Patent Publication Number: US-6220313-B1

Title: Bulk dispenser

Description:
This application is continuation of international application number PCTE98/00283, filed Feb. 18, 1998, (status, abandoned, pending, etc.). 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In grocer&#39;s shops, goods are more and more frequently sold in bulk to satisfy the requirements that the amount of packings be reduced. The handling of foodstuffs in bulk (for instance beans, tea, flakes and grain) today takes place but to a limited extent. In many cases, open containers are used, from which the customer scoops bulk goods into a bag. Alternatively, the containers have discharge valves which require two movements of the hand, i.e. one for opening and another for closing. This arrangement causes spillage and hygienic inconvenience. 
     PCT Publication WO 94/13536 shows and discloses a method and an apparatus for distributing bulk articles. A mobile dispenser is charged with the bulk article and is then placed in a location where a customer or user is intended to fill a bag or some other packing with the bulk article in question. The dispenser has a storage container which is intended for the bulk article and which at its lower end has an outlet valve. When the outlet valve opens, the bulk article slides under the action of gravity downwards along an inclined plane to a cellular feeder or intermediate storage unit which is essentially circular-cylindrical in cross-section. When discharging the bulk article, a valve plate included in the cellular feeder is pivoted upwards through the actual bulk article body to interrupt the flow of bulk article down into the bag or packing. The publication indicates safety devices for preventing the cellular feeder from being emptied if a suitable bag or some other suitable packing is not available for reception of the discharged quantity of bulk article. This prior-art apparatus suffers from the drawback that the arcuate valve plate of the cellular feeder, during operation of the cellular feeder, must be pressed upwards through the bulk goods on the inclined plane. During its movement, the front edge of the valve plate hits the particles which therefore counteract a continued movement. In many types of bulk goods, the resistance to the movements of the cellular feeder can be so great that the customers find it inconvenient or impossible to use the dispenser on their own. 
     EP-A-0 286 194 discloses a different bulk goods dispenser, in which a slide valve is used to discharge bulk goods from the lower end of a storage container. The slide valve has a slide with a compartment which is open upwards and downwards and which can be moved from a filling position to an emptying position and whose bottom in the closed position of the valve is formed of a bottom surface in the storage container. In the emptying procedure, the compartment is pulled out from the container, such that the goods enclosed in the compartment can fall down through a discharge nozzle. When pulling out the slide valve there is a great risk of particles of the bulk goods being pinched between the slide valve and an edge of the bottom of the storage container. 
     SE-B-355,935 shows and discloses a storage device with a dispenser for particulate bulk goods, in which a reciprocating cellular feeder of a similar type is used. This known dispenser suffers from the same drawbacks. 
     AU-A1-56805/80 shows and discloses a storage and dispenser apparatus which is particularly intended for packets of cigarettes and the like and which also has a reciprocating slide. This slide has a recess whose shape corresponds to the shape of the package and which is open downwards in order to hand over, after the movement to the emptying position, the packet of cigarettes or the like to a discharge chute or a discharge compartment. A similar device is disclosed in SE-B-502,253. These prior-art devices are not adapted for distribution of the type of bulk goods involved in the present case. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to enable the selling of bulk goods in self-service shops and to achieve a reduction of the amount of packings while at the same time the bulk article is handled hygienically and is stored in a space which is closed and inaccessible. 
     A further object of the invention is to obviate or essentially reduce the drawbacks of the prior-art dispensers. 
     According to the invention, these and other objects are achieved by a dispenser having the features stated in independent claim  1 . The dependent claims define particularly preferred embodiments of the invention. 
     Summing up, the invention resides in a dispenser for bulk goods having a storage container, a discharge device connected thereto, a dosing means and a discharge chute extending to a collection point. The dosing means includes a valve flap which is pivotable between a closing position and a discharge position. An operating device is adapted to pivot the valve flap between its said two positions. A locking means prevents the valve flap from pivoting from the closing position to the discharge position when a collecting receptacle or bag is not available at the collecting point. Preferably, the operating device comprises two operating handles, which are operatively connected to the valve flap for pivoting thereof. This operative connection includes a sensor mechanism, which allows power transfer merely when actuating the operating handles essentially in parallel or synchronously. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Some embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of a dispenser according to the present invention, 
     FIG. 2 shows the lower part of this dispenser while filling a bag with bulk goods, 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional perspective view of the inner structure of said dispenser, 
     FIG. 4 is a vertical section of a modified mechanism in a second embodiment of the invention, 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line V—V in FIG. 4, 
     FIG. 6 is the same sectional view as FIG. 5, but shows the components in a position which prevents emptying, 
     FIG. 7 illustrates a third embodiment of a dispenser according to the present invention, 
     FIG. 8 is a vertical section of a discharge valve and the associated operating mechanism in a fourth embodiment of the invention, 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line IX—IX in FIG. 8, 
     FIG. 10 illustrates a fifth embodiment of a dispenser according to the present invention, and 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a sixth embodiment of a dispenser according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The embodiment of an inventive dispenser as shown in FIGS. 1-3 comprises a casing  10 , which can be placed on a mobile frame or have a wheel frame of its own so as to be movable from a storage room to a position of use in a shop. The casing accommodates a container  11 , which at the bottom at the front of the dispenser has an inclined and transparent bottom surface  12 . There is an inwardly directed wall surface  13  below the bottom surface  12 . The wall surface  13  can be reflective like a mirror to make it easier for a customer to inspect the bulk goods before discharging them from the dispenser. 
     At the bottom there is a discharge chute  14  and two operating buttons or handles  15   a ,  15   b . For transferring bulk goods from the dispenser to a plastic bag P, it is necessary for the opening of the bag to be slipped onto the discharge chute  14  and for the bag to be pulled upwards for releasing a filling-preventing means (to be described below). Moreover, the two operating buttons  15   a ,  15   b  must be pressed for the discharge through the discharge chute to take place. The mechanisms and the operating means for achieving this result will be described below. 
     As is evident from FIGS. 1-3, the container  11  in the dispenser according to this embodiment has an additional inclined surface  16 , which together with the surface  12  forms a funnel-shaped inlet of an opening  17 . A valve flap  18  included in a discharge valve is mounted to be pivoted about a pin  19  fixed to the casing  10 . At the rear edge of the valve flap there is a downwardly directed circular-arc-shaped flange  20 , which, when pivoting the valve flap to an emptying position (indicated by dash-dot lines in FIG.  3 ), essentially closes the opening  17  to prevent bulk goods from continuing to flow from the container  11  to a discharge pocket or dosing compartment  21 . At the front the pocket is defined by a wall  22  which is directed downwards from the mirror surface or wall  13 . The valve flap front edge  23 , which can be inclined downwards in the manner shown, engages the lower edge of this wall when the valve is located in its raised resting position (full lines in FIG.  3 ). The discharge valve therefore comprises the valve flap and its inclined front edge as well as the lower edge of the wall  22 . At the lower edge of the arcuate flange  20  of the valve flap there is an upwardly bent flange portion  24  intended for a purpose that will be described below. 
     A downwardly projecting operating arm  25  of the valve flap  18  has a backwards projecting bearing pin  26  for an operating yoke  27 . The yoke  27  is pivotally mounted on this bearing pin by the pin extending through a knife edge hole. In the embodiment according to FIG. 3 there is a compression spring  29  which is slipped onto the bearing pin  26  and clamped between the yoke  27  and a head at the outer end of the bearing pin. 
     The yoke  27  is U-shaped and has outwardly directed abutment flanges  30  at the outer ends of the U-legs. The abutment flanges are adapted to cooperate with inwardly projecting abutment surfaces  31 , if the yoke has been inclined in an attempt at effecting a discharge of bulk goods from the pocket  21  to the bag P. 
     At the bottom, the operating handles  15   a ,  15   b  are pivotally mounted on pivot pins  32 . Between each handle and the yoke extends a link arm  33   a ,  33   b . One end of the link arm is pivotally connected to the associated handle  15   a ,  15   b  at a suitable distance from the corresponding pivot pin  32 , in this case approximately at half the height of the handle. The other ends of the link arms are pivotally connected to one U-leg each of the yoke. 
     With a view to preventing emptying of bulk goods from the dispenser, a locking means is preferably provided. In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3, this locking means comprises two hook means  34 , which are pivotally mounted on a pivot pin  35  at the bottom of the discharge chute  14 . At the other end of the hook means  34  there are hooks which engage the upwardly bent flange portion  24  of the valve flap when this flange portion is located in its resting position (full lines in FIG.  3 ). If a bag is moved up behind the discharge chute and surrounds this, the two hook means  34  will be raised from the flange portion  24  for releasing the valve flap. The hook means  34  can be connected to each other and to the pivot pin  35 , thereby forming a pivotable bracket. In such a case, it may be sufficient for one leg of the bracket to have a hook at its outer end. If two separate and independently pivotable hook means are used, additional safety is achieved by the fact that discharge of the bulk goods is obtained merely if the collecting receptacle or bag has released the two hook means  34 . 
     For a pivoting of the valve flap to be possible, the two handles  15   a ,  15   b  must be pressed inwardly synchronously with each other, such that the yoke  27  and its abutment flanges  30  should be able to pass the two abutment surfaces  31 . If one handle is pressed more than the other, the yoke will be inclined, in which case the abutment flange  30  on that side of the yoke which has been pressed furthest inwards will be stopped in its inward movement by the abutment flange  30  getting caught on the corresponding abutment surface  31 . As a result, the compression spring  29  will not be compressed to a sufficient extent for the valve to be pivoted about the pin  19 . 
     Primarily, the compression spring  29 , however, is an overload protecting means, which is compressed but to a small extent in normal operation. If, after all, bulk goods should get caught between the valve flap  18  and the free end of the wall  12 , i.e. in the opening  17 , the compression spring  29  will absorb the forces in continued pressing of the handles  15 , thereby preventing the dispenser from being damaged. 
     In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1-3, there is thus a yieldable connection between the operating arm  25  and the operating yoke  27 . 
     In the modified embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-6, there is instead a direct connection between the yoke  27  and the operating arm  25  by the bearing pin  26  being shorter and ending just above the knife edge hole  28  in the yoke  27 . In this modified embodiment, the link arms  33  extend through guide holes in inwardly projecting guide hole brackets  35  in the casing. For returning the valve flap  18  in this embodiment, use can advantageously be made of compression springs  36  which are inserted between the back of the handles  15   a ,  15   b  and the guide hole brackets  35 . Otherwise this embodiment of the invention is similar to the one according to FIGS. 1-3. The function of the yoke  27  will be evident when comparing FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified embodiment of the invention. In this case, the two pivotable handles  15   a ,  15   b  have been replaced by a pulling handle  37 , which via a link arm  38  is connected to an upwardly projecting operating arm  25  on the valve flap  18 . As for the rest, this embodiment functions in the same way as the embodiments according to FIGS. 1-6. 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a further embodiment, in which two operating handles  40  must be operated synchronously to achieve the intended discharge. In this case, the outer ends of an operating yoke  39  are directly and pivotally connected to the operating handles  40 , which are operatively actuated outwards by means of compression springs  41 . The yoke has a projection  42 , which in correct pressing of the handles (i.e. approximately synchronous) will press against the downwardly projecting operating arm  43 . This has an abutment surface  44  which extends outwards from the operating arm and is designed in such manner that the underside of the projection  42  of the yoke permanently engages the abutment surface  44  independently of the pivoting position of the yoke and independently of the pivoting position of the valve flap. In FIGS. 8 and 9, the resting positions of the valve and the yoke are indicated by full lines, whereas they are indicated by dash-dot lines in the open position of the valve. FIG. 9 shows the relative positions of the yoke  39  and the valve  18  also when the yoke is inclined (position  39 ′), such that its projection  42 ′ will not hit the operating arm  43  during the inwards movement. In this case, there is, however, still contact between the underside of the projection  42  and the abutment surface  44 . 
     FIG. 10 shows an embodiment which permits continuous discharge of the bulk goods through the discharge chute, but which still has the safety devices described above, i.e. the sensor device for the collecting receptacle (bag or some other receptacle) and two-handed operation. In this case, the yoke  45  is directed forwards so as to be actuated by the end surfaces of backwards projecting operating rods  46  on the handles  47   a ,  47   b . The legs of the yoke have surfaces  48  of such a lateral extent that an inclination of the yoke causes cancellation of the engagement between the operating rod  46  and the corresponding surface  48  which have been pushed in the shortest distance if the pressing-in does not occur synchronously. The sensor means for correct placing of the packing have in this case the form of a bracket  59 , which is pivotally mounted at the lower end of the discharge chute  14  and which at its free end engages behind the yoke  45 . In contrast to the embodiments described above, the valve flap  49  does not have the arcuate flange  20 , which in the embodiments described above serves as a closing valve for interrupting the flow of goods from the container to the discharge pocket. This is the reason why in this embodiment it is possible to provide a constant and controlled flow (the size of the flow is determined by the extent at which the valve  49  is pivoted). 
     For the return of valve to its starting position or closing position, use is made of a counterweight  50 , which is rigidly connected to the valve and is positioned on the opposite side of the pivot axis  51  of the valve. The presence of a counterweight also yields resistance to the pressing of the handles, which may be advantageous from the point of view of operation. The return of the handles  47   a ,  47   b  to the starting position is also in this case effected by means of compression springs  60 . 
     The operating mechanisms which are shown in the other embodiments can, of course, also be used in embodiments which like the one according to FIG. 10 permit continuous and controlled discharge of the bulk goods. 
     In the embodiments described above, use is made of an inclinable yoke to ensure that the discharge of goods occurs merely if the two operating handles are actuated and such actuation occurs essentially synchronously. In the embodiment according to FIG. 11, use is made of a different type of mechanism to achieve the same function. In this case, the inner ends of the operating rods  52  of the two handles are formed with inclined surfaces  53 . These surfaces act upon a movable slide rod  54  which is mounted in a through hole  55  in the operating arm  56  of the valve flap and which is operatively actuated towards a neutral position (full lines) by means of compression springs  57 . If one operating rod  52 , for instance, the rod  52   b , is pushed in before the other rod  52   a , the engagement between the inclined surface  53  of this rod and the corresponding end of the slide rod  54  will cause a movement of the slide rod away from the rod  52   b . As a result, the slide rod will engage an inwardly projecting stop abutment  58  on the inside of the casing  10 . Consequently, the valve flap is prevented from pivoting to an open position. FIG. 11 also shows stop abutments  59  for limitating the extent at which the two handles can be pushed in. 
     In the embodiments shown, the discharge chute has been formed as an upwardly open chute. Within the scope of the invention, it is also possible to use tubular discharge chutes. 
     In the embodiment according to FIGS. 10 and 11, use is made of the counterweight  20  to promote the return of the valve flap  18  to its starting position or closed position. Such a counterweight can be used also in the other embodiments shown and disclosed. Alternatively, the counterweight can be replaced by a suitable return spring, which presses the valve flap in the closing direction and whose spring force therefore must be overcome when pressing the operating handle or handles.