GB2217311A - Dispenser for e.g. peanuts - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispenser has a moveable plate (46) positioned to prevent free flow of such a product out of the container through an opening in the front thereof when that plate (46) is in a closing position, the moveable plate (46) being moveable between that closing position and an opening position (as shown) in which such a product is free to flow out of the container (10) through an opening (62) formed e.g. by a notch in the movable plate, which is spring-loaded into the closed position. The dispenser is loaded via an opening at the top of the front wall. <IMAGE>

Description

Dispenser The present invention relates to a dispenser.

A need has been recognised in the consumer market for a dispenser for self service use in retail outlets that enables a customer or store staff member to dispense a loose product directly into a bag or other receptacle without touching the product by hand, thus achieving a high standard of health and hygiene. The present invention seeks to meet that need, whilst not being restricted to that particular application.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a dispenser comprising a container for a loose product, having an outlet, and a moveable member positioned to prevent free flow of such a product out of the container through the outlet when that member is in a closing position, the moveable member being moveable between that closing position and an opening position in which such a product is free to flow out of the container through the said outlet.

Preferably, the outlet is funnel shaped to facilitate easy filling of a bag placed below or around the outlet.

The moveable member may comprise a plate which lies across an otherwise open end of the container. The plate may be arranged in a substantially upright position. One way of enabling it to prevent and allow flow of a loose product from the container in a closing and opening position respectively is by providing a region of it with a hole or recess, which region extends beyond the boundary of the container, preferably a lower boundary, in the closing position, but which becomes part of the container boundary when the plate is slid into its opening position, preferably by an upward movement, to enable the product to fall through the hole or recess.

If the outlet is in the shape of a funnel, the said region of the plate may be conformed to fit the funnel and rest against the tapering inner sides thereof when the plate is in its closing position. The hole or recess in the plate may then have a width corresponding to the width of the funnel outlet, at the tapered end thereof.

The edges of the said region of the plate may be bevelled or otherwise sharpened to reduce the likelihood of a piece or individual member of the loose product being trapped under that region when the plate is moved to its closing position, and so reduce the likelihood of the dispenser being completely emptied accidentally, or of the plate being otherwise jammed in one position.

Preferably, the plate or other moveable member is spring-biased towards its closing position.

An example of dispenser made in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective see-through view of the dispenser; Figure 2 is the same view with a moveable member of the dispenser shown in an opening position; and Figure 3 is a perspective see-through view of a modified form of dispenser.

The dispenser shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a container 10 with side walls 12 and 14, a lid 15, a rear wall 16 and a bottom 18 which slopes downwardly at its sides towards its centre so that it will tend to channel a loose product such as peanuts towards the middle of the container. The bottom 18 slopes as a whole downwardly towards a front end of the dispenser so that such a loose product will be fed gravitationally towards that front end.

A wide aperture 20 is provided at the top of the front of the dispenser with a pivotable closure member 22 that is mounted on a pivot 24 at the bottom of the aperture 20 to be pivotable between the open position indicated in Figures 1 and 2, in which stops 26 abut the inner ends of curved slots 28 formed in side plates of the closure member 22 to hold a main plate 30 thereof in a position in which it slants upwardly away from the front of the dispenser, to a closed position in which the main plate 30 closes the aperture 20.

A chute 32 is fixed to the front and the side walls 12 and 14 of the dispenser, and extends downwardly in a rearward direction and stops a little short of the rear wall 16. As a result, a loose product poured into the container through the aperture 20 will be gravity fed down the chute to the rear of the container 10, and from there, again by gravity, along the sloping bottom 18 of the container 10 back towards the front thereof.

The front of the container 10 is provided with a funnel-shaped outlet 34 having a front wall 36 which extends across the front of the dispenser 10 from a position just below the aperture 20 downwards to a position below the bottom 18 of the container, where it tapers down to a mouth 38 of the outlet 34. Elongate side walls 40 of the outlet 34 extend rearwardly from the front wall 36 to a position in line with the front edge 42 of the bottom 18 of the container, and slant inwardly from the sides of the front edge 42 to the mouth 38, to act as a funnel in guiding the loose product to the mouth. The outlet 34 also has a rear plate 44 that completes the funnel, by extending downwardly from the front edge 42 of the bottom 18, to the mouth 38, the rear plate 44 tapering to conform to the inwardly slanting side walls 40 of the outlet 34.

Within the funnel-shaped outlet 34 extends a moveable plate 46. This is in a generally upright position, and extends from a position below and spaced from the bottom of the aperture 20 downwardly to the mouth 38. It has substantially the same width as the dispenser and tapers at its lower end to conform to the funnel-shaped outlet 34. The plate 46 rests against vertical guides or front edges 48 of the side walls 12 and 14 and at its lower end against the rear plate 44 of the outlet 34. A vertical elongate spacer member 50 attached to the moveable plate 46 has substantially the same depth as the outlet 34, so that its front edge is close to or touches the rear side of the front wall 36 of the outlet 34.The moveable plate 46 is thereby constrained to move in one generally vertical plane, but can slide up and down in that plane by the distance between the bottom of the aperture 20 and the top of the plate 46 when the latter is in its lowermost position.

In that position, its lower slanting edges rest against the slanting side walls 40.

The upper end of the spacer member 50, which is at the upper edge of the moveable plate 46, supports a cross-member 52 attached to that upper edge. The member 52 in turn abuts a lower generally horizontally part 54 of a spring 56 that has curved upper parts 58 which arch towards, but terminate well short of, an abutment block 60 fixed centrally to the front wall 36 just below the aperture 20, and also to a top strip 62 extending across the top of the front wall 36. The spring 56 thereby resists upward movement of the moveable plate 46 until the curved upper parts 58 of the spring 56 abut the block 60, whereafter further upward movement of the plate 56 is resisted by a greater force as the whole of the curved upper parts 58 are flexed.

The tapered region of the moveable plate 46 has a mouse-hole shaped recess 62 cut out from it. The recess extends upwardly from the bottom of the plate 46. It will be appreciated that a hole (not shown) in the plate, in its tapered region, could be formed instead of the recess 62, and would perform the same function.

Two pins 64 extend downwardly from the bottom of the plate 46 to which they are secured, through respective holes 66 formed in the slanting side walls 40, to positions below and on opposite sides of the mouth 38.

The lower ends of the pins 64 may be joined by a generally horizontal member 68 (shown in broken lines) which extends in front of the mouth 38 so as not to obstruct it.

The dispenser operates as follows.

To fill it, the closure member 22 is pivoted into its open position and a loose product, such as peanuts, is poured into the container through the aperture 20.

Once the loose product settles, it will rest against the moveable plate 46, the latter being in the closing position as shown in Figure 1. When a customer wishes to fill a bag (not shown) with the loose product, he places an empty bag under mouth 38 and raises one or both pins 64, which he can do using only one hand, to raise the moveable plate 46 so that the recess 62 rises above the edge 42 of the bottom 18 of the container, as for example shown in Figure 2. The loose product can now flow through the recess 62, into the funnel-shaped outlet 34, and out through the mouth 38 and into the bag. The rate at which the product flows can be adjusted by the extent to which the pins are raised, and hence the amount of the recess 62 which is available for the product to flow through.When the pins are released, the moveable plate 46 slides back down under the force of gravity supplemented by the biassing force of the spring 56, and so closes the outlet 34. The bevelled lower edges, including the edge of the recess 62, of the moveable plate 46 ensure that there is little likelihood of a member of the loose product getting trapped.

In the modification shown in Figure 3, the moveable plate 46 can be raised and lowered by means of a knob 80 attached to that plate via a shank 82 extending through a vertically extending elongate slot 84 in the front wall 36 of the outlet 34.

Numerous other variations and modifications to the illustrated dispenser will readily occur to a person familiar with the art, without taking it outside the scope of the present invention. In one very different construction, for example, the moveable plate may be an eccentrically mounted disc or ellipse which covers a circular aperture in the container in one position, and uncovers it by a given amount in a second position.

The illustrated dispenser may be made to stand alone, or it may be provided with means to facilitate its being joined side by side to one or more other such dipensers in modular form. It may be free standing, or built in to support means, or it may be provided with its own support frame made of steel or aluminium or other suitable material.

The loose product which it can be used to dispense may comprise peanuts, other nuts, confectionary, dried fruit, bread rolls, snacks, or any other loose product.

It will be appreciated that the illustrated dispenser ensures circulation of stock, so that there are substantially no dead spots where the loose product may collect and go stale before eventually being released.

The dispenser may be made out of acrylic cr other suitable thermoplastic material, the spring 56 preferably being made of a polycarbonate material.

Claims (11)

Claims

1. A dispenser comprising a container for a loose product, having an outlet, and a moveable member positioned to prevent free flow of such a product out of the container through the outlet when that member is in a closing position, the moveable member being moveable between that closing position and an opening position in which such a product is free to flow out of the container through the said outlet.

2. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the outlet is funnel shaped to facilitate easy filling of a bag placed below or around the outlet.

3. A dispenser according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the moveable member comprises a plate which lies across an otherwise open end of the container.

4. A dispenser according to claim 3, in which the plate is arranged in a substantially upright position.

5. A dispenser according to claim 3 or claim 4, in which a region of the plate is provided with a hole or recess, which region extends beyond the boundary of the container in the closing position, but which becomes part of the container boundary when the plate is slid into its opening position to enable the product to fall through the hole or recess.

6. A dispenser according to claim 5, in which the said region extends beyond a lower boundary of the container in the closing position, and the plate is slid upwardly when it is slid into its opening position.

7. A dispenser according to claim 5 or claim 6, read as appendant to claim 2, in which the said region of the plate is conformed to fit the funnel and rest against the tapering inner sides thereof when the plate is in its closing position.

8. A dispenser according to claim 7, in which the hole or recess in the plate has a width corresponding to the width of the funnel outlet, at the tapered end thereof.

9. A dispenser according to any one of claims 3 to 8, in which the edges of the said region of the plate are bevelled or otherwise sharpened to reduce the likelihood of a piece or individual member of the loose product being trapped under that region when the plate is moved to its closing position, and so reduce the likelihood of the dispenser being completely emptied accidentally, or of the plate being otherwise jammed in one position.

10. A dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the plate or other moveable member is springbiased towards its closing position.

11. A dispenser substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings with or without the modification shown in Figure 3.