US900866A - Straw holder and dispenser. - Google Patents

Description

Wit" gown H. 0. MAYES.

'STRAW HOLDER AND DISPENSER. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7, 1908.

. Patented Oct. 13,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I Elmnutoz fiiflMayea H. O. MAYES.

STRAW HOLDER AND-DISPENSER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7, 19os.

I r Patented 001;. 13, 1908.

- ZSHBBTS-SHEET 2. y I 1 1 0 v 3 if M L MLM r 5 Z Y Z0 /.?0 I 24 Z0 Z0 23 HARRY. c. MA ES; or PHILADELYHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. 1

srnaw noLnEnfAun DISPENSER.

" *1 .s qifi ation of'LettexsPatentQf Patented Oct. 13, "1908.

' Applicationnledlebruary 7; 1908. I Serial No. 414,856.

T0 all; ilihom -it may, concern."

v 1 3s "it known that I, HARRY: G. ci-tlzen of the United I States, residing at 'Philadelphia, in the county. of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements "in vStraw Holders and Thisv invent on 1 comprehend's' certainv new- .and usefuh improvements "in apparatus for" h g n pensing straws for, use-in connection with soda fountains and in-o'the'r places where such articlesare used, andfthe invention has for its-primarvobject ajsi nple and .efi'icient apparatus 0 this character", 'WhlCll Wlll possess, to a marked degree sani-v tary characteristics-in that the straws'cannot' be handled by the customers before'being ejected from'the containerfor'use and'cannot be returned tothe holder or container afterbeing used, and in that the straws within the containerv are etfectively protected from dust or other unhygienic'conditions- A further object of the invention is device of this type which will .occupy'comparatively little spaceon either a counter'or small table, andwhichmay be operated from either'side so'as-to-drop one straw at a time upon a rack supported underneath thestraw receptacle or container, said rackbeing ac'ces sible to the customer on either side of-fthe: apparatus, or, Q if desired f'pa rti'cularly for; counter use solely, the rack may be desitgn ed to carry the straw out to that side-o gthe apparatus where the operator-or 'attei'idant operation, the straws beingjheld in proper. alinenient at all times While in the container so as to .be positively ejected at each and every operation, without any dangerof being stands. And a further object of the invention is a straw holder and dispenser,the parts of which are so constructed and arranged that a single straw will beejected at each crushed or broken.

with theseand other objects inview as will more fully appear as the description device 7 ,in the present embodiment of the invention is secured at its ends by rivets 8 to the lips 14 of the plates 13. The said cutoff device embodies two longitudinally exproceeds, the invention consists in certainconstructions, arrangements and ,co'mbinations,

of the ,parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and then pointiout the novel features thereof in the appended claims. 7

For a full understanding of the invention.

"reference is tof'be-had to the following de-f scr ption and accoinpany ng drawings, in I ywhichz- .D p n e ,bf whiehjthe following s'a specification. 1 I

simple,- durable and eficient construction of;

top' plan viewithereof; with the cover removed andwith a portion broken away, to

-'illustrate subjacent parts; Fig. 3 isa-longL tudinal sectional view of the-apparatus; Fig.

A is a transverse sectional: view thereof; Figs.

5, 6 and '7. are detail sectional viewsin'the nature of diagrams, illustrating the opera- 1' tions of the ejecting device; and, Fig. 8 is a detail.- lfragmentary perspective view of ejecting device.

4 Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form ljorjembodiment of'my invention; Fig. 2 1s a "Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the'following description and indicated inall the views ofthe drawings by the same-- reference characters.

My improved straw holder and dispenser embodies ahorizontally-disposed receptacle or container, thebody portion 1 of which is preferably trough-shaped. as. shown and secured to, the ends 2 that are provided with legs B-by which the container may be held'in" a somewhat elevated position on a table,

countenor the like. Preferably, although not necessarily so, the body portion 1, s

formed of sheet metal secured by screws or, similar fastening devices, to inwardly facingm'arginal flanges 2 of the'ends 2. Said ,ends' are formed at their upper corners withrecesses 2 in whicha plate glass or metal 11d or covertfits, so asto render the container practically dust roof: v The body portion'l of the straw container is formed at its bottom with alongitudinally extending opening 5, and below and spaced from such opening is a cut-off strip 6 which also extends longitudinally in alinement with theopening 5, said strip being secured at'its ends inany desired way, to the ends 2 of the container, as best' seen in Fig. 3. The open space between the cut-cit strips 6 and the opening 5 provides two oppositely facing and Jlongitudinally extending ejecting or discharge, openings, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4, and an ejecting device 7 is mounted to slide or oscillate in said space between the cut-oli' strip 6 and opening 5. The ejecting tending bars that are spaced from each other as shown, to form a longitudinal'pocket between them, the'top'of the pocket being designed to register with the opening 5 and being designed to receive a straw from the .container, and the bottom of the pocket belongitudinally extending troiigh 10 defined along one side by a rib or ridge 11 and at its opposite or outer side by a corresponding rib 12, the said ribs being arranged to acdepending curately fit against the outer surface of the body portion 1 of the container, so that no matter what position the ejecting device may be in, the two outermost ribs 12 will with said outer surface of the body portion and effectively exclude dust from the interior thereof.

In order to assist in holding the ejecting device in proper longitudinal alinement with the discharge opening of the container, I provide the plates 13 that are mounted Within the ends of the container as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4 and thatjare formed with lips 14: entering the pocket 9 at the ends thereof (see. Fig. 8). These plates 13 are mounted upon a longitudinally extending shaft 15, the ends of. which are journaled. in the ends 2 I11 order to swing the ejecting device, I pro- Vide in the present instance two pairs of diverging curved arms 16-'that are secured at their lower ends to the side bars of the cut-0H as'best seen in Fig. 4, and' that carry at their upper ends, on both sides of the container, horizontal actuating rods 17, so that if desired, the device can be actuated from either side. In order to automatically bring back the parts to normal position, after each operation, I may provide springs 18 secured in either one or both ends 2 of the container, as shown in Fig. 4 and designed to bear upon a square block or blocks 19 secured to either one or both ends of the shaft 15, the tension of said spring or springs manifestly rocking the shaft 15 back to normal position and maintaining the parts in a relatively stationary condition until it is desired to positively operate the device. of. this character, it is important to prevent thestraws or other articles that may be dispensed from crowding together at the discharge opening, and for this purpose, I mount upon the shaft 15 a series of dependung and transversely oscillating sector plates 20, the lower curved edges of which correspond approximately to the cross sectional erably sipaced from the interior wall of such be y portion a distance'substantially contour of. the body portion 1 and are prefequal to the diameter of the individual straws. By this means, it is manifest that in its upper face with a relatively shallow engage ofthe container.

In an apparatus the straws will be held in a single row as they feed downwardly towards the discharge opening, the oscillation of the series of plates 20 raising a quantity of the straws at each operation, and the feed being thereby effectively controlled.

As the straws are ejected from the container, they may be caught by a rack underneath the same. This rack may be of any desired construction or formation, according to judgment or taste, or the particular conditions existing where the device is to be used. For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the rack may comprise two inwardly extending and outwardly bowed frames 21, secured to the legs This particular construction is specially adapted for use on small tables where tendant alone is supposed to serve the straws,

the rack frame may be formed, as illustrated in Fig. 4, designated 21, it being clear that by this specific construction of rack, the straws will be -d1scharged at one side only of the apparatus, where the attendant is standing.

In the practical operation of my improved straw holder and dispenser, the straws,-as above described will be maintained in a single row, underneath the feed controlling plates 20. Referring particularly to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, it will be seen that as the actuating rod 17 is depressed, one of the troughs 10 will be passed forwardly across the opening 5 and will engage a straw. The ridge 11 at the inner edge of the advancing trough will cause a straw to drop straight and roll straight into the trough 10, and as the rod is released and the ejecting device automatically swings back to its normal position, the

,side edgeof the wall of the opening 5 in the body portion 1 of the container will engage the straws and roll one of them up over the ridge 11 of the ejecting device and thereby cause a straw to drop squarely into the pocket, from which it will be discharged by the subsequent depression of the actuating rod.

F real the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a very ple and ellicient construction of straw holding and dispensing apparatus which will be practically dust proof and otherwise sanitary in use and which will positively eject the straws without danger of mutilating the same, the main controlling devices preventing all crowding of the straws at the discharge opening and maintaining a uniform l device may be formed out of sheet metal, all

in one piece, with the corresponding side bar of the ejecting device, the other side bar and arins on the opposite side of the devicebeing 1 correspondingly formed.

",Having thus described the invent ioIn w hat isclaimed-as new is:

1. Anapparatus of the character described,

comprising acontainer formed in its bottom with an opening, a cut-off stripsecured below and spaced from said opening and pro- Wldlng therewith two oppositely faclng dis-' charge openings, an e ecting device adapted to slide laterally in the space between "said cut-off strip and the opening in the bottom of the container, a support-for said cut-ofi' device, and actuating rodsisecured on op posite sides of the container and 'havingconnection With-said ejecting'device. V p

j In an apparatus of thecharacter descrlbed, the combinatlonof a 'contalner pro-v vided with'a discharge opening, an ejecting device arranged to move across said opening,

a supportfor said ejecting device, the .ejccting device being formed with a pocket adaptedtoregi'ster with said opening and with a trough at one side of said pocket,and;

means for movingsaid -ejecting device, p 3. In an apparatus of the charac'terdescribed thccombin'atlon of a container pro- 40 vided 'with a'discharge opening, an ejecting device arranged to move acrosssaid opening,

fining the sides of-the trough, and means for moving said 'e ectlng device,

4.1a an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a container pro e vided with a discharge opening, an ejecting troughs.

said container, plates secured to said shaft a support for said ejectingdevice, the ejeeting device being formed .with a pocket adapted to register with'said opening and 4 5 alongside said pocket with a trough,ribs de-,

v device adapted to move back and forth across.

Said opening, a support. for said ejecting device, the ejecting de'vlce being formed with a pocket adapted to register with the said opening-and on bot-h sides of said pocket w th long tudinallyextending troughs and miner and out-er ribs defining the sides'of said In zinapparatnsof the character described, the comblnatlonof a contalner -pro- 'vided with a discharge opening, an ejecting deviceadapted to move back and forth across said opening, a support for said ejecting device, the ejecting device being formed with a pocket. adapted to register with the said opening and on both-sides of said pocket.

with longitudinally extending'troughs and\ inner and outer ribs defining the sides of said troughs, the outermost ribs bearing against theext'erior wall, of the container. j 6; An, apparatus ofthe character described, coinprising a container provided with a discharge opening, an ejecting device adaptedfl tdmov across-said opening and BjCt' fi1-- ticlestherethrough, a shaft supported within the container, plates 13 secured to the shaft near the ends thereof, and formed with depending lipsengagingsaid ejecting device, means for moving the ejecting device and plates,.and means for automatically returning the parts to normal position.

7 An apparatus of the character described, comprising a container provided with a discharge opening, and an ejecting device arranged t-o move across said opening and eject articles therethrough, a shaft mounted in 7 and having connection with the ends of the ejecting device, a block secured onsaid shaft, asprlng secured 1n said container and bear- .90

ing upon said block with a tension to turn the shaft to normal position, and means for moving said ejectingdevice.

In testimony whereof I aflix my slgnature in presence of two witnesses.

H RR'Y' (3.. MAYES. [14s.] Wit'nessesi ARTHUR B.KRIsE,

I FRANK R.- Sham).

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