Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47F—SPECIAL FURNITURE, FITTINGS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR SHOPS, STOREHOUSES, BARS, RESTAURANTS OR THE LIKE; PAYING COUNTERS
  • A47F1/00—Racks for dispensing merchandise; Containers for dispensing merchandise
  • A47F1/04—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs
  • A47F1/08—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs dispensing from bottom
  • A47F1/10—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs dispensing from bottom having mechanical dispensing means, e.g. with buttons or handles
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47F—SPECIAL FURNITURE, FITTINGS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR SHOPS, STOREHOUSES, BARS, RESTAURANTS OR THE LIKE; PAYING COUNTERS
  • A47F1/00—Racks for dispensing merchandise; Containers for dispensing merchandise
  • A47F1/04—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs
  • A47F1/08—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs dispensing from bottom
  • A47F1/10—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs dispensing from bottom having mechanical dispensing means, e.g. with buttons or handles
  • A47F2001/103—Racks or containers with arrangements for dispensing articles, e.g. by means of gravity or springs dispensing from bottom having mechanical dispensing means, e.g. with buttons or handles for cutlery

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for dispensing ice-cream spoons and the like, of disposable type.
• the invention has been devised such as to offer simple production of the components, rapid assembly operations and easy and simple maintenance.
• the spoon dispenser comprises a box defining essentially vertical housings for a corresponding number of stacks of spoons, and for each stack there is a mechanism which slides out the bottommost spoon in each stack so that it protrudes from a corresponding opening in the front of the box.
• said mechanism comprises a pivoting right-angled operating lever and a slide connected to the operating lever by a flexible strip, the slide being elastically urged in the opposite direction to the direction of extraction in which said lever is operated in order to extract a spoon; the slide has a projection which entrains the spoon to be extracted.
• an elastic annular rubber band is used for each slide, this rubber band being hooked onto the slide and onto a fixed point on the box so as to exert a pulling force on the slide; the elastic bands can be replaced individually.
• Each operating lever, its associated slide and its associated flexible strip are advantageously made as a single component molded out of synthetic resin, the strip being flexible as a result of its reduced thickness.
• the right-angled operating lever has two opposite lateral coaxial pegs which are accommodated in corresponding housings in the box, in which housings said pegs are held by the same elastic force that acts on the slide.
• the box can be formed by two identical half-shells joined together as mirror images, and can be equipped such that it can be used to dispense spoons from one face or from the opposite face.
• Fig. 1 shows, in isolation, a pack of spoons that can be handled in order to be loaded into a housing in a dispenser as illustrated;
• Figs 2, 3 and 4 illustrate a partially sectioned side view, a plan view on the plane Ill-Ill of Fig. 2 and a sectional view on the plane IV-IV of Fig. 2, of a spoon designed to be packed in the manner indicated;
• Fig. 5 shows a front view, with some parts removed or in section, of a dispenser for spoons packed as shown in Figs 1 to 4;
• Fig. 6 shows a side view in partial section on the plane VI-VI of Fig. 5;
• Fig. 7 shows a plan view in partial section on the broken plane VII-VII of Figs 5 and 6;
• Figs 8 and 9 show partial sections similar to those of Fig. 6 which illustrate the action of extracting the pack rod from the stack of spoons and the position assumed when extracting a spoon using the extraction mechanism;
• Fig. 10 shows a view from below on the plane X-X of Figs 6 and 9, with some parts removed;
• Fig. 11 illustrates, in isolation and disconnected, the two half- shells which form the dispenser box, shown in horizontal section similar to that of Fig. 7 but at various levels;
• Figs 12 and 13 show, in isolation and on an enlarged scale, a component of the extraction means, in a side view in partial section on the plane XII-XII in Fig. 13, and in a view taken on XIII-XIII in Fig. 12.
• a spoon 1 has a longitudinal slit 3 along its handle 1A, adjacent to the end opposite the bowl end 1 B of the spoon.
• the cross section of the spoon 1 is such as to allow one spoon to fit partially inside another so that the spoons in each pack are stabilized in the form of a stack P.
• FIGs 1 , 6, 8 is provided which has a grip end 5A, an abutment 5B adjacent to said grip end, a main portion 5C whose dimensions are such that it can be inserted into the slits 3 in the spoons 1 of the stack P, and an end 5E which forms a pair of projections 5F and an elongate longitudinal slit 5G, the latter being formed so as to make the projections 5F elastic, which projections need to be able to be pushed closer together in order to allow the rod to be pulled out of the stack P of spoons 1.
• the stack of spoons is held in place by the rod 5 between the abutment 5B which engages with the topmost spoon 1X, and the pair of projections 5F which engage with the bottommost spoon 1Y and prevent the spoons in the stack from spontaneously slipping off until such time as the two projections 5F are pushed slightly closer together.
• the two projections 5F can also be of different sizes, with the larger one being more rigid and the thinner one being more elastic.
• a pack of spoons as described above could also include a paper component which could take the form of an envelope or bag for containing said pack; alternatively, the paper component could be a strip of paper S (Fig. 1) wrapped around the middle of the spoons in the stack, the width of said strip being smaller than the length of the spoons.
• the paper bag can be torn away just before the pack is inserted in the housing in the dispenser; the strip S can be torn away before the pack is inserted or can be cut after the stack of packed spoons is inserted so that, irrespective of the method used, the spoons are released and can then be extracted individually.
• a pack as described above can be accommodated in one housing of a plurality of adjacent housings formed in a dispenser as illustrated in the drawing (Figs 5 to 11) and indicated by the general reference
• the dispenser illustrated has a base 12 for a box which is denoted overall by the reference 14, the front and back walls of which are shaped with vertical recesses 16 so that opposite pairs of recesses 16 form the housings for the stacks P of spoons 1 , the bowl ends 1 B of which are centered between side edges 18 which separate the various housings defined by the shaped recesses 16 from one another.
• a lever 20 which is lowered against an antagonistic elastic action in order to cause a slide 22 to move in the direction of the arrow f2, this slide causing the handle 1A of the bottommost spoon in a stack of spoons to protrude partially (Fig.
• the levers 20 are shaped such that a space is left (Fig.6) for the ends 5E with the projections 5F of the rods 5, the latter being extracted as soon as the packs of spoon stacks have been inserted (Fig. 1).
• said box 14 can be closed by a lid, taking care to allow the grip parts 5A to project through slits 26A formed in the lid 26 at precisely those points where the grip parts 5A of the rods 5 are positioned when the packs described are inserted in the individual housings 16, 18 of the box 14 of the dispenser 10. Then, holding the lid 26 down on the box 14 which is closed by said lid, it is possible to extract the rods 5 individually, the stacks P of spoons 1 being held in place by the lid 26. This operation is carried out without in any way having to touch the spoons which have been placed in the dispenser box.
• the box 14 and the base 12 of the dispensing device 10 illustrated consists of two components or half-shells which are identical and can thus be made from a single mold, being subsequently joined together as mirror images (see Fig. 11 in particular) along flanges 28 which are joined using snap-button means or at any rate by means of a seal obtained in some other way.
• the two components of the box 14 are shaped such as to offer the option of positioning the means for centering the stacks of spoons, the extraction means, the extraction slits and the seats for the extraction control means - such as the lever 20 and the slide 22 - either way round.
• the box will, more specifically, have outlet slits 24 and side edges 18 for centering the spoons 1 on both its front and back faces; vertical slits 30 adjoining the outlet slits 24 which are present on both the front and back faces will also be provided and will allow a visual check to be made on the rate at which the stacks of spoons are being used up.
• Sliding seats 32 are provided for each slide 22, but only those on the front face of the box - i.e. the opposite face to that on which the levers 20 are mounted - will be used.
• the reference 34 denotes lateral supports which serve to support the bowl ends 1 B of the spoons in the stack, with the bowl 1 B of the spoon resting on said ledges 34 and being centered between the vertical side edges 18.
• each slide 22 is made by molding it in a single piece with the lever 20 which is right-angled and with the connecting strip which extends between the two components 20 and 22 and consists of a thin flat strip 38; the thinness of this strip gives it the flexibility of a foil and it is molded together with the parts 20 and 22.
• the slide 22 comprises a projection 22A on the top which is positioned in front of the terminal edge of the bowl 1 B of the spoon 1 Y lying at the bottom of the stack, which spoon has its bowl 1 B resting on the ledges 34 and its handle 1 A resting on the guide ledges 32 at the lever 20 end.
• a sheet, for example of card 40, can be placed between the opposing side edges 18 and so that it rests on the ledges 34 in order to complete the support and sliding surface for the bottommost spoons 1 Y in each of the stacks.
• the two half-shells forming the box 14 of the dispenser 10 have pegs 42 located on the underside of the seat inside which each slide 22 slides; each slide 22 in turn has a peg 22C on its underside, corresponding to the one 42.
• Engaged around the two pegs 22C and 42 found on each of the housings for the stacks of spoons is a rubber band 44 of a type widely available on the market and thus easy to replace, said rubber band being held in place by terminal expansions on the two pegs 22C and 42.
• Each of the elastic bands 44 is engaged around the two pegs 22C and 42 such that it is taut between these two pegs even when the sTide 22 abuts against a stop 1 A when the lever 20 is in the raised position (Fig. 6), into which position the lever 20 is pulled by the elastic band 44 which pulls the slide in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow f2.
• the lever 20 is approximately right-angled, with a recess at the top into which the end 5E of the rod 5 with the slit 5G and the elastic projections 5F already described can fit when the lever 20 is in the rest position shown in Fig.
• each lever 20 projectsing coaxially on either side of it, are two pegs 20C which are housed in corresponding housings 46 formed in the base 12 of the box.
• the spoon can be extracted manually from the slit 24 through which it projects, thereby allowing the stack to drop down.
• the dimensions of the extraction mechanism - which consists of the piece forming the lever 20 with the pegs 20C, the strip 38 and the slide 22 with the projections 22A and 22C - are no greater that those of each housing 16 for a siack of spoons, it is thus possible to position the stacks of spoons very closely next to each other in their respective housings 16 and therefore to limit the width of the front of the box 14 of the dispenser, which is extremely advantageous in terms of making space available for other uses in those public places having a dispenser of the type described, and also advantageous in terms of the high spoon- holding capacity offered by the device.
• the dispenser box can be made from two half-shells (see Fig. 11) which are completely identical and can thus be molded using a single mold and are made so as to be able to take advantage of the assembly of the extraction means and of the systems for loading the packs which are totally identical and which do not interfere with operation on the side not being used.
• housings 46 are completely symmetrical means that the levers can be positioned on either side; positioning of the slides 22 is also allowed by the completely symmetrical guide systems; the side edges 18 and the recesses 16 are symmetrical and the lid 26 - which has only one row of slits 26A - can be positioned in either of two symmetrical and mirror-image positions, so that the slits 26A lie on the same side as the grip parts 5A of the rods 5 which have been loaded into the housings of the box.
• the mechanisms for extracting the bottommost spoons in each stack can be assembled without any particular need for pins or other elements, but simply by hooking the elastic bands 44 around the pegs 42 and
• the spoons can be made with two apertures (such as two holes) set a certain distance apart instead of with the slit 3. Accordingly, the rod 5 would then take the form of two bars instead of the flat structure illustrated.

Landscapes

• Table Equipment (AREA)
• De-Stacking Of Articles (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
• Confectionery (AREA)
• Vending Machines For Individual Products (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11353043

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (31)

Families Citing this family (11)

Citations (5)

• 1999
  • 1999-07-16 IT IT1999FI000164A patent/IT1307782B1/it active
• 2000
  • 2000-07-12 DE DE60005033T patent/DE60005033T8/de active Active
  • 2000-07-12 ES ES00944247T patent/ES2204645T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-07-12 EP EP00944247A patent/EP1217923B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-07-12 WO PCT/IT2000/000287 patent/WO2001005281A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 2000-07-12 AT AT00944247T patent/ATE248542T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (5)

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