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Pallet dispenser

  • US 4,624,616 A
  • Filed: 10/24/1985
  • Issued: 11/25/1986
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1984
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for storing and selectively dispensing pallets upon demand of a pallet truck operator, the invention comprising:

  • a vertically disposed housing capable of containing a stack of generally aligned, horizontally positioned pallets,said housing having opposing sidewalls with an opening therebetween for receiving said stack of pallets and for discharging said pallets,said sidewalls having outwardly angled extensions adjacent to the opening,said extensions being sufficiently non-deflectable to force misaligned pallets in a stack of pallets into general alignment,each of said sidewalls having an axle transversely fixed to the exterior thereof along the vertical length of the sidewall,each of said sidewalls having openings therein adjacent said axle,each of said sidewalls having a plurality of wheels disposed vertically in said openings of said sidewalls and being fixed upon said axle,each of said wheels extending a substantially equal diametric distance into the interior of said housing,each of said plurality of wheels having a resilient surface on the circumference thereof,said pluralities of wheels on said sidewalls being opposingly arranged,the resilient surfaces of opposing wheels being spaced apart a distance less than the width of a pallet,said resilient surfaces being deflectable by a pallet being forcibly passed between said wheels in said sidewalls when said wheels are rotated,each of said plurality of wheels comprising a pair of wheels and a third wheel spaced apart from said pair of wheels,a plurality of planar, generally square cams mounted upon each of said axles and fixed thereto in substantially identical orientation,each of said sidewalls having a pair of generally narrow cam receiving vertical openings therein,said narrow vertical openings being generally aligned with the planes of said cams,a pivoting bar member pivotally movable within each of said narrow vertical openings,said cams selectively engaging said pivoting bar members as said axles are rotated,said bar members being biased to return to substantially vertical alignment when not engaged by said cams,said pivoting bar members being urged inwardly into said housing upon the engagement of said cams with said bar members,said bar members engaging the sides of a pallet positioned above the wheels to center said pallet within said housing,a motor for incrementally driving said axles simultaneously in opposing rotations,said wheels rotating with said axles such that the resilient surfaces thereof rotate downwardly within said housing,a switch to selectively energize said motor,said switch means being accessible to the operator of a pallet truck without departure from said pallet truck.

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