Cup dispensing apparatus

Claim 2

Cup dispensing apparatus comprising: a base; means including a cup dispensing mechanism on said base presenting a station from which cups are to be released, said mechanism being operable when actuated for separating and releasing the lowermost cup from a column of nested cups disposed at said station; a cup supply turret assembly for carrying a plurality of columns of nested cups; means rotatably mounting said assembly on said base for selective positioning of said assembly to dispose any of said columns of cups at said station; cyclic actuating means operably coupled with said mechanism for actuating the latter; and combination cup supply sensing and turret assembly indexing means including a shiftable device, said device being operably coupled with said actuating means for reciprocation of said device between a standby position and a displaced position during each cycle of operation of said actuating means, portions of said device being movable laterally with respect to its path of reciprocation and toward and away from said turret assembly and said releasing station, one of said portions of said device being engageable with a column of cups at said station to hold another portion of said device out of indexing engagement with said turret assembly during movement of said device from its standby position to its displaced position when an undepleted column of cups is present at said station, said another portion being operably engageable with said turret assembly for indexing the latter during movement of said device from its displaced position to its standby position when any column of cups at said station is depleted to at least a predetermined extent, said one portion of the device comprising a sensing component having an outer edge for slidably contacting cups during reciprocation of the device.

Claim 3

Cup dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said assembly includes a ratchet wheel, said another portion of the device comprising a pawl for said wheel adjacent said component.

Claim 4

Cup dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said wheel has a series of ratchet teeth about the outer periphery thereof, said path of reciprocable travel of the device being disposed outside said periphery of the wheel.

Claim 5

Cup dispensing aPparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said sensing component projects away from said pawl at substantially a right angle thereto for disposition of said component beneath said wheel while the pawl remains outside said periphery of the wheel.

Claim 6

Cup dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base is provided with an opening through which cups at said mechanism are dispensed, said mounting means for said assembly including a spindle removably mounted on said base at any selected one of a number of locations relative to said opening for accommodating different assemblies of various diameters and cup capacities.

Claim 7

Cup dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein is provided an elongated, releasable fastener for securing the spindle to said base and a plurality of predeterminedly located holes in the base for selectively receiving said fastener.

Claim 8

Cup dispensing apparatus comprising: a base; means including a cup dispensing mechanism on said base presenting a station from which cups are to be released, said mechanism being operable when actuated for separating and releasing the lowermost cup from a column of nested cups disposed at said station; a cup supply turret assembly for carrying a plurality of columns of nested cups, said assembly including a ratchet wheel; means rotatably mounting said assembly on said base for selective positioning of said assembly to dispose any of said columns of cups at said station; cyclic actuating means operably coupled with said mechanism for actuating the latter; and a single, unitary, shiftable, combination cup supply sensing and turret assembly indexing device, said device being operably coupled with said actuating means for reciprocation of said device between a standby position and a displaced position during each cycle of operation of said actuating means, portions of said device being movable laterally with respect to its path of reciprocation and toward and away from said turret assembly and said releasing station, one of said portions of said device being engageable with a column of cups at said station to hold another portion of said device out of indexing engagement with said turret during movement of said device from its standby position to its displaced position when an undepleted column of cups is present at said station, said one portion of the device comprising a sensing component having an outer edge for slidably contacting cups during reciprocation of the device, said another portion being operably engageable with said turret assembly for indexing the latter during movement of said device from its displaced position to its standby position when any column of cups at said station is depleted to at least a predetermined extent, said another portion comprising a pawl for ratcheting said wheel.

Claim 9

Cup dispensing apparatus comprising: a base; means including a cup dispensing mechanism on said base presenting a station from which cups are to be released, said mechanism being operable when actuated for separating and releasing the lowermost cup from a column of nested cups disposed at said station; a cup supply turret assembly for carrying a plurality of columns of nested cups, said assembly including a ratchet wheel; means rotatably mounting said assembly on said base for selective positioning of said assembly to dispose any of said columns of cups at said station; cyclic actuating means operably coupled with said mechanism for actuating the latter; and a single, unitary, shiftable, combination cup supply sensing and turret assembly indexing device, said device being operably coupled with said actuating means for reciprocation of said device between a standby position and a displaced position during each cycle of operation of said actuating means, portions of said device being movable laterally with respect to its path of reciprocation and toward and away from said turret assembly and said releasing station, one of said portions of said device being engageable with a column of cups at said station to hold another portion of said device out of indexing engagement with said turret during movement of said device from its standby position to its displaced position when an undepleted column of cups is present at said station, said one portion of the device comprising a sensing component having an outer edge for slidably contacting cups during reciprocation of the device, said another portion being operably engageable with said turret assembly for indexing the latter during movement of said device from its displaced position to its standby position when any column of cups at said station is depleted to at least a predetermined extent, said another portion comprising a pawl for ratcheting said wheel.

Claim 10

Cup dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said wheel has a series of ratchet teeth about the outer periphery thereof, said path of reciprocable travel of the device being disposed outside said periphery of the wheel.

Claim 11

Cup dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said sensing component projects away from said pawl at substantially a right angle thereto for disposition of said component beneath said wheel while the pawl remains outside said periphery of the wheel.