U.S. patent number 3,868,153 [Application Number 05/321,404] was granted by the patent office on 1975-02-25 for cabinet for a water cooler.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Invention is credited to Carl E. Sholtes.
United States Patent |
3,868,153 |
Sholtes |
February 25, 1975 |
Cabinet for a water cooler
Abstract
A water cooler is provided having a cabinet including a front
vertical panel through which dispensing faucets extend and which
support a drip trough spaced below the faucets and extending
outwardly a sufficient distance to catch any water dripping from
them. A front door is provided hingedly attached to the cabinet to
move from an open position permitting access to the faucets to a
closed position generally overlying the front panel. The inner face
of the door supports horizontal storage shelves extending toward
the panel to utilize the space therebetween for storage. The
shelves in the space between the faucet and the drip trough extend
rearwardly a distance short of interfering with water dripping from
the faucets so that articles stored on these shelves will be kept
in a position free of intercepting any of the occasional drips
which may occur.
Inventors: |
Sholtes; Carl E. (Columbus,
OH) |
Assignee: |
Westinghouse Electric
Corporation (Pittsburgh, PA)
|
Family
ID: |
23250482 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/321,404 |
Filed: |
January 5, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/236 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B
77/08 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
77/08 (20060101); A47b 077/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;312/138A,236
;62/397,389,448 ;165/77 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gilliam; Paul R.
Assistant Examiner: Pieruszka; Carl F.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Winans; F. A.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Cabinet construction for a water cooler apparatus including a
housing having a front panel and liquid dispensing faucet extending
forwardly of said front panel, said front panel supporting a drip
trough directly below said faucet for catching and retaining liquid
dripping from said faucet, a door structure hingedly supported for
movement between an open position permitting access to said faucet
and a closed position generally covering said front panel and
concealing said faucet, said door structure having an inner face
with a plurality of shelves supported thereon and extending
generally horizontally toward said front panel when said door is in
a closed position, at least one of said plurality of shelves
disposed so as to be at an intermediate height relative to said
faucet and said drip trough, and of said shelves disposed at said
intermediate height being of sufficiently limited depth in a front
to rear direction so as not to interfere with the normal drip path
from said faucet to said trough so that any drippage occurring when
said door is closed does not contact any of said shelves.
2. Cabinet construction according to claim 1 wherein at least
another of said plurality of shelves is disposed on said door at a
height other than intermediate said faucet means and said drip
trough, said at least another of said plurality of shelves having a
sufficient depth in a front-to-rear direction so as to terminate
substantially adjacent said front panel when said door is in a
closed position and provide a relatively deep shelf with respect to
any of said shelves disposed at said intermediate height.
3. Cabinet construction according to claim 2 wherein said front
panel defines a planar portion generally recessed from the front
peripheral edge of said housing and said door structure includes
rearwardly turned peripheral shoulder terminating in a
front-to-rear direction generally adjacent said peripheral edge
when said door is closed, said at least one of said plurality of
shelves having a front-to-rear depth substantially equal to said
shoulder, and said another of said shelves having a front-to-rear
depth extending substantially between said door and said recessed
planar portion of said front panel.
4. Cabinet construction according to claim 3 wherein said at least
another of said shelves includes a first shelf positioned at a
height above said faucet and a second shelf positioned at a height
below said drip trough.
5. In a bottle water cooler, the combination of:
a cabinet construction and a side-swinging front door therefor,
said door when closed forming a limited depth chamber enclosed
along at least the top and side edges thereof between the facing
portions of said door and cabinet,
said chamber including faucet means at an upper level and a drip
trough at a relatively lower level,
storage shelves carried on the inner face of said door, any one of
said shelves located at a height intermediate said faucet means and
said trough being of sufficiently limited depth in a front-to-rear
direction as to not be interposed in the path of drippage between
said faucet means and said trough when said door is closed.
6. Structure according to claim 5 wherein any other of said storage
shelves located at a height other than intermediate said faucet
means and said trough being of sufficient depth in a front-to-rear
direction to terminate generally adjacent said facing portion of
said cabinet.
7. Structure according to claim 6 wherein the facing portion of
said cabinet is generally recessed from a front peripheral edge of
said cabinet and said door includes a peripheral rearwardly
extending shoulder terminating in a front-to-rear direction
generally adjacent said peripheral edge when said door is closed,
said depth of said any one of said shelves located at said
intermediate height being substantially equal to said shoulder, and
said depth of said other of said shelves extending to generally
adjacent said recessed facing portion of said cabinet.
8. Structure according to claim 7 wherein said any other of said
shelves includes a first shelf positioned at a height above said
faucet means and a second shelf positioned at a height below said
trough.
9. Structure according to claim 8 wherein said faucet means and
said trough are mounted on said facing portion of said cabinet.
10. A bottle water dispenser comprising:
a cabinet including a top wall and a pair of opposite, generally
vertically disposed side walls, said top and side walls having
forwardly facing edges lying in a generally vertical plane, a front
panel for said cabinet recessed rearwardly from said generally
vertical plane,
faucet means for dispensing water, said faucet means projecting
forwardly from said front panel,
a drip trough on the front face of said front panel, and spaced
downwardly from said faucet means; and,
a door for the front face of said cabinet, said door being hinged
for side swinging movement and including storage means on its inner
face thereof.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dispensers such as bottled water coolers
and more particularly to cabinet structure for such coolers
providing storage space for various articles (i.e., powdered
concentrate, cups, sugar, etc.) generally associated with such
dispensers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water dispensers, especially the type associated with the present
invention capable of dispensing both chilled and heated water, are
useful in that they provide water at a proper temperature for a
myriad of instant reconstituted beverages, such as coffee, tea,
soup, bouillon, powdered citrus drinks, powdered hot chocolate,
etc., which, for convenience, are generally stored adjacent the
dispenser.
Previously, it has been common to provide a second cabinet which,
exteriorly, was similar in size and shape to the cabinet housing
the dispenser but interiorly provided storage shelves (including
shelves on the inner door face) for such concentrates, along with
cups, stirring sticks, sugar and whatever other accessories might
be required. This arrangement occupied twice the floor space of the
single dispenser cabinet in addition to a substantial cost for the
additional cabinet.
Also, it has been both aesthetically and practically desirable to
mount the faucets on a front panel which is recessed sonewhat from
the forwardly projecting periphery of the cabinet sidewalls and
top. Thus, in addition to giving the illusion of a shadow box
effect, the recess mounting provided protection for the faucets in
that they were generally recessed within the plane defined by the
outer edge of the cabinet and thus less likely to be knocked or
snagged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a door hingedly supported on the
cabinet for covering the recessed front panel and faucets and
having, on its inner face, storage space defined by horizontal
shelves. To take advantage of the most usable storage space, a
number of shelves project rearwardly into the space provided by the
recess to generally adjacent the front panel; however, to protect
the shelves or anything stored thereon from water dripping from the
faucets, no shelf extends so as to intercept the normal drip path
between the faucets and the drip trough.
DRAWING DESCRIPTIONS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the water cooler of the present
invention with the door in an open position;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view of the dispenser cabinet with
the door closed and taken generally along the plane of the faucets;
and
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the cabinet with
the door closed taken generally along line III--III of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
This invention is directed to a cabinet for a bottled water cooler
of the type more particularly shown and described in U.S. Pat. No.
3,363,432 having a common assignee. Thus, although only the cabinet
is disclosed in this present invention, it is to be understood that
such cabinet houses internal components such as therein described.
With this in mind, reference is made to FIG. 1 which shows the
water cooler 10 of the present invention having a cabinet which
includes an outer wrapper comprising a top 11, for supporting an
inverted bottle of water, and opposing sidewalls 12 and 13.
A generally planar front panel 14 coextensive with the inner
surface of the top and opposing sidewalls closes the front face of
the wrapper. The panel 14 has a peripheral, generally L-shaped,
flange 15, the foot 15a of which overlies an inwardly projecting
inner flange of the outer wrapper for properly seating the front
panel. The leg 15b of the L-shape thus provides a rearwardly
extending offset for recessing the front face of the panel further
within the outer peripheral edge of the wrapper.
Two faucet means 16 (as the water cooler also includes the
capability to provide heated water) project forwardly of the panel
14 in generally the upper half and provide a downwardly directed
outlet. A drip trough 17 is removably supported on the panel 14 in
generally the lower half and projects forwardly a distance
sufficient to catch any drips from the faucets. The faucets 16 and
drip trough 17 are vertically spaced a sufficient distance so that
containers such as insulated bottles, coffeepots, and other
generally taller containers can be placed under the faucets 16
without obstruction from the trough.
A door 18 is hingedly mounted on the wrapper as by a top hinge 19
and a bottom pin 20 (see FIG. 3). The door is generally contiguous
with the periphery of the outer wrapper and in a closed position
provides a planar unobtrusive front to the cabinet.
The door 18 is preferably formed of a sheet panel having a
peripheral rearwardly facing flange 21 and terminating in a return
flange 22 giving the sheet panel additional strength. As is seen in
FIG. 1, the return flange 22 supports horizontal shelves 23 (as by
screws) also formed of sheet metal having appropriate wall
structure 24 to storingly accommodate and retain various of the
items (cups, concentrates, etc.) associated with the cooler.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, it is seen that the uppermost and
lowermost shelves 23a and 23b extend rearwardly (when the door is
closed) a sufficient distance such that they reside within the
recess or offset space provided by the offset of the front panel
and thus utilize, to a great extent, the available space. However,
it is emphasized that the shelf structure 23c and 23d supported by
the door at an elevation between the faucets and the drip trough
have a much shorter rearwardly extending length so that they
terminate at a position prior to intercepting the plane defined by
the faucet outlets and the drip trough. This is to permit an
unimpeded drip path from the faucets to the trough.
It is evident that the intermediate shelves (i.e., those shelves
between the faucets and the trough) could be contoured so as to
extend rearwardly at selected portions, with the only criteria
being that the actual normal drip path from each faucet to the
trough is unimpeded by any intermediate shelf or door structure.
However, for the usable shelf space gained by such a contour, and
the discontinuous appearance it provides, the straight walled
shelves, as disclosed, are preferable. Further, doors having the
preferable shelf construction shown could then be used
interchangeably on a dispenser having either one or two
faucets.
The door is equipped with a rubber bumper on its rear face to
properly position the door in the closed position, and held there
by a magnetic latch. A handle member is provided on the exterior
side of the door for ease of manipulation of the door.
* * * * *