US3215309A

US3215309A - Flat article dispenser

Info

Publication number: US3215309A
Application number: US299751A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry A Holzwarth; John D Wark
Original assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc
Current assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc
Priority date: 1963-08-05
Filing date: 1963-08-05
Publication date: 1965-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 1982-11-02

Description

1965 H. A. HOLZWARTH ETAL 3,215,309

FLAT ARTICLE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 5, 1963 United States Patent 3,215,309 FLAT ARTICLE DISPENSER Henry A. Holzwarth, Bayside, Peter Schladerrnundt,

Bronxville, and John D. Wark, Freeport, N.Y., assignors to Philip Morris Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a

corporation of Virginia Filed Aug. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 299,751 Claims. (Cl. 221-2) The invention concerns a combined holder and dispenser for relatively flat articles of a character adapted to be arranged in a stack. The device is particularly advantageous as a magazine and dispenser for blades such as razor blades.

The dispenser includes a combination of parts wherein manual rotation of an external button causes an inner cam to engage an end of the topmost article and cause it to be advanced through an ejection slot. The mechanism is particularly adapted to dispense successively one at a time relatively thin articles such as razor blades, and to this end it embodies a main disc member rotatable from the manual button the blade stack being urged against an outer segment of the inner face of the disc by a spring means and the disc having a cam means rotatable therewith arranged adjacent the inner face of the disc and, as the disc and cam rotate, the outer area of the disc slides over the surface of the article but the cam engages the end of the article and pushes it out the slot. The arrangement ensures that the article pusher comprising the cam engages the head of the article and does not slide by the end.

Various other advantageous features are associated with the article actuating means in a compact but effective arrangement. These include an indicator means operably connected to be indexed forwardly step-by-step with the successive article dispensing operations, and an associated viewing window whereby the number of articles dispensed or remaining in the stack are readily determinable. There is also embodied a latch mechanism to prevent reverse manual rotation or at least to restrict reverse rotation to an angle less than the amount of rotation for a dispensing operation and accordingly the successive dispensing operations must each be effected in the same direction of rotation. The latch means is of a character which also serves to give an audible click to indicate the completion of the dispensing of a single article.

Other features and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of a representative embodiment of the in vention as disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the complete dispenser;

FIG. 2 is a view looking upwardly at the cover of the container with the actuating mechanism mounted therein but with certain elements partially broken away;

FIG. 3 is a side view with the side wall next to the observer removed;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on substantially the plane 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the individual indicator dial;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an individual spring disc embodied in the assembly; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the rotary disc and cam means attached to the central shaft rotatably mounted in the top wall.

The device comprises a main casing which embodies a bottom rectangular box section 10 having a bottom wall 11 and

end walls

12 and 13, and a pair of opposed side walls one of which is indicated at 14 in FIG. 4. The section 10 has mounted thereon a top wall member 15 which has secured to its under surface a plate member 16 provided with a pair of spaced ribs 17 adapted to serve as guides against which the topmost article of a stack 18 engages. The casing including plate 16 may be made of any suitable material but conveniently is composed of plastic material and the elements may be secured together in any suitable manner such as by adhesive or heat sealing. The stack of articles 18 is urged upwardly by a suitable spring means such as the bent leaf strip 19 whereby the topmost article 18a engages against the ribs 17 on the top Wall. In the latter position, as best seen in FIGURE 4, the topmost article aligns or registers with article exit slot 20 formed in end wall 12. As heretofore noted the device is adapted for the dispensing of various types of articles but is of particular value in dispensing safety razor blades which commonly are relatively thin and not easily separated and dispensed as single units.

The cover 15 carries the actuating means and includes a shaft 30 rotatably mounted in the top wall 15 the outer end of the shaft having secured thereto a manually operable button 31 in the form of a disc which may have a transverse rib 32 for convenient grasping with the fingers.

The inner end of the shaft 30 has secured thereon a disc 34 and formed integral therewith, or secured immediately adjacent the disc, is a cam means 35. The shaft 30 and the elements mounted thereon just described may be composed of plastic material and held assembled as for example by a cap screw at the lower end of the shaft or by mushrooming over the lower end by heat and pressure as indicated at 30a.

To one side of the shaft 30 is located a rotatable indicator disc 36 mounted in a circular opening 37 in the cover 15 and the periphery of the disc 36 also extends into an arcuate shaped opening 38 in the upper surface of the plate 16. The plate 16 also has an arc-shaped flange portion 39 extending under a segment of the indicator dial 36. The disc 36 has an operating connection with the shaft 30 whereby it is advanced a predetermined angle for each dispensing operation of the shaft 30 and the cam means 35. This may be varied in character but in the present case it comprises a form of Geneva indexing means in which an element 41 on the shaft 30 temporarily engages in a notch 42 in the disc 36 and indexes the disc an angle corresponding to that between the center lines of adjacent notches 42. As indicated in for example FIGS. 2 and 5 the notches are formed in the inner surface of the disc 36 the upper surface being unbroken.

Latch means are provided for restricting the reverse rotation of the disc 34 which may be varied in character but in the present instance it comprises a thin plate 45 of elastic material such as metal mounted concentrically with the shaft 30 but held against rotation by means comprising in the present case a pair of radial ribs 46 struck upwardly and adapted to engage in notches 47 in the under surface of the top wall member 15. The spring plate 45 also has a bent lug 48 struck downwardly from the under surface adapted to be engaged by notches 49 in the upper surface of the disc 34.

The present mechanism is designed to eject a blade for each advance of the button 31 and the cam element 35, although this may be varied to effect a dispensing operation for some lesser angle which is evenly divisible into 360 or it may be designed to require one complete 360 turn for the dispensing operation. Since in the device illustrated a dispensing operation is to be accomplished in each 180 turn of the knob, the cam means 35 has two lobes as shown particularly in FIG. 7 and correspondingly the top surface of the disc 34 is provided with two notches 49 arranged 180 apart. FIG. 4 shows the mechanism in the neutral position between dispensing operations and accordingly the lug 48 on the spring disc 45 is engaged in a notch 49 in the disc 34.

FIG. 3 shows the dispensing mechanism turned 90 from that shown in FIG. 4 with the top blade 18a projected from the casing and in this position the right half of the spring disc 45 is flexed upwardly with the latch member 48 riding on the upper surface of the disc 34. As the rotation continues to the home position shown in FIG. 4 the spring latch member 48 snaps into a notch 49 with an audible click indicating the completion of a dispensing operation. The mechanism is designed for clockwise rotation looking down on the device as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly the spring latch 48 on the disc 45 and the notch 49 in the upper surface of disc 34 are arranged so as to prevent counter clockwise rotation from the position of the parts shown in FIG. 4.

As heretofore noted the spring member 19 urges the stack of blades upwardly with the right end in engagement with a segment on the under surface of the disc 34. Accordingly upon rotation of the mechanism the lower surface of disc 34 moves freely over the surface of the top blade; but the corresponding lobe of cam 35 engages the inner end of the top blade 18a and the blade is held against flexing or distortion and the cam continues in engagement with the blade end to force it out the slot. The thickness of the cam member 35 corresponds of course to the thickness of a single blade.

The actuating means for the indicator disc 36 is arranged for operation in timed relation with the dispensing of a blade. Accordingly the element 41 is adapted to engage in a notch 42 just prior to the completion of a dispensing operation and at the completion of a dispensing operation the disc actuating means is as shown in the home position of FIGS. 2 and 4. Since as heretofore noted the device is adapted to perform a dispensing operation for each 180 turn of the button 31 and shaft 30, two effective elements 41 arranged diametrically are required. Accordingly the elements 41 may be provided by a pin adapted to extend through a diametral hole in the shaft 30. Other actuating elements for the disc 36 may be employed such as a pair of pins extending upwardly from the disc 34 and spaced 180 apart.

The disc 36 has associated therewith indicator means including an arc-shaped viewing opening 50 formed in the top wall member and adjacent thereto suitable graduation marks such as the numbered marks 51 shown in FIG. 1. The upper surface of the disc 36 is prefer ably provided with a reference mark such as indicated at 52 and also the area back of the mark 52 may be given a distinctive appearance as indicated at 53, such as being colored differently from the other parts. It will be apparent that as the button 31 is successively rotated in the clockwise direction the disc 36 will be indexed counter clockwise. FIG. 1 indicates by the colored area 53 and the reference mark 52 that six blades remain in the casing to be dispensed.

Since various changes may be made in the dispenser and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the principle of the device it will be understood that all matter contained herein shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A dispenser for flat articles adapted to be arranged in a stack comprising, an elongated substantially flat main casing adapted to hold a stack of the articles, said casing having an article exit slot at one end a shaft rotatably mounted in said casing, a manually rotatable button secured to said shaft externally of the casing for rotating said shaft, a cam secured to said shaft internally of the casing and rotatable therewith, said cam engaging an edge of the outermost article at one side of said stack as it rotates for advancing said article out said slot, said button and cam being successively rotatable in the same direction a predetermined angle to effect the advance and dispensing of the successive articles, and having a latch means arranged to restrict rotation of the button and cam in the reverse direction.

2. A dispenser for fiat articles adapted to be arranged in a stack comprising, an elongated substantiallyfiat main casing adapted to hold a stack of the articles, said casing having an article exit slot at one end, a shaft rotatably mounted in said casing, a manually rotatable button secured to said shaft externally of the casing for rotating said shaft, a cam secured to said shaft internally of the casing and rotatable therewith, said cam engaging an edge of the outermost article at one side of said stack as it rotates for advancing said article out said slot, indicator means comprising a disc rotatably mounted in said casing, below a viewing window in the casing and an operating connection comprising peripheral notches in the disc and an element rotatable with said shaft adapted to engage therewith to index successively the disc forwardly with successive article dispensing rotations of said shaft and cam.

3. A dispenser for flat articles adapted to be arranged in a stack comprising, an elongated substantially flat, main casing adapted to hold a stack of the articles, said casing having an article exit slot at one end thereof, spring means arranged to urge the stack in one direction with the topmost article registering with said slot, a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in said casing, a manually rotatable button secured to said shaft externally of the casing for rotating said shaft, a disc secured to said shaft internally of the casing, said disc having an inner face and said spring means urging the top article against a section of said inner face of said disc, and cam means positioned adjacent said inner face of the disc and rotatable therewith and engaging said top article for advancing it out said slot.

4. A dispenser for razor blades comprising an elongated substantially flat main casing adapted to hold a stack of the blades therein, said casing including a top wall and a blade exit slot at one end, a spring means for urging the stack of blades upwardly with the outer end of the topmost blade registering with said slot, a dispensing means arranged at the opposite end of the stack embodying a vertical shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and extending outwardly through said top wall, a manually rotatable button secured to said shaft externally of said casing for rotating said shaft, a disc secured to said shaft internally of the casing, said spring means urging the inner end of the top blade against a section of the inner face of said disc, a cam means arranged at said inner face of the disc and rotatable therewith and engaging said inner end of the topmost blade for advancing it out said slot, an indicator member rotatably mounted in the casing below said top wall, and an operating connection between said member and said dispensing mechanism for advancing said member in successive steps in accordance with the successive blade dispensing operations, said top wall having a window for viewing said indicator member thereby to determine the number of blades in the stack.

5. A dispenser for razor blades comprising an elongated substantially flat main casing adapted to hold a stack of the blades therein, said casing including parallel top and bottom walls and a pair of parallel end walls, one of said end walls having a blade exit slot therein, said top wall having a viewing window therein, spring means for supporting said stack of blades and urging said stack upwardly with the uppermost blade registering with said slot, a vertical shaft rotatably supported in said top wall and extending downwardly a distance in said casing, a manually rotatable push button connected with said shaft externally of said casing for rotating said shaft, a disc having parallel upper and lower faces connected to said shaft internally of the casing, the upper face of said disc having a pair of diametrically opposed notches therein, said spring means urging a portion of said uppermost blade into engagement with the lower face of said disc, cam means connected with said shaft under said disc, said cam means engaging an inner end of said topmost blade for advancing it out said slot when said shaft is rotated in one direction, a spring plate supported concentrically over said disc and having radial ribs extending into said top Wall to prevent rotation of said spring plate, said spring plate having a peripheral lug thereon for engaging the notches in said disc to prevent reverse rotation of said disc, indicator means supported in said casing under said viewing window for indicating the number of blades to be dispensed, and means for advancing the indicator means each time a blade is dispensed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 591,846 10/97 Kerr 221-232 2,473,812 6/49 Muros 221-2 2,572,737 10/51 Lehner 221-268 2,926,673 3/60 Bernard 221-7 FOREIGN PATENTS 58,552 4/13 Austria.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS I. DEMBO, Examiner.

Claims

5. A DISPENSER FOR RAZOR BLADES COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT MAIN CASING ADAPTED TO HOLD A STACK OF THE BLADES THEREIN, SAID CASING INCLUDING PARALLEL TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AND A PAIR OF PARALLEL END WALLS, ONE OF SAID END WALLS HAVING A BLADE EXIT SLOT THEREIN, SAID TOP WALL HAVING A VIEWING WINDOW THEREIN, SPRING MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID STACK OF BLADES AND URGING SAID STACK UPWARDLY WITH THE UPPERMOST BLADE REGISTERING WITH SAID SLOT, A VERTICAL SHAFT ROTATABLY SUPPORTED IN SAID TOP WALL AND EXTENDING DONWARDLY A DISTANCE IN SAID CASING, A MANUALLY ROTATABLE PUSH BUTTON CONNECTED WITH SAID SHAFT EXTERNALLY OF SAID CASING FOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT, A DISC HAVING PARALLEL UPPER AND LOWER FACES CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT INTERNALLY OF THE EASING, THE UPPER FACE OF SAID DISC HAVING A PAIR OF DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED NOTCHES THEREIN, SAID SPRING MEANS URGING A PORTION OF SAID UPPERMOST BLADE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOWER FACE OF SAID DISC, CAM MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID SHAFT UNDER SAID DISC, SAID CAM MEANS ENGAGING AN INNER END OF SAID TOPMOST BLADE FOR ADVANCING IT OUT SAID SLOT WHEN SAID SHAFT IS ROTATED IN ONE DIRECTION, A SPRING PLATE SUPPORTED CONCENTRICALLY OVER SAID DISC AND HAVING RADIAL RIBS EXTENDING INTO SAID TOP WALL TO PERVENT ROTATION OF SAID SPRING PLATE, SAID SPRING PLATE HAVING A PERIPHERAL LUG THEREON FOR ENGAGING THE NOTCHES IN SAID DISC TO PREVENT REVERSE ROTATION OF SAID DISC, INDICATOR MEANS SUPPORTED IN SAID CASING UNDER SAID VIEWING WINDOW FOR INDICATING THE NUMBER OF BLADES TO BE DISPENSED, AND MEANS FOR ADVANCING THE INDICATOR MEANS EACH TIME A BLADE IS DISPENSED.