Article Advancer

Abstract

An article advancing assembly and various article advancers are provided for helping dispense articles from a container. In some forms, the article advancers are provided that can bias the contents of the containers towards the dispensing opening. This can, in some forms, provide extra friction within the container and/or at the dispensing opening to decrease extra contents from being dispensed and thus decrease waste.

1 . An article advancing assembly comprising:
 a container defining an interior chamber and a dispensing opening for providing access to the interior chamber; and   an article advancer positioned in the interior chamber configured to bias contents of the container towards the dispensing opening, the article advancer having an arcuate body with at least one first side leg extending from a first side of the body and at least one second side leg extending from a second side of the body opposite the first side,
 the article advancer movable between a compressed configuration and a fully dispensed configuration,
 in the compressed configuration, a plane extending tangent to an uppermost portion of the arcuate body is positioned a first distance from a distal end of each of the at least one first side leg and at least one second side leg, 
 in the fully dispensed configuration, the plane extending tangent to the uppermost portion of the arcuate body is positioned a second distance from the distal end of each of the at least one first side leg and at least one second side leg, the second distance being greater than the first distance, 
 
 at least one of the arcuate body, the at least one first side leg, and the at least one second side leg providing a biasing force from the compressed configuration to the fully dispensed configuration; and 
   a biasing structure extending between the at least one first side leg and the at least one second side leg.   
     
     
         2 . The article advancing assembly of  claim 1  further comprising two first side legs and two second side legs. 
     
     
         3 . The article advancing assembly of  claim 1  wherein the arcuate body, the at least one first side leg, and the at least one second side leg are integral. 
     
     
         4 . The article advancing assembly of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the article advancer comprises acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyoxymethylene, nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The article advancing assembly of  claim 1  wherein the distal ends of each of the at least one first side leg and at least one second side leg includes a foot portion. 
     
     
         7 . An article advancing assembly comprising:
 a container defining an interior chamber and a dispensing opening for providing access to the interior chamber; and   an article advancer positioned in the interior chamber configured to bias contents of the container towards the dispensing opening, the article advancer having an arcuate body with at least one first side leg extending from a first side of the body and at least one second side leg extending from a second side of the body opposite the first side,
 the article advancer movable between a compressed configuration and a fully dispensed configuration,
 in the compressed configuration, a plane extending tangent to an uppermost portion of the arcuate body is positioned a first distance from a distal end of each of the at least one first side leg and at least one second side leg, 
 
 in the fully dispensed configuration, the plane extending tangent to the uppermost portion of the arcuate body is positioned a second distance from the distal end of each of the at least one first side leg and at least one second side leg, the second distance being greater than the first distance, 
   at least one of the arcuate body, the at least one first side leg, and the at least one second side leg providing a biasing force from the compressed configuration to the fully dispensed configuration; and   The article advancing a,,embly of  claim 1  further comprising a platform positioned between the article advancer and the dispensing opening, the platform configured to support the contents of the container above the article advancer.   
     
     
         8 . The article advancing assembly of  claim 1  wherein the container is a box, a bag, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The article advancing assembly of  claim 1  wherein the at least one first side leg and the at least one second side leg are generally planar. 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the arcuate body comprises two first side legs extending to the first distal end portion and two second side legs extending to the second distal end portion. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the article advancer comprises acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyoxymethylene, nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising a platform positioned between the article advancer and the dispensing opening, the platform configured to support the contents of the container above the article advancer. 
     
     
         15 . The method of claim  16 wherein the container is a box, a bag, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A method of advancing an article in a container, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a container defining an interior chamber and a dispensing opening for providing access to the interior chamber;   providing an article advancer positioned in the interior chamber configured to bias contents of the container towards the dispensing opening, the article advancer having an arcuate body with a first distal end portion and a second distal end portion opposite the first distal end portion, the article advancer further comprising a biasing structure extending between the first and second distal end portions;
 the article advancer movable between a compressed configuration and a fully dispensed position, 
   in the compressed configuration, a plane extending tangent to an uppermost portion of the arcuate body is positioned a first distance from the first and second distal end portions,
   in the fully dispensed configuration, the plane extending tangent to the uppermost portion of the arcuate body is positioned a second distance from the first and second distal end portions, the second distance being greater than the first distance; and   
   compressing the article advancer to the compressed configuration by placing a plurality of articles in the interior chamber on the article advancer.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising the step of removing at least one of the plurality of articles to permit the article advancer to move towards the fully dispensed configuration.