Patent Application
20170190537
The present invention pertains to the field of organizational items, and more specifically to the field of storage and dispensing devices.
In virtually every residential and business establishment, there are drawers or cabinets for storing a variety of materials on spools or rolls, materials such as thread, string, ribbon, tape, and wire. When a person needs a length of thread, string or wire from a spool or roll, they take a free end and pull it. Unless that roll or spool is somehow anchored or someone else is holding it, the length tends to come along as one pulls and generally winds up on the floor and often unspools all on its own, creating a tangled mess. In the same drawers or cabinets are other loose and unorganized stuff like rubber bands and twist ties that have useful functions but no obvious place to go.
The prior art has put forth several designs for storage and dispensing devices. Among these are:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,413,824 to Albert Louis Cabassa describes a folding wire caddy having a horizontal base member and a leg support member pivotally attached with a vertical axis at a point along the horizontal base member near a first end. The leg member is foldable to be parallel and adjacent to the base member or a right angle to the base member. A second leg support member is pivotally attached with a vertical axis at a point along the horizontal base member near an end of the base member opposite the first end of the base member. The second leg member is foldable to be parallel and adjacent to the base member or at a right angle to the base member. One or more spindle members are pivotally attached near one end of each spindle member with horizontal axes at points along the first length of the base member. Each spindle member is foldable to be parallel and adjacent to the base member or at a right angle to the base member, extending vertically.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,557 to Virgil L. Sewell and Martha A. Sewell describes a device permitting yarn or the like to be pulled from a skein by the performance of a handcraft such as knitting. A spindle passes through a skein, and a support structure holds the spindle in a vertical position. The support structure includes a base, an upright attached to the base, and a spindle support at the top of the upright. The base and spindle support have means rotatably attaching them to the upright to allow folding up the device for storage and portability. Means are provided to fix the position of the upright with respect to the base for when the device is in use. The ends of the spindle fit into recesses in the base and spindle support. The means for attaching the spindle support to the upright allows the spindle support to rotate upward so the spindle can be inserted in and removed from the recesses. The spindle has a spacer attached near its lower end to hold the yarn away from the base. In a preferred embodiment, the recesses into which the yarn spindle fits are provided with bearing surfaces to reduce rotational friction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,167 to William W. Knox describes a ribbon dispenser comprising a container having cylindrical sidewalls within which a continuous strand of flat ribbon material is coiled from its outermost periphery inwardly having convolutions of decreasing diameter formed by the running end of the ribbon material. The coil of ribbon is formed with a hollow core of sufficient diameter to permit initial limited uncoiling from the coil interior. Guide means are provided on the container to define a substantially slot shaped aperture for guiding and straightening the free end of the ribbon as it is withdrawn from the container whereby the uncoiled ribbon is stress relieved of its tendency to recoil. The container extends for a substantial vertical height and a plurality of circular partitions are provided dividing it into equal compartments. The guide means being formed in each partition is of identical size and configuration so that each slot shaped aperture is aligned and the free end of the ribbon material in each compartment is fed upwardly through each successive guide means. An articulated dispenser is provided comprising a plurality of containers having cylindrical side and flat top and bottom walls. The cylindrical sidewalls have connecting portions forming a nesting joint to enable two or more containers to be coupled together in vertical array.
None of these prior art references describe the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fully adjustable countertop or mounted storage rack and dispenser comprising telescoping dowels for storing and dispensing such articles as spooled threads and ribbons, skein yarns, and rolls of string, cord, tape, fabric borders and elastics, and wire.
The present invention is a dispenser apparatus for storing and dispensing articles. The dispenser apparatus comprises a first frame member and a second frame member. The first frame member is spaced from the second frame member. At least one telescoping cross support having a first end and the second end is releasably secured between the spaced first frame member and second frame member. The at least one telescoping cross support is capable of storing and dispensing the articles.
In addition, the present invention includes a method apparatus for storing and dispensing articles. The method comprises providing a first frame member, providing a second frame member, spacing the first frame member from the second frame member, providing at least one telescoping cross support having a first end and the second end, releasably securing the at least one telescoping cross support between the spaced first frame member and second frame member, and storing the articles on and dispensing the articles from the at least one telescoping cross support.
The present invention further includes a dispenser apparatus for storing and dispensing articles. The dispenser apparatus comprises a first frame member having a first vertical support perpendicularly mounted to a first horizontal support and a second frame member having a second vertical support perpendicularly mounted to a second horizontal support. The first frame member is spaced from the second frame member. At least one telescoping cross support having a first end and the second end is provided. A series of corresponding eye hooks or open hooks are threadably mounted in and spaced along the first vertical support of the first frame member and the second vertical support of the second frame member. Upon releasably securing the at least one telescoping cross support between the spaced first frame member and second frame member and within corresponding eye hooks or open hooks, the at least one telescoping cross support is capable of storing and dispensing the articles.
The present invention, hereinafter referred to as a Dispenser Apparatus, indicated generally at 10, is a fully adjustable countertop or mounted storage rack and dispenser comprising telescoping cross supports 12 mounted on a frame 14 for storing such articles as spooled threads and ribbons, skein yarns, and rolls of string, cord, tape, fabric borders and elastics, and wire. The Dispenser Apparatus 10 also functions as a handy holder for loose items like rubber bands and twist ties, basically anything that can hang on it. The Dispenser Apparatus 10 is configured to be a stable dispensing reel as well as a handy holder for a variety of items.
The Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention includes the frame 14 having a first frame member 16 and a second frame member 18. In a first embodiment, the first frame member 18 and the second frame member 16 are cuboid blocks. A bottom surface of each of the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18 can include nonslip, non-marring rubberized bottoms for better stabilization of the Dispenser Apparatus 10.
In a second embodiment of the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention, the first frame member 16 is substantially T-shaped including a first vertical support 20 having a first end and a second end and a first horizontal support 22 having a first end and a second end. The first end of the first vertical support 20 is connected to the first horizontal support 22, preferably centered between the first end and the second end of the first horizontal support 22. The second frame member 18 is substantially T-shaped including a second vertical support 24 having a first end and a second end and a second horizontal support 26 having a first end and a second end. The first end of the second vertical support 24 is connected to the second horizontal support 26, preferably centered between the first end and the second end of the second horizontal support 26. Both the first horizontal support 22 and the second horizontal support 26 can include nonslip, non-marring, rubberized bottoms for better stabilization of the Dispenser Apparatus 10.
Preferably, the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18 each measure approximately eight (8″) to ten (10″) inches in height. It should be noted that while a particular dimension of the first frame member 16 and the second member 18 has been described herein, it is within the scope of the present invention for the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18 to have a greater or lesser height.
In addition, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention includes at least one telescoping cross support 12 releasably secured between the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18. In a preferred embodiment, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 includes a plurality of telescoping cross supports 12 (i.e., two, three, or more) with each cross support 12 adjustable in width from approximately four (4″) inches to twelve (12″) inches. Each cross support 12 has a first end and a second end.
Furthermore, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention includes mounting mechanisms for mounting the cross supports between the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18. In an embodiment, the mounting mechanism is a series of corresponding predrilled or molded apertures spaced along and formed in each of the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18. The first end of the cross supports 12 are releasably positioned in the apertures formed in the first frame member 16 and the second end of the cross supports 12 are releasably positioned in the apertures formed in the second frame member 18. The cross supports 12 are preferably maintained in their releasably secure position by friction or other mechanical means.
In another embodiment of the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention, the mounting mechanism is a series of corresponding eye hooks 28 or open hooks threadably mounted in and spaced along the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18. In particular, in one embodiment, the hooks 28 are threadably mounted in and spaced along the first vertical support 20 of the first frame member 16 and the second vertical support 22 of the second frame member 16. The first end of the cross supports 12 are slidably positioned in the hooks 28 mounted to the first frame member 16 and the second end of the cross supports 12 are slidably positioned in the hooks 28 mounted to the second frame member 18. The cross supports 12 preferably rest within or upon the hooks 28 to maintain the position of the cross supports 12 relative to the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18.
In an alternative embodiment, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention can include at least one hanging hook secured to the bottom of the first frame member 16 and the second frame member 18 allowing the Dispenser Apparatus 10 to hang from a ladder. The hanging hooks are useful for people working on ladders, such as electricians, for example.
The Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention is preferably constructed from a wood material or molded thermoplastic material. In addition, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 is produced in a variety of colors to suit a user's taste.
Compact, versatile, and handy, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention is used to dispense almost anything that pulls off a spool or roll, from thread and string to tape, wire, yarn and ribbon. The Dispenser Apparatus 10 has a multiplicity of uses. Crafters such as knitters, sewers, needle pointers and embroiderers find the Dispenser Apparatus 10 highly effective in controlling a dispensing of yarns and threads, Crafters involved in scrapbooking, or in activities as diverse as making curtains and wrapping presents, find the Dispenser Apparatus 10 highly effective as a means of dispensing spooled ribbons, tapes, and trim or border materials. Frame makers and artists use the present invention for spools of hanger wire and fishermen use the present invention to hold spools of fishing line for loading reels and making up rigs.
Householders can use the Dispenser Apparatus 10 of the present invention to hold rubber bands, twist ties, rolls of tape, and tape dispensers. With telescoping cross supports, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 is wide enough to hold and dispense a skein of yarn and narrow enough to hold a spool of thread, a ball of string or several spools of ribbon. Durably constructed of high quality materials, the Dispenser Apparatus 10 will withstand many years of continued use.
Although this invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, it is not intended to be limited thereto and various modifications which will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill in the art are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as described herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
This patent application claims priority under 35 USC 119 (e) (1) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/272,564 filed Dec. 29, 2015, of common inventorship herewith entitled, “The Golden Dispenser,” which is incorporated herein by reference as though the same were set forth in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62272564 | Dec 2015 | US |
