Article dispenser

A dispenser for similarly-shaped articles, said articles being at least semi-rigid and including six surfaces comprising a pair of faces, a pair of ends and a pair of edges, said dispenser comprising:

• a storage zone having an upper filling end and a lower discharge end, said storage zone further including a front and a back terminating at said discharge end;
• guide means in said storage zone for aligning the ends and the edges of said articles in said storage zone, said guide means including front guide means extending beyond said discharge end of said storage zone;
• a resilient arm at the back of said storage zone;
• an extension on said resilient arm for providing a first abutment located beyond said discharge end of said storage zone projecting across said discharge end for supporting a back edge of a lowermost article housed in said storage zone;
• a dispensing zone including an elongated inclined article support surface with an upper end located below said discharge end of said storage zone;
• stop means on the elongated inclined article support surface spaced from said first abutment in a length direction of said article support surface by a distance sufficient for accommodating an article group comprising at least two articles with corresponding faces on said article support surface and with edges of adjacent articles abutting and with distal edges of article group respectively abutting said stop means and providing a further abutment disposed between said first abutment and said front guide means for also supporting a lowermost article housed in said storage zone, said resilient arm being deflectable on removal of said further abutment for allowing the lowermost article in said storage zone to rotate from a horizontal condition to an inclined condition, wherein the lowermost article rests on said support surface while the back edge of the lowermost article is supported by said first abutment and a front edge of the lowermost article is held in contact with and said front guide means by said resilient arm.