Dispensing system with fluted probe and valved closure

Abstract

A dispensing device for use in extracting liquid, such as water, from a container of the type which is inverted into a position above a reservoir. The device includes probe which is of simple construction and wherein the surfaces of the probe are exposed and readily observed or inspected. In a preferred embodiment, the probe has a cruciform cross-section through which water may flow when the probe is inserted into an inverted water bottle to separate an inner cap from a sleeve in the center of the closure of the bottle. The probe is supported by and projects from a base which has apertures through which water may flow into a reservoir of the dispenser with which the probe is used. If the probe is a replacement part for an existing dispenser, as opposed to being designed and sold as part of a new dispenser, the base which supports the probe may have an externally threaded cylindrical or cup-shaped portion extending in a direction opposite to that of the probe. The threaded portion of the probe enables a older style tubular probe of an existing dispenser to be replaced by a probe of the present invention. The tip of the probe has a groove for engaging an internally directed bead or rib on the inside surface of the inner cap element (or the plug), whereby the inner cap and the sleeve may be brought into a sealing relationship when the bottle is removed from the dispenser. To assist in maintaining the shape of sleeve of the closure as it is brought into sealing relationship with the inner cap, the probe has a series of discs just below the groove. The discs hold the sleeve in a cylindrical shape as the sleeve is lifted into engagement with the inner cap.