Liquid dispenser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10501305-B2
Application number	US-201715651579-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2017
Priority date	Jul 18, 2016
Publication date	Dec 10, 2019
Grant date	Dec 10, 2019

Abstract

A water purifier includes a cooling water tank that holds cooling water; a stirring member that is provided in the cooling water tank to stir the cooling water; a cold water pipe that is provided in the cooling water tank and wound several times in a cylindrical shape; an evaporator that is provided in the cooling water tank; a separator on which the evaporator is provided and that is provided over the cold water pipe to divide an internal space of the cooling water tank into a first space and a second space; and a plurality of holders that protrude upward from the bottom of the cooling water tank, and each of the holders having a seating groove for receiving a portion the cold water pipe.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid dispenser comprising:
a tank that holds a first liquid;
a pipe that is provided in the tank to contact the first liquid, the pipe carrying a second liquid to be cooled through the contact between the pipe and the first liquid and being spirally wound into a coil that extends vertically and includes a plurality of concentric layers of piping;
an evaporator that is provided in the tank to contact the first liquid, the evaporator carrying refrigerant to cool the first liquid in the tank;
a permeable separator that is provided in the tank to divide an internal space of the tank into a first space that receives the evaporator and a second space that receives the coil; and
a plurality of holder extensions that protrude upward from a bottom surface of the tank, each of the holder extensions having a seating groove to receive a lower portion of the coil, and
wherein the separator includes,
a bottom layer that extends horizontally and has a hole;
first extensions that extend upward from a peripheral edge of the hole; and
a plurality of separation walls that extend upward from a top of the bottom layer and extend radially from the hole in the bottom layer.

2. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the holder extensions are provided at a prescribed circumferential distance from each other along the lower portion of the coil.

3. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein:
the separator includes one or more pipe seats extending from a bottom surface of the separator and toward the bottom of the tank,
the bottom portion of the coil contacts an interior surface of the seating grooves of the holders, and
an interior upper portion of the coil contacts the pipe seats on the bottom of the separator.

4. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the holders are formed at three positions and arranged at regular intervals along the bottom portion of the coil.

5. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the holders are U-shaped ribs.

6. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a stirring head that is provided in the tank and rotates to stir the first liquid.

7. The liquid dispenser of claim 6 , further comprising a stirring motor support, wherein a stirring motor rotating the stirring head is positioned on a top surface of the stirring motor support and the stirring motor support is provided over the separator.

8. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the bottom layer includes latticed ribs, and the first liquid flows between the first space and the second space via through openings between the latticed ribs.

9. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the first extension includes:
a plurality of first vertical ribs that extend a predetermined distance upward from the top of the bottom layer and are positioned at regular intervals around the hole; and
a first top rib that connects upper ends of the first vertical ribs.

10. The liquid dispenser of claim 9 , wherein the separator further includes second extensions that extend upward from a lateral edge of the bottom layer, and
wherein the second extension includes:
a plurality of second vertical ribs that extend upward from the top of the bottom layer and are positioned at regular intervals along the lateral edge of the bottom layer; and
a second top rib that connects upper ends of the second vertical ribs.

11. The liquid dispenser of claim 10 , wherein a portion an outer edge of the second top rib is positioned less than a threshold distance from an interior surface of the tank.

12. The liquid dispenser of claim 10 , wherein the separation walls are formed between the first vertical ribs and the second vertical ribs, and
seating grooves for receiving the evaporator are formed in the separation walls.

13. The liquid dispenser of claim 12 , wherein:
the evaporator includes a refrigerant pipe that is spirally wound and is received in the seating grooves, and
a width of the seating grooves corresponds to an outer diameter of the refrigerant pipe.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Park Jongwoo
• Kim Yongbum
• Lee Sangjoon

Classifications

• F25D2331/809

  Holders · CPC title

• C02F1/283

  using coal, charred products, or inorganic mixtures containing them · CPC title

• C02F1/18

  Transportable devices to obtain potable water · CPC title

• C02F1/043

  Details · CPC title

• F25D31/006

  specially adapted for cooling receptacles, e.g. tanks · CPC title