Patent Abstract:
A water tank for a dispenser capable of improving convenience when the user injects water into the water tank and a refrigerator having the same are disclosed. The water tank for a dispenser includes a reservoir which stores water and has an opening, a cover which covers the opening and has an injection port to inject water into the reservoir, and an opening/closing unit which opens and closes the injection port, the opening/closing unit being operated by loading of water above and into the injection port to open the injection port.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2007-0118410, filed on Nov. 20, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a water tank for a dispenser and a refrigerator having the same, and, more particularly, to a water tank for a dispenser capable of facilitating water supply and offering improved usability to a user and a refrigerator having the same. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Generally, a water dispenser is an apparatus which automatically distributes drinking water. The dispenser is installed at home or office, or in a public place for home or commercial use. The dispenser may be connected to a water supply or the like to supply drinking water to the user, or may include a water container to supply water of the water container to the user. 
         [0006]    The dispenser may be provided as an individual device, or may be coupled to other electric home appliances. As an example of an electric home appliance having the dispenser, there is a refrigerator having the dispenser, and recently, refrigerators having various configurations are being developed. 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view showing essential parts of a conventional refrigerator having a dispenser. 
         [0008]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the conventional refrigerator having the dispenser includes a storage compartment (not shown) which stores various foodstuffs in a frozen or cooled state, a door  1  which opens and closes the storage compartment, a dispenser  2  which is disposed on the door  1  to supply drinking water to the user, and a water tank  3  which is disposed on the inside of the door  1  to be connected to the dispenser  2 . 
         [0009]    An injection port  4  is formed on an upper surface of the water tank  3 . A cover  5  is disposed at the injection port  4  to open and close the injection port  4 . 
         [0010]    Accordingly, after the user opens the cover  5  to open the injection port  4 , the user fills the water tank  5  with drinking water and stores the water tank  5  in a cooling compartment. When necessary, the user can use water in the water tank  3  through the dispenser  2  formed on the door  1  without opening the door  1 . 
         [0011]    However, in the conventional water tank for a dispenser and the conventional refrigerator having the water tank, when the user intends to inject water into the water tank, the user should detach the water tank from the storage compartment and open the cover to inject water into the water tank, or should open the cover and use an additional container to inject water into the water tank while the water tank is fixed to the storage compartment. Thus, there is a problem of reducing convenience of the user. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    The present embodiment has been made in order to solve the above problems. It is an aspect of the embodiment to provide a water tank for a dispenser and a refrigerator having the same capable of improving convenience when a user injects water into the water tank. 
         [0013]    It is another aspect of the embodiment to provide a refrigerator capable of minimizing cold loss by injecting water into a water tank for a short period of time when water is injected into the water tank while the water tank is fixed to a storage compartment. 
         [0014]    Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
         [0015]    The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a water tank for a dispenser, including: a reservoir configured to store water and having an opening; a cover covering the opening and having an injection port to inject water into the reservoir; and an opening/closing unit opening and closing the injection port, the opening/closing unit being operated by loading of water above and into the injection port to open the injection port. 
         [0016]    The opening/closing unit may include an opening/closing portion corresponding to the injection port to open and close the injection port, and a rotation shaft rotatably fixing the opening/closing portion on the cover. 
         [0017]    The opening/closing unit may be rotated downward by a load pressing an upper surface of the opening/closing portion to open the injection port, and the opening/closing unit may be rotated upward to close the injection port when the load pressing the upper surface of the opening/closing portion is removed. 
         [0018]    The opening/closing unit may further include a weight portion disposed opposite to the opening/closing portion, the opening/closing portion and the weight portion performing a seesaw motion according to a force applied to the opening/closing portion. 
         [0019]    The opening/closing unit may further include at least one resilient member providing an elastic force such that the opening/closing portion is maintained to close the injection port. 
         [0020]    The cover may further include an inclined portion guiding water toward the injection port. 
         [0021]    The reservoir may further include a filter to purify water and an auxiliary container on which the filter is mounted and which sectionalizes a space of the reservoir. 
         [0022]    The cover may further include a handle disposed at an upper portion of the inclined portion. 
         [0023]    The reservoir may further include a valve to intermittently discharge water. 
         [0024]    The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a water tank for a dispenser, including: an injection port through which water is injected; a reservoir storing the injected water; and an opening/closing unit opening and closing the injection port according to a load of water applied to the injection port. 
         [0025]    The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a refrigerator, including: a storage compartment to store food to be cooled; a water tank disposed in the storage compartment, the water tank including an injection port through which water is injected, a reservoir storing the injected water, and an opening/closing unit opening and closing the injection port, the opening/closing unit being operated by loading of the water above and into the injection port to open the injection port; and a dispenser discharging water from the water tank to an outside. 
         [0026]    The water tank may further include an inclined portion guiding water toward the injection port. 
         [0027]    The water tank may further include a handle disposed at an upper portion of the inclined portion. 
         [0028]    The water tank may include a cover, and the opening/closing unit may include an opening/closing portion corresponding to the injection port to open and close the injection port, a rotation shaft rotatably fixing the opening/closing portion on the cover, and a weight portion disposed opposite to the opening/closing portion, the opening/closing portion and the weight portion performing a seesaw motion according to a load applied to the opening/closing portion. 
         [0029]    The water tank may include a cover, and the opening/closing unit may include an opening/closing portion corresponding to the injection port to open and close the injection port, a rotation shaft rotatably fixing the opening/closing portion on the cover, and a resilient member providing an elastic force such that the opening/closing portion is maintained to close the injection port. 
         [0030]    The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a water tank for a dispenser of a refrigerator, including: a reservoir configured to store water; a cover covering the reservoir and including an injection port into which water is injected to enter the reservoir; and an opening/closing unit disposed beneath and adjacent to the injection port and opening and closing the injection port, the opening/closing unit maintaining the injection port in a closed state until water is injected through the injection port. 
         [0031]    The opening/closing unit may include an opening/closing portion opening and closing the injection port and a weight portion opposite the opening/closing portion to maintain the injection port in the closed state. 
         [0032]    The opening/closing unit may include an opening/closing portion opening and closing the injection port and at least one resilient member to maintain the injection port in the close state. 
         [0033]    The water tank for a dispenser and the refrigerator having the same according to the present embodiments include an opening/closing unit which is disposed at an inlet side to automatically open and close the inlet according to an applied load such that the user can inject water into the water tank without manually opening the inlet, thereby improving convenience of the user. 
         [0034]    Further, when the user injects water into the water tank while the water tank is fixed to the storage compartment, the inlet can be opened along with the injection of water without manually opening the inlet. Thus, it is possible to inject water for a short period of time, thereby shortening a door opening time. There is an effect of minimizing cold loss. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0035]    These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which: 
           [0036]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view showing essential parts of a conventional refrigerator having a dispenser; 
           [0037]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a water tank for a dispenser and a refrigerator having the same according to an embodiment; 
           [0038]      FIG. 3  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dispenser and the water tank shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0039]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of the water tank for a dispenser according to the embodiment; 
           [0040]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exploded perspective view of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0041]      FIG. 6  illustrates an operational view of the water tank for a dispenser according to the embodiment; and 
           [0042]      FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view showing a modified embodiment of an opening/closing unit of the water tank. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0043]    Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
         [0044]    Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0045]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a water tank for a dispenser and a refrigerator having the same according to an embodiment.  FIG. 3  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dispenser and the water tank shown in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of the water tank for a dispenser according to the embodiment.  FIG. 5  illustrates an exploded perspective view of  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 6  illustrates an operational view of the water tank for a dispenser according to the embodiment. 
         [0046]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the refrigerator according to the present embodiment includes a main body  10  with an open front surface, which has storage compartments  20  and  30 . The storage compartments  20  and  30  in the main body  10  include a first storage compartment  20  and a second storage compartment  30  which are defined on the left and right, respectively, by an intermediate wall. A first storage compartment door  21  and a second storage compartment door  31  are installed on the front surface of the main body  10  to open and close the first storage compartment  20  and the second storage compartment  30 , respectively. 
         [0047]    In this embodiment, the first storage compartment is used as a freezing compartment and the second storage compartment is used as a cooling compartment. However, the first storage compartment may be used as a cooling compartment and the second storage compartment may be used as a freezing compartment. Further, according to the selection of the user, both the storage compartments may be used as a freezing compartment or a cooling compartment. For this, the temperature in the storage compartments can be controlled. 
         [0048]    The main body  10  is formed in a box shape filled with a urethane foam thermal insulator. A machine room (not shown), equipped with various electric and electronic devices, is formed at a lower rear portion of the main body  10 . In the same way as in a conventional general refrigerator, a compressor (not shown) of a refrigeration cycle, a condenser (not shown) which condenses a high-temperature, high-pressure coolant discharged from the compressor (not shown) and an electronic box (not shown) and the like are installed in the machine room. 
         [0049]    One or more shelves  32  may be installed in the second storage compartment  30  to place stored articles thereon. The shelves  32  are guided by guides (not shown) formed on sidewalls of the second storage compartment  30  to be inserted and fixed to the second storage compartment  30 . 
         [0050]    A plurality of shelves  32  may be vertically installed at specific intervals according to the size of a storage space to sectionalize the storage space, thereby storing more stored articles. 
         [0051]    One side of the second storage compartment door  31  is hinge-coupled to the second storage compartment  30  to open and close the second storage compartment  30 . A plurality of receiving portions  33  may be formed on the inside of the second storage compartment door  31 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , a water tank  50  having a valve  52  is detachably fixed to the second storage compartment door  31  to supply water to a dispenser  40 . Further, the dispenser  40  is disposed below the water tank  50  to intermittently discharge water of the water tank  50  without opening the second storage compartment door  31 . 
         [0052]    The dispenser  40  includes a water supply cylinder  41  which is installed to pass through the second storage compartment door  31 , a piston  44  which is slidably installed in the water supply cylinder  41 , and a lever  45  which drives the piston  44 . 
         [0053]    The water supply cylinder  41  includes an inlet  42  which is coupled to the valve  52  of the water tank  50  and an outlet  43  which discharges water that has passed through the water supply cylinder  41  to the outside. 
         [0054]    The piston  44  slides in the water supply cylinder  41  to open and close the valve  52  of the water tank  50 . A pressing portion  46 , which transfers a rotational force of the lever  45  to the piston  44  to slide the piston  44 , is disposed at one end portion of the piston  44 . A resilient spring  47 , which exerts an elastic force to restore the piston  44  when a force applied to the lever  45  is removed, is disposed at the other end portion of the piston  44 . 
         [0055]    The lever  45  is pressed by the user to discharge water. The upper side of the lever  45  is rotatably hinge-coupled to the door. A push portion  45   a  of a specific size is formed at the lower side of the lever  45  to be pressed by the user with a cup or the like. 
         [0056]    Accordingly, when the user operates the lever  45  with a cup or the like, the pressing portion  46  moves the piston  44  backward in the water supply cylinder  41 . At the same time, the piston  44  opens the valve  52 , thereby discharging water of the water tank  50  to the front surface of the second storage compartment door  31  through the water supply cylinder  41  and the outlet  43 . 
         [0057]    Further, when the force applied to the lever  45  is removed, the piston  44  is restored to close the valve  52  by an elastic force of the resilient spring  47  which is interposed between the rear surface of the piston  44  and the water supply cylinder  41 . 
         [0058]    The above mechanical configuration in which the lever is used to discharge water of the water tank may be replaced by a configuration in which a switch is provided instead of the lever to turn on/off the valve by an electric signal according to on/off of the switch. 
         [0059]    As shown in  FIGS. 3 to 5 , the water tank  50  includes a reservoir  51  having an accommodation space in which water is stored, the valve  52  which is disposed on the reservoir  51  to discharge water of the water tank  50  to the outside by interworking with the lever  45 , a cover  60  which closes an upper portion of the reservoir  51  and on which an injection port  61  is formed to inject water into the reservoir  51 , and an opening/closing unit  70  which opens and closes the injection port  61 . 
         [0060]    An opening  51   a  is formed at the upper portion of the reservoir  51 , and the reservoir  51  is formed to have a specific water storage capacity. In case that the reservoir  51  is mounted on the rear surface of the second storage compartment door  31 , the thickness, height and width of the reservoir  51  can be adjusted to prevent the reservoir  51  from being excessively protruded toward the second storage compartment  30 . 
         [0061]    Further, the reservoir  51  may include a filter  53  which purifies the injected water and discharges the purified water to the dispenser  40  and an auxiliary container  54  which fixes the filter  53  and defines first and second reservoir portions  56  and  57  in the reservoir  51 . 
         [0062]    The filter  53  may employ a general filter manufactured by Brita™ (Germany), for example, or may employ various types of filters, each being manufactured as a single product, to purify water. 
         [0063]    The auxiliary container  54  is formed to have a specific size and is mounted on the upper portion of the reservoir  51 . A filter fixing portion  55  is formed at the center of the auxiliary container  54  to fix the filter  53 . 
         [0064]    Accordingly, water introduced into the reservoir  51  through the injection port  61  flows into the first reservoir portion  56  defined by the auxiliary container  54 . Then, the water is purified while passing through the filter  53  and is stored in the second reservoir portion  57 . 
         [0065]    The cover  60  is detachably disposed at the opening  51   a  of the reservoir  51 . 
         [0066]    The cover  60  includes the injection port  61  which is formed at approximately the center of the cover  60  such that the user can inject water into the reservoir  51 , and an inclined portion  62  which is inclined downward from the outside toward the injection port  61  such that the water injected by the user is guided toward the injection port  61  without overflowing the water tank  50 . 
         [0067]    Further, the cover  60  may include a handle  63  for the user to conveniently attach or detach the water tank  50  to or from the rear surface of the second storage compartment door  31 . 
         [0068]    In this case, the handle  63  is formed to connect upper end portions of the inclined portion  62 . Accordingly, it is possible to easily inject water into the reservoir  51  using the inclined portion  62 . Also, when the user lifts up the water tank  50 , the user can hold the handle  63  by putting his hand into a space formed between the inclined portion  62  recessed downward and the handle  53 , thereby improving space efficiency. 
         [0069]    Further, in order to prevent the cover  60  from being separated from the reservoir  51  when the user moves the water tank  50  while holding the handle  63 , a pair of hooks  64  is provided at opposite sides of the boundary of the cover  60  and a pair of hook fixing portions  51   b  is provided on the reservoir  51  corresponding to the hooks  64 . While a pair of hooks  64  and corresponding hook fixing portions  51   b  are provided to maintain the cover  60  in contact with the reservoir  51 , any other type of non-permanent attachment mechanism may be used to affix the cover  60  to the reservoir  51 . 
         [0070]    The handle  63  and the cover  60  may be formed as a single body through injection molding. However, in this embodiment, the handle  63  is firmly coupled to the cover  60  using screws. 
         [0071]    In the present embodiment, the opening/closing unit  70  is provided to open and close the injection port  61 . The opening/closing unit  70  includes an opening/closing portion  71  corresponding to the injection port  61  to open and close the injection port  61 , a weight portion  72  which is positioned opposite to the opening/closing portion  71  to support the opening/closing portion  71  upward, and a rotation shaft  73  provided such that the opening/closing unit  70  is fixed to perform a seesaw motion on the rear surface of the cover  60 . 
         [0072]    The opening/closing portion  71  is formed to be somewhat larger than the size of the injection port  61  to close the injection port  61 . 
         [0073]    The weight portion  72  is somewhat heavier than the weight of the opening/closing portion  71  to move downward, while moving the opening/closing portion  71  upward, when the rotation shaft  73  is fixed to the rear surface of the cover  60 . 
         [0074]    The rotation shaft  73  is disposed between the opening/closing portion  71  and the weight portion  72  and is inserted into a shaft fixing portion  65  formed on the rear surface of the cover  60  such that the opening/closing portion  71  and the weight portion  72  can perform a seesaw motion. 
         [0075]    Since the weight portion  72  has a weight larger than the weight of the opening/closing portion  71 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , when an external force is not exerted, the opening/closing portion  71  performs a seesaw motion to move upward due to the weight of the weight portion  72 . Accordingly, an upper boundary portion of the opening/closing portion  71  is in contact with a lower boundary portion of the injection port  61  such that the opening/closing portion  71  closes the injection port  61 . 
         [0076]    In this case, when the user pours water onto the inclined portion  62  to inject water into the injection port  61 , the poured water is guided toward the injection port  61  along the inclined portion  62 . The opening/closing portion  71  is moved downward due to the weight of the water guided to above the injection port  61 . At the same time, the weight portion  72  performs a seesaw motion to move upward. Accordingly, the opening/closing portion  71  opens the injection port  61  such that the user can inject water into the water tank  50  through the injection port  61 . 
         [0077]    Then, when a load pressing the upper surface of the opening/closing portion  71  is removed as the injection of water is finished, the weight portion  72 , which is relatively heavier than the opening/closing portion  71 , is moved downward. At the same time, the opening/closing portion  71  performs a seesaw motion to move upward, thereby closing the injection port  61 . 
         [0078]    Thus, the opening/closing portion can open and close the injection port along with the injection of water without an additional driving device. That is, since the injection port can be opened only when water is injected, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the water tank. 
         [0079]    Further, although the filter is disposed in the main body in the embodiment, the present embodiment is not limited thereto. That is, the filter and a partition member may be removed and purified water may be directly injected into the main body such that the user can use drinking water which is discharged from the dispenser. 
         [0080]    Next, a modified embodiment of the opening/closing unit included in the water tank will be explained. 
         [0081]      FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view showing a modified embodiment of the opening/closing unit of the water tank. 
         [0082]    The modified embodiment has the same configuration as the above embodiment except that they are different in the opening/closing unit. 
         [0083]    The opening/closing unit of the water tank according to the modified embodiment includes an opening/closing unit  80  to open and close the injection port  61 . The opening/closing unit  80  includes an opening/closing portion  81  corresponding to the injection port  61  to open and close the injection port  61 , a rotation shaft  82  provided to rotatably fix the opening/closing portion  81  on the rear surface of the cover, and resilient members  83  which are disposed at the rotation shaft  82  to provide an elastic force such that the opening/closing portion  81  is maintained to close the injection port  61  when an external force is not exerted. 
         [0084]    The resilient members  83  may be torsion springs, for example, which are fixed to the rotation shaft  82 , but may be any type of resilient, flexible member that is able to restore a force applied thereto One end of each of the resilient members  83  is supported by the lower surface of the opening/closing portion  81  and the other end of each of the resilient members  83  is supported by the rear surface of the cover  60 . 
         [0085]    In this case, the elastic force of the resilient members  83  may be appropriately set such that the opening/closing portion  81  can open the injection port  61  by water poured onto the injection port  60 . 
         [0086]    Accordingly, when the user pours water to the inclined portion  62  to inject water into the injection port  61 , the poured water is guided toward the injection port  61  along the inclined portion  62 . The resilient members  83  are elastically deformed to rotate the opening/closing portion  81  downward due to the weight of the water guided to above the injection port  61 , thereby opening the injection port  61 . 
         [0087]    Then, when a load pressing the upper surface of the opening/closing portion  81  is removed as the injection of water is finished, the opening/closing portion  81  is rotated upward by an elastic restoration force of the resilient members  83 , thereby closing the injection port  61 . 
         [0088]    Although the water tank is applied to the refrigerator in the above embodiments, the water tank is not limited thereto. For example, the water tank according to the present embodiments may be applied to a separate dispenser. 
         [0089]    Although embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5