US1286223A - Measuring and dispensing device. - Google Patents

Description

M. G. BUNNELL.

MEASUHING AND DISPENSING DEVICE.

APPLlc/mou men mmzs. 19u.

1,286,223.. Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

WITNESS IN VEN 70H @M gymw A TTURNE Y UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

MORTON Gr. BUNNELL, 0F CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN A. HARRELL, 0F DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

MEASURING AND DISPENSING DEVICE.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

Application led March 26, 1917. Serial No. 157,330.

T0 all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MoRToN G. BUNNELL, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Champaign, Champaign county, Illinois, have invented a certain and useful Improvement in Measuring and Dispensing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for dispensing granular or powered materials, such as malted milk or other products, in measured quantities, so that the proper amount will be sold to each customer, and whereby the contents of the bottle or other container will be kept dry and in good condition.

Generally stated, the object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved construction whereby a dispensing and measuring device of this kind will be simple and reliable in operation and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efficiency and desirability of a dispensing device of' this particular character.

To these and other useful ends, my invention consists in mattersv hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dispensing machine embodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan of said machine.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of the -feed-mechanism of said machine.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4 4 in Fig. 3. A

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line 5-5 in Fig. 3.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises' a base A and a hollow member B, the latter supported by legs b on the base. Said member B is formed with a reduced lowe'r portion 1 and an internally threaded upper portion 2, a vshoulder 3 extending around the interior of said member at the bottom of the upper portion 2, which latter is adapted to have the neck portion 4 of a bottle or other container screwed therein.

A plateA C is supported on the shoulder 3,

and held in place by the clamping action of the mouth of the bottle (see Flg. 3), so that this plate is securely held 1n place, but is removable by unscrewing the bottle. The

bottom of the member B is provided with and openlng 5, and the plate- C is provided with an opening c, the two openings being out of register. A central boss 6 extends upward from the bottom of the member B, and a shaft 7 extends upward through this boss. Transverse arms 8 are carried by the up er portion of this shaft, and a sleeve 9 1s keyed to the shaft by the lowermost arm 8, so that this sleeve extends downward over the boss 6 and is rotatable with the shaft. Blades 10 are secured to the sleeve 9, to form a series of pockets or recesses (see Fig. 5), so that rotation of this shaft 7 will carry the materials from the opening c to the opening 5, it being observed that the opening c is approximately equal in area to three of the pockets formed between the blades 10, while the opening 5 is not larger than one of these pockets. To rotate the shaft 7, a handle D is pivoted on the lower end thereof, by a screw d inserted in the lower end of said shaft. A ratchet-wheel 11 is fixed on the lower end of said shaft 7, and said handle D is provided with a pawl 12 for actuating the ratchet-wheel. A detent 13 is pivoted on the bottom of the member D, in position to engage said ratchet-wheel, thereby to prevent backward rotation of the shaft 7 after the same is given a forward rotation by the handle. The member B is provided with stops 14 and 15 between which the handle D swings in ay horizontal plane. A spring 16 connects the handle with the under side of the member B (see dotted lines in Fig. 5), so that the handle is yieldingly maintained in normal position against the stop 15, and is retracted by this spring after the handleY is released. When the handle is moved over against the stop 14', (which is the position shown in Fig. 5), the pawl 12 actuates the ratchet-wheel 11, thereby partially rotating the shaft 7 and the arms 8 and the blades 10, and causing one of the pockets between the blades 10 to carry a measured quantity of the contents of the bottle into position to drop the same through the opening 5, thus discharging a predetermined quantity of the materials. At the same time, an empty pocket is brought around below one end-portion of the opening c, so that after each discharge there are always four pockets which are vfull and two pockets which are empty.

When the handle D is released, the spring 16 draws it back against the stop 15, so that the ratchet-mechanism is then in condition to be given a forward actuation. The detent 13 `prevents the ratchet-mechanism from rotating backward when the handle D is retracted to its normal position by the spring. The base A, it will be seen, has

a curved rib a to position a drinking rcceptacle directly below the opening 5, so that the materials will be discharged into a glass or other drinking receptacle.

In use, the container to be supported on the member B may be of any suitable or desired character. As shown, this container takesthe form of an ordinary glass bottle, such as those in which malted milk is sold, and in such case it is only necessary to remove the closure from the bottle and to then screw the neck of the bottle downward into the member B, in the manner shown. The bottle serves as a sort of lhopper to feed the materials downward to the opening c, andthe arms 8 stir the materials in the neck of the bottle, thereby preventing the materials y from becoming caked or clogged.

Thus it will be seen that a machine is provided for dispensing granular or powdered materials in quantities, such as malted milk or other similar products. 1t willibe understood, however, that the machine can be used with any suitable or desired materials.

`What l claim as my invention is l. A machine for dispensing' powdered materials, such as malted milk, by discharging measured quantities from the original bottle in which the product is sold, comprising a cup having an upper internally' threaded portion to receive the threaded neck of said bottle, so that the bottle will be supported upside down, with a shoulder extending around the bottom of said threaded portion, a plate formed to provide a feed opening and having its edges supported o n said shoulder to be clamped thereon by the mouth of said bottle, the bottom of the cup having an outlet disposed out of register with said feed opening, a central shaft extending upward through said cup and into the neck of said bottle, a feed wheel mounted in said shaft to rotate in said cup below said plate and provided with blades forming pockets between them to feed measured quantities of the product from said fced-opening to said outlet, means on said shaft for stirring the product in the neck of the bottle, a ratchet mechanism on the lower end of said shaft, below the cup, to intermittently rotate said shaft, a horizontally movable lever to operate said mechanism, means to limit the lateral swing of said lever to insure the advancement of said pockets, one at a time, to feed the product, a spring to retract said lever to normal position, and means to support said cup in elevated position with space below for a glass to receive the discharge after each operation.

2. A structure as specified in claim l, said cup having a rigid sleeve extending along said shaft, and said feed wheel having a hub which rotates on said sleeve and which extends over the top of the sleeve to keep the powder from entering between the shaft and the sleeve, with the upper end of said hub projecting through said plate, and means inserted in the upper end of said hub to key the wheel to the shaft.

3. 1n a dispensing machine, the combination of a cup threaded internally in the upper portion thereof, having a shoulder there in, a feed plate on said shoulder, a bottle inverted and screwed into said cup to hold said feed plate upon said shoulder, and feed mechanism below said plate.

4. lin a dispensing machine, thecombination of a feed wheel, a' vertical sleeve forming an axis for` said wheel, a shaft, extending upward through' said sleeve, means to rotate said shaft, said wheel having a hub which extends upward over the top of said sleeve, and means `to key the upper end of the sleeve to the shaft.

Signed by me at Chicago, illinois, this 19th day of March, 1917.

MRTUN G. 'BUNNELL

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