AU710903B2 - Dispenser for web-shaped material, such as toilet paper - Google Patents

Description

WO97/40732 PCTINL97/00251 Title: Dispenser for web-shaped material, such as toilet paper The invention relates to a dispensing apparatus for web-shaped material, such as toilet paper, wound into a roll around a hollow core provided with laterally projecting supporting journals, which apparatus can receive at least two such rolls, one in a dispensing position and at least one in a storing position, and comprises a housing with a frame part and a cover part which is pivotable relative to the frame part, which frame part comprises two opposite guideways for guidingly receiving the supporting journals and which extend from a roll input opening to a dispensing opening where the guideways end in bearing faces for the supporting journals, control means being present which keep the at least one roll in the storing position out of contact with the roll in the dispensing position and which release the roll in the storing position upon removal of a hollow core from the dispensing position, enabling this roll to move into the dispensing position.

In such a dispenser, known from EP-A-0 146 793, the control means comprise a two-armed lever of which one end is provided with a supporting face for keeping a store roll out of contact with the roll in the dispensing position by means of a supporting journal in the storing position. The other end, loaded by a spring, laterally abuts against the core of the roll in the dispensing position. The core of the roll consists of two loose parts that are in line, so that when the last part of the web-shaped material is removed, that core splits and automatically drops from the dispenser in two loose parts. The lever detects that the core is no longer intact and will, when the core drops from the dispenser, swivel inwards under spring load, whereby the roll in the storing position is released and moves to the dispensing position and the lever is swivelled back again into the position for supporting a new store roll to be positioned.

The operation of this dispenser is based on the fact that the WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 2 core automatically falls apart into loose parts. Although this promotes the serviceability of the dispenser, it also causes pollution of the space wherein the dispenser is disposed. The loose core parts with supporting journals drop onto the floor and, as experience has shown, are usually not cleaned up by the person who pulled the last sheet from the core parts. Moreover, such a dispenser is typically disposed in a toilet space where a user is less readily inclined to seize and pick up objects lying on the floor, so that persons who have not effected the falling apart of the core parts and who see those parts lying on the floor, will not be liable to pick them up either. In addition, litter lying on the floor sooner and more easily causes further pollution of the space than in the case of a tidy, cleaned-up space.

It is an object of the invention to reduce this problem by providing a dispenser wherein the core should be seized consciously for the removal thereof, so that cleaning up becomes a considerably more logical operation, while the automatic movement of a store roll present in the dispenser from a storing position into a dispensing position is retained.

It is a further object of the invention to render the dispenser suitable for storing two rolls that are successively and automatically brought into the dispensing position each time after the removal of a depleted core.

For reducing the problems associated with the prior art, in accordance with the invention, it is proposed for a dispenser of the type described in the opening paragraph that the control means comprise an elongated member which forms, adjacent one end thereof, a bearing face and is attached so that upon the removal of the hollow core from the dispensing position, this bearing face is slidable in the roll input direction of the guideway, and spring means which urge the bearing face in the direction of the dispensing position and stop means which keep the at least one roll in the storing position and are coupled to the elongated member, the WQ 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 3 arrangement being such that during the displacement of the elongated member with bearing face and the accompanying displacement of the stop-means coupled to the elongated member, this store roll is released and can move to the dispensing position. Through these measures, the one-part core should be seized by hand and pulled downwards, involving the core being successively released from the two bearing faces through a tilting about its longitudinal axis. The user has the pulled-out, one-part core in his hand and will be less easily inclined to throw it onto the ground, but will sooner deposit it in a container or the like intended therefor, so that the floor does not become polluted. This keeps the floor clean and has the further advantage that the space remains tidily cleaned up, so that the tendency to pollute the space otherwise decreases as well.

To facilitate the removal of a depleted core, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, it is preferred that the elongated member is suspended so that during the displacement against the spring means in the roll input direction, the end with the bearing face can move from the supporting journal perpendicularly to that direction.

Through this measure, after the beginning of the pull-out movement, a slightly increased distance between the bearing faces is obtained through the fact that the elongated member swings aside slightly, so that the core can be pulled from the dispenser more easily and more quickly by a tilting movement.

Keeping the store roll in position and controlling the release of that roll can be realized in a relatively simple manner, if, in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the stop means comprise a cam plate which is pivotally mounted on the frame part and which is provided with a supporting face pivotable from a position in which the guideway is blocked into a position in which the guideway is released, and which is further pivotally coupled to the end of the elongated member located opposite the end WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 4 with the bearing face, while the spring means coupled to the elongated member press the supporting face into the position in which the guideway is-blocked and the displacement of the elongated member in the roll input direction has the result that the cam plate pivots so that the guideway is released and a store roll which priorly rested with a supporting journal on the supporting face can move to the dispensing position. Through these measures, the pulling out of a depleted core from the dispensing position will result in the rotation of the cam plate and, accordingly, the release of the store roll. As soon as the depleted core has been removed, the elongated member will spring back, so that by the time that the roll released by the stop means reaches the dispensing position, the bearing face has returned again into the dispensing position. The springing back also has a result that the cam plate rotates back again, permitting a next store roll to rest on the supporting face in the storing position.

As mentioned, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser in which two rolls can be held in store. In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, this can be realized in a simple and advantageous manner if the cam plate further comprises a supporting area for a supporting journal of a second store roll, which supporting area is spaced from the bearing face at a distance equal to approximately twice the distance between the bearing face and the supporting face and can be displaced from a position in which the guideway is blocked into a position in which the guideway is released, with the second spring means urging the supporting area into the position in which the guideway is released, the arrangement being such that after a displacement of the elongated member through the removal of a hollow core and, through this displacement and through swivelling of the cam plate, the release of the store roll that priorly rested with a supporting journal on the supporting face, the cam plate WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 swivels back into a position in which the supporting face is in a position swivelled-through further than was priorly the case during the supporting of the store roll, in which position the supporting area releases the second store roll which, as it moves towards the supporting face, has a supporting journal contacting a guide edge which connects to the supporting face, through which contact the cam plate is rotated back into a position in which both the supporting face and the supporting area block the guideway, so that a supporting journal of that roll comes to lie on the supporting face and a new second store roll can be placed with a supporting journal on the supporting area. Through these measures, the presence of the stop means in the form of a cam plate is used in an extremely convenient manner for creating a possibility of keeping a second roll standby in a storing position and to have it automatically displaced into a position of the first store roll if the latter has automatically been brought into the dispensing position by pulling out a depleted core. Moreover, the second store roll can only move to the position left by the first store roll if the first store roll has released the cam plate for swivelling back. As the second store roll is not released until the cam plate has swivelled back further than the store position and the downwardly moving second store roll presses the cam plate back again into the store position, the supporting area has, after the release of the second store roll, also been automatically returned into the position in which a new second store roll can be placed thereon.

To cause the two store rolls to fall through successively in a controlled manner, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the position of the bearing face on the elongated member is determined by a stop fixedly connected to the frame part, against which stop the elongated member is pressed by the spring means, and the cam plate can reach the swivelledthrough position by connecting the elongated member and the W097/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 6 cam plate by means of a shaft/slotted hole coupling. Through these measures, it is established that after the displacement, the bearing face in each case ends up again precisely in the dispensing position, while this permits in the desired manner the controlled subsequent release of the second store roll.

In the case where an entirely empty holder is to be filled with three rolls, the first roll inputted will be able to pass the swung-aside supporting area, yet will be held suspended at the supporting face. A swivel movement of the cam plate, for instance by pulling the bearing face of the elongated member, is then required for causing that roll to lower to the dispensing position. This can be considered less expedient for various reasons (serviceability; preventing the roll from falling on the finger that pulls the bearing face down, and the like). In that case, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, it is proposed that branch guideways connect to the guideways, which for each guideway begin before the location where the supporting face can block the guideway and which open into the guideway again beyond that location, while a switch member is present that is urged by third spring means into a position in which the guideway is closed and the branch guideway is released, and second control means place the switch member into a position in which the guideway is released if a roll, lying with its supporting journals on the bearing faces, is in the dispensing position. Through these measures, the supporting journals of the first roll, inputted into an empty dispenser, will pass the supporting face via the branch guideways. When that first roll thus reaches the dispensing position, the switch member will be reversed, so that the supporting journals of the second roll follow the guideways and the cam plate is pressed into its storing position, while the second roll inputted will be held suspended at the level of the supporting face and a third roll inputted will be held in store at the level of the supporting area.

WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 7 The control means for the switch member can be realized in a relatively simple manner if, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, they consist of a twoarmed lever of which one end bears the switch member and the other end bears a guide face which, by a supporting journal moving past the supporting face to the bearing face, is pressed from the guideway, in which position the switch member releases the guideway. Thus, the input of a first roll directly results in the reversal of the switch member.

Hereinafter, the dispenser according to the invention will be specified with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings: Fig. 1 is a first side elevation of the dispenser, with sidewall parts left out; Fig. 2 shows a detail of the dispenser in front view; Fig. 3 is a second side elevation of the dispenser, with sidewall parts left out.

The Figures show a dispenser comprising a housing 1 with a frame part 2 and a cover part 3. The frame part 2 can be mounted on a wall and the cover part 3 can be swivelled about a shaft 4 relative to the frame part 1 between a closed position (shown in Fig. 1) and an open position (shown in Fig. In the closed position, the cover can be secured relative to the frame part 2 by means of a lock 5. The frame part 2 is formed by a back plate 6 and two side plates 7 and 8 that are perpendicular thereto and connected, in their upper and lower regions, by front plates 9 and 10. The cover part 5 has an open-box shape having at its lower side, the dispensing location, a missing sidewall. In Figs. 1 and 3, the front sidewalls have been left out, for reasons of clarity.

Provided in the side plates 7 and 8 are two outwardly extending guideways 11 and 12 for guiding supporting journals projecting on the left and on the right from the core of a roll 13. As Figs. 1 and 3 demonstrate, the guideway 11 is narrower than the guideway 12. The supporting journals have WO_97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 8 mutually different diameters, adapted to the different widths of the guideways, so that a roll can be placed in the dispenser in a pre-estab-ished manner only. Thus, it can be realized that unrolling web-shaped material is always located at the front side of the dispenser, i.e. maximally spaced from the wall on which the dispenser is mounted, which, from a viewpoint of hygiene, is desired.

Fig. 2 shows a supporting journal 14 of smaller diameter of a roll that is in the dispensing position. This involves the supporting journal 14 resting on a bearing face that is attached to the end of an elongated member 16 and extends through a recess 1la, present for that purpose, in the guideway 11. The other supporting journal, not shown, rests on a bearing face 17 that is fixedly connected to the side plate 8.

Adjacent the end located opposite the end that supports the bearing face 15, the elongated member 16 comprises a shaft 18 extending through a slotted hole 19 provided in a cam plate 20, which is in turn pivotable about a shaft 21 fixedly mounted in the side plate 7. A draw spring 22, on one side attached to the shaft 18 and on the other to the side plate 7, exerts an upwardly directed pulling force on the elongated member, the upward movement thereof being bounded by stops 23 mounted on the side plate 7.

Fig. 2 shows the elongated member 16 in the dispensing position. Through contact with the side plate 7, a cam 16a of a downwardly diverging shape determines the position of the bearing faces relative to the roll 13 in axial direction thereof. If the elongated member 16 is pulled down against the force of the spring 22, the shape of the cam 16a results in that the elongated member 16 can swivel slightly in the direction of the side plate 7.

By the spring 24, an anticlockwise force is exerted on the cam plate 20, which movement is bounded by the stops 23 through the coupling to the elongated member 16. The cam plate 20 comprises a leg part 25 ending in a supporting face WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 9 26, to which a guide edge 27 connects, approximately in the direction of the shaft 21. The supporting face 26 and the guide edge 27 extend through a recess 28 in the side plate 7.

The cam plate 20 further comprises a supporting area 29 extending through a recess 30 in the side plate 7.

Connecting to the guideway 11 is branch guideway 31 which starts approximately at the level of the shaft 21 and opens into the guideway 11 again below the recess 28.

Similarly, a branch guideway 32 is provided in the side plate 8. At the beginning of the guideway 32, a switch member 33 is provided extending through an opening 34 in the side plate 8 and forming the top end of one arm of a two-armed lever pivotable about a shaft 36. The other arm of the lever 35 is provided, approximately from the shaft 36 to its free end, with a control face 37, extending via an opening 38 in the side plate 8 into the guideway 12. By a spring 39, a force is exerted on the lever 35, which force attempts to rotate the lever anticlockwise. On the lever 35, a stop 40 is further present which, by means of the cover part 3 during the closure thereof, causes the lever to rotate clockwise so that the switch member 33 comes to lie outside the guideway 12.

The operation of the above-described dispenser is as follows.

Starting from an empty, open dispenser, as shown in Fig. 3, the supporting journals of the first roll inputted into the guideways 11 and 12 will be directed to the branch guideways 31 and 32 by the switch member 33. If the branch guideways and the switch member were not present, the first roll inputted would have one of its supporting journals end up on the guide edge 27 and then the supporting face 26 and remain suspended there, because in that depleted position, the spring 24 caused the cam plate 20 to rotate anticlockwise as far as possible, whereby the guide edge 27 and the supporting face 26 block the guideway 11 and the supporting area 29 is swivelled to a position outside the guideway 11.

In that case, manual rotation of the cam plate 20 would be WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 necessary to bring the first roll inputted into the dispensing position. By virtue of the switch member 33 and the branch guideways 31 and 32, this problem is avoided and the roll moves independently and automatically to the dispensing position, i.e. the position in which the supporting journals of the roll rest on the bearing faces and 17. After a supporting journal has left the branch guideway 32, this supporting journal contacts the control face 37 and pushes it away, whereby the lever 35 rotates clockwise against the force of the spring 39 and the switch member is moved outside the guideway 12.

The second roll inputted then slides with its supporting journals through the guideways 11 and 12, with one of the supporting journals, as described hereinabove, contacting the guide edge 27, which causes the cam plate to rotate clockwise, and then comes to rest on the supporting face 26. Thus, the second roll inputted has been brought into the storing position at a distance above the first roll inputted.

The rotation of the cam plate 20 also resulted in the supporting area 29 being brought into a position in which the guideway 11 is blocked. Thus, a third roll inputted can come to rest with its supporting journals on the supporting area 29 and that third roll inputted is placed in the storing position at a distance above the second roll inputted.

The apparatus is now entirely filled. Then, as the cover part 3 is pressed close, whereby the stop 40 blocks the lever 35 in its position in which the guideway 12 is released, and the lock 5 is closed, the filling operation is completed, after which the desired amount of web-shaped material can be withdrawn from the roll in the dispensing position.

It the roll in the dispensing position becomes depleted, the depleted core of the roll should be gripped manually and pulled downwards. This involves the bearing face on the elongated member 16 moving downwards, causing the WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 11 core to tilt slightly because the bearing face 17 remains in position. When the depleted core is being pulled downwards, the elongated member moves relative to the side plate 7, as a result of which, owing to the shape of the cam 16a, the elongated member 16 can swivel in the direction of the side plate 7, i.e. outwards, so that the depleted core can be removed relatively easily.

Pulling the elongated member 16 downwards also results in a rotation of the cam plate 20, so that, as is shown in Fig. 1, the supporting face 26 under the supporting journals of the lowermost roll held in store is rotated away and this roll can freely slide downwards to the dispensing position.

As appears from Fig. 1, the uppermost roll held in store remains resting with a supporting journal on the supporting area 29 not rotated away from the guideway 11.

After the supporting journal of the roll moving towards the dispensing position has left the swivel region of the leg part 25, the cam plate 20, initiated by spring force, will rotate anticlockwise into a position in which, starting from the position shown in Fig. 2, the supporting face 26 will move beyond the guideway 11, so that the guide edge 27 extends in the guideway 11 so as to be downwardly inclined from left to right, and the supporting face 29 releases the supporting journal of the uppermost roll held in store. This will cause that roll to slide downwards, with a supporting journal of the roll contacting the guide edge 27, which causes the cam plate 20 to rotate clockwise until both the supporting face 26 and the supporting area 29 block the guideway 11. The uppermost roll held in store has thus ended up in a position that was previously occupied by the roll that is now in the dispensing position, and if so desired, a new uppermost roll, held in store, can be placed in the dispenser.

It is observed that the elongated member 16 in the position shown in Fig. 1 projects under the side plate 7, W097/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 12 which means that it is in a pulled-out position. This also appears from the lower position of the shaft 18 in the slotted hole 19. Starting from that position, the spring will pull the elongated member 16 upwards until it strikes the stops 23. If the shaft 18 then abuts against the top side of the slotted hole 19, the cam plate 20 is approximately in the position in which the supporting face 26 blocks the guideway 11. The cam plate 20 can then rotate further under the influence of the spring 24, until the shaft 18 abuts against the bottom side of the slotted hole 19 again, in which position the guide edge 27 slantingly extends into the guideway 11. In this manner, the cam plate 20 can rotate for releasing and receiving the uppermost, stored roll without this requiring the elongated member 16 to move and the precise dispensing position of the bearing face 15 to be determined by the stops 21.

It is further observed that in the case where a dispenser with only one roll in store is desired, this can readily be realized by leaving out the supporting area 29.

The slotted hole 19 and the spring 24 can then be omitted as well, because from the position shown in Fig. 1, the supporting face 26 only has to be able to swivel into the guideway 11. In that case, the elongated member and the cam plate should be coupled only for pivoting, i.e. not for sliding, relative to each other. Of course, the height of the dispenser can then also be reduced by about one third.

It is a readily understood that within the framework of the invention as laid down in the appended claims, many modifications and variants are possible. For instance, the bearing face 17, too, may be disposed so as to be slidable in guideway direction, allowing a depleted core to be removed from the dispenser core through a vertical displacement and two laterally moving bearing faces. In the exemplary embodiment, the supporting face is located on a rotating cam; of course, by choosing a suitable transmission, this may also be a sliding cam. The same applies to the supporting area.

WO 97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 13 Instead of the switch member and the branch guideways, the cam plate may also be provided with a manually operable pawl for bringing a first-inputted roll into the dispensing position. Further, instead of an elongated member in the form of a bar or rod, other transmission means may also be provided, such as gear wheels and elongated chains or belts, which for instance convert the linear displacement of the bearing face into a rotation by means of a rack transmission.

Claims (4)

1. A dispensing apparatus for web-shaped material, such as toilet paper, wound into a roll around a hollow core provided with laterally projecting supporting journals, said apparatus being capable of receiving at least two such rolls, one in a dispensing position and at least one in a storing position, and comprising a housing with a frame part and a cover part which is pivotable relative to the frame part, said frame part comprising two opposite guideways for guidingly receiving the supporting journals and which extend from a roll input opening to a dispensing opening where the guideways end in bearing faces for the supporting journals, control means being present which keep the at least one roll in the storing position out of contact with the roll in the dispensing position and which release the roll in the storing position upon removal of a hollow core from the dispensing position, enabling said roll to move to the dispensing position, characterized in that the control means comprise an elongated member which forms, adjacent one end thereof, a bearing face and is attached so that upon the removal of the hollow core from the dispensing position, said bearing face is slidable in the roll input direction of the guideway, and spring means which urge the bearing face in the direction of the dispensing position and stop means which keep the at least one roll in the storing position and are coupled to the elongated member, the arrangement being such that during the displacement of the elongated member with bearing face and the accompanying displacement of the stop means coupled to the elongated member, said store roll is released and can move to the dispensing position.

2. A dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the elongated member is suspended so that during the displacement against the spring means in the roll input direction, the end with the bearing face can move WO,97/40732 PCT/NL97/00251 from the supporting journal perpendicularly to said direction.

3. A dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the stop means comprise a cam plate which is pivotally mounted on the frame part and which is provided with a supporting face pivotable from a position in which the guideway is blocked into a position in which the guideway is released, and which is further pivotally coupled to the end of the elongated member located opposite the end with the bearing face, the spring means coupled to the elongated member pressing the supporting face into the position in which the guideway is blocked and the displacement of the elongated member in the roll input direction having the result that the cam plate pivots so that the guideway is released and a store roll which priorly rested with a supporting journal on the supporting face can move into the dispensing position.

4. A dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the cam plate further comprises a supporting area for a supporting journal of a second store roll, which supporting area is spaced from the bearing face at a distance equal to approximately twice the distance between the bearing face and the supporting face and can be displaced from a position in which the guideway is blocked into a position in which the guideway is released, with the second spring means urging the supporting area into the position in which the guideway is released, the arrangement being such that after a displacement of the elongated member through the removal of a hollow core and, through said displacement and through swivelling of the cam plate, the release of the store roll that priorly rested with a supporting journal on the supporting face, the cam plate swivels back into a position in which the supporting face is in a position swivelled-through further than was priorly the case during the supporting of the store roll, in.which position the supporting area releases the second store roll