Patents by Inventor Philip A. Walton

Philip A. Walton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20080011660
    Abstract: Bottled water or other liquid is supplied via a bottle connector 5 for releasable sealing engagement with a neck formed on the bottle, and a transfer tube 6 to a reservoir 7 wherein the water may be cooled. The bottle connector 5, the transfer tube 6 and the reservoir 7 are all moulded of a plastics material and are coated with an organosilicon quaternary ammonium compound which is effective to inhibit the growth of microorganisms on the surface of the components. The bottle connector may include a feed tube 21 or a dip tube which are also coated with the material. Furthermore, the transfer tube 6 may be connected to the reservoir 7 via a reservoir connector 29 which may incorporate a draw tube 31 and one or more outlet tubes 14, 36, e.g. leading to a discharge outlet, all of which have a similar antimicrobial coating.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2006
    Publication date: January 17, 2008
    Inventor: Philip Walton
  • Publication number: 20070278250
    Abstract: A replaceable flow assembly for use in a water cooler or similar bottled liquid dispenser includes a liquid reservoir 7 and a manifold 48 incorporating a bottle connector 5, 49 for releasable sealing engagement with a neck formed on an inverted bottle. The manifold is mounted on the reservoir and incorporates a first pathway for conducting liquid from a feed tube 5 to the reservoir 7, and a second pathway for conducting liquid from the reservoir to a discharge outlet 53. A third pathway within the manifold conducts atmospheric air through an air filter 28 and into the interior of the bottle through the feed tube 5 without passing through the reservoir 7. The manifold preferably also incorporates a dispense valve between the reservoir 7 and the discharge outlet 53 (e.g. in arm 52), which co-operates with a fixed valve-operating member within the dispenser.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2005
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Inventors: Clyde Pittaway, Philip Walton, Smith Andrew
  • Publication number: 20060112718
    Abstract: A thermally-insulated reservoir 9 for a dispenser in which liquid is supplied from a bottle to a discharge outlet via a reservoir, has an inner wall 23 and an outer wall 24 defining a sealed and evacuated heat-insulating cavity 30 at least partially surrounding a liquid space 22. In one application of the invention the reservoir takes the form of a cooling vessel with the thermal means provided by a cooling coil 26. The invention may also be applied to reservoirs which form a hot tank with the thermal means provided by an electrical heating element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2003
    Publication date: June 1, 2006
    Inventors: Philip Walton, Clyde Pittaway, Gary Squire
  • Publication number: 20060112717
    Abstract: A bag-in-box container 1 has a box 10 forming a relatively rigid outer casing with top, bottom and side walls, 11, 12, 13 and 14. An inner liner 15 provides a bag formed of a flexible material with a liquid outlet 16 extending through an opening in the casing. The side walls of the outer casing are formed to provide at least one further opening 18 adjacent to the bottom of the container. A cooler is also provided to cool the contents of the container 1. The cooler has a support surface 21 for supporting the container and a cooling system which includes at least one cooling probe 23 mounted to project generally parallel to the support surface for insertion through the opening or openings 18 between the bag and the box.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2004
    Publication date: June 1, 2006
    Inventor: Philip Walton
  • Publication number: 20060054243
    Abstract: An inverted container has a generally cylindrical depending neck, with a cap 18 having an outer wall 19 which engages the neck and an internal sleeve 20 located within the neck and joined to the outer wall by a connecting wall 21. The internal sleeve 20 defines a recess for receiving the feed tube 34, and a frangible seal 28 is secured to the connecting wall of the cap to cover the recess prior to insertion of the feed tube. To prevent pieces of the seal 28 from being separated if the feed tube 34 is inserted with the seal 28 still in place the feed tube has at least one row of upwardly-projecting puncturing elements 48 which create a controlled rupture of the seal prior to penetration of the feed tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2002
    Publication date: March 16, 2006
    Inventor: Philip Walton
  • Publication number: 20050072813
    Abstract: A water cooler has a vertically elongate housing 1 with a dispensing recess 8 and a vertically elongate opening 10 located below the dispensing recess to receive a bottle of water 11. The bottle is supported on a fixed platform 18 which projects forward beyond the sides 15 and 16 of the opening for ease of loading. Liquid is removed from the bottle through an inclined dip tube which is raised and lowered by a lead screw and follower. The dip tube may be inserted through a probe which operates a bottle opening mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2003
    Publication date: April 7, 2005
    Inventors: Philip Walton, Clyde Pittaway, Craig Stares
  • Publication number: 20050029300
    Abstract: Bottled water or other liquid is supplied via a bottle connector 5 for releasable sealing engagement with a neck formed on the bottle, and a transfer tube 6 to a reservoir 7 wherein the water may be cooled. The bottle connector 5, the transfer tube 6 and the reservoir 7 are all moulded of a plastics material containing silver bound in a ceramic ion exchange resin so that the silver ions (Ag+) are slowly released to prevent microbial growth on the surface of the components. The bottle connector may include a feed tube 21 or a dip tube which also releases silver ions. Furthermore, the transfer tube 6 may be connected to the reservoir 7 via a reservoir connector 29 which may incorporate a draw tube 31 and one or more outlet tubes 14, 36, e.g. leading to a discharge outlet, all of which release silver ions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Publication date: February 10, 2005
    Inventor: Philip Walton
  • Patent number: 6341576
    Abstract: A bird feeder equipped with an electrically powered spinning mechanism that is triggered by the weight of a squirrel on the feeder is described. Upon detection of a squirrel on the feeder, the spinning mechanism rotates the feeder at a rate adequate to centrifugally remove the invading squirrel while resulting in a minimum loss of feed contained in the feeder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2002
    Assignee: ILS Corporation
    Inventors: Philip Walton Cathell, John Merrill Davis, III, Jane Dornbusch Davis, Francis Wendell Johnson, Louis Pitts Holt, III, Boris M. Sverdlov, Mark Wayne Kitchen, Laurence Edward Dockery, Ralph W. Effinger, John Merrill Davis, Jr.