Bottle dispenser

US6206237A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• PepsiCo, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Mike Dillon · Norwalk, US
• Gerard Furbershaw · Menlo Park, US
• Robert A. Howard · Palo Alto, US
• David W. Laituri · Palo Alto, US
• Adam K. McGinty · Palo Alto, US
• Brad Melmon · San Francisco, US
• Robert Meyer · Wilton, US
• Miguel M. L. Praca · San Francisco, US
• Arthur G. Sandoval · San Francisco, US
• Jeffrey L. Smith · Boise, US
• Dayne Wilcox · Palo Alto, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 8, 1999
• Grant date: Mar 27, 2001
• Expiry date: Mar 8, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B65G1/08
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A dispenser sequentially dispenses a plurality of containers. The dispenser includes a housing having a front, a rear, a top, a bottom, a first side and a second side, with an inlet and an outlet for the containers being disposed on its front. A passage is disposed within the housing and guides the containers from the inlet to the outlet. A receiving door is connected to the housing and is movable between a closed position covering the inlet and an open position allowing the containers to be inserted into the inlet. The receiving door includes a front face contoured to cooperate with the passage to guide the containers to a predetermined orientation upon insertion into the inlet. The passage is also canted toward one side of the housing to maintain the containers in the predetermined orientation.