Importance

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Abstract

An earplug dispenser is provided, which is of simple construction and which is easily operated by a person to dispense one or two earplugs with minimal possibility of the earplug bouncing off the person's hand and onto a dirty floor. The earplug dispenser includes a barrier (26) lying on a stand, a wheel (20) with earplug-receiving holes (22) rotatably mounted above the barrier, and a handle device (28) fixed to the wheel and lying below the barrier. As the handle device is turned about a vertical axis (60), earplugs in the wheel holes move over a dispense aperture (42) in the barrier and fall through it and through the handle device onto the palm of a person who is turning the handle device. The handle device includes a largely cylindrical handle (72) that encourages the handle to be held with the palm (P) closely under the open lower end (44) of the handle and with the fingers of the person extending up along vertical grooves (82) in the handle, so earplugs fall into the person's palm. The stand (16) has a catch pad (74) at the bottom and has an access opening (76) of less than 180.degree. to further reduce the possibility of loss of the earplug. The barrier is in the form of an upside-down cap with an internal thread (106). A container (12) that holds numerous earplugs, has a lower end with threads (102) that screw into the cap.

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First Claim