Dispenser for small articles having article orientation means

The invention provides a dispenser for dispensing articles such as sweeteners one at a time from a supply of such articles held within the dispenser. The dispenser consists of two parts, a container closed at one end and open at the other end and a cap to close the open end of the container. A device is provided within the container and connected to the cap for segregating and orienting the articles as they are moved towards the cap and there is an opening in the cap through which the articles can be dispensed. There is a pocket or cut-out in the side wall of the container at the open end and there is a protective ramp adjacent to the opening to prevent more than one article being dispensed at one time.

This invention relates to dispensers for delivering a succession of groups 
of articles such as pills or tablets. Each group may consist of a single 
article or a number of articles. 
It is common practice to provide a container with an adjustable closure 
adapted to be manipulated manually to uncover an opening to allow articles 
within the container to be dispensed. However in such a simple dispenser 
the articles are apt to come out with a rush and if a user requires just 
one article e.g. a sweetening saccharin or like tablet it is a nuisance to 
be confronted with six or seven at one time. 
It has also been proposed to provide a dispenser adapted to dispense 
articles one group at a time but such dispensers have always been rather 
complicated. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved dispenser 
for delivering a succession of groups of articles each group consisting of 
a predetermined number of articles. 
To dispense objects one group at a time for example to dispense 
substantially flat tablets one at a time we believe calls for the 
following conditions: 
1. The tablets must be orientated to line up with an elongate dispensing 
opening. 
2. Individual tablets must be separated from the pack or bulk of tablets 
and must be either carried to the dispensing opening or the opening must 
be moved to the tablets in turn. 
3. Some form of shield must prevent more than one tablet being dispensed at 
a time. This can be achieved by producing a compartment or pocket around 
the tablet immediately adjacent to the dispensing opening. Once the tablet 
has been dispensed the compartment remains empty until the dispenser is 
operated again. 
4. The tablets need some form of agitation to prevent clogging. 
According to the present invention there is provided a dispenser for 
dispensing articles one group at a time from a supply of substantially 
identical articles wherein the dispenser comprises a container and a cap 
to close an open end of the container, means within the container and 
connected to the cap for segregating and orienting the articles as they 
are moved towards the cap, an opening in the cap through which articles 
can be dispensed, at least one pocket in the side wall of the container at 
the open end of the container and a protective ramp adjacent to the 
opening. 
The invention also includes a dispenser for dispensing articles one group 
at a time from a supply of such articles which are all of the same size 
and shape wherein the dispenser comprises a container defined by a side 
wall and a closed end for holding a random supply of articles and having 
an open mouth remote from the closed end, a cap to close the open mouth of 
the container, an opening in the cap through which articles can be 
dispensed one group at a time when the dispenser is in an inverted 
position, a segregating member arranged within the container extending 
from the open mouth towards the closed end and dimensioned to provide a 
gap between the member and the container side wall into which a number of 
articles can pass and a pocket in the side wall of the container at the 
mouth thereof to receive a group of articles from the gap, whereby 
relative rotation between the cap and the container causes a group of 
articles to be dispensed from the pocket when the pocket moves into 
registration with the opening, guard means being provided to prevent a 
further group of articles moving into the pocket until the pocket no 
longer registers with the opening.

Referring to FIG. 1 the dispenser comprises a tubular container 1 and a cap 
2 to close the open mouth of the container 1. The container has an annular 
external bead 3 and the cap has an annular internal bead 4 in the skirt of 
the cap so that the cap 2 can snap in to the closed position on the 
container 1. When in position the cap 2 can be turned relatively to the 
container 1 but cannot easily be pulled off axially. The cap 2 has a 
segregating member in the form of a central spigot 5 which has a 
cylindrical part 6 and a frustoconical part 7. An annular gap 8 is 
provided between the side wall of the container and the spigot 5. The cap 
2 has an opening 9 through which articles can be dispensed and the edge of 
the side wall of the container 1 at the open end has a number of cut outs 
forming pockets 10 each of a size and shape to receive a single article. 
The spigot 5 has a ramp 11 positioned above the opening 9 when the 
dispenser is in the position shown in FIG. 1. When the dispenser is in an 
upright position with the cap at the top the bulk of the articles will be 
in the lower part of the container. When it is desired to dispense an 
article the position of the dispenser is reversed so that some of the 
articles fall down into the gap 8 and become correctly oriented for 
dispensing. A single article will enter each pocket 10 with the exception 
of the pocket immediately above the opening 9 which remains empty because 
it is protected by the ramp 11 which prevents an article entering that 
pocket. Next the cap 2 is turned relatively to the container 1 so that 
when the opening 9 is moved into registration with a full pocket an 
article will be dispensed from that pocket. Although we have referred 
above to moving the cap 2 relatively to the container 1 the same effect is 
produced if the container be moved relatively to the cap. 
If it be desired to dispense a group of two, three or more articles at a 
time the pockets will be made sufficiently large to receive two, three or 
more articles as the case may be. 
FIG. 2 shows an article in one of the pockets 10 which in this embodiment 
are made just large enough to accommodate one article. FIG. 3 shows an 
article about to be dispensed from the pocket 10 through the opening 9 and 
also shows how the projection of the ramp 11 prevents another article 
dropping into a pocket from which an article has just been or is about to 
be dispensed. 
It will be noted that the spigot 5 includes the cylindrical part 6 with a 
relatively large gap 8 between the spigot and the container wall. Below 
the part 6, with the dispenser in the position shown in FIG. 1, the spigot 
5 is flared outwardly at the frustoconical part 7 towards the container 
wall so that the gap 8 between the spigot and the container wall narrows. 
This arrangement assists in correct orientation of the articles to be 
dispensed in that the articles move from a random arrangement in the upper 
part of the container away from the mouth to an orderly arrangement in the 
narrower part of the gap 8. 
In some embodiments of the invention it may be necessary to make the 
dispenser in three parts i.e. a container body, a container bottom and a 
cap. In that case when the dispenser is assembled and the bottom is 
secured to the container body the dispenser comprises only two parts. 
However the embodiment described above may be actually manufactured in two 
parts, a container body complete and a cap and that is an important 
feature of the invention. 
The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 is similar to the embodiment 
described in connection with FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. The same references have 
been used and no further description is needed.