Abstract:
A coffee and water dispenser, used to provide both drinking water and coffee is disclosed. The coffee and water dispenser has a water dispenser and a brewer attached to the water dispenser. The water dispenser has a main body that has a water dispensing region and a receiving space. The brewer is installed in the receiving space and connected to a hot water dispensing path of the water dispenser.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to a coffee and water dispenser, and more particularly, to a dispenser operative to dispense cold and hot water and brew coffee.  
       [0001]     During industrialization process, water pollution is always a problem that seriously affects the health of human beings. Therefore, in the modern society, cold and hot water processed by water fountain or dispenser has become the major source of drinking water in our daily lives.  
         [0002]     Recently, coffee has become more and more popular in our daily lives. In the past, spirit lamps have been used to prepare freshly brewed coffee. As the spirit lamp brewing process is tedious and dangerous in operation, automatic electric coffee brewer has been developed to replace the tradition spirit lamp coffer brewer.  
         [0003]     The water dispenser and coffee brewer are typically two individual appliances used for different purposes. Therefore, two individual spaces are required for equipping both of these appliances.  
         [0004]     To resolve the problems caused by the conventional individual water dispenser and coffee brewer as described above, the Applicant, with many years of experience in this field, has developed a coffee and water dispenser as described as follows.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention provides a machine that integrates the water dispenser and coffee brewer, such that the user can obtain cold water, hot water and brewed coffee from a single source. Therefore, the user does not need to feed water into the machine for brewing coffee.  
         [0006]     The machine provided by the present invention includes a water dispenser and a brewer installed in the water dispensing region, such that grinds of coffee beans can be disposed in the brewer and brewed by the hot water of the water dispenser.  
         [0007]     These and other objectives of the present invention will become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments.  
         [0008]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     These, as well as other features of the present invention, will become apparent upon reference to the drawings wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  comprises a local exploded view of a coffee and water dispenser provided by the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the coffer and water dispenser;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  shows the operation status of the coffee and water dispenser;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  shows a front view of the coffee and water dispenser;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  shows an internal structure of the coffee and water dispenser;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  shows the internal structure of a coffee and water dispenser in another embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of the coffee and water dispenser as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0018]     Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purpose of illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and not for purposes of limiting the same. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the present invention provides a coffee and water dispenser that includes a water dispenser  1  for providing cold and hot water and a brewer  2  for brewing coffee.  
         [0019]     The water dispenser  1  includes a main body  11  and a water storage container  12  installed on the main body  11 . The water storage container  12  is either fixed to the main body  11  or detachable from the main body  11 . The main body  11  includes a water dispensing region  13 , which comprises hot and cold water outlets such as water valves  14  and  15 . The water dispensing region  13  further comprises a receiving space  16  and a control and connecting structure  23  for attaching a brewer  2  to the water dispenser  11 .  
         [0020]     The brewer  2  includes a container  21  and a filter  22 . As shown, the container  21  preferably includes a window  211  allowing the user to observe the water or liquid level in the container  21 . The container  21  further comprises a pivot  212  protruding from a top rim thereof, and the control and connecting structure  23  includes a pivot hole  17  for receiving the pivot  212  therein. Therefore, the container  21  can rotate horizontally about the pivot  212  and the pivot hole  17 . The bottom of the container  21  includes an opening serving as a coffee outlet  214 . The user can thus place a cup under the coffee outlet  214  in the receiving space  16  to receive coffee.  
         [0021]     The filter  22  includes a mesh fabricated from metal, plastic, or paper to be disposed within the container  21 . The grinds of coffee are added in the filter  22  to be brewed.  
         [0022]     The control and connecting structure  23  is preferably so located over the water dispensing region  13 , such that the hot water processed by the water dispenser  11  can flow into the container  22 . The hot water supply of the coffee brewer  2  can be controlled manually or electronically. A control panel may be formed on the control and connecting structure  23 .  
         [0023]      FIGS. 3 and 4  show the operation status and a front view of the coffee and water dispenser. As shown, by disposing a cup  3  under the cold water outlet  14  or hot water outlet  15 , the cup  3  can be filled with cold or hot water by pressing the handle of cold or hot water outlet  14  or  15 .  
         [0024]     To fill the cup  3  with coffee, the push button  213  formed on the container  21  is pressed to open the container  21 . Grinds of coffee can be added in the filter  21  of the container  22 , and the container  21  is pushed back in the receiving space  16 . The control and connecting structure  23  is then operated to manually or automatically control the hot water to flow into the container  22  through the filter  21 . By disposing the cup  3  under the coffee outlet  214 , the user can fill the cup  3  with coffee.  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  illustrates the internal structure of the water dispenser  1 . When the water storage container  12  is installed on the water dispenser  1 , water in the container  12  is introduced into a cold water tank  4 . Evaporators  5  are installed around the colder water tank  4  to produce ice water output to a conveying tube  41 . Another conveying tube  42  is operative to convey cold water to a hot water tank  6 . The water heated by the hot water tank  6  is then output to the hot water outlet  15  or the control and connecting structure  23  via water conveying tube  61  or  62  respectively. By setting up the control panel of the control and connecting structure  23 , hot water can be injected through the water switch  63  to the brewer  2  for brewing coffee.  
         [0026]      FIG. 6  shows the internal structure of another embodiment of the water dispenser  1 . As shown, a small hot water tank  7  can be installed in the water dispenser  1 . By connecting the water switch  63  to the conveying tube  42  and the small hot water tank  7  directly, the cold water in the colder water tank  4  can be directly input to the small hot water tank  7  to be processed before being injected into the brewer  2 . Therefore, the hot water supply of the coffee brewer  2  is different from that for the hot water dispensing outlet  15 .  
         [0027]     The coffee and water dispenser can be applied to floor-top or counter-top water dispenser. Further, instead of making coffee, the coffee brewer  2  can also be used as a tea maker.  
         [0028]     This disclosure provides exemplary embodiments of the present invnetion. The scope of this disclosure is not limited by these exemplary embodiments. Numerous variations, whether explicitly provided for by the specification or implied by the specification, such as variations in shape, structure, dimension, type of material or manufacturing process may be implemented by one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.