Worm-type dispenser for rimmed containers

Claim 1

In an apparatus for dispensing rimmed containers having a generally circular cross section from a stack thereof comprising a plurality of feed cylinders, each of said feed cylinders having a groove in the cylindrical surface thereof extending in a generally spiral form from the top of said cylindrical surface to the bottom of said cylindrical surface, each groove having an inner wall generally parallel to the cylindrical surface of the respective feed cylinder and upper and lower sidewalls, means for positioning said plurality of feed cylinders in a circular array which is coaxial with said stack of containers with the cylindrical axes of said feed cylinders being parallel to the elongated axis of said stack of containers, with each of said plurality of feed cylinders being positioned to simultaneously receive in the groove thereof the rim of a container in said stacK, and means for simultaneously rotating said feed cylinders to dispense a rimmed container from said stack, the improvement comprising at least one of said feed cylinders having a bead extending outwardly along at least a portion of the length of the inner wall of the groove thereof, said bead having a width less than the width of the groove in which it is located and being spaced from the upper and lower sidewalls thereof, and said bead extending outwardly from said inner wall a predetermined distance so that the diametrical distance of a circular relationship formed by said grooves for receiving the container rim is reduced by said at least one bead to be sufficiently less than the diameter of said rim to cause the container rim which contacts said bead to be compressed inwardly so that the maximum outside diameter of the compressed portion is substantially less than the original maximum outside diameter of the uncompressed rim, whereby a corrugation is formed in the outermost wall of the rim of the container being dispensed.