Patent ID: 8011537

Claim:
A dispensing system for an appliance, comprising: a main tank for holding a fluid, wherein the main tank controls the temperature of the fluid; a dispenser fluid line; a dispenser outlet fluidly connected to the main tank by the dispenser fluid line; an auxiliary tank or holding a volume of the fluid; a flow control device that selectively moves fluid in the main tank into the dispenser fluid line and towards the dispenser outlet by moving fluid in the auxiliary tank into the main tank and after dispensing, selectively removes fluid in the dispenser fluid line away from the dispenser outlet by moving part of fluid in the main tank into the auxiliary tank; and an inlet valve disposed on an inlet line fluidly connecting the main tank to a source of the fluid, the inlet valve preventing fluid from the fluid source from refilling the main tank while the flow control device moves the fluid in the auxiliary tank into the main tank and allowing fluid from the fluid source to refill the main tank only after fluid in the main tank is moved through the dispenser fluid line to the dispenser outlet.