GB2173475A - Continuous towel cabinet - Google Patents

Abstract

A continuous towel cabinet has a roller 14 associated with the withdrawal of clean towel, and associated with that roller a device 25, 38 for limiting the length of clean towel which is intended to be withdrawn at any one time. The limiting device has a stop position in which under normal pressure applied by the user to the towel for the withdrawal of clean towel further withdrawal of clean towel is precluded, and there is provided a friction connection between the limiting device and the associated roller which allows the roller to slip when excess pressure is applied by the user to the towel thereby allowing the further withdrawal of the clean towel. The connection thereby acts as a safety device to prevent the application of excess pressure tearing the towel or otherwise damaging the towel cabinet. The towel cabinet is particularly applicable for reinforced paper towel. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Continuous towel cabinets This invention relates to continuous towel cabinets.

It is usual to provide a continuous towel cabinet with a device for limiting the length of clean towel which may be withdrawn at any one time. The action of withdrawing a length of towel sets the device into a condition which prevents the withdrawal of a further length of towel until a short period of time has elapsed. The device then releases itself whereupon a further length of towel may be withdrawn to repeat the cycle.

British Patent No. 2096099 relates to a continuous towel cabinet having a holder for a roll of clean towel, an arrangement of rollers for allowing clean towel to be withdrawn and for soiled towel to be rerolled, and a limiting device which determines the length of clean towel which the user may withdraw. The limiting device operates on a cycle defined by two revolutions of one of the rollers during which a pin eccentrically mounted on one end of said one roller engages in turn two flanges on a plate mounted for vertical movement to lift the plate from a lowered release position into a raised stop position. The plate is held in this position for a fixed period of time by engagement of a sucker carried by the plate with a fixed sucker.There is also provided a stop on the plate which precludes further rotation of said one roller and thereby further withdrawal of clean towel until the suckers disengage allowing the plate to fall to its release position.

During the stop period no clean towel can be withdrawn. This means that if the user applies pressure to the towel in an attempt to achieve the withdrawal of further clean towel, the pressure applied may be sufficient to tear or otherwise damage the towel or even to loosen the cabinet fixing to the wall or other surface on which it is mounted. In practice, damage to the towel is more likely in the case of reinforced paper towel than cotton towelling.

According to the invention there is provided a continuous towel cabinet having a roller associated with the withdrawal of clean towel, and associated with that roller a device for limiting the length of clean towel which is intended to be withdrawn at any one time, wherein the limiting device has a stop position in which under normal pressure applied by the user to the towel for the withdrawal of clean towel further withdrawal of clean towel is precluded, and there is provided a connection between the limiting device and the associated roller which allows the roller to slip when excess pressure is applied by the user to the towel thereby allowing the further withdrawal of clean towel.

Preferably the roller associated with the limiting device is the roller or one of the rollers over which clean towel is withdrawn.

In an alternative embodiment the towel cabinet includes an arrangement of rollers for allowing clean towel to be withdrawn and for soiled towel to be rerolled, and a belt or chain drive between the roller or rollers over which clean towel is withdrawn and the roller or rollers associated with the re-rolling of the soiled towel, the roller which is associated with the limiting device being the roller or one of the rollers associated with the rye rolling of the soiled towel.

it is preferred that the connection between the limiting device and the associated roller is a frictional drive connection which permits the roller to slip relative to the limiting device under excess pressure applied to the roller.

Preferably the limiting device is associated with a plug disposed within one end of the associated roller and the connection is a bush between the plug and the roller. It is also preferred that the bush has a positive drive connection with the plug or the roller, and with the other a driving/slipping connection.

The bush preferably has a series of longitudinal grooves in its internal and/or external surfaces.

Preferably the bush is formed of natural rubber.

The towel cabinet may be used with any continuous towelling but is particularly suitable for reinforced paper towel.

By way of example, a specific embodiment in accordance with the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a continuous towel cabinet, one side wall of the cabinet being removed; Figure 2 is a section through the end of the front metering roller in which is fitted the drive connection to the limiting device; Figure 3 is an enlarged section along line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a cross-section of the drive bush before it is inserted into the front metering roller; and Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the drive bush.

Referring to the drawings, a continuous towel cabinet comprises a back portion 10 to which a front cover 9 is hinged. The back portion 10 incorporates two side walls 11 (only one of which is shown) from which a clean towel bin 12 is hung. Between the side walls 11 extend an arrangement of rollers which allow clean towel to be withdrawn into a loop 13 below the bin 12 and for soiled towel to be taken up into the cabinet and rerolled. At the upstream end of the towel path, the clean towel passes upwardly from the bin 12 over a metering roller 14, around a guide roller 15 and then downwardly into the loop 13. The roller 14 is a tube on which a roughened or rubber sleeve 60 is attached to provide a frictional drive to the towel.At the downstream end of the towel path, the soiled towel is rerolled on a roller 16 mounted in generally upwardly extended grooves 17 in the side walls 11 and which is driven by another roughened or rubber sleeved metering roller 19 through the outermost turn of the towel which has been rerolled. A toothed belt or chain drive 20 interconnects adjacent ends of the metering rollers 14, 19 which are of a similar diameter so that the length of soiled towel taken up onto the roller 16 is similar to the length of clean towel withdrawn at the front of the cabinet, whereby the size of the loop 13 remains constant. As the diameter of the roll of soiled towel increases the roller 16 slides up the grooves 17. A division plate 50 is provided between the rolls of clean and soiled towel, the ends of the plate being received in slots in the respective side walls 11 of the cabinet.

To limit the length of clean towel which is intended to be withdrawn at any one time, there is provided a device which acts to stop rotation of the metering roller 14 after it has turned through two revolutions. This limiting device is described in detail in British Patent Specification No. 2096099. It is therefore sufficient to state that the limiting device is associated with the opposite end of the roller 14 to the end engaged by the drive belt or chain 20 and comprises a plate 25 mounted for vertical sliding movement between guide bars 26 provided on the adjacent side wall 11.

Upward movement of the plate is effected in two stages by a pin 38 eccentrically mounted on the adjacent end of the roller 14 by a plug 51 described in more detail below (see Fig. 2). During one revolution of the roller 14, the pin engages an upper flange 28 on the plate 25 and thereby raises the plate from its lowered release position shown in Fig. 1 to an intermediate position. During the next revolution of the roller 14, the pin engages a lower flange 29 on the plate 25 to lift the plate from its intermediate position to its raised stop position in which a sucker 30 carried by the plate engages a fixed sucker 31.

The suckers 30, 31 hold the plate 25 in its raised stop position for a predetermined period of time. After that time, the suckers disengage and the plate 25 falls under gravity and pressure of a spring 37 into its release position. A further length of clean towel may then be withdrawn into the loop 13 and the cycle of operation repeated.

This invention concerns a modification which affects what can happen when the plate 25 is in its raised stop position.

In the previous arrangement described in British Patent Specification No. 2096099, when the plate 15 has been raised to its stop position, the front metering roller 14 can still rotate until the stop 38 engages a flange 43 on the plate. Thereafter further withdrawal of clean towel is precluded. If the user attempted to withdraw further clean towel, the pressure applied could be sufficient to tear or otherwise damage the towel or in an extreme case perhaps pull the cabinet off the wall or other surface to which it is attached. Both such possibilities are obviously undesirable, but the former, i.e. tearing of the towel, is quite likely to occur in practice especially if the towel is reinforced paper towel rather than cotton towel.

In the present embodiment, the modification comprises a drive connection between the stop 38 and the roller 14 which allows the roller to slip and thereby rotate after the stop engages the flange 43. Thereby any excess pressure applied to the towel by the user will not just be required to be absorbed by the towel but will continue to rotate the roller and thereby avoid the towel being torn.

This drive connection is the above-mentioned plug 51 which carries the stop 38 and which fits within the adjacent end of the roller 14 on the mounting shaft 48 of the roller.

Between the plug 51 and the wall of the roller 14 is a drive bush 52 of medium hard natural rubber fitted under compression, which has three longitudinal slots 53 in its external surface which engage corresponding internal ribs 54 on the roller and thereby provide a positive drive connection between the roller and the bush. The natural resilience of rubber from which the bush 52 is formed ensures that the internal surface of the bush provides a frictional drive engagement with the plug 51 until the stop 38 engages the flange 43, the roller and bush thereafter being able to slip relative to the plug.

The bush 52 also has a series of longitudinal grooves 55, 56 in its internal and external surfaces respectively which grooves allow the bush to expand and contract, in use, and thus at least resist the tendency for the internal surface of the bush to wear or polish to an extent that destroys the required driving/slipping characteristic. In some instances a different arrangement of grooves or other contouring may be required, but it has been found that the illustrated arrangement provides a desirable balance which achieves a driving/slipping engagement, self-adjustment to compensate for any wear and allows the bush to be formed by injection moulding.

The invention is not restricted to the specific details of the embodiment described above. For example, the invention is applicable to any continuous towel cabinet having a metering device actuated by one of the rollers which rotates during the withdrawal of clean towel.

Moreover, it may be desired to associate the stop plate with the rear metering roller 19, in which case the driving/slipping connection is applied to the rear metering roller instead of the front metering roller.

Claims (10)

1. A continuous towel cabinet having a roller associated with the withdrawal of clean towel, and associated with that roller a device for limiting the length of clean towel which is intended to be withdrawn at any one time, wherein the limiting device has a stop position in which under normal pressure applied by the user to the towel for the withdrawal of clean towel further withdrawal of clean towel is precluded, and there is provided a connection between the limiting device and the associated roller which allows the roller to slip when excess pressure is applied by the user to the towel thereby allowing the further withdrawal of clean towel.

2. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the roller associated with the limiting device is the roller or one of the rollers over which clean towel is withdrawn.

3. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in Claim 1, including an arrangement of rollers for allowing clean towel to be withdrawn and for soiled towel to be rerolled, and a belt or chain drive between the roller or rollers over which clean towel is withdrawn and the roller or rollers associated with the re-rolling of the soiled towel, wherein said roller which is associated with the limiting device is the roller or one of the rollers associated with the rerolling of the soiled towel.

4. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection between the limiting device and the associated roller is a frictional drive connection which permits the roller to slip relative to the limiting device under excess pressure applied to the roller.

5. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the limiting device is associated with a plug disposed within one end of the associated roller and the connection is a bush between the plug and the roller.

6. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the bush has a positive drive connection with the plug or the roller, and with the other a driving/slipping connection.

7. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6, wherein the bush is constructed to allow for wear and thereby is self-adjusting.

8. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in any one of Claims 5 to 7, wherein the bush has a series of longitudinal grooves in its internal and/or external surfaces.

9. A continuous towel cabinet as claimed in any one of Claims 5 to 8, wherein the bush is formed of natural rubber.

10. A continuous towel cabinet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.