Vertically upright package dispensers for wall mounting and like, have been devised to include a rectangular storage and dispensing passage or chute having open ends. Such devices include a retainer flange extending inwardly from a wall defining the chute towards an opposite passage wall to retain the lowermost article of a series of identical articles retained within the passage or chute. The front wall of the display package dispenser has an opening at the bottom of the chute through which the lowermost article in contact with the retainer flange may be moved by manual manipulation such as by grasping the package between the thumb and a finger either from opposite sides, or from front to rear.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,147,086 issued Feb. 14, 1939 to J. O. Bryan; 3,210,140 issued Oct. 5, 1965 to W. T. Smythe; U.S. Pat. 3,858,757 issued Jan. 7, 1975 to Richard H. Langdon, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,174 issued May 18, 1976 to Joseph P. Palamara and U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,413 issued Apr. 10, 1979 to Vincent J. Immordino are representative of such vertically mountable, storage, display and dispensing apparatus.
Where such apparatus is formed with laterally opposed U-shaped guides for the packages supported on a rear wall, and facing outwardly thereof, the packages are exposed between the laterally opposed guides. Where the articles to be dispensed are stacked internally of an opaque chute, either the articles are hidden from view, or only the lowermost article may be visually observed. In the known types of article storage, display and dispensing devices the number of articles maintained in a vertical array is limited by the height of the dispensing device or apparatus.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved article storage, display and dispensing apparatus which is aesthetically pleasing, which permits the stacking and displaying of all articles of the stack with the number of articles being well in excess of the height of the storage display and dispensing apparatus, in which the apparatus is formed of transparent plastic material to permit ready viewing of the articles carried thereby, and wherein, the apparatus includes a chute receiving an inserted, removable clear plastic tubular cartridge housing the stack of articles to be displayed and dispensed and whose length exceeds the length of the chute of the apparatus through which the articles are dispensed.