VARIETY KITCHEN PRODUCT DISPENSER

Abstract

A dispenser is provided which can dispense a variety of kitchen products that comes on rolls in the main part of the body, and can dispense bags and other items in compartments the bottom of the dispenser; the dispenser contains a housing, which can be a variety of shapes, made up of housing panels and a front door, the housing of the dispenser contains at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers, and two circular pivot motion disks which the longitudinal springs are attached, the housing can also include a horizontal support bar connected to the circular pivot motion discs, the dispenser also contains two knob spinner disks which are each located outside the housing, the housing can be mounted under a cabinet, or can stand on a flat horizontal surface, or a flat vertical surface, a lower housing contains compartments for additional storage and the bottom lower housing panel has openings therein which can dispense other kitchen products which are plastic bags of varying sizes, this lower housing can have a hinge door that comes down, or a sliding door that slides in slots present in the lower housing.

Claims

1. A variety kitchen product dispenser comprising: a housing made up of left, right, top, bottom and rear housing panels and a front door; at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers each having two opposing ends; two circular pivot motion disks located in the housing each having two opposing surfaces a panel contact side and a roller contact side; and, two knob spinner disks each located outside the housing and having two opposing sides a fastening side and a knob side, and wherein, one circular pivot motion disk is fastened by the panel contact side from within the housing to the fastening side of one knob spinner disk through an opening in the left housing panel of the housing, and the other circular pivot motion disk is fastened by the panel contact side from within the housing to the fastening side of other knob spinner disk though an opening in the right housing panel of the housing one circular pivot motion disk containing grooves in the roller contact side which linearly correspond with grooves in the roller contact side of the other circular pivot motion disk, such linear correspondence being parallel to the top and bottom housing panels; and one end of each of the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers is situated in a separate groove in one roller contact side of one circular pivot motion disk and each opposing end of the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers is situated in a separate linearly corresponding groove in the roller contact side of the other circular pivot motion disk: each of the two knob spinner disks when turned by the knob side in one circumferential direction are capable of rotating the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers in the same circumferential direction within the housing.

2. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 that rotates and holds foil wraps.

3. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 with a front door encased in an outlined front panel wherein the front door is glass which has a handle thereon, the Door can be made out of glass, including see-through plastic or any other material that can be made that is transparent.

4. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 3 where the door is opened by use of a hinge pin, or alternatively, by hinges that can remain open during use of the dispenser, or alternatively, wherein the left and right-side panels can contain a lip on the inside surface thereof towards the top of the left- and right-hand side panels such that the front door can be opened and slid into the housing and supported and stored on the lip for a period of time.

5. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the variety kitchen product dispenser can have at least three or four longitudinal spring compression rollers each having two opposing ends and wherein each of the longitudinal spring compression rollers can be comprised of three components, a main roller, a horizontal roller and a compression spring.

6. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where one of the spring compression rollers may be replaced by a horizontal support rod that extends from one circular pivot motion disk to the circular pivot motion disk on the other side of the housing.

7. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where one of the spring compression rollers may be replaced by a horizontal support rod that extends from one circular pivot motion disk to the circular pivot motion disk on the other side of the housing.

8. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 with the two circular pivot motion disks of a size sufficient to accommodate four rollers each containing a different kitchen product which is selected from the group consisting of plastic wrap, wax paper, sandwich wrap paper, butcher wrap paper, freezer coated kraft paper, patty paper, cheese paper, pan liners, aluminum foil and paper towels.

9. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the circular pivot motion disks roller contact side can have the grooves placed in an orientation on the circular pivot motion disk to provide for equidistant placement of the kitchen products.

10. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where one of the two knob spinner disks and one of the circular pivot motion disks are one combination unit, where two combination units and present in each variety kitchen dispenser

11. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the fastening side of the knob spinner disk having a three-dimensional projecting shape in the shape of an hourglass, and the fastening side projecting shape can have a corresponding inverse projecting shape of the hourglass.

12. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the knob spinner disk attached to the panel contact side of the circular pivot motion disks by at least two screws.

13. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the knob side of the knob spinner disk having a flat lip which is flush with the right or left side panel when connected to the respective circular motion pivot disk, and wherein such flat lip perpendicular to the direction of the projection of the three-dimensional projecting shape of an hourglass.

14. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the lip of the knob side of the knob spinner disk has a hole in the lip which corresponds to one or more holes present outside the circumference of the hole used to affix the panel side of the circular motion pivot disk to the fastening side of the knob spinner disk, and smaller then such fastening hold, and which holes can accommodate a locking pin which passes from outside the housing through the lip and into a locking hole of the circular pivot motion disk and which can lock the rollers in place when dispensing the kitchen product to prevent movement of the rollers.

15. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where when each of the two knob spinner disks are individually turned by a user on the knob side in one circumferential direction such turning is capable of rotating the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers in the same circumferential clockwise or counterclockwise direction within the housing.

16. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the two knob spinner disks present in a circumference which is smaller than the circumference of each of the two circular pivot motion disks.

17. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 with a bottom lower housing beneath the other housing. The lower housing is comprised of left and right-side doors and front, back, and bottom lower housing panels, as well as dividing panels, which panels enclose a series of lower four housing spaces for containing additional kitchen products in the housing spaces.

18. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where the bottom lower housing panel has openings therein which can dispense other kitchen products which are plastic bags of varying sizes, this lower housing can have a hinge door that comes down, or a sliding door that slides in slots present in the lower housing.

19. The variety kitchen dispenser of claim 1 where the lower housing has dispensing apertures which can be used to dispense plastic bags e.g., snack bags, sandwich bags, quart bags, gallon sized bags, and the like, the bags can be inserted into the spaces formed in the lower housing by the dividing panels.

20. The variety kitchen dispenser of claim 18 where the lower housing may be detached from the housing.

21. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where a cutting blade is behind the door.

22. The variety kitchen product dispenser of claim 1 where brackets on the top panel for affixing the dispenser to the underneath of a cabinet, or have pads on the bottom to rest on a cabinet, or have holes in the back panel to attach to a vertical wall by any screw or anchor bolt screw designed to support the dispenser.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the invention, where like designations denote like elements, and in which:

[0032] FIG. 1 presents a perspective view of a variety kitchen product dispenser in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] FIG. 2 presents a bottom view of a variety kitchen product dispenser in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 3 presents a front view of a variety kitchen product dispenser in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] FIG. 4 presents a side view of a variety kitchen product dispenser in accordance with yet even another embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 5 presents an exploded view of a variety kitchen product dispenser in accordance with yet even another further embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 6 presents a perspective view of a variety kitchen product dispenser with the front door and the side doors open in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] FIG. 7 presents a perspective view of a variety kitchen product dispenser with the front door and the side doors open and a kitchen product being dispensed therefrom in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and,

[0039] FIG. 8 presents a perspective view of a variety kitchen product dispenser with a kitchen product being dispensed from the lower housing in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] FIG. 9 presents the invention with three longitudinal spring compression rollers, and a support bar in the middle, rather than four longitudinal spring compression rollers.

[0041] FIG. 10 presents an internal view of the longitudinal spring compression rollers.

[0042] FIG. 11 shows the inside of the frame of the housing without the internal components. Note, the housing can be mostly rectangular, as in this drawing but it can also be rounded into other various shapes also, as the shape of the housing doesn't matter as to the function of the device.

[0043] FIG. 12 presents a view of a different embodiment for the opening to the storage area for bags on the bottom of the device, replacing the swinging door with a sliding door.

[0044] Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 5, unless expressed otherwise. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also to be understood that the specific devices illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

[0046] The term “disk” as used herein is understood to have a round shape, and thus, the surfaces of any disks described herein will be described at times by their diameter or circumference.

[0047] Shown throughout the figures, the present invention is directed toward a variety kitchen product dispenser.

[0048] Referring initially to FIGS. 1-8, a variety kitchen product dispenser 100, hereinafter dispenser 100, is illustrated in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the dispenser 100 comprises a housing 102 which is made up of left 104, right 106, top 108, bottom 110 and rear 112 housing panels and a front door 114. The housing panels 104, 106, 108, 110 and can each be made of wood, metal or plastic, and optionally can be attached to each other in any conventional manner, such as welding, gluing, soldering, injection molding, and fasteners, such as the non-limiting examples of nails, screws, bolts, locking joints and the like. The front door 114 can be made of glass, plastic or any transparent material and can have a handle placed on the surface of the front door which is outside the housing 102.

[0049] The panels 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112 can each have the same or different dimensions, and can form any suitable shape such as a cube or a rectangular box, or a housing with a rounded shape. In one embodiment, the left panel 104 and the right panel 106 can have the same dimensions of from about 7 to 9 inches by 8 to 10 inches. The 108 panel and bottom 110 panel can have the same dimensions as well, such as, from about 7 to 9 inches by 13 to 16 inches. It will be understood that the top panel 108 can also have additional surface area if brackets 144 are employed. The front door 114 can have similar dimensions to the rear panel 112 and can be from about 11 to about 13 inches by 7 to 9 inches. It will be understood that the front door 112 will have a slightly smaller area due to the outlined border 146, which can be from 1 to about 3 inches around the front door equally. The lower housing unit may be an integral part of the housing, or it may be a separate unit which is attached to the housing, or may be separated from the housing.

[0050] The dispenser 100 can contain two circular pivot motion disks 120 in the housing 102. Each of the circular pivot motion disks can have two opposing surfaces, a panel contact side 122 and a roller contact side 124.

[0051] The dispenser 100 can contain two knob spinner disks 126 located outside the housing 102. The two knob spinner disks 126 have two opposing sides, a fastening side 128 and a knob side 130. The expression “outside the housing” with regard to knob spinner disks 126 can be understood to mean that the knob side 130 is completely on the exterior of the housing 102, while the fastening side 128 may be inside, or substantially inside the housing 102.

[0052] It will be understood herein that the presence of the circular pivot disks 120 shown in FIG. 5 as being outside the housing 102 is only shown in this manner for ease for illustration and it will be understood that the circular pivot motion disks 126 are employed inside the housing 102 as shown for one of the circular pivot motion disks 126 in FIG. 1, where a circular pivot motion disk is shown abutting the left housing panel 104 of the dispenser 100. The corresponding situation exists for the circular pivot motion disk 120, which is shown in FIG. 5 as being outside the housing 102, and adjacent to the right housing panel 106, when in actuality such circular pivot motion disk 126 is employed inside the housing and abuts the inside of the right housing panel 106 of the housing 102 (not shown).

[0053] In like manner it will be understood herein that the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 which are shown in FIG. 5 as being outside the housing 102 are only shown in this manner for ease of illustration, and it will be understood that the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 are employed inside the housing 102 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and are sandwiched between the circular pivot motion disks 126, which disks 126 in turn abut the inside surfaces of the left housing panel 104 and the right housing panel 106 of the housing 102.

[0054] Referring still to FIG. 1 and now additionally to FIG. 5, one circular pivot motion disk 120 can be fastened by the panel contact side 122 from within the housing 102 to the fastening side 128 of one knob spinner disk 126 through an opening 132 in the left housing panel 104 of the housing 102, and the other circular pivot motion disk 120 can be fastened by the panel contact side 122 from within the housing 102 to the fastening side 128 of the other knob spinner disk 126 through an opening 132 in the right housing panel 106 of the housing 102. In one embodiment the opening 132 is a round circular opening 132.

[0055] The fastening of the circular pivot motion disks 120 through the hole 132 in the left 104 and right 106 housing panels and into the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disks 126 can be done by the use of any fastening means. In one embodiment such fastening can be accomplished by a screw, bolt, rivet, nail and the like, for example, by inserting such a fastener (not shown) through fastening holes 136 in the roller contact side 124 of each of the circular pivot motion disks 120 from within the housing 120, which fastening holes pass entirely through the circular pivot motion disks 120 to the panel contact side, and then passing the fastener through the respective opening 132 and into receiving holes 138 of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disks 126. The receiving holes 138 can contain threaded portions to accommodate any threading of a threaded fastener, which can preferably be employed.

[0056] In addition, the use of the fastener can comprise the use of one, two, or three washers. For example, the fastener can have a washer placed on the fastener prior to passing the fastener through the fastening holes 136 of the circular pivot motion disk 120 from within the housing 102 in a direction towards the exterior of the housing 102. Thereafter the fastener can pass through the panel contact side 122 of the circular pivot motion disk 120, where a second washer can be placed on the fastener prior to the fastener passing through the opening 132 and into the receiving holes 138 of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126.

[0057] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, in one embodiment, as the fastener is tightened, the circular pivot motion disk 120 can be drawn closer to the knob spinner disk 126 by the action of the fastening, until the two elements are cinched together with the respective side panel 104, 106 sandwiched there between. The diameter of the circular pivot motion disk 120 can be greater than the diameter of either side of the knob spinner disk 126 and the diameter of the openings 134. The dispenser 100 can have the two circular pivot motion disks 120 be of a circumference sufficient to accommodate the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers 116. In one embodiment the diameter of the circular pivot motion 120 disk can be from 4 inches to about 8 inches, preferably about 5 to 7 inches. The dispenser 100 can have the two circular pivot motion disks 120 of a size sufficient to accommodate 4 rollers 116 each containing a different kitchen product 186 which is selected from the group consisting of plastic wrap, wax paper, sandwich wrap paper, butcher wrap paper, freezer coated kraft paper, patty paper, cheese paper, pan liners, aluminum foil and paper towels.

[0058] The diameter of the knob side 130 of the knob spinner disk 126 can be greater than the opening 132 and greater than the diameter of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126. In one other embodiment, the diameter of the knob spinner disk 126 on its knob side 130 can be from about 2 inches to about 5 inches, preferably from about 3 inches to about 4 inches. The fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126 can be from about 2 to about 3 inches, which does not include the length of the flat lip 140 as described herein. The fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126 can have a smaller diameter than the opening 132. The diameter of the opening 132 as described herein can be from about 2.75 inches to about 3.25 inches.

[0059] Thus, the aforementioned cinching can be ended when a flat lip 140 on the knob side 130 of the knob spinner disk 126 makes contact with and becomes flush with the left side 104 or right side 106 panel of the housing 102 as the fastener is tightened. The flat lip 140 can be perpendicular to the direction of a projection of a three-dimensional projecting shape of an hourglass 142 which projects from the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126. In one embodiment the diameter of this projection 142 is the same as the diameter of the fastening side 128 of the knob spinner disk 126 described herein. The knob side projecting shape 156 can have a corresponding inverse projecting shape of the hourglass.

[0060] Referring to FIG. 5, the lip 140 of the knob side 130 of the knob spinner disk 126 can have a hole 158 in the lip 140 which corresponds to one or more side panel 104, 106, holes 160 present on the side panels 104, 106, outside the circumference of the opening 132 used to affix knob spinner disk 126, and which are smaller than the opening 132, and which holes 158, 160 can accommodate a locking pin 162 which passes from outside the housing 102 through the hole 158 in the flat lip 142 and into a locking hole 164 of the circular pivot motion disk 120 and which can lock the rollers 116 in place when dispensing the kitchen product to prevent movement of the rollers 116.

[0061] Referring to FIG. 5, the dispenser 100 can further comprise wherein each of the two circular pivot motion disks 125 contain grooves 134 in the roller contact side 124 which linearly correspond to each other. Such linear correspondence can be understood as an imaginary line being drawn from one groove 134 of circular pivot motion disk across the interior of the housing 102 and to a corresponding groove 134 of the roller contact side of the other circular pivot motion disk 125. Such an imaginary line can be parallel to the top panel 108 and the bottom panel 110 of the housing 102 such that such linearly corresponding grooves 134 can support the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 of the dispenser 100 in a level manner as described herein. The grooves 134 can be apertures, holes, e.g., screw holes or similar types of holes which can be sufficient in depth and opening to accommodate an end 118 of the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116. The circular pivot motion disks 120 roller contact side 124 can have the grooves 134 placed in an orientation on the circular pivot motion disk 120 to provide for equidistant placement of the kitchen products.

[0062] Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 5, one end 118 of each of the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 is situated in its own separate groove 134 in one roller contact side 124 of one circular pivot motion disk 120, shown abutting the left housing panel 104 in FIG. 1, and each opposing end 118 of the at least two longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 is situated in a separate linearly corresponding groove 134 in the roller contact side 124 of the other circular pivot motion disk 120 (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0063] Referring to FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 7, the dispenser 100 can have the door 112 opened by use of a hinge pin 148.

[0064] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the dispenser 100 can have at least three or four longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 each having two opposing ends 118 and wherein each of the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 can be comprised of three components, a main roller 150, a horizontal roller 152 and a compression spring 154. FIG. 10 shows the longitudinal compression spring 116 when assembled, with the compression spring 154 on one end, the main roller 150, and the horizontal roller 152 positioned inside the longitudinal compression spring 116 as assembled. The longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 can each be from about 8 to about 12 inches, preferably from about 9 to about 11 inches. The main roller 150 can be from about 6 to about 10 inches, and the horizontal roller 152 an be from about 2 to about 4 inches, and the compression spring 154 in its uncompressed state can be 2.5 to about 3.5 inches.

[0065] The longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 operate in the same manner as conventional rolled window shades. The main roller 150 houses the compression spring 154 therein, which compression spring 154 is stopped by an internal stop (not shown) and is then inserted in part in the horizontal roller 152, such that the length of the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 can be decreased sufficiently to allow it to pressure fit in the grooves 134 as described herein. Further such longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 can then also be removed from the grooves, when necessary, e.g., when a kitchen product on the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 needs to be replaced. It is understood herein that the kitchen products described herein can be placed on the longitudinal spring compression rollers 116 and used in the dispenser 100 herein.

[0066] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the arrangement of four longitudinal compression springs can be replaced by a support bar 188 in the middle an arrangement of the three compression springs 116. The support arm has an end piece 198 which fits into a hole 190 for the support bar in the modified motion disc 192 which has connection points 194 to the circular pivot motion discs 120. FIG. 10 shows the components of the compression spring, a main roller 150 which is the outside roller of the compression spring, a horizontal roller 152 and a compression spring 154.

[0067] Referring to FIGS. 1-8, the dispenser 100 can have a further lower housing 166 beneath the housing 102. The lower housing 166 can be comprised of left side door 168 and right-side door 170, and front 172, back 174, and bottom 176 lower housing panels, as well as dividing panels 178, which panels enclose a series of lower housing spaces for containing additional kitchen products in sales boxes. In one embodiment the lower housing 166 can have dispensing apertures 180 which can be used to dispense plastic bags 184, e.g., snack bags, sandwich bags, quart bags, gallon sized bags, and the like. The bags 184 can be inserted into the spaces formed in the lower housing 166 by the dividing panels 178 in their containers as purchased form the store, and when emptied the container can be removed from the lower housing 166 and discarded and replaced with a full container of bags 184. The lift up door 170 closes the lower housing when not in use. Further, as seen in FIG. 12, the lower housing 166, can have slots for a sliding door 202 to allow the use of a sliding door 200, replacing the lift up door 170 (see FIG. 5).

[0068] The dispenser 100 can further comprise a cutting blade 182 immediately behind the door 112 and in the center of housing 102 space behind the door 112 which cutting blade 182 is supported by the sides of a front outline panel which surrounds the housing door.

[0069] In yet even one more aspect, the variety kitchen product dispenser can further comprise brackets 144 on the top panel 108 for affixing the dispenser 100 to the underneath of a cabinet (not shown).

[0070] In yet one more aspect, FIG. 11 shows a housing without the components with screw holes 204 in the back panel 112 for attaching the housing to a structure (not shown) behind the housing.

[0071] In yet one more aspect FIG. 12 shows the lower housing with a sliding door 200 going into slots in the lower housing 202.

[0072] Alternative embodiments are contemplated in addition to the embodiments(s) shown and/or described herein. In an alternative embodiment, there is provided a wherein the dispenser is a stand-alone unit with pads on the bottom that does not contain brackets 144

[0073] Since many modifications, variations, and changes in detail can be made to the described preferred embodiments of the invention, it is intended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Furthermore, it is understood that any of the features presented in the embodiments may be integrated into any of the other embodiments unless explicitly stated otherwise. The scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.