Portable gumball dispenser
US5779095A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 31, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 14, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 31, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65D83/0409
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A portable gumball dispenser has a reservoir mounted atop a pedestal formed of a nested assembly of concentric tubular members and a base. When offset apertures in top walls of the tubular members are in register with each other and with an opening in the bottom of the reservoir to permit a single gumball to drop into a dispensing chamber within the pedestal, apertures in the side walls are out of register to retain the gumball. Rotation of the tubular members to register the side wall apertures rotates the top wall apertures out of register to block any further gumballs dropping from the reservoir. A directional channel in the base facilitates a gumball rolling out when the side wall apertures in register. A cooperating annular ridge on the outside of the inner tubular member and an annular groove on the outer tubular member retain the tubular members in nested assembly. Extending upwardly from the inner tubular member is a bead which cooperates with an arcuate groove in the outer tubular member to provide respective rotational stops for the register of the top wall apertures and the side wall apertures.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.