Water cooler separator body and assembly

Abstract

An assembly for use in a water cooler designed to hold an inverted water bottle, wherein the assembly includes a reservoir having a cylindrically extending side wall, a shoulder located in the side wall, and a bottom having at least one opening therethrough. The assembly also includes a bottle receiver located at least partially within the reservoir and having a mounting flange, a side wall extending down from the mounting flange to support a water bottle, and an opening at the bottom end of the side wall. A separator body is also provided that has a base extending at least partially over the shoulder on the reservoir, and a probe extending generally perpendicular from the base for engaging a cap of a water bottle. The separator body may include a tube extending down from the base, a bottom portion of which is lockingly engaged with a tube extending from the bottom of the reservoir. A seal may be formed between the separator body tube and the reservoir tube, and the reservoir tube may extend around the opening in the bottom of the reservoir. The base of the separator body may include at least one opening communicating the interior of the separator body tube with a top side of the separator body base.

1 . An assembly for use in a water cooler designed to hold an inverted water bottle, the assembly including:
 a reservoir having a mounting flange, a side wall extending down from the mounting flange, an inwardly extending shoulder in the side wall, and a bottom having an opening therethrough; and   a separator body having a base, a probe extending up from the base for engaging a cap of a water bottle, and a tube extending down from the base.   
   
   
       2 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the reservoir includes a bottom, and the opening is located in the bottom. 
   
   
       3 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein the reservoir includes a tube extending down from the opening in the bottom . 
   
   
       4 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 3 , wherein the tube extending down on the separator body extends at least partially into the tube on the reservoir bottom. 
   
   
       5 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 4 , wherein the tube on the reservoir includes a sealing surface configured to seal with the tube extending down from the base of the separator body. 
   
   
       6 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein a locking feature is located on the inside of the tube in the reservoir configured to engage a locking feature on the tube of the separator body. 
   
   
       7 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein the locking feature on the tube of the reservoir includes a pair of inwardly extending projections, and the locking feature on the tube of the separator body includes a pair of outwardly extending projections that are configured to fit between the projections on the tube of the reservoir. 
   
   
       8 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 7 , wherein the locking features on the tube are engaged by inserting the projections on the tube of the separator body beyond the projections on the tube of the reservoir and rotating the separator body. 
   
   
       9 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 1 , further including a bottle receiver located at least partially within the reservoir and having a mounting flange, a side wall extending down from the mounting flange including an inclined portion and a vertical portion, and an opening at a bottom end of the side wall. 
   
   
       10 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein the bottle receiver includes a base, and the opening is through the base and configured to receive the probe of the separator body. 
   
   
       11 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein the inclined portion of the side wall of the bottle receiver has a funnel-shaped configuration, and the vertical portion of the side wall of the bottle receiver has a cylindrical configuration. 
   
   
       12 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the base of the separator body extends at least partially over the shoulder in the side wall of the reservoir. 
   
   
       13 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 12 , wherein the shoulder has an annular configuration, and the base is circular and extends generally perpendicular to the probe. 
   
   
       14 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 12 , wherein the side wall of the reservoir includes an outlet opening above the shoulder. 
   
   
       15 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the mounting flanges of the reservoir and the bottle receiver have an annular configuration, and the side walls of the reservoir have a cylindrical configuration. 
   
   
       16 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the bottle receiver includes an annular downwardly extending locating flange. 
   
   
       17 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein the bottle receiver includes outwardly extending projections on the locating flange. 
   
   
       18 . The assembly for use in a water cooler as set forth in  claim 17 , further including a mounting ring having locking recesses for receiving the projections on the locating flange of the bottle receiver, and the bottle receiver is rotated to a locked position with respect the reservoir. 
   
   
       19 . A separator body for use in an assembly of a water cooler designed to hold an inverted water bottle, the separator body including:
 a base;   a probe configured to engage a cap on the water bottle and extending from the base along an axis of the separator body; and   a tube extending along the axis of the separator body from an opposite side of the base from which the probe extends, the tube including a locking configuration at the bottom portion thereof.   
   
   
       20 . An assembly for use in a water cooler designed to hold an inverted water bottle, the assembly including:
 a reservoir having a mounting flange, a side wall extending down from the mounting flange, and a bottom having at least one opening therethrough;   a bottle receiver located at least partially within the reservoir and having a mounting flange, a side wall extending down from the mounting flange including an inclined portion and a vertical portion, and an opening at a bottom end of the side wall; and   a separator body having a base, a probe extending up from the base and through the opening in the bottom of the bottle receiver for engaging a cap of a water bottle.