Mountable gravity-feed dispenser

• US 20050023939A1
• Filed: 07/29/2003
• Published: 02/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nysco Products Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Nysco Products Incorporated
• Inventors: Smith, Glenn M., Kramer, Barry, Lian, Albert W.
• Application Number:
  US10/630,431
• Publication Number:
  US 20050023939A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 312/45
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 23/04 with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2331/803 Bottles
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2331/805 Cans
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/36 Visual displays
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 25/00 Charging, supporting, and discharging the articles to be cooled
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/1657 the picking arrangements using suction
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/24 Rotary or oscillatory members
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0071 Food articles which need to be processed for dispensing in a cold condition, e.g. ice and ice cream

Abstract

A gravity-feed bottle or can dispenser including a frame that is connectable to a panel, e.g., a cooler door panel, via a connector, e.g., suction cups. The frame is arranged to receive advertisement boards removably connected to front and back surfaces.

Claims

1. An item dispenser, comprising:

a pair of spatially separated side walls;

a connector arranged on a first side of the dispenser configured to mount the dispenser to a surface;

a first barrier extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls to form a channel between the side walls and the first barrier;

a bottom wall configured to support items arranged in the channel; and

a first visual display arranged on the first side of the dispenser.

2. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one of a first retainer configured to receive the first visual display between the dispenser and the surface and a second retainer configured to receive a second visual display on a second side of the dispenser opposite the first side of the dispenser.

3. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of spaced apart side walls each have a front edge and a back edge, the first barrier extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls adjacent the front edge of each side wall, said back edge adjacent the surface when the dispenser is mounted on the surface.

4. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a second barrier spanning the side walls adjacent the back edge of the side walls, said side walls, first barrier and second barrier forming the channel for storage and passage of items in the dispenser.

5. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a second visual display arranged on a second side of the item dispenser opposite the first side.

6. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first retainer includes a first recess and the second retainer includes a second recess.

7. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first visual display is at least partially disposed in the first recess.

8. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an item retainer portion one of adjacent to and extending from the bottom wall and configured to apply a force in a direction away from the first barrier and towards the first side of the dispenser on an item supported by the bottom wall.

9. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first visual display includes a flat board.

10. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 5, wherein the second visual display includes a flat board.

11. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of the first retainer and second retainer includes a bracket.

12. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second barrier extends along the side walls from a third position adjacent a top of the side walls to a fourth position above the bottom wall between the top and a bottom of the side walls.

13. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connector includes at least one suction cup.

14. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first barrier extends along the side walls from a first point to a second point above the bottom wall between a top and bottom of the side walls, said first point closer to the top of the side walls than the second point;

and

wherein the dispenser is configured to receive, store and dispense items from a predetermined orientation from the channel, each item having a predefined width between the side walls and a predefined height along a length of the side walls, a distance between the bottom wall and the second position of the first barrier is between approximately one and one and a half times the height of the item, a distance between side walls is greater than the width of one item.

15. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 12, wherein the dispenser is configured to receive, store and dispense items from a predetermined orientation from the channel, each item having a predefined width between the side walls and a predefined height along a length of the side walls, a distance between the bottom wall and the fourth position of the second barrier being between approximately one and two times the height of one item.

34. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 1, further including an intermediary wall dividing the channel into at least two channels.

36. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 5, wherein the surface is a surface of a transparent cooler door having an opened position and a closed position, the first visual display being visible through the cooler door when the cooler door is in the closed position and the second visual display being visible when the cooler door is in the open position.

40. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second barrier is detachably attachable to the side walls.

41. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 40, wherein the second barrier includes an extension which fits into a recess in the second side of the dispenser and supports the second barrier on the dispenser.

16. An item dispenser, comprising:

a pair of spaced apart side walls each having front and back edges;

a bottom wall;

a connector on a back side of the dispenser configured to removably mount the dispenser to a surface;

a front barrier extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls adjacent the front edges; and

a front retainer configured to retain a front visual display and connected to at least one of the front barrier and the front edges of the side walls.

17. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 16, further comprising a front visual display supported by and at least partially disposed within the front retainer.

18. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 17, wherein the connector includes at least one suction cup, and the front visual display includes a flat board having indicia on at least one surface.

19. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 16, wherein the front barrier extends along the side walls to a first position above the bottom wall;

and

wherein the dispenser is configured to receive, store and dispense items from a predetermined orientation from the channel, each item having a predefined width between the side walls and a predefined height along a length of the side walls, the distance between the bottom wall and the second point along the front barrier being between approximately one and one and a half times the height of one item.

35. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 16, further including an intermediary wall dividing the channel into at least two channels.

20. An item dispenser, comprising:

a pair of side walls spaced a distance apart and extending from a top point to a bottom point, each side wall having a front edge and a back edge;

a back wall spanning the side walls and having a cut-out between the side walls, said cut-out extending from a point adjacent the bottom point to a first point in between the top point and the bottom point, the side walls projecting from a front surface of the back wall, the back edge of each side wall connected to the back wall;

a front wall spanning the side walls and extending from a point adjacent the top point to a second point in between the top point and the bottom point, the front edge of each side wall connected to the front wall;

a bottom wall connected between the side walls adjacent the bottom point configured to support items in the item dispenser and apply a retaining force to a supported item in the direction of the back wall; and

at least one suction cup configured to connect the dispenser to a surface.

21. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 20, wherein at least a portion of a periphery of the back wall includes a lip.

22. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a retainer connected to a back surface of the back wall configured to removably secure a flat board to the back wall.

23. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a retainer connected to the front wall configured to removably secure a flat board to the front wall.

24. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 20, wherein the dispenser is configured to receive, store and dispense items from a predetermined orientation from the channel, each item having a predefined width between the side walls and a predefined height along a length of the side walls, a distance between the bottom wall and the second point along the front wall being approximately between one and one and a half times the height of the item, the cut-out having a height along a length of the side walls that is at least equal to the height of one item.

25. A method for storing, displaying and dispensing items, comprising the steps of:

(a) connecting a frame to a surface of a transparent panel, said frame including;

a pair of spatially separated side walls;

a connector arranged on a first side of the dispenser configured to mount the dispenser to the surface;

a first barrier extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls to form a channel between the side walls and the first barrier;

a bottom wall configured to support items arranged in the channel; and

a first visual display arranged on the dispenser such that it is between the surface and the dispenser when the dispenser is mounted on the surface; and

(b) at least partially filling the channel with items vertically stacked.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the frame includes a second barrier extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls, said second barrier adjacent the surface when the dispenser is mounted on the surface, said first barrier, second barrier and side walls forming the channel.

27. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the second barrier includes a second barrier cut-out.

28. The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein in an area of the second barrier cut-out the channel is at least partially defined by the transparent panel and at least one item contained in the channel is visible through the second barrier cut-out and the transparent panel.

29. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the dispenser has at least one of a first retainer configured to receive the first visual display between the dispenser and the surface and a second retainer configured to receive a second visual display on a second side of the dispenser opposite the first side of the dispenser;

and

wherein the method further comprises at least one of the steps of at least partially sliding the first visual display into the first retainer and at least partially sliding the second visual display into the second retainer.

30. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the first visual display includes a board having indicia on at least one surface.

31. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the dispenser is configured to receive, store and dispense items from a predetermined orientation from the channel, each item having a predefined width between the side walls and a predefined height along a length of the side walls;

and

wherein a distance between a bottom end of the first barrier and the bottom wall is approximately equal to the height of one item.

32. The method as claimed in claim 28, wherein the items have a predefined height along the side walls and wherein a height of the cut-out along the side walls is less than approximately the height of two items.

33. An item dispenser, comprising:

a pair of spaced apart side walls each having a top, bottom, front edge and back edge;

bottom support means;

connector means on a back side of the dispenser for removably mounting the dispenser to a surface;

front barrier means spanning the sidewalls adjacent the front edges of the side walls, said front barrier means extending along the side walls from a first point to a second point above the bottom support means between the top and bottom of the side walls, said first point closer to a top of the side walls than the second point; and

back visual display means connected on the back side of the dispenser;

wherein said side walls and front barrier means form a channel for storage and passage of items in the dispenser, said bottom support means for supporting items in the channel and removably retaining a bottom item.

37. An item dispenser, comprising:

a pair of spatially separated side walls;

a connector arranged on a first side of the dispenser configured to mount the dispenser to a surface;

a first barrier extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls to form a channel between the side walls and the first barrier;

a bottom wall configured to support items arranged in the channel; and

a visual display arranged on one of the first side of the dispenser and a second side opposite the first side.

38. An item dispenser, comprising:

a pair of spatially separated side walls;

a connector arranged on a first side of the dispenser configured to mount the dispenser to a surface;

a bottom wall configured to support items arranged in the channel; and

a visual display arranged opposite the first side of the item dispenser and extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls.

39. The item dispenser as claimed in claim 38, further including a second visual display on the first side of the item dispenser extending along at least a partial length of and spanning the side walls.