Refrigerator equipped with apparatus for producing carbonated water

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9381475-B2
Application number	US-201414189526-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2014
Priority date	Feb 28, 2013
Publication date	Jul 5, 2016
Grant date	Jul 5, 2016

Abstract

A refrigerator is disclosed. The refrigerator includes a body, a storage chamber defined in the body while having an opened front side, a door to open or close the opened front side of the storage chamber, a water tank to store clean water, a carbonated water production module mounted to a back surface of the door, the carbonated water production module including a carbon dioxide gas cylinder stored with carbon dioxide gas, a carbonated water tank to produce carbonated water through mixing of the clean water with the carbon dioxide gas, and a module support to support a bottom of the carbonated water tank, and a water leakage sensor disposed on the module support, to sense water leakage occurring at the carbonated water production module. Through this configuration, it is possible to sense water leakage, and thus to minimize damage caused by water leakage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a body;
a storage chamber defined in the body while having an opened front side;
a door to open or close the opened front side of the storage chamber;
a water tank to store clean water;
a carbonated water production module mounted to a back surface of the door, the carbonated water production module comprising a carbon dioxide gas cylinder stored with carbon dioxide gas, and a carbonated water tank to produce carbonated water through mixing of the clean water with the carbon dioxide gas; and
a water leakage sensor to sense water leakage occurring at the carbonated water production module.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein:
the carbonated water production module comprises a module support disposed beneath the carbonated water tank; and
the water leakage sensor is disposed on the module support.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the carbonated water production module further comprises a valve assembly to open or close lines, through which the carbon dioxide gas, the clean water, and the carbonated water flow, respectively.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein a lower portion of the carbonated water tank and a lower portion of the valve assembly are enclosed by the module support.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the module support comprises:
a first module support disposed beneath the carbonated water tank; and
a second module support disposed beneath the valve assembly.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the module support comprises:
a module support bottom portion to form a bottom of the module support; and
a module support guide portion extending from a peripheral edge of the module support bottom portion in a bent state.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein:
the module support bottom portion has an inclined surface at at least a part thereof, and comprises a first section disposed at one side of the inclined surface, which is a lower side of the inclined surface, and a second section disposed at the other side of the inclined surface, which is a higher side of the inclined surface; and
the water leakage sensor is disposed on the first section of the module support bottom portion.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the water leakage sensor comprises:
a sensor housing to define an appearance of the water leakage sensor, the sensor housing being opened at at least one side thereof; and
a plurality of terminals disposed in the sensing housing.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of terminals are spaced apart from a bottom of the module support by a predetermined height, to sense water accumulated on the bottom of the module support after leaking.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein:
the plurality of terminals comprises a first terminal connected to an electrical ground, and a second terminal connected to a voltage source; and
the first terminal and the second terminal are electrically connected by the carbonated water or the clean water, which has leaked.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein the first terminal and the second are partitioned from each other by a sensor partition plate.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the lines are closed when water leakage is sensed by the water leakage sensor.

13. A refrigerator comprising:
a body;
a storage chamber defined in the body while having an opened front side;
a door to open or close the opened front side of the storage chamber;
a carbonated water production module mounted to a back surface of the door, the carbonated water production module comprising a carbonated water tank to produce carbonated water through mixing of clean water with carbon dioxide gas, a first upper module having a first upper accommodation space to receive the carbonated water tank, and a second upper module having a second upper accommodation space to receive a valve assembly to open or close lines, through which the carbon dioxide gas and the clean water flow, respectively; and
a water leakage sensor to sense water leakage occurring at the carbonated water production module.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 13 , wherein:
the carbonated water production module comprises a module support disposed beneath the first and second upper modules; and
the water leakage sensor is disposed on the module support.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 13 , further comprising:
a line, through which the carbonated water flows, and the lines, through which the carbon dioxide gas and the clean water flow, respectively,
wherein the lines are closed when water leakage is sensed by the water leakage sensor.

16. The refrigerator according to claim 15 , wherein the lines comprise:
a carbon dioxide gas supply line to introduce the carbon dioxide gas into the carbonated water tank;
a clean water supply line to introduce the clean water into the carbonated water tank;
a clean water discharge line to discharge the clean water into a dispensation space formed at the door while having an opened front side; and
a carbonated water discharge line to discharge the carbonated water from the carbonated water tank into the dispensation space.

17. The refrigerator according to claim 14 , wherein a lower portion of the first upper module and a lower portion of the second upper module are closed by the module support.

18. The refrigerator according to claim 14 , wherein the module support comprises:
a module support bottom portion to form a bottom of the module support; and
a module support guide portion extending from a peripheral edge of the module support bottom portion in a bent state.

19. The refrigerator according to claim 18 , wherein:
the module support bottom portion is inclined such that one side of the module support bottom portion toward the door is higher than the other side of the module support bottom portion; and
the water leakage sensor is disposed on the other side of the module support bottom portion.

20. A refrigerator comprising:
a body;
a storage chamber defined in the body while having an opened front side;
a door to open or close the opened front side of the storage chamber;
a water tank to store clean water;
a carbonated water production module to produce carbonated water; and
a dispenser provided at the door, to retrieve the carbonated water or clean water from outside of the refrigerator without opening the door,
wherein the carbonated water production module comprises a carbon dioxide gas cylinder stored with carbon dioxide gas, a carbonated water tank to produce carbonated water through mixing of the clean water with the carbon dioxide gas, and a water leakage sensor to sense water leakage occurring at the carbonated water production module.

21. The refrigerator according to claim 20 , wherein the carbonated water production module further comprises a module support disposed beneath the carbonated water tank, to support the carbonated water tank.

22. The refrigerator according to claim 21 , wherein the water leakage sensor is disposed on the module support.

23. The refrigerator according to claim 20 , wherein the carbonated water production module further comprises:
an upper accommodation space to receive the carbonated water tank; and
a lower accommodation space partitioned from the upper accommodation space by the module support,

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• An Jae Koog
• Kyong Yong Soo
• Song Young Il

Classifications

• F25D23/126 Primary

  Water cooler · CPC title

• B01F3/04099

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F3/04106

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F3/04808 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B67D2210/00036

  for use with or in refrigerators · CPC title