Patent ID: 8038032

Claim:
A topping dispenser comprising: a base; a housing supported by the base, the housing including a product compartment for receiving a pastry bag and drive compartment adjacent the product compartment, wherein the product compartment includes a bottom wall spaced from the base, the bottom wall having an opening therethrough; a clamping member operable to clamp an upper portion of the pastry bag to suspend the pastry bag within the product compartment such that a lower dispensing tip of the pastry bag is insertable through the opening in the bottom wall of the product compartment; a roller disposed within the product compartment for rotation about an axis, the roller being arranged for squeezing engagement with the pastry bag; a drive mechanism located within the drive compartment, the drive mechanism being connected to the roller; and an operating lever pivotally mounted on the housing and connected to the drive mechanism, wherein the drive mechanism is responsive to actuation of the operating lever in a first pivot direction to displace the roller in a downward direction to discharge contents from the pastry bag through the dispensing tip, and the operating lever pivoting in a second pivot direction opposite the first pivot direction without causing the drive mechanism to displace the roller; wherein the drive mechanism displaces the roller in the downward direction by a distance proportional to an angular displacement of the operating lever in the first pivot direction; wherein the drive mechanism includes: a push bar mounted on the operating lever at a location spaced from a pivot axis of the operating lever; a vertically extending drive rod constrained for vertically directed displacement; a linkage pivotally coupled to the push bar and to the drive rod, the drive rod being displaced in a downward direction as the operating lever is pivoted in the first pivot direction and in an upward direction as the operating lever is pivoted in the second pivot direction, wherein the drive rod is displaced by a distance proportional to the angular displacement of the operating lever in the first or second pivot direction; and a pawl assembly associated with the drive rod for displacement with the drive rod in the downward direction in response to pivoting of the operating lever in the first pivot direction, wherein the pawl assembly is released relative to the drive rod when the drive rod is displaced in the upward direction in response to pivoting of the operating lever in the second pivot direction; wherein the operating lever is pivotally mounted on the housing at a vertical location above the base but below the bottom wall of the product compartment, and the linkage is a two-member linkage having a generally vertical first member extending upward from the push bar and a generally horizontal second member pivotally coupled to an upper end of the first member, the drive rod being pivotally coupled to the second member and the drive rod depending downwardly from the second member.