Water purifier

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10875786-B2
Application number	US-201916242128-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 8, 2019
Priority date	Jan 15, 2018
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

A water purifier includes a water purifier body including a housing and a filter provided in the housing to filter raw water introduced from outside of the water purifier body. A water discharge module including a water discharge nozzle is disposed on a front surface of the water purifier body to supply the water passing through the filter to the outside of the water purifier body. The water discharge module includes a case from which the water discharge nozzle extends at a lower end of the case. A protection cap is detachably coupled to the lower end of the case to cover at least a portion of the water discharge nozzle extending outside of the case.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A water purifier comprising:
a water purifier body comprising a housing and a filter provided in the housing to filter raw water introduced from outside of the water purifier; and
a water discharge module, the water discharge module comprising:
a water discharge nozzle disposed on a front surface of the water purifier body and configured to supply the water passing through the filter to the outside of the water purifier body,
a case from which the water discharge nozzle is exposed at a lower end of the case, the case being coupled to the front surface of the water purifier body;
a chamber provided in the case;
an opening/closing unit provided partially inside the chamber and configured to selectively open and close an upper side of the water discharge nozzle; and
a lever rotatably supported on the case and the chamber, provided outside the case, and interlocked with the opening/closing unit,
the lever being configured to rotate in a backward direction through a section, the section in which the lever rotates comprising:
a first rotation section in which the opening/closing unit is maintained in a state of covering the upper side of the water discharge nozzle, and
a second rotation section behind the first rotation section in which the opening/closing unit opens the upper side of the water discharge nozzle.

2. The water purifier according to claim 1 , wherein the water discharge module further comprises a protection cap detachably coupled to the lower end of the case to cover at least a portion of the water discharge nozzle exposed to the outside of the case, and the protection cap has a container shape including an opened upper portion and a recess extending downward from the opened upper portion, and
a water discharge hole defined in a bottom surface of the protection cap at a position corresponding to the water discharge nozzle when the protection cap is coupled to the lower end of the case.

3. The water purifier according to claim 2 , wherein the protection cap is configured to be detached from and engaged with the lower end of the case by being slid forward and backward, respectively, relative to the case, and
a through-groove being defined in a rear surface of the protection cap to provide clearance for the water discharge nozzle as the protection cap is slid forward and backward relative to the case.

4. The water purifier according to claim 2 , wherein the water discharge module further comprises a lever configured to be rotatably connected to a portion of the water discharge module with at least a portion of the lever disposed below the water discharge nozzle and configured to rotate backward and forward to open and close the water discharge nozzle.

5. The water purifier according to claim 1 , wherein the protection cap is made of a transparent or translucent material.

6. The water purifier according to claim 1 , wherein the chamber comprises a water inflow hole through which the water passing through the filter is introduced and an accommodation part in which the water introduced through the water inflow hole is accommodated and the chamber having a lower end communicating with an opened upper side of the water discharge nozzle;
the opening/closing unit being elevated above the water discharge nozzle; and
the lever being rotated forward and backward below the water discharge nozzle to cause the opening/closing unit to ascend.

7. The water purifier according to claim 6 , wherein the lever comprises:
a pressing part disposed below the water discharge nozzle;
a vertical part extending upward from each of both sides of the pressing part;
a horizontal part extending from an end of the vertical part to the inside of the case; and
a plate-shaped cam member disposed on an end of the horizontal part to convert a rotation motion of the lever generated by pressing and pulling on the horizontal part into a reciprocating motion of the opening/closing unit.

8. The water purifier according to claim 7 , wherein a cushion member made of an elastic material is disposed on a lower end of the lever.

9. The water purifier according to claim 1 , wherein a front cover defining the front surface of the housing has a lower portion that is recessed backward with respect to the water discharge module.

10. The water purifier according to claim 7 , wherein a friction member made of an elastic material to prevent the pressing part from being slid is disposed on a front surface of the pressing part.

11. The water purifier according to claim 6 , wherein the opening/closing unit comprises:
an elevation cap disposed outside the chamber and elevated by the lever; and
at least one opening/closing member disposed inside the chamber and connected to the elevation cap to selectively open and close the opened upper side of the water discharge nozzle while being elevated together with the elevation cap.

12. The water purifier according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one opening/closing member comprises:
a first opening/closing member directly connected to the elevation cap; and
a second opening/closing member disposed below the first opening/closing member and having a lower end that selectively opens and closes the opened upper side of the water discharge nozzle,
wherein a first compression spring is inserted between the first opening/closing member and the second opening/closing member.

13. The water purifier according to claim 12 , wherein a hollow part is defined in the first opening/closing member, and
an upper portion of the second opening/closing member is accommodated in the hollow part of the first opening/closing member.

14. The water purifier according to claim 13 , wherein a long hole communicating with the hollow part is vertically defined in the first opening/closing member and closed at a lower end by a portion of the hollow part, and
a protrusion disposed on an outer surface of the second opening/closing member is inserted into the long hole.

15. The water purifier according to claim 14 , wherein the long hole has a length greater than that of the protrusion, and
when the protrusion is hooked with the closed lower end of the long hole while the first opening/closing member ascends together with the elevation cap, the second opening/closing member ascends together with the first opening/closing member.

16. The water purifier according to claim 12 , wherein an upper end of the first opening/closing member passes through a top surface of the chamber and is connected to the elevation cap, and
a second compression spring is inserted between the first opening/closing member and the top surface of the inside of the chamber.

17. The water purifier according to claim 12 , wherein,
the second opening/closing member is maintained in a state of covering the upper side of the water discharge nozzle in the first rotation section while only the elevation cap and the first opening/closing member ascend; and
the second opening/closing member opens the upper side of the water discharge nozzle in the second rotation section while the elevation cap, the first opening/closing member, and the second opening/closing member ascend.

18. The water purifier according to claim 6 , wherein a purified water tank in which the water passing through the filter is stored is installed in an upper portion of the inside of the housing, and
the purified water tank is connected to the chamber.

19. The water purifier according to claim 6 , wherein the chamber comprises:
a body part having an opened upper side, one sid

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Jang Munjae
• Lee Seungdon
• Won Bonghee
• Sorab Chetan
• Shah Kunal
• Karedla Rajesh

Classifications

• C02F9/20 Primary

  Portable or detachable small-scale multistage treatment devices, e.g. point of use or laboratory water purification systems · CPC title

• B01D61/364

  Membrane distillation · CPC title

• C02F1/001 Primary

  Processes for the treatment of water whereby the filtration technique is of importance (C02F1/44 takes precedence; construction of filters in general B01D24/00 - B01D41/00) · CPC title

• B67D1/0888

  Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means) · CPC title

• B67D1/0878

  Safety, warning or controlling devices (B67D1/12 takes precedence) · CPC title