US3341065A

US3341065A - Apparatus and method for dispensing material

Info

Publication number: US3341065A
Application number: US526825A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald A Schuldt; James H Casey; Jr John N Ewald
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-02-11
Filing date: 1966-02-11
Publication date: 1967-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 1984-09-12

Description

Sept. 12, 1967 D. A. SCHULDT ETAL 3,341,065

I v APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPENSING MATERIAL Filed Feb. 11, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 1mm lmmll "NW i .4" .Z'Ls- .Z

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Ira/1min Sept. 12, 1967 DLA. SCHULDT ETAL 3,341,055

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPENSING MATERIAL Filed m. 11, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ms M SeP'LIIZ, 1967 D. A. SCHULDT ETAL 3,341,065

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPENSING MATERIAL Filed Feb. 11,1966 4 Sheets-Sheet :s

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li In INVENTORS Don/44.5 4. sCb dlbf JWME: 6- 0935/ y J'OIIIV M Ell/41D -72 flrrakvars Sept. 12, 1967 D. SCHULDT ETAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPENSING MATERIAL 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 11, l966 FIE: 5

FIE. S 7/2 7 5 My a m: M 0054 0 6 4 r W35 7 v z W4. y a In M? w United States Patent Ofifice 3,341,065 APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR DISPENSING MATERIAL Donald A. Schuldt and James H. Casey, St. Paul, Minn.,

and John N. Ewald, Jr., 4338 Shady Oak Road, Hopkins, Minn. 55343; said Schuldt and said Casey assignors to said Ewald Filed Feb. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 526,825 14 Claims. (Cl. 222-1) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dispenser for automatically discharging individual servings of cubed ice into a drink glass. The dispenser has a hopper for storing the ice and a hopper exit chute for guiding the ice into a glass. A removable auger located in the hopper moves the ice upwardly in the hopper into the exit chute. A gate located in the exit chute is movable to a first closed position and a second closed position to hold an amount of ice in the chute and to an open position to allow the ice to move from the chute into the drink glass. A control moves the gate from the second closed position to the open position. The control has a switch connected to the gate. When the gate is in the first closed position, the switch is on and actuates a motor to drive the auger to move ice into the exit chute. After an amount of ice is in the exit chute the gate is moved by the weight of the ice to the second position wherein the switch is ofi thereby stopping the auger.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 414,801 filed Nov. 30, 1964, for Ice Cube Dispenser.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for dispensing material. More particularly, the invention relates to an automatic dispenser operable to discharge individual servings of cubed ice into a drink glass. The dispenser of this invention has a hopper for storing the ice and a dispensing station having automatic control means operable to discharge a specific quantity of ice cubes into a container. The control means includes an adjustable gate movably positioned in a discharge chute for releasably retaining ice cubes at a discharge station located above a delivery compartment. A conveyor means located in the hopper is used to move the ice cubes into the discharge chute. The conveyor means operates in conjunction with the control means to supply ice cubes to the discharge station when the gate is in the closed position. The gate is moved to an open position in response to movement of an actuator which is moved by placing a drink glass in the delivery compartmerit below the exit of the discharge chute. To facilitate cleaning and repair of the dispenser the conveyor means is retained in operative position by a lock assembly which is readily released permitting rapid removal of the con veyor means from the dispenser.

In the drawings: v

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the dispenser of this invention with the top removed to show the conveyor means and the dispensing station;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the dispenser of FIGURE 1 showing the delivery compartment wherein ice is discharged into a container, as a drink glass;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

3,341,065 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 sectional view taken along taken along invention is indicated generally at 10 with the top closure removed to show the conveyor and dispensing station. The dispenser comprises an upright rectangular housing 11 carrying a hopper or bin 12. Bin 12 is formed from sturdy temperature insulative material, as plastic reinforced with fibers and the like. An angularly positioned upright conveyor 13 is used to move material, as ice cubes, crushed ice and the like, from the bottom of the bin into a dispensing station 14 located in an upper corner of the bin. Station 14 functions to store a specific amount of material in condition for discharge into a container. The material may be particulate, granular or block-like in form as sand, grain, coal, crushed ice, ice cubes and the like. In the following description the material dispensed is ice cubes useable in a drink glass.

A releasable lock 16 serves as a bearing anda support for the upper end of the conveyor. The lower'end of the conveyor is connected to a shaft driven by a motor. Lock 16 is readily removable from the conveyor permitting the conveyor to be disassembled from the shaft and removed from the bin when it is necessary to clean or repair the bin 'and/ or conveyor.

Below dispensing station 14 housing 11 has a recess or delivery compartment 17 providing a space for receiving the material discharged from dispensing station 14. In use a container 18, as a drink glass, is positioned in compartment 17 to actuate the control means of the dispenser for depositing a charge of one or more ice cubes into the container.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 7, bin 12 has a generally right angle trough shape with downwardly converging

side walls

19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 26 integral with the

bottom walls

27, 28 and 29.

Bottom walls

27 and 28 slope downwardly toward bottom wall 29 which slopes downwardly toward the apex section of the bin adjacent the bottom of an angularly disposed semi-circular trough 31 located between the side walls 24 and 26. As shown in FIGURE 7, trough 31 projects upwardly at an angle of about 60 with respect to the horizontal and is joined at its upper end to a U-shaped chute 32 projected into the top of delivery compartment 17. The opposite end of chute 3-2 is joined to a downwardly inclined slide shelf 33 joined to side wall 19 and the top edge of side wall 26. An upright triangular flange 35 separates shelf 33 from trough 31.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 7, conveyor 13 is an anger longitudinally located in the semi-circular trough furcated and engages a transverse pin 39 carried by the auger shaft 34 providing a drive connection between shaft 37 and auger 34. The auger is rotated by a motor 41 connected to a speed reducer 42. A chain and sprocket drive 43 drivably connects speed reducer 42 with the lower end of shaft 37 so that on operation of motor 41 shaft 37 will rotate the auger.

The upper end of auger flight 36 terminates slightly above the horizontal plane of a lip 44 joining the top of trough 31 to the U-shaped chute 32. When the auger is rotated ice cubes will move upwardly over lip 44 and fall into chute 32. If chute 32 is full of ice cubes extra cubes will slide onto shelf 33 and return to a lower level in the bin.

The auger is rotatably held in assembled relation with shaft 37 by releasable lock 16 as best shown in FIGURE 8. A plug or insert 45, preferably made of plastic material, is seated in the upper end of auger shaft 34 and serves as a bearing for the releasable lock 16. The top of insert 45 has a semi-circular recess 46. Lock 16 has a bell crank having a long arm 47 and a short arm 48. Pin 49 pivotally mounts short arm 48 on a bracket 51 secured to bin 12. The outer end of long arm 47 carries a downwardly projected ball 52 secured to a threaded bolt 53 turned into a suitable hole in the end section of arm 47 whereby the position of ball 52 may be adjusted relative to the end of arm 47.

The bell crank is releasably held adjacent the end of auger shaft 34 so that ball 52 remains in engagement with insert 45 by a toggle linkage comprising a link 54 pivotally mounted by pin 56 on bracket 51 and a control lever 57 carrying a finger grip 58 at one end and pivotally mounted with pin 59 to the apex portion of the bell crank at the other end. A pin 61 pivotally connects the end of link 54 with the mid-portion of control lever 57. As shown in full lines in FIGURE 8, pin 61 is in an over center position with respect to a plane passing through pivot pins 56 and 59 thereby locking or fixing the position of long arm 47 holding ball 52 in seated engagement in recess 46 of insert 45.

Lock 16 is released by raising finger grip 58 moving the pivot pin 61 from its over centered position to the dotted line position. This pivots the bell crank about pin 49 moving ball 52 upwardly away from the insert 45. The auger can now be readily removed from the hopper 12 by raising the auger longitudinally upwardly until the. auger shaft 34 clears the upper end of shaft 37.

,The lock 16 with the exception of the outer end of long arm 47 is positioned in a recess or pocket 62 located adjacent the U-sha-ped chute 32. Pocket 62 separates the toggle linkage and the lock from the main ice storage chamber of the bin as well as positions the entire lock 16 below the top plane of the dispenser.

. As shown in FIGURE 3, dispensing station 14 is defined by an upright U-shaped chute 32 and a movable gate or closure indicated generally at 63 mounted for selective movement to an open position and a closed position to allow ice to slide down chute 32 into the drink glass 18 or retain the ice at the dispensing station. Closure 63 comprises a plate 64 positioned transversely of the U-shaped chute secured to an upwardly projected slotted arm 66. The longitudinal position of plate 64 in the chute may be adjusted, as indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 3, to vary the size of the dispensing station and thereby vary the amount of ice stored at the dispensing station. This adjustment permits regulation of the amount of ice discharged into a drink glass.

Movement of closure 63 is controlled by a control mechanism comprising a dump means 68 operably coupled to a pressure responsive actuator 69 as best seen in FIGURES 4 and 5. Dump means 68 comprises a shaft 71 mounted in a sleeve 72 projected through and secured to bin side wall 19 by nut 73 threaded on sleeve 72. A thumb screw 74 projected through the slot in arm 66 andthreaded into the inside end of shaft 71 permits arm 66 to be adjusted relative to shaft 71. Fixed to the outside end portion of shaft 71 is a laterally projected arm 76. A position actuated switch 77, as a mercury switch, is secured to the end of shaft 71 adjacent arm 76. The

outer end of arm 76 pivotally carries a block 78 having a bore accommodating an upright rod 79. A set screw 81 threaded into block 78 secures rod 79 to block 78.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the lower end of rod 79 is pivotally connected to a plunger 82 of a power unit or solenoid 83 mounted on the housing 11 by support 84. The position of rod 79 as well as the angular position of arm 76 is determined by a spring 85 connected at the lower end thereof to plunger 82. The upper end of spring 85 is coupled to a flexible member 86 as a chain, attached to an adjustable anchor. As shown in FIGURE 6, the anchor comprises a bolt 87 threaded into a sleeve 88 projected through a suitable hole in the top wall of the bin. The upper end of sleeve 88 carries a control knob 89 positioned in a downwardly projected recess 91 in the top wall of the bin. Rotation of knob 89 will move rod 79 in either upward or downward directions thereby changing the position of plate 64 relative to the U-shaped chute 32, as well as the angular position or inclination of position actuated switch 77.

The pressure responsive actuator 69, shown in FIG- URES 3 and 4, comprises a control rod 92 slidably positioned in a sleeve 93 mounted on housing 94 forming the delivery compartment 17. Positioned parallel to rod 92 is a guide rod 95 projected through a suitable hole in housing 94. The outer ends of

rods

92 and 95 are secured to a concave curved bumper 96 adapted to be engaged by the drink glass as shown in FIGURE 2. Located adjacent the inward end of control rod 92 is a first switch 97 and a second switch 98 mounted on a bracket 99 secured to the back of housing 94. Lines 101 connect switch 97 with a source of electric power 102 and position actuator switch 77. The second switch 98 is connected by lines 103 to the source of electric power 102 and solenoid 83 as shown in FIGURE 9.

Switch 97 has an actuator arm 104 engageable with a sleeve 106 adjustably mounted on the end section of control rod 92. Sleeve 106 has a wedge shaped top engageable with the end of arm 104 so that on movement of the arm between the full and broken line positions as shown in FIGURE 4 switch 97 may be actuated to the off position. Sleeve 106 normally holds arm 104 in the on position. Switch 98 has an actuator arm 107 normally spaced from the end of control rod 92 in the path of movement of the control rod. When rod 92 is moved to the in position, shown in broken lines in FIGURES 4 and 9, the forward end of rod 92 engages arm 107 actuating switch 98 thereby electrically coupling solenoid 83 with source of power 102. Rod 92 also carries sleeve 106 away from arm 104 so that switch 97 will be open or off when switch 98 is on. Motor 41 does not run when solenoid 83 is energized. As shown in FIGURE 7, when solenoid 83 is energized plunger 82 is pulled in a downward direction to raise the control gate 63 allowing the ice to slide down chute 32 into drink glass 18.

As shown in FIGURE 3, a spring 108 is used to bias the control rod 92 back to its initial position. Spring 108 is secured to a plate 109 mounted on control rod 92 and an ear 111 secured to the side of housing 94.

Referring to FIGURE 9, the source of electric power 102 is coupled through an on-ofi switch 112 to motor 41 and is coupled through second switch 98 to solenoid 83. First switch 97 is normally closed by the action of the sleeve 106 on control rod 92. When a charge of ice is located in chute 32 against plate 64 mercury switch 77 is in the off position as shown in full lines. The weight of the charge of ice in chute 32 against plate 64 raises the plate a slight amount which is suflicient to move mercury switch 77 to an otf position. Thus, motor 41 will not operate to drive the auger.

In order to dispense a quantity of ice into a drink glass the glass is initially placed in the delivery compartment 17 and moved into engagement with bumper 96. The dispenser is actuated by moving the bumper in an inward direction. When this is done the normally closed switch 97 will open and thereby disconnect motor 41 from a source of electric power 102. On further movement of control rod 92 the forward end of the control rod contacts the actuator arm 107 actuating switch 98 and thereby connects the source of electric power to solenoid 83. Energization of solenoid 83 forces the plunger 82 in a downward direction which in turn rotates the control arm 76 angularly moving shaft 71 and opening the gate 63 by raising the plate 64. The ice cubes 113 in the storage or dispensing station 14 Will slide down'chute 32 into the drink glass positioned in engagement with the bumper 96. The quantity of ice discharged into the drink glass may be varied by changing the location of the slotted arm 66 relative to the shaft 71. This can be accomplished by merely loosening the thumb screw and changing the position of plate 64 relative to the chute 32.

After the ice cubes have been deposited in the drink glass the glass is removed from the delivery compartment. Spring 108 will bias the control rod 92 back to its initial position as shown in full lines in FIGURES 3 and 4. When this is done switch 98 will return to the off position deenergizing solenoid 83 and sleeve 106 will return switch 97 to the on position. Spring 85 will rotate the control arm 96 in an upward direction forcing the plate 64 into engagement with the bottom of chute 32. When plate 64 is in this extreme down position the position actuated switch 77 is in the on position as shown in broken lines in FIGURE 9. This connects the motor 41 with a source of electric power. Motor 41 drives the gear reducer 42 which in turn is connected by the sprocket and chain drive 43 to the auger conveyor 13. The rotating auger carrys ice in an upward direction along the inclined trough 31 and discharges ice into the upper portion of chute 32. As the ice in chute 32 accumulates it increases the pressure on the gate 63 and forces the gate toward the open position away from the bottom of chute 32. This upward movement of the gate will rotate shaft 71 a slight amount sufficient to change the position actuated switch 77 to the off position as shown in full lines in FIGURE 9. The motor is now deenergized. Excessive ice which may be conveyed up into the chute will be moved onto the inclined slide shelf 33 and slides back into the storage area of bin 12. Thus, only a definite amount of ice will remain in the dispensing station 14.

Bin 12 is designed to maintain the temperature of the ice slightly above the melting point to prevent the ice cubes from joining together into a solid mass. The water is drained from the bottom of bin 12 through drain hose 114 as shown in FIGURE 7 to a suitable drain. The hole for hose 114 may be closed with a removable plug. As shown in FIGURE 4, similar drain hose 116 secured to the bottom portion of housing 94 is used to drain water or liquid which may spill from the drink glass or drain down the discharge chute 32.

In terms of a method for dispensing material, as ice cubes, into a container the invention contemplates storing the material in a bin or hopper 12 at a temperature slightly above the melting point of the material. A charge or portion of this stored material is located in dispensing station 14 and held at this station by movable gate 63. The charge of material is released for movement from the dispensing station by moving gate 63 to an open position. This is accomplished by dump means 68 actuated in response to movement of actuator 69. As the charge of material leaves the dispensing station it falls into the container. Another charge of material is moved into the dispensing station on operation of conveyor 13 which transports material upwardly from the storage area of the bin into the dispensing station. Movement of material into the dispensing station is terminated in response to the amount of material in the dispensing station as the Weight of the material in the dispensing station acts on the gate which in turn moves to a position wherein the control mechanism functions to terminate the drive for te conveyor.

The specific embodiment of the invention described is given by way of example. The scope of the invention includes changes in materials and substitution of equivalent elements which can be made by a person skilled in the art. The invention is to be limited only by the terms and scope of the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An apparatus for dispensing material comprising a hopper for storing material, said hopper having a stationary exit chute means for guiding material into a container, conveyor means located in said hopper operable to move material into said exit chute, means, movable gate means positioned in said exit chute means for movement to a first closed position and to a second closed position relative to the chute means to hold an amount of solid material in said chute means and to an open position allowing said material to move in the chute means and control means for moving said gate means from said second closed position to the open position whereby the material in the chute means is discharged from the chute means, said control means including a position actuated means connected to said gate means, said position actuated means operable when the gate means is in the first position to actuate the conveyor means to move material into the chute means and to stop the conveyor means when the gate means is in the second closed position after said amount of material is in the chute means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said hopper has an upwardly inclined trough, said trough having an upper end terminating at the top of the exit chute means, said conveyor means comprising an auger longitudinally positioned in said trough and drive means for rotating said auger whereby material in the hopper moves up said trough into the chute means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 including releasable lock means coacting with the upper end of the auger for holding the auger in the trough, said lock means being movable to a release position allowing the auger to be removed from the hopper.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said hopper has an upwardly open recess accommodating a portion of said lock means.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 including means for adjustably mounting said gate means for movement relative to said chute means whereby the amount of material stored in the chute means can be varied.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 including means for biasing the gate means to the first closed position.

7. An apparatus for dispensing material comprising a hopper for storing material, and hopper having an exit chute means for guiding material into a container and a trough having an upper end terminating at the top of the exit chute means, conveyor means located in said hopper operable to move material into said chute means, gate means positioned in said exit chute means for movement to a closed position to hold an amount of solid material in said chute means and to an open position allowing said material to move in the chute means, control means for operating said gate means to move the gate means from the closed position to the open position whereby the material in the chute means is discharged from the chute means, said conveyor means comprising an auger longitudinally positioned in said trough and drive means for rotating said auger whereby material in the hopper moves up said trough into the chute means, releasable lock means coacting with the upper end of the auger for holding the anger in the trough, said lock means being movable to a release position allowing the auger to be removed from the hopper, said lock means having an arm pivotally mounted on said hopper and movable adjacent the upper end of the auger, means mounted on the arm and engageable with the upper end of the auger for rotatably supporting said auger, and toggle linkage means pivotally connected to said arm selectively movable to a lock over center position to hold said means mounted on the arm in engagement with said upper end of the auger and movable to a release position pivoting said arm away from the upper end of the auger whereby the auger can be removed from the hopper.

8. An apparatus for dispensing material comprising a hopper for storing material, said hopper having an exit chute means for guiding material into a container, conveyor means located in said hopper operable to move material into said exit chute means, gate means positioned in said exit chute means for movement to a closed position to hold an amount of solid material in said chute means and to an open position allowing said material to move in the chute means, control means for operating said gate means to move the gate means from the closed position to the open position whereby the material in the chute means is discharged from the chute means, said hopper having a generally right angle shape formed by downwardly and inwardly inclined inside and outside side walls and bottom walls sloping toward the apex section of the hopper and an upright outwardly curved trough joined with the inside side walls, said trough extended from the apex section to the exit chute means, said conveyor means positioned in said trough and being operable to move material from the apex section into the chute means.

9. An apparatus for dispensing material comprising a hopper for storing material, said hopper having an exit chute means for guiding material into a container, conveyor means located in said hopper operable to move material into said exit chute means, gate means positioned in said exit chute means for movement to a closed position to hold an amount of solid material in said chute means and to an open position allowing said material to move in the chute means, control means for operating said gate means to move the gate means from the closed position to the open position whereby the material in the chute means is discharged from the chute means, said chute means having a downwardly and outwardly sloping bottom wall joined with a downwardly and inwardly sloping shelf so that when the chute means is full of material excess material moved into the chute means will be directed by the sloping shelf back into the hopper.

10. An apparatus for dispensing material comprising a hopper for storing material, said hopper having an exit chute means for guiding material into a container, conveyor means located in said hopper operable to move material into said exit chute means, gate means positioned in said exit chute means for movement to a closed position to hold an amount of solid material in said chute means and to an open position allowing said material to move in the chute means, control means for operating said gate means to move the gate means from the closed position to the open position whereby the material in the chute means is discharged from the chute means, said control means including a motor for operating said conveyor means, a first switch and a second switch connecting the motor to a source of power, said second switch connected to said gate means and operable to couple the motor to the source of power when the exit chute means is empty and to disconnect said motor from the source of power when material is stored in the exit chute means, power means connected to said gate means and operable to move the gate means from the closed position to the open position, a third switch connected to the power means, and actuator means normally holding the first switch in a closed position, said actuator means movable to open the first switch and close the third switch whereby the power means moves the gate means to the open position while the motor means is disconnected from the source of power. v

11. An apparatus for dispensing material comprising a hopper for storing material, said hopper having an exit chute means for guiding material into a container, conveyor means located in said hopper operable to move material into said exit chute means, gate means positioned in said exit chute means for movement to a closed position to hold an amount of solid material in said chute means and to an open position allowing said material to move in the chute means, control means for operating said gate means to move the gate means from the closed position to the open position whereby the material in the chute means is discharged from the chute means, movable means carrying said gate means, said control means including a motor for operating said conveyor means, a position actuated switch mounted on the movable means coupled to said motor and a source of power, said switch operable to connect the motor to the source of power when the gate means engages the bottom of the chute means and to disconnect the motor from the source of power when material is stored in the chute means.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 including means for biasing the gate means to the closed position.

13. In combination: a trough-like structure, an auger longitudinally positioned in said trough-like structure, drive means releasably connected to one end of the auger for rotating the auger, and releasable lock means coacting with the other end of the auger for holding the auger in the trough-like structure and in engagement with the drive means, said lock means having a pivotally mounted arm, means mounted on the arm and engageable with said other end of the auger for rotatably supporting said auger and toggle linkage means pivotally connected to said arm, said toggle linkage means selectively movable to a lock over center position to hold said means mounted on the arm in engagement with said other end of the auger and movable to a release position pivoting said arm away from the auger whereby the auger can be removed from the trough-like structure.

14. A method of dispensing ice cubes stored in a hopper comprising the steps of: storing the ice cubes at a temperature slightly above the melting point of the ice cubes, holding a charge of ice cubes in a dispensing station located in the upper portion of the hopper, releasing the charge of ice cubes in the dispensing station for discharge therefrom, after the charge of ice cubes leaves the dispensing station moving another charge of ice cubes upwardly in the hopper into the dispensing station, allowing excess ice cubes moved into the dispensing station to fall back into the hopper and terminating the movement of ice cubes into the dispensing station in response to the amount of ice cubes in the dispensing station.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 246,921 9/ 1881 Tenant 222413 1,206,088 11/1916 Boatright 198213 1,231,006 6/1917 Flint 22263 1,313,852 8/1919 Joyce 222439 X 1,467,979 9/ 1923 Paisolli. 1,737,378 11/ 1929 Littell. 1,828,984 10/ 1931 Schweickart. 2,207,395 7/ 1940 Brown 222439 X 2,279,613 4/1942 Blue 222--288 X 2,482,991 9/ 1949 Stukart. 2,631,755 3/1953 Woodward 22228 2,634,185 4/1953 Wilder 221--129 2,845,964 8/1958 Harland 141361 X 2,891,668 6/1959 Hunt. 2,983,325 5/1961 Moody 22256 X 3,028,045 4/ 1962 Smith 221-10 3,150,798 9/1964 Sutton 222-6 3 X 3,211,338 10/1965 Weil et al. 22256 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

KENNETH N. LEIMER, Examiner.

Claims

1. AN APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING MATERIAL COMPRISING A HOPPER FOR STORING MATERIAL, SAID HOPPER HAVING A STATIONARY EXIT CHUTE MEANS FOR GUIDING MATERIAL INTO A CONTAINER, CONVEYOR MEANS LOCATED IN SAID HOPPER OPERABLE TO MOVE MATERIAL INTO SAID EXIT CHUTE MEANS, MOVABLE GATE MEANS POSITIONED IN SAID EXIT CHUTE MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TO A FIRST CLOSED POSITION AND TO A SECOND CLOSED POSITION RELATIVE TO THE CHUTE MEANS TO HOLD AN AMOUNT OF SOLID MATERIAL IN SAID CHUTE MEANS AND TO AN OPEN POSITION ALLOWING SAID MATERIAL TO MOVE IN THE CHUTE MEANS AND CONTROL MEANS FOR MOVING SAID GATE MEANS FROM SAID SECOND CLOSED POSITION TO THE OPEN POSITION WHEREBY THE MATERIAL IN THE CHUTE MEANS IS DISCHARGED FROM THE CHUTE MEANS, SAID CONTROL MEANS INCLUDING A POSITION ACTUATED MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID GATE MEANS, SAID POSITION ACTUATED MEANS OPERABLE WHEN THE GATE MEANS IS IN THE FIRST POSITION TO ACTUATE THE CONVEYOR MEANS TO MOVE MATERIAL INTO THE CHUTE MEANS AND TO STOP THE CONVEYOR MEANS WHEN THE GATE MEANS IS IN THE SECOND CLOSED POSITION AFTER SAID AMOUNT OF MATERIAL IS IN THE CHUTE MEANS.