1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a structure that assists in the stacking of molded and fabricated lottery ticket dispensers. More particularly, this invention relates to a coupling plate that serves as an intermediate member for demountably attaching a fabricated ticket dispenser to the top of a molded dispenser.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of stackable box-like structures for displaying and dispensing of lottery tickets has long been known in the art. Originally, the most common popular methods for attaching such structures in a stackable arrangement had been either permanent or not lockable. However, over a decade ago, a molded stackable display and dispensing structure was developed to include engagement means on the top of the structure that were adapted to co-act with engagement means on the bottom of a second similarly shaped structure for attachment in a stacked and locked arrangement. Such structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,005 issued to Schafer on Mar. 21, 1995.
The stacking and locking features of the Schafer invention have proven to be highly popular and successful in utilization with molded ticket dispensing structures that include the necessary engagement means molded therein, but such invention is not normally applicable with dispensers that are fabricated by hand to accommodate unusually sized lottery tickets. Although the vast majority of lottery tickets utilized in the lottery industry have standard dimensions so they can be dispensed from a wide variety of different ticket dispensers, occasionally a particular state lottery will conduct a promotion that utilizes a ticket of an unusual size. To accommodate such tickets, dispenser manufacturers have the capability for manufacturing fabricated dispensers by hand. Because fabricated dispensers do not include molded engagement means therein, they are not designed to be conveniently arranged in an interchangeable stacked relationship. Instead, such dispensers are normally attached by double-sided adhesive to the countertop of a retail establishment or to the top of a molded dispenser in such fashion that they cannot be readily removed therefrom.
The present invention provides a coupling plate that serves as an intermediate coupling member between a fabricated dispenser and a molded dispenser in such fashion that the two can be readily removed from one another.
The present invention is a coupling plate that is adapted to serve as a connecting member for stacking a fabricated ticket dispenser on top of a box-type molded dispenser in a semi-permanent arrangement, and includes engagement means for co-acting with the engagement means on the molded dispenser. The coupling plate is formed with a plate-type body portion having generally flat top and bottom surfaces, a first engagement means extended downwardly from the front of the body portion and a second engagement means extending downwardly from the rear of the body portion. The first engagement means is designed to co-act with a lip portion on the top of the molded dispenser for attachment thereto and the second engagement means extends through notches in the roof of the molded dispenser and is overlapped by a flange on the door of such dispenser to lockably secure the coupling plate to the dispenser.
The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by illustration and not of limitation a specific form in which the invention may be embodied. Such embodiment does not represent the full scope of the invention, but rather the invention may be employed in a variety of other embodiments and reference is made to the claims herein for interpreting the breadth of the invention.
With reference now to the drawings, a dual modular hinged lottery ticket dispenser known in the prior art is shown in
The box unit 12 has a top surface 18, a front wall 20, a pair of opposite side walls 22 and 24, a bottom surface 26 and a rear opening 28 (see
The door 14 has a vertical face 38, a horizontal top flange 40 and a pair of vertical side flanges 42 and 44. A bottom portion 46 of the door 14 is generally cylindrical in shape and has a pair of cylindrical posts 48 and 50 at opposite ends. The posts 48 and 50 are designed to be receivably journaled in circular openings 52 in the sidewalls 22 and 24 to pivotally attach the bottom portion 46 of the door 14 to the box unit 12. The dispenser 10 is preferably entirely molded of a clear plastic material such as polycarbonate. Such material has inherent flexible and resilient qualities. Because of such flexible and resilient qualities, the door 14 is semi-permanently attachable to the box unit 12.
Referring now to
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The dispenser 10′ includes a bottom 26′ that co-acts with the engagement means on the top 18 of the dispenser 10, with a front flange 58′ hooking over the lip 64 to secure the front portions of the dispensers 10 and 10′ together. Simarily, the dispenser 10′ has rear flanges 60′ that extend through the notches 66 in the dispenser 10. Thus, when the door 14 is closed the top door flange 40 overlies the flanges 60′ to secure the dispenser 10′ in place in a semi-permanent relationship with the dispenser 10, all as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,005 issued Mar. 21, 1995, and incorporated herein by reference.
The above-described co-action between the engagement means of the molded dispensers 10 and 10′ works effectively to lockably secure such dispensers together. However, such securement is unavailable for prior art hand made fabricated dispensers 70, as illustrated in
The dispenser 70 has a box unit 71 with a divider 73 to form dual storage compartments similar to that of the molded dispensers 10 and 10′. The dispenser 70 is adapted for dispensing unusually sized tickets that cannot be accommodated in the dispensers 10 and 10′. However, because the dispenser 70 does not have engagement means, normally the dispenser 70 must be fastened to the top of a retail establishment's sales counter or attached to the top of a molded unit 10 through the use of double-sided adhesive tape. Accordingly, the dispenser 70 cannot be readily switched in position with other types of dispensers as conveniently as can be done with the molded dispensers 10 and 10′. The present invention has been adapted for the sole purpose of essentially providing engagement means on the bottom of the fabricated dispenser 70 in a somewhat similar fashion to the engagement means of the molded dispenser 10 so that the two can be interchangeably connected together.
Referring now to
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The flange 90 is adapted to engage the lip 64 and extend into the front pocket 62 of the dispenser 10 in similar fashion to the flange 58 for securing the front portion of the plate 72 to the front portion of the dispenser 10. Similarly, the plate 72 includes rear engagement means in the form of four L-shaped flanges 92 that resemble the bottom rear flanges 60 of the dispenser 10.
The flanges 92 are designed for being positioned into the notches 66 of the dispenser 10 for engagement with the top door flange 40, which secures the rear portion of the coupling plate 72 to the top of the dispenser 10 as indicated best in
To assemble the fabricated dispenser 70 in a stackable relationship with the molded dispenser 10, as shown in
It can, thus, be readily seen that the present invention provides a simple and efficient means for serving as a releasable but locked connecting means between a fabricated ticket dispenser and a molded ticket dispenser. Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be so limited since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the full-intended scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.