Abstract:
A container dispenser having a lid and a case housing is disclosed. The dispenser includes an outlet at a bottom portion of the case housing and communicating with a vertical passage, a wing rotating within the case housing and dropping articles into the vertical passage, a cylindrical framework receiving the article through the vertical passage and dropping the same into the outlet while making a rotation in the vertical transfer passage, a rotational means formed in an external portion of the case housing and sequentially rotating the wing and the cylindrical framework; and a sealing means for sealing the framework to prevent the ambient coming in through the outlet from being flowed into the housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a dispenser. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved multi-purpose dispensing container which enables articles stored in the container to be sealed even when the articles are being discharged, thereby preventing deformation of the articles contained therein as well as facilitating article storage. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     In general, storage containers are widely used to store therein relatively small articles such as cigarettes, matches, tablets, toothpicks, sweets, sanitary chopsticks and disposable medical items. Conventional storage containers for these items includes a case housing and a lid, wherein the items are kept within the case housing. To use the conventional storage container, articles are placed within the case housing which is then covered by a lid to thus seal off the interior of the storage container. 
     However, although the sealing status of the conventional storage container may be reserved good when the lid is assembled to the case housing, the articles stored in the case housing has to be undesirably exposed to the ambient air in order for a user to pick out one of the articles from the case housing. 
     Further, when applied to sealing-required medical items such as tablets, cotton, and contraceptives, or to vapor-vulnerable items such as pasteurized spoons, matches, cigarettes, and toothpicks, these articles when contained in conventional storage containers has been subject to deformation since the those articles are inevitably exposed to the external environment whenever the lid is taken off 
     There are other containers which don&#39;t require that a lid be taken off to dispense the contents therein. These other containers have a dispensing system which has a discharge hole defined at a lower end of the container for discharging items therethrough. The discharge of items through the hole is regulated by a covering or a single revolving door-like member at the hole. These containers are better at reducing exposure of the contents within the container to the ambient air by reducing the need to open the lid; however, air still seeps into the container through the hole. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is contrived to overcome the conventional disadvantages. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved storage container system which enables the articles therein to be preserved from premature deformation by maintaining the interior of the container in a sealed-off status during an article discharge. 
     To achieve the above-described object, the storage container system according to the present invention comprises an outlet formed at a bottom portion of the case housing and communicating with a vertical passage formed within the case housing to facilitate an article discharge therethrough. Furthermore, a wing rotatably mounted within the case housing serves to drop articles into the vertical passage and to a cylindrical framework rotatably mounted within the case housing. The cylindrical framework receives the article dropped through the vertical passage and thereafter drops the same into the outlet while making a rotation in the vertical passage. A rotational means is formed in an external portion of the case housing and sequentially rotates the wing and the cylindrical framework in a predetermined rate of rotation. To effect sealing of the housing, a sealing means is utilized to seal the cylindrical framework and the wing to prevent the ambient atmosphere from flowing in through the outlet and into the case housing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-purpose storage container system according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of a multi-purpose storage container system according to the present invention shown here with the lid and downward slope of the case housing removed; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of the storage container system with the lid taken off and cut along the  3 — 3  line of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line  4 — 4  line of FIG.  3 ; 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to the accompanying drawings, a multi-purpose container dispenser according to the present invention will now be described. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container dispenser includes a case housing  10  having an internal space for storing therein miscellaneous articles and an opening at the top of the case housing  10 . Further, the container dispenser has a lid  11  for sealing the interior of the case housing  10  by covering the opening of the case housing  10 . 
     To a side portion of the case housing  10  is formed a activation pin  30  to discharge the articles stored in the case housing  10 . To a lower front portion of the case housing  10  is formed an outlet  12  through which articles contained within the housing  10  are externally discharged. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, an outlet means is formed adjacent to the internal space of the case housing  10  to externally discharge the articles received in the internal space through the outlet  12  in accordance with operation of the activation pin  30 . 
     The outlet means includes a wing  20  and a cylindrical framework  23 . The wing  20  has a plurality of evenly spaced arms  21  each of which serves to push the articles stored on a downward slope  15  of the case housing  10  and to drop the articles into a vertical passage  16 . The cylindrical framework  23  leveled lower than the wing  20  is provided at a lower portion of the vertical passage  16  which communicates via the cylindrical framework  23  with the outlet  12 . The cylindrical frame  23  temporarily holds therein the articles dropped through the vertical passage from the slope  15  in accordance with the revolution of the wing  20 . 
     The cylindrical framework  23  is provided with first and second openings  24 ,  25  which oppose each other by an axial panel of the framework  23 . The cylindrical framework  23  rotates within the vertical passage  16  and receives in one of the opposed openings  24 ,  25  the article dropped through the vertical passage  16  by the wing  20 . When the cylindrical framework  23  rotates further, the article received in one of the openings  24 ,  25  is dropped into the outlet  12  and at the same time another article becomes dropped into the other of the openings  24 ,  25 . 
     For a better performance, it is preferred that a sealing means is disposed on certain predetermined portions of the case housing  10 . Once such portion is the portion of the case housing  10  to which the outer periphery of the cylindrical framework  23  abuts. Another such portion is the portion of the case housing to which the wing  20  abuts. A sealing rubber  27  may be employed for the sealing means. The sealing rubber  27  surrounds the outer periphery of the cylindrical framework  23  and the wing  20 . The sealing rubber  27  can be a silica gel filled rubber sac. 
     With reference to FIG. 4 an activation pin  30  serves as part of a gear assembly for externally discharging articles contained in the case housing  10 . The gear assembly further includes a button pin cap  32  making a vertical movement according to a vertical momentum, a plurality of latch teeth  35  formed along an operational shaft  33  which is connected to a lower portion of the activation pin  30 , a first gear  36  changing the vertical movement of the operational shaft  33  to a rotational movement, a second gear  37  formed on a side of the first gear  36 , and a linking gear  39  engaged between and linking the second gear  36  and first gear  36 . An operational rod  46  of the wing  20  connects the wing to the first gear  36 , and an operational rod  47  of the cylindrical framework connects the cylindrical framework  23  to the second gear  37 . 
     In this construction, when the activation pin  30  is pushed, the vertical momentum generated thereby serves to rotate the first and second gears  36 ,  37  which subsequently serve to rotate the wing  20  and the cylindrical framework  23 , thereby enabling the article discharge from the case housing  10 . 
     As shown back in FIG. 4, the activation pin  30  is insertedly installed in an installation cavity  31  formed in a side portion of the case housing  10 . The activation pin  30  includes the button cap  32  and an operation shaft  33  with the plurality of latch teeth  35  formed thereon. A coil spring  34  is provided between a lower portion of the button cap  32  and the installation cavity  31  so that the button cap  32  can be restored to its original position after the button pushing. 
     According to the vertical movement of the push button  30 , the first and second gears  36 ,  37  become sequentially rotated to thereby generate each rotation of the cylindrical framework  23  and the wing  20 . That is, the received articles are sequentially discharged by the first and second gears  36 ,  37 . 
     In an embodiment, it is recommended that the reciprocal movement of the activation pin  32  allows the cylindrical framework  23  to make a half (½) rotation so that one of the first and second openings  24 ,  25  can receive the article therein. By another half rotation of the cylindrical framework  23  the article received in the one of the openings  24 ,  25  is dropped into the outlet  12 . 
     Also, it is desirable that the wing  20  rotates to communicate properly with the half rotation of the cylindrical framework  23  per reciprocal movement of the activation pin  30 . The rotation of the wing  20  depends on the number of evenly spaced arms  21  placed on the wing  20 . For a wing  20  having three arms  21 , the wing  20  should rotate ⅓ of a single rotation per reciprocal movement of the activation pin  30 . For an embodiment having  4  arms  21 , the wing  20  should rotate ¼ of a single rotation per reciprocal movement of the activation pin  30 . Thus, where Y equals the number of arms  21 , the fraction of a single rotation per reciprocal movement of the activation pin  30  equals 1/Y. The number of arms  21  varies according to the type of article held within the housing  10 . The predetermined fractional rotation of the wing  20  ensures that a single reciprocal movement of the activation pin  30  limits the wing  20  to drop only a single article at a time into the vertical passage  16 , whereby the article becomes placed on one of the first and second openings  24 ,  25  of the cylindrical framework  23 . 
     The various fractional rotations of the cylindrical framework  23  and the wing  20  in relation to a single reciprocal movement of the activation pin  30  is determined by creating the radius and number of teeth on the first and second gears  36 ,  37  and linking gear  39  in a predetermined manner to create the desired rotations. 
     The thusly constituted container dispenser according to the present invention allows the articles received in the case housing  10  to be externally discharged without opening the lid  11 , thereby securing the storage of articles requiring a constantly sealed condition. That is, in a state in which the articles are received within the case housing  10  and the lid  11  is covered, the button cap  30  is pushed to externally discharge the received articles. 
     More specifically, if the activation pin  30  is pushed once, the second gear  37  and the cylindrical framework  23  makes a half rotation and drops the article from one of the first and second openings  24 ,  25  into the outlet  12  while the other of the first and second openings  24 ,  25  receives therein another article being dropped from the vertical passage  16 . 
     For example, when the cylindrical framework  23  makes a half rotation to guide the first opening  24  toward the outlet  12 , the received articles serve to be dropped into the vertical passage  16  and the second receiving opening  25  becomes located toward the vertical passage  16  to receive therein the article being dropped from the vertical passage  16 . 
     The cylindrical framework  23  consecutively makes a half rotation to load in one of the first and second openings  24 ,  25  the article being dropped from the vertical passage  16  and at the same time discharge from the other of the first and second openings  24 ,  25  the loaded article. 
     Also, when the first gear  36  rotates by a fraction of a full rotation thereof, the wing  20  rotates by the same fractional rotation thereof in accordance therewith. Accordingly, the arm  21  of the wing  20  moves the article placed on the slope  15  into the vertical passage  16  to thereby load the article into either the first opening  24  or the second opening  25  of the cylindrical framework  23 . 
     Likewise, the wing  20  serves to push the articles placed on the slope  15  into the vertical passage  16  by its rotation and load each article in the first and second openings  24 ,  25  of the cylindrical framework  23 . Through the repeated steps as such, the received articles are being maintained in a sealed status within the case housing  10  during the whole discharge process. That is, in a state in which the sealing members  27  serves to protect the ambient atmosphere from flowing into the case housing  10 . Although the outlet  12  stays open, the ambient atmosphere is sealed off by the sealing members  27  covering the outer periphery of the cylindrical framework  23 , whereby the interior of the case housing  10  is maintained in a sealed status during the discharge of each article. 
     Further, a counter  40  may be formed on the case housing  10  to count articles being discharged through the outlet  12  in accordance with the pressing of the activation pin  30  of the container dispenser according to the present invention. 
     As described above, the multi-purpose container dispenser according to the present invention maintains the interior of the case housing in a sealed status during the article discharge process, thereby improving storage safety for articles requiring a sealed status, such as tablets, disposable medical gloves, sanitary cottons, contraceptives, toothpicks, cigarettes, matches, sweets, sanitary chopsticks and the like. Also, the container dispenser enables an accurate counting of the articles stored therein. 
     Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated for purposes of clarity and example, it should be understood that many changes, substitutions and modifications to the described embodiment will be apparent to those having skill in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention which is defined by the claims which follow.