from the ice making operation to the ice removing operation, too large ice is produced or On the contrary too little unfinished ice can be produced. As a result, there is a problem in that ice can not be produced uniformly if the ice is not precisely achieved.

In addition, there is a problem that the unfinished ice is produced even when the nozzle for spraying water to the ice making unit is frozen later than the time when the water is to be injected.

The present invention has been conceived to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ice removing operation control method and an ice water purifier and an ice cold / hot water dispenser controlled by the ice removing operation control method, in which defrosting is performed at a desired time.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a defrosting operation control method capable of reducing the production frequency of unfinished ice even when the nozzle of the ice making unit is frozen, and an ice purifier and an ice cold / hot water dispenser controlled by the defrosting operation control method.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a ice removing operation control method capable of easily determining whether or not ice removal has been performed well, and an ice water purifier and an ice cold / hot water heater controlled by the ice removing operation control method.

In order to achieve the above object, the ice-making operation control method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention may perform the ice-making operation and the ice-making operation, and water is applied to the ice-making unit for at least a predetermined period of the ice-making operation to promote the ice-making. Sprayed.

Preferably, the predetermined period is from the time when the temperature of the ice making unit rises to the defrosting promotion temperature until the defrosting operation is completed.

Preferably, the defrosting promotion temperature is preset.

Preferably, the ice making unit includes a nozzle assembly having an evaporating finger and a water spray nozzle for spraying water on the evaporating finger.

Preferably, the water spray nozzle sprays water inclined downward.

Preferably, the method for controlling ice removal operation according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a defrosting sensor, and the defrosting sensor detects whether ice is desorbed from the ice making unit.

Preferably, the ice-break detection sensor includes a signal transmitter and a signal receiver, and determines the ice-breaking failure based on which signal from the signal transmitter is received by the signal receiver.

Preferably, if it is determined that the ice is defective, the ice making operation is suspended and the ice making operation is performed for a predetermined period of time.

Ice water purifier and ice cold and hot water according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is controlled by the above-described ice removing operation control method.

According to the present invention, defrosting is performed at a desired time in the ice purifier and the ice cold and hot water dispenser.

In addition, even when the nozzle of the ice making unit is frozen, the production frequency of unfinished ice can be reduced.

In addition, since the de-icing failure is determined by the de-icing detection sensor, whether or not the de-icing defect can be quickly determined.

In addition, since the ice making operation is deferred for a short time and the ice making operation progresses, the uniformity of the manufactured ice increases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the description of the invention given above, serve to further the understanding of the technical idea of the invention, And should not be construed as interpretation.
1 is a main configuration of the ice water purifier according to the present invention.
2 is an enlarged perspective view of a region in which the ice making unit of FIG. 1 is installed;
3 is a view showing a state in which water is injected into the ice making unit.
4 is a view showing a ice-breaking motion control method according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings it will be described in detail with respect to the ice removal operation control method and the ice water purifier and ice cold water heater controlled by the ice removal operation control method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary terms and the inventor may appropriately define the concept of the term in order to best describe its invention It should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the drawings shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various modifications that can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

In the drawings, the size of each element or a specific part constituting the element is exaggerated, omitted or schematically shown for convenience and clarity of description. Therefore, the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. In the following description, it is to be understood that the 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.

1 is a main configuration diagram of an ice water purifier according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an area in which the ice making unit 30 of FIG. 1 is installed, and FIG. 3 is a view showing water in ice produced by the ice making unit 30. It is a figure which shows the state sprayed.

The ice water purifier includes a filter portion 40, a purified water tank 10 for storing purified water purified by the filter portion 40, a cold water tank 20 for storing the purified water, and a inside of the purified water tank 10. A purified water feed valve 12 for supplying purified water to the cold water tank 20, a circulation pump 15 for supplying cold water in the cold water tank 20 to the ice making unit 30, and a portion of the cold water is deiced and the remaining water is cooled. Ice-making unit 30 to make, the ice-making unit temperature sensor 32 for sensing the temperature of the ice-making unit 30, a ice-making detection sensor 34 for detecting whether ice is iced from the ice-making unit 30, and It is provided with a control unit for determining a failure and adjusting the driving period of the circulation pump 15 in the ice making section and the ice making section.

Prior to the description of the schematic structure of the ice water purifier, the ice making operation means making ice with the ice making unit 30 or cooling the cold water in the cold water tank 20 more coldly, and the ice making operation means the ice making unit 30. In order to remove the ice from the cooling medium, the flow of the refrigerant is stopped and the heater installed in the ice making unit 30 is driven to drop the ice suspended on the evaporation finger 24 or the refrigerant flowing in the ice making unit 30 in the reverse direction. By flowing, it is understood that the hot gaseous refrigerant transfers heat to the evaporation finger 24 to drop ice suspended on the evaporation finger 24.

In addition, the size of ice that is convenient for the user to use normally is about 10g of ice, and the time for performing ice making operation (hereinafter, referred to as 'ice making time') for making such ice is ice. It depends on the temperature of the place where the water purifier 50 is installed (hereinafter referred to as 'ambient temperature'), and the higher the ambient temperature, the longer the de-icing request time.

The filter unit 40 purifies raw water such as tap water and the like, and may be formed of conventional filters such as a precipitation filter and a carbon filter.

The purified water generated by the filter 40 is stored in the purified water tank 10. However, some of the purified water generated by the filter unit 40 may be stored in the purified water tank 10, and the remaining purified water may be stored in the hot water tank (not shown). The normal temperature purified water is heated by hot water by a common heating member installed in the hot water tank, and is supplied to the user through a hot water intake valve (not shown).

Preferably, the water level tank 10 is provided with a water level detecting member 18 for detecting the water level. When the water level detecting member 18 detects that the water level has reached a predetermined level, for example, the purified water supply is blocked to prevent the purified water from being supplied to the purified water tank 10.

The water at room temperature is supplied to the user through the purified water intake valve 16.

The purified water feed valve 12 supplies water from the purified water tank 10 to the cold water tank 20, and a solenoid valve or the like is usually used.

An ice grill 28 installed to be inclined above the cold water tank 20 is disposed, and a circulation pump 15 is disposed inside or outside the cold water tank 20. Preferably, the cold water tank 20 is provided with a cold water level sensor for detecting the water level, and a cold water temperature sensor for detecting the temperature. The cold water stored in the cold water tank 20 is supplied to the user through the cold water intake valve 46.

The ice grill 28 is composed of a plurality of grids, and the distance between adjacent grids is narrower than the size of the ice to be manufactured, so that the ice produced in the ice making unit 30 to be described later falls on the ice grill 28 and the cold water tank ( 20) is moved along the slope to the ice reservoir 2 without falling into it. In addition, the remaining water used for ice making or cold water cooled by the ice making unit 30 passes between the grids of the ice grill 28 and is stored in the cold water tank 20.

The circulation pump 15 supplies the cold water stored in the cold water tank 20 to the ice making unit 30 through the cold water supply pipe 14 to produce cold water or ice. When the circulation pump 15 and the cold water supply pipe 114 are disposed in the cold water tank 20, even if the ambient temperature of the ice water purifier is high, the temperature of the cold water in the cold water tank 20 is higher than the circulation pump 15 and the cold water supply pipe 114. Since it does not rise while passing through there is an advantage that can keep the temperature of the water supplied to the ice making unit 30 to be described later.

The ice making unit 30 serves to cool the water or to prepare ice, and the evaporator 22, the plurality of protrusion-shaped evaporation fingers 24 protruding from the evaporator 22, and the nozzle assembly 25 are provided. Equipped. One end of the nozzle assembly 25 is connected to the cold water supply pipe 14, and is wider than the diameter of the evaporation finger 24 to surround the evaporation finger 24 with a predetermined distance from the outer circumferential surface of each evaporation finger 24. It is a plate-shaped structure with a through hole formed. Cold water flows inside the nozzle assembly 25, and a water spray nozzle 26 is formed on an inner circumferential surface of the through hole surrounding the evaporation finger 24, and cold water is injected to the evaporation finger 24. When the temperature of the cold water sprayed on the evaporation finger 24 is about 2.5 ° C. or more, cold cold water is produced, and when it is less than about 2.5 ° C., ice is produced.

The water spray nozzles 26 may be formed at four equal intervals for each inner circumferential surface of each through hole of the nozzle assembly 25, and the number of the water spray nozzles 26 may be smaller or larger than this. Since the water spray nozzle 26 is inclined in the direction in which the evaporation finger 24 extends, it is preferable to spray water at an inclined downward direction, in order to easily prepare ice.

The evaporator 22 has an inlet portion 22a and an outlet portion 22b, the refrigerant flows through the inlet portion 22a, passes through the plurality of evaporation fingers 24, and passes through the outlet portion 22b. Exit the evaporator 22 through.

The low-temperature liquid refrigerant flows into the evaporator 22, and when cold water is injected into the evaporation finger 24, the injected cold water becomes colder cold water or ice. On the other hand, the liquid refrigerant flowing into the evaporation finger 24 gets heat from the cold water injected into the evaporation finger 24 and exits the evaporator 22 in the gas state. Repeating this process produces cold water or ice.

The ice making unit temperature sensor 32 is a sensor for measuring the temperature of the ice making unit 30 to determine whether an abnormal ice making operation is performed in the ice water purifier. The ice making unit temperature sensor 32 is installed in the evaporator 22 and preferably the It is located in the outlet 22b. Further, in order to minimize the gap between the actual temperature and the measured temperature of the ice making unit 30, the ice making unit temperature sensor 32 is more preferably installed in direct contact with the outlet 22b. Here, the outlet 22b is not only the position shown in FIG. 2 but also means a position after the refrigerant has passed through the evaporation finger 24 in the evaporator 22, and evaporates more than that shown in FIG. It may be located closer or farther to the finger 24.

Referring to FIG. 3, the ice removing sensor 34 is installed at both ends of the nozzle assembly 25 of the ice making unit 30 and includes a signal transmitter and a signal receiver. Defrosting may be determined by whether the signal emitted from the signal transmitter is received by the signal receiver, and a sensor such as an infrared sensor or an optical sensor may be applied to the defrosting sensor 34.

The installation position of the control unit (not shown) is relatively free, and may be installed in an electric field unit (not shown) in which mechanical, electrical, or electronic devices are mainly installed.

The ice cold and hot water purifier 52 is a device in which the purified water tank 10 and the filter unit 40 are omitted from the above-described ice water purifier, and a separate water reservoir (not shown) containing water in a drinkable state is the purified water tank 10. And is installed to replace the filter unit 40, the configuration of such a cold and hot water heater is published in Korea Patent No. 10-0853445. Except for this, the rest of the configuration is the same as the above-described ice water purifier.

Therefore, the description of the control method and the like not directly related to the mechanical structure of the purified water tank 10, the filter unit 40 and the water reservoir (not shown) can be applied not only to the ice water purifier but also to the ice cold / hot water machine 52. Make it clear.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of the ice removing operation control method that the ice is made at the desired time.

4 is a view showing a ice-breaking operation control method according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the ice making section and the ice making section are alternately repeated. The ice making section means a period during which the ice making operation is performed, and the ice making section means a period during which the ice making operation is performed. According to the existing ice water purifier, in the ice making section, only the circulation pump 15 operates to inject water into the ice making unit 30, and ice is produced. On the contrary, in the ice making section, only the ice making heater is operated to release the ice from the ice making unit 30.

However, in the ice purifier to which the nozzle type ice making unit 30 is sprayed with water through the water spray nozzle 26, the water spray nozzle 26 is frozen or ice chips or the like adhere to the end of the water spray nozzle 26. In some cases, even when the circulation pump 15 is operated in the ice making section, water is not sprayed from the water spray nozzle 26 in a stable enough flow rate, so that unfinished ice is often generated. In addition, when only the defrosting heater is operated in the defrosting section, in many cases, ice does not easily detach from the ice making unit 30.

Accordingly, the present invention operates only the circulation pump 15 in the ice making section as in the existing ice water purifier, but water is injected into the ice making unit 30 for at least a predetermined period t ₀ as well as the defrosting heater in the defrosting section. The predetermined time period t ₀ refers to the time when the ice-breaking heater starts to operate and the temperature of the ice-making unit 30 rises to the ice-decoupling temperature until the ice-breaking operation is completed. Here, the defrosting promotion temperature means a temperature high enough to promote ice removal without generating more ice even if water is sprayed on the ice, and the temperature measured by the ice making unit temperature sensor in consideration of the error range as a temperature of about 0 ° C. or more It is preferable to refer to the case of about 1 degreeC.

In addition, a defrosting promotion temperature can be set previously at the manufacturing stage of an ice water purifier, can also be set at an installation stage, and can be set suitably as needed according to the ambient temperature of the place where an ice water purifier is installed.

Meanwhile, in the conventional ice water purifier, water is injected through the water spray nozzle 26 only when the refrigerant flowing in the evaporation finger 24 or the nozzle assembly 25 is cold enough to freeze ice. Therefore, even if the water spray nozzle 26 is frozen or the water spray nozzle 26 itself is not frozen, a path of water sprayed from the water spray nozzle 26 by small pieces of ice generated around the water spray nozzle 26 is prevented. In the case of changing or decreasing the flow rate of water, the water was not sprayed sufficiently on the evaporation finger 24, so that a large amount of unfinished ice could be produced.

However, in the case of the ice water purifier controlled by the ice-breaking motion control method of the present invention, even when the coolant is stopped and the refrigerant flowing in the evaporation finger 24 or the nozzle assembly 25 is sufficiently warmed to a temperature of 0 ° C or more. Since water is injected through the water spray nozzle 26 for a predetermined time t ₀ , the water spray nozzle 26 or ice cubes frozen by the water injected into the ice-dissolving section melts, and the water sprayed into the ice-making section is Because it is used to make ice entirely, it can dramatically reduce the frequency of unfinished ice being produced.

As described above, in the case of spraying water on the ice making unit 30 during a predetermined time t ₀ during the defrosting operation, not only promotes defrosting but also has an effect of preventing the production of unfinished ice. There is an advantage that can be raised to the uniformity of.

However, during the defrosting operation, a predetermined period t ₀ of spraying water on the ice making unit 30 should be shorter than a time sufficient to make the finished ice again unfinished ice. For example, when the ambient temperature is 20 ° C, the ice making operation is performed for 12 minutes and the ice making operation is performed for 5 minutes and 30 seconds. In this case, the predetermined period t ₀ of spraying water to the ice making unit 30 is 4 minutes. It is preferable not to exceed. When the ambient temperature is 30 ° C., the ice making operation is performed for 14 minutes and the ice making operation is performed for 5 minutes and 30 seconds. In this case, the predetermined period t ₀ of spraying water to the ice making unit 30 is 3 minutes 30. It is desirable not to exceed seconds.

Even when it is necessary to enter the ice making section from the ice making section, the signal emitted from any one ice making sensor 34 is not received by the other ice making sensor 34, which means that there is an obstacle in the movement path of the signal. This means that ice that has not been defrosted remains in the ice making unit 30. In this case, the controller determines that the ice is poor.

If the de-icing operation is performed in a state of poor deicing, the uniformity of ice to be produced decreases, and thus, the de-icing operation is not performed. Therefore, when it is determined that the ice is bad, the ice making operation is suspended and the ice making operation is performed for a predetermined period. That is, in the case of the defrosting failure, the interval between the defrosting sections shown in FIG. 4 is further increased to induce de-icing and then the de-icing operation is performed.

On the other hand, the ice cold and hot water is a device in which the purified water tank 10 and the filter unit 40 is omitted from the above-described ice water purifier, a separate water reservoir (not shown) containing the water of the drinkable state and the purified water tank (10) It is installed to replace the filter unit 40, the configuration of such a cold and hot water heater is published in Korea Patent No. 10-0853445. Except for this, the rest of the configuration is the same as the above-described ice water purifier.

Therefore, it is clear that the description of the control method and the like not directly related to the mechanical structure of the purified water tank 10, the filter portion 40 and the water reservoir (not shown) can be applied not only to the ice water purifier but also to the ice cold and hot water dispenser. Say.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details thereof and that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. And various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

2: ice cellar 10: water purification tank
12: purified water supply valve 14: cold water supply pipe
15: circulation pump 16: water purification intake valve
18: water level detection member 20: cold water tank
22: evaporator 24: evaporation finger
25: nozzle assembly 26: water spray nozzle
28: ice grill 30: ice making unit
32: ice-making unit temperature sensor 34: ice-break detection sensor
40: filter part 46: cold water intake valve
50: ice water purifier 52: ice cold water heater

Claims (10)

Ice-making operation and ice-making operation, water is sprayed on the ice-making unit for at least a predetermined period of the ice-making operation to promote the ice-breaking,
Including the ice-breaking sensor, if it is determined that the ice-breaking failure through the ice-breaking sensor, the ice-making operation is suspended and the ice-making operation is performed for a predetermined period of time. The method of claim 1,
And the predetermined period is from a time point when the temperature of the ice making unit rises to a defrosting promotion temperature until the end of the ice-breaking operation. The method of claim 2,
The ice removal promoting temperature is characterized in that the pre-set ice removal operation. The method of claim 1,
And the ice making unit comprises a nozzle assembly having an evaporating finger and a water spray nozzle for spraying water on the evaporating finger. 5. The method of claim 4,
The water spray nozzle control method for ice removal, characterized in that for spraying water inclined downward. delete The method of claim 1,
The ice-break detection sensor includes a signal transmitter and a signal receiver, and the ice-breaking operation control method comprises determining a faulty ice based on whether a signal emitted from a signal transmitter is received by the signal receiver. delete An ice water purifier controlled by the method of controlling the ice-breaking motion according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and 7. Ice-cold water heater which is controlled by the ice-free operation control method of any one of claims 1 to 5.

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