Display and dispensing cabinet
United States Patent Seamans et a1. Apr. 22, 1975 {541 DISPLAY AND DISPENSING CABINET 1.961.163 6/1934 Perry 1. 312/45 2.150.497 3 1939 F b l l l 1 1 24 259 R 1761 lm&#39;emorsi James Seamusi 837 2.296.506 9/1942 0121;? 24/259 R AVeL. sCl&#39;ilnttm, Pa. 18511); Jo 2.959.368 11/1960 Ncff l l l l l 312/45 m n. B x 288. Waverly. Pa. 3,021.050 2/1962 Rogers 221 97 18471; Malcom C. MacKinnon. 115 3.355.231 11/1967 Kcgcl 1 312/45 Old Orchard Rd.. Clarks Green. Pa.  
  1 Primary Ermnincr-Stanley H. Tollberg [23] Filed; 101 1972 Assistant ExaminerH. Grant Skaggs Attorney. Again. or FirmMason. Mason &amp; Albright [21] Appl. No.: 242,685  
  [57] ABSTRACT 2 g 3l2/45;3l2/234 A floor cabinet for housing and dispensing elongated g &#39;f ZEQ cartridges of the caulk gun type. has a plurality of l 1 0 can: side-by-side chutes that hold stacked cartridges in hor- 24/259 izontal position for gravity feed and permits the removal of the lowermost cartridge in each chute. A [56] Rekrences cued hinged door covers the uppermost cartridges in the UNITED STATES PATENTS chutes and the doors outer surface has display holders 119.519 4/1869 Thompson 11 312/45 for holding indicia cartridges in upright position to in- 348.164 8/1886 Judson 1 1 1 312/45 dicate the type of Cartridge in each chute. The lower 478.375 7/1892 Shurmon 24/259 R section is normall a storage area with removable 832.1186 10/1906 Schweitzer 24/259 C doors that also can Serve as extra Shelves. 1.700.060 H1929 Klrkman 221/97 1.824.142 9/1931 Hornaday 312/45 2 Claims. 5 Drawing Figures 1 1 ll g 1 l o 0 h 35l I ,g  
  a l e.  
  l l j H J PATENTEIJAPRZZIQYS saw 1 or 2 FIGJ.  
 DISPLAY AND DISPENSING CABINET FIG. I is a front perspective view of the cabinet with doors closed.  
  FIG. 2 is front perspective view of the cabinet with doors open;  
  FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the chute portion of the cabinet. with parts broken away.  
  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the outer surface of the upper door front. and:  
 FIG. 5 is a view taken along lines V V of FIG. 2.  
  In FIGS. 1 and 2. the structure shown is an upright self-service cabinet I that normally rests on the floor of a retail store. The cabinet I comprises an upper chute portion 3 and a lower shelf portion 5. The upper portion 3 has a plurality of chutes 7 defined by vertically arranged rods 9 that normally hold different types of caulk gun cartridges 8 in position so that the longitudinal axes of the cartridges extend horizontally normal to the back ll of the cabinet I and the nozzles 8A of the stacked cartridges extend forwardly. towards prospective purchasers.  
  The upper chute portion has an outer door 13 that can have advertising and other printed matter on the doors outer surface when closed. The door 13 is hinged in three places 15 so that it can be swung open as seen in FIG. 2 for reloading. When closed. the door 13 extends to cover all but the lowermost three cartridges 8. Metal plates I4 are secured to rods 9 to af ford stops that retain the upper two exposed cartridges above the lowermost cartridge. Thus. when a customer withdraws the bottom cartridge. the upper cartridges gravity feed to the lowermost dispensing position on a pillow 17 supported on shelf 19. The stops&#39;l4 are secured to alternating rods 9 and when door 13 is closed, preferably only the lower three cartridges can be seen and only the bottom cartridge is withdrawn at waist level for customer convenience.  
  On either or both sides 21 and 22 of cabinet I, a wire rod rack 23 is secured in convenient position to hold caulk guns 25 which are exposed when door I3 is closed. The outer surface of door 13 has a plurality of spring clip harnesses 27 secured to the doors lower edge so that the empty shells 29 of various types of cartridges can be retained opposite each of the chutes 7 which hold corresponding unused or loaded cartridges 8. Thus, the shells 29 comprise indicia cartridges that correspond to location and type of those loaded car tridges 8 housed in the chutes 7 when the door I3 is closed. A customer can determine and locate the desired type of cartridge 8 at a glance at the closed door 13.  
  The lower shelf portion 5 can be enclosed with hinged doors 3! and 33 and is normally used as a closed case storage area to hold back up stock. Conveniently the doors 3! and 33 are removable from their hinges 3S and 37 respectively. and can be used as extra shelving. above bottom shelf 30. Other types of mer chandise can be displayed on shelves 30, 35 and 37 if desired.  
  From the foregoing. it will be appreciated that the cabinet I is a compact unit for attractively displaying and dispensing caulk cartridges for self-service customers. The cabinet door 13 can be provided with attrac tive advertisements and other printed matter to inform prospective purchasers of the brands and types of cartridges housed in the cabinet.  
  Loading the chutes 9 from the top and dispensing cartridges from the bottom insures stock rotation. In the unit shown in the drawings. there are l2 chutes to house l2 different columns of cartridges which can be the same or different. Thus, each dealer can select the number of chutes and columns to assign to each type of caulk cartridge.  
  The identifying and indicia cartridges or shells 29 located on the front of door 13 and retained by spring clip harnesses 27, are readily changed by the dealer simply slipping the indicia cartridges 29 over the har&#39; nesses 27. The compactness of the unit is demonstrated by filling the upper and lower portions with over 300 conventional cartridges while the floor space used is about 3 square feet when the cabinet is about 1 foot deep and approximately 3 foot long.  
 What is claimed is:  
  1. An upright self-service display floor cabinet for housing and dispensing elongated cartridges comprising :1 upper dispensing portion with a plurality of inner chutes for stacking and dispensing columns of horizontally extending cartridges by gravity feed.  
 an outer display door being hinged on substantially vertical pivot means located to one side of said dispensing portion to permit access to said chutes. a plurality of indicia cartridges. said door having a plurality of harness holders on the outer surface thereof releaseably holding said individual indicia cartridges in visual exposed vertical positions and said holders corresponding in number and location to indicate the contents of said inner chutes when said display door is closed. said door extending to substantially cover said upper dispensing portion, but terminating short of the bottom of the dispensing portion leaving same opened and the lowermost cartridges in said chutes exposed for ready removal. said cabinet being supported on a lower shelf portion which rests on the floor and said shelf portion having access door&#39;means.  
  2. The display cabinet of claim 1 wherein the open bottom and exposed chutes of said upper dispensing portion are located immediately above said shelf portion.