DISPENSER FOR FLAT FLEXIBLE ITEMS

Abstract

Provided is a dispenser for dispensing flat flexible items such as individually wrapped condoms or tea bags, and sachets of liquid soap or soup powder. The dispenser has a dispensing slot and a finger slot located on the top surface of the dispenser. A ramp is located in the interior of the dispenser having a top edge coinciding with the top edge of the forward surface and having a second edge attached to the bottom planar surface.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to packaging and dispensers, and more specifically to such packaging and dispensers for flat flexible items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A folded and wrapped condom is a flat and flexible item. Dispensers for condoms are used to store one or more condoms and to dispense the condoms individually, as required. U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,488 to Farrugia discloses a condom dispenser having a container dimensioned to receive a stack of folded and wrapped condoms. An opening is present on the surface of the container to allow a user to obtain an individual condom from the container through the opening. The opening is shaped and positioned so that obtaining a condom involves sliding the condom in the plane of the folded wrapped condom through the opening.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,874 to Elkner discloses a dispensing package for flat rectangular articles such as razor blades. The dispensing package comprises a rectangular box. A discharge slot is located in an end panel adjacent to the top panel. A sloping ramp extends from the end panel into the tube. The top panel is provided with a finger slot to permit frictional finger engagement with the uppermost article in a stack of such articles inside the dispensing package to slide the uppermost article along the sloping ramp and out through the slot.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,108 to Wizelman discloses a dispensing package having a layer of plastic material sealed onto a flat sheet. The plastic material has a sloping wall and a slot aligned with the sloping wall. Articles to be dispensed are contained between the layer of plastic material and the flat sheet. An article to be dispensed is cammed against the sloping wall by a finger of a user and dispensed through the slot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a dispenser for dispensing flat flexible items such as individually wrapped condoms or tea bags, and sachets of liquid soap or soup powder. The dispenser has an interior chamber dimensioned to receive one or more flat flexible items. A surface of the dispenser has an elongated dispensing slot and an elongated finger slot perpendicular to the dispensing slot. A ramp located in the interior chamber is configured to deflect a leading edge of a flat and flexible item located in the interior chamber and parallel to the surface with the dispensing and finger slots, towards the dispensing slot when the flat and flexible item is moved in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the finger slot.

The invention thus provides a dispenser for dispensing flat flexible items, comprising:

• • (a) a planar top surface having a forward edge, a rear edge, a first lateral edge, and a second lateral edge,
  • (b) a planar bottom surface having a forward edge, a rear edge, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge;
  • (c) a first lateral surface having top edge coinciding with the first lateral edge of the top surface and a bottom edge coinciding with the first lateral edge of the bottom surface;
  • (d) a second lateral surface having top edge coinciding with the second lateral edge of the top surface and a bottom edge coinciding with the second lateral edge of the bottom surface;
  • (e) a forward surface having a top edge and having a bottom edge coinciding with the forward edge of the bottom surface.
  • (f) a rear surface having a top edge coinciding with the rear edge of the top surface and having a bottom edge coinciding with the rear edge of the bottom surface.
  • (g) a dispensing slot located in the top surface adjacent to the forward end of the top surface and extending from the first lateral edge of the top surface to the second lateral edge of the top surface;
  • (h) a finger slot located in the upper surface and separated from the dispensing slot;
  • (i) a ramp located in the interior chamber having a top edge coinciding with the top edge of the forward surface and having a second edge attached to the bottom planar surface, the bottom edge of the ramp being spaced apart from the bottom edge of the forward surface and space apart from the bottom edge of the rear surface.

In the dispenser of the invention, the ramp may contact the second planar surface at a dihedral angle of about 45°. The rear surface of the dispenser may be hinged to the bottom surface or the top surface. The upper surface may be reinforced between the dispensing slot and the finger slot. The dispenser may be prepared from a precut blank cut from a pliable sheet material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a dispenser for flat flexible items in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the dispenser of FIG. 1 in an open configuration for loading flat flexible items inside the dispenser;

FIG. 3 shows dispensing of a flat flexible item from the dispenser of FIG. 1 and;

FIG. 4 shows a blank cut from a pliable sheet material that can be folded to form the dispenser of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a dispenser 1 for dispensing flat flexible items such as individually wrapped condoms or tea bags, and sachets of liquid soap or soup powder, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The dispenser 1 has a first planar surface 2 (referred to herein as “the top surface”), and a second planar surface 3 (referred to herein as “the bottom surface”). The top and bottom surfaces 2 and 3 are parallel to each other and are separated from each other by a first lateral surface 5 (referred to herein as “the front surface”), a second lateral surface 7 (referred to herein as “the back surface”) and two additional surfaces 4 and 6 (referred to herein as “the end surfaces”). The terms “top surface”, “bottom surface”, “front surface” and “back surface” are used herein for clarity of the description, and do not imply that the dispenser 1 is held in any particular orientation when used. The planar surfaces 2 to 7 enclose an interior chamber 8. The interior chamber 8 is dimensioned to receive one or more flat flexible items to be dispensed by the dispenser 1, as explained below.

The top surface 2 is provided with a dispensing slot 9 through which an item stored in the interior chamber 8 leaves the interior chamber 8 when being dispensed, as described below. The dispensing slot 9 is located in the upper surface 2 adjacent to the lateral side 6. The dispensing slot 9 extends from the lateral surface 7 to the lateral surface 5 and has a width indicated by the arrow 10 that is slightly larger than the thickness of the item to be stored in the interior chamber and dispensed through the dispensing slot 9. The length of the dispensing slot thus extends from the lateral surface 5 to the lateral surface 7.

The top surface is also provided with a finger slot 11. The finger slot 11 is an elongated opening having longitudinal axis indicated by the arrow 12 that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the dispensing slot 9 indicated by the arrow 13. The finger slot 11 extends almost the entire length from the dispensing slot 9 to the lateral side 4. The finger slot 11 has a width (measured in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 12) to allow a user to insert a finger through the finger slot 12 when dispensing an item through the dispensing slot 9, as described below.

The dispenser 1 is also provided with a ramp 13. The ramp 13 is located inside the interior chamber 8 and extends between the front and back surfaces 5 and 7 and is perpendicular to the front and back surfaces 5 and 7. The ramp 13 contacts the bottom surface 3 at a dihedral angle α. In a presently preferred embodiment, the ramp 13 contacts the bottom surface 3 at a dihedral angle of about 45°. The ramp 13 has an edge 14 in common with an edge of the end surface 6. The edge 14 is also an edge of the dispensing slot 9.

The end surface 4 is hinged to the bottom surface 3 and is not permanently attached to the front and back surfaces 5 and 7 or to the top surface 2. This allows the lateral side 4 to be opened, as shown in FIG. 2a, so as to allow one or more flat flexible items to be inserted into the interior chamber 8. FIG. 2b shows the dispenser after flat flexible items 15 has been placed in the interior chamber 8 and the lateral end 4 has been closed. The items 15 are arranged in a stack wherein each item 15 is parallel to the top and bottom surfaces 2 and 3. A tab 16 attached to the end surface remains closed as shown in FIG. 2b.

FIG. 3 shows dispensing of an item 15 from the dispenser 1. In FIG. 3a an individual wishing to dispense an item 15 from the dispenser 1, inserts a finger 20 through the finger slot 11, at an end of the dispensing slot 11 that is proximal to the end surface 4 and hence distal from the dispensing slot 9. The tip of the individual's finger 20 contacts the uppermost item 15a in the stack of items in the interior chamber 8. The individual then urges with the finger 20 the item 15a to move in the interior chamber towards the ramp 13. When the leading edge 21 of the flat flexible item 15a contacts the ramp 13, the ramp 13 causes the leading edge 21 of the item 15a to deflect towards the dispensing slot 9 due to the flexibility of the item 15a, so as to direct the leading edge 21 towards the dispensing slot 9 as shown in FIG. 3b. As the individual continues to urge the item 15a towards the ramp 13, the item 15a progressively protrudes through the dispensing slot 9, until the individual's finger has reached an end of the finger slot adjacent to the dispensing slot 13, as shown in FIG. 3c. The item 15a can then be grasped by the individual and removed from the dispenser 1.

The dispenser 1 may be prepared by folding a precut blank from a pliable sheet material such as cardboard, metal or plastic. FIG. 4 shows a blank 30 that may be used to form the dispenser 1, in accordance with one embodiment. After cutting the sheet material 30 along the contours of the blank 30, the blank 30 is cut along the line segments AB and CD. The produces a flap 32 that may be folded under the upper surface 2 and glued to the interior side of the upper surface 2 in order to reinforce the upper surface 2 between the finger slot 11 and the dispensing slot 9. The blank 30 is then folded along the fold lines 34, 36, and 38 and a tab 40 is glued to the interior side of the bottom panel 3 so as to stabilize the ramp 13 in the desired orientation. The blank 30 is then folded along the fold lines 42, 44, 46, and 48 and a tab 50 is glued to the interior surface of the lateral panel 7 to close the blank 30 into a tube. After loading the items 15 to be dispensed in the interior 4 of the dispenser 1, tabs 52 and 54 are folded inwards, and the dispenser closed by the cover 4 and the tab 16.

The finger slot 11 may be cut out at any time, either before the blank is folded into the dispenser, or afterwards. In one embodiment, perforations are provided in the upper surface 2 along the contour of the finger slot 11, so that the finger slot 11 may be torn open by a user just prior to first use of the dispenser 1 to dispense an item 15.

Claims

1. A dispenser for dispensing flat flexible items, comprising:

(a) a planar top surface having a forward edge, a rear edge, a first lateral edge, and a second lateral edge;

(b) a planar bottom surface having a forward edge, a rear edge, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge;

(c) a first lateral surface having top edge coinciding with the first lateral edge of the top surface and a bottom edge coinciding with the first lateral edge of the bottom surface;

(d) a second lateral surface having top edge coinciding with the second lateral edge of the top surface and a bottom edge coinciding with the second lateral edge of the bottom surface;

(e) a forward surface having a top edge and having a bottom edge coinciding with the forward edge of the bottom surface;

(f) a rear surface having a top edge coinciding with the rear edge of the top surface and having a bottom edge coinciding with the rear edge of the bottom surface;

(g) a dispensing slot located in the top surface adjacent to the forward end of the top surface and extending from the first lateral edge of the top surface to the second lateral edge of the top surface;

(h) a finger slot located in the upper surface and separated from the dispensing slot; and

(i) a ramp located in the interior chamber having a top edge coinciding with the top edge of the forward surface and having a second edge attached to the bottom planar surface, the bottom edge of the ramp being spaced apart from the bottom edge of the forward surface and spaced apart from the bottom edge of the rear surface.

2. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the ramp contacts the second planar surface at a dihedral angle of about 45°.

3. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the rear surface is hinged to the bottom surface or the top surface.

4. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface is reinforced between the dispensing slot and the finger slot.

5. The dispenser according to claim 1, prepared from a precut blank cut from a pliable sheet material.