EP0283554B1 - 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 Since part of the used towel which is wound up by the feed cylinder (25) can be withdrawn, the length of the clean towel to be pulled out can be kept smaller.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 cloth towel dispenser with at least one housing, in which an output point with a correspondingly mounted first winding roll with an unused towel, at least one enveloping drive and a feed point with a correspondingly mounted second winding roll for winding up the used in the area of a loop and after one Period of retractable towel is arranged.

From FR-A-2 226 964 a towel dispenser according to the preamble of claim 1 is known, in which a length-predetermined, clean towel section is drawn off from a supply roll mounted in the lower region of a housing and after use to form one in one Collecting chamber loop-like sagging portion is wound onto a storage roll mounted in the upper area of the housing. The supply roll is assigned an output mechanism, a drive mechanism and a timer mechanism provided with suction cups, and the storage roll is assigned a collection mechanism which is operatively connected to a drive mechanism via a first chain and to a clutch mechanism via a second chain. With this output device are the individual Functional elements, but in particular the control means, are designed and arranged with respect to one another in such a way that no additional pull on the towel has to be exerted by the user during the periodic, successive pulling down and drying of the hands. Special functional elements with which a violent pulling out of a towel section and thus damage to the dispensing device can be prevented are not provided in this dispensing device.

In the case of a towel dispenser according to GB-A-1 137 003, to form an unused towel loop, the towel is pulled out of a housing from a supply roll and a helical spring drive which is operatively connected to a take-up roll is pulled up and is locked during the towel dispensing . As soon as the user releases the clean towel, the take-up roll is also released and the used towel is wound up. With this device, the user must overcome the restoring force of the coil spring drive and at the same time exert a pull on the unused towel so that the towel loop is not wound up prematurely by the drive.

Another towel dispenser is known from US-A-3 563 623, in which the towel is pulled out of a housing from a supply roll to form an unused towel loop and a coil spring drive (torsion spring) integrated in a winding roll is pulled up. The winding roller, which can be locked by means of an associated lever system, is released via a timer unit essentially formed from two suction cups and an associated valve, and the used towel is thereby wound up.

The object of the invention is to design a cloth towel dispenser of the type explained in the introduction and to improve it in such a way that, while maintaining the exact provision of the unused towel in the user area and the retraction of the used towel loop, which is coordinated with the use, largely preventing a further towel section from being pulled out damage to the towel dispenser is prevented.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that an output shaft designed for mounting an output roller is arranged in the region of the output point and at a parallel distance from the first winding roller, and in that the output shaft is operatively connected to a first and a second slip clutch in order to achieve an overload limitation and via the the first enveloping drive puts a feed shaft arranged in the area of the feed point into operation, and that the feed shaft is designed to support a feed roller which is essentially connected via the used towel to the rotatably mounted second winding roller and has a spring force accumulator which works as a slip clutch and one in the feed roller arranged third slip clutch is operatively connected.

The design of the cloth towel dispenser has the advantage that the towel which is used to form the towel loop over the dispensing roller and over the feed roller which is operatively connected to it by the first enveloping drive - through the correspondingly assigned slip clutches which are essentially in operative connection with the two rollers - when being pulled out the towel a destruction of the individual functional elements caused by uncontrolled effort is largely excluded.

Another advantage is seen in the fact that with this cloth towel dispenser, when the unused towel is pulled out, a portion of the already used and wound up towel is simultaneously withdrawn without reaching the area of the user, which means that the length of the unused towel to be pulled out for the drying process is shorter can be held.

Further features of the invention emerge from the following description in conjunction with the drawing and the individual patent claims.

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:

Fig. 1

1 shows a front view of a towel dispenser with two towel units, one towel unit in operation and the other towel unit ready for operation,

Fig. 2

1 shows a schematic representation of the essential inner parts of a towel unit in a spatial representation,

Fig. 3

a view of the left side wall - seen from the front - a towel unit with the side cover removed,

Fig. 4

a view of the right side wall of a towel unit with the side cover removed,

Fig. 5

1 shows a schematic representation of the pull-in point of a towel unit with a signal flap and a bottom flap in a spatial representation,

Fig. 6

5 with the signal flap swung out and

Fig. 7

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 refilling of the fabric when the fabric reserve is used up.

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 first cladding drive 32 via a slip clutch 31, consisting of a drive wheel 33, an output wheel 34 and a cover 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 for the slip clutch 31 to be 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 second cladding 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 also supports a pawl 44 acts together. The cam disk 43 and the pawl 44 limit the length of the towel 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 first enveloping drive 32 and an intermediate wheel 52, which is part of a towel supply indicator 53, extends 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 ', 57'. As soon as the towel is pulled out to form the 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 68 '.

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 second sleeve drive 38 also sits on the output 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 swivel 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 towel 7 covers the feeler rake 90, 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 cloth 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 cutouts 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 can only be replaced by the transition frame 4 and the coupling of the two signal valve shafts 67 can be carried out simultaneously with the connecting tube if they are arranged in common. When the sensor shaft 63 is pivoted 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 one tooth by a further ratchet 93 '. 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 roller 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 and 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 in the feed roller, which comprises 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 in connection with the discharge roller 20 and the feed roller 25 are expediently known slip springs which slip when the limit torque is reached. In the same way Spring force accumulator 36 is a mainspring which is designed as a slip spring. By installing the slip clutches 31, 37 and 100 and the spring force accumulator 36 of this type, error manipulations and violent actuations on the towel dispenser are largely avoided.

On the right side of the feed roller 25, i.e. in the area of the housing wall 12, as shown in FIG. 7, a 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 (7)

1. Cloth towel dispenser having at least one housing in which there is arranged a paying-out position (A) with a correspondingly mounted first roll (15) with unused towel (7), at least one flexible drive (32) as well as a drawing-in position (E) with a correspondingly mounted second roll (16) for winding up the towel used in the area of a loop (8) and capable of being drawn in at the end of a space of time, characterised in that arranged in the area of the paying-out position (A) and parallel to and spaced from the first roll (15) there is a pay-out shaft (29) which is formed for the purpose of mounting a pay-out roller (20) and in that for the purpose of achieving an overload limitation the pay-out shaft (29) is operatively connected with a first and also a second slip coupling (31, 37) and by way of the first flexible drive (32) sets into operation a drawing-in shaft (30), arranged in the area of the drawing-in position (E), and in that the drawing-in shaft (30) is formed for the purpose of mounting a drawing-in roller (25) which communicates substantially by way of the used towel (8) with the rotatably mounted second roll (16) and is operatively connected with a spring energy store (36) operating as a slip coupling and also with a third slip coupling (100) arranged in the drawing-in roller (25).
2. Cloth towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that the first slip coupling (31) operatively connected with the drawing-in roller (25) by means of the first flexible drive (32) is formed such that when forming the loop (8) a small towel return can be obtained from the second roll (16).
3. Cloth towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that the first flexible drive (32), which connects together the shafts (29, 30) provided, in each case, with a corresponding driving or driven wheel (33, 34), has a transmission dimensioned such that the rotational speed of the drawing-in roller (25) is greater than the rotational speed of the pay-out roller (20).
4. Cloth towel dispenser according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that associated with the drawing-in roller (25) there is a locking gear unit (58) with which when forming the loop (8) it is possible to obtain a rotational movement of the drawing-in roller (25) limiting the length of the towel return.
5. Cloth towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that the pay-out shaft (29) is operatively connected with a second flexible drive (38) which when forming the loop (8) turns a cam disc (43) and in that the cam disc (43) after a number of revolutions of the pay-out roller (20) for the purpose of limiting the loop formation strikes against a locking pawl (44) and as a result it is possible to block the pay-out roller (20) and also the drawing-in roller (25) operatively connected therewith.
6. Cloth towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that arranged in the area of the drawing-in roller (25) there is a signal flap (10) which is pivoted on the housing and indicates the readiness for operation.
7. Cloth towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that there is provided a towel supply indicator (53) which when forming the loop (8) can be actuated by way of a correspondingly formed worm gear unit (55, 56, 56', 57, 57') operatively connected with the first flexible drive (32).

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