Refrigerator with integrated bottled water dispenser

Abstract

The present invention provides a refrigerator that allows users to easily retrieve chilled bottled beverages from inside the refrigerator by operating a lever on a faucet located on the outside of the door, without having to open or close the door. [Solution] Remove the cap from a commercially available PET bottle 1, replace it with the special cap 5 having the beverage spill prevention function of the present invention, and then insert and fix it in an inverted state into the through hole 16 inside the refrigerator. The mouth of the PET bottle is positioned higher than the inlet of the faucet 10, and the connecting pipe 6 connecting the two mouths consists of two passages, a beverage passage and a gas passage 8, and its inclination is designed to be continuously horizontal or downward from the mouth of the PET bottle towards the inlet of the faucet.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a beverage supply device mounted on a refrigerator, and more particularly to a beverage supply device that supplies beverages outside the refrigerator from a commercially available plastic bottle mounted in an inverted posture inside the refrigerator.

Background Art

[0002] Water servers are being used recently in offices, factories, and even in ordinary households. The water server has a large beverage water container called a gallon bottle placed on the upper part of the main body. The beverage water flowing out from the gallon bottle is stored in the tanks of the cold water dispenser and the hot water dispenser inside the main body. By opening the cold water cap or the hot water cap on the front of the main body, cold water or hot water can be dispensed in a timely manner for drinking.

[0003] The above-mentioned gallon bottle is regularly replaced by a beverage water delivery company, and has a large capacity of 10 to 12 liters in order to improve efficiency. Therefore, the weight is also 10 to 12 Kg or more, and it was difficult for weak people to perform the replacement work. For this reason, especially recently, a simple and small plastic bottle server that can easily perform the replacement work by placing a commercially available beverage water bottle in a plastic bottle, for example, a 2-liter plastic bottle, is spreading in ordinary households.

[0004] However, in this method, the cooling tank in the device is as small as 0.4 to 0.6 liters, and the cold water runs out after 2 to 3 cups. In addition, since a Peltier element is used as the cooling method, there is no sufficient cooling capacity, and there is a problem that the temperature of the cold water is 10 to 15 ° C, which is higher than the cold water temperature in the refrigerator. Furthermore, since the beverage water in the plastic bottle is always at room temperature, there is also a hygienic problem that germs are likely to breed. Also, since the beverage water exists in both the plastic bottle 1 and the cooling tank, even when the plastic bottle becomes empty, there is still beverage water remaining in the cooling tank. For this reason, when a new plastic bottle is placed, the old and new beverage waters are mixed in the cooling tank, which also causes germs to breed easily.

[0005] To solve these problems, a beverage supply device has been proposed that supplies cold beverages cooled inside the refrigerator to the outside of the refrigerator while the door remains closed. This device involves placing PET bottles filled with beverages in the door pocket on the inside of the refrigerator door, installing a pump device with a built-in gear pump at the top of the PET bottles, and using this pump device to draw up the beverages through a water supply pipe located inside the PET bottles, which are then dispensed from the outside of the refrigerator door via a liquid supply path provided in the door (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, the beverage supply device described in Patent Document 1 above requires a drive source for the gear pump, which necessitates disassembling and cleaning the gear pump and other components. Furthermore, the gear pump has a complex structure, and in pumping methods using gear pumps, beverage water can enter the clearances between the gears and between the gears and the housing, resulting in residual water even after the beverage in the PET bottle has been consumed, posing another hygiene problem.

[0006] The following patent has been proposed as a beverage supply device that solves these problems (see Patent Document 2). The beverage supply device of this invention is a beverage supply device that supplies beverage water from a commercially available beverage container, which is installed in an inverted position inside a refrigerator, to the outside of the refrigerator. It is characterized by comprising: a special stopper provided at the mouth of the beverage container; a flow member having at least a portion of an elastic tube through which the beverage water from the beverage container passes via the special stopper, and which controls the stopping and starting of beverage supply by external pressing and releasing operations; a press-release means that performs pressing and releasing operations on the elastic tube; and a beverage supply unit positioned at the same position as the mouth of the beverage container or below the mouth thereof, which supplies the beverage water that has passed through the flow member to the outside of the refrigerator.

[0007] According to this invention, the beverage supply unit that supplies drinking water to the outside of the refrigerator is positioned at the same location as the mouth of the beverage container or below it, and is further equipped with a press-release means that performs pressing and releasing operations on an elastic tube. As a result, the beverage in the beverage container is supplied to the outside of the refrigerator from the beverage supply unit by gravity using a simple mechanism without the need for a pump. Consequently, the disassembly and cleaning of the pump, as in the past, becomes unnecessary, and maintenance of the beverage supply device becomes easier.

[0008] In the beverage supply device described in Patent Document 2 above, first, the cap of a commercially available beverage container (for example, a plastic bottle) is removed. Then, the refrigerator door is opened, and a special cap with an elastic tube, which is pre-set on the plastic bottle, is screwed on. After that, the plastic bottle is rotated to an inverted position and secured inside the refrigerator, and then the door is closed. The connection between the dedicated cap for the PET bottle and the beverage supply unit that delivers the beverage outside the refrigerator requires a flexible elastic tube of sufficient length to allow the PET bottle to rotate. Inside the refrigerator, the elastic tube does not follow the shortest path, but rather detours in some places before connecting to the beverage supply unit. As a result, air can become trapped in the detours within the tube, making it difficult for the beverage to enter the bottle, which lowers the air pressure inside the PET bottle and makes it difficult for the beverage to come out. Furthermore, even after the PET bottle is completely emptied, some beverage remains in a portion of the elastic tube.

[0009] Furthermore, attaching the special stopper to the plastic bottle had to be done with the refrigerator door open, which meant the door was open for an extended period, causing the internal temperature to rise. Additionally, when attaching the special stopper, which has an elastic tube attached, to the bottle, either the stopper or the plastic bottle had to be rotated. This made it easy for the elastic tube to twist or be pulled at the same time, resulting in difficulties in attachment. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-085585 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-148460 [Overview of the project]

[0010] This invention proposes a new method to solve the problems of conventional beverage supply devices that supply chilled beverages from inside a refrigerator to the outside while the door remains closed. The invention involves removing the cap from a commercially available PET bottle and replacing it with a special cap. The special cap is equipped with a beverage spill prevention function so that the beverage inside does not leak out even when the bottle is inverted. The refrigerator door is opened, and the PET bottle with the special cap attached is inserted and secured inverted into a through-hole provided in the refrigerator. A push-up rod provided in the through-hole pushes up the beverage spill prevention member, opening the hole, and gravity causes the beverage to flow down to a beverage supply tap located on the outside of the door, which is lower than the PET bottle. By opening and closing the tap lever, the beverage can be dispensed outwards while the door remains closed. At the same time, air leaks from the tap outlet into the PET bottle through a gas passage, and the same volume of air as the beverage leaked out flows into the PET bottle. The inclination of the connecting pipe between the PET bottle special cap and the tap is designed to be continuously horizontal or downward from the opening of the PET bottle special cap towards the tap. [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0011] As mentioned earlier, water dispensers used to have large drinking water containers called gallon bottles placed on top of the unit, making replacement a cumbersome process. To solve this problem, simpler, smaller water dispensers that use commercially available PET bottles, such as 2-liter PET bottles, are becoming more widespread, making replacement easier. However, the cooling tank inside the device runs out of cold water after only 2-3 cups. Furthermore, it does not have sufficient cooling capacity, and the temperature of the cold water is 10-15°C, which is higher than the temperature of cold water in a refrigerator. In addition, since the drinking water in the set PET bottle is always at room temperature, there is a problem of bacteria easily multiplying. Moreover, when a new PET bottle is placed on top after the old one is empty, the old and new drinking water mixes in the cooling tank. To solve these problems, a beverage supply device has been proposed that delivers chilled beverages from inside the refrigerator to the outside while the door remains closed. One such device uses a pump to draw up the beverage and deliver it through a supply path installed in the refrigerator door, allowing it to be dispensed from the outside of the door. However, this device is complex and has the problem of residual water accumulating inside the pump. Another method that does not use a pump involves inverting the bottle, but this method has the problem of being difficult to set the bottle inside the refrigerator and also results in residual water accumulating. This invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a novel refrigerator with an integrated PET bottle dispenser, as described below. Here, "drinking water" refers to all commercially available bottled beverages.

[0012] 1) A special stopper for commercially available plastic bottles that, after replacing the original stopper with one equipped with a check valve or an open / close cap, will automatically close even when the bottle is held upside down, preventing the beverage inside from leaking out. 2) A refrigerator with an integrated PET bottle dispenser, which allows drinking water to be dispensed from a beverage dispenser tap located on the outside of the door while the refrigerator door is closed, by opening the refrigerator door and detachably installing and fixing the PET bottle with the special stopper 5 in an inverted position into a through-hole in the bottom plate of the door pocket inside the refrigerator. 3) A special stopper that prevents residual drinking water from leaking out of the inverted bottle 1 when the PET bottle is removed from the refrigerator's dispenser while there is still drinking water remaining in it, by automatically closing the check valve 9 or the opening / closing cap. 4) The area from the inside of the PET bottle to the tap opening is kept cold by the cold air inside the refrigerator, thus reducing the possibility of bacterial growth and making it a hygienic and safe PET bottle dispenser refrigerator. 5) A simple PET bottle dispenser that does not require a dedicated power supply or control device. 6) A PET bottle dispenser in which, once all the drinking water in the PET bottle has been consumed and the dispenser is empty, there is no residual drinking water inside the device. 7) A PET bottle dispenser in which the amount of beverage dispensed from the tap per unit time is approximately constant regardless of the amount of beverage remaining in the PET bottle, by providing a gas passage 8 in the connecting pipe 6 so that the air pressure inside the PET bottle is always the same as the air pressure of the outside air.

[0013] In this invention, a special stopper 5 is provided that screws onto the mouth of a commercially available PET bottle 1. First, the stopper on the mouth of a commercially available PET bottle 1 is removed and replaced with the special stopper 5 of this invention. The special stopper 5 is equipped with a beverage leakage prevention function, such as a check valve 9 or an opening / closing cap 20, so that the beverage inside does not leak out even when the bottle is inverted with the mouth facing downwards. Inside the refrigerator, there is an insertion hole for detachably inserting and fixing the PET bottle 1 in an inverted state. Specifically, a circular through-cylindrical hole is provided in the bottom plate 4 of the door pocket 3 on the inside of the door. The through-hole 16 is connected to a faucet 10 provided on the outside of the refrigerator door by a connecting pipe 6. This through-cylindrical hole is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the special stopper 5 on the PET bottle 1. A gasket to prevent beverage leakage may also be provided in the through-hole 16. Open the refrigerator door and, with the PET bottle 1 with the special stopper 5 attached in an inverted state, insert and fix the special stopper 5 into the through-cylindrical hole in the bottom plate 4 of the door pocket 3. The PET bottle 1 can be easily positioned in an inverted state on the bottom plate 4 of the door pocket 3 on the inside of the door, and the PET bottle 1 can also be easily attached and detached. When inserted and fixed, the push-up rod 15, which is provided in advance in the through hole 16, pushes up the beverage spill prevention member such as the check valve 9 or the opening / closing cap 20, opening it up and allowing the beverage inside the bottle to flow into the connecting pipe 6.

[0014] Next, when you lift and remove PET bottle 1, which is already installed in the refrigerator's dispenser, the push-up rod 15 that was pushing up the beverage spill prevention member separates from the beverage spill prevention member, causing the beverage spill prevention member to close the bottle opening on its own. Therefore, even when removing PET bottle 1, which still has some beverage remaining, the remaining beverage will not leak out. The bottled water dispenser is typically used only a few times a day, and is not used for most of the time. It is especially not used while sleeping. In this case, the drinking water remains in the bottle for a long time from the inside of the bottle 1 to the tap opening 10. In this invention, the stagnant drinking water is constantly cooled by the cold air in the refrigerator, so the possibility of bacterial growth is low and it is hygienically safe.

[0015] The drinking water flowing into the connecting pipe 6 is drawn by gravity to the inlet of the drinking water supply tap 10, which is lower than the PET bottle 1. When the tap 10 lever is in the "closed" position and the valve seat of the tap 10 is closed, the drinking water is stopped with water pressure acting on the inlet of the tap 10. When the tap 10 lever is moved to the "open" position and the valve seat is opened, the drinking water flows out from the tap 10 outlet. At the same time, an equal volume of air as the drinking water that has flowed out into the PET bottle 1 flows in the opposite direction to the flow of the drinking water through the gas passage from the tap 10 outlet towards the PET bottle 1. As a result, the air pressure inside the PET bottle 1 is always equal to atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the amount of drinking water that flows out per unit time is approximately constant, regardless of the amount of drinking water remaining in the PET bottle 1. Conventional PET bottle dispensers without a gas passage have problems such as a decrease in the air pressure inside the PET bottle 1 when drinking water is consumed, leading to a decrease in the amount of drinking water flowing out per unit time, and the bottle collapsing if the PET bottle has thin walls. However, the present invention solves these problems.

[0016] In this invention, the vertical position of the mouth of the PET bottle 1 is higher than the vertical position of the inlet of the faucet 10, and the inclination of the connecting pipe 6 is designed to be continuously horizontal or downward from the mouth of the PET bottle 1 towards the inlet of the faucet 10. As a result, all the drinking water that flows out of the PET bottle 1 flows out of the outlet of the faucet 10 and does not remain inside the connecting pipe 6. Furthermore, when all the drinking water in the PET bottle 1 is consumed and it becomes empty, no drinking water remains inside the connecting pipe 6. As a result, when the empty PET bottle 1 is removed and replaced with a new PET bottle 1, all the drinking water that comes out of the faucet 10 is the drinking water from the new PET bottle 1 and does not mix with the residual drinking water from the old PET bottle 1. As a result, the possibility of bacterial growth is low and it is hygienically safe. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] The present invention provides the following effects, as listed below. • Without opening or closing the refrigerator door, chilled bottled water inside can be removed by operating the lever on a faucet 10 located on the outside of the door, while the door is closed. This refrigerator features a built-in PET bottle server that, when fitted with a dedicated stopper (5), prevents the beverage from leaking even when the refrigerator is upside down, and utilizes gravity to supply the beverage to the outside of the refrigerator with a simple mechanism. Because the bottles are kept cool inside the refrigerator, no dedicated electrical energy is required for the bottle dispenser, and there is no need to open and close the door when using it, resulting in less energy loss and energy savings. • All the drinking water in the PET bottles (1) and connecting tubes (6) is constantly cooled by the cold air inside the refrigerator, making it hygienic and extending the shelf life of the drinking water. • When an empty plastic bottle 1 is replaced with a new plastic bottle 1, all the drinking water that comes out of the tap 10 is the drinking water from the new plastic bottle 1, and it does not mix with the residual drinking water from the old plastic bottle 1. • Since it uses a commercially available plastic bottle, children can easily drink from it, and it helps prevent forgetting to close the refrigerator door. · Since the connecting pipe 6 and the faucet 10 are provided with two flow paths, namely a liquid flow path and a gas flow path 8, the internal air pressure of the PET bottle 1 is always equal to the external air pressure, and the outflow rate from the faucet 10 per unit time is substantially constant regardless of the amount of remaining drinking water in the bottle. Also, even in the case of a PET bottle 1 with a thin container wall thickness, the container will not be crushed.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the present invention, the dedicated stopper 5 is provided with a check valve 9 or an opening / closing cap 20 that can be opened and closed. When the stopper of the mouth of a commercially available PET bottle 1 is removed and replaced with the dedicated stopper 5 and placed in an inverted state, the check valve 9 or the opening / closing cap 20 automatically closes, and the internal drinking water is sealed inside the PET bottle 1. The dedicated stopper 5 for the PET bottle 1 is used. The beverage supply device of the present invention is a refrigerator integrated with a PET bottle 1 server that supplies drinking water outside the refrigerator through a connecting pipe 6 from a PET bottle 1 with a dedicated stopper installed in an inverted posture inside the refrigerator. It includes a dedicated stopper 5 provided at the mouth of the PET bottle 1, and through the dedicated stopper 5, it passes through the connecting pipe 6, and the supply and stop of drinking water are performed by operating a beverage supply faucet lever provided outside the refrigerator door 2. The present invention is characterized in that it supplies the drinking water in the PET bottle 1 outside the refrigerator using the action of gravity without using electrical energy or a control device. (First Embodiment)

[0019] Figure 1 shows a schematic cross-section of the entire refrigerator integrated with a PET bottle server according to the first embodiment. The PET bottle 1 is a commercially available 2-liter bottle with a diameter of 25 millimeters. The dedicated stopper 5 adopted here uses a check valve 9 to prevent the drinking water from leaking when it is inverted. When inverted, this check valve 9 closes the valve by the gravity of the internal drinking water. Conversely, when a force greater than the pressure of the drinking water is applied from the outside by some means, such as a push rod 15, the valve opens and the drinking water flows out into the connecting pipe 6. The push rod 15 used here utilizes the end portion of the gas flow path 8 tube without adding special parts. The gas flow path tube 8 is a silicone rubber tube with an outer diameter, inner diameter, and length of 5.0, 3.0, and 90 millimeters, respectively. The connecting pipe 6 is a polypropylene tube with an outer diameter, inner diameter, and length of 13.5, 12.0, and 80 millimeters, respectively. The through hole 16 in the bottom plate 4 has an inner diameter of 18.0 millimeters, and the outer side of the outlet-side cylindrical portion of the dedicated stopper 5 is inserted and fixed therein. When the PET bottle 1 is inserted and fixed, the check valve 9 is pushed up at an angle of about 60 degrees at the tip of the gas flow path tube 8, and the valve opens and flows into the connecting pipe 6.

[0020] With the above configuration, the time taken for 180 milliliters of drinking water to flow out from the 2-liter PET bottle 1 in the unused state was 4.6 seconds. In contrast, in the case of half the amount of drinking water in the 2-liter PET bottle, it was 4.8 seconds. Regardless of the amount of drinking water in the PET bottle 1, there was no significant difference in the outflow rate per unit time. Also, after all the drinking water had flowed out, no residual water was observed in the server components such as the connecting pipe 6 and the faucet 10. (Second Embodiment)

[0021] The dedicated stopper 5 of the second embodiment shows the case where an opening and closing cap 20 is used as a drinking water outflow prevention function. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the mouth of a PET bottle 1 in an inverted state, with a special stopper 5 using an opening / closing cap 20 screwed onto the mouth of the PET bottle 1. The opening / closing cap 20 is fixed to one end of a fixing rod 17, and a compression coil spring 18 is attached to the other end. When no external force is acting on the fixing rod 17, the opening / closing cap 20 is pressed against the mouth of the special stopper 5 and closed by the spring force of the compression coil spring 18. (This case is not shown in the figure.) The spring force at this time is 200 grams. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the mouth of a PET bottle 1 with a special stopper 5 when it is inserted and fixed into the through-hole 16 of the refrigerator door pocket 3. The end of the fixing rod 17 is pushed up by 8 millimeters by the push-up rod 15 (here the end of the gas flow path 8 tube serves this function), and at the same time the opening / closing cap 20 moves up by the same length, the mouth of the special stopper 5 opens, and the drinking water inside flows through the connecting passage towards the faucet 10.

[0022] It took 4.3 seconds for 180 milliliters of drinking water to be dispensed from an unused 2-liter PET bottle 1. In contrast, it took 4.7 seconds for half a liter of drinking water, indicating that there was no significant difference in the amount of water dispensed per unit time regardless of the amount of drinking water in the PET bottle 1. Furthermore, in comparison with the first embodiment, it was found that there was almost no difference between the check valve 9 and the opening / closing cap 20 as drinking water spill prevention members. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0023] [Figure 1] This is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a PET bottle 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention being attached to the door of a refrigerator. [Figure 2] This image shows a cross-sectional view of the mouth of a PET bottle 1 in an inverted state, with a dedicated stopper 5 using the opening / closing cap 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention screwed onto the mouth of the PET bottle 1. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0024] 1 plastic bottle 2 Refrigerator door 3 Door Pockets 4 Bottom plate 4 5. Dedicated stopper 6 Connecting pipe 7. Beverage flow path 8 Gas flow path 9. Check valve 10 faucets 11 Faucet lever 12 Faucet valve 13. Direction of drinking water flow 14. Direction of airflow 15 Push-up rod 16 through holes 17 Fixed rod 18 Compression coil spring 19 Direction of movement 20 Opening / Closing Cap

Claims

1. A refrigerator with a PET bottle dispenser, characterized by having a through-hole in the bottom plate of the PET bottle storage space in the inner door pocket of the refrigerator door, and the said through-hole being connected by a connecting pipe to a drinking water tap located on the outside of the refrigerator door.

2. A dedicated stopper for PET bottles, characterized by the ability to remove the cap from the neck of a commercially available PET bottle, attach a special stopper that screws onto the neck of the PET bottle, and insert and fix it in an inverted state with the neck facing downwards into a through-hole in the bottom plate of the inner door pocket of a refrigerator.

3. The second paragraph describes a dedicated stopper for plastic bottles, characterized in that a check valve or cap that can be opened and closed is provided at the outlet of the dedicated stopper, and when the stopper of a commercially available plastic bottle is removed and replaced with the dedicated stopper and the bottle is placed upside down, the check valve or cap closes without any operation, sealing the beverage inside the plastic bottle.

4. The connecting pipe and faucet of the first paragraph are characterized in that they consist of two passages: a liquid passage through which the drinking water inside the PET bottle flows toward the outlet of a beverage supply faucet provided on the outside of the refrigerator door, and a gas passage 8 through which outside air flows from the outlet of the faucet into the PET bottle.

5. A PET bottle dispenser refrigerator characterized in that when a PET bottle with a special stopper is inserted and fixed in an inverted position into a through-hole in the bottom plate of the inner door pocket of the refrigerator, a push-up rod provided in the through-hole displaces and moves a closed check valve or opening / closing cap inward towards the PET bottle, opening it, causing the beverage water inside the PET bottle to flow into the liquid flow path of the connecting pipe, and water pressure to act on the closed beverage supply tap.

6. The PET bottle server refrigerator, as described in paragraph 5 above, is characterized in that by opening a closed tap with a lever, the drinking water in the PET bottle flows out to the outside through the liquid passage of the connecting pipe and the tap outlet, while at the same time, outside air flows into the PET bottle from the tap outlet through the gas passage 8 in the connecting pipe 6, thereby maintaining the air pressure inside the PET bottle at the same level as the outside air pressure.

7. The PET bottle server refrigerator, as described in the first paragraph, is characterized in that the vertical position of the PET bottle opening is higher than the vertical position of the faucet inlet, and the inclination of the connecting pipe 6 is horizontal or downward from the PET bottle opening toward the faucet inlet.

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