EP0340124B1 - Device for distributing zig-zag-folded sanitary materials from flat wound webs - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an apparatus for automatically dispensing accordion-folded wiping materials from strips wound flat.

The object of the invention relates to the technical sector of devices for dispensing wiping materials of the paper, wadding, nonwoven and other types.

Many devices and devices are known which are designed to automatically or not distribute lengths of wiping material in public or private sanitary facilities.

These means use various materials: paper, wadding, nonwoven, which are endowed with a certain absorbing power. For essentially economic reasons, the materials used are becoming thinner and therefore more fragile.

When we want to make available to the user a device allowing automatic distribution of determined lengths of these types of materials by simple traction on an overhanging part of the device, we understand that taking into account the tensile strengths, as weak as they are, and the fact that the user has wet hands, it can happen with very fragile materials, to tear the strip pulled before the end of the distribution.

To eliminate any such risk, the depositor offers a device which automatically ensures the reliable distribution of the finest wiping lengths.

For this and according to a first characteristic, the device intended to automatically distribute wiping materials from strips wound flat comprising a support receiving the wiping material presented flat and wound on a reel, and a return member and flat conformation of the strip unwound from said reel inside the apparatus, is characterized in that it comprises means ensuring the accordion folding of the unwound strip and means for guiding and entrainment of said accordion-folded strip towards the outlet of the apparatus when the overhanging end is pulled manually.

According to another characteristic, the device is equipped with means for cutting the strip folded in accordion and pulled combined or not with the means for guiding and driving said strip and acting automatically or not when a determined length has been pulled of tape.

Another characteristic is found in the fact that the means ensuring the accordion folding of the strip unwound from the reel support consist of a plurality of elongated projections and arranged at regular intervals on the one hand on a fixed part of the device, and on the other hand, on a mobile part of the device; said projections being oriented to extend over the greater part of the width of the strip of material at their upper end and to converge towards the means for guiding and driving said strip at their lower end; the protrusions of the movable part being placed in the intervals of the protrusions of the fixed part when said movable part is applied against the fixed part, the unwound strip of the coil passing between the two series of protrusions.

According to another characteristic, the means for guiding and driving the strip folded in an accordion are constituted by at least two toothed wheels arranged in free rotation below the folding means and meshing together leaving the passage between them at said folded strip; said wheels being driven in rotation by traction on the end of the folded strip projecting under the apparatus.

To bring the strip unwound flat from the reel in good conditions between the accordion folding means, there is preferably provided on the movable part, upstream of said folding means, a deflection and conformation member extending in most of the width of the strip and arranged in an arc to orient the strip towards the point of convergence.

To avoid any risk of tearing of the strip unrolled under the effect of manual traction on the overhanging end, the return and shaping member is established with an elastic deformation capacity by itself or by its mounting on the device.

To load the device with a new reel and ensure the overflow under the device of a folded strip ready to be pulled, one of the toothed wheels is rotated by an auxiliary device, preferably accessible from outside the device.

The length of strip folded and distributed by the apparatus with the guide and drive means being substantially equal to the circumference of the toothed wheels when the cutting means are combined with said wheels, it appeared advantageous to provide the possibility of making vary this length according to the desired use.

For this, the assembly of guide means and cutting means is designed in the form of sets of interchangeable cassettes with toothed wheels of different diameters. These interchangeable cassettes contain all the elements necessary for guiding, driving and cutting the folded strips, that is to say the two sets of toothed wheels, the jaws of support and counter-support with the cutting member and their connecting members to the toothed wheels, the device's manual loading device and the stop and non-return members of the toothed wheels, said cassettes being engaged in guided sliding on the fixing support of the device and locked in position by any operable means.

According to another characteristic, the back teeth with full teeth have modules which are lower than those of the front teeth with broken teeth for positioning the support and counter-support jaws, so that the rear toothed wheels mesh between they play without play, while the front gear wheels mesh with a regular play allowing the passage of the folded strip.

Other characteristics are found in the fact that the serrated cutting blade is fixedly mounted inside the support jaw articulated elastically on its toothed wheel. and that the counter-jaw also hinged elastically on its toothed wheel, at the internal lower part has a projection intended to push the folded strip inside the support jaw, and at the internal upper part a median separation holding the strip between the two teeth of the cutting blade.

These characteristics and others will emerge from the description which follows.

• la figure 1 est une vue de face illustrant l'appareil selon l'invention avec capot enlevé et en position ouvert,
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe considérée suivant la ligne 2-2 de la figure 1 représentant l'appareil en position fermée,
• la figure 3 est une vue arrière avec coupe partielle illustrant l'appareil en position fermée,
• la figure 4 est une vue de détail à plus grande échelle et en coupe montrant le montage de la lame de coupe et son action selon une première forme de réalisation,
• la figure 5 est une vue semblable à la figure 4, montrant le montage de la lame de coupe et son action selon une autre forme de réalisation,
• la figure 6 est une vue en perspective à caractère très schématique illustrant une autre forme de réalisation de l'appareil,
• la figure 7 est une vue de détail en coupe montrant le montage du rouleau de matériau sur son support,
• la figure 8 est une vue en perspective illustrant le pliage de la bande de matériau obtenu avec l'appareil.
• La figure 9 est une vue en perspective illustrant séparément une cassette porte-mécanismes et le support de fixation de l'appareil.
• La figure 10 est une vue de côté illustrant schématiquement l'appareil selon l'invention fixé sur une surface horizontale.
• La figure 11 est une vue de face de l'appareil représenté avec l'élément porte-bobine et conformateur abaissé.
• Les figures 12, 13, 14 sont des vues avant illustrant la cassette interchangeable respectivement dans les positions de repos, au début de la coupe de la bande, et avant blocage anti-retour.
• La figure 15 est une vue en coupe considérée suivant la ligne 15-15 de la figure 14.
• La figure 16 est une vue en coupe partielle considérée suivant la ligne 16-16 de la figure 15.

To fix the subject of the invention without however limiting it, in the appended drawings:

• FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating the apparatus according to the invention with the cover removed and in the open position,
• FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the device in the closed position,
• FIG. 3 is a rear view with partial section illustrating the device in the closed position,
• FIG. 4 is a detail view on a larger scale and in section showing the mounting of the cutting blade and its action according to a first embodiment,
• FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, showing the mounting of the cutting blade and its action according to another embodiment,
• FIG. 6 is a very schematic perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the apparatus,
• FIG. 7 is a detail view in section showing the mounting of the roll of material on its support,
• Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating the folding of the strip of material obtained with the apparatus.
• Figure 9 is a perspective view separately illustrating a mechanism holder cassette and the mounting bracket of the device.
• Figure 10 is a side view schematically illustrating the apparatus according to the invention fixed on a horizontal surface.
• Figure 11 is a front view of the apparatus shown with the reel-holder and shaping element lowered.
• Figures 12, 13, 14 are front views illustrating the interchangeable cassette respectively in the rest positions, at the start of the cutting of the strip, and before non-return locking.
• Figure 15 is a sectional view taken along line 15-15 of Figure 14.
• Figure 16 is a partial sectional view taken along line 16-16 of Figure 15.

In order to make the object of the invention more concrete, it is now described in nonlimiting embodiments illustrated in the figures of the drawings.

The apparatus illustrated essentially comprises a fixed part (1) arranged to be suspended from a vertical support, a mobile part (2) articulated at (3) at the lower end of the part (1) and a closure cover (not shown) covering both parts. the fixed part (1) is formed by a bottom plate (1a) inclined in its height and by two triangular wings (1b) bearing against the vertical support delimiting a rear space intended to house mechanisms.

In its upper surface, the plate (1a) has a plurality (five for example) of protrusions (1c) elongated and arranged at regular intervals in a fan shape, that is to say a vertical central projection (1c1) and on both sides, inclined projections (1c2) extending from the outside towards the center, to converge together towards means for guiding and driving the material strip, which consist of either two toothed wheels, either of two sets of toothed wheels (4) - (5) and (6) - (7) mounted with free rotation on either side of the bottom plate (1a) and meshing together, while leaving the passage to the folded strip of material.

At the bottom, the plate (1a) is extended perpendicularly forward by a wall (1d) which is interrupted in the middle for the passage of the strip of folded material: the opening (1e) thus produced being profiled with wide rounded entry (1e1) to facilitate the engagement of said strip.

The mobile part (2) consists of an offset wall (2a) and two profiled wings (2b), the lower part of which receives the articulation (3) with the fixed part (1).

In the middle part, the wings are extended by a support (S) or by arms with elastic positioning equipped with means for centering with free rotation of the roll (R) of material to be dispensed.

The wall (2a) has, near its end opposite the articulation (3), a plurality (four for example) of projections (2c) of the same nature as the projections (1c) and positioned so that when the movable part (2) is applied against the fixed part (in abutment on the plate (1a) by supports (2b1) of the wings), the projections (2c) are arranged in the intervals of the projections (1c), as seen in the figures 2 and 3.

Note also that the projections (1c) and (2c) are convex in their length and their edge in contact with the strip of material engaged between them is rounded to facilitate the introduction, sliding and folding of said strip.

At the end opposite the articulation (3), the plate (2a) has a curved member (C) for returning and shaping the unwound strip before it passes between the folding projections.

This member can be a simple bead formed in the plate (2a), or as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, an attached member and constituted either by a curved tube (8) or by a series of rollers (9) which are mounted with free rotation on a curved bar (10) whose ends are directly or attached to the plate (2a).

To avoid any risk of tearing of the unrolled strip under the effect of manual traction on the part folded overflowing, provision is preferably made for a return and shaping member having a certain capacity for elastic deformation. For this, the bead, the tube or the rollers can be made of flexible material (FIG. 3) or else the bar (10) for mounting the tube or the rollers can be connected elastically to the plate (2a) for example by pivoting levers (11) with return spring (12) cooperating with the wings (FIG. 1).

When loading the device, the strip of material is unwound from the reel mounted on its support, then positioned on the return and shaping member and engaged between the movable part released from the fixed part until its end free overflows at the bottom of the device.

The movable part is then applied against the fixed part, thus initiating the folding of the strip by the projections (1c) and (2c). When the protruding end is pulled manually, the folded strip automatically passes between the guide and finishing sprockets of the folds which are then rotated to a determined stop point. The strip thus pulled can then be detached using a cutting member associated with the device and acting either by an independent manual action, or by the same pulling action oriented at the end of travel relative to the opening. passage of the strip, so that the end remaining in the device overflows to be accessible for a new distribution. In this case (not shown), the guide and drive means consist only of two toothed wheels meshing together.

However, in a more particularly targeted manner, we wanted to completely automate the distribution of folded strips, that is to say allow the user to obtain, with each manual pull on the projecting end, a determined length of bandaged. For this, the cutting member has been combined with the guide and drive means which then consist of two sets of toothed wheels (4) - (5) and (6) - (7) described above.

To this end, the toothed wheels (4) - (6) located at the front of the plate (1a) have clearances (4a) - (6a) interrupting the toothing. A squared support (13) is pivotally mounted at (14) by its middle part on the wheel (4) and one of its ends located in the recess (4a) receives at oscillation, at (15), a counter-support jaw (16) U-shaped.

Another squared support (17) is fixed on the toothed wheel (6) with one end located in the recess (6a) and on which is articulated in (18) a support jaw (19) in the form of U. The support (13) is resiliently recalled by a spring (20) in the position where the axis of oscillation (15) is furthest away from the axis of the toothed wheel (4) and the jaw (16) is also associated to a return spring (21).

In the jaw (19) and according to one embodiment, is mounted with free articulation (either on the axis (18), or on a different axis located above) a serrated cutting blade (22) with one or more teeth the rear end of which is housed in the recess (6a) and shaped so that when the toothed wheels are driven in rotation bringing the jaws (16-19) into contact with the extreme folds of the folded strip (FIG. 1), said rear end of the blade rests against one side of the clearance (6a) or a roller, thereby causing the blade to tilt against a return spring towards the folded strip in order to penetrate as and when measure the rotation of the cogwheels in the folded band, and thus detach it under the effect of the banding of the band by the cogwheels and the tension exerted by the traction (Figure 4).

According to another embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, the serrated cutting blade (22) is directly or attached to the toothed wheel (6) which has for this purpose a projection (6b) in the middle of the clearance (6a ). Said projection (6b) then receives the axis (18) of oscillation of the jaw (19) which can pivot in said clearance against a return spring (23), when it comes into contact with the opposite jaw (16) thereby releasing the cutting blade which can then penetrate the folded strip during the rotation of the toothed wheels.

In order not to mark the folds of the strip and to facilitate its passage, the teeth of the toothed wheels (4) and (6) have broad rounded shapes both in their profile and in their width. In this way, when the folded and pulled strip is detached, it partially unfolds quite naturally and the user can thus have a large wiping surface.

Note also that the axes (14) and (18) of pivoting of the jaws are offset downward relative to the center of said jaws in order to ensure the exact superposition of the support parts of the jaws as well as the firm tightening of the strip. folded for the duration of the cut with corresponding rotation of the gear wheels.

As can still be seen in FIG. 3, the complete toothed wheels (5) and (7) are subjected to the action of a spring (24) attached eccentrically and intended to store the energy necessary for cutting and at the launching of the toothed wheels after the cut of the pulled strip in order to reposition in overflow of the device the end of the next strip.

On the other hand, in order to avoid any backward movement of the toothed wheels, one of the toothed wheels (5) or (7) cooperates with a pawl (25) articulated elastically on the plate (1a).

To ensure in all circumstances the overflow of the end of a folded strip, provision is also made for the rotational drive from outside the device, of one of the toothed wheels. For this purpose, it is possible, for example, to pivot, resiliently to the plate (1a), a lever (26), the free end of which receives at oscillation a member (27) arranged with a profiled end (27a) intended to engage between two teeth under the manual action exerted at its other end (27b) accessible under the device.

The folded strip which is pulled with each pull ma nuelle, has a length corresponding to the circumference of the toothed wheels, this in the case where the cutting members are combined with the rotation of said wheels. To distribute different lengths of bands, provision is made for the set of toothed wheels, jaws, cutting blade in the form of sets of interchangeable cassettes with toothed wheels of different diameters.

To this end, the apparatus consists essentially of four distinct parts, namely: a support (A) for fixing relative to any surface, a spool-carrying element (B), a closure cover (D), and an interchangeable cassette (E) carrying all the mechanisms necessary for driving and cutting the strips previously folded into an accordion by conforming means established on the support (A) and on the reel holder (B).

The support (A) comprises a bottom plate (40) for fixing the device and two triangular wings (41-42). In the upper part of the bottom plate are distributed folding projections (43) of the strip which are intended to be inserted in the intervals between complementary folding projections (44) disposed on the element (B) reel, immediately below a member (45) for returning and shaping the unwound strip from the reel in the direction of the guide and drive means contained in the cassette (E). The member (45) is provided with a certain capacity for elastic deformation in order to avoid any risk of rupture of the strip under the tensile force. For this, the member (45) is mounted on a flap (46) carrying the projections (44) and articulated at (47) to the coil support (48), with the possibility of limited angular movement in the direction of traction (figure 11).

In its middle part, the reel support (48) has means (49) for centering and positioning with free rotation of the reel of wiping material, with adjustment or interchangeability possible for mounting reels of different widths. In addition, an annular crown (50) fi detachably attached to one of the means (49) is fitted with flexible tongues (51) pressing and pressing against the arms (48a) of the support in order to brake the unwinding of the new reel up to approximately half of its unfolding thus avoiding the formation of loops by reaction due to traction on the accessible strip.

the interchangeable cassette (E) consists of a parallelipipedic box (52) comprising a rear face (52a), two lateral sides (52b), a front face (52c) with central opening (52c1) for the passage of the strip to the loading, and a bottom (52d), the upper face opposite the bottom being open. The lateral sides preferably have, offset in width, a groove (52e) opening out at the upper part with an opening (52f) near said upper part. Slides (53) are fixed by their lower and middle part on the inner face of the wings (41-42) of the support (A) in order to engage in sliding guided cassette by its grooves (52e), until the openings (52f) abut against profiled projections (53a) formed near the upper end of the slides. Windows (41a-42a) produced on the wings at the level of the upper part of the slides, then allow under the thrust of the cassette, the erasing of the slides at this location and the engagement of the projections (53a) in openings ( 52f) thereby locking the cassette by elastic return of the slides (Figure 9).

At the upper end, the slides have massive shapes (53b) allowing the cassette to be unlocked manually by elastic spacing. In order to avoid any risk of the unlocked cassette falling and to facilitate handling, there is a device allowing the cassette to be released with one hand, while the other can hold the released cassette. For example and as illustrated in Figure 3, the slides (53) are extended beyond the projections (53a) to near the upper part of the wings (41-42) of the support. The bottom plate (40) has trans versally parallel guides (40a) in which are engaged by clipping bars (54) which can slide freely in the guides. Between said bars is mounted with free rotation on the bottom plate an eccentric lever (55) allowing by an angular displacement less than 90 °, the simultaneous spacing of the slides which can be housed in the windows (41a-42a) extended to this effect, and thus ensure the unlocking of the cassette at the projections (53a) and the openings (52f).

Between the front (52c) and rear (52a) faces of the cassette, two sets of coaxial toothed wheels are mounted for free rotation intended for guiding and driving the folded strip upstream, and passing between the two trains. However, in order to improve the operating conditions, the two pairs of toothed wheels are established with different modules. At the rear, the guide toothed wheels (56-57) with full teeth have a lower module than that of the drive toothed wheels (58-59). In this way, the guide toothed wheels mesh with each other without play, while the drive toothed wheels mesh with each other with a regular play allowing the passage without jamming of the folded strip and maintaining correctly face to face and without sliding the jaws support (60) and counter-support (61) which are mounted respectively with elastic articulation on a fixed support (62) and a mobile support (63) connected to the toothed wheels (58-59) at the clearances (58a -59a).

On the other hand, the drive gear wheels (58-59) have on the outside (figure (15) a rounded edge (58a-59a) facilitating the engagement of the strip when loading the device, while the the inside of the teeth is striated.

According to another characteristic, the drive of the folded strip is improved by particular arrangements of the jaws, namely: micro-asperities produced on the facing faces of at least one jaw, a projection (61a) formed at the part internal lower of the counter-jaw (61) which makes it possible to push the strip inside the support jaw and a central separation (61b) formed at the internal upper part to hold the strip between the two teeth of the cutting blade (64) fixedly mounted the jaw (60). We can still see between the toothed guide wheels (56-57) at the top and bottom, triangular raised areas (52a1) established on the rear face of the cassette to avoid engagement of the band in the guide toothed wheels and guide it towards the exit (F).

When the protruding strip is pulled and the cut made between two jaws (figure 14), the two sets of toothed wheels which are launched by a spring (65) attached eccentrically (figure 9) to the axis of the toothed wheel (59) continue their rotation to allow the exit of a new strip ready to be pulled. At the end of the stroke, a finger (61c) of the jaw (61) rotates the vertical branch (66a) of a lever (66) articulated on the front face (52c) of the cassette, and the other perpendicular branch ( 66b) of the lever engages between the toothed wheels (57) and (59) to abut against a projection (67) when the finger (61c) escapes from the branch (66a), and thus stop the train of toothed wheels. The lever (66) returned by spring returns to its initial position and the projection (61a) of the jaw (61) comes to rest against a non-return pawl (68).

The outlet (F) of the folded strip is delimited by a funnel formed by a triangle (52c1) of two inclined walls (69), two crazy side rollers (70) carried by the faces (52a and 52c) and a third front idler roller (71) carried by the reel holder (B).

Finally, an additional ratchet lever device (72) makes it possible to act on one of the toothed guide wheels to cause the strip of material to overflow when the device is loaded.

On the other hand, the rolls of wiping materials can have different widths. In order for the device to accept several formats, the centering devices of the coil are adjustable in spacing (by screwing or unscrewing in particular), either interchangeable like those illustrated in FIG. 7 where said members (28) and (29) can be either placed one behind the other with an intercalated flange (30) or dissociated, thus obtaining three distinct and more spacings , due to the elasticity of construction of the arms (2c).

Given certain space requirements, it may be necessary to provide another arrangement of the various elements of the device. FIG. 6 schematically illustrates another embodiment of the apparatus.

In this case, the fixed part (31) connecting with a vertical support is composed of a bottom plate (31a) and a perpendicular side plate (31b). The bottom plate receives the reel of material perpendicularly by a mandrel (32), while the side plate carries on the internal side and at its upper part the member (33) for returning and shaping the strip, on the external side a part of the folding projections (34) and the means (35) for guiding and driving the folded strip, possibly with the cutting members. At its lower end, the side plate hingedly receives a plate (36) carrying the complementary part (37) of the folding projections and allowing the passage of the folded strip for manual pulling.

Finally, a closing cover (38), equipped with a reel holding member (39), ensures the retention of the plate (36) against the side plate (31b).

The advantages are apparent from the description. In particular, the possibility of distributing all types of wiping materials, even the most fragile, is emphasized thanks to the folding accordion which very significantly increases the tensile strength and thus avoids untimely tears when the user has wet hands.

We can also cite the possibility of using materials of different widths due to the adjustment of the spacing of the coil support, the variable lengths of strips. folded by the realization of the distribution means in the form of interchangeable cassettes, the natural unfolding of the drawn bands allowing an efficient use, the complete automation of the device and its simplicity of manufacture and use; the interchangeable cassettes containing all the mechanisms, which makes it possible to easily distribute variable lengths of materials according to the diameter of the selected toothed wheels, and rapid troubleshooting by replacing the cassettes, as well as the possibility of fixing and operating the device in any position, i.e. by pulling the strip either vertically from top to bottom, or from bottom to top, either horizontally or at an angle.

Claims (31)

1. Apparatus for dispensing automatically wiping materials from flat rolled up webs, including a support (S) receiving the wiping material supplied flat and rolled up on a reel, and an organ (C) for the countermotion and the flat conforming of the web which is unwound from said reel towards the inside of the apparatus, characterized in that said apparatus includes means (1c) (2c) for the accordion-pleating of the unwound web, and means (4) to (7) for guiding and driving said accordion-pleated web towards the outlet of the apparatus when the protrudinp end is pulled out manually.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus is provided with means (16) (19) (22) for cutting the accordion-pleated web which is being pulled out, said means being combined or not with the guiding and driving means of said web, and operating automatically or not when a determined web length has been pulled out.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the means for the accordion-pleating of the web unwound from the reel support consist of a plurality of projections (1c) (2c) which are elongated and sisposed with regular spacing on the one hand on a fixed part (1) of the apparatus, and on the other hand on a movable part (2) of the apparatus, said projections being so directed as to extend along the greater part of the width of the web of material at their upper end and to converge at their lower end towards the means for guiding and driving said web ; the projections of the movable part being engaged within the spacings between the projections of the fixed part when said movable part is applied against the fixed part, the unwound web from the reel being passed through between the two series of projections.

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the means for guiding and driving the accordion-pleated web consist of at least two toothed wheels (5) (6) disposed for free rotation beneath the folding means and meshing together while leaving between them the passage therethrough for said pleated or folded web, said wheels being driven rotatably by pulling out the end of the pleated web projecting out beneath the apparatus.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that in order to bring the flat unwound web from the reel in a correct condition between the accordion-pleating means, the counter-motion and conforming organ (C) is fitted directly or in a.n inserted manner preferably on the movable part, ahead of the said pleating means, and extends along the greater portion of the width of the web, while being disposed in an arc of a circle for pre-directing the web towards the convergence point of the pleats.

6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, characterized in that in order to prevent ths risk of the unwound web being torn off under the effect of the manual pull on the protruding end, the organ (C) is established with a capacity of elastic distortion either inherent to the organ proper, or resulting from the mounting of this organ on the apparatus.

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that the means for the accordion-pleating of the unwound web from the reel support consist of a plurality of elongated projections (1c) (2c) disposed with a regular spacing on the one hand, on a fixed part (1) of the apparatus, and on the other hand, on a movable part (2) of the apparatus, said projections being so directed as to extend, at the upper end thereof, along the greater portion of the width of the web of material, and to converge at their lower end towards the means for guiding and driving said web, the projections of the movable part being engaged within the spacings between the projections of the fixed part when said movable part is applied against the fixed part, the unwound web from the reel being passed through between the two series of projections.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that the means for guiding and driving the accordion-pleated web consist of at least two toothed wheels (5) (6), disposed for free rotation beneath the pleating means, and meshing together while leaving between them the passage therethrough for siad pleated or folded web, said wheels being driven rotatably by pulling out the end of the pleated web projecting out beneath the apparatus.

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that in order to bring the flat unwound web from the rell in a correct condition between the accordion-pleating means, the counter-motion and conforming organ (C) is fitted directly or in an inserted manner preferably on the movable part, ahead of the said pleating means, and extends along the greater portion of the width of the web, while being disposed in an arc of a circle for pre-directing the web towards the convergence point of the pleats.

10. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9, characterized in that in order to prevent the risk of the unwound web being torn off. unfer the effect of the manual pull on the protruding end, the organ (C) is established with a capacity of elastic distortion, either inherent to the organ proper, or resulting from the mounting of this organ on the apparatus.

11. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1 and 2 together, characterized in that the means for cutting the accordion-pleated web consist of an assembly which includes two jaws (19) and respectively (16) for abutment for abutment and respectively counter-abutment on to the two terminal pleats of the accordion-pleated web, said jaws being mounted for swivelling with elastic return on supports (13) (17) which are made fast with guiding and driving means, the support (17) associated with the abutment jaw (19) being positioned fixedly on the toothed wheel thereof, while the support (13) associated with the counter-abutment jaw (16) is linked hingedly and elastically to the toothed wheel thereof, a serrated cutting blade (22) being mounted with free hinged linking on to the abutment jaw and in connection with the toothed wheel in order to penetrate the folded web being passed between the toothed wheels when the two jaws are facing each other, and to provide thereby the separation of the pulled out web.

12. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1 and 2 together, characterized in that the means for cutting the accordion-pleated web consist of an assembly which includes two jaws respectively (19) and (16) for abutment and respectively counter-abutment on the two terminal pleats of the accordion-pleated web, the abutment jaw (19) being mounted hingedly and directly on a toothed wheel (6), while the counter-abutment jaw (16) is mounted hingedly on a support (17) which is in turn linked hingedly to the other toothed wheel (4), a serrated cutting blade (22) being secured on the central projection (6b) of a cleared portion (6a) of the toothed wheel (6) in quxh a position that this blade will be retracted within the abutment jaw outside the cutting area and in front of said jaw when the latter is pivoted during the co-operation thereof with the other jaw in the cutting area.

13. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 2, 11 and 12 together, characterized in that the means for guiding and driving the accordion-pleated web consist of two sets of toothed wheels mounted on either side of a wall of the apparatus ; the first set, consisting of the toothed wheels (4) (6) supporting the cutting means, is provided with notches (4a) (6a) for the housing and the angular deflections of the jaws (16) (19), of the blade (22) and of the jaw supports (13) (17), the meshing being interrupted thereby, the second set being comprised of toothed wheels (5) (7) with a full range of teeth, accommodating each one in an offcenter manner an attaching organ for a connection spring (24) providing the storage of the energy necessary for the cutting and for dtarting the toothed wheels after the cutting of the pulled out web portion, in order to permit psitioning in protrusion of the next web portion.

14. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, characterized in that the teeth of the toothed wheels (4) (6) have substantial rounded portions, as well in their contour as in their width.

15. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 11 and 12 together, characterized in that the spindles (15) (18) for the swivelling of the jaws (16) (19) on the supports (13) (17) thereof are offset downwardly in order to provide their correct overlapping and the firm clamping of the folded web for the whole duration of the cutting operation, with corresponding rotation of the toothed wheels.

16. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 and any one of Claims 4 and 13, characterized in that for charging the apparatus with a fresh reel and providing the protrusion beneath the apparatus of a portion of pleated web ready to be pulled out, one of the toothed wheels is driven rotatably by a subsidiary device (26) (27) which preferably can be reached from the outside of the apparatus.

17. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1, 11 and 12 together, characterized in that for dispensing varying lengths of pleated web, the assembly including the cutting means and the guide means is made in the form of sets of interchangeable cassettes with toothed wheels of different diameters.

18. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 17, characterized in that the interchangeable cassette (E) is engaged for guided sliding on a support (A) and interlocked positionally with the aid of any means which can be easily operated.

19. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 18, characterized in that the cassette (E) formed by a parallelepipedic enclosure (52) is engaged for guided sliding on the support (A) by means of lateral grooves (52c) provided on the sides (52b) of said cassette , and co-operating with slideways (53) fixed partly onto the wings (41 - 42) of the support A, the interlocking taking place on completion of a stroke after the elastic collapsing of contoured projections (53a) of the slideways, by co-operation of said projections with openings (52f) of the grooves (52e), the unlocking of the cassette being performed by a manual spacing action on the ends (53b) of the slideways and by the engagement of said ends within windows (41a - 42a) of the wings of the support (A).

20. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 19, characterized in that the unlocking of the cassette by elastic spacing of the ends (53a) of the slideways is obtained simultaneously and with one hand only by means of a device including two small bars (54) housed for sliding motion within transverse guides (40a) of the bottom face of the support, an excenter lever (55) being mounted with free hinged linking between said small bars.

21. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus includes means for guiding and driving the folded webs, and that said means are in the form of two sets of coaxial toothed wheels (56 to 59) , the guiding toothed wheels (56 - 57) being establisshed with a lower module than the driving toothed wheels (58 - 59) in order to permit the guiding without backlash by the toothed wheels (56 - 57) and the passage with a regular backlash of the web folded or pleated between the toothed wheels (58 - 59).

22. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 21, characterized in that the driving toothed wheels (58 - 59) are provided on the external side with a rounded edging (58a - 59a), while corrugations inside the teeth facilitate the engagement of the web when charging the apparatus.

23. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1 and 21 together, characterized in that said apparatus includes for driving and cutting the pleated web, the means in the form of abutment jaw (60) and counter-abutment jaw (61), mounted in an oscillating manner on the toothed wheels (58 - 59) in order to be facing each other and to clamp the folded web at the time of the cutting of said web by means of a serrated blade (64) associated with the abutment jaw (60), the faces in contact of at least one jaw being provided with a plurality of asperities increasing the driving action on the web, and the counter-abutment jaw (61) being provided on the upper inside portion thereof with a projection (61a) for urging the web, and on the lower inside portion thereof with a means for median separation holding the web between two teeth of the cutting blade.

24. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1, 21 and 23 together, characterized in that said apparatus includes for driving and cutting the pleated web, the means in the form of sets of toothed wheels (56 to 59) on which the abutment jaw (60) with cutting blade (64) and the counter-abutment jaw (61) are linked hingedly, and wherein, after the cutting operation, said set of toothed wheels, started by an excenter spring means (65), is further rotated to permit the emergence of a fresh web portion, and is then stopped by the abutment of a projection (67) of one of the wheels onto one of the arms (66b) of a lever (66) linked hingedly and elastically on a face of the cassette, and which has been pivoted for this purpose under the urging action of a finger (61c) of the counter-abutment jaw on the other arm at right angles (66a) of said lever, the lever falling back when said finger is released from the arm (66a) and the projection (61a) of the counter-abutment jaw coming in abutment against a non-return pawl (68) linked hingedly and elastically on a face of the cassette.

25. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1, 21, 23 together, characterised in that the pleated web is guided towards the outlet of the cassette and of the apparatus by passing through a funnel (69) with in the lower part two lateral loose rollers (70) on the cassette and a loose front roller (71) on the reel-holder (B).

26. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said apparatus includes means (45) for the counter-motion and the conforming of the web unrolled from the reel, these means (45) being fixed on a flap (46) counted hingedly at the upper part of the reel support (B) with possibility of limited angular deflection in the direction of the pull.

27. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, including a reel supporting element (B) with means (49) for centering and positioning the reel on an adjustable width, characterized in that one of the means (49) is provided with an organ for braking the unwinding, for example with a crown wheel (50) fixed detachably and equipped with flexible tongues (51) abutting and pressing against an arm (48a) of the reel support, in order to brake the unwinding of the new reel up to approximately the half of the diameter thereof.

28. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 4 and 13, characterized in that one of the toothed wheels or sets ot toothed wheels co-operates or co-operate with a non-return pawl (25) linked hingedly and elastically on a wall of the apparatus.

29. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, characterized in that the reel support (5) is mounted elastically on the movable part and is provided with interchangeable or adjustable centering organs (28) (29) for accommodating at least two reel widths.

30. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, characterized in that the elongated projections (1c) (2c) for carrying out the pleating operation have contact faces with the wiping material wich are rounded, as well as a convex elongated contour to facilitate the introduction, the sliding and the folding.

31. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1,
characterized in that
the reel support (32) is disposed on a fixed part (31a) for connection with a lateral support, the reel baing placed at right angles to said fixed part, a side plate (31b) of the fixed part accommodating a part (34) of the pleating means, and the guiding and driving means (35) with possibly the cutting organs, while the complementary part (37) of the folding means is disposed on a plate (36) mounted hingedly on the side plate, the organ (33) for the counter-motion and the conforming of the web being disposed on the internal side of said side plate, and a closing bonnet (38) providing also the holding of the reel and of the hinged part (36).

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