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[0001] The present invention relates to the automatic marketing of lollipops. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide a bendable lollipop stick, a disposable container for the lollipop, and a method of packing for sale for same.
[0002] Vending machines have long provided an economic method for selling small consumer articles. Machines are in use for selling hot and cold beverages, cigarettes, sweets and chocolates and other foods, train tickets and many other items. The machines must reliably dispense the one item chosen by a customer after an appropriate coin, or a smart card, has been inserted into the machine. Vending machines offer their owner low labor cost, while 24-hour availability is beneficial to both owner and customer.
[0003] Before stock exhaustion, it is necessary to recharge the machine with a new supply of articles to be sold. There are three methods of loading a vending machine.
[0004] METHOD A The items to be sold, for example packets of cigarettes or bars of chocolates, are already arranged in a stack or other orderly maser and so they are easily loaded into the machine in a coherent array. The vending machine requires only a simple feed and escape mechanism to feed out a selected item in response to customer demand. The machine is not required to reorient the items to be sold.
[0005] METHOD B The articles to be sold, for example a small cube-shaped item, are poured into the machine in bulk, and the machine is provided with a feeder mechanism for orienting the item in a manner allowing reliable operation of an escape mechanism. The difficulty of doing so is related primarily to the shape of the article. For example, a spherical item (for example a chewing gum ball) is easiest for a machine to handle as it will roll under gravity in any direction and requires only an escape mechanism and requires no orientation at all. More difficult is an item shaped as a short cylinder where the length equals or is near the diameter. Some shapes, for example items that entangle with each other such as open compression coil springs, horseshoe shaped items, and irregularly shaped articles such as apples, items that may be sticky and light weight—these are difficult or almost impossible to feed in a reliable manner using method B.
[0006] METHOD C Items which cannot be handled by the previous methods, for example wrapped confectionery food articles, baked buns, or slices of cake are manually and individually loaded into suitable receptacles provided in the machine. Individual loading is time consuming and is acceptable for high-value articles but is not an economic option for small low-cost articles.
[0007] From the point of view of the vending machine, a lollipop is a light-weight item which may be sticky and is covered by a paper wrapping which may be of irregular configuration. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,939 Tucker discloses a lollipop dispensing apparatus using method C. Clearly, loading such a vending machine is time consuming and the dispensing mechanism required is complex.
[0008] Method B mechanisms for dispensing lollipops are also known. Such mechanisms are very complex and expensive, obviously due to the difficulties inherent in reliably feeding all article of this shape and of low weight.
[0009] It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to obviate the disadvantages of prior art lollipop sticks and to provide a stick which can be folded and will regain its original straight form when released.
[0010] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lollipop container which accepts the lollipop after its stick has been bent, the container later being available to the consumer for serving as a holder for a partly-consumed lollipop.
[0011] Yet a further object is to provide a method for packing and marketing lollipops by means of a vending machine.
[0012] It is yet a fewer important object of the present invention to provide a packing which enables the use of common known Vending machines.
[0013] The present invention achieves the above objects by providing a lollipop stick, which can be bent at least 150 degrees and held in this bent configuration, and on release reverts to a substantially straight formation.
[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a packaged lollipop comprising the lollipop candy, retained on a stick as described, and being encapsulated in a disposable plastic container shaped for convenient handling in a vending machine, the stick being held in its bent form by inner walls of the container.
[0015] In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method for packing and automatic marketing of lollipops, comprising the steps:
[0016] step 1: providing a lollipop stick, which can be bent at least 150 degrees and held in this bent configuration, and on release reverts to a substantially straight formation;
[0017] step 2: attaching a candy to an extremity of the stick to form a lollipop;
[0018] step 3: optionally wrapping the candy;
[0019] step 4: bending the stick and inserting the lollipop into a disposable plastic container sized and shaped for convenient handling in a vending machine; and
[0020] step 5: loading a multitude of the filled containers into a vending machine.
[0021] Yet further embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter.
[0022] It will thus be realized that if a substantially spherical container were to be fitted around a prior-art lollipop, such container would be unreasonably large and expensive, and also too large for economic handling by a vending machine. In the novel packing and marketing method of the present invention, a much smaller plastic container is used which is suitable for a vending machine. Such container can be provided with a removable and replaceable cover and retained by the consumer for hygienic storage, and possible storage and transport of a partially-consumed lollipop. A known need for this purpose is thus served, and the packaging container thus obviates the need for the type of container disclosed by Jones in U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,742.
[0023] The invention will now be described further with reference to the accompanying drawings, which represent by example preferred embodiments of the invention. Structural details are shown only as far as necessary for a fundamental understanding thereof. The described examples, together with the drawings, will make apparent to those skilled in the art how further forms of the invention may be realized.
[0024] In the drawings:
[0025]
[0026]
[0027]
[0028]
[0029] There is seen in
[0030] Tie stick
[0031] The end sections
[0032] The flexible section
[0033] On release, the flexible section
[0034] With reference to the rest of the figures, similar reference numerals have been used to identify similar parts.
[0035] Referring now to
[0036] Preferably, as seen in the figure, all three sections
[0037]
[0038] The lollipop
[0039] Advantageously the container
[0040] The container
[0041] In one embodiment the container
[0042] Seen in
[0043] The present invention also provides a method for packing and automatic marketing of lollipops, an embodiment of which comprises the following steps.
[0044] STEP 1. Providing a stick which can be bent at least 150 degrees and held in this bent configuration, and on release reverts to a substantially straight formation.
[0045] STEP 2. Attaching a candy to an extremity of he stick to form a lollipop. This operation is carried out in standard prior-art manner.
[0046] STEP 3: Optionally wrapping the candy. Adding the wrapping has several advantages, but is not mandatory as with prior art lollipops because the lollipop will be encapsulated in a container in the following step.
[0047] STEP 4. Bending the stick and inserting the lollipop into a disposable plastic container sized and shaped for convenient handling in a vending machine. Typically such a container is between 4-6 cm diameter.
[0048] STEP 5. Loading a multitude of filled containers in bulk into a vending machine. The containers are poured into a receiving hopper in the machine, and can easily be released one at a time by a simple mechanically or electrically-activated escape mechanism operationally linked to a coin receipt mechanism or to a smart card reader.
[0049] In alternate embodiments other series of steps may be used.
[0050] The scope of the described invention is intended to include all embodiments coming within the meaning of the following claims. The foregoing examples illustrate useful forms of he invention, but are not to be considered as limiting its scope, as those skilled in the art will readily be aware that additional variants and modifications of the invention can be formulated without departing from the meaning of the following claims.