US2456068A - Dispenser for stacked articles - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 14, 194s. J; LIBEN 2,456,068

DISPENSER FOR STACKED ARTICLES Filed 001'..r 5. 1946 a f5 JH In l i' IZ fg Tlcl.

lNvENToR Jay IBEN ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 14, 1948 L#liti-:I iS TATES PATENT F F l CE DISPENSER FOR STACKED AARTICLES Jay Liberi, New York, N. Y.

Application October 3, 1946,.Serial No.700,'987

2 Claims.

invention relates vgenerally to ydispensing devices, and vin particular itrelates to devices for dispensing stacked articles. `My invention is Well adapted to devices for dispensing such articles as papernapkins .and the like, although its use is not Y so limited, having many other and wider applications. For purposes of illustration only, the invention will .be described in relation to dispensers for stacks of paper napkins.

The present invention relates broadly to that type .of stack .dispensing .device which contains a follower plate upon or against which the stacked articles rest, .the follower .plate urging the stack towards the .dispensing opening. Specifically, the inuention'relates to the follower plate component and its positioning With respect to the stacked articles and with respect to the rdispensing opening. In one specific aspect thereof, my invention relates to the -follower bed component of the type of dispensing device described and claimed in Shapiro Patent No. 1,965,060, dated July 3, 1934.

.In conventional devices for dispensing stacked articles, -either manually or mechanically .operated, the lfollower plate .urging the stack towards the opening is parallel thereto, and exerts pressure yequallydistributed over the stack area. This pressure renders it diicult ofttimes to manually Separate the upper- .or top-most article in the stack, and in mechanically operated machines very :frequently causes `jamming and bunching,

if the lever operating o n the eX-posed front edge of the umgerrnostl article is improperly handled or adjusted.

The main object of the present invention, therefore, is the` provision of a follower plate for use in stack dispensing devices which is angulated with respect to the front, or that portion of the device against which the stack is urged; which exerts a greater pressure against one end of the stack than the other; which compresses that pQltien of the stack remote from the dispensing opening, and which permits and promotes easy separation of the articles at or adjacent the dis,- pensing opening remote from the point of greatest ,stack compression.

An associated object of my invention is the provision of an improvement in dispensing machines of the particular typereferredk to in the Shapiro patent,v whereinhowever actuated-the device will not jam or bunch the napkins, and a succession of incomplete actuating lever manipulations will operate merely to step-by-step advance the uppermost napkin in the stack until it is in position for handling and withdrawal rfrom (Cl. l312-.62)

2 the magazine, al1 without disturbing the other napkins inthe stack.

Another object of my :invention is the provision of a `follower bed, in a stack dispensing device, which angles upwardly gradually from the end thereof to :the other.

Still :another object of my invention is the provision foi a lfollower bed, in a stack dispensing device of the character describedy which is Ahigher at the Arear end thereof than at the front, or article delivery-end.

Other and `further objects of my invention will part be obvious, and still others will be pointed out speciically hereinbelow in connection with the following description -of severa1 illustrative embodiments thereof.

In the drawings annexed hereto, forming a part hereof,

- Fig. 1 is a lengthwise vertical section through a simple type of `stack dispensing device containing a followery plate constructed according to and embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through a. dispenser of the type shown in Shapiro Patent 1,965,060, and ra stack of arti-cles to be dispensed therewithin, the stack resting on another form of follower bed also constructed according to and embodying my invention;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the follower bed shown in section in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of another form of follower bed also constructed according to and embodying my invention;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view illustrating the action of the dispensing mechanism of the Shapiro type upon a folded napkin atop a stack resting on the follower bed of my invention.

Referring to the form of dispensing device illustrated in Fig. l, which comprises a rectangular, elongated casing I, of wood, metal or the like, having a transverse opening 2 at the upper portion of the front 3 thereof, a coiled expansion spring t may be provided to urge follower 5 towards fron-t 3. Follower 5 may be formed of sheet metal, wood or the like, of unitary or built-up structure, comprising side walls 6 and plate 1. Side walls 6, 6 are shorter at the top than at the bottom, that is, the walls taper so that plate l is angled with respect to front wall 3 against which it is urged or biased by spring 4. The stack A or articles to be dispensed will thus be compressed at the bottom 8 to a much greater extent than at the top 9, so that the stack elements at the upper portion 9 thereof adjacent opening 3 will be partially separated from one another, and less tightly packed together, permitting their Withdrawal very easily. The upper edge of front wall 3 may have a downwardly depending lip 3' defining the upper margin of opening 2, and whether the stacked arti-cles are of such length as to extend above or below the edge of lip 3', the device will operate equally well, because of my follower.

Referring now to specific modification of my invention illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, the casing is indicated by reference numeral l0, and may comprise a front wall I2, side walls I4, I4, and a rear wall I5, which may be apertured as at II to permit access to the interior of the device. Top I8 is apertured as at I9 to permit manual access to or removal of the napkins from the ycasing. Fixed within casing I is a magazine having a horizontally extended magazine cover plate 20, a front wall 2?., a rear wall 24, and side walls 26, 2B. It will be seen that the magazine cover plate 2t is open adjacent rear wall 22, as at 2l, to permit the operating rod 30 to bear down against the uppermost article in the stack disposed within the magazine and arrange same for manual withdrawal from the stack, all as described and claimed in the aforesaid Shapiro Patent No. 1,965,060,

`While devices of the type described and claimed in said Shapiro patent may operate on articles of various kinds, they have been found to operate very lsuccessfully on paper napkins having a transverse line of fold at an end 40 thereof. Paper napkins so folded are superposed to form a pile or stack and loaded in the magazine through rear opening I'I so that the line of fold at end iB is at the left (see Figs. l and 5) directed towards the opening I9 in the top of the machine andadjacent to and in line with opening 2|, the

pile or stack resting on the magazine follower or bed indicated generally yby reference character Provision is made (not shown herein) in dispensing articles of the character described to urge the magazine follower'upwardly to bear the stack or pile of napkins up against magazine plate 20 and opening 2l, these being roughly equivalent to spring II as in Fig. 1. These means are fully described and claimed in the Shapiro Patent 1,965,060 and so will not be detailed herein, it being understood that the present invention re-i lates .specifically only to the follower bed com ponent of the device.

Follower 50 of my invention may be made of metal, wood or the like rigid, relatively stiff material, .and in the modifications of Figures 2 and 3, is of inverted U-sect-ion comprising a pair of side wall members 52, 52l and a bed portion Eli. Side walls 52, 52 are shorter at end 56 than at end 58, so that bed 54 slants upwardly from end 56 to end 58.

When a stack of paper napkins, folded as above described, are disposed on follower bed 54, and the follower permit-ted to rise upwardly, by any conventional means, bearing the stack along with it until it brings same against and into contact with plate 2i! and opening 2|, it will be obvious that the stack S is subject to greater compression at one end thereof than at the other. The compression effect and the braking effect is proportional `to the number of paper napkins in stack S, and the angle of the follower bed 54' to the underside of the horizontally extended plate 2t, and the compression decreases gradually from the portion of the stack remote from opening 3 towards the part thereof opposite said opening. I have found that when bed 54 rises about 5 degrees above the horizontal from end 55, very good results are obtained in securing almost automatic separation of the top one or two sheets from the rest of the stack. With this, so to speak, preseparation, operating rod 30 is much less likely to disturb any of the sheets below the topmost one. The separation of the sheets induced by the varying compression and the angularity of the stacked sheets also prevents sticking between adjacent sheets, and also overcomes any tendency to stick.

My invention may be incorporated in standard, -conventional machinesy which have the ordinary fiat follower F, as in Figs. 4 and 5, with the flat, horizontally extending bed 1B, parallel to the nat magazine cover plate. In this modification of my invention, a plate 'I2 is provided, raised upwardly at one end 'I4 thereof by a downwardly extended leg 16, the included inside angle between plate l2, corner 'Ill and leg IB being substantially about Plate l2 may be disposed atop the conventionally flat and horizontally extending follower F, held therewithin by the magazine walls, and the folded napkin stack rested thereon, giving it the desired inclination and increasing the compression at one end thereof, over the other endl thereof.

Referring now to Fig. 6, the operation of the device with the follower plate of my invention includedas a part of a Shapiro-type of device is therein shown. The greater compression of stack S at the rear of the stack, remote from-the magazine opening El and the folded napkin edges 40, @il isclearly seen. As bed plate 54 moved upwardly, the napkins will be pressed against edge 2S of opening ZI, and due to the even greater compression at the rear, and the absence of any appreciable compression at the front of the stack, immediately adjacent edges 4G, lIll the napkin a which is uppermost will separate and rise of itself from the second napkin b beneath it in the stack.`

When operating bar 30 bears against the upper surface of the spaced napkin a, it will be pulled taut, bearing edge d'0 upwardly and inwardly so as to permit i-t to be grasped manually or otherwise withdrawn from the magazine. ySo much above the level of opening 2| is napkin end 40 raised as a result of the use of my new and improved follower plate, that even if the full stroke of operating bar 30 is not achieved, there will be no jamming or bending of the uppermost napkin, as sometimes occurs when a follower plate is used which is in parallelism with the magazine plate or front portion against which the napkins are'urged by the follower.

In the form of my follower plate illustrated in Fig. 1, plate 'I is angled towards the bottom or closed por-tion of the front 3, and away from the portion adjacent the opening 2. The degree of angularity may be of the order o'f five degrees or more, with good resultseventuating. This degree of angularity is not particularly significant,

it being necessary to angle the follower plate only ward end, towards a delivery plate having an 1 sheet clear of the stack to permit manual engage- 10 ment thereof for removal from the dispenser.

2. In a, dispensing device asin claim 1, in which the follower angles a minimum of ve degrees away from the plane of the delivery plate and is 6 closer to the delivery plate at a point remote from the dispensing opening therewithin.

JAY LIBEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 905,882 Joachimson Dec. 8, 1908 1,581,099 Carlson Apr. 20, 1926 2,027,669 Broeren Jan. 14, 1936

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