SCREW DRIVE FOR DISPENSING CUTLERY AND RELATED METHODS

• US 20120145734A1
• Filed: 10/28/2011
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GPCP IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Dixie Consumer Products LLC (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Walters, Richard S.
• Granted Patent: US 10,898,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 1/10 having mechanical dispensing means , e.g. with buttons or handles

Abstract

A dispenser for dispensing cutlery may include a housing configured to contain a plurality of utensils for dispensing, a dispensing mechanism that includes at least one threaded separating member configured to be driven and separate a utensil from a stack of utensils, and at least one drive mechanism configured to drive the at least one threaded separating member. The dispenser may further include a receptacle configured to receive the utensil separated from the stack of utensils.

Claims

1. A dispenser for dispensing cutlery, the dispenser comprising:

a housing configured to contain a plurality of utensils for dispensing;

a dispensing mechanism comprising

at least one threaded separating member configured to separate a utensil from a stack of utensils, and

a drive mechanism associated with the at least one threaded separating member and configured to drive the at least one threaded separating member; and

a receptacle configured to receive the utensil separated from the stack of utensils.

2. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the at least one threaded separating member comprises external threads, and wherein over at least a portion of the threaded separating member the external threads are equally spaced from one another.

3. The dispenser of claim 2, wherein the at least one threaded separating member comprises external threads, and wherein a distance between adjacent external threads is non-uniform over at least a portion of the threaded separating member.

4. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the dispensing mechanism comprises a plurality of threaded separating members configured to separate a utensil from the stack of utensils.

5. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the dispensing mechanism comprises at least one pair of threaded separating members configured to engage the stack of utensils via opposing sides of the stack of utensils.

6. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the dispensing mechanism is configured to separate a utensil from the stack of separably coupled utensils.

7. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the at least one threaded separating member is configured to extend along at least a portion of the extent of the stack of utensils.

8. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the at least one threaded separating member is configured to extend along the entire extent of the stack of utensils.

9. The dispenser of claim 1, further comprising a utensil cartridge configured to be loaded into the dispenser, the utensil cartridge comprising at least a first portion of the at least one threaded separating member and being configured to be associated with at least one of the drive mechanism and a second portion of the at least one threaded separating member upon placement of the utensil cartridge in the dispenser.

10. A method for dispensing cutlery from a dispenser, the dispenser comprising at least one threaded separating member, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of utensils for dispensing;

indexing at least one threaded separating member such that a utensil is separated from a stack of utensils; and

providing access to the utensil separated from the stack of utensils.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein providing a plurality of utensils comprises providing a plurality of separably coupled utensils.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein indexing at least one of the threaded separating members is facilitated by a drive mechanism associated with the at least one threaded separating member and configured to drive the at least one threaded separating member.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the drive mechanism is engaged by activating an actuator operably coupled to the drive mechanism.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein indexing at least one of the threaded separating members comprises rotating the at least one threaded separating member such that a utensil is separated from the stack of utensils.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein indexing at least one threaded separating member comprises indexing at least one pair of threaded separating members positioned on opposing sides of the stack of utensils.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein indexing at least one threaded separating member provides a separating force to at least one utensil and a retaining force to at least one other utensil.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein providing a plurality of utensils for dispensing comprises providing at least one of a cartridge of utensils, a stack of separably coupled utensils, and a stack of banded utensils.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein providing access to the utensil comprises providing a receptacle positioned to receive the utensil separated from the stack of utensils.