CA2359130A1

CA2359130A1 - Paper roll dispenser

Info

Publication number: CA2359130A1
Application number: CA 2359130
Authority: CA
Inventors: Les Paukov; Jed Friesen
Original assignee: Englewood Ventures Inc
Current assignee: Englewood Ventures Inc
Priority date: 2001-10-12
Filing date: 2001-10-12
Publication date: 2003-04-12

Abstract

A paper towel dispenser, which has a housing with a top, bottom and side panels. The bottom panel has a forwardly, downwardly extending rear guide panel. A cover is pivotally attached to the housing and pivotal about pins positioned at a bottom of each side of the rear guide panel so that when the cover is pivoted to an open position an entire interior of the housing is accessible. A front guide panel extends along a bottom of the cover, parallel to and spaced apart from the rear guide panel when said cover is closed. A serrated edge extends along a bottom edge of the front guide panel. A pair of roll holders are located on either side of the chassis and are operative to hold a roll of paper and to permit it to be rolled in response to a pulling force on an end of the paper.

Description

PAPER ROLL DISPENSER
FIELD
The present invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing selectable lengths of paper towels which are severable from a continuous roll of paper located within a housing of the dispenser.
BACKGROUND
Numerous different types of paper towel dispensers are known. Many types have a side crank which the user must turn until a selected amount of paper emerges from the dispenser.
Then the exposed paper is manually severed by pulling it against a serrated edge at the exit from the dispenser. Obviously, the crank is a source of contamination of the hands of each user.
Another type consists of a stack of individual paper towels within a housing such that the bottom towel projects from the dispenser and can be pulled out by a user. The pulling out of the bottom paper towel causes the leading edge of the next one to be pulled out as well. The use of individual paper towels is more expensive and bulky than a single roll of paper.

Yet another type of dispenser is a ~~hands-free" type in which a roll of paper mounted within a housing has a portion of the paper projecting from a slot in a dispenser. Upon being pulled an action is initiated which results in a length of paper being ejected and automatically severed leaving the leading edge of the roll projecting from the slot as previously. Although some excellent dispensers of this type have been manufactured, they are relatively expensive and complex.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple, inexpensive paper towel dispenser that does not require a user to touch a wet or contaminated part of the dispenser.
SUNl~2ARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a paper towel dispenser which has a housing with a top, bottom and side panels. The bottom panel has a forwardly, downwardly extending rear guide panel. A cover is pivotally attached to the housing and pivotal about pins positioned at a bottom of each side of the rear guide panel so that when the cover is pivoted to an open position an entire interior of the housing is accessible. A front guide panel extends along a bottom of the cover, parallel to and spaced apart from the rear guide panel when said cover is closed. A
serrated edge extends along a bottom edge of the front guide panel. A pair of roll holders are located on either side of the chassis and are operative to hold a roll of paper and to permit it to be rolled in response to a pulling force on an end of the paper.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Many objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when this specification is read in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein like reference numerals are applied to like elements and wherein:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the dispenser opened with a roll of paper installed;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser empty with the front cover pivoted to an open position;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of two roll holders;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of a roll holder; and Fig. 5 is a front elevation view of the dispenser with the cover closed; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the teeth of the edge at the bottom of the dispenser against which paper towels are severed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS
Referring to Fig. 1 the dispenser 10 consists of housing 12, a cover 14 pivotally attached to the housing about pivot pins 22 (see Fig. 5). The housing 12 has a bottom panel 20 which bends downwardly into a paper guide back panel 21. A
pair of roll holders 16 positioned on either side of the housing 12 and attached to and support from a rear panel 41 (see Fig. 2) support a roll of paper 18.
The front cover 14 has an outer edge with a recessed interior shoulder 24 which, when closed, fits over an interior edge 26 and against an outer shoulder 28 to form a water resistant joint. A paper guide front panel 33 is formed by lower portion of the cover 14. Paper guide front panel 33 is positioned parallel to but spaced apart from paper guide back panel 21 when cover 14 is closed. Along the bottom of the paper guide front panel 33 are formed a row of teeth 34. A lock 32a is located on the top of the cover 14 and engages a lock receptacle 42 when the cover 14 is closed. An opening 37 in the paper guide front panel 33 is aligned with a corresponding opening 35 in paper guide rear panel 21 so that a leading edge of a paper towel can be gripped and pulled down by a user when the cover 14 is closed.
Referring to Fig. 2 each roll holder 16 has a four fingered end (see Fig. 3) which slides along a pair of spaced apart brackets 36 and 38 and through holes in the rear panel 41.
As seen in Fig. 3, each roll holder has a pair of outer fingers 48 and a pair of inner fingers 50 which have opposed hooks at a distal end thereof. A pair of thumbs 46 abut brackets 36 and 38 to prevent further forward movement of the roll holders into the holes in rear panel 41. The hooks on fingers 50 lock the roll holders against rearward movement out of the holes in rear panel 41. A large hole 47 (see Fig. 4) is formed in an arm 40 of roll holder 16. A rotatable cylinder 44 has an outwardly extending tapered shoulder 54, three openings 55, which are designed to allow flexibility of the walls of the cylinder 44 at the open ends so that they can be pushed into opening 47 until the shoulders 54 snap out and engage a bottom of the arm 40 around the opening 47. A backing panel 53 made of spaced apart parallel elongated rods is placed behind arm 40 and attached to it so that cylinder 44 is freely rotatable.
Four equally-radially spaced apart struts 52 interconnect cylinder 44 with a ring 45 so that arm 40 is constrained between shoulder 54 and ring 45. Arm 40 is sufficiently flexible so that it can be bent to allow mounting of a paper roll 18 while at the same time it is sufficiently rigid to maintain end pressure on the paper roll 18. Such end pressure is necessary to ensure there is some resistance to pulling out the paper and to enable a user to tear the paper against the serrated edge 34.
The serrated teeth shown in Fig. 6 are molded with the cover 14 from plastic and project down from a bottom edge of the front guide panel 33. Each tooth is spaced apart from adjacent teeth along the bottom edge and is made up of a wing shaped pair of elements with sharp corners proxirna.te an inner surface of cover 14. A rounded lip 60 at a bottom edge of the rear guide panel 21 prevents a user's fingers from contacting the teeth 34. The teeth allow the sharp corners to contact the paper as it is pulled upwardly and sever the paper without having to rip it from one side to the other as with conventional serrated edges.
Accordingly, while this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense.
various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description.
It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1.~A paper towel dispenser, comprising:
(a) a housing having a top, bottom and side panels, wherein said bottom panel has a forwardly, downwardly extending rear guide panel;
(b) a saver pivotally attached to said housing and pivotal about pins positioned at a bottom of each side of said rear guide panel so that when said cover is pivoted to an open position an entire interior of said housing is accessible;
(c) a front guide panel along a bottom of said cover, parallel to and spaced apart from said rear guide panel when said cover is closed;
(d) a serrated edge extending along a bottom edge of said front guide panel;
(e) a pair of roll holders on either side of said chassis operative to hold a roll of paper and to permit it to be rolled in response to a pulling force on an end of the paper;