US1141781A - Toothpick-holder. - Google Patents

Description

C. DICKSON.

TOOTHPICK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1914.

Patented J 11116 1, 1915.

IIVVENTOR 626212 6) 21" WITNESSES A TTOR/VEYS THE NORkls PETERS 60.. PHOTOLITHO.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

CHARLES DICKSON, 0F ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

TOOTHPICK-I-IOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1915.

Application filed July 10, 1914. Serial No. 850,170.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES DICKSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothpick-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to receptacles for articles, such as tooth-picks, matches, and the like, having means for individual delivery of the articles contained-therein, and one of the main objects is to insure a single delivery of one of said articles in a single actuation of said delivery means.

A further object is to provide readily accessible means for manually actuating said delivery means.

A further object is to provide a suitable tray, or equivalent, whereon the delivered articles are deposited.

A further object is to provide such a receptacle wherein the articles are protected against contamination from dirt. or dust,

and from handling by persons other than the one actuating the delivery mechanism, as with tooth-picks, and also wherein matches may be protected against accidental ignition, and against injury from moisture; and further objects are to provide such devices which are simple in construction and use, comparatively inexpensive, well adapted to the purpose for which they are designed, and which may be made very ornate.

My invention is fully set forth in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts are designated by the same reference characters-in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a present preferred form of embodiment of my invention, ready for use; Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal, central section therethrough; Fig. 3 is a vertical, transverse, central section therethrough; Fig. 4 is a detached, perspective, view of the operating element; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional, view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the operating element in a different position.

In the drawings forming part of this application I have shown a receptacle formed of end members 6 and 7 and side members 8 and 9, forming a hopper 10, Fig. 3, open at its bottom at 11 and adapted to receive and contain a plurality of small articles 12,

such as tooth-picks or matches, and said side members 8 and 9 are outwardly flared and again inwardly, segmentally, to form a cylindrical casing 13 in communication with the hopper 10 by means of the open slot 11 therein, and being also open at its bottom, by means of a slot 14.

The end members 6 and 7 are continued downwardly to form legs 15 and 16, connected by means of a brace 17 and upon which is arranged a tray 18 adapted to receive the delivered article, said tray extending for approximately the full length of the device, and for a predetermined distance toward each side thereof, so that the deposit of the delivered article on said tray will be assured.

As illustrated, the end members are each formed of a stamping of relatively strong and rigid material, and the side members are each provided with lugs 19 which are turned over the outer faces of the end members and secured in such positions by means of screws 20, or equivalent, whereby a very light, strong, and economical structure results, readily assembled even by unskilled persons, and I also provide a cover 21, preferably eXteriorly flanged to slip over the top of the end and side members forming the hopper 10, said cover, as well as the tray 18, being stampings from sheet metal.

The operating element forming, with the slots 11 and 14 and the cylindrical casing 13, the delivery means comprises a shaft 22 journaled in the end members, at 23, concentric with the casing 13, and carries a turn-button 21 at each end, exteriorly of the device, whereby said shaft may be rotated, and said shaft also carries similar rollers 25 and similar rollers 26 interiorly of the easing 13, the former being of less diameter than the latter for a reason later pointed out, whereas the latter are of the approximate diameter of the interior of the casing 13, whereby said rollers project into the slots 11 and 14 and prevent any articles within the hopper from passing downwardly through the casing 13 and, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the rollers 26 are provided, each with two longitudinally arranged grooves 28 diametrically opposite each other of a width and depth slightly exceeding the thickness of the article adapted to be delivered.

It will be obvious that, when an article falls into one of the grooves 28 of the rollers 26, and the shaft 22 is rotated by means of the turn-button at either end of the device, said article is carried downwardly through the casing 13 to the slot 14 and through which it falls to the tray 18, whence it is removed for use, the rollers 25 are of such diameter that the ends of the article being delivered are engaged thereby to maintain said article in parallelism with the casing 13 in the downward movement there of, and the rollers may be made of yielding or resilient material to insure this result, the relative position of the article being delivered being indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l, and it will be apparent'that the rollers are secured on the shaft 22 and revo luble therewith.

I prefer to form the rollers 25 of a diameter approximately equaling that of the rollers 26 at the bottoms of the diametrically arranged grooves 28 when matches are to be contained and delivered by the device, whereas, for toothpicks, I prefer to 7 make the rollers 25 of a slightly greater diameter in view of the fact that such articles taper toward the ends thereof, but this feature is arbitrary and the exact dimensions are subject to change, as is the material of I the rollers.

While I have shown a definite and preferred form of construction, it is possible that I may modify the same to meet varying conditions, as for difierent classes of articles, within the scope of the following claim, Without departing fromc the spirit of my invention, or sacrificing its advantages.

and, with such reservation.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

A device of the class described, compris-. ing a support, a hopper thereon provided with an opening in the bottom thereof, a cylindrical casing beneath said hopper'and in communication therewith and open at its bottom, a shaft in said casing and concentric therewith, means exterior of said casing for rotating said shaft, a grooved roller arranged centrally of said shaft and approximately of the diameter of the'interior of said casing, and complemental rollers carried by said shaft, adjacent the ends of said casing, of a smaller diameter than theinterior of said casing.

In testimony whereof name to this specification'in the presence of the subscribing witnesses. 7

7 CHARLES DIGKSON. WVitnesses i G. H. EMsLm, PHILIP D. ROLLHAJIS'.

(Topics of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of atents,

Washington, D. G. 1 V

I have signed my

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