US3907159A

US3907159A - Dispensing device

Info

Publication number: US3907159A
Application number: US453090A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hans Halm
Original assignee: IPPEN HEIKO ARLAC WERK
Current assignee: ARLAC-WERK HEIKO IPPEN; IPPEN HEIKO ARLAC WERK
Priority date: 1973-03-21
Filing date: 1974-03-20
Publication date: 1975-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-23
Also published as: FR2222290A1; DE2314049A1; DE2314049C3; CH568861A5; JPS5026627A; ES424445A1; IT1009361B; DE2314049B2; GB1463713A; ATA232074A; FR2222290B3; AT333466B; SE396038B

Abstract

A dispensing device in the form of a closed box-shaped housing consisting of upper and lower housing members defining a dispensing slot. A freely floating annular friction body is guidedly retained within the housing and engages internal slide surfaces on the upper housing member and the two uppermost memo sheets of a stack of memo sheets inserted into the lower housing member. When withdrawing a memo sheet projecting partly through the dispensing slot, this movement will result in a rotational movement of the annular body within the housing whereby the memo sheet underlying the partly projecting memo sheet will be advanced into the dispensing slot.

Description

[ 1 Sept. 23, 1975 1 DISPENSING DEVICE [75] Inventor: Hans Halm, Herne Germany [73] Assignee: Arlac-Werk Heiko Ippen, Hamburg,

Germany [22] Filed: Mar. 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 453,090

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 21, 1973 Germany .1 2314049 [52] US. Cl. 221/23; 221/244; 221/259; 271/109 [51] Int. Cl. 865G 59/02 [58] Field of Search 221/22, 23, 42, 43, 56, 221/58, 59, 244, 259, 260, 279; 271/37, 109

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,694 5/1887 Sperryl 221/259 X 2.996.219 8/1961 Tsai 221/259 3.169.660 2/1965 Holzwarth et a1. 221/260 X 3.269.591 8/1966 Harter v. 221/23 Primary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Joseph .1. Rolla Attorney. Agent. or Firm-Toren, McGeady and Stanger [57] ABSTRACT A dispensing device in the form of a closed boxshaped housing consisting of upper and lower housing members defining a dispensing slot. A freely floating annular friction body is guidedly retained within the housing and engages internal slide surfaces'on the upper housing member and the two uppermost memo sheets of a stack of memo sheets inserted into the lower housing member. When withdrawing a memo sheet projecting partly through the dispensing slot this movement will result in a rotational movement of the annular body within the housing whereby the memo sheet underlying the partly projecting memo sheet will be advanced into the dispensing slot.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures t i f US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 1 of3 3,907,159

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,907,159

DISPENSING DEVICE The present invention relates to a dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the like.

There are already known socalled card or sheet boxes for receiving small sheets or note scraps and the like. These known sheet boxes comprise a box-shaped housing for receiving such memo or note sheets, cards or the like. The housing may also include a hinged lid. All of these prior art sheet boxes allow to manually remove sheets one by one.

Likewise known is a sheet dispensing apparatus comprising a box-shaped housing closed by a lid portion and having a front dispensing slot of a width corresponding to the width of dispensable memo sheets. In the interior cavity defined by the box there is arranged a support plate on top of a stack of sheets. The support plate is provided with a centralrectangular recess. A pair of parallel continuous belts each guided by a pair of return rollers is provided within this rectangular recess. The return rollers of these conveyor type belts are mounted on the support plate. The overall arrangement is such that the lower strands of the conveyor belts extend through the rectangular recess in the support plate and engage the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets. The support plate together with the transport means is guided internally of the housing by means of lateral vertical guides. An apparatusof this type, however, does not allow a perfect withdrawal of individual memo sheets since when handling this sheet dispensing apparatus several memo sheets will be fed simultaneously into the dispensing slot, and this is due to the transport devices employed, especially to the extended contact surfaces of the transport belts on the memo sheets. The extended contact regions of the transport belt on the memo sheets moreover do not allow to overcome the adhesion forces existing between the individual memo sheets. I

ln another prior art sheet dispensing apparatus there is provided a rotating continuous transport belt of a greater width for feeding the sheets. This transport belt likewise engages the memo sheets along an extended contact surface. Additional devices serve to urge the memo sheets against the transport belt in order to maintain a sufficiently high contact pressure for'feeding sheets when the height of the stack of memo sheets increasingly diminishes. Toward this end, a support plate for the stack of sheets is provided in the interior cavity defined by the housing. This support plate is spring biased and together with the stack of sheets is urged against the transport belt'.

It is now an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the like i'n'which the functions of individual sheet feed and continuous height adjustment are combined in a singlc'means so that assisted by a stripping mca'ns arranged in the vicinity of the dispensing slot of the sheet containing housing there will be en sured a perfect separation of the individual sheets and the guidance of these sheets towardsthe dispensing slot.

In accordance with the present inventionpthere is now proposed a dispensing device for memo sheets or the like consisting of a two-part housing in the form of a lower housing member and an upper housing member defining together a dispensing slot at'a front endofthe' housing, a stack of sheets being adapted to be inserted into the housing, and a continuous or endless conveyor means is adapted to act upon a stack of sheets inserted into the housing. This dispensing device is characterized by an annular body floating freely within the interior cavity defined by the housing whereby the housing is closed on all sides except for the front end dispensing slot, the annular body engaging with an upper portion the inner surface of the upper housing member top wall and engaging with a lower portion an uppermost sheet of a stack of memo sheets inserted into the lower housing member. the annular body consisting of a continuous strip of spring steel coated at its outer periphery with a central ribbon-like friction-increasing coating, and adapted to assume a substantial elliptic configuration with substantially arcuate engagement surface portions, in automatically adjusting itself to the spacing between'the uppermost memo sheet and the inner surface of the top wall upper housing member, in thereby maintaining an approximately even contact pressure, the annular body furthermore being guided by a mounting provided within the housing cavity, and being in engagement with a pair of profiled bar-type guide surfaces integral with the inner surface of the upper housing member top wall, each of the guide surfaces being extended, at the end facing the dispensing slot, by a vertical stop extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the annular body up to a point situated below a horizontal plane through the center of the annular body.

To ensure that at any moment only a single note sheet will be fed into the dispensing slot, there is providcd internally of the internal cavity adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot and at the inner surface of the lower housing member a sheet stripping ledge having an acute ridge and a portion internally of the housing that extends transversely of the longitudinal axis of the annular body. This ledge portion cooperates with the inclined and slightly curved lower front wall of the lower housing member in defining a low frictionalresistance and ensuring a perfect sheet feed.

In order to achieve a perfect separation of sheets when withdrawing the same from the housing, i.e. to

overcome the adhesion between individual sheets, and

to prevent dispensing of several sheets simultaneously through the dispensing slot, there, is provided, in accor dance with another feature of the present invention, at the lower edge of the dispensing slot, an integral stripping ledge whereby a housing wall portion of the lower housing member adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot is of an arcuate configuration, and the dispensing slot comprises a downwardly flaring conical portion extending from one housing side wall, the lower edge of the conical portion extended by an inclined stepped portion, the inclined stepped portion being extended by a longer substantial horizontal edge portion,

all of these portions defining together a wider dispensing section This dispensing slot design results in a fan 'out of the memo sheets at the curved surface leading up to the dispensing slot so that the sheets may only be gripped at a point adjacent their front edge, with the result of a small frictional resistance and that feeding of several sheets simultaneously is prevented.

in the following, the present invention will be described more in detail with reference to the illustrative embodiments shown in the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a dispensing device for memo sheets or the like in ae cordance with the present invention, the sheet receiving housing of the device having a front dispensing slot;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the dispensing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the dispensing device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view along the line lVlV of FIG. 3, with no memo sheets within the housing;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view along the line IVIV of FIG. 3 but with a stack of memo sheets in serted into the housing;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view along the line VIVI of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the housing of the dispensing device having a sheet separating means, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the lower housing member of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view along the line lX-IX of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of the dispensing slot of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-9.

The device for dispensing memo sheets or the like in accordance with the present invention consists of a housing 10 made of a synthetic material or any other suitable material. The housing 10 consists of two parts, a box-type lower housing member 11, and a likewise box-type upper housing member 12. The bottom wall of the lower housing member 11 is shown by the reference numeral 11a, and the top wall of the upper housing member 12 is designated by the reference numeral 12a. The side walls of the lower and

upper housing members

11 and 12 extend preferably substantially vertically. The front wall of the housing 10 is in both embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-10 provided with a dispensing slot 14. The

adjacent wall portions

11b and 12b of lower and

upper housing members

11 and 12 are in the first embodiment inclined toward the dispensing slot 14. The wall portion 11); may also have an arcuate configuration, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 for the second embodiment. The upper housing member 12 is connected to the lower housing member 1 1 by means of a releasable or a hinge-type connection 15. A hinge-type connection 15 between lower and

upper housing members

11 and 12 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The dispensing slot 14 is provided in the region in which lower and

upper housing members

11 and 12 meet.

The memo or note sheets which may be inserted into the lower housing member 11 of the dispensing device are indicated by the reference numeral (see FIG. 5).

An annular body is retained in a freely floating manner internally of the housing 10. The annular body 30 engages at one side the inner surface of the upper top wall 120 of the upper housing member 12, and at its opposite side the uppermost sheet of the stack of memo sheets 20. The annular body 30 consists of a continuous or endless loop and is made of elastic resilient materials providing the annular body 30 with an inherent rigidity. The annular body 30 may be made of spring steel or any suitable plastic material having a sufficiently high elastic resiliency. Apart from such elastic resilient properties the annular body 30 should also exhibit a certain inherent rigidity, as may be provided thereto by the usage of spring steel. In the unloaded or unbiased condition, i.e. before being installed into the interior cavity of the housing 10 the annular body 30 is ofa circular configuration. The diameter of the annular body determines the feed path length of memo sheets or the like so that therefore the diameter of this annular body is adapted to the required memo sheet path length. After being installed in the housing 10 the annular body 30 will be compressed by the upper housing member 12 and will thus assume an oval configuration as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A portion of the annular body 30 engages the memo sheets 20. When with drawing a sheet from the dispensing device the underlying next memo sheet will be transported into the dispensing slot so that part of the sheet projects through the slot toward the outside of the housing, i.e. beyond the dispensing device, and may thus be easily gripped by means of the fingers.

To increase the frictional forces between the annular body 30 and the memo sheets 20 the annular body 30 is provided with a coating of rubber or a plastic material that defines a rough surface. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the annular body 30 is provided with a ribbon 31 in the form of a rubber tape or the like covering the whole outer periphery of the annular body 30. Due to its elasticity, the ribbon 31 follows all deformations of the annular body 30.

The annular body 30 is retained within the interior cavity of the housing 10 by means of a mounting 40 attac-hed to the inner surface of the upper housing member 12. This mounting 40 comprises a bracket 41 consisting of two

legs

41a, 41b and a web portion 410 interconnecting the legs. The free leg ends of the bracket 41 are connected to the inner surface of the upper housing member top wall 120. The web portion 41c of the bracket 41 is spaced from the upper housing member top wall and defines an intersticc 42 therebetween. This interstice 42 serves to guide the upper portion 30a of the annular body 30 (see FIGv 4). The upper housing member 12 is additionally provided with internal slide bars 43, 44 the mutual spacing of which is somewhat smaller than the width of the annular body 30 so that when withdrawing memo sheets from the dispensing device the annular body 30 will roll on the slide bars 43, 44 (see FIG. 6). In order to prevent any displacement of the annular body 30 toward the dispensing slot 14 when withdrawing a memo sheet the top wall mounted slide bars 43, 44 at the upper housing member are extended, at their ends facing the dispensing slot 14, by stepped projections 46 having vertical edges 46a defining stops (see FIG. 4). These stops 46a extend to a point below the axis of the annular body in thus preventing the annular body 30 from being pulled under the stops 460. For minimizing friction between the slide bars 43, 44 and the annular body material, the support surfaces of the slide bars 43, 44 may be provided with an undulated or corrugated profile 45 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

To ensure that at any moment only a single memo sheet 20 will be fed toward the dispensing slot 14, a step-like protruding stripping ledge 51 is provided adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot 14 at the inner surface of the lower housing member 11. The stripping ledge 51 is provided internally of the housing with a portion 51:! extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the annular body (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The stripping ledge 51 may be camshaped and be attached to either one or both of the

housing members

11 and 12 in a substantially central position with respect to the annular body 30. The stripping ledge 51 may also extend along the whole length of the dispensing slot 14.

In the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 7-10 the dispensing slot 14 is provided with a front edge having an integrated stripping ledge. The front housing wall llb leading up to the lower edge 14a of the dispensing slot 14 is ofa curved configuration. The dispensing slot 14 is provided with a downwardly flaring conical portion 14b extending from one housing side wall over a part of the dispensing slot length. The lower edge 140 of the conical portion 14b is extended by an inclined stepped portion 14d which is in turn followed by a longer substantially horizontal edge portion 140. Memo sheets pushed against the wall portion that leads up to the dispensing slot 14 will thus be fanned out and become engaged at only one point of their front edge, within the narrowed portion 14b of the slot so that the sheets are separated from each other (FIG. 10).

At the rear wall of the lower housing member 11 are provided two filling

marks

60, 61 preventing the user of the dispensing device to insert more than a recommended quantity of memo sheets into the housing 10, in thus protecting the transport mechanism against damages and avoiding any interference with the functioning of the device by over-filling.

The dispensing device of the present invention is used as follows: After removing or rotating into an open position the upper housing member 12 with respect to the lower housing member 11 a stack of memo I sheets may be inserted into the lower housing member ll. Since the annular body is retained at the inside of the upper housing member 12, it cannot drop out of the housing 10 and become lost when refilling the housing 10 with memo sheets, After the memo sheets have been inserted into the housing 10 the upper housing member 12 is replaced or swung back onto the lower housing member 11 whereby the edges of the upper housing member 12 frictionally engage the edges of the lower housing member 11. Before replacing the upper housing member 12, a memo sheet such as the one indicated by 20:: in FlG, 5 is inserted into the dispensing slot 14 so that a portion 20:! of this memo sheet 2011 projects beyond the dispensing slot 14. The end of the memo sheet 20a remote from the dispensing slot 14 will then be clamped between the lower portion 30b of the annular body 30 and the stack of memo sheets 20. When withdrawing the memo sheets 200 from the dispensing slot 14 the high friction forces between the memo sheet 200 and the annular body 30 cause a rotational movement of the annular body 30 in that the latter rolls, i.e. performs a rolling movement within the housing 10, in the direction indicated by the arrow .r, on the memo sheets, i.e. on the uppermost memo sheet 20b and on the rear portion of the advanced memo sheet 2011, and along the slide bars 43, 44 (see FIG. 5

While withdrawing a memo sheet from the dispensing device, the uppermost memo sheet 20/ of the stack of memo sheets inserted into the housing will likewise be pushed in the direction of the arrow y (see PK]. 5) toward the dispensing slot 14, due to the relatively high frictional forces between the annular body 30 and the paper material of the sheet. The overall arrangement of the annular body 30 within the housing 10 and the design of the annular body 30 with respect to the length of the annular body are such that when withdrawing a memo sheet the immediately underlying memo sheet will be transported by the rolling annular body 30 into and partly through the dispensing slot 14, thus presenting a gripping portion of the memo sheet on the outside of the dispensing slot 14. This gripping portion allows to readily withdraw a memo sheet from the dispensing device. The inclined front walls of the lower housing member 11 of the housing 10 and the stripping ledge 51 assist in safely guiding the individual memo sheets to the dispensing slot 14.

The dispensing device of the present invention allows to remove single memo sheets and to simultaneously transport the next following memo sheets into a gripping position on the outside of the memo sheet containing housing, The automatic transport of the following memo sheets when withdrawing a single memo sheet is achieved by simple technical eXpedients so that the dispensing device may be manufactured at low cost. The upper guide bars for the metallic transport conveyor means are preferably at least partly made of a metallic material, in order to minimize friction between the transport means and the guides.

What is claimed is:

l. A dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the like, comprising of a two-part housing of a lower housing member and an upper housing member defining together a dispensing slot at a front end of the housing, a stack of sheets adapted to be inserted into said housing, and an endless conveyor means adapted to act upon a stack of memo sheets inserted into said housing, said dispensing device characterized by an annular body floating freely within the interior cavity of said housing, said housing being closed on all sides except for said front end dispensing slot, said annular body engaging with an upper portion the inner surface of the upper housing member top wall, and engaging with a lower portion an uppermost sheet of a stack of memo sheets inserted into said lower housing member, said annular body consisting of a continuous strip of spring steel coated at its outer periphery with a central ribbonlike friction-increasing coating, and adapted to assume a substantially elliptic configuration with substantially arcuate engagement surface portions, in automatically adjusting itself to the spacing between the uppermost memo sheet and the inner surface of said top wall upper housing member, in thereby maintaining an approximately cvcn contact pressure, said annular body furthermore being guided by a mounting provided within said housing cavity, and being in engagement with a pair of profiled bar-type slide surfaces integral with'the inner surface of said upper housing member top wall, each of said guide surfaces being extended, at the end facing the dispensing slot, by a vertical stop extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of said annular body to a point located below a horizontal plane through the center of said annular body.

2. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that a sheet stripping ledge with a portion transversely of the longitudinal axis of said annular body and disposed internally of said internal cavity defined by said housing is formed adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot on the inner surface of the lower housing member.

3. A dispensing device as defined in claim 2, charactcrizcd in that the wall portions adjacent the dispensing slot of the substantially vertical outer walls of said upper and lower housing members are conically tapered toward the dispensing slot.

4. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that to separate individually withdrawn sheets a housing wall portion of the lower housing member adjacent the lower edge of the dispensing slot is of an arcuate configuration, and that the dispensing slot comprises a downwardly flaring conical portion extending from one housing side wall, the lower edge of the conical portion extended by an inclined stepped portion, the inclined stepped portion being extended by a longer substantially horizontal edge portion, all of these portions defining together a wider dispensing section.

5. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said coating on the outer periphery of said annular body consists of a rubber tape.

6. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said annular body in unbiased condition is of a substantially circular configuration and of a diameter selected in accordance with the feed path length of individual memo sheets toward the dispensing slot 7. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said mounting for said annular body comprises a bracket integral with the inner surface of the upper housing member of said housing, said bracket having a pair of legs and a web portion interconnecting said legs, said web portion being spaced from said upper housing member and defining therebetween an interstice for guidance of said annular body, and a pair of mutually spaced bars extending along the inner top wall surface of the upper housing member in the longitudinal direction of said annular body, said bars defining bearing surfaces for said annular body, the spacing between said bars being somewhat smaller than the width of said annular body.

8. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that a pair of laterally spaced abutment cams adapted to delimit the height of a stack of memo sheets are arranged at the inner surface of the vertical housing rear wall.

Claims

1. A dispensing device for dispensing memo sheets or the like, comprising of a two-part housing of a lower housing member and an Upper housing member defining together a dispensing slot at a front end of the housing, a stack of sheets adapted to be inserted into said housing, and an endless conveyor means adapted to act upon a stack of memo sheets inserted into said housing, said dispensing device characterized by an annular body floating freely within the interior cavity of said housing, said housing being closed on all sides except for said front end dispensing slot, said annular body engaging with an upper portion the inner surface of the upper housing member top wall, and engaging with a lower portion an uppermost sheet of a stack of memo sheets inserted into said lower housing member, said annular body consisting of a continuous strip of spring steel coated at its outer periphery with a central ribbon-like friction-increasing coating, and adapted to assume a substantially elliptic configuration with substantially arcuate engagement surface portions, in automatically adjusting itself to the spacing between the uppermost memo sheet and the inner surface of said top wall upper housing member, in thereby maintaining an approximately even contact pressure, said annular body furthermore being guided by a mounting provided within said housing cavity, and being in engagement with a pair of profiled bar-type slide surfaces integral with the inner surface of said upper housing member top wall, each of said guide surfaces being extended, at the end facing the dispensing slot, by a vertical stop extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of said annular body to a point located below a horizontal plane through the center of said annular body.

3. A dispensing device as defined in claim 2, characterized in that the wall portions adjacent the dispensing slot of the substantially vertical outer walls of said upper and lower housing members are conically tapered toward the dispensing slot.

6. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said annular body in unbiased condition is of a substantially circular configuration and of a diameter selected in accordance with the feed path length of individual memo sheets toward the dispensing slot.

7. A dispensing device as defined in claim 1, characterized in that said mounting for said annular body comprises a bracket integral with the inner surface of the upper housing member of said housing, said bracket having a pair of legs and a web portion interconnecting said legs, said web portion being spaced from said upper housing member and defining therebetween an interstice for guidance of said annular body, and a pair of mutually spaced bars extending along the inner top wall surface of the upper housing member in the longitudinal direction of said annular body, said bars defining bearing surfaces for said annular body, the spacing between said bars being somewhat smaller than the width of said annular body.