Receptacle assembly for bottled water dispenser
A receptacle for receiving a supply bottle in a bottled water dispenser includes a bottle support member having an annular rim for supporting the supply bottle in an inverted mounted position. The support member has a downwardly depending funnel portion for receiving the bottle neck, the neck having a closure cap. The funnel portion has a bottom wall portion with an opening therein. Water in the funnel portion received from the bottle passes through this opening to be dispensed by the dispenser. A piercing probe extends upwardly from the bottom wall portion to pierce the cap on the water bottle neck. The piercing probe is non-tubular and has at least one longitudinal exterior groove to allow water to pass from the bottle neck into the funnel portion.
This invention relates to liquid dispensers, and in particular, to devices for transferring water from a bottled water source to an internal reservoir in a bottled water dispenser.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONFor a number of reasons, it has become popular in offices and homes to have bottled drinking or potable water. Dispensers are provided for the bottled water. The water normally comes in plastic bottles containing 5 US gallons or approximately 19 litres of water. Early water dispensers had an internal reservoir and an open top, which allowed the water supply bottle to be mounted on top of the dispenser in an inverted position with the neck of the water bottle extending into the reservoir. When the water level in the reservoir reaches the neck of the bottle, air can no longer enter the bottle, so water stops flowing from the bottle. When water is taken from the dispenser lowering the water level in the reservoir, the bottle neck is exposed allowing air again to enter the bottle. Water then flows again from the bottle to replenish the reservoir. A difficulty with these early water dispensers, however, is that water was often spilled while trying to invert and mount the somewhat heavy water supply bottle on the dispenser.
In order to try to overcome this spillage problem, attempts were made to put closures or caps on the necks of the water supply bottles wherein these closures had spring-loaded plunger-type valves in them. When the water supply bottle was inverted and placed on top of the dispenser, the plunger would be depressed, opening the valve allowing water to come out of the supply bottle. While this reduced the spillage, the plunger-type valves were problematic and these types of caps were expensive.
A similar approach, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,188 issued to Henry E. Baker et al, was to provide a water supply bottle with a plastic cap. The cap had a central, axial recess, and the dispenser was provided with an inlet tube with a sharpened upper end, so that when the water supply bottle was inverted and mounted on the dispenser, the sharpened tube would enter the cap recess and pierce the cap at the inner end of the recess allowing water to flow through the inlet tube into the dispenser reservoir. If there is a good seal between the water supply bottle cap and the piercing inlet tube of the dispenser, this Baker system works fine. However, this is usually not the case, so some water leaks out around the inlet tube and surrounds the supply bottle cap. This leaked water accumulates and stagnates and can be a source of bacteria that gets into the water supply.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn the present invention, a receptacle is provided that has a funnel portion that accepts the neck of a water supply bottle. The funnel portion has a bottom wall portion with an opening therethrough, so that any water that surrounds the supply bottle cap can drain out of the funnel portion and not stagnate therein.
According to the invention, there is provided a receptacle for delivering liquid from an inverted supply bottle to a reservoir in a dispenser. The receptacle is used with water supply bottles having a narrow neck closed by a cap having a central, axial recess with a frangible bottom. The receptacle comprises a bottle support member having an annular rim for supporting a supply bottle in an inverted mounted position. The support member also has a downwardly depending funnel portion extending below the rim which is adapted to receive the bottle neck. The funnel portion has a bottom wall portion defining at least one opening for the passage of liquid from the funnel portion to the dispenser reservoir. The bottle wall portion is spaced below the neck of a mounted supply water bottle. An elongate piercing probe extends upwardly from the bottom wall portion a sufficient distance to break the cap frangible bottom of a mounted supply bottle. Also, the piercing probe has at least one longitudinal exterior groove adapted to extend through a broken cap frangible bottom of a mounted supply bottle for the passage of liquid from inside the supply bottle into the funnel portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSPreferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 16 to 19 are cross-sectional views of yet further preferred embodiments of the piercing probes according to the present invention;
Referring firstly to
Ideally, the probe 22 in axial recess 20 is dimensioned to provide a seal therebetween, so that all of the water inside the bottle is eventually delivered to the dispenser reservoir. However, the seal often leaks, or sometimes the bottle 12 is removed from receptacle 10 before all of the water is emptied from it, in which case some residual water 26 collects in the bottom of the cup-like member 16. There is no way for this residual water to escape, so it stagnates and offers a breeding ground for bacteria which can eventually migrate to the water inside bottle 12.
Turning now to the present invention, a preferred embodiment of a receptacle assembly for a bottled water dispenser is generally indicated in
It will be noted that bottom wall portion 44 is spaced below the bottle neck 14, so that any water in funnel portion 36 can drain out through openings 44. Actually, in use, the water rises to the bottom edge of cap 18 and cannot rise any higher, because air cannot then enter bottle 12 allowing more water to come out of the bottle. The water in funnel portion 36 may completely drain out of openings 44 when an empty bottle 12 is removed, but at least the water in funnel portion 36 is constantly being removed and replenished, so that it cannot stagnate and become a breeding ground for bacteria.
Referring next to
As seen best in
Piercing probe 48 has at least one longitudinal exterior groove 54 which extends through or passes the broken bottle cap frangible bottom 52 when bottle 12 is mounted on receptacle assembly 30, as indicated in
As best seen in
Probe 48 has a non-tubular, solid cross-section. Probe 48 has a rounded upper or distal end portion 58 that actually does the piercing or splitting or breaking of the supply bottle cap frangible bottom 52. Some water supply bottles have caps 18 that are provided with cup-like members or plugs (not shown) that form the frangible bottom 52 of recess 20. These cup-like members are made so that they can break off when the piercing probe enters recess 20, and there are interlocking annular flanges that allow these cup-like members to be reattached as the piercing probe is withdrawn from the water bottle or the water bottle is lifted off the probe. This type of water bottle is referred to as a resealable water bottle, so that it can be removed from the water dispenser before it is empty. In order to reseal the cup-like members, the piercing probe usually has a transverse groove or notches 60 in the distal end portion 58, which grabs and retains an annular flange on the cup-like members and pulls the cup-like member back into position to re-seal the cap when the water bottle is lifted off the dispenser.
As seen best in FIGS. 3 to 5, the probe support 50 is releasably mounted in the bottom wall portion 42. One way that this is done, as seen best in
Referring again to
It will be appreciated that the features described in the various embodiments discussed could be mixed and matched as desired.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A receptacle for delivering liquid from an inverted supply bottle to a reservoir in a dispenser, wherein the supply bottle has a narrow neck, the neck being closed by a cap having a central, axial recess with a frangible bottom, comprising:
- a bottle support member having an annular rim for supporting a supply bottle in an inverted mounted position, the support member also having a downwardly depending funnel portion extending below the rim and adapted to receive the bottle neck; the funnel portion having a bottom wall portion defining at least one opening for the passage of liquid from the funnel portion to a dispenser reservoir, the bottom wall portion being spaced below the neck of a mounted supply bottle; an elongate piercing probe extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion a sufficient distance to break the cap frangible bottom of a mounted supply bottle; and the piercing probe having at least one longitudinal exterior groove adapted to extend through a broken cap frangible bottom of a mounted supply bottle for the passage of liquid from inside the supply bottle into the funnel portion.
2. A receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the funnel portion has an upright side wall, and wherein the bottom wall portion has a probe support releasably mounted therein.
3. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the side wall has a curved upper portion extending downwardly and inwardly from the annular rim.
4. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the probe support is threadably attached to the side wall.
5. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the probe support is attached to the sidewall by a twist lock.
6. A receptacle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bottle support member and piercing probe are formed as one integral unit.
7. A receptacle as claimed in claim 4 wherein the probe support further comprises a demountable canister located below and in communication with the bottom wall opening to receive liquid through said opening, the canister having a foraminate lower wall for passing liquid therethrough to the reservoir.
8. A receptacle as claimed in claim 7 wherein the canister is filled with a filter medium.
9. A receptacle as claimed in claim 8 wherein the filter medium includes activated charcoal.
10. A receptacle as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising radially disposed support gussets extending between the bottom wall portion and the piercing probe.
11. A receptacle as claimed in claim 4 wherein the piercing probe has an upper distal end portion having a transverse width sufficient to split open the frangible bottom of the supply bottle cap central axial recess.
12. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the funnel bottom wall portion has a plurality of openings for the passage of liquid therethrough.
13. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the piercing probe has a plurality of transversely disposed longitudinal ribs defining one of said longitudinal exterior grooves between adjacent ones of said ribs.
14. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the piercing probe has an arcuate elongate wall portion defining said longitudinal exterior groove.
15. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the probe has a helical or spiral rib defining said longitudinal exterior groove between adjacent revolutions of said helical rib.
16. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the probe is in the form of a helical coil, said longitudinal exterior groove being formed between adjacent turns of said coil.
17. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the piercing probe has an upper distal end portion defining a transverse groove for use with a supply bottle of the type having a sealable plug as the frangible bottom of the cap central axial recess.
18. A receptacle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the piercing probe has an upper end portion formed with transverse projections for use with a supply bottle of the type having a sealable plug as the frangible bottom of the cap central axial recess.
19. A receptacle as claimed in claim 13 wherein said ribs include laterally disposed outer flanges.
20. A receptacle as claimed in claim 14 wherein the piercing probe has a pair of opposed accurate elongate wall portions and a central flange joining said opposed arcuate-wall portions.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 5, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 13, 2005
Inventors: George Yui (Toronto), Andrei Yoo (Toronto)
Application Number: 11/098,920