EP0825960B1 - Foil dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/CH96/00187 Sec. 371 Date Nov. 17, 1997 Sec. 102(e) Date Nov. 17, 1997 PCT Filed May 15, 1996 PCT Pub. No. WO96/36551 PCT Pub. Date Nov. 21, 1996The housing (11) of a roll of foil consists of a housing body (12) with a roll chamber and a holder guide and a cover plate (13), a holder guide cover (14) and a roll chamber cover (15a). The roll chamber has a dispensing slot (22) and the holder guide has a cutting slot (23). A cutting blade (17) protects through the cutting slot (23) and is fitted on a blade holder guided in the holder guide. With the housing (11) sufficiently inclined, the blade (17) moves under the force of gravity along the cutting slot (23) and cuts off the unrolled section of foil (10). Before, during and after cutting, the housing is held with one hand and the unrolled foil section (10) with the other.

Description

The invention relates to a film dispenser for storing rolled rolls Film web and for separating and dispensing end sections of the film web after Preamble of claim 1.

Films, especially plastic films, are used in households and hospitality businesses consumed in large quantities for various purposes. Usual so-called catering foil is used to cover containers with prepared food or leftovers or to pack food. Such films are available in different film thicknesses. In addition, there are foils that are microwave and / or oven heat-resistant or themselves particularly suitable for packaging frozen foods. It's also beautiful rotten film material known that does not have to be burned after use, but is compostable. In any case, such plastic film is for ecological reasons preferable to the aluminum foil used for similar purposes. This is often the case only used because their handling is easier. If only the plastic film Even as an extremely practical tool is valued, problems arise when unrolling and separating film sections from the rolled to a roll endless foil material that are larger than when using aluminum foil. The cutting off of foil sections with scissors, as is the case with sandwich paper, which is called Predecessors of the film can be viewed, was common, proves to be impractical with films. That is why such foils have long been in the form of rolls in cardboard boxes sold, which on the one hand serve to store the role and on the other hand aids for Detach sections of the film. These tools usually consist of one Saw bar in the form of a thin metal strip similar to the saw blade of a hacksaw. This saw bar extends openly along a box opening. Such foil boxes turn out to be quite impractical. Turn the cylindrical film rolls not looking too good in the boxes. As the saw bar to avoid injury must not cut too well, must be cut off on the pull the outer end of the unrolled film relatively strongly. This stretches or stretch the section of film to be separated before the film is finally along the Saw bar breaks. Because of this stretching of the film material, the curl afterwards separated film section in the overstretched area. Another disadvantage of these boxes, which are designed as disposable items is that they are proportionate result in large and metallically contaminated waste. In an effort to reduce the amount of waste to hold, relatively thin and therefore flexible cardboard is used. Seizes if these boxes are too strong, they will be deformed, with the result that the her lying role turns even worse.

Various devices have therefore long been offered which are not disposable products and the separation of film sections compared to that described above Separation process, should facilitate.

Some of these devices, like the box mentioned above, have longitudinal saw blades which the film sections are separated. This is how FR-2 697 822 A1 describes one Device with an elastically deformable plastic cover in which the roll is received becomes. One edge of the plastic cover is designed as a blade similar to a saw blade. Although this device is handy, it has several disadvantages. For example the film roll is not protected as it is not inside a housing located. In addition, the device in its normal design is only for right-handers suitable. For left-handers it is recommended to make a device of the same type.

Another device with a saw blade bar is the subject of EP-0 023 473 A1. The Device has a mandrel for receiving the core of the film roll, which between two plates is stored. The device can be used with a vertical or horizontal mandrel put up. The saw blade bar is also free from this mandrel between the Plates attached. In this device, the role is not protected, and the free-standing Saw bar is either too inefficient or dangerous.

In addition, devices are known, for example from EP-0 265 552 A1, in which the film rolls are housed in housings, usually made of plastic or wood. The Housings have dispenser slots through which a rolled-up film end projects into the open. The end of the film is fed through a cutting slot arranged parallel to the dispenser slot guided and with a transverse to the film material or parallel to the roll axis Knife cut off. These devices are relatively expensive and therefore expensive. Another disadvantage is that these devices on one Wall, for example a kitchen, must be attached. Kitchen walls are mostly with Providing ceramic plates and doweling such devices is therefore in rental properties undesirable. Occasionally, the devices on the ceramic plates are suggested to stick, but their weight, together with that exerted when the film was removed Traction, too high for a secure attachment by gluing in general. In certain Kitchens also lack the space to attach such a device to the wall. In addition, the replacement of the empty spool with a new film roll for wall-mounted Devices mostly cumbersome. Finally, it should also be borne in mind that in the kitchen hanging objects are always proportionate due to the fumes generated during cooking get dirty quickly.

For the above reason, an attempt has been made to create a device in the form of a housing to create, which has a knife device and thus easy separation from Film sections allowed without the device necessarily attached to the wall must become. Such a device is described in DE-43 08 135 A1. The device has an elongated housing with a roller space. This has a dispenser slot, through which the free end of the unrolled film runs out of the roll space. That end the film leads to the housing through a cutting slot that leads to the dispenser slot runs parallel. A knife is used to cut off end sections of the film a blade holder and a cutting blade protruding through the cutting slot, the two opposing cutting surfaces oriented in the direction of the cutting slot owns. The blade holder is in a holder guide separated from the roller space along the Cutting slot guided. This device has several advantages: The device leaves supply themselves in a cupboard or in a drawer and therefore hardly get dirty. The Roll is arranged in the stable, cylindrical roll room, so that it is protected and used Unrolling the film is easily rotatable. The knife works on both sides, so it doesn't have to be after each Cutting process to be deferred. The blade holder guide is from the roll room separated, so that by moving the knife no damage to the roll rolled film can be done. Nevertheless, this device also has a serious one Disadvantage, as can be seen from the following description of their handling: When removing an end section of the film, the device must be held in one hand be - unless you attach them to the wall, which you just have to avoid seeks. The second hand is required to operate the knife device. Now a third hand would actually be needed to close the cut film section seize. Due to the lack of this third hand, the severed end of the film falls off separating it down, for example on the table, where there is usually food and used dishes, or on the floor. Both are hygienic and undesirable for practical reasons. The disadvantage of this device is obvious.

Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a film dispenser which allows the clean separation of an end portion of the film in free space, whereby with one hand the film dispenser and with the other hand the one to be separated Foil section can be held.

This object is achieved by a film dispenser according to the preamble of the claim 1 and its characteristic features.

Based on the drawings, an advantageous embodiment is in the following description presented the inventive film dispenser and its function and handling is explained.

Figur 1:

Einen erfindungsgemässen Folienspender ohne Messer, in einer Explosionsdarstellung;

Figur 2:

Ein Messer des erfindungsgemässen Folienspenders;

Figur 3:

Gleitkufen in der Klingenhalterführung;

Figur 4:

Den in Figur 1 dargestellten Folienspender in Gebrauchslage mit einem teilweise abgetrennten Endabschnitt der Folie;

Figur 5:

Eine vorteilhafte Ausführung eines Gehäusekörpers.

It shows:

Figure 1:

An inventive film dispenser without a knife, in an exploded view;

Figure 2:

A knife of the film dispenser according to the invention;

Figure 3:

Skids in the blade holder guide;

Figure 4:

The film dispenser shown in Figure 1 in the use position with a partially separated end portion of the film;

Figure 5:

An advantageous embodiment of a housing body.

The film dispenser shown in Figure 1 has a housing 11 which consists of an elongated Housing body 12 is made. Whose end face is fixed with a cover plate 13 closed, and the second end face is covered by a partially removable cover device locked. This cover device consists of a holder guide cover 14 and a roller room cover 15 with spacer 19. The film dispenser also includes an in Figure 2 shown knife 16, which consists of a cutting blade 17 with two cutting edges 17a, 17b and a blade holder 18.

The housing body 12 is approximately drop-shaped in cross section. It contains a cylindrical one Roll room 20 for receiving a film roll, not shown, and one of Roller space 20 separate, parallel to him holder guide 21. The housing body 12 has a continuous dispenser slot 22 in the area of the roller chamber 20 which according to FIG. 5 projects the end section 10 of the film roll, which in FIG. 5 is being cut off. Parallel to the dispenser slot 22, the housing body 12 has in the Area of the holder guide 21 also through a cutting slot 23 through which in the assembled state of the film dispenser, as shown in FIG. 5, the cutting blade 17 of the knife 18 protrudes. As shown in FIG. 3, the holder guide 21 points in its longitudinal direction running runners 21a on which the blade holder 18 slides and is guided is. Alternatively, the blade holder 18 could also be provided with runners. The housing body 12 preferably consists of a section of an endless profile bar, for example extruded plastic. Leave correspondingly cut sections of the same profile material are suitable for housings and thus also for film rolls of various lengths. The cover plate 13 corresponds to the cross section of the housing body 12 and is, for example attached to the latter by gluing or welding. The holder guide cover 14 consists of a corresponding plate-shaped shaped piece which, like the cover plate 13 is firmly attached to the housing body 12. It covers that part of the end face of the housing body 12, which is not closed by the roller compartment cover 15. Of the Roller chamber cover 15 is round and is designed such that it can be easily removed, for example in the manner of a lid as used for medicine tubes, that is, with a rigid one Cover plate 15a and a kind of elastic bellows 15b or with an elastic ring element 15c.

The knife 16 shown in Figure 2 consists of the cutting blade 17 and the blades holder 18. The cutting blade 17 is fixed in a groove 18a of the blade holder 18 and has two knife parts facing away from each other. Their cutting edges 17a, 17b run 5 in the assembled state of the device 10 at an acute angle to the cutting slot 23 and are facing it. The blade holder 18 here consists of a sliding body same cross-sectional shape as the blade holder guide 21, so that it with little play in fits the same. It has damping bodies 18b on its end faces, of which in Figure 2 shows only the one on the left.

As shown in the embodiment according to FIG. 4, t is a run-up section in the housing body 12 24 formed for the knife. This run-up section 24 is necessary to remove the stationary knife 16 to be able to remove the web of the pulled-out film when it is unrolled and on outer edge of the housing body 12 is applied. But she has another, very important function, which is cardinal for the present invention and its function:

The film dispenser according to the invention is different namely from known devices by the fact that the knife is to a certain extent when the housing is inclined sufficiently by itself, i.e. without manual operation, moved along the cutting slot and so the unrolled, free end portion of the film separates. The knife moves in the blade holder guide is gravity operated along the cutting slot. For this, the Foil dispenser held with one hand while the second hand is free to the end of the Apply foil to the housing and hold it during and after its separation. The Start-up section 24 is therefore necessary as an acceleration section for knife 16 must be accelerated from standstill before starting the cutting process, that it is then despite the braking effect caused by the cutting resistance moved on. By choosing a housing body 12, the roll space 20 um is somewhat longer than the roll, the run-up section 24 can be designed as required. So that the role always remains at the correct end of the role space 20, in the area of Run-up section 24 of the spacer 19 is used.

If the process of cutting with the help of those acting on the knife Gravity is easy, so are the conditions under which it will run smoothly can, restricted. On the one hand, the component acting in the direction of the cutting slot the weight of the knife on a run-up track, along which there is still no film material to cut, the friction between the blade holder and the holder guide, initially even overcome stiction, which is higher than that here "Movement friction" is called sliding or rolling friction the knife can also be accelerated so much that it is despite the braking effect the film that it bounces on. On the other hand, the following must now Cutting section where there is no static friction on the run-up section like after the start of the knife, there is movement friction, in addition the cutting resistance of the film be overcome. The resistance to movement along the cutting path of the knife is greater than the static friction. The mass of the knife must be like this be chosen so that the force component acting in the direction of the cutting slot Knife weight and the inertia of the knife increases the movement friction overcomes the cutting resistance caused by the film material. In addition, the The starting distance must be dimensioned so that it enables the knife to accelerate sufficiently.

The dynamics of the knife is of course essential to the extent of the inclination of the film dispenser influenced. The steeper the film dispenser is held, the less it has to be Weight of the knife. But since the film dispenser is very steep, the There is a risk that the end section of the film to be separated is not clean and wrinkle-free can be placed on the outside of the housing, it is assumed that the film dispenser in a rather flat position, that is, with an inclination of its longitudinal axis of approximately 15 degrees or more but less than 75 degrees is used.

If the knife holder is provided with rollers, the movement friction consists of the roller friction, which is less than the sliding friction. The weight of the knife could therefore be smaller can be selected as for a sliding knife. Nevertheless, there is the less complex because structurally far simpler solution in designing the knife holder so that it can slidably moved along the bracket. The additional mass of material to be used falls Costs are significantly less significant than the relatively complicated Production of a rolling blade holder. There are also sliding blade holders less prone to failure than rolling blade holders.

As already mentioned, the run-up distance of the knife must be dimensioned so that the knife is accelerated sufficiently. Even without further measures, you get a certain, however very limited start-up distance due to the fact that the cutting slot has to be so long that the knife completely while unrolling an end portion of the sheet material and is at a certain distance from the area of the film web so that the In any case, foil, even if it is unrolled at a slight angle, when it is applied to the housing not in the knife rest area. If this route as a start-up route is not sufficient, the cutting slot and thus the entire housing can be extended accordingly be executed.

Since the housing, as just described, is longer than the roller in the axial direction, it is advantageous to arrange a spacer 19 inside the roller space, which at the same time serves as the roller axis and which therefore defines the axial position of the roller. As a spacer For example, if you use a spacer that can be inserted loosely into the roll space, which are arranged adjacent to one or the other end face of the housing leaves. By appropriate arrangement of the spacer in one or the other position the film dispenser can be set up for both right-handed and left-handed users.

If the knife is designed so that it moves smoothly, the blade holder in be formed in a plate-like manner. For example, the blade holder contain two sub-plates, between which the cutting blade is attached. A good solution also consists of forming the blade holder as a thicker plate and the cutting blade to be arranged in a groove in this plate. At most, the cutting blade and the Blade holder can be formed in one piece. To prevent the removable lid device 14 knocked away from the housing by the blade holder 18 hitting it is, and also to dampen the impact noise, it is advantageous to the blade holder 18 and / or the end faces of the housing on the mutually facing surfaces with To provide damping elements. To avoid injuries caused by the Cutting blade 17 projecting from the housing, it is favorable to design the cutting blade 17 in such a way that their cutting edges 17a, 17b run at an acute angle to the cutting slot 23 and face it are.

The housing is preferably designed such that it integrates the blade holder guide 21 contains. With the exception of the front parts, the housing can then be made from one section of an endless profile rod. It would be beneficial to have the film dispenser in different Offer colors to accommodate different qualities of film that are otherwise difficult to distinguish.

To prevent the knife when replacing an empty core with a new one 17 slides out of the housing, it is favorable, as already described, the lid device to be designed so that they consist of two parts, namely a roller chamber cover 15 and one Holder guide cover 14 is made, the holder guide cover 14 fixed to the housing body 11 can be arranged since the life of the cutting blade 17 is generally the Life of the film dispenser exceeds.

A particularly advantageous housing is shown in FIG. It consists of two different ones Profile pieces 25.26. One profile piece 25 forms the fixed housing part and the Blade holder guide, while a second profile piece 26 has a pivotable lid Open the housing so that a film roll can be easily inserted. The firm Housing part 25 can be closed laterally, that is to say on its end faces, with lids, which lock the entire front space of the closed housing. The swiveling Cover 26 is inserted longitudinally into a groove 27 on the other housing part 25, in which it is pivotable about the longitudinal axis of the groove. This cover part 26 is advantageously designed so that he swings on the other housing part 25 by means of snap locks locks. When the cover part 26 is open, the film roll is inserted into the housing that it can be rolled counterclockwise in the image shown and the End section through the dispenser slot 22 between the outer edge 28 of the cover part 26 and the fixed housing part 25 is formed. The knife 17 in turn protrudes from the Cutting slot 23 and is attached to the blade holder, which is in the blade holder guide 21st is easy to move back and forth.

Such a film dispenser according to the invention is simple, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use. It can be supplied in a space-saving manner, is easy to clean, easily refillable, easy to use and delivers precisely cut end sections the film without stretched areas. Because this film dispenser in every respect much more practical than the previously known devices, will certainly be increased Plastic films are used instead of the ecologically undesirable aluminum foil, which was often used because it has so far been easier to handle as a plastic film. Another environmental advantage of the film dispenser is that Replacement rolls are no longer in the elaborate boxes with the saw blade strips, but instead can be offered in much cheaper refill packs.

Claims (7)

1. Foil dispenser (10) for storing a foil coiled in the form of a roll and for cutting off and dispensing end sections (100) of the foil, with a housing body (11, 12, 25, 26), of which at least one face side is closed by a removable cover device (14, 15), such housing body comprising a roll chamber (15) with a longitudinal axle (A) for receiving the roll to be inserted, whereby the housing body (12) has a dispensing slot (22) parallel with the axle (A), through which the unrolled end (10) of the foil roll can be guided, and a cutting slot (23) parallel therewith, over which the unrolled end section (10) can be placed, as well as a cutting blade (17) of a knife (16), said cutting blade acting on both sides in the direction of the cutting slot (23) and being supported by a holder (18), the latter being movable in a holder guide (21) arranged along the cutting slot (23), characterised in that the blade holder guide (21) is designed as an integral part of the housing body (12) and extends in the longitudinal direction beyond the end of the adjacent foil roll in an extension (24) intended for receiving the blade holder (18) when not in use, such extension at the same time forming a start-up segment (24) for the knife (16) further that with sufficient inclination of the blade holder guide (21), the blade holder (18) with the knife (16) is displaceable along the blade holder guide (21) in a sliding or rolling way solely due to force of gravity, cutting the foil material placed across the cutting slot (23).
2. Foil dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that the blade holder (18) consists of a sliding body having the same cross-sectional shape as the blade holder guide (21), so that it fits into the latter with little play and that said blade holder has a groove at the top, with a blade (17) with two knife parts each having a cutting edge (17a, 17b) being inserted in said groove, whereby said cutting edges (17a, 17b) extend acute-angled relative to the longitudinal direction of the sliding body, facing the latter.
3. Foil dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the housing consists of two different profile parts (25, 26), whereby the one profile piece (25) forms the fixed part of the housing and blade holder guide (21) and is closed at its face sides with covers closing the entire face-side space of the closed housing, whereas the second profile piece (26) forms a swinging cover for opening the housing whereby said cover is inserted lengthwise in a groove (27) on the other housing part (25), in which said cover is pivotable around the longitudinal axis of said groove.
4. Foil dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the housing is formed by one or a plurality of sections of endless profile rods preferably made of extruded plastic.
5. Foil dispenser according to any one of clams 1 to 2, characterised in that the cover device (14, 15) for closing the open face side of the housing body (12) comprises a first holder guide cover (14) closing the holder guide (21), and a second roll chamber cover (15) closing the roll chamber (20), and that a spacing part (19) is inserted in the roll chamber (20) on the other face side.
6. Foil dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that the blade holder (18) has rollers, on which said blade holder is displaceable in the blade holder guide (21) in a rolling way.
7. Foil dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the blade holder (18) has dampening elements (18a) at its face sides.

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