GB2400362A

GB2400362A - A dispenser for rolls of toilet paper.

Info

Publication number: GB2400362A
Application number: GB0308368A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alex Trampolski
Original assignee: Englewood Ventures Inc
Current assignee: Englewood Ventures Inc
Priority date: 2003-04-11
Filing date: 2003-04-11
Publication date: 2004-10-13
Also published as: GB0308368D0; JP2004313261A

Abstract

A dispenser for rolls of toilet paper comprises a housing 10 having a rear wall having two rotatable spindles 12,14 mounted thereupon, a top wall, two opposed side walls, a pivotally connected front access panel 20 provided with a pair of rotatable knobs 27 each of which is axially aligned with one of the rotatable spindles when the access panel is closed so that a roll of toilet tissue may be mounted between each spindle and its corresponding knob, and a slidable bottom panel 24 coupled to the rear wall of the housing movable from a first position in which it allows access to a first toilet roll 17 mounted within the housing whilst preventing access to a second, to a second position in which it allows access to the second toilet roll mounted within the housing whilst preventing access to the first. The slidable panel may be configured so that is maintained in the first position until the first roll is depleted. The slidable panel may be provided with a bar 49 (figure 3, not shown) which, in the first position, engages with the spindle of the second roll so as to prevent it rotating and which in the second position engages with the spindle of the first roll so as to prevent it rotating. A ramp bracket 37 may be provided on an interior surface of the front access panel which allows the slidable panel to move from the first position to the second position but which prevents the slidable panel being returned to the first position without opening the front access panel.

Description

TWIN TISSUE DISPENSER

Field

The present invention relates to a tissue dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue of a type that holds two rolls of toilet tissue and dispenses from one roll at a time.

Background

Known twin or dual roll toilet tissue dispensers house multiple rolls with the spindles either parallel but spaced apart from a support wall or with the spindles perpendicular to a wall. With the latter type either there is no provision for rotating the rolls from the outside of the housing with the cover closed or, if there is, then there is no way of limiting the rotation of a roll not in use and filling up the inside of the housing with tissue paper.

Of the known twin roll dispensers, some have access to the rolls from the bottom controlled by a sliding panel which slides from a position below one roll to a position below an adjacent roll. Known sliding panels are supported from both the back of the housing as well as by an elongated member at the front that extends from one side of the housing to the other. Such elongated members tend : : . Be: ::: À::: ::À: to be fragile and result in a more complex and expensive structure. Another feature of known sliding panels is that there is no bias tending to inhibit movement of the panel from an initial position to a final position.

Consequently, any force applied to the panel can easily result in the panel moving from one side to the other by accident.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a twin tissue roll dispenser which is simple and inexpensive. It is a further object of the invention to provide a twin tissue roll dispenser which avoids the need for a sliding panel support member along the front of the housing. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a means for locking one spindle while the other one is free to dispense toilet tissue.

SUNDRY OF THE INVENTION

A toilet tissue paper dispenser having a housing with rear, top and side walls, a cover pivotally connected to the housing, a pair of rotatable spindles mounted on the rear wall of the housing, and a slidable panel slidably coupled to a rear wall of the housing, and located below the spindles. The slidable panel is movable from one side of the housing to another so as to expose for access a roll : : . À: À À À .. À À a À À a À À À of toilet tissue mounted on one of the spindles and block access to another roll of toilet tissue mounted on another one of the spindles. A pair of knobs is rotatably mounted on a front of the cover, coupled to respective ones of the spindles and operative to rotate each spindle when the slidable panel is on a side of the dispenser opposite to each spindle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself, and the manner in which it may be made and used, may be better understood by referring to the

following description taken in connection with the

accompanying drawings forming part thereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts: Fig. l is a front perspective view of the dispenser; Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of the dispenser with the cover open; Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view showing the rear and bottom of the dispenser; Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the exterior of the rear panel showing the sliding panel support features; and À ee. : e. À: À À À: Fig. 5 is a bottom view of one half of the dispenser with the sliding panel positioned on the other half showing the spindle and front actuator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

Referring to Fig. 1, the dispenser 11 is made up of a housing 10 and a cover 20 pivotally attached to the housing with pivot pins 42 on the sides of the housing 10 at the bottom of the dispenser 11. Rolls of toilet tissue paper 17 are mounted on spindles 12 and 14 (see Fig. 2) in the interior of the dispenser 11. Knobs 27 couple to the spindles and, when rotated, cause rotation of the spindles 12 and 14, except when the latter are locked from the rear.

A slidable panel 24 is moved from one side to another by the application of force to knob 34. Once a roll is empty a user can simply move the slidable panel 24 to the other side and expose the second roll for use.

Referring to Fig. 2 the rear of housing 10 is made up of two upper sections 21 and 23 and a lower section which is displaced outwardly with respect to section 21 leaving a horizontally oriented elongated slot 43 (see Fig. 3) between the two. A lower, horizontally aligned elongated slot 32 extends across the rear of the housing except for a small region at the center. A sliding panel À # À 24 has an underlying raised hand grip 34 and a raised plate 38 which extends up to slightly below spindle 14. As seen in Fig. 3 a pair of pins 51 affixed to an inside side edge of panel 24 extend through slot 32 at either end of panel 24 and retained within slot 32 by small flanges (not shown). Plate 38 has slots in its upper portion and an inner slotted portion extends through slot 43 to retain the panel and prevent it from rotating downwardly. An elongated toothed inner edge 26 engages a gear wheel 28 and provides resistance against rapid movement of the panel 24 towards the right as could happen if the panel were released part way through a movement from right to left and a biasing spring were installed between the housing and the panel 24. A tab formed in the housing having a slight inwardly projecting protuberance 36 serves to inhibit movement of the panel due to casual contact with a user.

Spindles 12 and 14 have serrated end edges which grip and interlock with similar serrated edges on small cylinders 50 and 52, respectively. Cylinders 50 and 52 are rigidly affixed to plates 54 and 56, respectively. Plates 54 and 56, in turn, are rigidly affixed to corresponding rotatable knobs 27. Ordinarily the interlocking serrated edges assist in ensuring that rotation of each knob 27 results in rotation of the corresponding one of spindles 12 and 14. Referring to Fig. 3, an elongated bar 49 is c.:. seee: ce. teeee. .e:e rigidly connected to panel 24 and slides horizontally from one side of the dispenser 11 to the other as panel 24 moves from one side to the other. In each position the bar slides under rear annular discs 61 and 63 below indentations in these discs so as to block the corresponding one of rear annular discs 61 and 63 from rotation. Since rear annular discs 61 and 63 are connected rigidly to spindles 12 and 14, locking of one of the latter discs causes the corresponding one of spindles 12 and 14 to become locked. Rotation of the corresponding knob 27 causes the serrated teeth to slide over one another and flex the cover 20 outwardly.

In operation a pair of rolls of toilet paper tissue 17 are mounted on spindles 12 and 14 with the panel pulled fully to the right. Spindle 12 is locked against rotation by bar 49 and plate 38 is blocked from movement to the left by the roll on spindle 14 until that roll is empty. With the cover 20 locked, the roll on spindle 14 is accessible from below and spindle can be rotated in response to rotation of corresponding knob 27. When the roll 17 on spindle 14 is empty, plate 38 is no longer blocked by the roll 17. A user can pull on handle or knob 34 to moved the panel to the left. A ramp bracket 37 on cover 20 resists this movement and causes the cover to flex outwardly until handle 34 clears an end of ramp bracket 37 : . .: I e À se. À c À À and then the handle is blocked from movement to the right at that point. A spring may be connected between a right hand end of panel 24 and a right hand end of the housing 10 to bias the panel to the right. While pulling the panel 24 to the left in order to expose the right hand roll 17, if a spring is used to bias the panel to the right a user may accidentally release the panel and it is then pulled rapidly to the right. Upon engagement by the teeth 26 with the gear wheel 30, the latter resists accelerated movement to the right and causes the panel to slow down, thereby protecting the user.

By providing access only to one roll at a time and only from below, the contamination risk of the paper is reduced.

Accordingly, while this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon

reference to this description. It is therefore

contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.

Claims

e 8 e c- e see À 8 e e À 8 8 8 8 8 C e e À À e 8 se 8 e À e 8 e. 8 e 8 e 8

e À e I CLAIM: 1. A toilet tissue paper dispenser, comprising: (a) a housing having a rear, top and side walls; s (b) a cover pivotally connected to said housing, said cover; (c) a pair of rotatable knobs mounted on said cover having toilet tissue roll engaging elements on an interior of said cover; (d) a pair of rotatable spindles mounted on the rear wall of said housing, axially aligned with said rotatable knobs, said spindles and said corresponding toilet tissue roll engaging elements positioned to rotatably engage toilet tissue rolls therebetween; (e) a slidable panel slidably coupled to a rear wall of said housing and located below said spindles, said slidable panel movable from one side of said housing to another so as to expose for access a roll of toilet tissue mounted on one of said spindles and block v. . À À À access to another roll of toilet tissue mounted on another one of said spindles; and (f) a slidable panel mounted on a rear wall of S said housing below said spindles and movable from one side of said dispenser to another so as to expose only one of said rolls of toilet tissue and block access to another.
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein said slidable panel has a raised plate which abuts a non-empty roll of toilet tissue when on said one side and blocks movement of said plate to said another side until said roll is empty.
3. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein said slidable panel has a bar which moves as said panel moves and, when in said one position, locks a corresponding one of said spindles and, when in said another position, locks another of said spindles.
4. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein said cover has a ramp bracket on an interior surface thereof, which blocks return movement once said panel has moved past said ramp. c # .

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5. A dispenser according to claim 1, including a braking element operative to slow said panel in the event of accidental release when said panel is biased towards said one side of said dispenser.
6. A toilet tissue paper dispenser substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.