Water purifying apparatus and refrigerator including the same
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsYoungjae Kim, Changhwan Yoon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided are a water purifying apparatus and a refrigerator including the same. The water purifying apparatus includes a filter configured to purify incoming water and discharge the purified water, a head in which the filter is detachably coupled and a water inlet portion and a water outlet portion are formed, and a shaft provided inside the head and rotatably mounted between the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion, the shaft being provided with a bypass flow path directly connecting the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion and a filtering flow path connected so that water flowing in through the water inlet portion is discharged to the water outlet portion via the filter.
Claims20
A water purifying apparatus, comprising:
- a filter configured to purify incoming water and to discharge purified water;
- a head having a water inlet portion and a water outlet portion, wherein the filter is configured to removably couple to the head;
- and
- a shaft provided at the head and rotatably mounted between the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion, the shaft defining (i) a bypass flow path that directly connects the water inlet portion to the water outlet portion and (ii) a filtering flow path that provides a connection between the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion such that water received from the water inlet portion is discharged to the water outlet portion via the filter, the shaft comprising:
- an inner pipe that is configured to couple to a portion of the filter and that defines a portion of the filtering flow path,
- a body portion that surrounds the inner pipe, and
- a reinforcing portion protruding from an inner surface of the inner pipe,
- wherein a spacing space is defined between the body portion and the inner pipe and configured to receive at least a portion of the filter.
A refrigerator comprising:
- a cabinet defining a storage space;
- a door configured to open or close the storage space;
- a water purifying apparatus provided in the storage space and configured to receive and purify water;
- and
- a dispenser provided at the door and configured to dispense water purified by the water purifying apparatus,
- wherein the water purifying apparatus comprises:
- a filter configured to purify incoming water and discharge the purified water,
- a head having a water inlet portion and a water outlet portion, wherein the filter is configured to removably couple to the head, and
- a shaft provided at the head and rotatably mounted between the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion, the shaft defining (i) a bypass flow path that directly connects the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion and (ii) a filtering flow path that provides a connection between the water inlet portion and the water outlet portion such that water received from the water inlet portion is discharged to the water outlet portion via the filter, the shaft comprising:
- an inner pipe that is configured to couple to a portion of the filter and that defines a portion of the filtering flow path,
- a body portion that surrounds the inner pipe, and
- a reinforcing portion projecting from an inner surface of the inner pipe,
- wherein a space is defined between the body portion and the inner pipe and configured to receive at least a portion of the filter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.