Dispensing – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-30
2001-08-14
Shaver, Kevin (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
Combined
C222S450000, C222S454000, C053S467000, C206S461000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273299
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a multi-chamber breakfast cereal dispenser for storage and dispensing of breakfast cereal such as Cheerios® brand breakfast cereal.
Various storage and/or dispensing devices have been previously described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,709 to Holley, et al. discloses one embodiment, in
FIGS. 7-9
, of a multi-chamber apparatus having an interior chamber disposed within a bottle 310 and a spherically shaped hollow member 320 having an open neck portion and a lower opening 325 disposed opposite the open neck portion. The bottle 310 has an opening 315, and the orientation of the spherical member 320 may be changed between a first position in which the opening 325 in the spherical member 320 is aligned with the bottle opening 315 and a second position in which a wall portion of the spherical member 320 blocks the bottle opening 315.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,241 to Huang discloses a container having a cover with a hole formed therein and a valve plate 37 having a hole formed therein. The valve plate 37 is rotatably disposed on top of the cover and has a tab member 44 that may be used to rotate the valve plate 37 relative to the cover. When the valve plate 37 is rotated so that the hole in the valve plate 37 is aligned with the hole in the cover, material may be dispensed from the container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a multi-chamber breakfast cereal dispenser having a container with a main chamber that is sized to be capable of holding a plurality of pieces of breakfast cereal and a dispensing structure coupled to a portion of the container and having a dispensing chamber disposed therein and a dispensing chamber opening.
The dispensing structure may include a cover that is movable between a closed position in which the cover closes the dispensing chamber opening and an open position in which the dispensing chamber opening is not closed by the cover and in which cereal can be dispensed from the dispensing chamber. The dispensing structure may include a first hole, a second hole formed in a rotatable plate, and a tab member coupled to the rotatable plate.
The tab member may extend through an opening formed in the dispensing structure to allow a user to selectively position the rotatable plate between a first position in which at least a portion of the second hole is aligned with the first hole so that breakfast cereal can pass from the main chamber to the dispensing chamber and a second position in which the second hole is not aligned with the first hole and in which a portion of the rotatable plate blocks the first hole so that breakfast cereal cannot pass from the main chamber to the dispensing chamber.
The dispensing structure may also include a first locking structure that causes the rotatable plate to be retained in the first position and a second locking structure that causes the rotatable plate to be retained in the second position. Each of the locking structures may be provided in the form of an indentation formed on the rotatable plate. The dispensing structure may also include a locking structure that causes the cover to be retained in the closed position.
The container may have a neck portion, and the dispensing structure may be threadably coupled to the container at the neck portion. The container may have a top portion, a bottom portion, and an intermediate portion disposed between the top portion and the bottom portion, and the diameter of the intermediate portion may be less than the diameter of the top and bottom portions to facilitate the intermediate portion of the container to be gripped by a person's hand.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a breakfast cereal dispensing product having a product package, a breakfast cereal product attached to the product package, and a breakfast cereal dispenser attached to the product package. The breakfast cereal product may include a cereal box having breakfast cereal disposed therein. The breakfast cereal dispenser may include a container having a main chamber that is sized to hold a plurality of pieces of breakfast cereal and a dispensing structure having a dispensing chamber and a dispensing chamber opening. The dispensing structure may be provided with a movable member that is movable between a closed position in which the movable member closes the dispensing chamber opening and an open position in which the dispensing chamber opening is not closed by the movable member and a passageway that couples the main chamber to the dispensing chamber. The passageway may be sized to allow pieces of breakfast cereal to pass between the main chamber and the dispensing chamber.
The product package may include a backing member, such as a piece of cardboard, and a piece of transparent material attached to the backing member that covers either the breakfast cereal product or the breakfast cereal dispenser, or both. The cereal box may have a height of no greater than about 15 centimeters and a width of no greater than about 10 centimeters.
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: 770485 (1904-09-01), West
patent: 2721005 (1955-10-01), Lesnick
patent: 2985343 (1961-05-01), Mask
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patent: 3685702 (1972-08-01), Erwin
patent: 3692230 (1972-09-01), Kapiloff
patent: 5060814 (1991-10-01), Oglesbee
patent: 5402891 (1995-04-01), Haven et al.
patent: 5588563 (1996-12-01), Liu
patent: 5636740 (1997-06-01), Finkiewicz et al.
patent: 5678709 (1997-10-01), Holley et al.
patent: 5954241 (1999-09-01), Huang
patent: 5971216 (1999-10-01), Robbins, III
patent: 6006952 (1999-12-01), Lucas
patent: 6155422 (2000-12-01), Kaminski
patent: 453695 (1913-06-01), None
Hartlaub Charles
Hernowitz Ira
Menow Steven M.
Marshall O'Toole Gerstein Murray & Borun
Nicolas F.
OddzOn, Inc.
Shaver Kevin
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