Patent Application
20140263395
The present invention relates generally to the field of dispensers. In particular, the present invention relates to devices for dispensing food service lids.
In many convenience stores, restaurants, cafeterias, and other locations where beverages are sold, customers are allowed to serve themselves from beverage dispensers. The beverages are dispensed into disposable cups. To limit spilling of the beverages, especially for take-out orders, the cups are commonly sealed by the customer with a disposable plastic lid.
For reasons of convenience, efficiency, reduced waste, and improved hygiene, the beverage container lids are optimally dispensed from a lid dispenser which makes available a single lid while retaining and protecting the remaining supply of lids.
One embodiment of the invention relates to a lid dispenser for dispensing a first lid from a plurality of lids. The lid dispenser including a housing having an opening therein through which the plurality of lids are dispensed, a door pivotally mounted and positioned frontwardly of the housing, and a claw assembly wherein the claw assembly is coupled to and movable relative to the door. The claw assembly includes a first claw including a first body portion and a first claw surface extending from the body portion, a second claw including a second body portion and a second claw surface extending from the body portion, and a depth stop plate that connects the first claw to the second claw, the depth stop plate including a depth stop spaced apart from the first claw surface and the second claw surface, wherein the depth stop plate defines and maintains the distance between the first claw and the second claw.
Another embodiment of the invention relates to a claw assembly for use with a lid dispensing including a pivotable door. The claw assembly includes a first claw including a first body portion and a first claw surface extending from the body portion, a second claw including a second body portion and a second claw surface extending from the body portion, and a depth stop plate that connects the first claw to the second claw, the depth stop plate including a depth stop spaced apart from the first claw surface and the second claw surface, wherein the depth stop plate defines and maintains the distance between the first claw and the second claw. The claw assembly is configured to be coupled to and movable relative to the pivotable door. The claw assembly moves relative to the door from contact with a lid to be dispensed to properly align the claw assembly with the lid
Another embodiment of the invention relates to a lid dispenser including a housing including an opening, the housing configured to store a stack of lids to be dispensed through the opening, a pager mounted to the housing and configured to engage a lid located at the opening, a door pivotably mounted to the housing, the door including a first ear and a second ear, both ears extending towards the housing, and a claw assembly. The claw assembly includes a first claw including a first body portion, a first claw surface extending from the body portion, and a first rear surface that extends at an angle relative to the first claw surface towards the first body portion, a second claw including a second body portion, a second claw surface extending from the body portion, and a second rear surface that extends at an angle relative to the second claw surface towards the second body portion, a depth stop plate that connects the first claw to the second claw, the depth stop plate including a depth stop spaced apart from the first claw surface and the second claw surface, wherein the depth stop plate defines and maintains the distance between the first claw and the second claw, a first mounting piece including a first inner flange and a second outer flange separated by a first gap, the first mounting piece positioned opposite the first claw with the depth stop plate in-between, and a second mounting piece including a first inner flange and a second outer flange separated by a second gap, the second mounting piece positioned opposite the first claw with the depth stop late in-between. The first ear is positioned in the first gap and a first fastener extends through the first inner flange, the first ear, and the first outer flange to pivotally mount the claw assembly to the door about a pivot axis and the second ear is positioned in the second gap and a second fastener extends through the second inner flange, the second ear, and the second outer flange to pivotally mount the claw assembly to the door about the pivot axis.
Alternative exemplary embodiments relate to other features and combinations of features as may be generally recited in the claims.
The invention will become more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Before turning to the figures, which illustrate the exemplary embodiments in detail and wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, it should be understood that the application is not limited to the details or methodology set forth in the description or illustrated in the figures. It should also be understood that the terminology is for the purpose of description only and should not be regarded as limiting. This application incorporates by reference the entirety of U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,462.
Referring to
A piston assembly 42 is mounted within the compartment 26 to travel axially within the compartment 26 and to bias or urge a stack 44 of lids 22, shown in
The dispenser 20 is loaded with a stack 44 of lids 22 by introducing the stack through the dispensing opening 40 in the front element 30. The four pager assemblies 34 each have a flipper 62 which is pinned to a pager body 64, and is urged into a forward orientation by a spring. Each flipper has a rearwardly facing resilient strip or blocks 67, shown in
A dispensing door 66 is pivotably mounted to two ears 68 which protrude frontwardly from the front element 30. The dispensing door 66 is urged into a closed position by two springs 70 which extend between a horizontal rod 72 which is fixed to the door 66 and portions of the front element 30. The dispensing door 66 is preferably formed of transparent plastic material to allow the lids 22 to be viewed through the door when it is closed. The door 66 has an upwardly extending handle portion 74 which is gripped by a user when it is desired to extract a single lid. The door 66 has a middle portion 76 which is generally planar, and which abuts against portions of the front element 30 when the door is closed. The front element 30 has four studs 78 which project frontwardly. A molded plastic housing extension 79 is screwed to the four studs 78. The housing extension 79 prevents access to the interior of the dispenser 20 when the door 66 is closed. The studs 78 position the housing extension 79 against which the closed door abuts, and thereby hold the door when closed such that the door middle portion 76 is approximately parallel to the frontmost lid 22 within the stack 44.
A claw assembly 81 is pivotably mounted to the dispensing door 66. The claw assembly 81 is mounted about pivot axis 104. As shown in
In order to effectively and repeatably dispense individual lids 22, the pager assemblies must be in the correct position or alignment with respect to the stack of lids, and the claw assembly 81 must properly engage the lids.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7-9, the claw assembly 81 includes two claws 80, a depth stop plate 83, and two mounting pieces or ears 102. The claw assembly 81 may be formed as a single piece or as separate components (e.g., claws 80, depth stop plate 83, and mounting pieces 102) that are then secured to one another (e.g., glued, epoxied, laser welded, etc.).
Each claw 80 includes a body portion 85 and rear lip 108 that extends inward from the body portion 85. The rear lip 108 includes a rear surface 118 and a claw surface 120 which is positioned frontwardly of the rear surface 118. The rear surface 118 extends at angle from the claw surface 120 towards the body portion 85. The rear surface 118 includes conical surface portions defined by a cone having a center axis 123 which is positioned on a horizontal plane which is parallel to the axis 127 of the lid stack, and having a cone angle φ which is preferably about 15° to 35°. In some embodiments, the cone angle φ varies as it extends around the claw 80. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The claw assembly 81 operates as follows to provide repeatable dispensing of individual lids. After a lid has been dispensed, or after the unit has been loaded with a fresh stack of lids, the dispensing door 66 is closed on the stack of lids. When the door 66 closes, the depth stop 110 engages against the foremost lid and depresses the entire stack, thereby resetting the stack to a known position. If the claw assembly 81 is not properly aligned with the foremost lid (e.g., the lid is slightly out of its expected position, the claw assembly 81 is able to move relative to the door 66 (as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Another important dimension is the depth of the gap 122 between the claw surface 120 and the depth stop 110. As a rule of thumb, the gap 122 should have a depth in the direction of the axis of the lid stack of the thickness of the lid plus approximately 0.030 inches. This dimension can vary depending on the design of the specific lid flange. If the gap is too large, there is the possibility of dispensing more than one lid at a time. If the gap is too small, there will be no dispensing at all. However, there are certain lids in which the lid, for whatever reason, is compressible, and the gap should then be somewhat less than the thickness of the lid by as much as 0.030 inches. In any event through a process of trial and error, guided by these general considerations the manufacturer will design a claw assembly 81 that adequately dispenses a particular lid.
The particular configuration of the claw assembly 81 and, in particular, of the claw surface 120, depth stop 110, and gap 122 will vary based on the specific lid to be dispensed by a specific dispenser. In broad terms, different embodiments of the claw assembly 81 are appropriate for flat or soda-style lids, for two-tiered or coffee-style lids, and for domed or frozen-beverage style lids. As shown in
The claw assembly 81 provides several advantages over lid dispensers that utilize two individual claws separately attached to a front door. The presence of the depth stop plate 83 ensures that the critical spacing between the claws 80 is maintained, even after repeated uses. This increases the durability, reliability, and the expected life of the dispenser 20 when compared to dispensers that utilizes two individual claws. If the spacing between the claws 80 of the claw assembly 81 was able to vary or otherwise deteriorate over time, this would adversely affect the reliability of the claw assembly 81 for removing lids from the lid stack. Because a dispenser utilizing individual claws has no way to maintain the critical spacing between its individual claws, it is likely that such a dispenser will be less reliable than a dispenser including the claw assembly 81.
Additionally, as shown in
It will be understood that in most situations, the dispenser 20 will be used to dispense the same size and model of container lid for an extended period of time. However, from time to time, due to a reconfiguration of a facility, or a change in vendor or lid model, it will be necessary to adapt a dispenser 20 to dispense a different lid 22. The dispenser 20 is adjusted for a new type of lid by making three changes: 1) positioning the pager assemblies 34 at the correct radial positions; 2) replacing the circular nose plate 58 with one of the correct radius; and 3) replacing the claw assembly 81 with one designed to engage the new lid. The owner of a particular dispenser may not typically have on hand the necessary replacement parts to make a change to accommodate a different lid. Thus, when it is desired to change the lid dispensed in a particular dispenser, the owner communicates with the manufacturer, indicating the type of lid, hereinafter “the new type lid” which it is desired to dispense. The manufacturer then supplies to the owner an adjustment kit to enable the dispenser to be reconfigured for the new type lid. The adjustment kit comprises a template 82, a nose plate 58, and a claw assembly 81. There are two possibilities: either the new type lid is of a type for which the manufacturer has already designed an adjustment kit, or the new type lid is of a type for which the manufacturer has not previously designed an adjustment kit. In either event, the manufacturer prepares an adjustment kit as needed and supplies it to the owner. The guidelines used by the manufacturer in designing an adjustment kit are described in more detail below. Once the owner has the adjustment kit in hand, the dispenser may be modified to dispense the new type lid.
The construction and arrangement of the apparatus, systems and methods as shown in the various exemplary embodiments are illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure, many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.). For example, some elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed from multiple parts or elements, the position of elements may be reversed or otherwise varied and the nature or number of discrete elements or positions may be altered or varied. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. The order or sequence of any process or method steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternative embodiments. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
