US3272411A

US3272411A - Portable storage and dispensing devices

Info

Publication number: US3272411A
Application number: US390965A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy R Hanson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-08-20
Filing date: 1964-08-20
Publication date: 1966-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 1983-09-13

Description

Sept. 13, 1966 R, R. HANsoN 3,272,411

PORTABLE STORAGE AND DISPENSING DEVICES Filed Aug. 20, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Rov R.- HANsoN BY a: .l ff,-

ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 R R, HANSON 3,272,4111

PORTABLE STORAGE AND DISPENSING DEVICES Filed Aug. 20, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ROY R. HANSON ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1966 R, R, HANSON 3,272,411

PORTABLE STORAGE AND DISPENSING DEVICES Filed Aug. 20, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 6 Fl G. lo 25 Elsa INVENTOR.

ROY R. HANSON ATTORNEY SEP- 13, 1966 R. R. HANsoN PORTABLE STORAGE AND DISPENSING DEVICES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed Aug. 20, 1964 INVENTOR ROY R. HANSGN ATTORNEY United States Patent() PORTABLE STORAGE ,AND DISPENSING DEVICES Roy R. Hanson, Maryland Heights, M0., assignor of onefourth to William H. Anderson, Glencoe, Mo., and onefourth each to Joseph H. Schierman and George Blase,

both of St. Louis, Mo.

Filed Aug. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 390,965 10 Claims. (Cl. 224-15) This invention relates in general to portable storage and dispensing devices and, more particularly, to a dispensing carrier for `small cali-ber ammunition capable of storing a full box or case of ammunition in an ordered arrangement from which single rounds can be manually dispensed one at a time in a predetermined positional presentation t facilitate loading.

In hunting, the average sportsman must carry at least one extra box of ammunition in addition to the number of cartridges which he can load into the magazine of his riile. Such boxes are made of cardboard and do not withstand the weather conditions and rough handling encountered in the ield. Moreover, each time it is necessary to reload the magazine, the vcardboard box must be opened and the cartridges .manually removed one at a time, placed in the magazine, and the box reclosed. Since a box of ammunition usually contains several dozen cartridges, this must `be done sever-al times during a days hunting. Under field conditions, while hunting, this is a highly inconvenieint, tedious and time-consuming operation. In many instances, the box begins to come apart and, after one or two loadings, the cartridges are loose and disordered, which further adds to the diiiiculty and inconvenience of subsequent handling.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a portable storage and dispensing carrier yfor small-caliber ammunition.

It is another object of the present invention -to provide a carrier of the type stated which will hold the ammunition in ordered arrangement and deliver the cartridges one at a time in a predetermined position of presentation for maximum convenience in loading a rifle magazine or cartridge clip.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a carrier of the type stated in which the entire contents of a `conventional package or box of ammunition can be easily and quickly placed for storage and dispensung.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a carrier of the type stated which is rugged, durable and convenient to use.

It is likewise an object of the present invention to provide a carrier of the type stated which is relatively inexpensive and is suciently compact vtha it can be easily supported from a belt or similar article of apparel.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. l is a perspective view of an ammunition carrier constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the ammunition carrier taken from the left side (reference ybeing made to FIG. 1);

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the ammunition carrier;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the ammunition carrier taken from the right side (reference being made to FIG. l);

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the ammunition carrier;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the ammunition carrier;

ICC

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the ammunition carr-ier;

FIG. 8 is an internal side elevational view of the removable side wall of the ammunition carrier;

FIG. 9 is a top plan vie-w of the removable side wall lof the ammunition carrier;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are fragmentary sectional views taken along lines 10-10 and 11-11, respectively, of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the ammunition carrier shown in `the process of being filled;

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the -tilled ammunition carrier partly broken away to show the arrangement or disposition of the lcon-tents therein;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary sectional View of the ammuni- .tion carrier taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view of the forward or dispensing end of the ammunition carrier taken -along line 15-15 of FIG. 13 and showing a series of cartridges in position prior to being dispensed;

FIG. 16 is a transverse sectional view 16-16 of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 15, showing a cartridge in the process of beingdispensed; and

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary sectional view also similar to FIG. 15, of the `ammunition carrier, showing a cartridge in the nal stage of being dispensed.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, A designates an ammunition carrier of generally hollow, box-like shape formed in any suitable manner from a lightweight strong, rigid material. For example, the ammunition carrier A can be molded from a structurally strong synthetic resin, can be stamped and drawn from sheet metal, or can be die-cast from lan aluminum alloy. Irrespect-ive of the method of fabrication, the ammunition carrier A consists of an open-sided main container housing 1, a removable side wall 2 adapted to t closurewise across the open side of the housing 1, a spring clip 3 adapted to hold the housing 1 and side rwall 2 in mutually engaged or closed position in relation to each other, an internal spring-pressed Iplunger 4 for progressively feeding the cartridges forward to dispensing position, and :a spring 5 for biasing the plunger 4.

The main container or housing lis preferably fabricated in one piece and integrally includes a substantially rectilinear side wall 6, atop wall 7, a bottom wall 8, and a rear wall 9, the latter being somewhat trapezoidal in shape, with the result that the top wall 7 and the bottom wall t8 converge in the direction of the side wall 6 and the latter is parallel to, but somewhat narrower than, the removable side wall 2. Along its outer margin, the top wall 7 is provided with an inwardly indented rectilinear slide channel .10 which extends the full length thereof and opens endwise upon the forward lateral margin of the top wall 7. Similarly, the bottom wall 8 is provided along its outer margins with an inwardly indented slide channel 11 which opens upon the forward latenal margin of the bottom wall 8 and extends reanWar-dly to a transverse shoulder 12 which is spaced forwardly from the rear wall 9 at a distance slightly greater than thel axial length of the plunger 4.- In the space between the shoulder 12 and the taken along line n rear wall 9, the bottom wall 8 is angularly inclined as at 13,

so as to provide a clearance space into which the plunger 4 can be withdrawn and latched, so to speak.

Formed integrally around the forward end of the side wal-l 6r, the topl wall 7 and the bottom wall 8 is a` chuterforming element 14 which extends angularly forwardly and downwardly and includes a side-wall extension 15 which is flat and substantially coplanar with the side wall 6 and is marginally bounded by a narrow top flange 16 and 3 a bottom flange 17. The top flange 16 is relatively narrow and is provided (approximately one-third of the Way inwardly from its forward end) with an arcuate shoulder forming bend 19, the latter being approximately at the level or plane of the bottom wall 8. The bottom ange 17 is approximately one-half as wide as the bottom wall 8- and is provided along its lower margin with an indented recess or channel 20. At the point of juncture with the botto-m wall 8, the bottom ange 17 is somewhat thick and tapers downwardly and outwardly toward its forward extremity, being provided along its upper inclined edge with an indented channel 21 of somewhat a-rcuate crosssectional shape. Finally, the side-wall extension is arcuately curved adjacent its forward extremity as at 22, all as best seen in FIGS. l and 16. Formed integrally upon the interior surface of the side-wall extension 15 is a wedge-shaped camming shoulder 23 which terminates at its upper rearward end in a small, somewhat bowlshaped recess 24 which is more or less shaped to receive the pointed or tip end of a cartridge b, as shown in FIGS.

lr6 and 1'8. I-t will be noted that the recess 24 is only large enough to receive the tip end of the cartridge b but will not engage the rear or butt end thereof.

The removable side wall 2 is formed preferably of the same material as the main container or housing 1 and has substantially the same peripheral shape or contour so as to fit smoothly and conformably against the outer margin of the top wall 7, bottom wall 8 and rear Wall 9. Along its top longitudinal margin, the removable side wall 2 is provided with an inwardly projecting slide-rib 25 which is of the same cross-sectional sh-ape as the slide-channel 10 and is adapted to fit snugly and slidably therein. Similarly, .along its bottom margin, the removable side wall 2 is provided with an inwardly extending slide-rib 26 which is adapted to t snugly and slidably within the slide-channel 11. The slide-rib 25 extends for the full length of the removable side wall 2, but the slide-rib 26 is of such length that it will terminate just rearwardly of the transverse shoulder 12 when the removable side wall 2 and housing 1 are in assembled relation. At this rear end, the rib 26 is tapered so as to form a wedge-shaped camming abutment 27. Finally, at its rear end and along its lower margin, the removable side wall 2 is widened and angled slightly as at 28 to match the similarly widened and angled inclined portion of the housing 1.

At its forward end, the removable side wall 2 is integrally provided with a side-wall extension 29 which exactly matches the side-wall extension 15 and is integrally provided with a narrow top ange 30 having an arcuate shoulder-forming bend 311 and an inwardly curved forward end-portion 32. Similarly, the sideiwall extension 29 is integrally provided with a wide and thickened bottom fiange 33 which is, in turn, provided along its lateral margins with a thin outwardly projecting lip 34 and along its top margin with an arcuately indented channel 35. The bottom flange 33 is of such transverse widththat it will extend across and abut edgewise against the bottom flange 1;7 when the removable side wall 2 and housing 1 are in assembled relation. In this position, the lip 20 will -it snugly within the channel 34 and the

channels

21, 35, will meet and match to form a somewhat semi-circular bottom groove g. Together, the side-

wall extensions

15, 29, form a delivery chute c that tapers and curves forwardly and downwardly to a narrow, open-ended mouth or discharge opening n, which is somewhat larger in dimension than the diamet-ral size of the rim-flange or butte-nd of the cartridge b. On its inwardly presented face, the side-wallA extension 29 is provided with a Wedge-shaped camming shoulder 36 and bowl-shaped recess 37, which `are* identical in shape and location to the wedge-shaped camming shoulder 23 and bowl-shaped recess 24 of the side-wall extension 15 and serve exactly the same function. Thus, the cartridges b which will ordinarily be fed to the chute c in alternate presentation will, just prior to manual dispensing, come to rest lengthwise across the chute c with the tip end in either

recess

24 or 37, substantially as shown in FIG. 15. If, for example, a cartridge b is positioned so that its tip end is in the recess 37, then its butt-end will extend slidably across the recess 24.

The plunger 4 is formed preferably of the same material as the main container housing 1 and removable side wall 2 and is more or less block-shaped, having upper and lower flat faces 38, 39, which are adapted to fit within and slide against the inner face of the top wall 7 and bott-om Wall 8, respectively. At its forward end, the plunger 4 is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined pusher-face 4t) which is full-width at its bottom end and is somewhat symmetrically narrowed at its upper end to provide two wedge-shaped relief-

recesses

41, 42. On its sides, the plunger 4 is provided with two at, laterally presented slide faces 43, 44, which snugly and slidably it against the inwardly presented faces of the side wall 6 and removable side Wall 2. At its rear end, the plunger 4 is provided with an axially forwardly extending cylindrical socket which receives and accommodates the forward end of the spring 5. It will, of course, be evident that the spring 5 abuts, at its rear end, against the inwardly presented face of the rear wall 9. Moreover, the axial length of the plunger 4 and the depth of the socket 4:5 are such that when the plunger is manually shifted all the way .to the rear, the lower forwardly presented margin of the pusher-face 40 will drop behind the transversely extending shoulder 12 and be retained thereby. In this position, the spring 5 will be, for the most part, telescoped within the socket 45. It should be understood, in this connection, that when the housing 1 is open, the plunger 4 can be manually shifted to this rearwardly drawn or latched position.y The space within the housing 1, forwardly of the latched plunger 4, should preferably be of such size as to loosely accommodate the rectilinear bottom portion p of a conventional cardboard ammunition box. Consequently, the housing 1 can be inverted and slipped down over a fully lled bottom portion which will, of course, tit within the space in front of the latched plunger 4.` The bottom portion p and housing 1 are then turned upside down and the bottom portion p lifted upwardly, whereupon the cartridges b will be left within the housing 1 in the same alternately ordered arrangement as in the original package. The side wall 2 is then slid into place from the forward end of the housing 1 so that the

slideribs

25, 26, will lit within the channels 10i, 11, respectively. As the side wall 2 is slid reawardly into final closureforming position, the camming abutment 27 will slide under the lower forwardly presented edge of the pusherface 40 and lift the plunger 4 upwardly out of latched position whereupon the plunger 4 will move a short distance forwardly under the bias of the spring 5 and propel the forwardmost group of cartridges b into the dispensing chute c wherein they will assume the alternately presented arrangement shown in FIG. 15.

The spring clip 3 is then manually slipped into place in the position shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, inclusive, so 4as to hold the housing 1 and removable side wall 2 in assembled relationship. For this purpose, the spring clip 3 is bent upwardly -or otherwise formed from -a relatively heavy piece of spring wire and integrally includes a U- shaped belt-hook 46 which is curved inwardly and downwardly at its upper ends in the provision of .

straight legs

47, 48, which extend snugly along the outer face of the removable side wall 2 when the ammunition carrier is in fully assembled or closed position. At its lower end, the leg 47 is bent inwardly and provided with a large at U-shaped bight 49 which extends across and abuts against the downwardly presented face of the bottom wall 8. The bight 49 is, in turn, bent laterally and upwardly at its outer end in the formation of a leg 50 which extends snugly upwardly along the outwardly presented face of the side wall 6 and terminates at its upper end in a circular loop 51 which is deliected inwardly so as to clip snugly and tightly over' the proximate margin of the top wall 7. Similarly, the leg 48 is bent transversely to provide a straight bight 52 which extends straight across the downwardly presented face of the bottom wall 8 and, at its outer end, is bent upwardly in the provision of a leg 53 which extends snugly along the outwardly presented face of the side wall 6 and terminates at its upper end in a circular loop 54 which also lits over the proximate margin of the top wall 7, all as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

When the ammunition carrier A is lilled in the manner previously described, the belt-hook 46 can be slipped down or over a belt around a users waist and worn in this rnanner. The cartridges b will be securely held in the carrier A and Will not accidentally drop out, no matter how rapidly or actively the user may move. F or use, the ammunition carrier A can be removed from the belt and held up somewhat in the position shown in FIG. 13. The :cartridge b which is outermost in the chute c is propelled outwardly by placing the thumb against the central part of the cartridge and pushing outwardly in the direction of the centerline of the chute c. The pointed end of the cartridge b will remain engaged, but the force thus exerted will cause the butt or rim end of the cartridge b to slide forwardly, causing the cartridge b to spread the chute c laterally against the bias of the spring clip 3. As the chute c spreads slightly, the cartridge b will wing angularly through the position shown in FIG. 17 and be projected outwardly through the mou-th or discharge opening n of the chute c with its butt or rim end presented forwardly in the manner shown in FIG. 18. In -this position of presentation, the cartridge b can be easily slipped in-to a conventional magazine or other cartridge holding element of a gun or rifle (not shown).

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of portable storage and dispensing devices may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a magazine having opposed side walls and being adapted to con- -tain a supply of cartridges, means resiliently mounting said side walls, a dispensing chute at one end .of the magazine, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, springbiased means for urging the cartridges toward `and into the chute in transversely extending position, and stop means mounted on said Walls at the discharge end of the chute and having pressure engagement with the ends of the endmost cartridge to normally prevent escape of the cartridges, said chute having a iinger slot located adjacent said stop means whereby finger contact and pressure on the endmost cartridge will force the butt end of the cartridge past the stop means while the head of the cartridge remains in engagement with the stop means to thereby cause orientation of the cartridge from a position transverse to the discharge end of the chute to a position where the cartridge will exit butt rst from the discharge end of the chute.

2. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a boxlike magazine having opposed side walls and being adapted to contain a supply of cartridges, a dispensing chute extending from `said side walls at one end of the magazine, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, and stop means mounted on said side walls at the discharge end of the chute for engaging the endmost cartridge 4so as to normally prevent escape of the cartridges, said chute having a nger slot located adjacent said stop means whereby linger contact and pressure can be exerted on the endmost cartridge to disengage it from the stop means, said stop means being adap-ted to hold one end of the endmost cartridge momentarily after finger pressure is exerted while the opposite end swings free into longitudinal orientation with said discharge chute where the cartridge is fed down the chute to the discharge mouth.

3. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a magazine adapted to contain a supply of cartridges, Vclosure means removably secured across the magazine, a dispensing chute at one end of the magazine, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, and cartridge-positioning means in the chute for turning each cartridge into lengthwise position within the chute as such cartridge is fed down the chute to the discharge mouth, said closure means is held in place by a resilient clip, said clip having a portion bent over in the formation of a belt-hook.

4. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a magazine adapted to contain a supply of cartridges, a dispensing chute at one end of the magazine, said chute having an elongated slot-like opening through which digital access may be obtained to the chute and to the endmost cartridge therein contained, spring-biased means for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, and cartridge-positioning means in the chute for engaging the ends of the endmost ycartridge to normally prevent escape of the cartridges, said cartridgepositioning means being adapted to turn the endmost cartridge upon application of digital pressure thereto into lengthwise position within the chute as such cartridge is fed down the chute to the discharge mouth.

5. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a magazine having resiliently mounted side walls and being adapted to contain a supply of cartridges, a dispensing chute extending from said side walls at one end of the magazine, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, opposed stop means mounted in said side wall adjacent said chute for engaging the ends of the endmost cartridge in said magazine so as to normally prevent escape of the cartridges, a finger access slot adjacent said stop means for providing digital access to the endmost cartridge, said stop means, when digital pressure directed toward the discharge mouth is applied to said endmost cartridge, being adapted to momentarily hold one end of the cartridge and simultaneously spread apart allowing the opposite end of the cartridge to swing around so that the cartridge is oriented longitudinally in the chute as such cartridge is fed down the chute to the discharge mouth.

6. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a magazine adapted to contain a supply of cartridges, closure means removably `secured across the magazine, a dispensing chute at one end of the magazine, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, detent means in the magazine for temporarily holding the spring-biased means in Withdrawn position to permit illing of the magazine, releasemeans on the closure means for disengaging the springbiased means from the detent means when the closure means is moved into 4closure-forming position, and cartridge-positioning means in the chute for turning each cartridge into lengthwise position within the chute as such cartridge is fed down the chute to the discharge mouth.

7. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising an open-sided box-like housing having a side Wall and being adapted to ycontain a supply of cartridges, a removable side wall fitted over the open side of the housing, means for resiliently mounting said removable side wall on said housing, a dispensing chute at one end of the housing and removable side wall, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means carried by `the housing for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, stop means mounted on said side walls adjacent said chute, said stop means having pressure engagement with the ends of the endmost cartridge to normally prevent escape of cartridges, said chute having a finger slot located ladjacent said stop means for providing digital access to the endmost cartridge, said stop means being adapted to momentarily hold the pointed end of the cartridge and to release the butt end of the cartridge when digital pressure directed toward said discharge mouth is applied thereto whereby the endmost cartridge will swing from a position transverse to said chute to a position in which the cartridge is oriented longitudinally in said chute with the butt end presented outwardly through the discharge mouth as such cartridge is fed down the chute to the discharge mouth.

8. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising an open-sided box-like housing having a side wall and being adapted to contain a supply of cartridges a removable side wall fitted over the open side of said housing, means resiliently mounting said removable side wall on said housing, a dispensing chute at one end of the housing and removable side wall, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means carried by the housing for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, and inwardly presented opposed camming shoulders mounted on said side wall of the housing and removable side wall adjacent said chute, said camming shoulders being adapted to engage the ends of the endmost cartridge and normally prevent escape of the cartridges, said chute having a nger slot located adjacent said camming shoulders whereby digital access tothe engaged endmost cartridge is provided, said camming shoulders each having an inwardly opening laterally presented recess in which only the pointed end of the cartridge will catch whereby upon exertion of digital pressure on the endmost cartridge the butt end thereof Wi-ll be released from engagement with a camming shoulder and the pointed end Will catch in the recess of the opposite camming shoulder so that the cartridge will swing out into longitudinal orientation with the chute and the butt end will be presented outwardly through the discharge mouth.

9. An ammunition dispensing carrier according to claim 8, in which the means resiliently mounting said removable side wall on said housing is a spring clip fitted over the outer surfaces of the side wall of the housing and the removable side wall.

10. An ammunition dispensing carrier comprising a magazine adapted to contain a supply of cartridges, a dispensing chute at one end of the magazine, said chute being provided with a discharge mouth, spring-biased means for urging the cartridges toward and into the chute in transversely extending position, said chute being provided with elongated opposed side walls, means resiliently mounting said side walls, and opposed camming shoulders mounted on said side walls and projecting into said chute, said 4camming shoulders being adapted to engage the endmost cartridge and normally prevent escape of the cartridges, said chute having `a finger slot located adjacent said camming shoulders whereby digital access to the engaged endmost cartridge is provided, each camming shoulder having an inwardly opening laterally presented recess in which only the pointed end of the cartridge will catch and be retarded in the feeding movement, thereby causing the butt end of the cartridge to swing down toward and be presented outwardly through the discharge mouth when digital pressure is applied to the cartridge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,419,242 4/1947 Woodberry et al. 221-171 2,623,803 12/1952 Gamble 224-15 2,902,196 9/1959 Gray 224-15 FOREIGN PATENTS 734,640 4/ 1943 Germany.

81,660 11/ 1919 Switzerland.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

I. E. OLDS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

8. AN AMMUNITION DISPENSING CARRIER COMPRISING AN OPEN-SIDED BOX-LIKE HOUSING HAVING A SIDE WALL AND BEING ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A SUPPLY OF CARTRIDGES A REMOVABLE SIDE WALL FITTED OVER THE SIDE OF SAID HOUSING, MEANS RESILIENTLY MOUNTING SAID REMOVABLE SIDE WALL ON SAID HOUSING, A DISPENSING CHUTE AT ONE END OF THE HOUSING AND REMOVABLE SIDE WALL, SAID CHUTE BEING PROVIDED WITH A DISCHARGE MOUTH, SPRING-BIASED MEANS CARRIED BY THE HOUSING FOR URGING THE CARTRIDGES TOWARD AND INTO THE CHUTE IN TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING POSITION, AND INWARDLY PRESENTED OPPOSED CAMMING SHOULDERS MOUNTED ON SAID SIDE WALL OF THE HOUSING AND REMOVABLE SIDE WALL ADJACENT SAID CHUTE, SAID CAMMING SHOULDERS BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE ENDS OF THE ENDMOST CARTRIDGE AND NORMALLY PREVENT ESCAPE OF THE CARTRIDGES, SAID CHUTE HAVING A FINGER SLOT LOCATED ADJACENT SAID CAMMING SHOULDERS WHEREBY DIGITAL ACCESS TO THE ENGAGED ENDMOST CARTRIDGE IS PROVIDED, SAID CAMMING SHOULDERS HAVING AN INWARDLY OPENING LATERALLY PRESENTED RECESS IN WHICH ONLY THE POINTED END OF THE CARTRIDGE WILL CATCH WHEREBY UPON EXERTION OF DIGITAL PRESSURE ON THE ENDMOST CARTRIDGE THE BUTT END THEREOF WILL BE RELEASED FROM ENGAGEMENT WITH A CAMMING SHOULDER AND THE POINTED END WILL CATCH IN THE RECESS OF THE OPPOSITE CAMMING SHOULDER SO THAT THE CARTRIDGE WILL SWING OUT INTO LONGITUDINAL ORIENTATION WITH THE CHUTE AND THE BUTT END WILL BE PRESENTED OUTWARDLY THROUGH THE DISCHARGE MOUTH.