Patent ID: 7285220

Claim:
A water softener to produce soft water at various temperatures and facilitate regeneration of an ion exchange resin ( 112 ) thereof by causing raw water to pass through the ion exchange resin ( 112 ) to produce soft water during a soft water producing process and causing a regeneration material ( 132 ) to be dissolved in the raw water to generate regeneration water that then flows through the ion exchange resin ( 112 ) to regenerate the ion exchange resin, and is, thereafter, discharged as resulting waste regeneration water during a regeneration process, wherein the water softener ( 100 ) comprises: a water softening tank ( 110 ) in which an internal region containing therein the ion exchange resin ( 112 ) is partitioned into a plurality of water softening regions ( 110 a , 110 b , 110 c and 110 d ), which are individually assigned into a predetermined temperature, with a raw water feed pipe ( 114 ) placed in a longitudinal direction of the water softening tank, a plurality of partitions ( 115 ) placed in radial directions around the raw water feed pipe ( 114 ), a water inlet hole ( 116 ) formed on a bottom of the water softening tank to extend the raw water feed pipe ( 114 ) to the exterior and supply the raw water into the water softening tank, and a plurality of water discharge holes ( 118 ) formed on the bottom of the water softening tank to allow for a communication of the plurality of water softening regions with the exterior and to discharge the soft water and the waste regeneration water to the exterior; a regeneration tank ( 130 ) coupled to an upper part of the water softening tank ( 110 ) and containing therein the regeneration material ( 132 ); a cold/hot control valve ( 140 ) provided on an upper part of the raw water feed pipe ( 114 ) in a form of being inserted into the regeneration tank ( 130 ) to supply the raw water to a selected one of the plurality of water softening regions ( 110 a , 110 b , 110 c and 110 d ) during the soft water producing process; a regeneration valve ( 160 ) penetrating an upper surface of the regeneration tank ( 130 ) and coupled to the raw water feed pipe ( 114 ) through the cold/hot control valve ( 140 ), and, upon regeneration of the ion exchange resin, introducing the raw water into the regeneration tank ( 130 ) by manual control to produce the regeneration water and then supplying the regeneration water to a selected one of the plurality of water softening regions ( 110 a , 110 b , 110 c and 110 d ); a temperature sensor ( 190 ) to sense a temperature of the raw water supplied through the water inlet hole ( 116 ); and an operation control unit ( 200 ) to control the cold/hot control valve ( 140 ) to supply the raw water to one of the plurality of water softening regions ( 110 a , 110 b , 110 c and 110 d ) according to the temperature of the raw water sensed by the temperature sensor ( 190 ).