This invention relates to a closure for a liquid container such as a water bottle, and a liquid dispensing station for use with containers provided with such a closure.
A common form of liquid dispensing station is a water cooler which dispenses water from an inverted bottle mounted on the water cooler. Water is normally removed from the bottle through a probe which may feed the ambient water to a reservoir provided with a cooling system, so that a supply of chilled water is available from a dispense valve when required.
In order to prevent spillage of water when the bottle is inverted, the bottle is generally provided with a cap which is normally sealed but which is capable of being opened when the inverted bottle is engaged with the probe. It is desirable that the cap is also self-sealing, so that spillages do not occur if the bottle is removed from the water cooler with liquid remaining in the bottle. It is known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,635, to provide the cap with a sliding valve element which is held captive within the cap for operation by the probe. In early water coolers the probe only provided a single flow path through which water left the container. Air would periodically return along the same flow path from within the reservoir to replace the water removed from the bottle. The use of a sliding valve element is not detrimental when using such a single flow path, since the air and water travel alternately in pulses and will find their own way past any obstruction which may be presented by the valve components.
It has now become commonplace to provide a second flow path within the probe through which atmospheric air can enter the bottle through a separate vent port at the same time as water is leaving the bottle through the water flow path. This provides a smoother flow, reduces stresses within the bottle, and reduces turbulence within the cooling reservoir which could cause fluctuations in the temperature of the water being dispensed. Hygienic water coolers have a reservoir which is sealed to prevent atmospheric air from entering the reservoir, and clean atmospheric air is drawn directly into the probe without first passing through the reservoir.
In any water cooler having a probe with dual flow paths it is very desirable to prevent air from being entrained into the water which is simultaneously leaving the reservoir. In order to reduce this risk the vent port is positioned away from the water inlet ports.
In the vast majority of water bottles which are supplied at present, the bottle cap is provided with a frangible sealing plug which is broken away from the cap when the probe is inserted. The probe is designed to become frictionally engaged with the plug during insertion so that the plug may re-engage the cap to re-seal the bottle when the bottle is removed. This arrangement has the advantage that the air and water ports of the probe are held clear of the cap so that there is little risk of air entrainment, but there are a number of significant disadvantages. In some cases the plug may float free within the bottle instead of becoming engaged with the probe, which is disconcerting to the user and causes spillage if a partially full bottle is removed. In recent years there has been a trend towards the use of smaller and lighter bottles, which are now commonly thin-walled and moulded of plastics. As the size and weight of the bottle and its contents is reduced the user is often required to apply additional manual downward pressure on the bottle to release the sealing plug. Furthermore, with smaller bottles the insertion distance of the probe becomes more significant, and it is therefore desirable to reduce the penetration of the probe.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a new and inventive form of closure for a liquid container such as a water bottle which requires minimum force to unseal and re-seal the closure when the container is engaged with a probe, which is capable of reduced penetration distance without increasing the risk of air entrainment. An additional first object is to minimise the risk of components becoming free within the container and failing to re-seal when the container is removed.
A second object of the invention is to provide a new and inventive form of liquid dispensing station for use with such liquid containers which provides a smooth flow of air and liquid and contributes towards achieving a reduced penetration distance without increasing the risk of air entrainment.
The present invention provides a closure for a liquid container, the closure including:
the valve member has at least one vent aperture which is normally closed to the interior of the container when the valve member is in the sealing position, but when the valve member is engaged with the probe said vent aperture or apertures communicate with the air flow path to admit air into the interior of the container through said vent aperture or apertures whilst liquid simultaneously flows out of the container into the liquid flow path via said clearance between the valve member and the guide.
The invention also provides a liquid dispensing station which includes
said at least one vent port is positioned in the actuator head to conduct air through the valve member into the container when the valve member is engaged with the actuator head.
The following description and the accompanying drawings referred to therein are included by way of non-limiting example in order to illustrate how the invention may be put into practice. In the drawings:
Water could also be supplied from the water flow path 6 to a hot tank (not shown) to be heated and dispensed above ambient temperature through a separate outlet in the dispensing recess 16, for use in making hot beverages for example. In the form of water cooler described above, water is transferred from the bottle 3 to the discharge outlets by gravity. However, by including a pump-operated pressure-feed system the dispense outlets may be located in an elevated position relative to the neck of the bottle.
Referring to
Referring again to
During lowering of the inverted bottle onto the water cooler, the probe 5 passes into the guide sleeve 38 and the outer probe wall 62 makes sealing contact with the internal sealing surface 39. Upon further insertion of the probe 5 (which in actual fact remains stationary) the head 70 makes contact with the latches 50, urging them to bend outwards into the annular recess 54. The frictional engagement of the valve plug 44 in the guide sleeve 38 is greater than the force required to bend latches 50 so that the valve member remains sealingly engaged in the sleeve 38. When the latch teeth 52 become aligned with the locking recess 71 the latches resiliently spring inwards so that the teeth become engaged in the locking recess, as shown in
The configuration of the probe 5 and valve member 44 ensures that there is little or no risk of air entrainment into the water flow path 6 whilst minimising the penetration distance of the probe 5. The air entering the bottle tends to rise upwards in streams of small bubbles whereas water tends to be drawn in from the lowermost regions of the bottle.
While the probe 5 remains inserted into the bottle the latches 50 remain firmly engaged with the actuator head 70. When the bottle is removed from the water cooler and withdrawn from the probe 5 the valve member 44 is drawn back down the guide sleeve 38, the divergent end 49 ensuring that the latches smoothly enter the sleeve. Once inside the sleeve, the latches cannot disengage from the actuator head until they come to lie opposite the recess 54, in which position the valve member 44 is returned to its sealing position to prevent leakage from the bottle. Further upward movement of the bottle causes the actuator head 70 to urge the latches 50 in a radially outward direction so that the probe may be fully withdraw from the closure.
The latching action described provides positive engagement and disengagement of the valve member with the probe, although the valve member could engage the actuator head by other means, e.g. frictional engagement produced by simple radial expansion.
It will be appreciated that the features disclosed herein may be present in any feasible combination. Whilst the above description lays emphasis on those areas which, in combination, are believed to be new, protection is claimed for any inventive combination of the features disclosed herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0517545.0 | Aug 2005 | GB | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/GB2006/003133 | 8/22/2006 | WO | 00 | 2/15/2008 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2007/026122 | 3/8/2007 | WO | A |
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5647416 | Desrosiers | Jul 1997 | A |
5653270 | Burrows | Aug 1997 | A |
6193113 | Hidding | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6772807 | Tang | Aug 2004 | B1 |
20060054243 | Walton | Mar 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090090690 A1 | Apr 2009 | US |