Abstract:
The dispenser of the present invention is for delivering product such as cards, paper stock or the like product to a demand location. The dispenser includes a product hopper for a plurality of product; a feed belt for receiving the product; at least two feed assemblies; and a drive motor operably attached to the feed belt and each feed assembly.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This patent application relates to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/422,507 filed on Oct. 31, 2002 entitled A SINGLE DRIVE MULTI STAGE DISPENSER which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to dispensers and in particular multi stage dispensers.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Machines for delivering blank cards or paper stock from a stack are well known. As well such machines that can deliver the cards or paper to a demand location are well known. These machines are typically multi staged machines that use a plurality of drives for individually controlling the different stages.  
           [0004]    In contrast the present invention uses a single drive to control a multi stage dispenser.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The dispenser of the present invention is for delivering product such as cards, paper stock or the like product to a demand location. The dispenser includes a product hopper for a plurality of product; a feed belt for receiving the product; at least two feed assemblies; and a drive motor operably attached to the feed belt and each feed assembly.  
           [0006]    The dispenser of the present invention is for dispensing singular paper products from a stack to a transfer conveyor that would typically include pusher flights. The dispenser has multiple stages that are driven by means of a single drive motor. Some of the stages are geared up to create larger spaces between the products being transferred. The dispenser of the present invention is designed with shared shafts for the various stages, which enables short and narrow products to be dispensed.  
           [0007]    Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a side view of the dispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention, showing the timing belt and product drive belts;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the upper drive belt of the dispenser of the present invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is plan view of the lower drive belt of the dispenser of the present invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention wherein the drive motor is directly connected to the third stage drive shaft;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second alternate embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention wherein the drive motor is directly connected to the third stage drive shaft and further including interchangeable gears;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second alternate embodiment of the dispenser as viewed from behind the product hopper;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second alternate embodiment of the dispenser as viewed from underneath the dispenser. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]    Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and  3 , the dispenser of the present invention is shown generally at  30 . Dispenser  30  has three stages, namely the first stage  32 , the second stage  34  and the third stage  36 .  
         [0017]    The product  10  is stacked in the product hopper  27 . The product  10  is typically card stock, paper stock or the like. The product hopper  27  is set at an angle to help maintain the product in a stack and to minimize the likelihood of the product falling backwards. The feed belt  1  and the upper and lower product drive belts  11 ,  12  of the first stage assembly of the dispenser are at the same angle. The upper and lower drive belts  13 ,  14  of the second stage assembly of the dispenser are at a lesser angle and the upper and lower belts  15 ,  16  of the third stage assembly of the dispenser are generally level.  
         [0018]    The drive mechanism starts at the main drive motor  4 , with a belt drive  5 , to th lower splined drive shaft  17 . First and second stag splined drive shaft  17  is connected to the upper splined shaft  22 , by means of a 1:1 belt drive  6 . Belt drive  6  Is also coupled to the feed belt drive shaft  20 . Drive shaft  20 , in turn, drives the feed belt drive pulley  3 , which drives the feed belt  1 . The drive belt  6  drives the upper product drive belts  11  of the first stage at the same speed as the lower product drive belts  12  of the first stage  32 , but there is a step down to the feed belt drive shaft  20 . This step down and the differing pulley sizes creates an increase in speed from the feed belt  1  and thus the speed of the first stage assembly. This speed up of belt speeds creates a larger gap between the products  10 .  
         [0019]    The drive splined shafts  17  and  22  also upper and lower drive belts  13 ,  14  of the second stage assembly of the dispenser. They are driven at the same speed as the first stage assembly of the dispenser.  
         [0020]    The third stage assembly of the dispenser is driven by the main drive motor  4 , via a belt drive  7 . This speed up ratio drives lay shaft  28 , which in turn, via belt drive  8 , drives the lower splined shaft  18 . Shaft  18  is connected to the upper splined drive shaft  23 , by means of a 1:1 timing belt drive  9  of the third stage.  
         [0021]    The speed up created by speed up belt drive  7 , creates a larger space between the product being transferred from the first  32  and second  34  stages to the third stage  36  of the dispenser.  
         [0022]    The photocells  25 ,  26  located in the third stage of the dispenser are used to monitor the position of each product and to adjust the speed of drive motor  4 , to dispense the products into the gaps of the subsequent conveyor or as required by the products on the subsequent conveyor  38 . Th first photocell  25  detects the presence of the product in the third stage and together with the second photocell  26  the gap between products is determined. The speed of the drive motor is adjusted up or down if the gap is smaller or larger than a predetermined preferred gap size.  
         [0023]    Each of the stages of the dispenser share shafts for the drive of one stage and the idlers of the next stage. The purpose of having shared shafts between each of the stages is to create a continuous transport surface both upper and lower for the product.  
         [0024]    The transport surface is now free from voids, which would occur when you have a separate tail and a drive shaft located next to one another. On an apparatus that had shafts adjacent to one another it would be possible to have jumper belts to fill the voids, but these jumpers take up space across the width of the dispenser, which also limits the size of product that can be handled in the relationship to the width of the dispenser.  
         [0025]    Therefore the use of shared shafts not only enables shorter lengths of products to be handled it also enables smaller widths of product to be handled.  
         [0026]    The use of splined-shafts (shafts with grooves cut into the surface around the circumference) and splined bushings in the product drive belt pulleys allows for an easier set up and positioning of the drive belts for differing sizes of products.  
         [0027]    Referring to FIG. 4 an alternate embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention is shown generally at  40 . Dispenser  40  is generally the same as that described above but the drive motor  4  is positioned such that it directly drives the drive shaft  23  of the third stage. This change serves to simplify the control system especially if the size of the product changes. Typically if the user wishes to change the size of the product, the user would change the size of the timing belt drive. If the motor is directly attached to the timing belt drive rather than the drive shaft of the third stage the control system has to be adjusted to accommodate the change.  
         [0028]    Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and  7  a second alternate embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention is shown generally at  50 . Dispenser is similar to that of FIG. 4 In that the drive motor  4  is positioned such that it directly drives the drive shaft  23  of the third stage. Dispenser  50  has been adapted such that it can easily be adjusted to accommodate different sized product. Specifically dispenser  50  includes an interchangeable gear  52  that is secure with a pin  54 . A pivot arm  56  with a pivot arm mating gear  58  attached thereto mates with interchangeable gear  52 . Pivot arm  56  is attached to lay shaft gear  60 . Lay shaft gear  60  is operably attached to drive motor  4  by way of timing belt  5 .  
         [0029]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that interchangeable gear may be easily change. Specifically pin  54  can easily be removed and the gear  52  can be changed to a size to suit the particular job. Pivot arm  56  pivots mating gear out of engagement with gear  52  to allow it to be easily change. Once gear  52  has been changed pivot arm  56  easily pivots back into position and the gears are then in mating arrangement.  
         [0030]    As used herein, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed as being inclusive and opened rather than exclusive. Specifically, when used in this specification including the claims, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or components are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.  
         [0031]    It will be appreciated that the above description related to the invention by way of example only. Many variations on the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art and such obvious variations are within the scope of the invention as described herein whether or not expressly described.