GB2145071A - Cup and like dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

A cup dispenser comprises a retainer (6) for receiving a stack of cups, a number of first levers constituting a first retaining means (30) pivotally mounted on an inner ring for retaining the lowermost cup (40) of the stack, a number of second levers (31) constituting a second retaining means pivotally mounted on the inner ring for retaining the next lowest cup in the stack, a number of ejection levers pivotally mounted on an outer ring (8) which concentrically surrounds the inner ring and a drive mechanism for actuating the levers. The drive mechanism includes an electromagnet which is arranged to act on the outer ring (8) via a lever linkaged to move the outer ring downwards. Movement of the outer ring (8) in this direction is effective first to engage cam surfaces on the second levers (31) to move said levers to a position in which they engage the next lowermost cup (41) in the stack, then to engage cam surfaces on the first levers (30) to move said levers to a position in which they release the lowest cup (40) and then to allow the ejection levers to act on the lowest cup and to eject the cup (40) from the dispenser. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cup and like dispenser This invention relates to a cup or like dispenser.

Plastic and paper cups are today used in many applications since such cups can be thrown away when used and in this way washing up etc. is avoided.

However, although plastic and paper cups are relatively cheap, they nevertheless add up to a sizeable figure when they are used in-any quantities. Therefore, when the cups are being supplied as part of a service i.e. in drink vending machines, it is highly desirable that the cup should not be available for anybody to take but purely supplied when a drink is required. Various proposals have been made to this end i.e. to provide for the feed of paper or plastic cups singly from a stack of such cups.

However, existing methods are either very complex, or can go wrong if siight variants of the cups are used. This latter can cause jamming and prevent thc machine from operating until attended to by a service engineer.

The present invention seeks to provide a plastic or paper cup or like dispenser in which some or all of the above disadvantages are obviated or substantially reduced.

According to the invention a cup dispenser comprises stack means for receiving a stack of cups, first retaining means for retaining the lowermost cup of a stack, second retaining means for retaining the next lowest cup in the stack, ejection means for engaging the lowermost cup and separating it from the stack and a drive mechanism for actuating the first and second retaining means and the ejection means such that the first and second retaining means operate substantially alternately and the injection means operates when said first retaining means is released.

Preferably the first and second retaining means comprise detent levers engageable under the lip of the associated cup and the ejection means comprises an ejection lever engageable with the upper edge of the cup lip.

At least three of each type of lever are desirably spaced equidistantly around the cup position so as to provide at least a three point support for the cup. Preferably at least four sets of levers are provided but more than four sets of levers can be used if desired.

The retaining levers may be mounted in a ring or annulus which surrounds the cup, the levers being pivoted so as to depend from their pivots and being moved between nonengagement and engagement with the cup by means of a cam arrangement. Between engagement and non-engagement positions, they are free to move under the action of the cup.

Thus the sides of the levers away from the cup position are preferably formed as cam surfaces, these cam surfaces co-operating with an outer ring slidably actuable relative to the inner ring and acting on the cam surfaces of the levers.

In this case, the ejection lever is preferably mounted on the exterior ring and is provided with a cam surface on its side adjacent the inner ring and cooperating with the inner ring for movement from its ejection to its nonejection position by the action of this cam surface and from its non-ejection to its ejection position by a return spring.

Suitably the inner ring may be stationary and the outer ring may be driven up and down by means of an electromagnet and a return spring.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of one form of cup dispensing arrangement in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is an elevational view of the inner ring of the apparatus shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view showing diagrammatically the positioning of the relative levers; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V-V of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawings, a cup dispenser in accordance with the invention, in one form, comprises a frame or enclosure 1 whose form can be seen in chain-lines in Figure 1. This casing encloses an inner ring 2 which has upper and lower grooves 3 and 4 therein to receive a stack retainer 6 and a cup outlet channel 7 respectively. Movable up and down around this inner stationary ring is an outer ring 8 which is connected by a lever arm 9, pivoted at 14, to the armature 10 of an electromagnet 11, the electromagnet and lever being provided with a return spring 1 2.

The outer ring is provided with four apertures 20 which receive ejection levers 21 and eight apertures 23 and 24 which co-operete with the retaining levers as will be described hereafter. The ejection levers 21 are biassed inwardly by means of a spring ring 26 and are pivotally mounted on a circlip 27 which lies in a groove in the ring 8. The inner stationary ring 2 carries two sets of retaining levers 30 and 31 in respective apertures 32 and 33. These levers 30 and 31 are pivotally mounted in the apertures on a circlip 34. Four apertures 35 are also provided which cooperate with the ejection levers as will be described hereafter.

In operation of the dispenser, a stack of cups is placed in the stack retainer 6 and energisation of the electromagnet will feed one cup at a time into the outlet channel 7, the outlet channel 7 having a slightly nar rowed opening sufficient to retain the cup which has been ejected, by friction to prevent it from falling out. The operation of the mechanism will now be described: Referring particularly to Figures 4 and 5, a pair of cups 40 and 41 representing the lowermost and next lowermost cups of a stack are shown.

In the loading position, the outer ring 8 is raised relative to the inner ring 2 as shown in Figure 4 and 5 so that the rear surface 42 of each lower retaining lever 30 (Figure 4) engages the solid part of the outer ring 8 and is thereby forced inwardly to enable it to engage, with its engagement prong 43, under the lip 44 of the lowermost cup 40. At the same time, each upper retaining lever 31 has its rear surface 46 protruding through its associated slot 23 so that it will either remain out of the way or will be moved out of the way by any descending cup. Also the ejection lever 21 (Figure 5) will be pushed to its outer position by engagement of its cam surface 51 with the solid part of the inner ring 2.

In this situation the stack of cups can be loaded into the stack retainer 6 and will pass down the stack retainer until the lowermost cup engages with its lip on the engagement prong 43 of the lever 30. In this position the cup will remain inside the outlet channel 7 which will prevent the cup from being removed. In order to dispense a cup, the electromagnet is energised pulling up the armature and pivoting the lever mechanism 9 about its pivot 11, thus moving the outer ring 8 downwardly.

As the ring 8 moves downwardly, the solid part of the ring 8 will engage the rear surfaces 46 of the second retaining levers 31 so as to push the levers inwards so that the engagement portions 48 of the levers 31 are pushed under the lip 49 of the last but one cup 41, thus holding the stack by means of the last but one cup. At substantially the same time but preferably with a slight overlap, the rear surfaces 42 of the levers 30 take up alignment with the associated slots 24 permitting any movement of the cup 40 in the downward direction to push the levers out of the way and so allow the cup to be released.

The downward movement of the ring 8 also affects the ejection levers 21 as the respective cam surfaces 52 will enter the associated slots 35 allowing each ejection lever to pivot into a position in which its toe 53 is located just above the lowermost cup 40. The levers are assisted in this by the spring ring 26. A heel 54 on each lever 21 will engage the bottom of the associated aperture 20 in the outer ring 8 so as to prevent the levers 21 from moving too far into the cup space thereby damaging the cup and preventing efficient return of the levers during return motion. As the outcr ring 8 proceeds further downwards, the toes 53 of the ejection levers 21 will start to push down on the rim 44 of the cup 40 and will separate it from the cup 41 which is being retained by the levers 31 and allow the cup 40 to pass into the outer channel 7 from which it will protrude until removed manually.As soon as the ring 8 reaches the bottom of its down stroke, the return spring 1 2 will return the ring to its uppermost position.

In proceeding upwards, the reverse action will take place. The ejection levers 21 will be returned to the original position both by engagement of the upper part of the toes 53 on the lip 49 of the next cup 41 and also by cam action thereon against the action of the spring 26. The first levers 30 will move back into the position ready to receive the next cup and thereafter the second levers 31 will be withdrawn allowing the stack of cups to drop so that the next cup, which is now 41, is in position ready to be dispensed.

It will be appreciated that in the above described apparatus, jamming of the mechanism is particularly difficult and where two cups become totally jammed together such that they cannot be separated by the operation of the ejection levers 21, all that will happen is that no cups will be dispensed on that occasion and with the return operation, if the timing of the levers is correctly arranged, the cup stack will drop by one cup. On the next operation, two cups will be dOspensed.

In this way, while there is malfunction during one operation, this jamming will clear itself on the next operation thus dispensing with the need for expensive service calls for jammed machines.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the number of levers used may vary from four and may for example be three or more than four. Although it might be possible to have some operations with only two levers, the possibilities of the cups swinging as a result would make the possibility of the mechanism jamming much more likely and is therefore not to be recommended. The levers may be provided with suitable adjustments so that the spacing between the cups which can be used can be varied so as to enable use of different makes of cups having different stacking distances and also for use in those machines in which ingredients are pre-packed into the cups, the stack then varying in dependence on the amount of ingredients for any particular desired product. While the movement is produced by electromagnet and lever, it would be possible to mount a coil externally of the outer ring and use this outer ring as the armature of a solenoid. Furthermore it is not essential that the inner ring remains stationary and the outer ring moves, the operation could in fact be achieved by moving the inner ring and not the outer. In these circumstances the arrange ment of the levers would be desirably altered as with the present arrangement the movement of the inner ring instead of the outer ring would cause significant movement of the cup stack.

Claims (1)

1. A cup dispenser comprising stack means for receiving a stack of cups, first retaining means for retaining the lowermost cup of a stack, second retaining means for retaining the next lowest cup in the stack, ejection means for engaging the lowermost cup and separating it from the stack and a drive mechanism for actuating the first and second retaining means and the ejection means such that the first and second retaining means operate substantially alternately and the ejection means operates when said first retaining means is released.

2. A cup dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the first and second retaining means comprise detent levers engageable under the rim of an associated cup and wherein the ejection means comprises an ejection lever engageable with the upper edge of the rim of a cup.

3. A cup dispenser according to claim 2, wherein at least three of each type of lever are provided, the levers of each type being spaced equi-distantly around the cup position so as to provide at least a three point support for the cups.

4. A cup dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the detent levers are pivotally mounted on a first ring or annulus which is adapted to surround the cups, the levers being movable between non-engagement and engagement positions with the cups by means of a cam arrangement.

5. A cup dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the sides of the detent levers facing away from the cups are formed as cam surfaces, said surfaces being arranged to cooperate with an outer ring which is slidable relative to the first inner ring or annulus and which is arranged to act on the cam surfaces of said detent levers.

6. A cup dispenser according to claim 5, wherein the ejection levers are pivotally mounted on the outer ring and each is provided with a cam surface on its side adjacent the inner ring or annulus, said cam surfaces being arranged to be acted on by the inner ring or annulus to move said ejection levers from a cup-ejection position to a non-ejection position.

7. A cup dispenser according to claim 6, wherein the ejection levers are arranged to be moved from the nonejection position to the ejection position by means of at least one spring acting on said levers.

8. A cup dispenser according to claim 7, wherein the spring takes the form of a spring ring which is located in a groove in said outer ring and which encompasses the ejection levers.

9. A cup dispenser according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the ejection levers are arranged to project through apertures in the inner ring or annulus at least when in the ejection position.

10. A cup dispenser according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the inner ring or annulus is arranged to be stationary and wherein the outer ring is axially movable with respect to the inner ring or annulus.

11. A cup dispenser according to claim 10, wherein the outer ring is arranged to be moved by an electromagnet.

12. A cup dispenser according to claim 11, wherein the outer ring is arranged to be moved in one direction by the electromagnet and in the other opposite direction by a return spring.

1 3. A cup dispenser according to claim 12, wherein movement of the outer ring in said one direction is effective first to move the detent levers of the second retaining means into a position to retain the second lowermost cup of a stack of cups, then to allow the detent levers of the first retaining means to release the lowest cup and then to allow the ejection levers to move to the ejection position to eject said lowest cup from the dispenser and wherein movement of the outer ring in said other direction is effective first to move the ejection levers to the non-ejection position, then to move the detent levers of the first retaining means into the cup engagement position and then to move the detent levers of the second retaining means into the nonengagement position so that the stack of cups can drop until the next lowest cup, which is now the lowest cup in the stack, is engaged by the detent levers of the first retaining means.

14. A cup dispenser substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

1. A cup dispenser comprising stack means for receiving a stack of cups, first retaining means for retaining the lowermost cup of a stack, second retaining means for retaining the next lowest cup in the stack, ejection means for engaging the lowermost mechanism for actuating the first and second retaining means and the ejection means such that the first and second retaining means operate substantially first retaining means is released, wherein the first and second retaining means comprise detent levers engageable under the rim of an associated cup and wherein the ejection means comprises an ejection lever engageable with the upper edge of the rim of a cup, at least three of each type of lever being provided, the levers of each type being spaced equi-distantly around the cup position so as to provide at least a three point support for the cups.