This application claims the benefit of priority to an Iran patent application having serial number 139450140003008735 filed on Nov. 3, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present application relates generally to beverage dispensers, and more particularly, to a disposable straw system for use with a beverage dispenser.
Beverage dispensers can be found in many offices, workplaces and homes. One of the most common types of beverage dispensers is a water cooler. Water coolers are provided for the supply of cold, ambient or heated water to a consumer. These water coolers generally include a housing upon which a water bottle is put upside down. The housing can be a cooler housing, and in some cases includes a mechanism for warming the water to provide heated water. Usually the cooler housing contains a cooling device, a reservoir for cold water, and two water taps, one for cold water and another for either ambient or heated water.
To consume the water provided by a water cooler, a cup, glass, or other container is generally required. The cup is placed underneath one of the water taps before the tap is either pulled or pushed to dispense the water into the cup for consumption. This means that each use of the water cooler requires a cup.
When water coolers are used at places of business frequented by numerous users, disposable cups are the only practical solution for providing sanitary water to the consumers. This generally results in use of a large number of disposable cups, each of which are used only once and discarded afterwards. This can create a large amount of waste, generally consisting of plastic or Styrofoam cups which is highly detrimental to the environment. Moreover, disposable cups generally take up a lot of space, thus requiring someone to frequently replenish the stack of new cups and remove the discarded ones. Additionally, the cups are generally an unnecessary expense for a business. Furthermore, use of water cups generally results in wasting drinking water, as a number of consumers pour more water in their cups than they are likely to drink.
Therefore, a need exists for a solution for providing water to users of a water cooler in a sanitary, economically beneficial and environmentally efficient manner.
The instant application describes a straw drinking system for use with a beverage dispenser. The straw drinking system includes a dispensing unit having a handle and a flexible tube, a support unit for holding the handle in place, and a used straw unit for discarding and storing used straws. The dispensing unit is connected through an opening of the flexible tube to a beverage reservoir of the beverage dispenser to provide for a flow of a beverage from the beverage dispenser to the handle. The handle includes an opening into which a straw can be inserted and through which the beverage can exit. The used straw unit includes a conduit having an opening through which a used straw can be inserted for disposal. In one embodiment, the conduit includes a mechanism for punching a hole into the used straw as it passes through the conduit.
The straw drinking system can be used for drinking a beverage from a beverage dispenser by obtaining a new straw, inserting a first end of the new straw into an opening of a beverage dispensing unit handle, inserting a second end of the straw into a user's mouth, pressing a control unit on the beverage dispensing unit handle to initiate dispersion of a beverage, releasing the control unit to stop dispersion of the beverage, and removing the second end of the straw from the user's mouth and inserting the second end into an opening of a used straw unit conduit to discard the straw into the used straw unit conduit. In one embodiment, as the used straw passes through the conduit, a hole is punched into the straw to prevent reusing used straws.
Features of the subject technology are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purpose of explanation, several implementations of the subject technology are set forth in the following figures.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and/or circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present teachings. As part of the description, some of this disclosure's drawings represent structures and devices in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. Moreover, the language used in this disclosure has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter, resort to the claims being necessary to determine such inventive subject matter. Reference in this disclosure to “one embodiment” or to “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention, and multiple references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” should not be understood as necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
Water coolers are commonly used at places of business such as banks, doctor's offices and other businesses frequented by numerous consumers, to provide drinking water. The most common way of drinking water from a water cooler in such businesses is to place a disposable cup underneath the water cooler tap to dispense the water into the cup for consumption. This requires placing a stack of disposable cups near the water cooler. Once these cups are used, they need to be disposed of, thus requiring the placement of a large trash can near the water cooler. For businesses that have a lot of foot traffic, this means that a person needs to continually refill the stack of new disposable cups and empty the trash can holding the discarded ones. This takes a lot of time, leading to a labor expense for the business. Additionally, the cost of the actual cups can be significant because of the number of cups used on a daily basis. For example, by some estimates, around 200 disposable cups are used for water coolers each day at a bank. This number comes to around 60,000 cups a year, which is not only costly for a business but is also highly detrimental for the environment. Furthermore, use of disposable water cups can result in wasting drinking water, as a number of consumers pour more water in their cups than they are likely to drink.
Various solutions may be considered to solve the above issues. Some of the solutions may include a disposable straw drinking for use with water coolers and other beverage dispensers. A straw takes up a lot less space than a disposable cup, thus requiring a smaller space for storage of new and used straws. A straw also uses a much smaller amount of plastic than a disposable cup and as such is a much better choice for the environment. Additionally, straws are less costly to purchase and because they take up a lot less space, they require less frequent refilling and removing of discarded ones.
As discussed above, there are many disadvantages associated with using disposable water cups with a water cooler such as the one illustrated in
As shown, the straw dispenser 300 includes a straw housing 305 for storage of straws 330. The straw housing 305 is, in one embodiment, a rectangular shaped box designed to efficiently hold as many of, a standard size, straws as possible. Alternatively, the straw housing can be in the shape of a cup or any other shape feasible for holding straws. The straw dispenser 300 also includes a lid 310 designed to be easily lifted from the straw housing 305 for refilling of straws, as shown in
As shown in
Referring back to
Water dispensing unit 400 also includes a control unit 410 for regulating the flow of water. In one embodiment, the control unit 410 controls the flow of water being dispensed from the dispensing unit 400. For example, applying more pressure on the control unit 410 results in the water being dispensed from the dispensing unit 400 having a higher pressure. Applying less pressure on the control unit 410 results in lower pressure water. In the bottom, the handle 415 is connected through an internal opening 420 to a flexible tube 425. The flexible tube 425 can be expanded when pulled. This enables a user to move around while drinking the water. It also ensures that users of different heights are able to comfortably consume the water being dispersed from the dispensing unit 400. For example, a tall user can pull the handle 415 higher thus causing the flexible tube 425 to expand and accommodate the user's height. In one embodiment, once pressure is no longer being applied to the flexible tube 425, it goes back to its original shape and/or size. In this manner, a short user such a child is also able to comfortably use the dispensing unit 400 without having to worry about the tube being in the way. The flexible tube 425 is connected through an opening 430 to one or more water reservoirs of the water cooler 200. In one embodiment, the opening 430 is permanently fastened to an opening of the water reservoir 220. In an alternative embodiment, the opening 430 is interchangeably connected to a cold water reservoir and an ambient water reservoir. In such embodiments, a switch (not shown) may be provided on the water cooler 200 to enable the user to select either cold or ambient water. In one embodiment, the opening 430 is connected to a mechanism inside the water reservoir 220 (not shown) that regulates water pressure. In one embodiment, this mechanism includes a switch for high pressure, a switch for low pressure, a three-way splitter, water pump, and an adaptor (neither of which are shown). Alternatively, in instances where water enters the water reservoir from a municipal water tap, the mechanism could include a water reservoir that receives pressure from the water tap. In one embodiment, the mechanism for regulating water pressure operates in such a manner as to ensure that water can only exit from the opening 405 and not enter it. This ensures that the use of the water that has entered a user's mouth or touched a user's lips does not enter the water dispensing unit, thus ensuring a sanitary means for consuming water.
Referring back to
In one embodiment, to drink water from the water cooler 200, the user retrieves a straw from the straw dispenser 300, before removing the handle 415 from the support unit 430. Once the handle 415 is removed, the user inserts the straw into the opening 405 of the handle 415. The user then places the straw inside their mouth before applying pressure on the control unit 410 to initiate dispersion of water. In one embodiment, the control unit 410 is located on the handle 415 such that when the user holds the handle 415 to place the straw in their mouth, the user's thumb conveniently falls on the control unit 410. The user regulates the water pressure by the amount of pressure applied to the control unit 410. Once, the user is done drinking water, they align the straw with the opening 450 and push the water dispensing unit 400 against the opening 465 to release the straw from the handle 415 and into the discarded straw bin 455, thus providing an easy efficient and sanitary manner to drink water from a water cooler.
In addition to conventional water coolers, the disposable straw drinking system discussed above can also be used for other types of beverage dispensers. For example, the disposable straw drinking system can be used with water fountains, refrigerators that provide cold drinking water, or even a regular water tap. In one embodiment, the disposable straw drinking system can be used with beverage dispensers that provide carbonated drinks. In each of these situations, the opening 430 of the flexible tube 425 may be connected, by any of the known methods in the art, to a beverage reservoir of the respective beverage dispensing device to provide the beverage through the dispensing unit 400.
Furthermore, the disposable straw drinking system discussed above can be retrofitly installed on any conventional water coolers. In one embodiment, a retrofit installation kit may be provided with the disposable straw drinking system for such installation. The installation kit may include, for example, conduits and connectors for connecting the opening 430 of the flexible tube 425 to one or more reservoirs of a conventional water kit.
In one embodiment, the straw dispenser, the support unit and the used straw bin are made from ABS plastic. Some or all of the connectors are made from bronze materials and o-rings are made from silicon. The water handle includes an antibacterial cover and all screws and nuts are made from stainless steel to provide a sanitary environment for consumption of water or other beverage.
The separation of various components in the examples described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single packaged into multiple systems.
While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the best mode and/or other examples, it is understood that various modifications may be made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented in various forms and examples, and that the teachings may be applied in numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein. It is intended by the following claims to claim any and all applications, modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the present teachings.
Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are set forth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, not exact. They are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with what is customary in the art to which they pertain.
The scope of protection is limited solely by the claims that now follow. That scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as is consistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in the claims when interpreted in light of this specification and the prosecution history that follows and to encompass all structural and functional equivalents. Notwithstanding, none of the claims are intended to embrace subject matter that fails to satisfy the requirement of Sections 101, 102, or 103 of the Patent Act, nor should they be interpreted in such a way. Any unintended embracement of such subject matter is hereby disclaimed.
Except as stated immediately above, nothing that has been stated or illustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedication of any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, or equivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recited in the claims.
It will be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein. Relational terms such as first and second and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “a” or “an” does not, without further constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various implementations for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed implementations require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed implementation. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
13945014000300873 | Nov 2015 | IR | national |