EP0283554A1 - Towel dispenser and process for operating it - Google Patents

Abstract

The towel dispenser expediently consists of two towel units, of which, however, each unit is fully operable on its own. In this case, the towel (7) is guided over a delivery cylinder (20) into a feed cylinder (25). When the towel (7) is pulled out to form a towel loop (8), the delivery cylinder (15) is also rotated and likewise the feed cylinder (25) via an envelope pinion (32). Arranged in the feed shaft (30) is a spring power store (36) which is stressed when the towel is pulled out. The length of the towel which can be pulled out is limited by a cam wheel (43) and a latch (44). Since part of the used towel which is wound up by the feed cylinder (25) can be withdrawn, the length of the clean towel to be pulled out can be kept smaller. After a certain period of time, a timer releases the latch (44), by which means the spring power store sets the feed cylinder (25) in rotary motion and the towel loop (8) is wound up. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a towel dispenser, consisting of at least one towel unit, which has a housing with a lid, with a dispensing point for receiving and unrolling a clean towel roll and with a pull-in point for pulling in and winding up the used towel part into a wrap, between which Output and the collection point a manually pullable and after a period of time retractable through the collection point towel loop is formed.

Towel dispensers are known in various designs. They all serve the purpose of providing a piece of cloth for drying the hands to dry the washed hands. In a known embodiment, the user has to pull a piece of fabric from the dispenser that he can use to dry his hands. A stop limits the length of this piece of fabric. The towel used for this is a band of a certain length, which is used up after a number of drying. With each change of such a band there is an interruption during which no towel is available for drying and which is shorter or longer depending on the monitoring of the towel dispenser. There are therefore known cloth towel dispensers in which an uninterrupted range of towels is available Use of two towel units is guaranteed, which are forcibly available one after the other. In the first used towel unit, the used towel can be replaced by a clean towel, while the second towel unit is ready for the user.

Although the known cloth towel dispensers work satisfactorily, there is still a desire for some improvements.

This is where the invention comes in, which is based on the object of further developing a fabric towel dispenser of the type described at the outset in such a way that it is simple and operationally reliable in terms of operation, and also has facilities for reducing the possibility of damage, while with regard to the comfort of the user, only clean pieces of fabric have to touch .

This object is achieved according to the invention in that an output roller which is rotatably mounted in the output point is connected via a gear and a spring force storage means to a feed roller which is rotatably mounted in the feed point, the pull-out roller also rotating when the towel loop is formed and tensioning the spring energy storage means. It is thereby achieved that apart from the spring energy store, no further power source is required, since the spring energy store is tensioned each time a loop is formed.

The invention also includes a method for operating the towel dispenser, the task of which is to operate the towel dispenser in an optimal manner. This object is achieved according to the invention in that the loop is formed by dispensing the clean wrap and by withdrawing the used wrap, both the dispensing from the dispensing point and the pulling out of the collection point being limited by stops.

• Fig. 1 eine Stirnansicht eines Stoffhandtuchspenders mit zwei Handtucheinheiten, wobei die eine Handtucheinheit im Betrieb und die andere Handtucheinheit betriebsbereit ist,
• Fig. 2 eine schematische Darstellung der wesentlichen Innenteile einer Handtucheinheit in räumlicher Darstellung,
• Fig. 3 eine Ansicht der linken Seitenwand - von der Frontseite gesehen - einer Handtucheinheit bei entferntem Seitendeckel,
• Fig. 4 eine Ansicht der rechten Seitenwand einer Handtucheinheit bei entferntem Seitendeckel,
• Fig. 5 eine schematische Darstellung der Einzugstelle einer Handtucheinheit mit einer Signalklappe und einer Bodenklappe in räumlicher Darstellung,
• Fig. 6 die Einzugstelle nach Fig. 5 mit ausgeschwenkter Signalklappe und
• Fig. 7 einen Schnitt der Einzugwalze in der Einzugstelle einer Handtucheinheit.

An embodiment of the cloth towel dispenser is shown in the figures and is described below. Show it:

• 1 is a front view of a towel dispenser with two towel units, one towel unit in operation and the other towel unit is ready for use,
• 2 is a schematic representation of the essential inner parts of a towel unit in a spatial representation,
• 3 is a view of the left side wall - seen from the front - of a towel unit with the side cover removed,
• 4 is a view of the right side wall of a towel unit with the side cover removed,
• 5 shows a schematic representation of the drawing-in point of a towel unit with a signal flap and a bottom flap in a spatial representation,
• Fig. 6, the feed point of FIG. 5 with the signal flap swung out and
• Fig. 7 shows a section of the feed roller in the feed point of a towel unit.

The towel dispenser 1 shown in FIG. 1 has two adjacent towel units 2, 3, between which a narrow transition frame 4 is arranged. The towel unit 2, 3 is essentially a cuboid body, of which - seen from the front side - only the cover 5, 6 covering the housing behind it is visible.

The towel unit 2 is shown in operation and with a cloth towel loop 8 visible on the underside of the unit 2, with which the hand drying can be carried out. Furthermore, a signal flap 10 is visible on the underside, which in the position shown enables the clean towel material to be pulled out and draws attention to the replenishment of the fabric when the fabric reserve is applied.

In the covers 5, 6, dashed-line housing walls 11, 12 are indicated, within which the mass transfer and the formation of the loop 8 takes place. There is thus a narrow space between the housing walls 11, 12 and the outer cover 13, 14, in which all drive and control elements are accommodated.

In FIG. 2, A denotes a dispensing point for receiving a clean towel roll 15 and E denotes a draw-in point below the dispensing point A for receiving and rolling up the used towel roll 16.

The clean towel roll 15 lies in a winding tray 18 which can be pivoted about an axis 17 and which is pulled upwards by spring force (not shown) insofar as the roll 15 permits this. The cloth towel 7 dispensed by the winding 15 is guided over the free edge 19 of the winding shell 18 around a delivery roller 20 provided with a rough circumference and then over a pressure roller 22, whereupon the cloth 7 is descending within the cover to the signal flap 10 (in FIG. 2 not shown) and then extends up to the feed point E. The hands are dried after the loop 8 has been removed.

In the feed point E, the used fabric towel is guided over a feed roller 25, likewise provided with a rough surface, on which the used towel roll 16 is wound onto a mandrel 26, which is held in a housing wall 11, 12 arranged guide groove is guided and can thus evade according to the growing diameter of the winding 16.

The pressure roller 22 in the output point A is guided in guide slots 28; the cloth guide ensures that when the loop 8 is formed, the output roller 20 is pressed and reliably set in rotation.

The output roller 20 is fastened on an output shaft 29 and the feed roller 25 on a feed shaft 30. The output shaft 29 drives a sleeve drive 32 via a slip clutch 31, consisting of a drive wheel 33, an output wheel 34 and a sleeve member 35, e.g. a toothed belt, wherein the driven wheel 34 is fixed on the feed shaft 30. The feed shaft 30 is connected to the feed roller 25 via a spring force accumulator 36. It would also be conceivable that the slip clutch 31 is arranged on the feed shaft 30 instead of on the output shaft 29.

On the other end of the output roller 20, the output shaft 29 drives a sleeve drive 38 via a slip clutch 37, consisting of a drive pinion 39, an output gear 40 and an enveloping member 41. The output gear 40 is seated on a shaft 42 with a cam disk 43 which is connected to a Pawl 44 cooperates. The cam disk 43 and the pawl 44 limit the length of the cloth to be pulled out when the fabric towel 7 is pulled out to form the loop 8. The pawl 44 is triggered by a timer, which will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

On the side of the feed roller 25 facing away from the spring force accumulator 36, see FIG. 7, a feed shaft part 45 is connected to a multi-stage gear 48 (only one stage shown). via which a brake wheel 50 is driven at a very high speed. The brake wheel 50 has the task of preventing the spring force accumulator 36 from relaxing when the towel unit is open and of blocking the feed shaft 30 when the timer is switched on.

FIG. 3 shows the view of the housing wall 11. The reference numbers that correspond to the reference numbers in FIG. 1 designate identical parts.

The envelope drive 32 and an intermediate wheel 52, which is part of a towel supply indicator 53, extend approximately diagonally. The arm 54 connected to the supply indicator 53 has a toothing 55 which interacts with a worm 57 attached to a shaft 56. The shaft 56 is connected to the intermediate gear 52 via a further worm gear 56 Zwischen, 57ʹ. As soon as the towel is pulled out to form a loop 8, the supply indicator 53 is also adjusted. A locking gear 58 with two disks 59, 60 having a Maltese cross-like engagement is assigned to the driven wheel 34 on the intake shaft 30, the disk 59 having a cam 61 and the disk 60 having a groove 62.

A shaft 63, which is tensioned by a spring 64, passes through the housing and forms a sensor for determining the presence of cloth. The towel runs between the sensor and a web arranged on the cover and extends further around the signal flap 10 (FIG. 1).

With 65 a locking rod is designated, which releases a bottom flap 81, see FIGS. 5 and 6 when the cover is opened, the axis of rotation 66 of which lies next to the axis of rotation 67 of the signal flap 10. The locking rod 65 prevents the towel unit from closing. If the lid 5, 6 is to be closed, the bottom flap 81 must first be snapped back in, the lid 5, 6 pressed against the housing and a locking hook 68 can be pivoted into the closed position with a key (not shown), the locking hook interacting with a locking member 68ʹ.

The reference numbers 69, 70 denote elevations in the housing wall 11, the indentations on the inside for accommodating the suspension of the winding shell 18 or for guiding the mandrel 26 in the feed point E.

Fig. 4 shows the view of the housing wall 12. On the output shaft 29 is a ratchet wheel 71, which prevents the output shaft 29 from rotating backwards by interacting with a resilient pawl 72. The drive pinion 39 of the enveloping drive 38 also sits on the shaft 29 - connected by means of the slip clutch 37. The drive pinion 39 drives the driven gear 40, on the axis of which the cam disk 43 is arranged. A pawl 44 is part of a swivel arm 74 which can be pivoted about an axis 73 and which carries a suction cup 75 and a brake roller 77. When the towel 7 is pulled out to form the loop 8, the suction cup 75 is pressed by the cam disk 43 onto a suction cup 76 and at the same time the cloth pull-out is blocked by the pawl 44. After the set time has elapsed, the suction cup 75 and another suction cup 76; the escapement wheel 50 is thereby released from the action of the brake roller 77. The cam disk 43 is released, so that the spring loop 36 in the pull-in shaft 30 starts pulling in the pulled-out loop 8. When the loop 8 is pulled in, the multi-stage gear 48 is set in motion by the feed shaft 30 and the brake wheel 50 is raised. During the compression of the suction cups, the brake roller 77 presses on the brake wheel 50 and prevents movement of the feed shaft 30.

If the cover 5, 6 is opened, a second brake roller 78 engages the brake wheel 50 and prevents the rotation of the feed roller 25 and thus the spring force accumulator 36 from running out. The brake roller 78 lies over a locking rod 80 which corresponds to the locking rod 65 and with which the the axis 66 pivotable bottom flap 81 is locked and when the cover 5, 6 is opened it is prevented from closing. The brake roller 78 is mounted on a pivot lever 83 which projects into the area of the locking shaft 85 carrying the locking hooks 68 and is controlled by a cam 84 arranged on this shaft.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the function of the signal flap 10 and the base flap 81 behind it, which can be pivoted about the axis 66. The bottom flap 81 has at its free end a rotatable roller 82, around which the used cloth towel 7 is guided. The bottom flap 81 is held in its working position by the locking rods 65, 80. As soon as the lid 5, 6 is opened, the bottom flap 81 is unlocked in the region of the rotatable roller. The locking rods 65, 80 shift somewhat in the direction of the cover, which can only be closed again when the rotatable roller 82 of the bottom flap 81 is brought into its operating position.

In Fig. 5 the signal flap 10 forms part of the floor and is practically not visible. This means that the towel unit 3, see FIG. 1, has been ready for use but has not yet been used. When used for the first time, the signal flap 10 swivels into the position shown in FIG. 6. The signal flap 10 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 67, while the shaft 67 is held by means of a lever 86 by a two-armed lever 88 in a position in which a spring 87 exerts a pivoting force on the lever 86. A two-armed lever 88 is operatively connected to a lever 89 fastened to the sensor shaft 63, see FIG. 4.

5 and 6, the sensor shaft 63 is shown with its sensor rake 90. As long as the cloth 7 covers the sensor rake 89, the lever 89 has a position in which the two-armed lever 88 holds the lever 86 of the signal valve shaft 67 in the tensioned position. As soon as the end of the fabric towel 7 has passed the feeler rake, the feeler shaft 63 swivels under the action of the spring 64, see FIG. 3, with the feeler rake 90 against the cover 5, 6, in which there are lockouts for the passage of the rake bars. Characterized the two-armed lever 88 is pivoted by the lever 89, so that the lever 86 of the signal valve shaft 67 is pivoted counterclockwise. This pivoting movement is used to bring the adjacent towel unit 3 out of the ready position shown in FIG. 5 by swiveling the signal flap 10 into the operating position. This can be accomplished in a simple manner by means of a square tube which is arranged on a square at the end of the signal valve shaft 67. A further connection to the towel unit 3 is not necessary.

Both the towel unit 2 and the towel unit 3 can be operated on their own. Only the cover in question is to be used. These covers are only to be replaced by the transition frame 4 and the coupling of the two signal valve shafts 67 is to be carried out simultaneously with the connecting pipe if the arrangement is common. When the sensor shaft 63 is swung out, a bumper 91 is also raised, by means of which the brake roller 77 is raised, so that the brake wheel 50 can be set in motion by the spring energy store 36, as a result of which the towel end is drawn into the pull-in point.

An aid when inserting a clean towel is approximately in the middle of the housing wall 12 shown in FIG. 4 in the form of a ratchet wheel 92, a spring-loaded pawl 93 interacting with the ratchet wheel 92 and a push rod 94. When the cover is opened, the push rod 94 becomes forward pushed, whereby the pawl 93 engages in the ratchet 92. If the beginning of the new fabric band is placed over the output roller 20 and the band is pulled out in order to put the end around the mandrel 26 of the feed point E, the cam disk 43 is also rotated. With each rotation, it moves the swivel arm 74, whereby the pawl 93 is removed from the ratchet wheel 92 and the ratchet wheel 92 is rotated by a tooth pawl 93ʹ. After passing through the, for example five teeth, the pawl 93 blocks the swivel arm 74, see FIG. 4. The unwound length of fabric is sufficient for inserting the beginning of the band around the mandrel 26 and thus does not need to be measured. If you continue to turn with force, the slip clutch 37 comes into operation and prevents a malfunction of the dispenser. This device not only makes it easier to insert a clean towel, but also prevents improper insertion or the use of force to damage the dispenser.

The section through the feed shaft 25 shown in Fig. 7 shows on the left side, i.e. in the area of the housing wall 11, the driven wheel 34, the disks 59, 60 of the locking gear 58 and a cover wall 95, which is omitted in FIG. 4. The driven wheel 34 sits on the feed shaft 30, which extends somewhat over the middle of the feed roller 25. A housing part 96 of the spring energy store 36 is fastened there on the feed shaft 30.

The feed roller 25 consists of two cylindrical parts 98 99, which are connected to one another by a coupling part 97, which also forms the other housing part of the spring force accumulator 36. In the area of the driven wheel 34, instead of the slip clutch 31 in the output shaft 29, a slip clutch 100 is installed, which consists of an outer housing 101 and an inner housing 102, a drag spring 103 being inserted between the two housing parts 101, 102. The slip clutches 31, 37, 100 mentioned here are expediently known slip springs, which slip when the limit torque is reached. In the same way is the Spring force accumulator 36 is a mainspring which is designed as a slip spring. Faulty manipulation and violent actuation of the dispenser are largely avoided by installing the slip clutches and the spring force accumulator of this type.

On the right side of the feed roller 25, i.e. In the area of the housing wall 12, part of the multi-stage gear 48 can be seen, via which the brake wheel 50 is driven. The gear 48 is provided with a cover 104, which has been omitted in FIG. 4.

With the cloth towel dispenser 1 described, an uninterrupted towel service can be guaranteed if the change of a towel wrap in time, i.e. as long as the other towel unit is in operation. Changing the wrap is easy and can be done quickly.

Claims (14)

1.Towel towel dispenser (1) consisting of at least one towel unit (2, 3), which has a housing with a lid (5, 6) with an output point (A) for receiving and unrolling a clean towel roll (15) and with a draw-in point (E) for pulling in and winding up the used towel part to form a wrap (16), a manually pullable towel loop (8) being formed between the delivery point and the pull-in point and being retractable after a period of time, characterized in that a in the dispensing point (A), the dispensing roller (20), which is rotatably mounted, is connected via a gear (32) and via a spring force accumulator (36) to a drawing-in roller (25) rotatably mounted in the drawing-in point (E), the towel loop (8) being formed the output roller (20) rotates and tensions the spring force accumulator. 2. Towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that when the towel loop (8) is formed, the feed roller (25) also rotates back. 3. towel dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the spring force accumulator (36) is installed in the feed roller (25). 4. Towel dispenser according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the output roller (20) is secured against reverse rotation by a ratchet wheel (71, 72). 5. towel dispenser according to one of claims 1, characterized in that between the output and the feed roller (20, 25) a slip clutch (31) is arranged, which allows the feed roller (25) to be turned back to return used material from the feed roll (16) when the loop (8) is formed. 6. towel dispenser according to claim 5, characterized in that between the pull-out and the feed roller (20, 25) there is a speed difference which can be compensated for by the slip clutch (31), the speed of the feed roller (25) being greater than the speed of the Pull-out roller (26). 7. Towel dispenser according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the feed roller (25) is assigned a slip clutch (100) and a locking mechanism (58), the latter the retraction path of the feed roller (25) and thus the length of the retractable cloth limited. 8. Towel dispenser according to claim 7, characterized in that the locking mechanism (58) is designed like a Maltese cross and has a disk (59) driven by the feed shaft (25) with a cam (61) which has a groove with an adjacent, temporarily stationary (62) combs for receiving the cam (60), in such a way that when the grooved disk is at a standstill, the cam disk is only blocked after at least one revolution. 9. towel dispenser according to one of claims 1, characterized in that on the output shaft (20), a gear (38) via a slip clutch (37) is connected, which rotates a cam disc (43) when forming the towel loop (8), the after abuts a number of revolutions of the output roller (20) against a pawl (44) and thereby blocks the output roller (20) and the feed roller (25) connected to it. 10. Towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that on the underside of the housing a signal flap (10) is rotatably mounted and is under the action of spring, through which it is pivoted into the visible position when first pulled out and thereby indicates the operational readiness of the dispenser and the absence of the fabric band 11. A towel dispenser according to claim 10, characterized in that the signal flap is in two parts, the part (10ʹ) which is firmly connected to the axis of rotation (67) being connected to the other part (10ʺ) by a latching connection which can be triggered at a certain force. 12. towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that when opening the housing for inserting a new cloth tape roll (15), a locking mechanism (92, 93, 93ʹ) comes into effect, which after release of a number of revolutions of the cam disc (43) and thus one certain fabric length, which is sufficient for inserting the beginning of the fabric band in the feed roller (25), blocks the further pulling of the fabric band. 13. The method for operating a cloth towel dispenser according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the towel loop (8) is formed by dispensing the clean towel roll (15) and by retracting the used towel roll (16), both the cloth dispensing from the issuing point (A) and the fabric pull-out from the collecting point (E) is limited by stops. 14. Towel dispenser according to claim 13, characterized in that when a towel loop (8) is first pulled out, the signal flap (10) is in the visible position is pivoted, the fabric band running over this flap, which becomes fully visible after passing the fabric end.

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