US3043473A - Paper cup dispenser - Google Patents

Description

July 10, 1962 J. H. KATZ 3,043,473

PAPER CUP DISPENSER Filed July 8, 1957 INVENTOR BY f AT'TORNEY5 United States Patent 3,043,473 PAPER @UP DESPENSER Julius H. Katz, 2946 E. 317 South, Salt Lake City 9, Utah Fiied July 8, 1957, Ser. No. 670,506 1 Qlairu. (Cl. 221-63) The present invention relates to paper cup dispensers of the fixed structure type.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a paper cup dispenser from which a single cup may be readily removed but will prevent the cup being reinserted through the dispensing opening.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper cup dispenser having a body formed of a single piece of transparent plastic material whereby the contents of the dispenser may be readily ascertained.

A further object of the invention is to provide a paper cup dispenser of the class described above which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple to use, and which protects the cups from contamination prior to their being dispensed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in the light of the attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the invention.

FIGURE 3 .is a vertical cross-section taken along the line 3-8 of FIGURE 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal cross-section taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral indicates generally a paper cup dispenser constructed in accordance with the invention.

The paper cup dispenser 10 is formed with a generally cylindrical body 11 having an upright flat surface 12 along one side thereof for contact with a wall 13. The body 11 has a vertical bore 14 extending completely therethrough and having the upper end threaded at 15, as shown in FIGURE 3.

A transverse attaching screw bore 16 extends from the vertical bore 14 through the flat surface 12 at the upper end of the body 11. A depending flange 17 extends below the body 11 in alignment with the flat surface 12 at the lower end of the flat surface 12 and having a transverse bore 18 formed therein to receive a second attaching screw (not shown) for securing the body 11 to the wall 13.

An externally threaded circular cover 19 is arranged in the upper end of the bore 14 and is threadedly egaged to the threads to secure the cover 19 in the body 11.

The bore 14 is provided with a plurality of bosses 20 with each of the bosses '20 having a downwardly sloped upper end wall 2 1, an arcuate wall 22 extending concentrically of the bore 14 downwardly from the downward sloped wall 21. The bosses 20 are each provided with a downwardly and inwardly sloped wall 23 extending from the lower end of the wall 22 and terminating in a wall 24 extending concentrically of the bore 14 inwardly of the wall 22. The bosses 20 are each provided with a bottom end wall 25' extending'perpendicularly from the wall 24 to the bore 14, as can be best seen in FIGURE 3.

The bosses 20 have their downwardly and inwardly sloping walls 211 spaced substantially below the cover 19 and their bottom end wall 25 spaced .slightly above the bottom of the body 11. V

In the use and operation of the invention, the body 11 is secured to a wall 13' and paper cups 26 are placed in the bore 14 after removing the cover 19. The paper cups 26 are guided between the walls 22 by the sloped upper end walls 21 and have the upper rims of the cup 26 resting against the inwardly and downwardly sloped walls 23.

When it is desired to remove a paper cup from the dispenser 14 it is grasped in the hand and pulled downwardly with the inwardly and downwardly sloping walls 23 acting to cam the rim of the cup 26 inwardly so that the cup 26 can move downwardly out of the bore 14. The next cup 26 above that removed is held by the inwardly sloping walls 23 until it is forcibly grasped and removed from the dispenser 10-. The perpendicular walls 25 engage the upper rim of the cup 2 6 to prevent the cup 26 from being forcibly replaced in the dispenser 10 by shoving it upwardly through the bottom thereof.

In many installations of paper cup dispensers, such as hotel rooms, motel rooms, and similar places, it is desirable that only a few paper cups be made available and that the dispenser prevent reinsertion of the paper cup therein. With the present invention, by preventing the reinsertion of paper cups therein, there is a certainty that the cups are clean and no necessity for the maid to remove all of the cups when cleaning the room replacing them with new cups.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

, A cup dispenser comprising a body, said body having a vertical bore extending therethrough and internally threaded at its upper end, a cover threaded into the upper end of said bore, and a plurality of pairs of diametrically opposed bosses integrally formed on said body projecting radially inwardly of the lower end portion of said bore with each of said bosses including an inwardly and downwardly sloping upper end wall, an upper arcuate wall concentric with said bore extending downwardly from the inner lower end of said upper end wall, each said upper arcuate wall being of a length at least equal to the space between adjacent bosses, a sloping intermediate wall of lesser length than said upper end wall extending inwardly and downwardly from said concentric wall, a lower arcuate wall of lesser length than said intermediate wall concentric with said bore extending downwardly from the inner lower end of said intermediate wall, said lower concentric wall being spaced inwardly of said upper concentric wall, and a horizontal bottom wall extending from the lower end of said lower concentric wall to the bore in said body, and spaced above the bottom opening of said bore, said body and said bosses being formed of integral transparent plastic material, said upper end wall providing a guide to direct a paper cup lip into centered position between said upper arcuate walls, said intermediate wall providing a support for the lip of the lowermost cup to be dispensed and further providing a guide to direct the paper cup lip into centered position between said lower arcuate walls during dispensing, said horizontal bottom wall serving as a stop to prevent reinsertion of a cup from the bottom of said dispenser.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,043,854 Luellen Nov. 12, 1912 1,191,995 Hammond July 25, 1916 1,264,950 Luellen May 7, 1918 1,891,542 Huff Dec. 20, 1932 2,068,908 Conti Ian. 26, 1937 2,073,328 Wasserlein Mar. 9, 1937 2,141,682 Carew Dec. 27, 1938 2,584,941 Taubert Feb. 5, 1952

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