Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02310397 2000-OS-30
FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The invention relates generally to automatic computer controlled water
dispensers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Automatic machines for dispensing purified water are well known in the art.
Generally
these machines consist of a large housing which have one or more filling
stations where a
purchaser can refill a water receptacle with purified water. These machines
generally have a shelf
located beneath a filling spout where the purchaser can replace a water
receptacle and press a
button to release water from to refill the water receptacle. These vending
machines are generally
coin operated requiring the user to purchase purified water by inserting
several coins into the
machine. Several water dispensing machines also have compact water
purification units which are
capable of purifying municipal water. These machines are generally hooked up
to a municipal
water source and a power line, so that the unit can independently supply
purified water to
purchasers.
Prior water dispensing systems have generally required the user to provide his
or her own
water receptacle. Purchasers generally have a specialized water receptacle
which is designed to
be refilled repeatedly with purified water. Of course, as the receptacles are
used over and over
again, dirt, dust and bacteria can contaminate both the outside and inside of
these containers so
that when these vessels are refilled with water, the water will likewise be
contaminated.
Furthermore, since the filling stations of previous refilling machines tend to
be exposed to the
general public, they tend to become contaminated with dirt, dust and bacteria.
Also coin operated
vending machines must be serviced periodically to remove the coins accumulated
over a number
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of purchases. This requires an attendant to visit each machine to remove the
coins.
Over the years, magnetic strip purchasing cards have been applied to water
dispensing
machines. These water dispensing machines require a purchaser to swipe a
vending card through
a card reader coupled to the vending machine. The card contains information
regarding the
number of refills available. After swiping the vending card, the user operates
the machine to
dispense the desired amount of water and the machine updates the vending card
accordingly.
When the purchaser has used up all of the refills on the vending card, he or
she requires an
additional card. As a result, the purchaser must periodically obtain new
vending cards which may
be inconvenient. These drawbacks are one reason why, despite the growing
demand for battled
water, automated water refilling machines have not been as commercially
successfial as they could
be. There continues to be a need for an automated water vending machine which
is automatic,
self sufl'lcient, easy to use and easy to maintain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing an
automated water dispensing apparatus which consists of a water purification
unit for purifying
municipal water, a storage tank for storing the water which has been purified
by the water
purification unit and a sterilizer for sterilizing the purified water from the
tank. The purification,
sterilizer and water tank are all contained within a housing which has a
filling station for filling a
water receptacle with the sterilized water. The filling station has a filling
spout for delivering the
sterilized water into the water receptacle and a fill control valve for
controlling the flow of water
to the filling spout. The filling station also has a flow meter coupled to the
filling spout for
CA 02310397 2000-OS-30
generating a signal proportional to the amount of water supplied through the
filling spout. The .
system also includes a pump for delivering the purified water from the storage
tank to the
sterilizer and the filling station. The apparatus also consists of a card
reader device for reading
identification information from an identification card. The card reader, flow
meter and fill control
S valve are operatively coupled to a computer control unit. The computer
control unit is
operatively coupled to a computer memory unit and a telecommunications
interface and is
configured to receive purchasing data for a plurality of purchasers from a
remote computer via a
telecommunications network. The computer control unit is configured to store
the purchasing
data in the computer memory unit and is further configured to operate the fill
control valve
depending on the purchasing data stored in the computer memory unit and the
identification data
read from the card reader. The computer control unit is configured to read the
flow meter signal
to calculate the amount of water passing through the fill spout and to close
the fill control valve
depending on the purchasing data stored in the computer memory. Finally, the
computer control
unit is configured to amend the purchasing data stored in the computer memory
to reflect the
amount of water which has passed through the fill spout for each purchaser.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
A preferred embodiment of this invention, illustrating all of its features,
will now be
discussed in detail. This embodiment depicts the novel and non-obvious methods
and apparatus
of this invention shown in the accompanying drawings, which are for
illustrative purposes only.
This drawing includes the following figures, with like numerals indicating
like parts:
FIGURE 1. Is a perspective view of the water dispensing apparatus of this
invention.
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FIGURE 2. Is a schematic view of the water purification and sterilizing unit
of the present
invention.
FIGURE 3. Is a schematic representation of a computer controlled rinse
station.
FIGURE 4. Is a schematic representation of the computer controlled water
filling station for
use with large volume water receptacles.
FIGURE 5. Is a schematic representation of the water refilling station for use
with smaller
volume water receptacles.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
Referring firstly to figure 1, the refilling station shown generally as item
10 consists of
booth 12 having door 14 mounted to a frame 15, a water filling station 20
positioned adjacent and
underneath a water dispenser 22, and a rinse station 24 having rinse basin 26.
Frame 15 is
provided with an automatic lock (not shown) which is released to permit door
14 to open when
card reader 16 is activated. Housing 18 contained within booth 12 houses water
purification and
sterilization units (not shown) as well as a computer control mechanism.
Referring now to figure 2, the water purification unit, shown generally as
item 28, consists
of a water pre-filter 34 coupled to municipal water line 30. Pre-filtration
unit 34 filters the
municipal water coming from water line 30 and channels the water to ion
exchange unit 36. Ion
exchange unit 36 further purifies the water by removing various ions such as
heavy metal ions and
other ionic contaminants. Ion exchange unit 36 channels the treated water to
reverse osmoses
unit 38 which fi~rther purifies the water via a reverse osmoses system. Pre-
filtration unit 34, ion
exchange unit 36 and reverse osmoses unit 38 together greatly improve the
water quality so that
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the water leaving water purification unit 32 has less than 4 ppm (parts per
million) of calcium,
magnesium, manganese, iron, sulfi~r, hydrogen sulfide, chlorides, sulfates,
chemicals and metals.
The purified water is then channeled via water channel 39 into storage tank 40
which stores the
purified water under atmospheric pressure.
The purified water from storage tank 40 is channeled through conduit 41 to
water
pressurization pump 42 which pressurizes the water and sends it through
conduit 43. Pressurized
water 43 passes through a water sterilization unit 44 which preferably
consists of an ultra violet
water sterilizing unit. Water sterilizer 44 channels the sterilized water to
conduit 46 which
channels the treated water to the filling and rinse stations.
Referring now to figure 3, water from conduit 46 passes into conduit 50
through divider
48 and makes its way to sterilizing rinse station 24. Rinse station 24
consists of a water rinsing
unit 60 mounted to housing 18. Rinse unit 60 consists of a jet nozzle 64 which
is coupled to
water hose 61 and a rinse basin 62 for receiving and draining away the excess
rinse water.
Preferably jet nozzle 64 is vertically oriented to spray rinsing water
vertically upward into water
receptacle 66. Nozzle 64 is configured to fit within receptacle opening 68
when bottle 66 is
inverted upside down with neck 68 pointing downwards. The rinse water coming
from nozzle 64
is sprayed into receptacle 66 to sterilize the inside of the rinse bottle with
the excess rinse water
draining into basin 62. The rinse water is supplied from conduit 50. An
additional sterilizing
agent is injected into the water via injector 52. Preferably injector 52 is
supplied with ozone gas
from ozone generator 54 which carries the ozone gas to injector 54 via gas
line 56. The sterilizer
laden water is introduced into conduit 61 by operation of electric valve 58.
Which is controlled
by computer control module 71. Computer control module 71 consists of
controller 84 and a
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relay logic and PLC module 70. Suitable CPU's and relay control modules are
generally available
in the marketplace. The relay logic and PLC module is operatively coupled to a
button 68 which
can be pressed by a user to start the rinse sequence. When a user presses
button 68 a signal is
sent to relay logic and PLC module 70 which in turns sends a signal via cable
72 to output unit 74
which then sends a corresponding electrical signal via cable 76 to open
electric valve 58 thereby
releasing the sterilizing water.
Refernng now to figure 4, filling station shown generally as item 20, consists
of a water
filling spout 98 which is coupled to an automatic filling valve 96 which is in
turn coupled to a
water conduit 94. Water conduit 94 is coupled to purified water supply 46 via
a digital flow
sensor 92. Electric valve 96 is controlled by computer control unit 71 which
in turn is operatively
coupled to telecommunications network 88 via telecommunications interface 87.
Computer
control unit 71 is further coupled to card reader 90 via cable 93. Computer
controller 84 has
computer memory 85 which is supplied with purchaser information via a remote
computer (not
shown) via communication network 88. When a purchaser presents vending card 80
to card
reader 90, card reader 90 reads the purchaser information contained on card
80. Controller 84
then compares the information stored on card 80 with the purchasing
information stored in
memory 85 to determine if the holder of card 80 is listed in the purchasing
information. If the
purchaser is listed, then computer control unit 71 sends a digital signal via
cable 72, output 74 and
cable 100 to open valve 96 thereby permitting water to flow from spout 98 and
into container 66.
As water flows through spout 98, digital flow sensor 92 measures the volume of
the water
flowing through spout 98 and sends a electronic signal to computer control
unit 71 via cable 102.
When control unit 71 senses that flow meter 92 has measured a specific volume
of water
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corresponding to the purchaser information for that particular purchaser as
stored in memory unit
85, computer control unit 71 sends an electronic signal to fill valve 96
closing the valve.
Computer control unit 71 then updates the information contained in computer
memory 85 to
reflect the purchase.
Fill valve 96 is preferably a two stage valve capable of a first fill rate of
7 gallons per
minute (GPM) and a lower second fill rate of 2 GPM. When computer control unit
71 first opens
fill valve 96 to fill container 66, it sets the fill valve to fill the
container at the first fill rate of 7
GPM to quickly fill the container. When digital flow sensor 92 communicates to
control unit 71
that a predetermined volume has passed through fill valve 96, then the control
unit sends a signal
to the fill valve setting the valve at its second fill rate of 2 GPM. The
lower fill rate permits
dissolved air to settle out of solution while container 66 is being topped up,
thereby reducing the
chance of spillage. This two step fill rate permits container 66 to be filled
rapidly without
overflowing.
Referring now to figure 5, if the purchaser presents a smaller water
receptacle 104, then
the purchaser must swing pivoting shelve 108 upwards into its filling
position. The moment filling
shelve 108 is in its filling position, an electrical contact 110 is closed
which in turn sends a
electronic signal to computer control unit 71 via cable 112 indicating to the
computer control unit
that the user wishes to fill a smaller container. Computer control unit 71
then operates fill valve
96 to fill container 104. As container 104 is filled, digital flow meter 92
sends a signal to
computer control unit 71 until the computer control unit closes off fill valve
96. Computer
control unit 71, by sensing that shelve 108 is in its fill position will shut
off fill valve 96 when a
lower volume of water has passed through spout 98. Again, computer control
unit 71 amends the
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purchasing information in computer memory 85 to reflect the purchase.
Referring back to figure 3, when a purchase wishes to gain entrance into the
water
vending booth, the purchaser presents a vending card 80 to card reader 16.
Computer control
unit 71 is operatively coupled to card reader 16 via cable 86. When the user
presents card 80 to
card reader 16, computer control unit 71 reads the information identifying the
purchaser which is
stored on computer card 80. If the information contained in card 80
corresponds to the
purchasing information as stored in computer memory 85, then computer control
unit 71 sends an
electronic signal through cable 84 to an electric door lock 82 permitting the
door lock to unlock
door 14 thereby permitting the user to gain access into the booth.
Since the water filing and container sterilization stations are both contained
in a enclosed
booth, then the stations remain more hygienic and clean. Furthermore since
only specified
purchasers can gain access into the booth, and since the general public is
excluded, the rinsing and
filling stations remain cleaner and more hygienic. Furthermore, since the
purchaser has a
sterilizing rinse station to rinse out and sterilize his water container,
there is less likelihood of
contamination. Finally, since purchasing information concerning a plurality of
different purchasers
can be down loaded into the vending unit, purchasers do not have to
periodically refill their
identification cards. Indeed the identification cards maybe read only since
they only contain
information identifying the user and not identifying the quantity of
purchases. It is very simply to
update the purchasing information from a remote computer since the computer
controlled vending
machine is operatively coupled to a telecommunications network. Hence, the
purchasing
information can be periodically adjusted and updated from time to time, for
example on a monthly
basis, to reflect additional purchasers and additional quantities for each
purchaser. Since the
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purchasing information is not stored the user cards, users can easily update
their purchasing
information by telephone or even by the world wide web.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described with a
certain degree
of particularity with reference to the drawings, obvious modifications and
variations are possible
S in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that
within the scope of the
appended claims, the invention maybe practiced otherwise than as specifically
described.
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