AU683887B2

AU683887B2 - Liquid dispensing means

Info

Publication number: AU683887B2
Application number: AU68633/94A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Mark V. McPherson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-07-21
Filing date: 1994-07-21
Publication date: 1997-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 2014-07-21
Also published as: AU6863394A

Description

"LIQUID DISPENSING MEANS" This invention relates to liquid dispensing means.

In particular this invention relates to liquid dispensing means which may be utilised to dispense drinking water for animals and for illustrative purposes particular reference will be made hereinafter to dispensing apparatus in the form of a water bowl for a pet. However this invention is not limited to such application and may be used to dispense liquid in many applications where maintenance of a dispensed liquid level within relatively narrow limits is desired.

Water bowls for pets are typically open bowls which require frequent filling or cleaning. The frequent filling may be necessitated by the relatively large exposed surface area of the water in the bowl compared to the volume of water contained, resulting in high rates of evaporation, and spills such as by overturning the bowl is a frequent problem. To overcome this, many pet owners use very heavy water containers in an effort to prevent accidental spillage of the water.

The present invention aims to alleviate at least one of 20 the above disadvantages and to provide dispensing apparatus which will be reliable and efficient in use.

With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in liquid dispensing apparatus of the type including bowl having a base wall surrounded by a side wall, an impermeable cover assembly sealable to said bowl, and said cover assembly extending inwardly from an upper portion of said bowl to a bowl access opening spaced below the upper portion of said bowl and said cover assembly terminating close to said base wall whereby an annular column of replenishing liquid of a height approaching the height of the bowl may be supported in said bowl above an exposed lower liquid level at said opening.

In one preferred embodiment, the cover assembly is releasably engageable with said bowl means. In an alternative preferred embodiment, the cover assembly is integrally formed with said bowl means.

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la In another aspect, this invention resides broadly in a method of dispensing a liquid from a bowl, the method including: providing liquid dispensing apparatus of the type including bowl having a base wall surrounded by a side wall, and an impermeable cover assembly sealed to said bowl and extending inwardly from an upper portion of said bowl to an access opening spaced below the upper portion of said bowl and terminating close to said base wall so as to form an annular space about said access opening; filling the annular space to form an annular column of replenishing liquid in said liquid dispensing apparatus of a height approaching the height of the bowl, whereby said annular column provides replenishing liquid to said access opening. Suitably, the sealed cover assembly permits the level of the annular column to be maintained by maintaining a partial vacuum in the bowl below the cover assembly.

V o 2 Suitably the access opening is disposed adjacent the base of the bowl means such that the depth of water accessible through said access opening is minimised and suitably the cover wall surrounding the access opening diverges upwardly from the access opening.

In a preferred form the dispensing apparatus constitutes a water dispenser for animals and the bowl means includes a relatively large base providing operative stability for maintaining the dispensing apparatus in an upright attitude against a sideways force applied thereto, such as when it is pushed sideways by an animal seeking access to the exposed water therein.

It is also preferred that the water storage be concentrated above the peripheral portion of the base for maximising the stability and with so that the centre of gravity is no more than about one-half the width of the base above the base. Preferably the centre of gravity is maintained in the range of one-sixth to one-quarter the width of the base above the base.

20 If desired the dispensing apparatus may be provided with a heat reflective outer surface or cover. The bowl means may be formed of any suitable configuration and the cover means may extend partially about the upper periphery of the bowl means or fully about the upper periphery of the bowl 25 means. In a preferred form the bowl means has a symmefrical plan form and the access opening is disposed centrally of the bowl means.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate typical embodiments of the invention adapted as a water bowl for pets and wherein:- FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the water bowl; FIG. 2 illustrates two methods of filling the water bowl;

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3 FIG. 3 provides plan views of alternate forms of water bowls according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 illustrates a further application of the embodiments illustrated in FIG. 2.

The water bowl assembly 10 includes a cylindrical or frusto-conical bowl portion 11 and a cover assembly 12 sealably engaged with the upper peripheral edge of the bowl portion 11. The cover assembly 12 has a central opening 14 located near the base 15 of the bowl portion 11 and formed by the bottom edge 23 of an upwardly diverging frustoconical cover portion 16 which extends from the upper inner edge 17 of an upper collar portion 18.

The dimension of the upwardly diverging frusto-conical portion 16 is such as to permit a dog's snout to pass beyond 15 the collar 18 for gaining access water 19 disposed at the level indicated.

The cover assembly 12 and the bowl portion 11 are sealably engaged with one another and the access opening 14 constitutes the only opening into the bowl portion 11.

20 Accordingly if the bowl is filled with water, water will be supplied through the access opening 14 into the lower part of the frusto-conical portion 16 until atmospheric pressure on the water exposed in the frusto-conical portion 16 supports the column of water, such as to the level indicated 25 at 20, located in the annular bowl part 21. The column of water will be subject to a reduced pressure in the free zone 22 resulting from the falling of the water to level causing a reduction of pressure in the space 22.

As water is taken from the access opening 14, the level will be automatically maintained as a result of air bubbles entering into the space 22 through the access opening 14 when the water level therein falls sufficiently for a portion of the lower edge 23 to communicate with the atmosphere.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the water bowl assembly 10 may be filled by inverting it and squirting water into the bowl 1 through the gap between the lower end 23 forming the access opening 14, and the base wall 15. Alternatively the cover assembly 12 may be provided with a sealable screw plug fitting 30 which may be removed to enable the bowl to be filled in a conventional manner. In the latter arrangement, filling of the bowl will also fill the upwardly diverging frusto-conical portion 16 which will provide extra capacity for the bowl assembly.

It will be seen that in use the bowl assembly as illustrated in FIG. 1 will be very stable as a result of the ballast constituted by the column of water extending peripherally around the outer portion of the bowl. If desired the bowl portion 11 may be of frusto-conical shape, tapering upwardly and inwardly from the base wall Furthermore movement of the bowl, such as would result from it being used within a moving vehicle, will not cause the water in the bowl assembly to spill.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 the bowl portion 20 is cylindrical and the access opening 14 is disposed 20 concentrically with the bowl portion 19. Alternatively as illustrated in FIG. 3A the bowl may be adapted to fit into the corner of a room and the access opening 40 may be defined between the adjacent inner walls of the bowl 41 and the inner downwardly extending wall portion 43 of the cover 25 assembly 44. The downwardly extending wall portion 43 extends downwardly and terminates in spaced relationship with the base wall In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a header tank adapted to increase the available stored drinking water is connected to the water bowl assembly 10 through a connection 51 in the collar 18 via a flexible tube 52.

It will be seen from the above that a water bowl is provided which has a reservoir for supplying water as required through the access opening for drinking. The amount of water exposed to atmosphere is minimised as is the resultant evaporation and loss by spillage, even if the bowl

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is accidentally inverted. The cover assembly 12 could be formed as a sealable screw-on cover for the cylindrical bowl portion 11 to enable access to be gained to the interior surfaces for cleaning purposes.

It will of course be realised that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as claimed in the following claims.

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Claims

1. Liquid dispensing apparatus of the type including bowl having a base wall surrounded by a side wall, an impermeable cover assembly sealable to said bowl, and said cover assembly extending inwardly from an upper portion of said bowl to a bowl access opening spaced below the upper portion of said bowl and said cover assembly terminating close to said base wall whereby an annular column of replenishing liquid of a height approaching the height of the bowl may be supported in said bowl above an exposed lower liquid level at said opening.

2. Liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein liquid in said access opening is maintained at a S•substantially constant level substantially independently from the quantity of said replenishing liquid in said :column.

3. Liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said cover assembly is releasably engageable with said bowl, and said cover assembly includes a top wall and an access opening wall which diverges upwardly from said access opening.

4. Liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said cover assembly is integrally formed with said bowl means. Liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said bowl means includes a relatively large base providing operative stability for maintaining the dispensing apparatus in an upright attitude against an applied sideways force. MMMM M

6. A method of dispensing a liquid from a bowl, the method including: providing liquid dispensing apparatus of the type including bowl having a base wall surrounded by a side wall, and an impermeable cover assembly sealed to said bowl and extending inwardly from an upper portion of said bowl to an access opening spaced below the upper portion of said bowl and terminating close to said base wall so as to form an annular space about said access opening; filling the annular space to form an annular column of replenishing liquid in said liquid dispensing apparatus of a height approaching the height of the bowl, whereby said annular column provides replenishing liquid to said access opening.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said annular column is maintained by maintaining a partial vacuum in the bowl below the cover assembly.

9. Liquid dispensing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of FIGS. 1 to 4. C DATED THIS TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY OF AUGUST 1997. MARK V McPHERSON BY PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS I- ~C I~L-U ABSTRACT Dispensing apparatus including bowl means and an impermeable cover assembly sealably engaged or integral with said bowl means. The cover assembly extends inwardly from an upper portion of the bowl means to a bowl access opening spaced below the upper portion of the bowl means. The access opening is disposed adjacent the base of the bowl means such that the depth of water accessible through the access opening is minimised and the cover wall surrounding the access opening diverges upwardly from the access opening. The dispensing apparatus may be used for watering animals .:and the bowl means may include a relatively large base providing operative stability for maintaining the dispensing apparatus in an upright attitude against a sideways force applied thereto, such as when it is pushed sideways by an animal seeking access to the exposed water therein. I