Cup dispensing device

Oct. 13, 1942.

2,298,884

S. N. HOPE

CUP DISPENSING DEVICE

Filed May 15, 1939

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Patented Oct. 13, 1942

2,298,884

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,298,884

CUP DISPENSING DEVICE

Samuel N. Hope, Wauwatosa, Wis,, assignor to Griffith-Hope Company, West Allis, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin

Application May 15, 1939, Serial No. 273,628

Claim. (Cl. 312—44)

This invention relates to devices for dispensing paper cups and Other articles.

An object of the invention is to provide a dispensing device having an improved but simplified form of resilient feeding means for urging nested paper cups or other articles to dispensing position, the feeding means exerting an approximately uniform feeding pressure regardless of the number of articles in the' device.

Another object is to provide a dispensing device which is capable of economical manufacture. ..

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein the invention is shown to be embodied in a cup dispensing device of the horizontal type:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the dispensing device, showing a cup projecting therefrom in dispensing position;

Fig, 2 is a front elevation of the device;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken generally along the line 4—4 .of Fig. 2, the foremost cup being partially withdrawn;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation, taken generally along the line 5—5 of Fig. 1,' the cups being omitted;

Fig. 6 is a detail top plan view of a cup follower;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view taken generally along the line 7—7 of Fig. 5, showing cups, mounted in the casing, and the foremost cup being partially withdrawn, and

Fig. 8 is a detail view of a cup-retaining dog and a cooperating portion of the casing, the latter being shown in section.

In the drawing, 10 designates a tubular casing which comprises a cylindrical sheet metal shell 11 of C-shaped cross-section bridged by a longitudinally extending outwardly flanged sheet metal channel member 12, and closed at its rear end by a flanged sheet metal end plate 13, the channel member and end plate being rigidly secured to. the shell, as by spot welding. At its front end the casing is provided with a sheet metal extension collar 14 spot welded to the shell and channel member. The casing is suitably supported, preferably in horizontal position with the channel member uppermost. A flanged wedge plate (5 is rigidly secured to the channel member and is wedgingly engageable in a mounting bracket IB secured to the underside of a horizontal support 17, such as a soda fountain counter, the casing being drawn forwardly to a wedging position.

The casing is adapted to house therein a succession of articles, which in the present instance are shown to be in the form of paper cups 18 arranged in nested relation and having beaded or outwardly flanged rims 19, the closed end or bottom of the foremost cup projecting from the casing, and the beaded rims of the cups fitting loosely in the cylindrical shell ί I.

The cups are releasably retained in the casing by suitable means such as a plurality of springpressed dogs 20 mounted in the Shell I I, four peripherally spaced dogs being shown in the present instance. Each dog consists of an elongated block, preferably of metal, extending longitudinally of the casing and having a pair of longitudinally spaced, pointed teeth or projections 21 and 22 which extend respectively through a pair of aligned slots 23 and 24 formed in the shell, there being a bridge 25 between these slots loosely fitting in a notch 26 formed in the dog between the teeth. The dog pivotally bears on the bridge to permit a limited rocking movement of the dog, the opposite ends of the dog having Stop projections 27 which are engageable with the outer surface of the shell beyond the ends of the slots 23 and 24. The dogs 20 are held in the slots by a coiled tension spring 28 extending about the shell and fitting in central notches 29 formed in the outer edges of the dogs, the ends of the spring being anchored on hooks 30, Fig. 5, struck up from the flanges of the channel member 12. The spring and dogs are housed in an arcuate sheet metal cover 31 of channel cross-section extending about the shell II and secured thereto by rivets 32. The dogs are preferably symmetrical about a central transverse plane, thus facilitating assembly.

A cup-shaped follower 33 slidably fits in the shell 11 and has an end wall bearing on the rim portion of the innermost cup. A feeding spring 34 formed by a spirally wound strip or ribbon of resilient material has a portion extending in and along the channel member 12 and is rigidly secured at its front end to the extension collar 14, as by a rivet 35. The spirally wound free end portion of the spring extends into the interior space of the shell and has the convex side of its outer convolution slidably bearing on the inner side of the end wall of the cup-shaped follower 33, the latter having a rectangular notch 36 in its side wall to admit the spring. The spirally coiled feeding spring tends to roll up toward the open front end of the casing and thus urges the follower 33 and the cups 18 toward this end. The flange of the foremost cup, however, engages the

2,298,884 teeth 21 of the spring-pressed dogs 20, thus restraining movement of the cups. The dogs 20 form stops for the follower when the last cup is withdrawn.

When a cup is to be dispensed, it is grapsed in the fingers and pulled outwardly, the rim portion of the cup depressing first the rear teeth 21 and then the front teeth 22 of the dogs 20 and causing the dogs to pivot on the bridges 25, the rear teeth 2 i of the dogs being thus urged against the second cup in front of its beaded rim 19 to restrain movement of this cup. Continued outward movement of the foremost cup causes the front teeth 22 of the dogs to become further depressed against the action of the coiled spring 28, as seen in Fig. 7, the dogs then pivoting on their rear end portions 27. The rim portion of the foremost cup finally passes over the front teeth 22 of the dogs, permitting removal of the cup from the casing, the following cup being retained in the casing by the rear teeth 21 of the dogs. Succeeding cups are withdrawn in the same manner, the nested cups being urged forwardly by the spirally coiled feeding spring 34. An advantage for this feeding spring is that the feeding pressure on the cups remains approximately uniform whether the casing is full or has only a single remaining cup. The feeding spring is further advantageous in that it has a relatively long effective travel, occupies a comparatively small space, is quiet in operation, and is capable of economical manufacture. The portion of the spring extending from the anchorage 35 to the coiled portion is substantially flat and bears on the web of the channel member 12 out of the path of the cups.

The opposite side walls of the channel member will limit any tendency toward lateral shifting of the spring, and these side walls, as well as the opposite parallel edges of the follower notch 36, will limit any tendency toward skewing or tipping of the coiled portion of the spring. The parallel edges of the follower notch form guide surfaces for the coiled portion of the spring.

The feeding movement of the cups is retarded by their frictional engagement with the casing walls, or by their weight, or both, and such retarding effect is approximately proportional to the number of cups in the casing. However, the feeding pressure on the foremost cup remains fairly constant, as the retarding effect is compensated for by the change in the force exerted by the multiple-convolution spring in the various positions of the spring. As the spring rolls up toward the dispensing end of the casing, the outer convolution of the spring increases in effective radius and this inherently reduces the force of the spring a small amount sufficient to provide the desired compensation.

To load the casing, it is only necessary to push a stack of nested cups into the casing, the springpressed rockable dogs 20 being forced outwardly by the rim portions of the cups as the cups pass into the casing, and the feeding spring being uncoiled or unwound as its free end portion is pushed rearwardly.

It will be obvious that the feeding spring can be used in other types of dispensers, such as napkin diSpensers.

The dispensing means including the yieldably mounted cup-retaining dogs forms the subjectmatter of my copending application Serial No. 308,418, filed December 9, 1939.