Bottom-loading water dispenser

Abstract

To provide a bottom-laid type water server which imposes only a small burden for replacing a raw water bottle.SOLUTION: In a bottom-laid type water server having a box-shaped bottle holder 6 stored in a bottom part of a housing 1, the bottle holder 6 is provided independently from the housing 1 so as to separate from the housing 1 when the bottle holder 6 is horizontally pulled out from the housing 1, and a caster 33 that runs on a floor face F is attached to a bottom face of the bottle holder 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a bottom-mounted water server in which a replaceable raw water bottle is set at a lower part of a housing. BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Conventionally, water servers have been mainly used in offices, hospitals and the like, but in recent years, water servers have been spreading to general households as interest in water safety and health has increased. A water server generally has a replaceable raw water bottle and a cold water tank that introduces and cools water from the raw water bottle, and has the convenience that delicious cold water can be immediately used at any time by pouring water out from the cold water tank.

[0003] This water server can be broadly classified into a top-mounted water server in which a raw water bottle is set on the upper part of a housing and water is dropped from the raw water bottle into a cold water tank by its own weight (e.g., Patent Document 1), and a bottom-mounted water server in which a raw water bottle is set on the lower part of a housing and water is pumped from the raw water bottle to a cold water tank by an electric pump (e.g., Patent Document 2).

[0004] A top-mounted water server requires lifting a full raw water bottle (about 7 to 15 kg) to a high position of the housing when replacing the raw water bottle, which imposes a large work burden for replacing the raw water bottle. In contrast, a bottom-mounted water server has the advantage that the work burden for replacing the raw water bottle is small because the raw water bottle is located at a low position. PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS PATENT DOCUMENTS

[0005] Patent Document 1 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-228807 Patent Document 2 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-169090 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] As described above, the bottom-loading water dispenser described in Patent Document 2 requires less work to replace the raw water bottle compared to the top-loading water dispenser described in Patent Document 1.

[0007] Incidentally, the bottom-loading water dispenser described in Patent Document 2 is configured to house a full bottle of raw water in a box-shaped bottle holder with a handle, and then lift the bottle holder together with the raw water bottle and set it at the bottom of the water dispenser's casing.

[0008] Specifically, the water server described in Patent Document 2 has a sliding platform supported so as to be able to slide horizontally between a position where it is pulled out from the bottom of the housing and a position where it is housed in the bottom of the housing, and a box-shaped bottle holder that is placed on the upper surface of the sliding platform. When setting a full bottle of raw water into the water server, first, the sliding platform is pulled out from the bottom of the housing, the box-shaped bottle holder is lowered from the upper surface of the sliding platform, and the raw water bottle is placed in the bottle holder. Next, the bottle holder is lifted together with the raw water bottle by holding the handle provided on the bottle holder, the bottle holder is placed on the upper surface of the sliding platform pulled out from the bottom of the housing, and the sliding platform is slid into the inside of the housing. In this way, the bottom-loading water server described in Patent Document 2 is configured to lift the bottle holder containing the full bottle of raw water together with the raw water bottle and set it on the sliding platform at the bottom of the water server's housing.

[0009] The inventors of this invention investigated whether it would be possible to set a full bottle of raw water into a bottom-loading water dispenser without lifting it. If it were possible to set the bottle without lifting it, the burden of changing the raw water bottle could be more effectively reduced, making it easier to use for users with less strength, such as women and the elderly.

[0010] The problem this invention aims to solve is to provide a bottom-loading water dispenser that minimizes the burden of replacing the raw water bottle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] To solve the above problems, this invention provides a bottom-loading water dispenser with the following configuration. [Configuration 1] The enclosure is placed on the floor, A box-shaped bottle holder, housed in the lower part of the housing and retractable horizontally from the housing, holds a replaceable raw water bottle. A chilled water tank housed in the upper part of the aforementioned enclosure, A bottom-loading water dispenser having an electric pump that draws water from the raw water bottle held in the bottle holder into the cold water tank, The bottle holder is provided independently of the housing so as to separate from the housing when the bottle holder is pulled horizontally from the housing. A floor-standing water dispenser characterized in that casters that travel on the floor surface are attached to the lower surface of the bottle holder.

[0012] With this configuration, a box-shaped bottle holder, which is independently mounted to separate from the main unit when pulled horizontally from the bottom of the unit, has casters attached to its underside for floor movement. Therefore, when setting a full bottle of raw water into the water dispenser, first, the bottle holder is pulled out from the bottom of the unit and separated from it. Next, the raw water bottle is placed in the bottle holder, and then the bottle holder can be moved along the floor without being lifted and inserted into the bottom of the unit. In this way, a full bottle of raw water can be set without lifting it, thus reducing the burden of changing the raw water bottle.

[0013] [Configuration 2] The caster has a front wheel caster located on the front side in the insertion direction when inserting the bottle holder, which is horizontally pulled out from the housing, into the housing, and a rear wheel caster located on the rear side in the insertion direction. The housing has a bottom plate positioned along the floor surface at its lower end, The bottom plate is provided such that the front caster and the rear caster ride on it when the bottle holder is inserted into the housing. The bottom-loading water server according to configuration 1, further comprising a front wheel caster lifting mechanism that, when inserting the bottle holder into the housing, moves the front end of the bottle holder in the insertion direction upward, thereby lifting the front wheel caster off the floor surface before the front wheel caster contacts the bottom plate.

[0014] With this configuration, when inserting the bottle holder into the housing, the front caster lifting mechanism moves the front end of the bottle holder upward in the insertion direction, lifting the front caster off the floor before it contacts the bottom plate of the housing. This prevents the front caster from colliding with the step between the floor and the bottom plate. Therefore, even if there is a step between the floor and the bottom plate, the bottle holder can be smoothly inserted into the housing.

[0015] [Configuration 3] The front wheel caster lifting mechanism comprises a roller rotatably provided at the front end of the bottle holder in the insertion direction, and an inclined surface provided on the bottom plate that contacts the roller when the bottle holder is inserted into the housing and guides the roller diagonally upward, as described in Configuration 2 of the bottom-loading water server.

[0016] With this configuration, when inserting the bottle holder into the housing, a roller rotatably mounted on the front end of the bottle holder in the insertion direction is guided diagonally upward by an inclined surface on the bottom plate. As a result, the front end of the bottle holder in the insertion direction moves upward, and the front casters are lifted off the floor before they come into contact with the bottom plate.

[0017] [Configuration 4] The bottom plate has a caster guide groove that accommodates the front wheel casters movably in the front-rear direction when the front wheel casters ride onto the bottom plate, The bottom-installed water server according to Configuration 2 or 3, wherein the caster guide groove is constituted by a straight portion having a constant groove width, and a tapered portion connected to a rear end of the straight portion in the insertion direction, the groove width of which increases toward the rear in the insertion direction.

[0018] When this configuration is adopted, when inserting the bottle holder into the housing, the tapered portion of the caster guide groove guides the front wheel casters to the straight portion, so the position of the bottle holder inside the housing can be stabilized.

[0019] [Configuration 5] A center guide piece located at the center in the left-right direction of the bottle holder is provided at an end portion of the bottle holder on the front side in the insertion direction, The bottom-installed water server according to any one of Configurations 2 to 4, wherein a center guide groove for positioning the bottle holder in the left-right direction by guiding the center guide piece before the front wheel casters contact the bottom plate is provided at the center in the left-right direction of the upper surface of the bottom plate.

[0020] When this configuration is adopted, when inserting the bottle holder into the housing, the center guide groove provided on the bottom plate guides the center guide piece provided at the end portion on the front side in the insertion direction of the bottle holder, whereby positioning of the bottle holder in the left-right direction can be performed before the front wheel casters come into contact with the bottom plate.

[0021] [Configuration 6] The bottom-installed water server according to any one of Configurations 1 to 5, wherein a handle extending upward from the bottle holder is attached to the bottle holder.

[0022] This configuration allows the bottle holder containing the raw water bottle to be moved along the floor by holding the handle that extends upward from the bottle holder. Therefore, it becomes easy to move the bottle holder containing the raw water bottle from a location far from the water server (for example, the user's front door) to the water server's installation location.

[0023] [Composition 7] The floor-standing water dispenser according to configuration 6, wherein the handle can be switched between a folded state and an extended state, and when in the extended state, the height from the floor surface to the highest part of the handle is 550 mm or more.

[0024] With this configuration, when moving the bottle holder containing the raw water bottle on the floor, the handle can be extended, and by holding the highest point of the handle from the floor, it is possible to move the bottle holder in a comfortable posture without bending over. On the other hand, when inserting the bottle holder into the lower part of the housing, the handle can be folded to prevent it from interfering with the housing. [Effects of the Invention]

[0025] This invention provides a bottom-loading water dispenser with a box-shaped bottle holder that is independently mounted on the bottom surface of the bottle holder. The bottle holder is designed to separate from the main body when pulled horizontally from the bottom of the main body, and casters are attached to the bottom surface of the holder so that it can move along the floor. When setting a full bottle of raw water in the water dispenser, the bottle holder is first pulled out from the bottom of the main body to separate it, then the raw water bottle is placed in the bottle holder, and the bottle holder can be moved along the floor without being lifted and inserted into the bottom of the main body. In this way, when setting a full bottle of raw water, it can be set without lifting the bottle, thus reducing the burden of changing the raw water bottle. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0026] [Figure 1] Cross-sectional view of a bottom-standing water dispenser according to this embodiment of the invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of the water dispenser, seen from the front. [Figure 3] Enlarged view of the vicinity of the bottle holder in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Enlarged view of the vicinity of the bottle holder in Figure 2. [Figure 5] Perspective view of the bottle holder shown in Figure 3. [Figure 6] Figure 5 shows the bottle holder with the handle switched from the folded state to the unfolded state, viewed from the front side in the direction of insertion into the housing. [Figure 7] Left side view of the bottle holder shown in Figure 6. [Figure 8] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the bottle holder being pulled horizontally out of the housing and then inserted back into the housing. [Figure 9] Cross-sectional view along the line IX-IX in Figure 8 [Figure 10] A cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the front wheel caster, showing the state just before the rollers constituting the front wheel caster lifting mechanism make contact with the inclined surface. [Figure 11] Figure 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the front caster, illustrating how the roller, in contact with the inclined surface, guides the front caster diagonally upward, causing it to lift off the floor. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0027] Figure 1 shows a bottom-loading water dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention. This bottom-loading water dispenser comprises a housing 1 placed on the floor surface F, a cold water outlet 2 and a hot water outlet 3 (see Figure 2) provided on the front of the housing 1, a cold water tank 4 and a hot water tank 5 housed in the upper part of the housing 1, a box-shaped bottle holder 6 housed in the lower part of the housing 1, and an electric pump 8 that pumps water from a replaceable raw water bottle 7 held in the bottle holder 6 to the cold water tank 4. The raw water bottle 7 and the cold water tank 4 are connected by a raw water pumping pipe (not shown) via the electric pump 8.

[0028] The enclosure 1 has a pair of side panels 9 (see Figure 2) facing each other on the left and right sides, a top panel 10 fixed to the upper ends of the pair of side panels 9, a bottom panel 11 fixed to the lower ends of the pair of side panels 9, a front panel 12 connecting the front ends of the pair of side panels 9, and a rear panel 13 connecting the rear ends of the pair of side panels 9. The bottom panel 11 is positioned at the lower end of the enclosure 1 along the floor surface F.

[0029] The bottle holder 6 is positioned opposite the upper side of the bottom plate 11. A bottle storage space 54 is formed inside the lower part of the housing 1 to accommodate the raw water bottle 7 and the bottle holder 6. A front door 14 is installed between the front panel 12 and the bottom plate 11 to open and close the lower front of the housing 1. By opening this front door 14, the bottle storage space 54 is opened to the front of the housing 1, making it possible to replace the raw water bottle 7 stored in the lower part of the housing 1.

[0030] A cooling device 15 is attached to the chilled water tank 4 to cool the water inside the chilled water tank 4. This cooling device 15 keeps the water contained in the chilled water tank 4 at a predetermined low temperature (for example, 10°C or below). The cooling device 15 includes a compressor 16, a heat dissipation unit 17, an expansion valve 18, and cooling pipes 19. The compressor 16, the heat dissipation unit 17, the expansion valve 18, and the cooling pipes 19 are connected by refrigerant piping 20 so that the refrigerant passes through them in sequence and circulates.

[0031] The compressor 16 is fixed to the upper surface of the inner ceiling plate 21. The inner ceiling plate 21 is a plate material that forms the ceiling of the bottle storage space 54. The inner ceiling plate 21 is horizontally fixed to a pair of side plates 9 so as to divide the inside of the housing 1 vertically.

[0032] The compressor 16 draws refrigerant from the cooling pipe 19, compresses the refrigerant to raise its temperature, and discharges the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant to the heat dissipation section 17. The heat dissipation section 17 is a mesh plate-like member in which the pipeline through which the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 16 flows is arranged in a meandering manner along the back of the housing 1. It cools and condenses the refrigerant by exchanging heat between the high-temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor 16 and the outside air. The expansion valve 18 receives the refrigerant that has passed through the heat dissipation section 17 and reduces its pressure to lower its temperature. The cooling pipe 19 receives the refrigerant that has become low temperature and low pressure in the expansion valve 18 and performs heat exchange between the refrigerant and the chilled water tank 4. The cooling pipe 19 is spirally wound around the outer circumference of the chilled water tank 4. The cooling pipe 19 may also be installed to penetrate the wall of the chilled water tank 4 so as to pass inside the chilled water tank 4.

[0033] The hot water tank 5 is located below the cold water tank 4. The cold water tank 4 and the hot water tank 5 are connected via a tank connecting pipe 22, through which water is introduced from the cold water tank 4 to the hot water tank 5. The hot water tank 5 is fitted with a heating device 23 that heats the water inside the hot water tank 5. The water inside the hot water tank 5 is kept at a predetermined high temperature (for example, 80°C or higher) by the heating device 23.

[0034] The chilled water outlet 2 and the chilled water tank 4 are connected via a chilled water outlet passage 24. By opening a chilled water valve 25 located in the middle of the chilled water outlet passage 24, the cold water in the chilled water tank 4 can be dispensed through the chilled water outlet passage 24 and out of the chilled water outlet 2. Similarly, the hot water outlet 3 (see Figure 2) and the hot water tank 5 are connected via a hot water outlet passage 26. By opening a hot water valve 27 (see Figure 2) located in the middle of the hot water outlet passage 26, the hot water in the hot water tank 5 can be dispensed through the hot water outlet passage 26 and out of the hot water outlet 3.

[0035] As shown in Figures 3 to 5, the raw water bottle 7 has a hollow cylindrical body 28, a bottom 29 provided at one end of the body 28, a neck 31 provided at the other end of the body 28 via a shoulder 30, and a cap 32 attached to the tip of the neck 31.

[0036] The body 28 of the raw water bottle 7 is formed to be flexible so that it contracts as the amount of remaining water decreases. The raw water bottle 7 can be formed, for example, by blow molding polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin or polyethylene (PE) resin. The raw water bottle 7 is filled with a predetermined amount of drinking water, ranging from 8 to 18 liters, in an unused, full state. The bottle holder 6 is formed in a box shape that opens upwards, and is designed to accommodate the raw water bottle 7 inside.

[0037] As shown in Figure 8, the bottle holder 6 is provided independently of the housing 1 so as to separate from the housing 1 when the bottle holder 6 is pulled horizontally from the housing 1, and casters 33 that travel on the floor surface F are attached to its underside.

[0038] The caster 33 consists of a front wheel caster 33a located on the front side in the insertion direction and a rear wheel caster 33b located on the rear side in the insertion direction. Here, "front side in the insertion direction" refers to the front side in the direction of travel of the bottle holder 6 when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the housing 1 from a state where it has been horizontally pulled out from the housing 1, as shown in Figure 8, and "rear side in the insertion direction" refers to the rear side in the direction of travel of the bottle holder 6 when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the housing 1 from a state where it has been horizontally pulled out from the housing 1.

[0039] As shown in Figure 6, a pair of front casters 33a are provided on the left and right sides, and as shown in Figure 4, a pair of rear casters 33b are also provided on the left and right sides. The front casters 33a and rear casters 33b support the bottle holder 6, which contains the raw water bottle 7, at multiple points so that it can travel on the floor surface F in a stable position. The front casters 33a are swivel wheels that are supported to rotate around the vertical axis, while the rear casters 33b are fixed wheels that do not rotate around the vertical axis.

[0040] As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the bottle holder 6 has a pair of side plates 34 facing each other on the left and right sides of the raw water bottle 7, a front plate 35 located on the front side of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction relative to the raw water bottle 7, a rear plate 36 located on the rear side of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction relative to the raw water bottle 7, and a bottom plate 37 that supports the raw water bottle 7 from below. The bottom plate 37 closes the lower end of the vertical cylindrical body formed by the pair of left and right side plates 34, the front plate 35, and the rear plate 36. Front casters 33a and rear casters 33b are attached to the underside of the bottom plate 37.

[0041] As shown in Figure 8, the raw water bottle 7 is housed in the bottle holder 6 with its neck portion 31 facing forward in the insertion direction of the bottle holder 6. A partially cylindrical neck holding portion 38 for holding the neck portion 31 of the raw water bottle 7 is integrally formed on the front plate 35 of the bottle holder 6. In the bottle housing space 54 at the bottom of the housing 1, a joint portion 39 is fixedly provided at a position corresponding to the tip of the neck portion 31 of the raw water bottle 7 held by the bottle holder 6 when the bottle holder 6 is inserted into the housing 1. The joint portion 39 is the upstream end of the raw water pumping pipe (not shown) that pumps water from the raw water bottle 7 to the cold water tank 4 (see Figure 1) via the electric pump 8.

[0042] As shown in Figure 3, the bottom plate 11 is provided to seal the lower end of the housing 1 so as to catch any water leakage inside the housing 1 and prevent the floor surface F from getting wet. In addition, when the bottle holder 6 is inserted into the housing 1, the front casters 33a and rear casters 33b of the bottle holder 6 are positioned to rest on the bottom plate 11.

[0043] As shown in Figure 9, the upper surface of the base plate 11 is provided with a pair of caster guide grooves 40 that accommodate each of the left and right front casters 33a so as to be movable in the front-rear direction when the left and right front casters 33a are mounted on the base plate 11. Each caster guide groove 40 consists of a straight section 41 with a constant groove width and a tapered section 42 formed by connecting to the rear end of the straight section 41 in the direction of insertion of the bottle holder 6. The straight section 41 has a groove width dimension that guides the left and right sides of the front casters 33a so as not to change the orientation of the front casters 33a. The tapered section 42 is formed in a tapered shape in which the groove width widens from the straight section 41 toward the rear in the direction of insertion of the bottle holder 6.

[0044] As shown in Figure 3, a stopper wall 43 is provided at the front end of the caster guide groove 40 in the insertion direction of the bottle holder 6 to receive the front wheel caster 33a. The stopper wall 43 prevents the bottle holder 6 from moving any further in the insertion direction by receiving the front wheel caster 33a when the bottle holder 6 is inserted into the housing 1 to the point where the cap 32 of the raw water bottle 7 held in the bottle holder 6 is connected to the joint portion 39.

[0045] As shown in Figures 5, 6, and 8, a center guide piece 44 is provided at the front end of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction, located in the center of the bottle holder 6 in the left-right direction. As shown in Figure 6, the center guide piece 44 passes below the lower surface of the bottom plate 37, and as shown in Figure 8, it is formed to extend in the front-rear direction on the front side of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction relative to the front wheel caster 33a.

[0046] As shown in Figures 4 and 9, a center guide groove 45 corresponding to a center guide piece 44 is provided in the center of the upper surface of the bottom plate 11 in the left-right direction. As shown in Figure 9, the center guide groove 45 has a tapered guide portion 46 whose groove width widens toward the rear (left in the figure) in the insertion direction of the bottle holder 6, and the center guide piece 44 is guided on the inner surface of this tapered guide portion 46, thereby positioning the bottle holder 6 in the left-right direction. Furthermore, the tapered guide portion 46 is positioned at the rear end (left end in the figure) in the insertion direction of the bottle holder 6 of the bottom plate 11 so as to guide the center guide piece 44 before the front caster 33a contacts the bottom plate 11 when the bottle holder 6 is inserted into the housing 1.

[0047] As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the bottle holder 6 and the bottom plate 11 are provided with a front caster lifting mechanism 47 that lifts the front casters 33a off the floor surface F before they contact the bottom plate 11 when the bottle holder 6 is inserted into the housing 1. The front caster lifting mechanism 47 consists of a roller 48 rotatably mounted on the front end of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction (here, the center guide piece 44) and an inclined surface 49 provided on the bottom plate 11 that contacts the roller 48 when the bottle holder 6 is inserted into the housing 1 and guides the roller 48 in an oblique upward direction. The inclined surface 49 has a slope that gradually displaces upward from the rear side in the insertion direction of the bottle holder 6 toward the front side in the insertion direction. The inclined surface 49 is formed at the bottom of the center guide groove 45 (see Figure 9). As shown in Figure 10, when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the housing 1, the front wheel caster lifting mechanism 47, as shown in Figure 11, uses an inclined surface 49 to guide the roller 48 diagonally upward, thereby moving the front end of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction upward and lifting the front wheel caster 33a off the floor surface F.

[0048] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the bottle holder 6 is fitted with a pair of handles 50 that extend upward from the bottle holder 6. Each pair of handles 50 consists of a base handle 51 that is rotatably connected to the bottle holder 6 and a tip handle 52 that is rotatably connected to the base handle 51.

[0049] As shown in Figure 5, the base handle 51 is formed in a U-shape that straddles the body 28 of the raw water bottle 7 in the front-to-back direction, and one end and the other end are rotatably connected to the front plate 35 and the rear plate 36, respectively. A base grip portion 53 for holding with the hand is formed on the portion of the base handle 51 directly above the raw water bottle 7. The tip handle 52 is formed in a U-shape consisting of a pair of front and rear portions that extend parallel to the base handle 51, and a portion that connects these portions on the upper side of the side plate 34. As shown in Figures 4 and 6, the tip handle 52 is rotatably connected to the end (upper end) of the base handle 51 opposite to the pivot point when viewed from the front-to-back direction.

[0050] As shown in Figure 4, the handle 50 can be switched between a folded state, where the front handle 52 folds so that it overlaps the base handle 51 when viewed from the front or back, and an extended state, as shown in Figure 6, where the front handle 52 extends upward from the base handle 51 when viewed from the front or back, by rotating the front handle 52 relative to the base handle 51. Here, the handle 50 is configured such that when it is in the extended state as shown in Figure 6, the height from the floor surface F to the highest part of the handle 50 is 550 mm or more.

[0051] As shown in Figure 8, in this embodiment, the bottom-loading water dispenser has a box-shaped bottle holder 6 that is independently provided so as to separate from the housing 1 when pulled horizontally from the bottom of the housing 1. Casters 33 that run on the floor F are attached to the bottom surface of the bottle holder 6, which is provided independently so as to separate from the housing 1 when pulled horizontally from the bottom of the housing 1. Therefore, when setting a full bottle of raw water 7 into the water dispenser, first, the bottle holder 6 is pulled out from the bottom of the housing 1 and separated from the housing 1. Next, the raw water bottle 7 is placed in the bottle holder 6, and the bottle holder 6 can be moved along the floor F without being lifted and inserted into the bottom of the housing 1. In this way, when setting a full bottle of raw water 7, it can be set without lifting the bottle 7, thus reducing the burden of replacing the raw water bottle 7.

[0052] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 8, when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the housing 1, the front wheel caster lifting mechanism 47, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, moves the front end of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction upward, lifting the front wheel caster 33a off the floor surface F before it contacts the bottom plate 11 of the housing 1. This prevents the front wheel caster 33a from colliding with the step at the boundary between the floor surface F and the bottom plate 11. Therefore, even if there is a step at the boundary between the floor surface F and the bottom plate 11, the bottle holder 6 can be smoothly inserted into the housing 1.

[0053] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 8, when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the housing 1 of this bottom-loading water dispenser, as shown in Figure 9, the tapered portion 42 of the caster guide groove 40 guides the front caster 33a to the straight portion 41, thereby stabilizing the position of the bottle holder 6 inside the housing 1.

[0054] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 8, when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the housing 1, as shown in Figure 9, the center guide groove 45 provided in the bottom plate 11 guides the center guide piece 44 provided at the front end of the bottle holder 6 in the insertion direction. This allows the left-right positioning of the bottle holder 6 to be performed even before the front caster 33a contacts the bottom plate 11. Therefore, the front caster 33a can be smoothly introduced into the caster guide groove 40.

[0055] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, this bottom-loading water dispenser has a handle 50 extending upward from the bottle holder 6. Therefore, when moving the bottle holder 6 containing the raw water bottle 7 along the floor F, the user can hold the handle 50 (tip handle 52) extending upward from the bottle holder 6 to move the bottle holder 6. As a result, the bottle holder 6 containing the raw water bottle 7 can be easily moved from a location far from the water dispenser casing 1 (for example, the user's front door) to the installation location of the water dispenser casing 1.

[0056] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, when moving the bottle holder 6 containing the raw water bottle 7 along the floor F, the handle 50 is extended, and by holding the highest part of the handle 50 (tip handle 52) from the floor F, it is possible to move the bottle holder 6 in a comfortable posture without bending over. On the other hand, as shown in Figures 3 and 8, when inserting the bottle holder 6 into the lower part of the housing 1, the handle 50 is folded, which prevents the handle 50 from interfering with the inner ceiling plate 21 of the bottle storage space 54 of the housing 1. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0057] 1 cabinet 4. Cold water tank 6 Bottle Holders 7. Raw water bottle 8 Electric pump 11 Bottom plate 33 Casters 33a Front wheel caster 33b Rear wheel caster 40 Caster guide grooves 41 Straight section 42 Tapered section 44 Center guide piece 45 Center guide groove 47 Front wheel caster lift mechanism 48 Laura 49 Slope 50 handle F Floor

Claims

1. A housing (1) placed on the floor surface (F), A box-shaped bottle holder (6) is housed in the lower part of the housing (1) so as to be able to be horizontally pulled out from the housing (1) and holds a replaceable raw water bottle (7), A chilled water tank (4) is housed in the upper part of the aforementioned housing (1), In a bottom-loading water dispenser having an electric pump (8) that draws water from the raw water bottle (7) held in the bottle holder (6) to the cold water tank (4), The bottle holder (6) is provided independently of the housing (1) so as to separate from the housing (1) when the bottle holder (6) is pulled horizontally out from the housing (1). A caster (33) that travels on the floor surface (F) is attached to the lower surface of the bottle holder (6). The caster (33) has a front wheel caster (33a) located on the front side in the insertion direction when inserting the bottle holder (6), which is horizontally pulled out from the housing (1), into the housing (1), and a rear wheel caster (33b) located on the rear side in the insertion direction. The housing (1) has a bottom plate (11) positioned along the floor surface (F) at its lower end, The bottom plate (11) is provided such that the front wheel caster (33a) and the rear wheel caster (33b) ride on it when the bottle holder (6) is inserted into the housing (1). A bottom-loading water dispenser further comprising a front wheel lifting mechanism (47) that, when inserting the bottle holder (6) into the housing (1), moves the front end of the bottle holder (6) in the insertion direction upward, thereby lifting the front wheel caster (33a) off the floor surface (F) before the front wheel caster (33a) comes into contact with the bottom plate (11).

2. The front wheel caster lifting mechanism (47) comprises a roller (48) rotatably provided at the front end of the bottle holder (6) in the insertion direction, and an inclined surface (49) provided on the bottom plate (11) so as to contact the roller (48) when the bottle holder (6) is inserted into the housing (1) and guide the roller (48) in an oblique upward direction, as described in claim 1.

3. The base plate (11) has a caster guide groove (40) that accommodates the front wheel caster (33a) so that it can move in the front-rear direction when the front wheel caster (33a) rides onto the base plate (11), The caster guide groove (40) is composed of a straight section (41) with a constant groove width and a tapered section (42) connected to the rear end of the straight section (41) in the insertion direction, with the groove width widening toward the rear in the insertion direction, according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A center guide piece (44) is provided at the front end of the bottle holder (6) in the insertion direction, located in the center of the bottle holder (6) in the left-right direction. A bottom-loading water dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a center guide groove (45) is provided in the center of the left-right direction of the upper surface of the bottom plate (11), which guides the center guide piece (44) before the front wheel caster (33a) contacts the bottom plate (11) to position the bottle holder (6) in the left-right direction.

5. The bottom-loading water dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a handle (50) extending upward from the bottle holder (6) is attached to the bottle holder (6).

6. The bottom-loading water dispenser according to claim 5, wherein the handle (50) is switchable between a folded state and an unfolded state, and is configured such that when in the unfolded state, the height from the floor surface (F) to the highest part of the handle (50) is 550 mm or more.

Images