US2650800A - Water cooler - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 1, 1953 H. w. TAYLOR WATER COOLER Filed April 10, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

f7 TTORNE V Patented Sept. 1 1953 Halsey W. Taylor, Warren,

Ohio, assigns!" to Halsey W. Taylor-Company, Warren, -hlo, -:a

corporation of Ohio Application April I0, 1950,..Setial'No.1.5!,954

3 Claims.-

My invention relates to water coolers and the principal object of myinvention is to provide new and improved apparatus of this character;

In an effort to secure optimum eihcie'ncy from water cooler constructions, many attempts have been made to utilize the cooling effect of Water which-is ordinarily wasted and which flows-to'th'e: drain. Such waste is caused by various reasons; for example, water iswastedwhen a consumer turns on the watercontrol valve and permits a quantity of refrigerated water to flow from the dispensing device before taking a drink. Also, waste is created because frequentl-ynot all water issuing from the dispensingdevice is consumed during drinking operations; Thus; the relatively cold water passes to drain and normally represents a loss in over-all efiiciency:

The prior art has employed thermal transfer' devices whereby the incoming-water is pro-cooled by the water passing to the drain, but such devices have met with manyobjections for the reasonthat they were either subject to clogging-by debrisaccumulating in the drain, or represented only a negligibleamount-of efli'ciency as compared to the' increase in. cost of. manufacture.

Further, such devices depended upon heat transfer relationship between the drain conduit:

and the tube carrying the incoming water and thus. were subject to thermal losseshetween theseparts; In other word's,.-in priorart-constructions:

the; relatively cold drain: water loses some or' coldness-toxthez relatively warmer drain conduit with the resultuthat the. incoming water is: not pre-cooledthe maxim amount; Since watermay:

flow to drain only. during consumer use of the water cooler, and since such use maybe: at infrequent intervals, it will" be appreciated that the coldnesslost to the drain conduit is of considerable importance.

My invention provides a highdegree of therma-l transfer between incoming, water and outgoing drain water without entailing the disadvantages of prior art constructions.

In the drawing accompanying specifics,-

tion and forming. apart. oi this application there,

is shown, for purposes .01 illustration an embodiement which my inventionqmay assume, and :in thisdrawing:

Figure 1 is anelevationalview of a water drinkeing fountain portions. being broken away-to: dis close detail show inner. construction, and,

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view corresponding generally to the line 3'-3 of Figure -2.

Referringtothedrawing; anembodiin'entnf my invention is-hereindisclosed f'oruse with arcingerator-type water' cooler H1, comprising a'casing H, thel'owerend of which encloses a motor-compressor-condenser unit which maybeof anysuit able type andtherefor is not shown or describedi. Awater storage tank 1-2 is supportedthe upper portion of the casing .1 I in any desired-manner; Referring particularly to Figure 1, a refrig errant-carrying coil I-3'i's disposed with-in the store age tank l2; Some localities require that the? coil f3 be disposed onthe outside. of thetank: 12*

- and it will be appreciated" that such change may' be made Without a-fi'ectin-g my invention;

'With respect to: the present disclosure a conduit M provides for upward flowof liquid rerfrigera-nt from the condenser t'o', and-through,- an automatic expansion valve- I 5 above the-tank 4.12, where the refrigerant is converted to a liquidvapor mixture; the temperature of which-drops duetopartialevaporationoftherefrigerant; The mixture of liquid refrigerant and vapor-enters into theupper' endofthe tank: 1 2 bymeansof a conduit P6 and is connected to-the upper end of the coil 1"3.

At least a part of-the-coil' I3 is disposed about a coil I 1' which receives-waterfront the lower. in! tenor" of" theta-nit 'l-z a-nd' delirerssuch water tova control valve l-8 by means=of aconduit-IB L Asu'cition= line 20' carries gas back from the: coil: to the compressor-condensing unit, where'ritis compressed, condensed and converted; into li'quid so that the cycle "may be repeated. The fore:-

going issubstanti'ally in -accordance-Withthe dis closure in Letters- Patent: No; 22785226; issued to me on March- 3L, 1942} and detailed descripition' is believed to-be unnecessary. It will be ap preciated that the upperport'i'onoi the interior-of theucasing it will. he provided with insulating material surrounding: the; water tanle l2 and co operatingpants; to: preventicoolingt lossesl :Suclr insulation is omitted from the: drawings in: the

interest of clarity;

'- catch basin 2 5 is connected to a drain-conduit construction 26 which leads the unconsumed water to a suitable drain (not shown).

Referring particularly to Figure 2, in the embodiment herein disclosed a threaded fitting 21 extends through an opening in the lower-most portion of the catch basin 25 and a sleeve-like coupling 28 is threaded onto the lower end (if the fitting 21. The coupling 28 is preferably provided with a flange 29 so that a gasket 30 may be clamped between it and the adjoining surface of the catch basin 25 to prevent A conduit 3 preferably rectilinear and of substantial cross-sectional size and length, has its upper end threaded into the coupling 28 and also has its lower end threaded into acoupling which is here shown as a reducing elbow 32. A pipe 33 leads from the elbow 32 to the drain.

Water is supplied through a tube from a source (not shown) to the storage tank l2, and in the present embodiment the tube has its lower end 34 connected to the source and its upper end 35 leading into the upper end of the storage tank l2. The water supply tube, intermediate the ends 34, 35, is formed into an elongated tube-like coil 36 which is disposed within the conduit 3|.

The coil 36 may be formed prior to its disposal within the conduit 3 I, and it has been found that in coiling round tubing the coiled tubing becomes somewhat flattened, as seen in Figure 2. It will be appreciated that the tubing may originally have a cross-section other than round, but since round tubing is readily available, such type is preferably used. The tubing is preferably tightly wound so as to provide generally a closed tubular formation, as illustrated.

To assemble the water tube after coiling, the coupling 28 is formed with an aperture 31 and the upper end 35 of the water tube is threaded through such aperture prior to the time the conduit 3| is threaded into the coupling 28. Thereafter, the conduit 3| may be threaded to the coupling 28, the water tube and its coiled portion 36 being held stationary with respect to the coupling 28.

The elbow 32 may be formed with an aperture 38 which is generally aligned with the axis of the conduit 3| so that the lower end 34 of .the water tube may be threaded therethrough and the elbow 32 rotated to coupled condition with the conduit. After proper assembly, the apertures 31 and 36 may be closed by solder, or closed in any other suitable manner to prevent leakage.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be noted that the exterior diameter of the coiled portion 36 is less than the interior diameter of the conduit 3| so that such parts, although disposed generally coaxially, are out of engagement. Thus, the conduit 3| is maintained out of heat transfer relationship with the coiled portion 36. In cases where the diameter of the coiled portion 36 is just slightly less than the interior of the conduit 3|, a tube 39 of thermal insulating material may be disposed within the conduit 3| prior to assembly of the water tube to insure proper insulation of the coil 36 from the conduit 3|. Further, it may be possible to form the conduit 3| of thermal insulating material, or of material that is a poor thermal conductor, in which event the coiled portion 36 may be made of a diameter to substantively engage the inner wall of the conduit 3|.

As shown in Figure 2, the fitting 21 carries a deflector collar 40 in position to deflect drain water so that it drops onto and over the coiled portion any space around leakage of water.

4 36 and preferably scrubs over the inner surfaces of such coiled portion in its descent to drain.

It will be appreciated that since there is no thermal loss from the coiled portion 36 to the conduit 3|, the cooled drain water flowing downwardly along the coiled portion 36 will effectively pre-cool incoming supply water flowing upwardly through the coiled portion.

'In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have at least accomplished the principal object of my invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. A pre-cooler device for a drinking fountain, comprising a drain pipe, a supply conduit for drinking water having a coiled portion disposed within said drain pipe, said coiled portion having one laterally extending terminal portion and another generally coaxially extending terminal portion, a coupling threaded to one end of said drain pipe and having an opening in its wall through which said one terminal portion passes, and an elbow threaded to the other end of said drain pipe and having an opening in its wall and in general alignment with the axis of said coiled portion and through which said other terminal portion passes, whereby said pre-cooler devicev may be assembled by disposing said one terminal portion through said coupling opening, disposing said drain pipe over said coiled portion and threading said drain pipe to said coupling, and disposing said other terminal portion through said elbow opening and threading said elbow to said drain pipe.

2. A pre-cooler device for a drinking fountain, comprising, an upright drain pipe, a supply conduit for drinking water having a coiled portion disposed in upright relation within said drain pipe, said coiled portion having a laterally extending upper terminal portion and a generally coaxially extending lower terminal portion, a coupling threaded to the upper end of said drain pipe and having an opening in its wall through which said upper terminal portion passes, a deflector collar fitting closely within said coupling above said opening and having an inner peripheral discharge lip overlying the upper end of said coiled portion, and an elbow threaded to the lower end of said drain pipe and having an opening in its wall and in general alignment with the axis of said coiled portion and through which said lower terminal portion passes, whereby said pre-cooler device may be assembled by disposing said upper terminal portion through said coupling opening, disposing said drain pipe over said coiled portion and threading said drain pipe to said coupling, and disposing said lower terminal portion through said elbow opening and threading said elbow to said drain pipe.

3.A pre-cooler device for use in conjunction with a substantially vertically disposed straight walled drain pipe of a refrigerated drinking fountain, said device including a coiled watersupply conduit disposed entirely within and spaced from the interior surface of said pipe, a deflector collar fitting within an upper portion of said drain pipe and having an inwardly and downwardly flared peripheral discharge lip disposed in substantially medially overhanging and unobstructed spaced relation to the peripheral upper end of said coiled conduit so that cold waste water from said refrigerated fountain will flow over the upper end of said conduit and thence downwardly over and in direct contact with the inner and outer surfaces of said coiled conduit in generally peripherally distributed manner, and a tubular sheathing of insulating material disposed between said conduit and the straight walled interior surface of said drain pipe to insulate against thermal transfer therebetween, whereby heat exchange is confined between the waste Water and said coiled conduit and cooling losses through the wall of said drain pipe are minimized.

HALSEY JV. TAYLOR.

References filted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 154,418 Reed et al. Aug, 25, 1824 1,458,899 Wolfe June 12, 192 1,593,664 Mitchell July 2'7, 192-3 2,010,50 Askin Aug. 6, 1935 2,446,289 Love Aug. 3, 1948 2,481,662 Hastings Sept. 13,

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