Patent Publication Number: US-2022227568-A1

Title: Glove Dispenser Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to dispenser devices and more particularly pertains to a new dispenser device for automatically dispensing a sanitary glove. The dispenser device includes a plurality of motion sensors and the dispenser device dispenses one single glove at a time. Additionally, the dispenser device stores a variety of sizes of sanitary gloves and the dispenser device can dispense a selected size of sanitary gloves. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to dispenser devices including a plurality of storage devices for storing sanitary gloves in a manner that facilitates a single sanitary glove to be removed. The prior art discloses a variety of dispensing units that include a roller around which a plurality of sanitary gloves are wrapped and which can dispense the sanitary gloves from the roller. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that is mounted to a vertical support surface and the housing has a discharge chute integrated therein. The housing has a plurality of compartments therein to contain a respective box of sanitary gloves. A plurality of dispensing units is included and each of the dispensing units is positioned within the housing. Each of the dispensing units is positioned beneath a respective one of the compartments to engage a glove in the box of sanitary gloves that is positioned in the respective compartment. A plurality of motion sensors is each coupled to the housing wherein each of the motion sensors is configured to sense motion proximate the housing and a respective dispensing unit is turned on when the motion sensor associated with the respective dispensing unit senses motion. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a glove dispenser assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a back phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a right side phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new dispenser device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the glove dispenser assembly  10  generally comprises a housing  12  that is mounted to a vertical support surface  14 , such as a wall or the like. In this way the housing  12  is accessible to a user having the housing  12  being positioned at approximately eye level for the user. The wall may be an interior wall of clinic, hospital, or other setting that commonly employs sanitary practices to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases. The housing  12  has a discharge chute  16  that is integrated therein and the housing  12  has a plurality of compartments  18  therein. Each of the compartments  18  contains a respective box of sanitary gloves  20  that each has a unique glove size with respect to each other. Additionally, the discharge chute  16  is in communication with each of the compartments  18 . 
     The housing  12  has a front wall  22  and a back wall  24 , and the discharge chute  16  extends through the front wall  22  into an interior of the housing  12 . Moreover, the discharge  16  chute extends across a full width of the front wall  22 . The front wall  22  has an access opening  26  extending into the interior of the housing  12  and the access opening  26  extends across a full width of the front wall  22 . The housing  12  has a plurality of dividers  28  therein to define the plurality of compartments  18  within the housing  12 . The dividers  28  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed along the front wall  22  such that each of the compartments  18  is accessible through the access opening  26 . 
     A plurality of doors  30  is provided and each of the doors  30  is hingedly coupled to the housing  12 . Each of the doors  30  is aligned with a respective one of the compartments  18  and each of the doors  30  covers the respective compartment  18  when the doors  30  are closed. Each of the doors  30  exposes the respective compartment  18  when the doors  30  are opened, and the doors  30  are independently closable or openable. Each of the doors  30  has a lower edge  32 , an upper edge  34  and a front surface  36 . The lower edge  32  of each of the doors  30  is hingedly coupled to a lower bounding edge  38  of the access opening  26 . The front surface  36  of each of the doors  30  has indicia  40  printed thereon, and the indicia  40  on respective ones of the doors  30  comprises the words “small”, “medium” and “large”. 
     A plurality of locks  42  is provided and each of the locks  42  is coupled to a respective one of the doors  30 . Each of the locks  42  is positioned adjacent to the upper edge  34  of the respective door. Additionally, each of the locks  42  engages the front wall  22  of the housing  12  when said locks  42  are in a locked position and the respective door is closed. In this way the doors  30  are locked closed and can only be opened by an authorized person. Each of the locks  42  may comprise a keyed lock, a combination lock or other type of mechanical lock. 
     A plurality of dispensing units  44  is provided and each of the dispensing units  44  is positioned within the housing  12 . Each of the dispensing units  44  is positioned beneath a respective one of the compartments  18 . In this way each of the dispensing units  44  can engage a glove  45  in the box of sanitary gloves  20  that is positioned in the respective compartment  18 . Each of the dispensing units  44  completes one dispensing cycle each time the dispensing units  44  is turned on to dispense one glove  45  at a time. 
     Each of the dispensing units  44  comprises a control circuit  46  that is integrated into the housing  12 , and the control circuit  46  receives a dispense input. Each of the dispensing units  44  includes a wheel  48  has an outer surface  50 . The wheel  48  is rotatably positioned within the housing  12  and the wheel  48  has a rotational axis that is oriented parallel to the front wall  22  of the housing  12 . The wheel  48  is positioned at a junction between the discharge chute  16  and a respective one of the compartments  18 . In this way the outer surface  50  of the wheel  48  can frictionally engage a glove  45  in the box of sanitary gloves  20  that is positioned in the respective compartment  18 . Moreover, the outer surface  50  of the wheel  48  is comprised of a friction enhancing material, including but not being limited to, rubber or silicone, thereby facilitating the outer surface  50  to enhance frictionally engaging the glove  45 . 
     Each of the dispensing units  44  includes a motor  54  that is positioned within the housing  12 . The motor  54  is electrically coupled to the control circuit  46  and the motor  54  is rotatably coupled to the wheel  48 . The motor  54  rotates in a first direction for a predetermined number of rotations when the motor  54  is turned on such that the wheel  48  is rotated a predetermined number of rotations when the motor  54  is turned on. In this way the wheel  48  urges a single glove from the box of sanitary gloves  20  each time the motor  54  is turned on thereby facilitating the single glove to fall downwardly into the discharge chute  16  for retrieval. Additionally, the motor  54  is turned on when the control circuit  46  receives the dispense input. The motor  54  may comprise an electric motor or the like. Each of the dispensing units  44  includes a power supply  56  that is positioned in the housing  12 . The power supply  56  is electrically coupled to the control circuit  46  and the power supply  56  comprises at least one battery. 
     A plurality of motions sensors  58  is provided and each of the motions sensors  58  is coupled to the housing  12  to sense motion proximate the housing  12 . Each of the motions sensors  58  is in communication with a respective one of the dispensing units  44 . Moreover, the respective dispensing unit  44  is turned on when the motion sensor  58  associated with the respective dispensing unit  44  senses motion. In this way the dispensing units  44  can dispense a glove  45  of a selected size when a user waves their hand in front of the motion sensor  58  that is associated with the respective dispensing unit  44 . Each of the motions sensors  58  is electrically coupled to the control circuit  46  of the respective dispensing unit  44 . The control circuit  46  in the respective dispensing unit  44  receives the dispense input when the motion sensor  58  associated with the respective dispensing unit  44  senses motion. Each of the motions sensors  58  may comprise an electronic motion sensor or the like, including but not being limited to, an infra-red motion sensor. Each of the motion sensors  58  is positioned on the front wall  22  of the housing  12  between the plurality of doors  30  and the discharge chute  16 . 
     In an alternative embodiment  60  as is most clearly shown in  FIG. 5 , a plurality of housings  12  is provided and each of the housings  12  has a discharge chute  16  integrated therein. Additionally, each of the housings  12  contains a respective box of sanitary gloves  20 . Each of the dispensing units  44  is positioned in a respective one of the housings  12  to dispense a glove  45  of a respective size from the housing  12 . In this way the user can approach the housing  12  in which their desired size of box of sanitary gloves  20  is contained. 
     In use, the user approaches the housing  12  and the user waves their hand in front of the motion sensor that is associated with the size of glove the user wishes to dispense. Thus, the dispenser unit associated with the motions sensor  58  that senses motion is turned on to dispense a single glove  45 . In this way the glove  45  can be dispensed in a touch-less manner, thereby reducing transmission of infectious diseases between users. The glove  45  is dropped downwardly into the discharge chute  16  for retrieval. The user can wave their hand in front of the chosen motion sensor as many times as needed to dispense as many gloves  45  as is desired. A respective door  30  is opened to facilitate the box of gloves  20  in a respective compartment  18  to be replaced when the box of gloves  20  is depleted. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.