Water cooler abstract
A bottled water/tap water cooler and compact oxygen generator system
combined within a single housing structure. The oxygen generator
includes an air compressor for generating compressed air and uses
two molecular sieve beds that operate one after the other. As a
first molecular sieve bed absorbs nitrogen, up to approximately
95% pure oxygen is allowed to pass therethrough to a flow meter
and into a diffuser which passes the oxygen into a purified drinking
water reservoir supplied by the bottled water or filtered tap water.
After the first molecular sieve bed is full, the second molecular
sieve bed activates and starts absorbing nitrogen while allowing
oxygen to pass therethrough, simultaneously, nitrogen is vented
from the first molecular sieve into the atmosphere. The first and
second molecular sieve beds alternate with one another allowing
the system to run continuously by using timer controlled dual 3-way
valves.
Water cooler claims
We claim:
1. A compact water cooler and oxygen generator system for increasing
oxygen within a nonoxygenated water supply, comprising in combination:
a single housing;
a reservoir containing nonoxygenated drinking water having sides
and a bottom, supported by the single housing;
a separate nonoxygenated water source located above the reservoir
for supplying the nonoxygenated drinking water to the reservoir,
the separate nonoxygenated water source chosen from one of bottled
water and a tap waterline;
a cooler means within the housing for cooling the nonoxygenated
drinking water;
a generator within the housing for generating oxygen; and
means within the housing for inserting the oxygen into the reservoir
through the bottom of the reservoir and directly oxygenating substantially
all of the nonoxygenated drinking water in the reservoir to increase
oxygen content in the nonoxygenated drinking water to a supersaturated
level.
2. The compact water cooler of claim 1 wherein the inserting means
includes:
an oxygen diffuser.
3. The compact water cooler of claim 1 wherein the oxygen generator
includes:
an air compressor supplying compressed air to nitrogen and oxygen
separating means.
4. The compact water cooler of claim 3 wherein the nitrogen and
oxygen separating means includes:
a first molecular sieve bed for absorbing nitrogen; and
a second molecular sieve bed for absorbing nitrogen, wherein the
first molecular sieve bed alternates in use with the second molecular
sieve bed.
5. The compact water cooler of claim 4 further including:
means for exhausting the absorbed nitrogen from the first molecular
sieve bed and the second molecular sieve bed.
6. The compact water cooler of claim 4 further including:
a timer for alternating the activation of the first molecular sieve
bed and the second molecular sieve bed.
7. The compact water cooler of claim 4 further including:
a first 3-way valve for the first molecular sieve bed; and
a second 3-way valve for the second molecular sieve bed.
8. The compact water cooler of claim 7 wherein the first 3-way
valve and the second three-way valve each include:
means for exhausting the absorbed nitrogen from the first molecular
sieve bed and the second molecular sieve bed into the atmosphere.
9. The compact water cooler of claim 4 wherein the first molecular
sieve bed and the second molecular sieve bed each include:
dimensions of less than approximately 5 inches in diameter and
less than approximately 10 inches in length.
10. The compact water cooler of claim 4 wherein the first molecular
sieve bed and the second molecular sieve bed each include:
dimensions of approximately 2 inches in diameter and approximately
7 inches in length.
11. The compact water cooler of claim 1 wherein the oxygen generator
includes:
means for generating up to approximately 95% oxygen onsite.
12. The compact water cooler of claim 1 wherein the single housing
includes:
dimensions of approximately 10 to approximately 42 inches high,
approximately 7 to approximately 18 inches wide and approximately
8 to approximately 18 inches deep.
13. A compact drinking water cooler and oxygen generator system
for increasing oxygen within a nonoxygenated water supply, comprising
in combination:
a housing having dimensions of approximately 10 to approximately
42 inches high, approximately 7 to approximately 18 inches wide,
and approximately 8 to approximately 18 inches deep;
a reservoir containing purified nonoxygenated drinking water the
reservoir having sides and a bottom, supported by the single housing;
a separate nonoxygenated water source located above the reservoir
for supplying the nonoxygenated drinking water to the reservoir,
the separate nonoxygenated water source chosen from one of: bottled
water and a tap waterline;
a cooler means within the housing for cooling the nonoxygenated
drinking water in the reservoir;
a generator within the housing for generating up to approximately
95% oxygen; and
means within the housing for injecting the oxygen into the reservoir
through the bottom of the reservoir and directly oxygenating substantially
all of the nonoxygenated drinking water in the reservoir to increase
oxygen content in the nonoxygenated drinking water to a supersaturated
level.
14. The compact water cooler of claim 13 wherein the reservoir
of nonoxygenated drinking water includes:
nonoxygenated bottled water.
15. The compact water cooler of claim 13 wherein the reservoir
of nonoxygenated drinking water includes:
a source from a tap waterline.
16. The compact water cooler of claim 15 further including:
a filter between the source and the reservoir.
Water cooler description
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
The most important element to sustain life is the air we breathe.
It is well known that all living creatures require a continuous
supply of oxygen. However, the general quality of the air we breathe
only contains approximately 20% oxygen. Fossil tests have indicated
that past air from ancient times contained approximately twice the
oxygen content as today's polluted air. Inhaling pure oxygen can
be done, but prolonged inhalation can diminish one's lung capacity
over time creating an unhealthy problem.
The second most necessary element for survival is water. However,
public water supplies contain a substantial amount of toxic chemicals
such as chlorine that is used to sanitize water. Bottled water has
become more and more popular in recent times due to its' pureness,
lack of chemicals and better taste than tap water. As a result water
cooler systems have become more common place.
Water companies have attempted to add concentrated oxygen into
their water supply by using large size plant generators during the
bottling stage. However, the oxygen concentration in these oxygenated
water supplies decreases over time because oxygen dissipates through
the PET bottles as the bottled water takes time to be delivered
to the end user customer. Thus, the longer the delivery time and
the amount of time the product sits on the retail shelf the less
oxygen content within the bottled water.
Some water companies have attempted to overcome the depreciation
problem by adding excessive oxygen concentration during the bottling
stage. However, the excessive oxygen concentration can alter the
spring water taste of bottled water. The higher the level of dissolved
oxygen, the faster oxygen dissipates out of the water.
The inventors are aware of the following U.S. Pat. No. 3692180
to La Raus; U.S. Pat. No. 3699776 to La Raus; U.S. Pat. No. 3726404
to Troglione; U.S. Pat. No. 3843521 to Zeff; U.S. Pat. No. 4176061
to Stopka; U.S. Pat. No. 4552571 to Dechene; U.S. Pat. No. 4636226
to Canfora; U.S. Pat. No. 4698075 to Dechene; U.S. Pat. No. 4869733
to Stanford; U.S. Pat. No. 5106495 to Hughes; U.S. Pat. No. 5190648
to Ramsauer; U.S. Pat. No. 5366619 to Matsui et al.; and U.S.
Pat. No. 5928610 to Moran et al. However, none of these patents
adequately overcomes all the problems with the prior techniques
previously described. For example, many of these patents are concerned
with injecting ozone and not oxygen into a water supply. Additionally,
these patents generally use large, complex and/or expensive components
that would not be suitable for a bottled water cooler or tap water
cooler.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a system
for oxygenating water in a bottle/tap water cooler that maintains
the sparkling taste of the water while maximizing the oxygen level
content.
The second object of this invention is to provide a compact oxygenation
generator for a bottle/tap water cooler that is built into the cooler
housing.
A preferred embodiment of the invention includes incorporating
an oxygen generator and an oxygen injector/diffuser into a bottle/tap
water cooler with water reservoir. Typical spring water or purified
water contains between approximately 3 milligrams/liter,mg/l (or
parts per million, ppm) and approximately 7 mg/l of dissolved oxygen
and the saturation level of dissolved oxygen in water is known to
be approximately 10 mg/l depending on certain conditions such as
temperature. Using the subject invention, up to approximately 95%
pure oxygen can be generated onsite and injected into the water
reservoir. The subject invention can increase the level of dissolved
oxygen in the water to a level of "super-saturation" (anything
greater than normal saturation level) with dissolved oxygen (DO)
levels of greater than 30 mg/l.
A novelty of this device is that both the oxygen generation and
the injection of thc oxygen into the water are done within the cooler
itself. No special handling nor special treatment of the water is
required. The water placed on coolers with this device installed
in it is not "oxygenated", and does not contain an elevated
DO level, before the cooler's system begins to operate.
The injection of oxygen into the reservoir can be done with a diffuser.
Alternatively, the injection is done with a Venturi-Type nozzle
injector. Tests on water withdrawn from the subject invention system
have a DO level remaining at "super-saturated" levels
for greater than four hours (much longer than the period normally
used to consume a glass of water.).
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent
from the following detailed description of a presently preferred
embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel oxygen generator system
of the subject invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the water reservoir, cooling components
and the oxygen generator system of FIG. 1 within a single housing.
FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2 along arrow A.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the oxygen generator system of FIGS.
1-3.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the timer controls for the 3-way
valves used in oxygen generating system of FIG. 4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention
in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited
in its application to the details of the particular arrangement
shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also,
the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and
not of limitation.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel oxygen generator system
100 of the subject invention and can have overall dimensions of
approximately 71/2 inches wide by approximately 9 inches high by
approximately 6 inches deep, and fit into a housing 10 having dimensions
of approximately 10 to approximately 42 inches high, approximately
7 to approximately 18 inches wide and approximately 8 to approximately
18 inches deep.
FIG. 2 is a side view 1 of the water reservoir, cooling compressor
300 and the oxygen generator system 100 of FIG. 1 within a single
housing 10. FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2 along arrow A. The
cooling compressor 300 can be a typical cooling compressor such
as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3699776 to La Raus, incorporated
by reference.
Referring to FIGS. 2-3 a water reservoir 10 having water therein
can support a bottled water container 5. Alternatively, water can
be supplied by a line source 7 from an exterior water purifier unit,
a tap water supply, and the like. An added disposable filter 9 can
be used to further filter out incoming water. A cooling system 200
(shown in more detail in FIG. 5) can cool the reservoir water supply
10. An oxygen generator system 100 (described and shown in FIG.
4) supplies oxygen via line 101 to a needle valve 60 that controls
the flow of oxygen into an oxygen flow meter 50 that meters and
can visually indicate the amount of oxygen that goes into reservoir
20. From meter 50 the generated oxygen passes through an air filter
45 such as an in-line bacteria filter from AG Industries of Missouri,
to kill bacteria within the oxygen supply. Oxygen then passes to
a check valve 40 that prevents a backflow of the oxygen, and there-after
to diffuser 30 which injects oxygen into the bottom of reservoir
20 oxygenating the water supply therein. The diffuser 30 can include
tiny holes which can allow the oxygen to be broken up into small
bubbles that rise within the reservoir 20. A diffuser that can be
used is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3692180 and 3699776 to La
Raus which are both incorporated by reference.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the oxygen generator system 100 of
FIGS. 1-3. Referring to FIG. 4 an air compressor 110 supplies compressed
air along line 111 in the direction of arrow O1 to a splitter 112
that splits the air to two 3-way valves 113 115 each having respective
exhaust mufflers 114 116 respectively. FIG. 5 describes the control
system of the 3-way valves 113 115.
The system can be set up so that 3-way valve 115 is first closed
and valve 113 is first open so that compressed air is first flowed
into cylinder container 120 which contains a first molecular sieve
bed 125 therein which traps nitrogen within the cylinder container
120 and allows oxygen to flow through purge orifice 122 to line
140 and mixing tank 150 and thereon through line 101 in the direction
of arrow O3. Purge orifices 122 132 have small selective apertures
that regulate oxygen flow and can be sized to allow 12 pounds per
square inch (psi) therethrough. Mixing tank 150 is a cylinder that
acts as a reservoir to further buildup the pressure of the oxygen.
Needle valve 60 can be manually set to release a flow rate of approximately
0.2 liters per minute, which together with mixing tank 150 allows
for up to approximately 95% oxygen to flow therethrough. A higher
flow rate causes the purity of oxygen to drop below 95%.
Referring to FIG. 4 once the first sieve bed 125 becomes full
of nitrogen, exhaust valve 113 closes and compressed air from line
111 is directed through now open 3-way valve 115 to second cylinder
container 130 which has a second molecular sieve bed 135 therein
which traps nitrogen within the cylinder container 130 while allowing
separated oxygen to flow through purge orifice 132 to line 140 to
mixing tank 150 and so forth. As the second bed 135 is separating
oxygen from the nitrogen, the first bed vents its nitrogen into
the atmosphere at exhaust 116. When the second bed 135 is full,
3-Way valve 60 closes and compressed air from lines 111 112 is
once again fed into the first bed 125. At this point the nitrogen
contained within second bed 135 is vented into the atmosphere via
exhaust muffler 116 and the process is repeated continuously causing
a constant flow of oxygen to be produced to line 101. The components
within the oxygen generating system 100 are extremely compact. For
example, cylinders 120 130 and mixing tank 150 can each have dimensions
of approximately 2 inches diameter by approximately 7 inches. The
components of the molecular sieve beds 125 135 in cylinders 120
130 can be like those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4552571 and
4698075 to Dechene and U.S. Pat. No. 4636226 to Canfora, each
of which is incorporated by reference. As previously described,
the novel oxygen generating system generates up to approximately
95% pure oxygen onsite which can be directly injected into the reservoir
water.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view 200 of the timer controls for the 3-way
valves used in oxygen generating system of FIG. 4. A 115 VAC supply
supplies power along hot line 202 and neutral line 204 from 11 SVAC,
220 power supply and the like, to time switch 230 and terminal block
220 the latter of which supplies power to axle fan 230 and air
compressor 110. ON & OFF TIMER 240 controls the alternating
operation of 3-Way Valve 113 and 3-Way Valve 115. Axle fan 230 is
used to circulate air from outside system 1 to air compressor 110
keeping the air supply to air compressor to not include stale air
and also to cool the equipment. Axle fan 230 reduces heated air
from building up and being taken in by air-intakes for compressor
230. Time switch 230 can be a external digital timer control such
as a Grasslin Timer, manufactured by Grasslin, a time programmable
air conditioning thermostat control and the like. M refers to a
manual power on and off switch for the oxygen generator system 100
specifically for the air compressor 110 axle fan 230 and other
powered components. Labels 3 4 5 in box 230 refers to being able
to program the On & Off Timer 240 to be able to operate at selected
times such as being powered off at night and powered on during weekdays,
and the like. Switch 3 connected to contact 5 is an off mode and
switch 3 connected to contact 4 is an on mode. On & Off Timer
240 can be a solid state timer such as an ACP Timer manufactured
by Precision Timer. On & Off Timer 240 can be preselected to
turn 3-way valve 113 on to allow compressed air to pass into sieve
bed 125 for approximately 6 seconds while 3-way valve 115 is off.
After 6 seconds, valve 113 switches to exhaust muffler 114 for exhausting
nitrogen from bed 125. One second later, valve 115 turns on for
6 seconds allowing nitrogen to be absorbed in sieve bed 135. During
this time valve 113 is exhausting nitrogen from sieve bed 125 into
the atmosphere via exhaust muffler 114 for a total of 7 seconds.
After being on for 6 seconds valve 115 turns to an exhaust mode,
while valve 113 goes to an on position allowing sieve bed 125 to
begin absorbing nitrogen again. The system runs continuously as
long as the time switch 130 runs in a power on position time.
Although the preferred embodiment describes using a diffuser, the
invention can be practiced with a Venturi-Type injector. The embodiment
described can be used without a diffuser, but the oxygen saturation
into the water will not be as efficient as when a diffuser or a
Venturi-type injector is used.
While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated
and shown in various terms of certain embodiments or modifications
which it has presumed in practice, the scope of the invention is
not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby
and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested
by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as
they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended. |