Article dispensing – Simulations
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-19
2001-10-09
Noland, Kenneth (Department: 3651)
Article dispensing
Simulations
C221S248000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299015
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a candy dispensing apparatus.
Various dispensing devices have been designed in the past to provide entertaining ways of dispensing pieces of candy or other articles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 790,111 to Crossley discloses a match delivering device having a vertically movable human figure with a pair of outwardly extending arms and an internal storage area for storing matches. Pushing the human figure downwards causes one of the matches in the storage area to be ejected and held on the outwardly extending arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,159,356 to Lambert discloses a cigarette dispenser having a skeleton figure which moves from a laying position to a sitting-up position in which the skeleton figure holds a cigarette in a pair of bony hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,725,965 to Ormiston discloses a mechanism for dispensing globular articles such as gumballs. Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 4
of the patent, the dispensing mechanism has a human
FIG. 35
with an arm that holds a scoop
52
that is shaped to hold a single gumball. The human
FIG. 35
is movable so that the scoop
52
moves to receive a single gumball from a plurality of gumballs stored in an area behind a pivotally mounted door
38
. After a gumball is deposited in the scoop
52
, the human
FIG. 35
is movable to position the scoop
52
with the gumball therein over a dispensing trough
57
operatively connected to a delivery tray
137
. The scoop
52
is then tilted so that the gumball falls in the dispensing trough
57
and then onto the delivery tray
137
, at which point the gumball can be picked up.
One prior art candy dispensing mechanism which was marketed more than one year before the filing of this patent was an M&M® candy dispensing character. That dispensing character had a M&M® candy shaped body, a pair of boots which were attached to a bottom portion of the body, a pair of movable hands and arms that extended outwardly from body, and a cylindrical candy container filled with M&M® candies which mounted onto the body in an inverted position.
In use, after the candy container with the M&M® candies was mounted onto the body in its inverted position, the position of the left hand of the prior art candy dispensing character was manipulated to cause an M&M® candy to be dispensed from the candy container into the right hand of the candy dispensing character. In particular, in response to a user pivoting the left hand, the right hand of the candy dispensing character would be drawn into the body, an M&M® candy would be deposited into the right hand, and then the right hand would move outwardly with the M&M® candy disposed therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is directed to a candy dispensing apparatus having a housing with an opening formed therein, a reservoir disposed in the housing and shaped to hold a plurality of pieces of candy, an animated figure having a hand that is shaped to hold a piece of candy, the animated figure being movable relative to the housing between a first position and a second position, and a dispensing mechanism disposed in the housing and operatively coupled to the animated figure.
The hand of the animated figure is movable from a retracted position in which the hand is positioned within the housing to an extended position in which the hand extends out of the housing through the opening in the housing. The hand moves from the retracted position to the extended position upon the animated figure being moved from its first position to its second position. The dispensing mechanism is designed to cause a piece of candy to be transferred from the reservoir in the housing to the hand of the animated figure so that the piece of candy is supported by the hand when it is in the extended position.
The animated figure may be provided with a body having a round shape resembling a piece of candy, a pair of eyes associated with the body, a mouth associated with the body, a pair of legs that extend from the body, a first arm associated with the body, a second arm associated with the body, and a second hand coupled to the second arm.
The dispensing mechanism may be adapted to cause a piece of candy to be transferred from the reservoir into the hand when the animated figure is moved from its second position to its first position. The dispensing mechanism may be provided with a dispensing hole formed in the housing and a rotatable member operatively coupled to the animated figure and disposed above the dispensing hole. The rotatable member may have a candy-transferring aperture formed therein that is shaped to transfer a piece of candy from the reservoir to a position above the dispensing hole so that the piece of candy falls through the dispensing hole into the hand of the animated figure.
The candy dispensing apparatus may also be provided with a base having a slot formed therein and a retaining member coupled to the animated figure, a portion of the retaining member passing through the slot in the base so as to control movement of the animated figure between its first and second positions.
The opening of the housing of the candy dispensing apparatus may be provided with a door that is movable between an open position and a closed position, and the hand of the animated figure may cause the door to move from its closed position to its open position when the hand moves from a concealed position within the housing to a revealed position outside of the housing.
The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.
REFERENCES:
patent: 790111 (1905-05-01), Crossley
patent: 1354307 (1920-09-01), Joslin
patent: 1725965 (1929-08-01), Ormiston
patent: 1887389 (1932-11-01), Adams
patent: 2117370 (1938-05-01), Sigg
patent: 2159356 (1939-05-01), Lambert
patent: 4958746 (1990-09-01), Wu
patent: 4976376 (1990-12-01), Williams
patent: 5385267 (1995-01-01), Diamond et al.
patent: 5651475 (1997-07-01), Fenton
patent: 5673813 (1997-10-01), Russell
Cap Candy Catalog, pp. 10, 11, 16, 17, prior art.
U.S. Ser. No. 09/330,623 filed Jun. 11, 1999 naming Tom Prichard, Tsiu Ching Man and Ng Kwok Leung as inventors (copy not enclosed).
Taz Candy Hander sketch (prior art).
Wile E. Coyote Candy Hander sketch (prior art).
Blaustein Lawrence A.
Brown Patrick W.
Gall Douglas
Hasan Syed
Marshall Gerstein & Borun
Noland Kenneth
Oddzon Inc.
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