Apparatus for dispensing nested containers

Claim 1

IN A DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR A STACK OF NESTED CONTAINERS PROVIDED WITH RIMS THE COMBINATION OF A BASE ELEMENT CONTAINING AN OPENING OF A SIZE TO ALLOW PASSAGE OF THE CONTAINERS THERETHROUGH AND A PLURALITGY OF SYNCHRONICALLY DRIVEN CONTAINER SEPARATING SAID DISPENSING MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING THE STACK OF CONTAINERS AND FOR SEPARATING THE LOWERMOST CONTAINER FROM THE STACK OF CONTAINERS, SAID MECHANISM BEING DISPOSED ALONG THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE OPENING IN ANGULARLY SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER, EACH MECHANISM COMPRISING A SHAFT ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID BASE ELEMENT, AN UPPER SHANK MEMBER AND A LOWER SHANK MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, RELEASABLE SECURING MEANS FOR ADJUSTABLY MOUNTING ONE OF SAID SHANK MEMBERS IN ANY ONE OF A GIVEN NUMBER OF FIXED POSITIONS ON SAID SHAFT RELATIVE TO THE OTHER OF SAID SHANK MEMBERS, AN ANNULAR FLANGE SEGMENT MOUNTED ON SAID UPPER SHANK AND A HELICAL RIB SEGMENT MOUNTED ON SAID LOWSER SHANK, A GIVEN PORTION OF SAID FLANGE SEGMENT ALWAYS BEING DISPOSED IN A SPACED AND INCLINED PLANE RELATIVE TO A GIVEN PORTION OF SAID RIB SEGMENT, WHEREBY THE VERTICAL DISTANCE BETWEEN THE LEADING EDGE OF THE FLANGE SEGMENT AND THE PORTION OF THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE RIB SEGMENT LOCATED DIRECTLY BELOW SAID LEADING EDGE CAN BE VARIED UPON THE RELEASE OF SAID SHANK ONE MEMBER SECURING MEANS AND A PRESELECTED ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT OF SAID ONE OF THE SHANK MEMBERS WITH RESPECT TO THE OTHER SHANK MEMBER SO THAT THE MECHANISMS CAN ACCOMMODATE CONTAINER RIMS OF DIFFERENT THICKNESSES.