Water cooler separator body and assembly

Abstract: An assembly for use in a water cooler designed to hold an inverted water bottle, wherein the assembly includes a reservoir having a cylindrically extending side wall, a shoulder located in the side wall, and a bottom having at least one opening therethrough. The assembly also includes a bottle receiver located at least partially within the reservoir and having a mounting flange, a side wall extending down from the mounting flange to support a water bottle, and an opening at the bottom end of the side wall. A separator body is also provided that has a base extending at least partially over the shoulder on the reservoir, and a probe extending generally perpendicular from the base for engaging a cap of a water bottle. The separator body may include a tube extending down from the base, a bottom portion of which is lockingly engaged with a tube extending from the bottom of the reservoir. A seal may be formed between the separator body tube and the reservoir tube, and the reservoir tube may extend around the opening in the bottom of the reservoir. The base of the separator body may include at least one opening communicating the interior of the separator body tube with a top side of the separator body base.