The present invention relates generally to a dispenser, and particularly, to a dispenser that makes dispensing different types of kitchen products more convenient.
Kitchens, be they commercial or residential kitchens, are constantly involved in the repetitive process of food preparation, followed by a cleaning of the used kitchen space. In food preparation various types of kitchen products can be used. Some kitchen products, such as aluminum foil, are used to coat pans or to cover baking items, while other items such as plastic wrap can be used to wrap unused ingredients or cover uneaten food for storage in a refrigerator. Still further, some items are best stored in sealable plastic bags. During kitchen cleaning, paper towels are often used. All of these kitchen products are usually dispensed by employing individual dispensers.
The use of kitchen dispensers is usually limited to dispensing one type of product in one type of dispenser. However, certain kitchen environments will require the simultaneous or intermittent dispensation of several different types of kitchen products. Other kitchen products may need to be dispensed in rapid succession with an interchange in the product being dispensed at certain points in time. Such an interchange of the kitchen product in a dispenser tends to be time-consuming and can result in wasted kitchen product of one kind or another.
One manner of addressing these challenges is to have several different types of kitchen product dispensers on hand in order to be able to dispense different kitchen products at different times. However, many kitchens, find work space to be at a premium, and the use of multiple different kitchen product dispensers in a kitchen work area can result in a cluttered work space. This can result in confusion, lost time in searching for the desired kitchen product and the needed dispenser, and disruption in the efficient operations of a kitchen.
Other times one type of kitchen product is generally dispensed for a majority of the time and a different product is only needed in rare unexpected occasions. The unexpected need to dispense a different kitchen product can cause a disruption in the kitchen that will send one searching throughout different parts of the kitchen to locate the unexpected needed different kitchen product. However, whether or not such a desired alternate product is available is sometimes only discernible after having conducted a time-consuming search, which search may result in the recognition that the product is not available and needs to be repurchased.
One manner of addressing the issue of maintaining an adequate inventory of kitchen products on hand in readily available dispensers for quick dispensation is to store several kitchen products in their dispenser in one committed part of the kitchen, such as a kitchen drawer. However, this results in having the kitchen drawer occupied exclusively for the storage of kitchen products in their respective dispensers. Kitchen drawer space can be quite scant in certain apartments or small homes. In addition, such generally entails repeatedly accessing the kitchen drawer, dispensing the desired kitchen product while occupying valuable work space, and then returning the selected kitchen product dispenser to the designated drawer.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a solution to at least one of the aforementioned problems. For instance, there is an established need for a dispenser that can dispense different kitchen products readily, and in an interchangeable manner, and which dispenser does not occupy valuable kitchen space.
The present invention is directed to a kitchen product dispenser that may easily dispense any one of a variety of different kitchen product which can be individually selected by the user. The dispenser can alternate the dispensation of the individual kitchen products in rapid succession with minimal effort by a user. The kitchen product dispenser described herein may also be one that may employ generally unusable kitchen space, such as under the cabinet space to avoid cluttering valuable work space. The dispenser can also make it readily apparent by visual inspection when one or more of the kitchen products is near to being spent and needs to be repurchased.
In a first implementation of the invention there is provided herein a variety kitchen product dispenser, referred to herein also as “the dispenser”. The dispenser comprises a housing made up of left, right, top, bottom and rear housing panels and a front door. The dispenser houses products that comes on rolls in the main part of the body, and can dispense bags and other items in compartments on the bottom of the housing; the dispenser contains a housing, which can be a variety of shapes, made up of housing panels and a front door, The dispenser further comprises at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers each having two opposing ends. The dispenser furthermore comprises two circular pivot motion disks located in the housing each having two opposing surfaces a panel contact side and a roller contact side. Even further the dispenser comprises two knob spinner disks each located outside the housing and having two opposing sides a fastening side and a knob side. The variety kitchen product dispenser has the circular pivot motion disk fastened by the panel contact side from within the housing to the fastening side of one knob spinner disk through an opening in the left housing panel of the housing. In addition, the dispenser has the other circular pivot motion disk fastened by the panel contact side from within the housing to the fastening side of other knob spinner disk though an opening in the right housing panel of the housing. Even further still the dispenser comprises wherein one circular pivot motion disk contains grooves in the roller contact side which linearly correspond with grooves in the roller contact side of the other circular pivot motion disk, such linear correspondence being parallel to the top and bottom housing panels of the housing. The dispenser has one end of each of the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers situated in a separate groove in one roller contact side of one circular pivot motion disk and each opposing end of the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers is situated in a separate linearly corresponding groove in the roller contact side of the other circular pivot motion disk. The dispenser is such that when each of the two knob spinner disks when individually turned by the knob side in one circumferential direction are capable of rotating the circular pivot motion disk. The turning of either of the spinner disks rotates the rollers which contain the kitchen products in the housing in order to permit for convenient and selective dispensing of a variety of different kitchen products. The housing can be mounted under a cabinet, or can stand on a flat surface with pads on the bottom of the housing, the housing can also be mounted in the pantry closet or placed in the pantry, or be mounted under kitchen cabinet using industrial grade velcro that can support its weight as a stand-alone unit with or without a lower storage unit. One additional aspect of the invention is that storage slots in the bottom of the housing, which can hold plastic bags or other items normally stored in the kitchen, and that has a hinged door or a sliding door to close over the slots. Apertures in the bottom of the housing, below the lower housing, can allow the storage of a variety of plastic bags, the plastic bags can be pulled out as desired by the user.
In another aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser housing panels can be made of a material selected from the group consisting of metal, plastic or wood, and the housing can be in a variety of shapes, including rounded tops and/or doors.
In a yet even in another aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have a front door encased in an outlined front panel wherein the front door is glass which has a handle thereon. The Door can be made out of glass, including see-through plastic or any other material that can be made that is transparent.
In another aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the door opened by use of a hinge pin, or alternatively, by hinges that can remain open during use of the dispenser, or alternatively, wherein the left and right-side panels can contain a lip on the inside surface thereof towards the top of the left- and right-hand side panels such that the front door can be opened and slid into the housing and supported and stored on the lip for a period of time.
In yet another aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have at least three or four longitudinal spring compression rollers each having two opposing ends and wherein each of the longitudinal spring compression rollers can be comprised of three components, a main roller, a horizontal roller and a compression spring.
In yet even another aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the two circular pivot motion disks be of a circumference to accommodate the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers.
In a further aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the two circular pivot motion disks of a size sufficient to accommodate 4 rollers each containing a different kitchen product which is selected from the group consisting of plastic wrap, wax paper, sandwich wrap paper, butcher wrap paper, freezer coated kraft paper, patty paper, cheese paper, pan liners, aluminum foil and paper towels.
In a further aspect of the invention, one of the spring compression rollers may be replaced by a horizontal support rod that extends from one circular pivot motion disk to the circular pivot motion disk on the other side of the housing.
In a yet further aspect, in the variety kitchen product dispenser the circular pivot motion disks roller contact side can have the grooves placed in an orientation on the circular pivot motion disk to provide for equidistant placement of the kitchen products.
In yet an even further aspect, variety kitchen product dispenser can have the two knob spinner disks present in a circumference which is smaller than the circumference of each of the two circular pivot motion disks.
In yet still an even further aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the fastening side of the knob spinner disk having a three-dimensional projecting shape in the shape of an hourglass, and the fastening side projecting shape can have a corresponding inverse projecting shape of the hourglass.
In another aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the fastening side of the knob spinner disk attached to the panel contact side of the circular pivot motion disks by at least two screws.
In a further aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the knob side of the knob spinner disk having a flat lip which is flush with the right or left side panel when connected to the respective circular motion pivot disk, and wherein such flat lip perpendicular to the direction of the projection of the three-dimensional projecting shape of an hourglass.
In yet a further aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have the lip of the knob side of the knob spinner disk have a hole in the lip which corresponds to one or more holes present outside the circumference of the hole used to affix the panel side of the circular motion pivot disk to the fastening side of the knob spinner disk, and smaller then such fastening hold, and which holes can accommodate a locking pin which passes from outside the housing through the lip and into a locking hole of the circular pivot motion disk and which can lock the rollers in place when dispensing the kitchen product to prevent movement of the rollers.
In yet an even further aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can be such that when each of the two knob spinner disks are individually turned by a user on the knob side in one circumferential direction such turning is capable of rotating the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers in the same circumferential clockwise or counterclockwise direction within the housing.
In yet another aspect, one of the two knob spinner disks and one of the circular pivot motion disks are one combination unit, where two combination units and present in each variety kitchen dispenser
In yet even another further aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can have a further lower housing beneath the other housing. The lower housing is comprised of left and right-side doors and front, back, and bottom lower housing panels, as well as dividing panels, which panels enclose a series of lower housing spaces for containing additional kitchen products in sales boxes. The lower housing unit may be an integral part of the housing, or it may be a separate unit which is attached to the housing, or may be separated from the housing.
In one more aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can be such that the bottom lower housing panel has apertures therein which can dispense other kitchen products which are plastic bags of varying sizes, this lower housing can have a hinge door that cones down, or a sliding door that slides in slots present in the lower housing.
In yet one more aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can further comprise a cutting blade immediately behind the door and in the center of housing space behind the door which cutting blade is supported by the sides of a front outline panel which surrounds the housing door.
In yet even one more aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can further comprise brackets on the top panel for affixing the dispenser to the underneath of a cabinet, or have pads on the bottom to rest on a cabinet, or have holes in the back panel to attach to a vertical wall, the back panel being attached by any screw or anchor bolt screw designed to support the dispenser.
In yet one more aspect, a second housing may be attached to the initial housing for additional storage.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which follow.
The preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the invention, where like designations denote like elements, and in which:
Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
The term “disk” as used herein is understood to have a round shape, and thus, the surfaces of any disks described herein will be described at times by their diameter or circumference.
Shown throughout the figures, the present invention is directed toward a variety kitchen product dispenser.
Referring initially to
The panels 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112 can each have the same or different dimensions, and can form any suitable shape such as a cube or a rectangular box, or a housing with a rounded shape. In one embodiment, the left panel 104 and the right panel 106 can have the same dimensions of from about 7 to 9 inches by 8 to 10 inches. The 108 panel and bottom 110 panel can have the same dimensions as well, such as, from about 7 to 9 inches by 13 to 16 inches. It will be understood that the top panel 108 can also have additional surface area if brackets 144 are employed. The front door 114 can have similar dimensions to the rear panel 112 and can be from about 11 to about 13 inches by 7 to 9 inches. It will be understood that the front door 112 will have a slightly smaller area due to the outlined border 146, which can be from 1 to about 3 inches around the front door equally. The lower housing unit may be an integral part of the housing, or it may be a separate unit which is attached to the housing, or may be separated from the housing.
The dispenser 100 can contain two circular pivot motion disks 120 in the housing 102. Each of the circular pivot motion disks can have two opposing surfaces, a panel contact side 122 and a roller contact side 124.
The dispenser 100 can contain two knob spinner disks 126 located outside the housing 102. The two knob spinner disks 126 have two opposing sides, a fastening side 128 and a knob side 130. The expression “outside the housing” with regard to knob spinner disks 126 can be understood to mean that the knob side 130 is completely on the exterior of the housing 102, while the fastening side 128 may be inside, or substantially inside the housing 102.
It will be understood herein that the presence of the circular pivot disks 120 shown in
In like manner it will be understood herein that the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 which are shown in
Referring still to
The fastening of the circular pivot motion disks 120 through the hole 132 in the left 104 and right 106 housing panels and into the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disks 126 can be done by the use of any fastening means. In one embodiment such fastening can be accomplished by a screw, bolt, rivet, nail and the like, for example, by inserting such a fastener (not shown) through fastening holes 136 in the roller contact side 124 of each of the circular pivot motion disks 120 from within the housing 120, which fastening holes pass entirely through the circular pivot motion disks 120 to the panel contact side, and then passing the fastener through the respective opening 132 and into receiving holes 138 of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disks 126. The receiving holes 138 can contain threaded portions to accommodate any threading of a threaded fastener, which can preferably be employed.
In addition, the use of the fastener can comprise the use of one, two, or three washers. For example, the fastener can have a washer placed on the fastener prior to passing the fastener through the fastening holes 136 of the circular pivot motion disk 120 from within the housing 102 in a direction towards the exterior of the housing 102. Thereafter the fastener can pass through the panel contact side 122 of the circular pivot motion disk 120, where a second washer can be placed on the fastener prior to the fastener passing through the opening 132 and into the receiving holes 138 of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126.
Referring to
The diameter of the knob side 130 of the knob spinner disk 126 can be greater than the opening 132 and greater than the diameter of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126. In one other embodiment, the diameter of the knob spinner disk 126 on its knob side 130 can be from about 2 inches to about 5 inches, preferably from about 3 inches to about 4 inches. The fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126 can be from about 2 to about 3 inches, which does not include the length of the flat lip 140 as described herein. The fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126 can have a smaller diameter than the opening 132. The diameter of the opening 132 as described herein can be from about 2.75 inches to about 3.25 inches.
Thus, the aforementioned cinching can be ended when a flat lip 140 on the knob side 130 of the knob spinner disk 126 makes contact with and becomes flush with the left side 104 or right side 106 panel of the housing 102 as the fastener is tightened. The flat lip 140 can be perpendicular to the direction of a projection of a three-dimensional projecting shape of an hourglass 142 which projects from the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126. In one embodiment the diameter of this projection 142 is the same as the diameter of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126 described herein. The knob side projecting shape 156 can have a corresponding inverse projecting shape of the hourglass.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring again to
Referring to
Referring to
The longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 operate in the same manner as conventional rolled window shades. The main roller 150 houses the compression spring 154 therein, which compression spring 154 is stopped by an internal stop (not shown) and is then inserted in part in the horizontal roller 152, such that the length of the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 can be decreased sufficiently to allow it to pressure fit in the grooves 134 as described herein. Further such longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 can then also be removed from the grooves, when necessary, e.g., when a kitchen product on the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 needs to be replaced. It is understood herein that the kitchen products described herein can be placed on the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 and used in the dispenser 100 herein.
Referring to
Referring to
The dispenser 100 can further comprise a cutting blade 182 immediately behind the door 112 and in the center of housing 102 space behind the door 112 which cutting blade 182 is supported by the sides of a front outline panel which surrounds the housing door.
In yet even one more aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can further comprise brackets 144 on the top panel 108 for affixing the dispenser 100 to the underneath of a cabinet (not shown).
In yet one more aspect,
In yet one more aspect
Alternative embodiments are contemplated in addition to the embodiments(s) shown and/or described herein. In an alternative embodiment, there is provided a wherein the dispenser is a stand-alone unit with pads on the bottom that does not contain brackets 144
Since many modifications, variations, and changes in detail can be made to the described preferred embodiments of the invention, it is intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Furthermore, it is understood that any of the features presented in the embodiments may be integrated into any of the other embodiments unless explicitly stated otherwise. The scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63348555 | Jun 2022 | US |