A bottled water cooler has a bottle inverted into a cooling reservoir, and a double lipped gasket seals the bottle to the reservoir Air is admitted, to permit water flow, through a conduit ending in a housing The housing supports a removable, and replaceable, filter element carrying an extremely fine porosity filter medium A check valve in the housing blocks the conduit unless the filter element is in place The housing and conduit are mounted on the cooler cabinet in a shielded, but conveniently accessible, location

Bottled water cooler air filter

Atomizer for liquids is mounted on a compressible container for the liquid so as to define an atomizing chamber in the neck of the container, which has an outlet nozzle and is connected through a depending tube to the lower part of the container and through a short duct to its upper part. The container is also connected to the open air through inlets controlled by non-return valves preventing the escape of fluid therethrough. When the container is compressed liquid flows into the atomization chamber through the tube, and air flows into it through the duct, so that a spray is dispensed through the nozzle. When the container is permitted to expand air is sucked in through the air inlets, which are larger in section than the nozzle. In one embodiment filters are provided to filter air drawn in through the air inlets.

Atomizer with air inlet valve

A canteen especially useful in contaminated environments includes a hollow watertight container adapted to hold a quantity of a drinking fluid and a filter device extending into the container through an opening at the top. The filter device comprises an elongated tubular member having disposed therein an air filter for filtering the air entering the container and a water filter for filtering the drinking fluid exiting the container. In using the canteen, air is drawn into the container through the air filter and drinking fluid is drawn out from the container through the water filter by suction.

Canteen having a removably mounted filter device

A geothermal heating and air conditioning system having heat exchange coils located vertically in the ground is provided with a condenser receiver and a metering system which allows a relatively large amount of refrigerant to be used within the system for maximum efficiency without the problems of liquid refrigerant buildup which have been previously associated with geothermal systems using vertical coils.

Geothermal heating and air conditioning system

A thermoelectric water chiller system (10) for cooling fluids, and including a mixing valve which enables dispensing of chilled water, warmer fluid, or a mixture of chilled and warmer fluid. Components needing periodic cleaning are readily removable from the system. A fan-cooled thermoelectric module assembly is used to form an ice block which chills the water, and a variable-speed fan (140) is controlled by a temperature sensor (142) to slow the fan (140) speed when chilling to a desired temperature is achieved, and to maintain the ice block at an optimum size. The system (10) is constructed to include a cold probe for cooling the fluid, with the cold probe including a cover acting as a secondary cold sink.

Thermoelectric water chiller

A heat exchanger takes the form of a cylindrical tank having an inlet at one end to receive an influent liquid to be chilled, an outlet at the opposite end of the tank from which the chilled liquid may be discharged. A cooling coil is wrapped around the outer side wall of the tank for circulating a refrigerant in conductive, heat exchange relation to the tank. A cylindrical cup-shaped baffle is arranged coaxially within the tank for directing the influent liquid toward the side wall of the tank, and a pressure-expanded, helically wound conduit is positioned between and disposed in intimate heat exchange contact with both the side wall of the tank and the cup-shaped baffle and defines two relatively separated passages through which separate portions of the influent liquid pass to be chilled by contact with the tank, the baffle and the intervening helically wound conduit.

Richard J Radcliffe

Papers

Heat exchanger for a refrigerated water cooler

Combined dispensing closure and air filter for liquid-containers

Automotive air conditioning system with heat exchanger