Patent ID: 8955695
Filing Date: 2015-02-17
Classification: A47F

Abstract:
1. An improved serpentine product dispenser of the type having a top, bottom, front, and rear for dispensing cans from a cartridge containing a plurality of stacks of nested cans; each can having a diameter; each stack of nested cans forming at least two product facings; and the cartridge having an exit port; an upper channel with a first width allowing a cartridge containing a plurality of can stacks to be inserted, located at the top of the dispenser, forming a cartridge holding area for receiving and holding the cartridge; an upper channel exit port, located at a bottom of the upper channel and to the rear of the dispenser, through which stacks of nested cans pass when exiting the exit port of a cartridge received and held on the upper channel; a down chute located at the rear of the dispenser below the upper channel exit port, with a first end, a second end, and a second width, the first end of the down chute communicating in a transition with the upper channel exit port such that a stack of nested cans may move from the upper channel into the down chute; a lower feed channel located at the bottom of the dispenser with a first end, a second end, and a third width, the first end of the lower feed channel communicating in a transition with the second end of the down chute, such that a stack of nested cans may move from the down chute through the lower feed channel; and a product selection area at the bottom and front of the dispenser having a first end, a second end accessible to a consumer, a length, and a fourth width, the first end of the product selection area communicating in a transition with the second end of the lower feed channel such that a stack of nested cans may move from the lower feed channel into the product selection area; the improvement comprising: a) the second width of the down chute being narrower than the upper channel first width, such that a stack of nested cans exiting the upper channel through the upper channel exit port are maintained in a nested stack when moving from the upper channel into and through the down chute; b) the third width of the lower feed channel being narrower than the upper channel first width, such that a stack of nested cans is maintained in a nested stack as the stack of nested cans transits through the lower feed channel; and c) the fourth width of the product selection area being wider than the lower feed channel third width, such that the forth width allows the stack of nested cans to be un-nested and separated for individual selection by a consumer.