Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This invention relates to an apparatus for
dispensing container lids, and in particular to an apparatus
for dispensing lids of the type including a circular top wall
and a downwardly extending annular flange integral with the
top wall.
It will be appreciated that lids of the type
described above are commonly referred to as coffee cup lids.
Such lids are used with styrofoam or hard plastic cups in
cafeteria style restaurants and other establishments of the
type which sell take-out coffee or tea. The usual practice is
to remove the cover from the cardboard container carrying the
lids, i.e. to leave the lids loose in the container. Quite
often, the lids get mixed with lids of different sizes or are
difficult to separate, i.e. the lids become jammed together.
Lid dispensers have been proposed, for example, by
U.S. Patents Nos. 3,313,452, issued to J. Katz on April 11,
1967 and 4,257,53~, issued to C.M. Berg. The mere fact that
the patented devices do not appear to be available to the
public, strongly suggests that they do not offer satisfactory
solutions to the problem of lid dispensing.
The- object of the present invention is to provide a
solution for the above defined problem in the form of a
relatively simple mechanical lid dispenser, which dispenses
lids of the coffee cup type one at a time.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an
apparatus for dispensing container lids of the type including
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a circular top wall and a downwardly extending annular flange
comprising housing means; partition means dividing the
interior of said housing means into an upper storage chamber
for receiving and storing a stack of lids and a lower
dispenser chamber; dispensing slot means in said housing means
at the lower end of said storage chamber; dispenser means in
said dispenser chamber for dispensing lids one at a time
through said slot means, said dispenser means including lever
means pivotally mounted in said dispenser chamber and
extending out of said dispenser chamber for manual actuation;
arm means in said casing means carried by said lever means
normally extending upwardly, through said partition means into
the area bordered by the flange of the lowermost lid in the
stack; and spring means normall~ biasing said lever means and
said arm means to a rest position in the housing means,
whereby, when the lever means is manually actuated, the arm
means pushes a lid through said slot means, and then returns
s~id spring means, said lever means and arm means to the rest
: position ready for another dispensing operation.
The invention will be described in greater detail
: with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate
a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic, isometric view of a lid
dispenser in accordance with the present invention;
2;5 ~ ~ Figure 2 is a schematic, isometric view of a
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central portion of the apparatus of Fig. l in the open
position;
Figures 3 and 4 are schematic, longitudinal
sectional view of the bottom portion of the apparatus of
S Fig. l; and
Figure 5 is a schematic, isometric view of a
dispenser mechanism used in the apparatus of Figs. l to 4.
APPARATUS
With reference to Fig. l, the lid dispenser of the
present invention includes an elongated housing generally
indicated at 1 which is defined by a top wall 2, side walls 3,
a rear wall 4, a front wall 5 and a base 6. The front wall 5,
which includes a downwardly and outwardl~ inclined ledge 8 and
a downwardly and inwardly inclined lower portion 9, closes
only the bottom portion of the otherwise open front end of the
housing l. The base 6 also includes an inclined ledge ll
extending outwardly from the bottom end of the wall 5, and a
lower front wall 12. A rectangular bottom wall 14 (Figs. 3
and 4) complètes the base 6.
The remainder of the front of the casing 1 is closed
by a door 15 connected by hinges 16 to one side wall 3. An
overhang 18 defined by an inclined front panel 20 and
triangular ends 21 is provided on the bottom end of the door
for limiting access to alot 22 through which lids 24 are
discharged. The lids 24 are stored in the housing 1 on the
Ledge , which extends through the opening 22 into the ho~sing
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1. The ledge 8 has a generally inverted V-shape, including a
rearwardly and downwardly inclined rear portion 25 for
supporting a stack of lids 24. The ledge 8 defines a
partition dividing the interior of the casing 1 into an upper
lid storage chamber 27 and a lower dispenser chamber 28
housing a lid discharge mechanism generally indicated at 30.
Referring to Figs. 3 to 5, the lid discharge
mechanism 30 includes a lever 32 defined by a single rod,
which is bent ~o define a generally U-shape (when viewed from
above) and an L when viewed form the sides. The bottom, inner
ends of the arms 33 of the levex 32 are connected to a rod 35,
which is pivotally mounted in rearwardly and downwardly
inclined notches 36 in plates 37 connected to the bottoms of
the housing sides 3. The arms 33 of the lever 32 extend
outwardly and upwardly through vertical slots 39 in the front
wall portion 9. A rectangular push plate 40 is mounted on the
outer ends of the arms 33 so that the lever 32 can be manually
rotated around the longitudinal axis of the crossbar 35. A
flexible pad 41 is provided on the ledge 11 for preventing
damage to the ledge 11. The lever 32 is biased to a rest
position in which the outer ends of the arms 32 press upwardly ~.
against the top ends of the slots 39 by a helical spring 42,
which extends between the inner or bight end 43 of the lever
32 and a block 45 on the bottom centre of the rear wall 4 of
the housing 1.
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The lever 32 is connected to a second, vertical
lever 46 by a rod 48. The lever 46 is defined by an inver-ted
U-shaped rod 49, the bottom ends S0 of which extend outwardly
into inclined notches 52 in small blocks 53 on the sides 3 of
the housing 1. Thus, the lever 46 is pivotally connected to
the sides 3 for rotation around the axis defined by the ends
50. A pair of spaced apa~t crossbars 55 extend between the
arms of the lever 46 for supporting vertical strips 56. An L
shaped pin 58 extends through aligned holes 59 in the strips
56 and through a hole in the front end of the rod ~8. A
plurality of holes S9 are provided in the strips 56, so that
the location of the rod can be changed to adjust the tension
of the spring 42 on the lever 49. A plate 60 (Fig. 5) extends
between the arms of the lever 46 at the top end thereof to
define a platform . A lid pusher arm 62 is connected to the
plate 60 by a parallelogram linkage. The linkage is defined
by a pair of inverted U-shaped rods 63, the outwardly
extending bottom ends of which are pi~otally mounted in
sleeves 64 on the plate 60. Likewise the top end or bight of
each rod 63 extends through a sleeve on the bottom of the arm
62. The arm 62 is biased forwardly by a helical spring 66
extending between the front of the plate 60 and the rear of
the arm 62. Forward rotation of the arm 62 is limited by a
wire 67 extending between the rear of the plate 60 and the
middle of the arm 62. The arm 62 is formed of rear plate 68
an~ front .ingers 70, which are pivotally interconnected by a
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hinge 71. A plate 72 in the form of a shallow V mounted on
the plate 68 limits upward movement of the finyers 70. ~he
fingers 70 are biased upwardly against the plate 72 b~ a
generally L-shaped wire spring 73, which is mounted on the
rear plate 68. The spring 73 extends around the inner end of
the rear plate 68, beneath such plate 68 and forwardly and
then upwardly into engagement with the inclined front fingers
70.
OPERATION
As best shown in Fig. 4, the fingers 70 on the arm
62 normally extend upwardly through an opening 75 in the ledge
8 inside of the housing 1 and inside of the annular,
downwardly extending flange 76 of the lowermost lid 24. when
the plate 40 is pressed downwardly, the lever 32 pivots around
the longitudinal axis of the rod 35 against the kias of the
spring 42. Rotatior. of the lever 32 is accompanied by
forward movement of the lever 46, which pivots around the
aligned horizontal axes of the ends 50, and corresponding
movement of the arm 62 to push the lids 24 forwardly. A plate
78 limits forward movement of all but the lowermost lid 24.
The fingers 70 push such lowermost lid 24 downwardly and
forwardly beneath the plate 78 (Fig. 4 - phantom outline).
The spring 73 is simultaneously depressed by the lid 24 and
the fingers 70 of the arm 62. The lid 24 leaving the housing
is guided by a pair of guide arms of wires 80 (Figs. 1 and 3).
If the plate 40 is subjected to a quick depression, a lid is
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literally thrown out of the housing 1. Thus, it is merely
necessary to push the plate 40 and the lever 32 downwardly to
move a single lid 24 outwardly to a position where it can be
grasped.
Once a lid has been completely ejected, the wire
spring 73 returns the fingers 70 to the rest position and the
spring 42 causes the levers 32 and 46 to return to the rest
position (Fig. 3). A notch 82 (Fig. 2), is provided in the
plate 78 for facilitating return movement of the fingers 70
into the housing 1. The notch 82 also facilitates outward
movement of the lid flange 76 during ejection of a lid.
Downward movement of the light lids 24 is ensured by the use
of a follower 83 (Figs. 3 and 4) which is merely a strip of
material with triangular sides 84 attached thereto. One end
of the follower 83 leans against the rear wall 4 on one side
of the housing 1, and the bottom end thereof sits on the
uppermost lid 24.
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