Water cooler abstract
An oxygenated water cooler and method of operating the same for
dispensing oxygen enriched water from a bottle installed on the
cooler wherein an oxygen source integrated into the cooler delivers
oxygen through the water to a headspace above the water in the bottle
to maintain the dissolved oxygen content of water in the bottle
at an elevated level during the entire time water is dispensed from
the bottle by the cooler, the elevated dissolved oxygen level having
been established previously during the water bottling process. The
oxygen source preferably comprises an oxygen generator, and such
generator preferably comprises pressure swing absorption oxygen
generating apparatus.
Water cooler claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for dispensing oxygen enriched water from a water bottle
installed on a water cooler wherein the water in the water bottle
has a dissolved oxygen content at a supersaturated level prior to
installation of the water bottle on said cooler, comprising the
steps of:
a. providing oxygen from a source integrated into said water cooler;
and
b. transferring said oxygen from said source through the water
to a headspace above the water in said bottle to maintain the dissolved
oxygen content of water in said bottle substantially at said supersaturated
level throughout the usage cycle of said bottle.
2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said oxygen source
comprises an oxygen generator within said water cooler.
3. The method according to claim 2 wherein said oxygen generator
comprises pressure swing adsorption oxygen generating apparatus.
4. The method according to claim 1 wherein water from said bottle
is received in a tank in said cooler and wherein oxygen from said
source is transferred to the headspace by passing through an orifice
in said tank.
5. A method for dispensing water from a water cooler comprising
the steps of:
a. installing a bottle containing oxygen enriched water on a housing
of the water cooler, the oxygen enriched water having a dissolved
oxygen content at a supersaturated level established prior to installation
on said cooler;
b. introducing water from said bottle to a tank within said housing;
c. cooling the water in said tank using a refrigeration source
within said housing;
d. dispensing water from said tank;
e. providing oxygen from a source within said housing; and
f. introducing said oxygen through the water in said tank to a
headspace above the water in said bottle to maintain the dissolved
oxygen content of water in said bottle substantially at said supersaturated
level throughout the usage cycle of said bottle.
6. The method according to claim 5 wherein said oxygen source
comprises an oxygen generator.
7. The method according to claim 6 wherein said oxygen generator
comprises pressure swing adsorption oxygen generating apparatus.
Water cooler description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the art of water coolers for dispensing
drinking water, and more particularly to a new and improved water
cooler for dispensing oxygen enriched water.
Oxygen enriched drinking water has an enhanced taste appeal. The
term drinking water is intended to include, without limitation,
spring water, filtered water or water treated by the reverse osmosis
process. In addition, the enriched water offers the health and fitness
conscious consumer an alternative and supplemental source of oxygen
that is absorbed through the stomach. The dissolved oxygen content
of natural pure water ranges from 5 mg/liter to 9 mg/liter depending
on the source of the water and purification and processing techniques
applied prior to bottling. The spring water can be supersaturated
with oxygen by injecting molecular oxygen into a water pipeline
controlled at a pressure of 40-90 PSIG. Using this technique the
dissolved oxygen level of the water can be increased to 25-125 mg/liter.
If bottled immediately in hermetically sealed bulk glass bottles,
the water will maintain the elevated dissolved oxygen level indefinitely.
Bulk glass bottles typically are in the 3-5 gallon range. However,
upon opening the bottle and installing it on a standard water cooler
the dissolved oxygen decreases to near the baseline level of 5-9
mg/liter within 3-5 days. Since the average time required to consume
a 5 gallon water bottle typically is in the 10-14 day range, the
rapid decrease in dissolved oxygen prevents the commercial marketing
of oxygen enriched drinking water in 5 gallon bottles for use on
standard water coolers.
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide a new and improved
water cooler for dispensing oxygen enriched water wherein the dissolved
oxygen content of water in the bottle installed on the cooler is
maintained at the original supersaturated level during the entire
time water is dispensed from the bottle by the cooler.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a new and improved water cooler
and method of operating the same for dispensing oxygen enriched
water from a bottle installed on the cooler, the water having a
dissolved oxygen content at an elevated level previously established
during bottling of the water, wherein an oxygen source integrated
into the cooler delivers oxygen through the water to a headspace
in the bottle above the water to maintain the dissolved oxygen content
of water in the bottle substantially at the elevated level during
the entire time water is dispensed from the bottle by the cooler.
The oxygen source preferably comprises an oxygen generator, and
such generator preferably comprises pressure swing adsorption oxygen
generating apparatus. Alternatively, the oxygen source can be of
various other forms including stored oxygen such as bottled oxygen.
The foregoing and additional advantages and characterizing features
of the present invention will become clearly apparent upon a reading
of the ensuing detailed description together with the included drawing
wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the oxygenated water cooler according
to the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is an elevational view further illustrating the oxygen generator
in the water cooler of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT
The oxygenated water cooler according to the present invention
includes an apparatus which maintains the headspace in the inverted
water bottle installed on the cooler at 80-95% pure oxygen. The
bottle typically is a five gallon bottle, but three gallon or smaller
size bottles can be employed. The purpose of the oxygen rich headspace
is to maintain the dissolved oxygen concentration of the bottled
water at 25-125 mg/liter. The water previously has been supersaturated
with oxygen at the water purification and bottling plant immediately
prior to filling into the bottles. Testing has proved that the dispensing
of oxygen enriched water in standard water coolers results in rapid
decline in the dissolved oxygen content of the water contained in
the bottle. For example, within 3-5 days the dissolved oxygen levels
dropped from 25-65 mg/liter to 10-13 mg/liter when 5 gallon bottles
of oxygen enriched water were installed on a water cooler of standard,
prior art design.
The oxygenated water cooler 10 according to the present invention
is shown in FIG. 1 and includes, briefly, a housing or enclosure
12 for receiving a water bottle 14 which is inverted and installed
on housing 12 a tank 16 within housing 12 for receiving water from
bottle 14 a refrigeration source 18 for cooling water in tank 16
a spout 20 for dispensing water from tank 16 an oxygen source 22
preferably in the form of an on-board oxygen generator within housing
12 and means 24 for introducing oxygen from source 22 through the
water to a void or headspace 26 within bottle 14 above the water
therein.
Considering the apparatus of FIG. 1 in more detail, housing 12
preferably is of molded fiberglass construction but ultimately can
be of other materials such as wood or metal. The water bottle 14
is installed in cooler 10 by being placed in an inverted position
on top of the cooler housing 12. The bottle cap (not shown) is pushed
open and seals around a cylindrical transfer tube 30 which is attached
to the top of the sealed water tank 16. The water tank 16 is constructed
of stainless steel and is a cylindrical two piece design. The water
tank lid 32 is removable to allow for cleaning. A food grade gasket
(not shown) seals the lid to the top of the tank and the lid is
held firmly fixed to the tank body with four locking clamps (not
shown). The tank has a 1/8" tubing connection 24 in the sidewall
for the supply of oxygen and one water outlet pipe connection 34
in the bottom. The outlet connection is piped directly to the dispensing
nozzle valve 20. In this manner, the water bottle 14 transfer tube
30 and water tank 16 form a single vessel that is pressurized at
1-2 PSIG with 80-95% pure oxygen supplied to the side tubing connection
via conduit 36 from source 22. As the water is drawn from the bottle
14 through the dispensing nozzle 20 make-up oxygen flows into the
tank 16 and to headspace 26 from the oxygen source 22 and thus a
positive pressure is maintained on the bottle 14. The water in tank
16 and bottle 14 thus serves as a conduit for transferring oxygen
from source 22 to headspace 26.
Oxygen source 22 is in the form of a compact oxygen supply installed
in the water cooler fiberglass enclosure 12. The supply 22 may be
a small pressurized oxygen storage cylinder or an oxygen generation
device which produces high purity oxygen from room air. In either
case, the oxygen is delivered to the water tank 16 at a regulated
pressure of 1-2 PSIG. The oxygen generator may be a single sieve
bed pressure swing absorption (PSA) system with a capacity of 0.5-1.0
liters per minute. This method of oxygen generation is well established
for large scale industrial applications. However, the small scale
system required for this application is of special design to minimize
space requirements, power consumption, and overall cost of the unit.
The advantage of the oxygen generator over the storage tank approach
is the elimination of the need for replacement of empty cylinders.
The water tank may be equipped with a refrigeration system 18 for
maintaining the water dispensing temperature at or below 50 F. This
device may consist of either a refrigerant compressor, condenser,
and cooling coil or it may be a thermoelectric device. The water
bottle 14 typically is 5 gallons in size and may be fabricated of
either glass or Lexan (polycarbonate) plastic resin. In either case,
the bottle dimensions are identical.
Thus, the present invention integrates an oxygen source into a
water cooler to maintain previously oxygenated water in 5 gallon
bottles in a supersaturated state. The supersaturated state is maintained
by controlling the oxygen concentration in the bottle headspace
at elevated levels throughout the usage cycle of the 5 gallon bottle.
The present invention is illustrated further by the following data.
Table I includes test data that indicates the decay rate of oxygen
saturation level in water bottles installed on watercoolers that
are not provided with an oxygen source. Dissolved oxygen concentration
was measured using an Orion Model 830 portable dissolved oxygen
meter.
TABLE I ______________________________________ Rate of Dissolved
Oxygen Concentration Decline in Oxygenated Water Standard Water
Cooler With No Oxygen Source, 5 Gallon Glass Bottle Sample Date
Mg/Liter Dissolved Oxygen ______________________________________
2-5-97 27.3 2-6-97 24.2 2-7-97 18.3 2-8-97 12.7 2-7-97 65.2 2-8-97
20.8 2-10-97 12.2 2-11-97 11.0 2-12-97 10.9 ______________________________________
Table II includes data for water bottles installed on an oxygenated
water cooler according to the present invention. The oxygen source
used was bottled oxygen regulated to a pressure of 2 psig. Dissolved
oxygen concentration was measured using an Orion Model 830 portable
dissolved oxygen meter.
TABLE II ______________________________________ Rate of Dissolved
Oxygen Concentration Decline in Oxygenated Water Sample Date Mg/Liter
Dissolved Oxygen ______________________________________ Oxygenated
Water Cooler With Oxygen Source, 3 Gallon Plastic Bottle 1-31-97
AM 46.5 1-31-97 PM 43.7 2-1-97 42.6 2-3-97 50.0 2-4-97 45.2 2-5-97
40.8 2-6-97 38.9 2-7-97 38.8 2-8-97 40.2 2-10-97 41.3 Oxygenated
Water Cooler With Oxygen Source, 5 Gallon Glass Bottle 2-10-97 60.0
2-11-97 50.5 2-12-97 50.6 2-13-97 49.9 2-14-97 49.2 2-15-97 50.1
2-17-97 50.8 2-18-97 48.0 2-19-97 49.5 2-20-97 48.0 ______________________________________
The foregoing data clearly shows that previously oxygenated water
that is dispensed from a water cooler according to the present invention
equipped with an oxygen source that maintains the bottle headspace
at a minimum of 90% pure oxygen will maintain a supersaturated state
(greater than 20 mg/liter dissolved oxygen) for the entire usage
cycle (which is approximately ten days). Previously oxygenated water
that is dispensed from a water cooler that is not equipped with
an oxygen source to control headspace oxygen levels does not maintain
the supersaturated state at the water cooler for more than 5 days.
Therefore, standard, prior art water coolers without an oxygen source
do not effectively deliver superoxygenated water at consistent dissolved
oxygen levels throughout the 10-14 day usage cycle of a 5 gallon
bottle. This data demonstrates the advantages and characterizing
features of the present invention.
As previously mentioned, the preferred form of oxygen source 22
is an oxygen generator in the form of pressure swing adsorption
apparatus. The pressure swing adsorption process is well known and,
briefly, is a separation process used to extract oxygen from ambient
or room air. The extraction is accomplished by injecting a stream
of compressed air into a tank that is filled with a material called
molecular sieve. This sieve is an inert ceramic material in bead
form that is designed to adsorb nitrogen more quickly than oxygen.
As pressure builds in the sieve tank nitrogen molecules attach themselves
to the sieve while oxygen molecules pass through as the product
gas. The product oxygen is then directed to a small storage tank
where it is held until needed. The oxygen stored is available at
pressures of up to 2 PSIG (pounds per square inch gage) and flow
rates of 0.5 to 1.0 liters per minute.
Eventually, sieve in the first tank mentioned becomes saturated
with nitrogen molecules and needs to be regenerated. This is done
by venting the pressure in the sieve tank to the atmosphere. The
nitrogen molecules previously attached to the sieve are released
and within a few seconds the sieve bed is ready to begin accepting
the feed air supply and producing oxygen again. The oxygen and air
flows through the generator are controlled automatically by electrically
operated solenoid valves. The valve cycle times are preset at electronic
timers.
The oxygen generator system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an air
compressor 40 valves, timing circuits, tanks 42 and 44 pressure
gauges, and all other required piping components to be considered
a completely self contained oxygen generating system. FIG. 2 illustrates
a miniaturized version having approximate dimensions of 14 inches
in height, 6.5 inches in width and 8.0 inches in depth. The miniaturized
version includes tanks 50 and 52 compressor 54 and control 56.
It is therefore apparent that the present invention accomplishes
its intended objectives. While an embodiment of the present invention
has been described in detail, that is for the purpose of illustration,
not limitation. |