Patent Application
20240262606
The disclosure relates to a dispensing system useful for serially dispensed products such as disposable gloves.
Many consumer, industrial, and professional disposable products are packaged for serial dispensing. For example, for use in medical settings such as hospitals and physicians' offices, disposable gloves typically are supplied in a cardboard box or similar container. A user accesses the box of gloves and removes gloves when needed.
With conventional containers, the level of the gloves in the container drops as gloves are removed to cause an increasing gap between the topmost glove and the top of the container, such that a user visually observe when the supply of gloves in the container has been exhausted or is close to being exhausted. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0405103A1 discloses an article advancer, an embodiment of which is used for dispensing gloves. The article advancer biases a stack of gloves in the container towards the opening of the container such that the topmost glove in the container remains at or near the top of the container. This article advancer facilitates removal of the gloves from the container but removes or reduces the gap between the topmost glove and the top of the container that would otherwise provide an indication to the user when the supply of gloves is running low.
A system that includes an indicator device has now been devised. The indicator device is particularly useful for a serially dispensed disposable gloves, particularly although not necessarily when an article advancer is used. In one form, the indicator device is a low-condition indicator in the form of a marked or colored sheet of paper or other object dissimilar to the serially dispensed articles. The low-condition indicator is interposed within the stack of gloves or other serially dispensed articles and becomes visible to the user when preceding articles have been dispensed. For gloves, the indicator device may comprise one or a series of gloves that are differently colored than preceding gloves.
Terms of orientation are provided solely with reference to the orientation of the Figures. In practice, such as when shipping or storing a box of gloves, the box may be disposed in any orientation. In particular, when in use, the “top” of the box may be oriented in a front-facing direction.
As seen in
In accordance with the glove dispensing system 35 shown in
In the embodiment illustrated in
In addition to one or both of the legend and printed indicia, or as an alternative, the low-condition indicator may include a machine-readable code, such as the quick-response (QR) code 46 shown printed on the low-condition indicator 47 of
Alternatively, in an institutional setting, the QR code or other machine-readable code might contain a link to a supply facility for signaling a need to restock the gloves or other articles. For example, with reference to the flowchart 50 at
In addition to or instead of a low-condition indicator, the quantity of remaining gloves could be signaled by including a single glove having a different color than the preceding gloves, such as shown in
The low-condition indicator generally may have a different appearance from the gloves or other serially dispensed items. For example, the low-condition indicator may be a different shape, different color, a different object, a different material, and combinations thereof. For example, in the case of serially dispensed gloves, the low-condition indicator may be a flat piece of paper. In other forms, the low-condition indicator is the same serially dispensed item, but in a different color and/or including low-condition indicia thereon.
The low-condition indicator is applicable to other serially dispensed products, especially disposable products, such as wipes, cleansers, and the like. As such, the container system may be used to serially dispense a variety of products while also incorporating the low-condition indicator.
Uses of singular terms such as “a,” “an,” are intended to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms. Any description of certain embodiments as “preferred” embodiments, and other recitation of embodiments, features, or ranges as being preferred, or suggestion that such are preferred, is not deemed to be limiting. The invention is deemed to encompass embodiments that are presently deemed to be less preferred and that may be described herein as such. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended to illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention. Any statement herein as to the nature or benefits of the invention or of the preferred embodiments is not intended to be limiting. This invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited herein as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The description herein of any reference or patent, even if identified as “prior,” is not intended to constitute a concession that such reference or patent is available as prior art against the present invention. No unclaimed language should be deemed to limit the invention in scope. Any statements or suggestions herein that certain features constitute a component of the claimed invention are not intended to be limiting unless reflected in the appended claims. Neither the marking of the patent number on any product nor the identification of the patent number in connection with any service should be deemed a representation that all embodiments described herein are incorporated into such product or service.
