Refrigerator having dispenser

• Main Authors: OHUL KWON, SEONG-OOK KIM, ILL-SHIN KIM, SI-YEON AN, YI-BUM SIK, DONG-YEOL YOO
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 26.11.2009
• Subjects: BLASTING; BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; CHEMISTRY; COLD ROOMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT COVERED BY ANY OTHERSUBCLASS; DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; HEATING; ICE-BOXES; LIGHTING; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES; LIQUID HANDLING; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; METALLURGY; OPENING, CLOSING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; REFRIGERATORS; SEPARATION; TRANSPORTING; TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE; WEAPONS

A dispenser of a conventional refrigerator supplies only cold water. Therefore, the dispenser cannot meet a variety of users' needs. Further, the conventional refrigerator has a problem in that various kinds of water supplied from a water source cannot be properly purified. The present invention relates to a refrigerator including a main body with a storage space defined therein and a door for opening and closing the storage space. The refrigerator of the present invention comprises a feed tube for guiding water, which is supplied from an external water source to the main body of the refrigerator, to the door; a valve for distributing the water supplied from the feed tube into a plurality of connection tubes; a cooling tank installed within the door for cooling the water supplied through the valve and then storing the cooled water therein; a heater installed within the door for receiving the water supplied through the valve separately from the cooling tank and then heating the received water; and a dispenser for dispensing the hot and cold water supplied from the heater and cooling tank to the outside of the refrigerator through a front surface of the door. The refrigerator further comprises a filter for filtering the water, and the filter is provided at one of the feed tube and connection tubes for supplying the water toward the heater and detachably installed in the storage space defined in the main body of the refrigerator.