Bottled water dispensers with single-serve coffee brewing features

Abstract

Water dispenser and coffee making devices that include a cabinet configured to house a water bottle in a bottom half of the interior portion of the cabinet; a cold tank that is configured to receive water from the water bottle, which is connected to an evaporator; one or more hot tanks that are configured to receive water (directly or indirectly) from the cold tank, which are connected to a heating coil to heat the water that is contained therein; and a coffee making device located on a top side of the cabinet, which (i) receives water from the hot tank, receives a disposable cartridge that contains coffee grinds for a single-serving of coffee, and causes water to contact the coffee grinds to produce a coffee beverage and (ii) employs a blunt- and sharp-ended spike, which are positioned to make water entry and exit apertures in the coffee cartridge, which are positioned in a way that prevents user injury from such spikes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A water dispenser and coffee making device, which comprises:
 (a) a cabinet having an exterior portion and an interior portion, wherein the interior portion of the cabinet is configured to house a water bottle in a bottom half of the interior portion of the cabinet in an upright position;   (b) a cold tank that is configured to receive water from the water bottle, which is connected to an evaporator that is configured to cool the water that is contained within the cold tank;   (c) a hot tank that is configured to receive water from the cold tank, which is connected to a heating coil that is configured to heat the water that is contained within the hot tank;   (d) a coffee making device located on a top side of the cabinet, which comprises a first blunt-ended spike that is configured to puncture a top side of a disposable cartridge that contains coffee grinds for a single-serving of coffee and a second sharp-ended spike that is configured to puncture the bottom side of the cartridge, wherein the coffee making device is further configured to (i) receive water from the hot tank, (ii) receive the disposable cartridge; and (iii) cause water to contact the coffee grinds to produce a coffee beverage; and   (e) one or more taps, which are configured to dispense cold water from the cold tank; hot water from the hot tank; and coffee beverage from the coffee making device.   
     
     
         2 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 1 , wherein the cold tank exhibits an approximately rectangular perimeter. 
     
     
         3 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 2 , which further comprises a flow sensor located in-line between the cold tank and hot tank, wherein the flow sensor is configured to monitor a volume of water that flows into the hot tank. 
     
     
         4 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 2 , which further comprises a drip tray, which is located beneath the cold water tap, hot water tap, and coffee tap, and is integrally formed with a top portion of a front door of the cabinet. 
     
     
         5 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 2 , which further comprises a bottle tray disposed in the bottom half of the interior portion of the cabinet that is configured to receive a bottom surface of the water bottle in the upright position, wherein the bottle tray is slanted from a front side to a back side of the bottle tray. 
     
     
         6 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 5 , which further comprises a power-saving program, whereby a user may operate the program through the control board to instruct the dispenser to consume less energy during a defined period of time each day, relative to an amount of energy that the dispenser consumes during all other periods of time during each day. 
     
     
         7 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 6 , wherein the dispenser consumes less energy during the defined period of time each day by supplying cyclical bursts of wattage to the heating coil. 
     
     
         8 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 7 , wherein the first blunt-ended spike is recessed within or flush with a surrounding safety wall of a lid of the dispenser. 
     
     
         9 . A water dispenser and coffee making device, which comprises:
 (a) a cabinet having an exterior portion and an interior portion, wherein the interior portion of the cabinet is configured to house a water bottle in a bottom half of the interior portion of the cabinet in an upright position;   (b) a cold tank that is configured to receive water from the water bottle, which is connected to an evaporator that is configured to cool the water that is contained within the cold tank;   (c) a first hot tank that is configured to receive water from the cold tank, which is connected to a heating coil that is configured to heat the water that is contained within the first hot tank;   (d) a second hot tank that is configured to receive water from the first hot tank, wherein the second hot tank is connected to a heating coil that is configured to heat the water that is contained within the second hot tank;   (e) a coffee making device located on a top side of the cabinet, which is configured to (i) receive water from the second hot tank, (ii) receive a disposable cartridge that contains coffee grinds for a single-serving of coffee; and (iii) cause water to contact the coffee grinds to produce a coffee beverage; and   (f) one or more taps, which are configured to dispense cold water from the cold tank; hot water from the first hot tank; and coffee beverage from the coffee making device.   
     
     
         10 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 9 , wherein the cold tank exhibits an approximately rectangular perimeter. 
     
     
         11 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 10 , wherein:
 (a) the first hot tank is configured to heat the water contained therein to a temperature that ranges between 75-95 degrees Celsius; and   (b) the second hot tank is configured to heat the water contained therein to a temperature that ranges between 92-96 degrees Celsius.   
     
     
         12 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 11 , wherein the first hot tank is configured to hold a larger volume of water than the second hot tank. 
     
     
         13 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 12 , which further comprises a flow sensor located in-line between the first hot tank and second hot tank, wherein the flow sensor is configured to monitor a volume of water that is being displaced in the second hot tank and being transferred to the coffee making device. 
     
     
         14 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 13 , wherein the second hot tank comprises a set of electrodes, wherein the electrodes are configured to determine whether a volume of water within the second hot tank is above or below a defined threshold volume. 
     
     
         15 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 14 , which further comprises a drip tray, which is located beneath the cold water tap, hot water tap, and coffee tap, and is integrally formed with a top portion of a front door of the cabinet. 
     
     
         16 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 15 , which further comprises a bottle tray disposed in the bottom half of the interior portion of the cabinet that is configured to receive a bottom surface of the water bottle in the upright position, wherein the bottle tray is slanted from a front side to a back side of the bottle tray. 
     
     
         17 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of  claim 16 , wherein the set of electrodes are configured such that:
 (a) when water is present between such electrodes, an electrical current flows between the electrodes, wherein said electrical flow is detected by a control board, which then signals to a pump that the second hot tank contains a sufficient volume of water, and instructs the pump not to remove water from the first hot tank; and   (b) when water is not present between such electrodes, an electrical current does not flow between the electrodes, wherein an absence of electrical flow is detected by the control board, which then signals to the pump that the second hot tank contains an insufficient volume of water, and instructs the pump to remove water from the first hot tank and to fill the second hot tank until an electrical current is detected by the electrodes.   
     
     
         18 . The water dispenser and coffee making device of claim  19 , which further comprises a power-saving program, whereby a user may operate the program through the control board to instruct the dispenser to consume less energy during a defined period of time each day, relative to an amount of energy that the dispenser consumes during all other periods of time during each day.