EP2680731A1

EP2680731A1 - Appliance for dispensing pre-cut wiping material wound into a roll

Info

Publication number: EP2680731A1
Application number: EP12708885.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Maurice Granger
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-03-03
Filing date: 2012-02-09
Publication date: 2014-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 2032-02-09
Also published as: WO2012168581A1; ES2542410T3; US20130334272A1; FR2972108B1; FR2972108A1; US9872589B2; EP2680731B1

Abstract

The invention relates to an appliance for dispensing pre-cut wiping material wound into a roll, of the type comprising a casing (1) that holds a roll (E) of wiping material, said casing comprising a base wall (1a), two side walls (1b) and a supporting wall (1c) for the roll of material, said walls (1a), (1b), (1c) forming the outside walls of the casing, said casing holding a flap (2), articulated with respect to the casing, for guiding and unrolling the roll of material, and a cover (3), articulated with respect to the casing, that defines after closure a space between said flap and said cover in order to allow the output of the strip of material, said flap and said cover defining a space between one another for the guidance and output of the strip of material and for separating a sheet of material, said appliance being noteworthy in that the supporting wall (1c) for the roll of material has a profile comprising a central horizontal part (1c1) and, on either side, two oblique parts that are raised towards the front (1c2) and the rear (1c3) for holding, centring and keeping the roll (E) of material stabilized, and in that the front oblique part (1c2) is joined by way of its bottom part to the horizontal supporting part (1c1) and is set back with respect to the front end of the casing in order to define a volumetric space with the flap (2), allowing the operator to introduce and position his fingers in order to grasp the strip of material unwound from the roll in order to dispense a sheet of cut material.

Description

APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTOR OF WIPING MATERIAL PREDECOUPE WRAPPED IN COIL

The invention relates to the technical sector of devices dispensing wiping materials of the type of paper towel, toilet paper and the like.

The Applicant has designed and developed numerous dispensing devices for obtaining pre-cut wiping materials.

Various technical solutions have been proposed which have been described in the Applicant's patents identified as follows:

WO 2010/089467 and its development FR 1058449, WO 2010/063917, WO 2010/034915, WO 2010/007261, WO 2009/150342, FR 1058471, FR 1059244, FR 1060322.

Overall, these devices have a receiving housing wiping material from which is fixed a pivoting flap ensuring the return by its curvilinear upper portion of the strip of drawn material, and a cover hinged to the housing which can be arranged with complementary means cooperating with forms established on said flap to ensure the exit of the strip of drawn material and its cutting.

The Applicant has further wanted to optimize the design of the dispensing apparatus by allowing stable positioning of the material coil disposed at the bottom of the casing, and also facilitate the handling of said material strip by the operator in order to obtain a tape format of pre-cut flat material. The Applicant has thus wanted to improve the accessibility to the web of material for its manual entry by the operator, but also, in the event of a jam during the passage of the web of material between the shutter and the cover, to allow the breaking of the said material.

From this reflection, the Applicant has also sought, from the same technical concept, an implementation of the dispensing device to ensure the distribution of wiping material from a single reel of material, or from two reels of material, one being in use, the other being of reserve, to increase the capacity of use of the apparatus. This complementary approach has also been developed in the realization of a simple and practical device of use, with a minimum of components, and allowing a selection of the strip of wiping material to shoot under the best conditions.

According to a first characteristic of the invention, the dispensing apparatus of prewound wiping material wound in a coil of the type comprising a housing receiving a coil of wiping material, said housing comprising a bottom wall, two side walls and a support wall of the material reel, said housing receiving a hinged flap relative to the housing ensuring guiding and unwinding of the reel of material and a hinged lid relative to the housing defining after closure a space between said flap and said cover for allowing the exit of the web of material, said shutter and said cover defining a space between them for guiding and exiting the web of material and separating a format of material, said apparatus characterized in that the support wall of the material coil has a profile comprising a horizontal central portion and on either side two oblique portions elevated front and rear allowing reception, centering and maintenance stabilized of the coil of material, and in that the forward oblique portion is at its bottom part junction with the horizontal bearing portion, and recessed relative to the front end of the housing to define a volumetric space with the flap allowing the engagement and positioning of the fingers of the operator to enter the strip of unwound material from the coil for the distribution of a cut material format.

According to another characteristic, the dispensing apparatus is remarkable in that it comprises two compartments and separated by a transverse plate against which the shutter bears, and in that the shutter and the cover have central openings facing each receiving compartment of a coil of wiping material.

These and other characteristics will be apparent from the rest of the description.

To fix the object of the invention illustrated in a nonlimiting manner to the figures of the drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus according to the invention before mounting its components and positioning a reel of pre-cut material wound in a reel,

FIG. 2 is a view of the dispensing apparatus in the closed position, the reel of material not being shown,

FIG. 3 is a view according to FIG. 2 of the apparatus, the cover being open, the reel of material not being shown, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the dispensing apparatus according to FIG. 1 illustrating, after closure of the cover, the distribution of the band of wiping material. FIG. 5 is a view of an exemplary embodiment of the shutter in a first embodiment. Implementation,

FIG. 6 is an alternative view of the dispensing apparatus according to the invention,

FIG. 7 is a view of the dispensing apparatus in the open position after assembly according to FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is an alternative view of the dispenser arranged with two compartments allowing a distribution of strip of material coming from two different coils,

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the dispensing apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 7, showing the distribution of the strip of material,

FIG. 10 is a front view of the shutter in an alternative embodiment,

FIG. 11 is a front view of the shutter in another variant embodiment,

FIG. 12 is a view of a dispensing apparatus according to the invention, with two compartments with a selector device for controlling the distribution from one of the two coils, Figure 13 is a view of the dispensing apparatus according to Figure 12 in the closed position, Figures 14 and 15 are front views illustrating the positioning of the selector device according to the reel of material to be unwound.

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

The pre-cut wiper material dispenser is referenced as a whole by (A). The wiping material (E) is wound in a coil and can be used as paper towel, toilet paper, paper towel and more generally this sanitary and hygienic wiping material is intended to be used in public places or for private use by consumers or in communities of the type for example hospitals, clinics or others, or can be used in other industrial applications. The apparatus thus comprises a casing (1) comprising a bottom wall

(la) two side walls (lb) and a bearing wall (1c) of the material coil (E). The casing receives an articulated flap (2) guiding and unwinding the reel of material. A cover (3) is mounted hinged to the housing by pins (3a) cooperating with openings (ld) formed on the side walls (lb) of the housing.

According to the invention, the support wall (1c) of the material spool has a central (Here) horizontal part and on both sides two oblique parts raised before (lc2) and rear (lc3) according to the same tilt and thus allowing the reception and centering of the material coil. The oblique front portion (1c2) is at its bottom part junction with the horizontal central portion (Here) set back from the front end of the housing to define a volumetric space (V) with the flap (2) allowing the engagement and positioning of the fingers of the operator to grasp the strip of unwound material from the coil. In other words, the material coil (E) is properly centered and positioned on the horizontal support portion (Here) allowing control of its position and avoiding sloshing. The oblique parts (lc2) (lc3) are inclined with respect to the horizontal part (Here) according to an angulation a of the order of 30 to 60 °. The volumetric space (V) is therefore particularly important compared to the positioning of the flap (2) which is located in front of the housing. This space has a substantially triangular configuration along the entire length of the housing of the apparatus.

The flap (2) has an upper profile (2a) curvilinear configuration with end two fingers (2b) engageable in openings (1a) formed on the side walls of the housing. In the implementation shown in FIG. 1, the flap (2) has in its lower part a central opening (2c) of substantially circular configuration with on both sides a slot (2d) oblique of great depth. They thus define between the opening (2c) and the slots (2d) a tongue (2e). The flap (2) may have a flat shape or be arranged with curved areas as described in one of the previous patents of the Applicant.

The cover (3) comprises a locking device known per se and not illustrated to attach to the housing. The cover has on its wall (3b) facing the flap (2) a central opening (3c) of the same configuration as the opening (2c), and on both sides of said opening (3c) ribs protrusion (3d) which are likely to penetrate the slots (2d). These ribs have a drop-shaped configuration, with a rounded shape (3dl) located near the lower end of the lower part of the lid. The portion (3b) of the cover is extended by a wall (3) covering the casing, this wall may have a curved profile or have a framed configuration as shown in FIG.

In the variant of Figure 6, the housing remains identical to that described above. The flap (2) has the same arrangements except for the slots (2d) which are replaced by end tabs (2f) formed near the edges of said flap with slots (2g) between the tabs (2f) and the wall of the flap, said slots (2g) contribute to give elasticity to the flap during the pulling of the strip of material The cover (3) in this particular arrangement has on both sides of the central opening (3c ) flaps (3f) acting as stops for the wiping material. Slots (3g) are formed between the abutment portions (3f) and the side walls (3h) of the cover. Figure 8 shows a variant of the apparatus identified in Figures 6 and 7 with an arrangement in this case two compartments (cl) and (c2) separated by a transverse plate (lf). There are thus two compartments for receiving two coils of wiping material, two flaps (2) independent of one another and a single cover (3) to cover the entire housing when closing of the device. The lid has in this configuration two openings (3c) which are intended to come opposite each opening (2c) formed on each of the flaps. FIGS. 10 and 11 show two specific forms of flaps.

The shutter shown in FIG. 10 corresponds to that identified in FIG. 6. The shutter shown in FIG. 11 comprises on either side of its central opening (2c) two slits (2d) delimiting two tabs (2e) to allow the ribs to pass ( 3d) formed on the lid. At the end, the flap has tabs (2f) and slots (2g) as previously described. Referring to Figures 12-15, the wipe material dispensing apparatus is shown in a configuration with two compartments (c1) (c2) separated by a transverse plate (1f). We find the support part (the) as defined above. The transverse plate (1f) located inside the volume of the casing projects substantially outwardly beyond the front part (1c2) by constituting a projecting part (1f) with a front edge (1f2) constituting an abutment support. In this implementation, the flap (2) comprises between the central openings (2c) two parallel slots (2h) delimiting a tongue (2m) between them, said tongue being able to bear against the edge (lf2) of the plate cross. The two slots (2h) contribute to give elasticity to each part of the corresponding flap of each compartment (cl) or (c2).

In addition, and in an optimized implementation of the invention, the cover (3) is arranged to receive a selector (4) sliding from the outside relative to the cover (3) and established to move horizontally to close sometimes the opening (2c) of the shutter in relation to the compartment (cl) of the housing, sometimes the opening (2c) in relation to the compartment (c2) of the housing, and in a reciprocating back and forth movement according to the arrow (f). For this purpose, the cover is arranged with a horizontal recess of great length (3m) allowing the alternative movement of said selector (4). The latter thus includes a plate of vertical trapezoidal configuration (4a) with a ribbing (4b) in the upper part capable of moving in the recess (3m). An upper stop piece (5) makes it possible to control the movement of the selector by keeping it in a vertical position. This abutment piece (5) is either attached and fixed by means (5a) on the cover, or the cover and this part (5) are integrally formed during manufacture. The selector (4) further has in its lower part an inner lug (4c) which comes in the extension of the abutment portions (3f) formed on the cover. The trapezoidal configuration of the selector is used to completely close, to the right or left, one of the openings (2c) formed on the flap (2). It is thus understood that the operator chooses the reel of material to unwind by a simple horizontal manipulation of the selector according to the arrow (F).

The solution provided by the Applicant makes it possible to obtain a dispensing apparatus of very simple design with only three or four components depending on the presence or absence of the selector (4), namely, the casing (1), the flap (2), the cover (3). In all the embodiments, whatever the configuration of the shutter, of which several variants have been illustrated, the dispensing apparatus, thanks to the specific shape of the receptacle portion of the material spool, allows easy access to the operator by the fingers in the volumetric space (V) that has been defined with the flap (2). In all cases the seizure of the web of material is extremely easy without risk of injury to the fingers of the hand of the operator, the material being distributed flat.

Claims

R E V E N D I C A T IO N S

-1- Apparatus dispensing wound wiper material wound in a coil of the type comprising a housing (1) receiving a coil (E) of wiping material, said housing comprising a bottom wall (la), two side walls ( 1b) and a support wall (1c) of the material spool, said walls (1a) (1b) (1c) constituting the outer walls of the casing, said casing receiving a flap (2) articulated with respect to the casing guiding and unwinding the reel of material and a cover (3) hinged relative to the housing defining after closure a space between said flap and said cover to allow the exit of the strip of material, said flap and the said cover defining a space between them for guiding and exiting the web of material and separating a material format, said apparatus being characterized in that the support wall (1a) of the material reel presents a profile including a part horizontal side (here) and on both sides two oblique parts raised before (lc2) and rear (lc3) allowing the reception, centering and stabilized maintenance of the coil (E) of material, and in that the part front oblique (lc2) is at its lower part junction with the horizontal support portion (Here), and recessed relative to the front end of the housing to define a volumetric space with the flap (2) allowing the engaging and positioning the operator's fingers to grip the unwound material web from the reel for dispensing a cut material format. -2- dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the oblique portions (lc2) (lc3) are inclined relative to the horizontal portion (Here) at an angulation a of the order of 30 to 60 °, and what the volumetric space (V) with respect to the positioning of the shutter (2) which lies in front portion of the housing, has a substantially triangular configuration over the entire length of the housing of the apparatus.

-3- dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the flap (2) has an upper profile (2a) of curvilinear configuration, in its lower part at least one central opening (2c) of substantially circular configuration.

-4- dispensing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the flap has on either side of the central opening (2c) slots (2d) oblique with tabs (2e) to cooperate and allow nesting complementary shapes (3d) established on the cover (3) on either side a central opening (3c) formed on said cover. -5- dispensing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the flap (2) has end tabs (2f) formed near the edges of the flap with slots (2g) arranged between the tongues (2f) and the wall the flap, said slots contributing to give elasticity to the flap. -6- dispensing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the cover has on both sides of the central opening (3c) flaps (3f) making stop offices, slots (3g) being formed between the parts (3f) forming stops and parts (3h) of said cover. -7- dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises two compartments (cl) and (c2) separated by a transverse plate (lf) against which bears the flap (2) , and in that the flap (2) and the lid (3) have central openings (2c) and (3c) facing each receiving compartment of a coil of wiping material.

Dispensing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the transverse plate (1f) protrudes outwardly beyond the front part (1c2) by forming a projecting part (1f) with a front edge (lf2). ) constituting a bearing abutment, and in that the flap (2) comprises between the central openings (2c) two parallel slots (2h) delimiting a tongue (2m) capable of bearing against the edge (lf2).

-9- Dispensing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that the cover (3) is arranged to receive a selector (4) sliding from the outside relative to the cover and establishes to move horizontally to closing either the opening (2c) of the flap in relation to the compartment (cl), or the opening (2c) in relation to the compartment (c2) of the housing, and in a reciprocating back and forth motion.

Dispensing apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the selector comprises a plate of vertical trapezoidal configuration (4a) with in the upper part a ribbing (4b) capable of moving in the recess (3m), and in which an upper abutment piece (5) fixed with respect to the cover makes it possible to control the movement of the selector by keeping it in a vertical position, and in that the selector (4) further has in its lower part an inner lug (4c) which comes in the extension of the abutment portions (3f) formed on the lid.