Method and Apparatus for Dispensing a Granular Product

Abstract

A method and apparatus with interchangeable parts for dispensing a repeatably precise portion of a variety of different granular products without crushing or breaking fine products and without sticking or jamming. The dispensing mechanism for fine products can include a rotatable member having a smooth surface containing one or more cavities that mates into a flexible dispensing cup forming a product seal. The dispensing mechanism for larger products can include a variety of different paddle wheels with different numbers of paddles. An optional detent mechanism can provide stopping on rotation and precise angular control leading to dispensing of very accurate, repeatable portions.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates generally to dispensing systems for granular products and more particularly to a method and apparatus for dispensing a granular product with a highly consistent portion control.[0003]2. Description of the Prior Art[0004]It is known in the art to dispense granular products like breakfast cereal using mechanical dispensers. Such dispensers can be found in hotels, motels and restaurants as well as homes. Examples of such dispensers are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,703,639 and 6,964,355. These devices use either paddles or an impeller which, upon rotation, moves an amount of cereal or other product from a product storage area to a dispensing chute. Upon approaching the device, a user simply places a dish or bowl under the chute and turns a handle attached to the paddles or impeller. A portion of the product then falls into the dish. If the user wants more product, the handle is turned again.[0005]While very effec...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a device that allows for accurate and repeatable dispensing of a variety of granular products without crushing or breaking of smaller products, without smearing or jamming of the mechanism. The device has interchangeable parts, including paddle wheels and ball / cups, which can be easily detented to control portion size. It is hygienic, convenient, and allows for controlled dispensing of fine-grained products. For larger products, the device can be adjusted with different paddle wheels and numbers of blades to dispense precise amounts and prevent waste or loss of product.

Problems solved by technology

While very effective for dispensing breakfast cereals and other large products like cookie pieces, or whole walnuts, these inventions have problems dispensing fine products like ice cream toppings, peanuts, bulk spices, and candy in that they have a tendency to crush or break some of the product, or to stick or jam the mechanism.

This also can cause some of the product to dispense in an undesirable broken form, or result in the dispenser jamming so tightly that it will not function.

For example, ice cream sprinkles break very easily and are very difficult to mechanically dispense in repeatedly accurate quantities

Another disadvantage of prior art dispensers is that they are generally designed to dispense only one type of product (breakfast cereal for example).

Thus, the four major problems with prior art dispensers are: 1) the inability to dispense a wide range of different sized products from the same dispenser, 2) the tendency for the dispenser to crush, break or smear fine products, or to jam when dispensing finer-grained products 3) the inability of prior art dispensers to repeatably dispense accurate portions, especially of fine products, and 4) the tendency to leak fine-grained product.

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