US20080230554A1

US20080230554A1 - Chewing gum dispenser

Info

Publication number: US20080230554A1
Application number: US11/726,749
Authority: US
Inventors: MaryAnn Randolph
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-03-23
Filing date: 2007-03-23
Publication date: 2008-09-25

Abstract

Chewing gum dispenser with a hollow rectangular housing, a battery door, a DC power source, a pair of battery contacts, a plurality of electrical conducting wires, a gum loading door, a DC motor, a speed reduction gear assembly, a gum pushing cam member, a momentary normally open motor start switch switch, a a momentary normally closed motor stop switch, and a compression spring. A stack of gum sticks are inserted into the front door of the housing so that they are being pushed up by the compression spring. The cam member is attached to the shaft of the gear reduction assembly and is located just behind the top most gum stick. When a person presses on the start button, the cam rotates and pushes out the top gum stick enough for a person to pull it completely out of the housing.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OF DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

DESCRIPTION OF ATTACHED APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of dispensers and more specifically to a chewing gum dispenser.

Chewing gum has been sold around the world for many years. It traditionally comes in stick form and individually wrapped in paper or foil.
Chewing gum packages can become damaged after opening, especially when they are stored at the bottom of a purse or similar carrying case.
The gum sticks contained within the package can slide out and become bent and soiled to the point of non-usability.
It would be useful therefore to provide a gum stick housing that both stores and dispenses the sticks one at a time so that the remaining sticks can be continued to be stored in pristine condition until the user decides to dispense another stick. A number of inventors have addressed this problem including Ray Buban's U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,208, Edwin Wilson's U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,956, Helen Mabry's U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,642, Atsushi Shibuya's patent Des. 392157 and Helen Mabry's U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,732.
All of the above sited patents describe a means of storing a plurality of gum sticks in a housing and manually being able to push the sticks out one at a time.
However, there are occasions when a person might want to make a favorable impression when dispensing a stick of gum to ones self in the presence of others or to a friend.
To this end, the present invention uses an electromechanical means to dispense a gum stick so that at the push of a button the stick automatically and quickly presents itself to the user or the user's friend.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a chewing gum dispenser that holds a quantity of individual pieces of gum and automatically dispenses them one at a time.
Another object of the invention is to provide a chewing gum dispenser that dispenses gum at the push of a button.
Another object of the invention is to provide a chewing gum dispenser that can be decorated by custom side panels.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a chewing gum dispenser comprising: a hollow rectangular housing, a battery door, a DC power source, a pair of battery contacts, a plurality of electrical conducting wires, a gum loading door, a DC motor, a speed reduction gear assembly, a gum pushing cam member, a momentary normally open motor start switch, a momentary normally closed motor stop switch, a compression spring, said housing capable of storing a stack of chewing gum sticks, said compression spring set under said gum stack, said housing front being hinged so that said housing can be opened to accept gum sticks, said housing front top edge terminating short of the underside of said housing top surface by the dimension of the thickness of one gum stick, said motor and connected gear reduction assembly terminating in an output shaft and said cam member mounted to said output shaft located at the rear of said stack of gum sticks so that said cam member is aligned with the top most said gum stick, said motor start switch activation button located on the top exterior of said housing, said motor stop switch mounted so that it's lever arm is interacting with a protrusion located on the side of said cam shaft, said DC power source powering said DC motor, said DC power source capable of being removed and replaced by opening said battery door, said DC power source placed between said battery contacts and said electrical conducting wires attach said power source to said DC motor, said normally open switch, and said normally closed switch in such a way that when a person pushes on said activation button of said normally open switch, said DC motor is activated causing said cam member to rotate thereby pushing said top-most gum stick out of said gap at the top of said front housing, said cam member is caused to stop when said protrusion on the side of said cam shaft member pushes on the lever arm of said normally open switch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention showing one stick of gum exiting the housing.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention showing the front gum loading door open.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention showing the battery door open.

FIG. 5 is a side section view of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the internal components of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a front section view of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.
Referring now to FIG. 1 we see a perspective view of the invention 100. The hollow housing 2 is rectangular in shape. It is designed to hold a plurality of standard sized chewing gum sticks. The present design is sized to hold sticks that are approximately three quarters of an inch wide, two and seven eights of an inch long and one tenth of an inch thick. However, the general design that will be outlined below can work for any size gum stick. An activation button 6 is located on the top surface toward the front of the housing. When a person grips the housing in his or her hand, the activation button is located under the user's thumb. When the user pushes the button 6, a single stick of gum is automatically pushed partially out of the front gap 10 as shown in FIG. 2. Side panels 4 can be inserted into recesses on the side of housing 2 to customize the appearance of the device 100.
FIG. 3 shows the front door 8 opened to reveal a stack of gum sticks 16 that have been inserted by the user. A compression spring 50 acts to push up platform 51 causing the gum sticks 16 to continue to be pushed upward toward the inner top wall as sticks 16 are removed.
FIG. 4 shows the invention 100 turned upside down with the battery door 24 opened to reveal a removable and replaceable battery 26.
FIG. 5 shows a side section view of the invention as defined by section line 12 shown in FIG. 1. In this view we can clearly see gum sticks 16 sitting on platform 51 and being upwardly biased by compression spring 50. A motor 30 and gear reduction assembly 32 reside at the rear portion of the hollow housing 2. A shaft collar 34 and fixedly attached cam member 40 are fixedly attached to the motor 32 shaft. The thickness of the cam member 40 is similar to the thickness of a stick of gum 16. When the user presses activation button 6, electrical contacts 42, 44 are momentarily pressed together causing motor 30 and attached gear reduction assembly 32 to spin and in turn causing cam member 40 to rotate. The long lobe of the cam 40 produces a pushing action on the top most gum stick of stack 16 causing it to protrude through gap 10 and out of housing 2 as shown by dotted line 17. When the cam member 40 rotates three hundred and sixty degrees, a small protrusion 38 located on the side of shaft collar 34 pushes on normally closed switch lever 36 causing the circuit to open, cutting off power from battery 26 and causing the motor 30 to stop. The user can then pull the gum stick, as shown by dotted line 17, completely out of housing 2 and unwrap for chewing. The next stick in stack 16 is pushed up by spring 50 and ready for the next use. FIG. 5 also shows hinge pin 52 that allows door 8 to swing open. Battery contacts 28, 28A are also shown.
FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of some of the contents of hollow housing 2 for the purpose of more clearly explaining the operation of the present invention. When activation button 6 is momentarily pushed, a circuit is completed between DC battery 26 and DC motor 30. The rotation of shaft collar causes the lever arm of normally closed micro-switch 36 to open because it has moved off of protrusion 38. Therefore the circuit continues to be closed until the shaft collar 34 rotates three hundred and sixty degrees and the protrusion 38 again engages lever arm 36 thereby causing an open circuit within switch 38 which turns off motor 30 until the user pushes button 6 again. Each time the button 6 is pushed, the long lobe of cam member 40 swings around and pushes gum stick 16 out of the front of housing 2.
FIG. 7 shows a front section view as defined by section line 14 shown in FIG. 1. Gum stick stack 16 can be seen sitting on platform 51 and being pushed up by compression spring 50. The structural side walls of housing 2 are indented to allow for application of decorative panels 4, 4A. In this way, the housing 2 can be customized in various ways to improve the look of housing 2 and, or to apply custom graphics that provide advertising capability.
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. Chewing gum dispenser comprising:

a hollow rectangular housing;

a battery door;

a DC power source;

a pair of battery contacts;

a plurality of electrical conducting wires;

a gum loading door;

a DC motor;

a speed reduction gear assembly;

a gum pushing cam member;

a momentary normally open motor start switch switch;

a a momentary normally closed motor stop switch;

a compression spring;

a gum platform

said housing capable of storing a stack of chewing gum sticks;

said compression spring and said gum platform set under said gum stack;

said housing front being hinged so that said housing can be opened to accept gum sticks;

said housing front top edge terminating short of the underside of said housing top surface by the dimension of the thickness of one gum stick;

said motor and connected gear reduction assembly terminating in an output shaft and said cam member mounted to said output shaft located at the rear of said stack of gum sticks so that said cam member is aligned with the top most said gum stick;

said motor start switch activation button located on the top exterior of said housing;

said motor stop switch mounted so that it's lever arm is interacting with a protrusion located on the side of said cam shaft;

said DC power source powering said DC motor;

said DC power source capable of being removed and replaced by opening said battery door;

said DC power source placed between said battery contacts and said electrical conducting wires to attach said power source to said DC motor, said normally open switch, and said normally closed switch in such a way that when a person pushes on said activation button of said normally open switch, said DC motor is activated causing said cam member to rotate thereby pushing said top-most gum stick out of said gap at the top of said front housing;

said cam member is caused to stop when said protrusion on the side of said cam shaft member pushes on the lever arm said normally open switch.

2. Chewing gum dispenser as claimed in claim 1 wherein said housing sides are recessed to allow for application of custom side panels.