Patent Abstract:
A liquid dispensing cooler for beverages in the form of an insulated ice chest having an insulated base, insulated side walls, insulated end walls and an insulated cover; a spigot mounted in one of the chest walls above the base and having a controllable dispensing valve adjacent an exterior surface of the chest wall; at least one inverted bottle having a valve body mounted thereon, said valve body having locking grooves and splines formed thereon on upper portions and having an air venting means integrally formed by crenellations on lowermost portions thereon; a reservoir with a reservoir top wall having a circular opening with locking grooves and splines formed thereon adapted to engage and to support an inverted bottle through said grooves and splines on the valve body; and a delivery tube communicating between the reservoir and the spigot to permit gravity flow of liquid from the reservoir to the spigot.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Portable insulated cooler chests for storing and transporting small quantities of food and beverages are well-known to the art as are cooler chests having a liquid dispensing apparatus integrated therewith. Representative of the current state of the portable cooler prior art are U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,631 (Hood) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,029 (Gottsegen et al.). 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to improvements in the dispensing apparatus of portable coolers to permit the inexpensive and efficient dispensing of ice-cooled liqueurs in the manner of comparatively expensive bar-top, electric powered, refrigerated dispensers sold under the TAP MACHINE® trademark and well-described, for example, in issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,276, 5,456,387 and 5,494,195. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The apparatus of the new invention provides a lightweight, portable cooler chest having a storage arrangement for securely stowing and cooling, with ice rather than electric refrigeration, a plurality of bottles of beverages, typically alcoholic liqueurs whose taste is enhanced when served at very low temperatures. Importantly, a closed fluid reservoir or well having a pair of integral bottle mounting sockets formed in its top wall plate is supported in the chest adjacent to and above an external spigot mounted at the lower portion of the cooler chest. A delivery tube connects the reservoir or well to the spigot to permit gravity flow of the chilled fluid to the spigot. 
         [0004]    Special new mounting valves are provided for attachment to liqueur bottles whose refrigerated fluid contents are to be dispensed. Importantly, the valves are adapted to be locked into the well sockets to hold integrally inverted bottles securely in place in the well wall, and, when inverted and engaged with activation pins formed on the bottom of the well, to permit fluid to escape from the inverted bottles to the well for subsequent selective dispensing through the spigot. 
         [0005]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of the new cooler chest taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of the fundamental cooler chest of the present invention; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the inverted bottles, new mounting valves, and fluid well of the present invention; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the closed cooler chest with external spigot; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the well; 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a top plan view of the well; 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional end view of the well taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the cooler taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the cooler taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the cooler taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  is a bottom perspective view of the well; 
           [0016]      FIG. 11  is a longitudinal cross-section of the well taken along line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the well cover with integral twin bottle support sockets; 
           [0018]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the well cover with twin bottle support sockets and hinged twin integral caps for the sockets, and; 
           [0019]      FIG. 14  is an exploded perspective view of the new bottle mounting valve. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the cooler chest  10  of the invention comprises a molded outer polycarbonate shell  11  having vertical end walls  12 ,  13 ; vertical front and rear walls  14 ,  15 , and a bottom wall  16 . An inner shell  17  having vertical end walls  22 ,  23 ; side walls  24 ,  25 ; and a bottom wall  26  is nested in the outer shell to define an insulating dead air space between the shells  11 ,  17 . Advantageously, the inner shell has a circumscribing groove  18  formed at its upper edges which groove tightly engages a corresponding rim  19  in an air-tight fit. 
         [0021]    A molded cover  40  formed of polycarbonate and having integral cylindrical holders  41  for supporting beverage cups or the like is hingedly connected to the outer shell  11  by hinges  42  fastened to the edge of the cover and the upper edges of the rear wall  15 . 
         [0022]    Conventional liquid drains  53 , having selectively openable stoppers  54 , are mounted in drain holes  25  formed at the bottom portions of the end walls  12 ,  13 ,  22 ,  23  adjacent the bottom of the cooler chest to permit drainage of water from melted ice. Conventional, pivoting carrying handles  56  are secured to end walls  12 ,  13  by mounting hardware  57 ,  58  attached to the end walls by appropriate fasteners (not shown). 
         [0023]    In accordance with the invention, the inner shell  17  is divided by a vertical wall partition  60  into a dispensing portion  67  and a bottle storage portion  61  which includes a molded bottle spacer  62  which rests on the bottom wall  26  of the inner shell. As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , multiple bottles are adapted to be stored in the storage portion  61  in openings  63  in spacer  62  which openings are generally congruent with the bases of the bottles to be stored. The spacing of the bottles B permits the loading of ice cubes or ice chips around and between the stored bottles. 
         [0024]    In accordance with the invention, shelf ledges  65 ,  66  are formed on inner shell side walls  24 ,  25  in the dispensing portion  67  to engage and to support a unique fluid reservoir  70  assembly which comprises a full cooler width, top cover plate  71  having a pair of special bottle receiving sockets  72  with grooves  73  and splines  74 ; a sealing gasket  75 ; and a fluid well  76 . The reservoir  70  is assembled by fastening the cover plate  71  to the well  76  with the gasket  75  therebetween by screws (not shown) passing through plate holes  71 ′, gasket holes  75 ′, and well holes  76 ′ formed in circumscribing lip  96 . 
         [0025]    A pair of special unitary locking-mounting valves  80  are provided, each having an upper portion in the form of a locking collar  81  with grooves  83  and splines  84  adapted to mate with grooves  73  and splines  74 ; and a lower valve body portion supporting a spring-biased stopper  85  normally seated in an orifice  86  in a horizontal internal wall of the valve body. The locking-mounting valves  80  are secured to the tops of chilled bottles B by threads  80 ( a ). The bottles are then inverted for support in sockets  72 . The lowermost edges of the valve  80  form crenellations  88  to permit air flow into the bottle. 
         [0026]    As will be understood and in accordance with the invention, the beverage bottles B are fitted with the mounting-locking valves  80  which are threaded onto the threaded bottle tops after the regular threaded bottle cap closures are removed. The valves  80  are spring-loaded into a normally closed position and have a splined, grooved exterior surface to be described in greater detail hereafter. 
         [0027]    Specifically, and as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 14 , the locking-mounting valve  80  has an upper valve body portion  81  and a lower valve body  82 . The upper valve body portion has a cylindrical collar  87  with internal threads  80 ( a ) which, as explained, are adapted to threadingly engage the bottle top threads T (not shown) which are exposed upon the opening of the bottles B by removing the caps C. Washer  88  seals the collection of bottles B to the threads  80 ( a ). 
         [0028]    In accordance with the invention, a frusto-conical array of upper locking splines  84  separated by upper locking grooves  83  are formed integrally with the outer surfaces of the upper valve body  82 . The upper splines  84  taper in width from top-to-bottom while the upper grooves  83  therebetween correspondingly taper from bottom-to-top. 
         [0029]    The upper valve body portion  81  has an exterior cylindrical surface  110  below the locking splines  84  and grooves  83 . Disposed within the upper valve body portion is a spring retainer having depending legs  111 . 
         [0030]    The lower valve body portion  82  includes an inner surface portion  113  adapted to engage the upper valve body portion  110  in a tight fit in which the fitted portions are permanently bonded by heat welding to complete the assembly of the entire unitary locking-mounting valve. A valve orifice  86 ( a ) is formed in annular orifice plate  86  formed integrally with the lower valve body  82 . 
         [0031]    Before heat fusing the upper and lower valve body portions  110 ,  113 , the locking-mounting valve assembly  80  is completed by inserting a coil biasing spring  114  in the annular space between the legs  111  and the lower extremity of the upper valve body so that it will engage the valve stopper  85 , which has an annular stopper disc  115  of greater diameter than that of orifice  86 ( a ) and a downwardly projecting actuator tab  116 . 
         [0032]    Sealing elastomeric washer  117  rests on the orifice  86 ( a ) and seats the stopper disc  115 . Sealing elastomeric washer  118  is included in the assembly. 
         [0033]    In accordance with the invention, the well  76  is generally oval having arcuate end walls  77  and straight side walls  78 . The bottom wall  79  of the well  76  has a sloped outlet trough portion  90  leading to an exit nozzle  91  disposed on the underside of the well. The nozzle  91  receives a flexible delivery tube  92  over its ridged outer surface  93 . The tube  92  is connected at its other end to a spigot inlet  94  as shown in  FIG. 7 . As will be understood, the well is adapted to be charged with fluid from the inverted securely mounted bottles. The fluid will be dispensed through the tube to the spigot  100 . 
         [0034]    The reservoir  70  is affixed to the cooler chest by fastening the plate  71  by screws (not shown) through holes  71 ″ to ledges  65 ,  66 . Integral caps  120  ( FIG. 13 ) may be attached by living hinges  121  to plate  71  to cover and close sockets  72  when not receiving bottles B. The plate  71  is stiffened by integral edge ribs  122 . 
         [0035]    Projecting upwardly from the well of the bottom wall  79  are spaced integral cruciform actuating posts  95  which are each coaxial with the twin mounting sockets  72  in the top cover plate  71 . In accordance with the invention, when inverted bottles B are placed in the sockets  72 , the splines  83  and grooves  84  will lockingly engage the splines  73  and grooves  74  to hold the inverted bottles securely in place and in communication with the posts  95  in the well  76 . The height of the posts  95  is sufficient to engage and to displace the spring-biased stoppers  85  out of their normally orifice closing position in the valve body  80 . This movement will permit the flow of liquid from the bottles B into the well  76 . With the valve open, air will flow from the well through the orifice and up into the bottles B to fill the void left by the exiting of fluid from the bottle through the valve body and to permit controlled fluid flow. Importantly, the crenellations  88  on the valve body  80  permit air to flow back into the valve  80  until the fluid level in the well reaches the equilibrium level of the orifice  86  and fluid flow stops. 
         [0036]    To fill the well  76  to an operative level of fluid, the bottles B with the valves  80  attached are inverted and inserted into the sockets  72  having mating splined/grooved surface. As has been explained, the bottles B will be firmly secured to the housing by virtue of the engagement of the valve body splines/grooves with the associated splines/grooves of the sockets  72  at the top plate  71 . 
         [0037]    The fluid in the well may be selectively dispensed externally through the spigot  100  disposed in orifice  123  in front wall  14  and operable by selective depression of a resilient elastomeric actuator  101 , to permit liquid to pass downwardly by gravity flow out of the spigot opening  102 . Specifically, the spigot is a simple, normally closed valve, the stopper  101  having a convex head  103  and shaft  104  which normally bias the bulbous stopper  105  into sealing relation with the discharge orifice  102 . Depression of the head  103  displaces the stopper out of sealing relation to permit discharge of fluid. When the fluid level in the well recedes, additional flow from the bottles will restore it to its equilibrium level. Any simple normally closed spigot, faucet, or tap hardware may be employed in the practice of the invention, as should be understood. 
         [0038]    Advantageously, the spigot  100  is disposed in recessed portion  105  formed in the outer shell wall  14  so that the spigot  100  does not project beyond the major dimensions of the cooler chest body. Similarly, the drainage holes  25  are disposed in recessed portions  106  formed in the end walls  12 ,  13  of the outer shell. 
         [0039]    It will be appreciated that the new and improved cooler chest provides an economical apparatus for transporting and dispensing popular alcoholic beverages of the type best served when well chilled. The new reservoir and mounting-locking valve mechanisms allow ordinary liqueur bottles to be securely mounted in an inverted position for selective dispensing of chilled beverages from a cooler chest without removing the bottles. 
         [0040]    It should be understood, of course, that the specific form of the invention herein illustrated and described is intended to be representative only, as certain changes may be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5