EP2674391A1

EP2674391A1 - Water container for water dispenser

Info

Publication number: EP2674391A1
Application number: EP12172023.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kuei-Tang Chang
Original assignee: Tall and Stout Industrial Corp
Current assignee: Tall and Stout Industrial Corp
Priority date: 2012-06-14
Filing date: 2012-06-14
Publication date: 2013-12-18

Abstract

A water container (1) for a water dispenser (100) includes a container body (10) disposed on the water dispenser (100) and an outlet pipe (20) inserted into an inlet port (110) of the water dispenser (100). The container body (10) has an accommodating space for storing water. The container body (10) has plural apexes (11, 12). One apex (11) of the apexes (11, 12) is cut away to form an inclined facet (13). The outlet pipe (20) protrudes from the inclined facet (13) to be in communication with the accommodating space. The length of the outlet pipe (20) protruding from the inclined facet (13) is smaller than or equal to the distance between the inclined facet (13) and the cut-away apex (11). A line connecting the outlet pipe (20) and the cut-away apex (11) passes through the gravity center of the water container (1).

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a water container, and in particular to a water container for a water dispenser.

Description of Prior Art

In public places such as offices, a water dispenser and water containers associated with the water dispenser are provided, so that people can drink the water in the water container. Such a water container for the water dispenser is usually formed into a hollow cylindrical shape. This cylindrical water container comprises two planar surfaces and a peripheral surface located on the peripheries of the two planar surfaces. One of the planar surfaces (this planar surface may be possibly configured as a conical surface) is formed with an outlet pipe, which is to be inserted into an inlet port on the top of the water dispenser. The inlet port of the water dispenser is provided with a connector in which an abutting core rod is provided. The pipe end of the outlet pipe is provided with an anti-spill cap. By this arrangement, when the outlet pipe of the cylindrical container is inserted into the inlet port of the cylindrical water dispenser, the abutting core rod will be inserted into the outlet pipe to push away a movable plug of the anti-spill cap into the cylindrical water container, so that the water in the cylindrical water container can flow into the water dispenser. When a user turns on a faucet of the water dispenser, the drinking water in the water container can flow out of the faucet through the water dispenser for drinking.
However, in practice, such a conventional cylindrical water container has the following problems. First of all, it is not easy for the conventional cylindrical water container to be packaged or shipped due to its outer profile. Also, the spatial utilization efficiency of the conventional cylindrical water container is bad. More specifically, since the outlet pipe protrudes from one of the planar surfaces of the cylindrical water container, the outlet pipe must have a length large enough to allow the abutting core rod to be inserted therein while allowing the remaining water in the water container to be exhausted as much as possible. As a result, such a cylindrical water container seems to have a long "neck" (i.e. the protruding outlet pipe). On the other hand, the peripheral surface of the cylindrical water container is a curved surface rather than a flat surface, so that the cylindrical water containers cannot be stacked up easily on their peripheral surfaces. Thus, not only the protruding outlet pipe, but also the curved peripheral surface will affect the stacking of the cylindrical water containers. In order to solve this problem, a connecting disk is additionally used, whose height is designed to allow the outlet pipe to be inserted into the connecting disk, so that two cylindrical water containers can be vertically stacked up via the connecting disk. However, the connecting disk inevitably occupies more space, which further decreases the spatial utilization efficiency of the cylindrical water container during its package and shipment. As a result, the cost for storing and shipping the cylindrical water containers is increased greatly.
Second, when the user intends to insert the outlet pipe of the cylindrical water container into the inlet port of the water dispenser, the user can only try to find out the correct insertion position based on his/her experience and instincts because the upward-facing surface of the cylindrical water container is a circular planar surface without any guide sign. If a guide sign is provided on the upward-facing surface of the water container opposite to the outlet pipe, the user would be guided to correctly insert the outlet pipe of the water container into the inlet port of the water dispenser, thereby increasing the convenience in use.
Third, the manufacturer of the conventional cylindrical water containers has to periodically recycle the empty containers. After cleaning and sterilizing the inside and outside of the empty containers, these empty containers are refilled with clean drinking water. Finally, after the outlet pipe is sealed, the refilled water containers can be re-used. However, the customers cannot make sure that the manufacturer of the conventional cylindrical water containers has cleaned the empty containers or not. If the water container is a disposable container and no water containers need to be recycled, the customers will have faith in using these disposable water containers.
Therefore, it is an important issue for the present Inventor to solve the above problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide a water container for a water dispenser, whose profile allows itself to be stacked up easily with an improved spatial utilization efficiency.
The present invention provides a water container for a water dispenser, including:

a container body having an accommodating space therein for storing water, an outer surface of the container body being formed with an inclined facet; and
an outlet pipe protruding from the inclined facet to be in communication with the accommodating space.

According to another feature of the present invention, a line connecting the axial center of the outlet pipe and an apex closest to the outlet pipe passes through the gravity center of the container body.
According to a further feature of the present invention, the container body has a plurality of outer surfaces, and edges between the adjacent two outer surfaces are formed into a reinforcing rib respectively.
In comparison with prior art, the present invention has following advantageous features:

According to the present invention, the container body may be formed into a polyhedron, in which one apex is cut away to form an inclined facet. The length of the outlet pipe protruding from the inclined facet is smaller than or equal to the distance between the inclined facet and the cut-away apex. Since the length of the outlet pipe is smaller than or equal to the distance between the inclined facet and the cut-away apex, the outlet pipe can be seemed retracted into the polyhedral container comprising the cut-away apex and adjacent to the cut-away apex. Thus, when being packaged or shipped, all other surfaces of the container body rather than the inclined facet can be used as a surface for contacting other container body. In this way, vertical stacking or side-by-side arrangement of the container bodies are possible and much easier. Further, adjacent two container bodies will not interfere with each other by the outlet pipe, so that the spatial utilization efficiency of the water container of the present invention can be improved greatly. In this way, the cost of packaging or shipping of the water containers of the present invention is reduced greatly.

Since a line connecting the axial center of the outlet pipe and the cut-away apex passes through the gravity center of the container body, it can understood that, when the container body is disposed on the water dispenser while the outlet pipe is inserted into the inlet port, the line connecting the outlet pipe and the cut-away apex not only passes through the gravity center of the container body, but also passes through an apex diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex. This apex diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex can be used as a guide sign for guiding the user to correctly dispose the water container onto the water dispenser. More specifically, the user only needs to approximately align the apex diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex with the center of the inlet port so as to insert the outlet pipe into the inlet port correctly.
According to another feature of the present invention, the container body has a plurality of outer surfaces, and edges between the adjacent two outer surfaces are formed into a reinforcing rib respectively. When the container body is made of thin materials, the reinforcing ribs can increase the strength of the whole container body to maintain its polyhedral shape, so that the water container of the present invention can be made as a disposable container without being recycled. In this way, the user needs not to worry about the degree of cleanness of the water containers. Further, the manufacturer in this field can reduce the material cost and production cost greatly because the water containers are made of thin materials. Also, since no water containers have to be recycled, the manufacturer in this field can save the expense of recycling, cleaning, and sterilizing the empty water containers. Therefore, the special structure of the water container of the present invention has convenience in use and practicability for both the customers and manufacturers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top view of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is another perspective view showing the second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is an exploded view showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is an assembled view showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed description and technical contents of the present invention will become apparent with the following detailed description accompanied with related drawings. It is noteworthy to point out that the drawings is provided for the illustration purpose only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the present invention.
Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 4 showing the first embodiment of the present invention. The present invention provides a water container for a water dispenser. As shown in FIG. 9, the top surface of the water dispenser 100 is provided with an inlet port 110. The periphery of the inlet port 110 is provided with a supporting base 120. The water container 1 is disposed on the inlet port 110. The water container 1 of the present invention includes a container body 10 and outlet pipe 20.
As shown in FIG. 3, the container body 10 is made into a polyhedral body. The interior of the container body 10 has an accommodating space S for storing water therein. As shown in FIG. 6, the profile of the container body 10 is substantially formed into a hexahedron and has eight apexes 11 and 12 (only seven apexes are shown in FIG. 4). One apex 11 of the eight apexes (the upper-left apex in FIG. 4) is cut away to form an inclined facet on the container body 10.
The outlet pipe 20 protrudes from the inclined facet 13 and is in communication with the accommodating space S. It can be seen from FIG. 4 that, the length of the outlet pipe 20 protruding from the inclined facet 13 is smaller than or equal to the distance between the inclined facet 13 and the cut-away apex 11, so that the outlet pipe 20 can be seemed retracted between the cut-away apex 11 and the inclined facet 13. Further, it can be seen from the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 that, a line connecting the axial center of the outlet pipe 20 and the cut-away apex 11 passes through the gravity center G of the container body 10 and also extends through the other apex 12 (i.e. the lower-right apex in FIG. 4) diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex 11.
It can be seen from FIG. 3 that, a pipe end of the outlet pipe 20 away from the inclined facet 13 is covered with an anti-spill cap 21. The center of the anti-spill cap 21 is provided with a through-hole 211. The interior of the through-hole 211 is provided with a movable plug 22 for preventing the water inside the water container 1 from leaking to the outside before the water container 1 is disposed on the water dispenser 100.
As shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the inclined facet 13, the container body 10 also has a plurality of outer surfaces 14, 15 and 16. The edges between any two of the outer surfaces 14, 15, 16 as well as the edges between the inclined surface 13 and any one of the outer surfaces 14, 15, 16 are chamfered to form a reinforcing rib 1314, 1315, 1415, 1416, 1516 respectively each having a greater strength. By this structure, even the container body 10 is made of thin plastic materials, these reinforcing ribs 1314, 1315, 1415, 1416, 1516 can still maintain the polyhedral shape when the container body 10 is filled with water. In this way, the manufacturer can use thin plastic materials to produce the water container 1, thereby reducing the material cost and the production cost. Since the container body 10 is made of thin plastic materials, the user can press flat the empty container body 10 to form a recyclable garbage. Thus, the manufacturer in this field needs not to recycle the empty water containers 1 and the subsequent cleaning, sterilizing and water-refilling steps are omitted, so that the expense of recycling and sterilizing the empty water containers can be saved for the manufacturers. On the other hand, the customers need not worry whether the reused water containers 1 are well-sterilized or not, and thus they can have more faith in using such disposable water containers 1.
Please refer to FIGS. 5 to 8 showing the water container 1' of second embodiment of the present invention. The structure of the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the same description thereof is omitted for simplicity. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment lies in that: the original edges of the polyhedral container body between any two adjacent surfaces are cut away to from a rectangular faucet 17', 18' and 19' respectively. All remaining apexes are also cut away to form a triangular faucet a' and b' respectively. All the edges between any two adjacent surfaces are chamfered to form a reinforcing rib respectively (not numbered in the drawings). Since the number of the reinforcing ribs in the second embodiment is more than that in the first embodiment, the whole structural strength of the second embodiment is greater than that of the first embodiment, thereby allowing the water container 1' to be made of thinner materials while maintaining its polyhedral shape. On the other hand, since the container body 10' of the second embodiment has more facets than the first embodiment, the whole profile of the second embodiment looks like a polyhedral crystal, which has a better external appearance and an improved practicability.
Please refer to FIGS. 9 to 11 showing the operation of the present invention. When the container body 10' is disposed above the water dispenser 100 while the outlet pipe 20' is not inserted into the inlet port 110, as shown in FIG. 9, the axial line of the outlet pipe 20' not only passes through the gravity center G of the container body 10', but also passes through the apex diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex. Thus, this apex diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex is located at the topmost end of the whole container body. Although FIG. 9 shows that all the apexes are cut away to form a triangular facet respectively, the user can still use the topmost triangular facet formed by cutting away the topmost apex as a guide sign for correctly disposing the water container 1' onto the water dispenser 100. More specifically, the user only needs to direct the outlet pipe 20' to face downward and approximately align the apex diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex (i.e. the upward-facing apex) with the center of the inlet port 110. In this way, the user can correctly insert the outlet pipe 20' into the inlet port 110 with the inclined facet 13' abutting against the supporting base 120.
As shown in FIG. 11, the inlet port 110 is formed with a trough for allowing the outlet pipe 20' to be inserted therein. An abutting rod 111 protrudes from the inner bottom of the trough for inserting into a through-hole 211' of an anti-spill cap 21' of the outlet pipe 20' to thereby push away a movable plug (not shown). The peripheral surface of the abutting rod 111 is provided with two through-holes 111 for allowing the water in the outlet pipe 20' to flow into the abutting rod 111 and then into the interior of the water dispenser 100.
Next, the spatial utilization efficiency of the water container 1 of the present invention will be calculated by a mathematical method. If the volume of the water container 1 is 13L, the cubic container body 10 would have a side length of 24 cm. Further, if a gap of 1 cm is formed between each outer surface of the water container 1 and each inner surface of an external package box, the external package box would be a cubic box with a side length of 26 cm. The volume of the external package box is 26x26x26=17576 cm³. Thus, the ratio of the volume of the water container to the volume of the external package box is 13000/17576=73.96%.
Comparatively, in a conventional cylindrical water container, if the volume of the cylindrical water container is also 13L, the cylindrical water container would have a diameter of 22 cm and a height of 34 cm. Further, if the length of the outlet pipe is at least 8 cm, and a gap of 1 cm is formed between each outer surface of the cylindrical water container and each inner surface of an external package box, the external package box would be a rectangular parallelepiped body having a side length of 26 cm and a height of 34+8+2=44 cm. The volume of the external package box is 24x24x44=25344 cm³. Thus, the ratio of the volume of the cylindrical water container to the volume of the external package box is 13000/25344=51.3%.
Comparatively, in the case of a conventional rectangular parallelepiped water container, if the volume of the rectangular parallelepiped water container is also 13L, the rectangular parallelepiped water container would have a side length of 22 cm and a height of 26 cm. Further, if the length of the outlet pipe is at least 8 cm, and a gap of 1 cm is formed between each outer surface of the rectangular parallelepiped water container and each inner surface of an external package box, the external package box would be a rectangular parallelepiped body having a side length of 24 cm and a height of 26+8+2=36 cm. The volume of the external package box is 24x24x36=20736 cm³. Thus, the ratio of the volume of the cylindrical water container to the volume of the external package box is 13000/20736=62.7%.
According to the above results of mathematical calculation, it can be understood that, with the same volume of water container, the volume of the external package box necessary for the water container of the present invention is smaller than that of the conventional cylindrical water container or that of conventional rectangular parallelepiped water container. Thus, the present invention really reduces the cost for package and shipment greatly.

Claims

A water container for a water dispenser, including:
a container body (10, 10') having an accommodating space (S) therein for storing water, an outer surface of the container body (10, 10') being formed with an inclined facet (13, 13'); and

an outlet pipe (20, 20') protruding from the inclined facet (13, 13') to be in communication with the accommodating space (S).
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the container body (10, 10') is a polyhedral body having a plurality of apexes (11, 11', 12, 12'), and the inclined facet (13, 13') is formed by cutting away one apex (11) of the apexes (11, 11', 12, 12').
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the length of the outlet pipe (20, 20') protruding from the inclined facet (13, 13') is smaller than the distance between the inclined facet (13, 13') and the cut-away apex (11).
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the length of the outlet pipe (20, 20') protruding from the inclined facet (13, 13') is equal to the distance between the inclined facet (13, 13') and the cut-away apex (11).
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 2, wherein a line connecting the axial center of the outlet pipe (20, 20') and the cut-away apex (11) passes through the gravity center (G) of the container body (10, 10').
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 5, wherein the line connecting the axial center of the outlet pipe (20, 20') and the cut-away apex (11) further passes through another apex (12) diagonally opposite to the cut-away apex (11) after passing through the gravity center (G) of the container body (10, 10'), and the another apex (12) is located at a topmost end of the container body (10, 10') when the container body (10, 10') is disposed on the water dispenser.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 6, wherein the container body (10) further has a plurality of outer surfaces (14, 15, 16), and edges between any adjacent two of the outer surfaces (14, 15, 16) as well as edges between the inclined facet (13) and any one of the outer surfaces (14, 15, 16) are chamfered to form a reinforcing rib (1314, 1315, 1415, 1416, 1516) respectively.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 7, wherein the container body (10) is a hexahedron.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 6, wherein the container body (10') further has a plurality of outer surfaces (14', 15', 16'), edges between any adjacent two of the outer surfaces (14', 15', 16') as well as edges between the inclined facet (13') and any one of the outer surfaces (14', 15', 16') are cut away to form a rectangular facet (17', 18', 19') respectively, and all remaining apexes (12') of the container body (10') are cut away to form a triangular facet (a', b') respectively.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 9, wherein edges between any two of the inclined facets (13'), the outer surfaces (14', 15', 16'), the rectangular facets (17', 18', 19'), and the triangular facets (a', b') are chamfered to form a reinforcing rib (1314, 1315, 1415, 2416, 1516) respectively.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 10, wherein the container body (10') is formed into a polyhedral crystal.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 1, wherein an pipe end of the outlet pipe (20, 20') away from the inclined facet (13, 13') is covered with an anti-spill cap (21, 21'), and the center of the anti-spill cap (21, 21') is provided with a through-hole (211, 211') in which a movable plug (22) is disposed.
The water container for a water dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the container body (10, 10') is made of thin plastic materials.