Abstract:
A refrigerator includes a water conditioning cartridge having a filter for removing impurities from water and a temperature control unit for selectively developing cold and heated water that is released from a refrigerator dispenser. The temperature control unit is preferably formed from one or more thermal electric coolers. The thermal electric cooler(s) include a plurality of heat sinks that develop cool and hot temperatures to treat or condition the water. A fan is positioned adjacent the thermal electric cooler(s) to provide air exchange for the plurality of heat sinks. The temperature control unit conditions, i.e., heats or cools water passing from the filter to the dispenser depending upon a selected consumer preference.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/876,513 filed Dec. 22, 2006 entitled “Refrigerator Dispenser Assembly Including a Water Conditioning Cartridge.” 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a refrigerator dispenser assembly including a water conditioning cartridge. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Refrigerators having built-in ice/water dispensers are well known in the art. Typically, the dispensers are mounted to a door of the refrigerator and enable a consumer to obtain ice and/or water without requiring access to a refrigerator compartment. Many early model dispensers did not condition the water dispensed through the door. That is, the water dispensed was, in most cases, the same water coming from the kitchen tap. Overtime, manufactures incorporated filters into refrigerators to filter the water dispensed at the dispenser. In most cases, the filter would also be arranged to remove impurities from water feeding the ice maker. In addition to filters, many refrigerators include reservoirs that store filtered water prior to dispensing, thereby enabling the water to be chilled prior to delivery to a consumer. In this manner, the consumer has direct access to a supply of chilled water that could be used for drinking or cooking purposes. However, given the size of the reservoir, the amount of chilled water is limited and can be quickly depleted. When the reservoir is emptied, the consumer would be required to wait a significant period of time before having access to chilled water. 
     In addition to providing chilled water, manufactures recognized the benefit of dispensing heated water. Heated water could be used for cooking and/or preparation of heated beverages such as coffee, tea, cocoa and the like. However, in order to provide heated water, the refrigerator required an additional heating system. In some cases, a refrigerator was fitted with another reservoir to store the heated water. As with the above described system, the reservoir had a limited capacity and was capable of filling only a small container before needing time to heat additional water. In order to provide a larger volume of heated water, some manufacturers incorporated a heater mounted directly to a hot water line. With this arrangement, water passing through the hot water line was heated prior to being dispensed. Regardless, the additional systems added to the cost and complexity of manufacture. Moreover, the separate systems provided additional failure points for the appliance. 
     Based on the above, there still exists a need for a refrigerator having a dispenser that can effectively provide filtered cold and heated water. More specifically, there exists a need for a refrigerator having a single system that not only filters the water, but also operates to chill or heat the water as needed, depending upon consumer preferences. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a refrigerator including a cabinet within which is provided at least one refrigerated compartment. A door, pivotally mounted to the cabinet, selectively provides access to the at least one refrigerated compartment. In accordance with the invention, the refrigerator includes a dispenser assembly having a dispenser mounted in the door for selectively releasing chilled or heated water to a consumer. The dispenser assembly also includes a water conditioning cartridge fluidly connected to the dispenser that filters and develops a desired temperature of the water passing to the dispenser. 
     More specifically, the water conditioning cartridge includes an input port adapted to receive water from a water supply, an output port fluidly connected to the dispenser, a filter for removing impurities from the water and a temperature control device for selectively developing cold and heated water that is released from the dispenser depending upon consumer preferences. The temperature control device is fluidly connected to the filter and is preferably arranged downstream of the filter. The temperature control unit includes a central water treatment portion having mounted thereto one or more thermal electric coolers. The thermal electric coolers include a plurality of heat sinks that develop cool and hot temperatures to condition the water in the water treatment portion. A fan is positioned adjacent the thermal electric coolers to provide air exchange for the plurality of heat sinks. In any case, the temperature control unit conditions, i.e., heats or cools the water passing from the filter to the dispenser depending upon consumer preferences. With this arrangement, the present invention avoids the need for additional reservoirs, thereby saving space. Moreover, the present invention provides an endless supply of cold, room temperature or heated water. 
     Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an upper left perspective view of a refrigerator incorporating a dispenser assembly including a water conditioning cartridge constructed in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the water conditioning cartridge of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With initial reference to  FIG. 1 , a refrigerator constructed in accordance with the present invention is generally indicated at  2 . Refrigerator  2  includes a cabinet  4  having a top wall  6 , a rear wall  7  and opposing side walls  8  and  9 . In the embodiment shown, refrigerator  2  constitutes a side-by-side model having a freezer compartment  12  and a fresh food compartment  13 . Freezer compartment  12  has an associated freezer compartment door  16  and, likewise, fresh food compartment  13  includes a fresh food compartment door  17 . Each compartment door  16 ,  17  includes a corresponding handle  20 ,  21  that enables a consumer to selectively access freezer compartment  12  and fresh food compartment  13  respectively. A kick plate  24  is arranged below freezer compartment  12  and fresh food compartment  13 . Kick plate  24  includes a vent or opening  25  that provides an airflow to a refrigeration system (not shown). At this point, it should be understood that, while the present invention is shown and described in connection with a side-by-side refrigerator, refrigerator  2  can take on various forms, such as top mount and bottom mount models, as well as units employing French-style doors and units that include either a single fresh food compartment or a single freezer compartment. 
     Refrigerator  2  is provided with a dispenser assembly  40  including a dispenser  42  shown arranged on freezer compartment door  16 . Dispenser  42  includes a facade  43  and a dispenser well  46 . Arranged within dispenser well  46  is one or more actuators  49  and a nozzle schematically illustrated at  50 . Dispenser  42  is also shown to include a control panel  57  having a plurality of selector elements, one of which is indicated at  60 . In a manner known in the art, actuator  49  is triggered when engaged by a container (not shown) to activate a control  63  which causes water and/or ice to be dispensed. When dispensing water, control  63  activates a valve  67  which causes water to be directed through nozzle  50  and into the container. As will be discussed more fully below, prior to exiting nozzle  50 , the water is passed through a water conditioning cartridge  86 . Water conditioning cartridge  86  filters the water, while also developing a desired temperature for the water. More specifically, based on a consumer&#39;s input through, for example, selector element  60 , water conditioning cartridge  86  establishes a flow of either cold or heater water which is advantageously directed to nozzle  50 . In this manner, cold, heated and room temperature water is available from a single location, i.e., nozzle  50 . 
     As best shown in  FIG. 2 , water conditioning cartridge  86  is a fully integrated unit that is readily replaceable within refrigerator  2 . In the preferred embodiment shown, water conditioning cartridge  86  is housed within freezer compartment door  16 . In any event, water conditioning cartridge  86  includes a filter portion  90  having a water filter  92  that removes impurities from water passing through water conditioning cartridge  86 . Towards that end, water filter  92  is fluidly connected to an inlet port  95  of water conditioning cartridge  86  through an inlet conduit  97 . Water filter  92  is also fluidly connected to a temperature control portion  106  through an intermediate conduit  109 . Although not shown, a consumer is provided with access to water conditioning cartridge  86  on an inner panel (also not shown) of freezer compartment door  16  in order to allow for periodic replacement. 
     In accordance with the invention, temperature control portion  106  includes a first or input manifold  112  having a plurality of feeder tubes, one of which is indicated at  115 . Input manifold  112  is fluidly connected to intermediate conduit  109 , while feeder tubes  115  connect to a first end portion  117  of a water treatment unit  118 . As shown, water treatment unit  118  is preferably constituted by a flat, thin tank. Water treatment unit  118  extends from first end portion  117  through first and second opposing planar surfaces  121  and  122  to a second end portion  125 . Second end portion  125  is provided with a plurality of discharge tubes, one of which is indicated at  130 , that feed into a discharge manifold  133 . With this arrangement, filtered water is delivered into water treatment unit  118  through feeder tubes  115 , directed through the tank, and discharged into discharge manifold  133 . Discharge manifold  133  guides treated water from temperature control portion  106  to an outlet port  139  through a discharge conduit  142 . 
     In further accordance with the invention, water passing through water treatment unit  118  is, depending upon a consumer&#39;s demand, subjected to a temperature conditioning process by a temperature control unit  160 . Preferably, temperature control unit  160  operates on low voltages supplied through conductor  162  that are operatively connection within refrigerator  2  when cartridge  86  is in place. The temperature conditioning process should be understood to include both the addition of heat, i.e., developing heated water that is passed to dispenser nozzle  50 , and the removal of heat, i.e., developing cool water which is likewise passed to dispenser nozzle  50 . Of course, the present invention could also simply supply filtered water at room temperature. 
     In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, temperature control unit  160  is constituted by first and second thermal electric coolers (TEC)  164  and  165  arranged on first and second planar surfaces  121  and  122  respectively. Although various, varying capacity thermoelectric arrangements are known in the art, TEC&#39;s  164  and  165  are preferably configured to remove approximately 306 watts/cm 2  from water passing through water treatment unit  118 . Towards that end, each TEC  164 ,  165  includes a plurality of fins  168 ,  169  that facilitate heat transfer to and from water treatment unit  118 . In order to further facilitate heat transfer, a fan  175  is operatively connected to control  63  and arranged adjacent temperature control unit  160 . Fan  175  directs an airflow across the plurality of fins  168  and  169 , which are exposed to the outside of water conditioning cartridge  86 , to increase an overall heat transfer rate between TEC  164 , TEC  165  and water treatment unit  118 , thereby ensuring maximum heat delivery and/or removal from any water passing from input port  95  to outlet port  139 . 
     Although described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. In general, it should be readily understood that the present invention provides for a fully integrated and easily replaceable cartridge that can advantageously develop both cool and heated, filtered water for a refrigerator dispenser. In addition, the overall water conditioning cartridge can be easily replaced, such as when the filter reaches an expiration date. Furthermore, the present invention provides for a readily available supply of water without the need for additional reservoirs. That is, the present invention provides an endless supply of cool, heated or room temperature water to a single outlet on the dispenser. With this arrangement, consumers are ensured of the continued treatment of water delivered from the dispenser without requiring costly servicing in the event of a component failure. In any case, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.