Cup lid dispenser

A lid dispensing apparatus and method comprising an elongated housing with a cup lid loading door and,

• loading a stack of cup lids into said elongated housing upside down relative to their normal usage and,
• a supporting means adapted to partly underlie and thereby vertically support the bottommost lid and all other lids in such stack lying thereon, and in a sequence of dispensing steps;
• a wedging-supporting means adapted to wedge-support and unwedge-unsupport in the sequence, the lid first overlaying the bottommost lid and,
• a means for sequencing the action of the forgoing means so as to dispense the cup lids one-by-one from the bottom of the stack.

A lid dispensing apparatus comprising an elongated housing oriented substantially vertically with inner wall dimensions housing a stack of cup lids slidable and wedgable, with embodiments comprising;

• a—a pair of resilient flat spring jaw members urging and ovally wedging first cup lid overlaying the bottommost lid, in the stack, vertically supporting said overlaying lid and all lids lying thereon and,
• b—a pair of laterally pivoting support plate members initially supporting said stack of cup lids vertically from underneath bottommost lid in said stack of lids and,
• c—a pivoting yoke member for sequencing the action of the forgoing members whereas;
• dispensing cup lids one-by-one from a nesting stack of said lids by placing said nesting stack inverted from their normal usage, inside said elongated housing and,
• supporting initially, underneath the bottommost lid in the stack by the lateral pivoting support plate members whereas partly blocking lowermost opening in said vertical oriented elongated housing and,
• sequencing said apparatus by acting upon lever portion of said yoke member whereas said action will,
• urge laterally inward, said pair of resilient flat spring jaw members which will engage opposing outer flanges of such cup lid that first overlays the said bottommost lid and,
• further engaging-urging will force jaw portion of said resilient flat spring jaw members to curve along an inward-upward-arcing path whereas, said first overlaying cup lid will become;
• flexed, elevated, and ovally wedged inside said elongated housing, whereas said first overlaying lid and all lids lying thereon are slightly elevated, supported vertically and,
• continued sequencing action upon said yoke member, will move said pivoting support plate members to an unsupporting configuration, allowing said bottommost lid to fall free dispensed and,
• releasing said yoke member, will sequentially allow said lateral pivoting support plate members to return supporting and,
• meanwhile allow resilient flat spring jaw members to release, unwedging-unsupporting, whereas said overlaying lid and all remaining lids in said stack of cup lids, will settle down supported underneath by said resting support plate members thus completing one dispense and recharge cycle for cup lids.