GB2149762A - Tissue dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispenser for tissues, paper towels, medical wipes, serviettes and the like comprises a container, which is approximately an open-topped cube with an opening 6 at the front. Tissues are placed in the container interleaved in a stack with their edges accessible through the opening 6. A plate 10 is then placed on top of the stack. Whenever the uppermost tissue is pulled out of the container it draws the next tissue part of the way out so that at any time the uppermost tissue sticks through the opening ready to be grasped. The plate 10 keeps the stack neatly pressed down and enhances friction between the top two tissues which assists in providing that pulling out the top tissue also pulls the next part way out. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tissue dispenser The present invention relates to dispensers for tissues, paper towels, medical wipes, serviettes and the like, more particularly to dispensers in which the tissues, or paper towels etc. are stacked in an overlapping manner so that each tissue is partially drawn out by the removal of the previous tissue.

A commonly used tissue dispenser is a cardboard box with an oval shaped hole parallel to the plane of the tissues, through which the paper towels or tissues etc. are dispensed. The box as purchased contains the paper towels, tissues etc. and is thrown away once empty.

Re-fillable dispensers for serviettes are available in which a spring presses all the serviettes towards an opening through which the serviettes are dispensed, the plane of the opening being parallel to the plane of each serviette, and the spring moving the whole stack forward as serviettes are dispensed. Such spring-pressed dispensers have been confined to serviettes which are customarily of stronger paper than disposable tissues.

According to the present invention a dispenser comprises a container, for containing a stack of disposable paper sheets (notably tissues or paper towels) to be dispensed, an opening in the container arranged for the stack to lie edge-on to the opening, with the opening exposing at least part of an edge of some or all of the sheets, and means for pressing on the stack so as to press together the sheets therein.

It is preferred for the compressing means to consist simply of a plate resting on the stack of tissues, paper towels etc. and pressing them together under its own weight.

Such a dispenser is distinguished from prior constructions in that the sheets are held edge-on to the dispenser opening. It may in particular be used for dispensing tissues which are no greater than either 20cm long or 15cm wide, or both. However, it is not limited to this and may be used for larger tissues, and for other interleaved sheets such as paper towels.

A specific embodiment will now be described in detail with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows a tissue dispenser according to the invention.

A container 1 is formed by a rectangular sheet of mild steel folded around a base 2 to provide upstanding walls 3,4,5, giving approximately a cube with an open top. The walls are the back 3, sides 4, and a partially open front consisting of vertical strips 5 which are extensions of the sides 4 folded into the plane of the front of the container 1. An opening 6 is bounded to its left and right by the frontal strips 5. The upper corner of each strip 5 is rounded.

Each side 4 is connected to the back 3 and a front strip 5 by a bevelled face 7.

The base 2 is a square plate with truncated corners to fit within the walls 3,4,5.

The plate has folded down flanges 8 along each edge spot-welded to the walls 3,4,5.

The container 1 rests on four rubber feet 9 glued onto the underside of the base plate.

A plate 10 is again square with truncated corners, and fits loosely within the walls 3,4,5. The plate 10 is not attached to the container 1 in any way. A clearance of about 2mm between the edge of the plate and the container is suitable.

For use the container 1 is filled with a stack of interleaved tissues. The interleaving of tissue sheets is known. Each tissue is folded into two leaves, the lower leaf lying between the two leaves of the tissue immediately below it and the upper leaf lying between the two leaves of the tissue immediately above it. Thus, the folds on the tissues alternate from one side of the stack to the other.

Stacks of interleaved tissues for the present dispenser are preferably supplied wrapped in a band of paper which covers the top and bottom of the stack, and the two sides of the stack which contain the folds in the tissues. The other two sides of the stack are left open exposing the edges of the tissue sheets.

One or two such packs 11,12 of tissues are placed in the container 1 with an open side facing the opening 6 so that the tissue sheets are edge-on to the opening. The uppermost tissue is pulled part of the way out of the pack 11 through the opening 6. The plate 10 is then placed on top of the top pack 11.

Whenever a tissue is removed by pulling it out completely, it draws the next tissue part of the way out of the pack 11. Consequently the tissue 13 currently at the top always sticks out of the opening 6 ready to be grasped.

The plate 10 resting on top serves to keep the stack neatly pressed down. It also enhances friction between the top tissue 1, and the next and assists in providing that pulling out the top tissue also pulls the next one part way out.

The plate is made of thicker metal than the rest of the dispenser in order to give it extra weight. A thickness of approximately 2mm steel has been found satisfactory.

It is not essential to remove the paper bands from packs of tissues when putting them in the dispenser, but obviously then the first tissue from the bottom pack 12 will have to be pulled out separately after the last tissue has been pulled from the top pack 11.

The plate 10 also shields the tissues from view, except through the opening 6, and thereby improves the aesthetic appearance of the dispenser.

When the container 1 is empty it may be readily refilled with one or two fresh packs of tissues.

The rubber feet 9 enhance friction between the dispenser and the surface on which it rests, and so help to prevent the dispenser from sliding as tissues are pulled out.

The embodiment of dispenser described above is simple to make, and to use. it provides a convenient means of dispensing tissues, and enables the immediate packaging of them to be reduced to a plain paper band instead of a cardboard box. It is convenient for relatively small tissues, such as ones which measure approx imately 10cm by 17cm when unfolded, for which a cardboard box might seem inconveniently small.

Claims (4)

1. A dispenser comprising a container, for containing a stack of disposable paper sheets to be dispensed, the container having an opening arranged for sheets in the stack to lie edge-on to the opening with the opening exposing at least part of an edge of some or all of the sheets, and means for pressing on the stack so as to press the sheets together.

2. A dispenser according to claim 1 wherein the means for pressing on the stack comprises a plate resting on the stack.

3. A dispenser according to claim 2 wherein the plate is a lid for the container.

4. A dispenser substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.