Importance

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Abstract

A dispensing apparatus for dispensing a lid from a stack of lids each having a lid periphery includes a load platform having a main floor on which to place a stack of lids, the main floor sloping downward from an apex in a rearward direction, the load platform having a forward slope inclined downward from the apex in a forward direction. A parallelogram mechanism is mounted to move in a linear direction forward to a dispense position and rearward to a home position. A hinge is coupled to the parallelogram mechanism and has a handle with a distal end oriented upward and forward to contact an inner surface of a lid periphery of a bottommost lid of the stack of lids when the parallelogram mechanism moves forward from the home position toward the dispense position. After the distal end of the handle of the hinge contacts the inner surface of the lid periphery of the bottommost lid, the parallelogram mechanism deforms to de-elevate the hinge and move the distal end of the handle of the hinge downward causing the bottommost lid to deformably move downward to the forward slope of the load platform to separate from the stack of lids for dispensing.

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First Claim