US20080041893A1

US20080041893A1 - Personal filling device

Info

Publication number: US20080041893A1
Application number: US11/506,507
Authority: US
Inventors: Steve Norman Smeltzer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-08-21
Filing date: 2006-08-21
Publication date: 2008-02-21

Abstract

The Personal Filling device is an attachment designed for use with bottled water and point-of-use purification dispensers. The device provides a convenient angle to aid in the filling process of sport bottles and personal containers. The device provides a barrier to avoid contact with the existing spigot or nozzle of the dispenser. The device can be quickly pushed onto and removed from a spigot or nozzle, and then remain in the possession of a single individual for personal use. The device may reduce the possibility of contracting infectious diseases, such as colds and flu, which could be present on the communicable spigots or nozzles of drinking water dispensers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over recent years drinking water quality has become a great concern for many people, so much so in fact that bottled water and point-of-use drinking water dispensers, or plumbed in units, have become the preferred means of supplying drinking water rather than conventional drinking fountains.
Occupants of residential and commercial facilities have come to rely heavily on 5 gallon bottled water dispensers and filtrations dispensers to provide them with cold clean drinking water. A large manufacturing plant, for example, may have dozens of these dispensers scattered throughout its facilities as a means for providing drinking water to its employees. The employees who use these dispensers typically refill their smaller hand-held sport bottles and other personal containers that they use to drink from on a daily basis.
The problem with this however, is the mouthpieces of the smaller drinking water bottles may come into contact with the dispense nozzle or spigot of the larger drinking water dispensers during the act of refilling. A person or persons with a cold or flu, for example, may contaminate the dispense nozzle or spigot by placing the mouthpiece of their bottle directly on or around the spigot or nozzle of the drinking water dispenser.
The very means designed to provide pure healthy drinking water may in fact be also providing a vehicle for the spread of disease. Individuals with infections or transmittable diseases may leave traces of the disease on the dispense nozzle or spigot itself. The dispense nozzle and spigot area is also vulnerable to air born contamination from a cough or sneeze, or from simple careless hand contact from another individual.
With the proliferation of these water dispensers throughout highly populated areas, the potential and opportunity to spread communicable diseases has increased dramatically.
The invention, personal filling device, submitted in this patent application is a simple yet effective device that addresses a deficient area in this industry that has been largely overlooked. This invention will provide concerned individuals with a quick and effective means of protection from a contaminated spigot or nozzle. By simply pushing the personal filling device over the existing spigot or nozzle you will have, in effect, created your own personal spigot or nozzle that is unique only to you, and may be cleaned and sanitized whenever necessary.

BRIEF SUMMARY

This invention is a small hand held tubular device that is pushed onto a bottled drinking water dispenser, or point-of-use water dispenser nozzle or spigot. The water may then be dispensed through the tubular device and into the user's personal hand-held sport bottle or container, while avoiding contact with the existing spigot or nozzle on the dispenser with the mouthpiece of the personal container. The tubular device is then removed and kept by the same individual.
The tubular device has a slight taper in the cavity to be pushed onto the dispense nozzle, this holds the device in place during the filling process. A simple twisting motion while pulling will remove the device from the dispense nozzle or spigot. The stem portion of the tubular device is angled towards the user and away from the dispenser, to provide a more convenient filling position and additional space.
This invention offers a simple yet very effective means of preventing an individual from contacting the existing dispense nozzle or spigot of the larger purification and bottled water dispensers. The invention also provides for a more convenient dispense angle for filling larger personal drinking water bottles and containers.
The objective of this invention is to provide an inexpensive, quick and convenient device, designed to be a portable extension of the existing spigot or nozzle of drinking water dispenser. The extension is then unique to one individual and when in use, will shield a personal container from a communicable spigot or nozzle of a drinking water dispenser.
A further object of my invention is to provide a more convenient dispensing angle from a water dispenser into a personal container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the personal filling device. This view shows the larger end, a smaller end, and the angular middle section of the round tubular device.

FIG. 2 is a cut-away view or one half of the round tubular device. FIG. 2-1 illustrates the directional flow of fluid through the center hollow portion of the device. FIG. 2-2 of the cut-away view will reveal the gradual slight tapering of the cavity on the larger end designed to receive and hold the spigots and nozzles of the dispensers. The opposite end is smaller for proper communication with the smaller hand-held containers to be filled.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the larger entrance end of the invention. FIG. 3-1 points to the tapered cavity which will achieve a slightly smaller diameter towards the bottom of the cavity to receive and hold the spigots and nozzles of dispensers.

FIG.4 is a top view of the smaller exit end of the device. By comparison, this end is considerably smaller than the opposite end of the tubular device.

FIG. 5 illustrates the personal filling device coupled to a point-of-use purification dispenser. This view shows the device receiving a dispense nozzle while creating a new more convenient dispense angle.

FIG. 6 illustrates the personal filling device coupled to a bottled water dispenser. This view shows the device receiving a dispense spigot while creating a new more convenient dispense angle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The Personal Filling Device is a device used to avoid contact with the existing spigot or nozzle of a drinking water dispenser and the personal container a person seeks to fill.
The Personal Filling Device is a single one piece tubular device comprised of food grade material and is used to transport fluid. The device, having a larger inlet end which is constructed to receive the nozzle or spigot of a drinking water dispenser, and a smaller outlet end which can be inserted into the container being filled, thus avoiding contact with the existing spigot or nozzle. The opening in the larger end of the device, shown in FIG. 2, is slightly tapered inward creating a smaller diameter at the bottom of the cavity. When this opening is pushed onto a drinking water dispenser nozzle or spigot, the slightly tapered cavity will grip the nozzle or spigot with just enough pressure to hold the device in place while in use. The device is then pulled from the spigot or nozzle with a slight twisting and pulling motion.
The hollow tubular device is reduced in size below the large end, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and then makes a bend for the remaining length of the device. This bend is set in the device to create a path for the fluid away from the limited space provided on the dispensers existing filling area.
The smaller exit end of the device, as shown in FIG. 4, is reduced in size small enough to be inserted into a personal container or bottle for filling.
The device, as shown in FIG. 5, will eliminate the possibility of the mouthpiece of a refillable sport bottle or personal container coming into contact with the dispenser spigot or nozzle. During the filling process, the angle of the hollow stem portion of the device will create additional space for maneuvering larger bottles and containers into position for filling.

Claims

1. A portable hand-held tubular device, pushed over a drinking water dispenser spigot or nozzle—creating an exclusive, removable extension of said spigot or nozzle.

2. The device as defined in claim 1, having an angle put into the hollow stem portion of the device with said angle directed away from the water dispenser.

3. The device having a tapered cone shaped cavity at the larger end of the tubular device, of dimensions necessary to receive and hold a spigot or nozzle of a point-of-use purification dispenser or a bottled water dispenser.