US-12623920-B2 - Water purifier

US12623920B2US 12623920 B2US12623920 B2US 12623920B2US-12623920-B2

Abstract

A water purifier includes: a filter module for providing purified water by filtering raw water; a fitting valve module detachably fastened to the filter module to provide at least one of a flow path for a flow of raw water supplied to the filter module and a flow path for a flow of the purified water discharged from the filter module; and a frame including a valve support for movably supporting the fitting valve module to be movable. The fitting valve module is selectively placed in a separated state in which the fitting valve module is separated from the filter module by moving in a direction away from the filter module, or a coupled state in which the fitting valve module coupled to the filter module by moving toward the filter module.

Inventors

Ki Hong Min
Man Uk Park
Yong Yeon NOH
Dae Hwan Kim
Doo Won HAN

Assignees

COWAY CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20211230
Priority Date: 20201231

Claims (11)

1 . A water purifier comprising: a filter module for providing purified water by filtering raw water; a fitting valve module detachably fastened to the filter module to provide at least one of a flow path for a flow of raw water supplied to the filter module and a flow path for a flow of the purified water discharged from the filter module; and a frame including a valve support for movably supporting the fitting valve module to be movable, wherein the fitting valve module is selectively placed in a separated state in which the fitting valve module is separated from the filter module by moving in a direction away from the filter module, or a coupled state in which the fitting valve module coupled to the filter module by moving toward the filter module.
2 . The water purifier of claim 1 , wherein the frame includes: a filter housing having an open upper side and accommodating the filter module therein; and a filter cap fastened to the filter housing to cover the upper side of the filter housing, and wherein the valve support is supported on the filter housing.
3 . The water purifier of claim 2 , wherein the valve support includes a guide member extending in a predetermined direction to guide movement of the fitting valve module, and wherein the fitting valve module includes: a guide follower having a shape engaged with the guide member to be movable along the guide member; and a locking portion for preventing a posture of the fitting valve module from being tilted beyond a predetermined angle when the fitting valve module is moved.
4 . The water purifier of claim 3 , wherein the fitting valve module and the valve support are engaged with each other with a gap formed therebetween.
5 . The water purifier of claim 3 , wherein the fitting valve module further includes: a fitting valve selectively engaged with the filter module; and a handle having a shape protruding upward from the fitting valve, wherein the filter cap has a handle accommodating portion for accommodating the handle when the fitting valve module is in the coupled state, and wherein the filter cap is configured to interfere with the handle so that the fitting valve module is not fastened to the filter housing when the fitting valve module is in the separated state.
6 . The water purifier of claim 2 , wherein the filter module includes a first filter mouth for introducing the raw water and a second filter mouth for discharging the purified water, and wherein the fitting valve module includes: a first fitting valve detachably coupled to the first filter mouth; a second fitting valve detachably coupled to the second filter mouth; and a valve connection portion connecting the first fitting valve and the second fitting valve.
7 . The water purifier of claim 1 , wherein the fitting valve module includes: a fitting valve selectively engaged with the filter module; and a valve hook caught on the valve support when the fitting valve module is placed in a predetermined position in the separated state.
8 . The water purifier of claim 1 , further comprising: a valve for selectively opening and closing a raw water flow path communicating with the fitting valve module to provide raw water; and a circuit board for controlling the valve to close the raw water flow path to the fitting valve module when the fitting valve module is separated from the coupled state.
9 . The water purifier of claim 1 , further comprising: a tube coupled to the fitting valve module so as to be bent when the fitting valve module is separated from the coupled state.
10 . The water purifier of claim 5 , wherein a distance between the filter housing and the filter module in a direction in which the fitting valve module moves is smaller than a maximum separation distance between the handle of the fitting valve module and the guide member in the direction in which the fitting valve module moves.
11 . The water purifier of claim 10 , wherein the distance between the filter housing and the filter module in the direction in which the fitting valve module moves is a gap between the filter housing and the filter module toward the fitting valve module in a state in which the filter module is accommodated in the filter housing.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a water purifier. BACKGROUND ART In general, a water purifier is a device that receives water from a water supply source such as tap water, filters it into purified water through a filter provided therein, and then provides purified water to a user. In addition, purified water may be provided to a user as cold water cooled below a predetermined temperature or hot water heated above a predetermined temperature by the water purifier. Meanwhile, when the filter provided in the water purifier has filtered water for a long time and its lifespan has been over, the filter needs to be replaced. In the past, when replacing the filter of the water purifier, a technician skilled in the water purifier had to replace the filter due to risks such as malfunction due to incomplete fastening and malfunction of the water purifier due to water leakage during filter replacement. Accordingly, until replacement of the filter by a skilled technician, the user had no choice but to use the filter whose lifespan had expired, which was inconvenient. In order to solve this inconvenience, a conventional water purifier includes a device for easily replacing a filter even by general users who are not skilled technicians. In other words, the conventional water purifier has a separate attachment/detachment device capable of attaching and detaching the filter to and from the water purifier. However, the conventional water purifier has a problem in that the volume of the water purifier may increase since a separate space for accommodating the attachment/detachment device needs to be provided inside the water purifier. In addition, since an inner space of the water purifier is getting smaller according to the recent miniaturization trend of the water purifier, there is a problem in that it is difficult to accommodate the separate attachment/detachment device in the inner space of the water purifier. In this regard, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2020-0105121 of Cheongho Nais Co., Ltd. “Filter coupling structure and water purifier including the same” (hereinafter, Patent Document 1) discloses a water purifier whose filter member is separated from a flow path as a lever member supported by a main body rotates. However, according to the water purifier disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to remove a filter from the main body of the water purifier, a user has to rotate the lever member in an up-down direction, so there arises a problem in that it is inconvenient to replace the filter. In addition, in the water purifier of Patent Document 1, when removing the filter, the user needs to hold and pull the filter itself, rather than moving a fitting valve engaged with the filter. In other words, in the water purifier of Patent Document 1, the filter needs to be pulled in a horizontal direction when removing the filter, but a general user cannot easily remove the filter since he or she simply grips and pulls a body of the filter (a portion where a filter medium is accommodated). Furthermore, when a user who is not skilled in filter removal pulls the filter with excessively large force in a direction different from the filter removal direction, an opening of the filter and the fitting valve of the water purifier main body may be damaged. In addition, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2020-0083758 of Picogram Co., Ltd. “Lever-type attachment/detachment device for water purifying filter of water purifier” (hereinafter, Patent Document 2) discloses an attachment/detachment device for a water purifier through which a water purifying filter can be separated from a flow path as a locking lever is rotated in a main body. However, according to the water purifier disclosed in Patent Document 2, in order to remove the filter from the main body of the water purifier, a user has to rotate the locking lever in the up-down direction, so there arises a problem in that the filter replacement is inconvenient. In addition, in the water purifier of Patent Document 2, as in the water purifier of Patent Document 1 described above, when removing the filter, the user needs to grip and pull the filter itself, rather than moving a fitting valve engaged with the filter. In other words, even in the water purifier of Patent Document 2, a user needs to pull the filter horizontally to remove the filter, but a general user simply grips the body of the filter and pulls it, so the general user cannot easily remove the filter. Accordingly, an opening of the filter and the fitting valve in the main body of the water purifier may be damaged due to user's inexperienced operation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Technical Problems In view of the above, one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a water purifier in which a filter module can be easily replaced with a small force as a user moves a fitting valve module. In addition, one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a water purifier capable o