公开(公告)号：EP4218498A1

公开(公告)日：2023-08-02

申请号：EP23162447.9

申请日：2020-03-26

申请人： Waddington North America, Inc.

发明人： MITHAL, Ashish K ,  GALLOP, William A

IPC分类号： A47F1/10

摘要： An escapement mechanism (150) of a cutlery dispenser causes a cutlery article to fall from a vertical stack onto a slide track (170) that guides it to a dispensing position. A slide channel and head channel of the slide track can laterally confine the cutlery article. A dampening surface can reduce cutlery bouncing and skewing. The escapement mechanism includes at least three pivots and/or a coil return spring. Dispensers can be installed in a base in any desired combination and retained therein by compatible features such as flanges and slots that prevent dispenser tipping. In embodiments, individual dispensers can be horizontally slid part-way out of the base to access side features that would otherwise be obscured by a neighboring dispenser. A cutlery quantity indicator can laterally contact the cutlery stack and can pivot to display a low-cutlery signal when the cutlery stack falls below an indicator height.

公开(公告)号：EP4218499A1

公开(公告)日：2023-08-02

申请号：EP23162456.0

申请日：2020-03-26

申请人： Waddington North America, Inc.

发明人： MITHAL, Ashish K. ,  GALLOP, William A

IPC分类号： A47F1/10

摘要： An escapement mechanism of a cutlery dispenser causes a cutlery article to fall from a vertical stack onto a slide track that guides it to a dispensing position. A slide channel and head channel of the slide track can laterally confine the cutlery article. A dampening surface can reduce cutlery bouncing and skewing. The escapement mechanism can include at least three pivots and/or a coil return spring. Dispensers can be installed in a base in any desired combination and retained therein by compatible features such as flanges and slots that prevent dispenser tipping. In embodiments, individual dispensers can be horizontally slid part-way out of the base to access side features that would otherwise be obscured by a neighboring dispenser. A cutlery quantity indicator can laterally contact the cutlery stack and can pivot to display a low-cutlery signal when the cutlery stack falls below an indicator height.