CUTLERY UTENSIL DISPENSER
First Claim
1. A cutlery utensil dispenser for dispensing cutlery utensils, comprising:
- a plurality of N utensil compartments, each compartment being so dimensioned and configured to house a stack of utensils, each compartment having a dispensing opening through which a dispensed utensil passes;
a dispensing mechanism comprising a drive member in operable communication with a plurality of N driven members, each driven member being associated with a respective one of the compartments, each driven member having a dispensing arm that facilitates the dispensing of a utensil from the associated compartment;
wherein actuation of the drive member causes simultaneous actuation of each driven member that causes a utensil to be dispensed from each of the plurality of compartments in repeatable succession one at a time.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cutlery utensil dispenser having at least one utensil compartment and a dispensing mechanism is disclosed. Each utensil compartment is so dimensioned and configured to house a stack of utensils. The dispensing mechanism includes a drive member in operable communication with at least one driven member, each driven member being associated with a respective one of the compartments. Actuation of the drive member causes simultaneous actuation of each driven member that causes a utensil to be dispensed from each compartment in repeatable succession one at a time. Also disclosed is a cutlery utensil dispenser having an electric motor in operable communication with the dispensing mechanism, and a controller in operable communication with the motor. The controller includes a processing circuit responsive to computer executable instructions which when executed on the processing circuit facilitates dispensing of a utensil from the utensil compartment by operation of the motor on command.
-
Citations
44 Claims
-
1. A cutlery utensil dispenser for dispensing cutlery utensils, comprising:
-
a plurality of N utensil compartments, each compartment being so dimensioned and configured to house a stack of utensils, each compartment having a dispensing opening through which a dispensed utensil passes; a dispensing mechanism comprising a drive member in operable communication with a plurality of N driven members, each driven member being associated with a respective one of the compartments, each driven member having a dispensing arm that facilitates the dispensing of a utensil from the associated compartment; wherein actuation of the drive member causes simultaneous actuation of each driven member that causes a utensil to be dispensed from each of the plurality of compartments in repeatable succession one at a time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A cutlery utensil dispenser for dispensing cutlery utensils, comprising:
-
a utensil compartment so dimensioned and configured to house a stack of cutlery utensils; a dispensing mechanism disposed and configured to facilitate dispensing of a utensil from the utensil compartment on command; means for providing electrical power, and an electric motor in operable communication with the power means and the dispensing mechanism; and a controller in operable communication with the motor, the controller having a processing circuit responsive to computer executable instructions which when executed by the processing circuit facilitates dispensing of a utensil from the utensil compartment by operation of the motor on command. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. A cutlery utensil dispenser for dispensing cutlery utensils, comprising:
-
a utensil compartment; a dispensing mechanism in operable communication with the utensil compartment; an electric motor in operable communication with the dispensing mechanism; and a controller in operable communication with the motor, the controller having a processing circuit responsive to computer executable instructions which when executed on the processing circuit facilitates dispensing of a utensil from the utensil compartment by operation of the motor and the dispensing mechanism on command.
-
-
43. A method of automatically dispensing a single piece of cutlery utensil from an electronically controlled and motor driven cutlery utensil dispenser, comprising:
-
using a sensor to sense a presence of a piece of cutlery at a dispensing tray of the dispenser and automatically dispensing a single piece of cutlery to the dispensing tray for subsequent removal by a user in response to a piece of cutlery not being present at the dispensing tray; using the sensor to sense a presence of the dispensed cutlery at the dispensing tray prior to removal by a user; and in response to the sensor sensing removal of the dispensed cutlery from the dispensing tray, dispensing a next-to-be-dispensed single piece of cutlery to the dispensing tray for subsequent removal by a user. - View Dependent Claims (44)
-
Specification