KR20000015803A - Folded sheet dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A lower unit discharging dispenser is provided to supply a folded tissue sheet and a paper towel sheet. CONSTITUTION: A dispenser (10) for individually dispensing sheets of material from a column (42) of sheets of material formed by a plurality of vertically stacked, folded sheets of material (46) is provided. The dispenser (10) is sized for receiving a plurality of vertically stacked, folded sheets of material (46) and includes a bottom surface (22), a forward wall (14) and a rear wall. The forward wall (14) and the rear wall are separated by spaced-apart sidewalls (18, 20). The bottom surface (22) defines a discharge opening (30) having a length dimension (A) greater than a width dimension (B). The discharge opening (30) is orientated such that the length dimension (A) is generally in a transverse orientation with respect to the orientation of the forward wall (14). The plurality of vertically stacked, folded sheets of material (46) within the housing are supported by the bottom surface (22). Each sheet (46) includes a leading edge (52) and a trailing edge separated by spaced-apart side edges (56). In the process of dispensing individual sheets from the dispenser (10), the side edges (56) of the sheets are urged inwardly by the width dimension (B) of the discharge opening as individual sheets pass through the opening (30).

Description

Folded Sheet Dispenser

The present invention relates to a folded sheet dispenser. In particular, the present invention relates to a bottom release sheet dispenser for feeding folded tissue sheets, paper towel sheets, and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a bottom discharge sheet dispenser for feeding mutually interposed bath tissue sheets.

1 is a perspective view of a dispenser with a specific portion cut away.

1A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along line 1-1.

2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a dispenser.

2A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 along line 2-2.

3A-3E are diagrams in the shape of various emission openings.

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the dispenser illustrating a feed flow suitable for multiple vertically stacked and interleaved sheets.

5 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1 illustrating the dispenser for use with a plurality of vertically stacked sheets supported in the dispenser.

The present invention provides a dispenser having a bottom surface defining an opening, such as a release opening. The opening has a length dimension longer than the width dimension of the opening. The opening is configured such that a web material such as a sheet of tissue or paper towel passing through the opening is narrowed by the width dimension of the opening.

In one embodiment, the dispenser may include a front wall and a back wall connected by spaced side walls. The back wall is configured to secure the dispenser to the support. In this embodiment, the length dimension of the opening can be placed in a transverse orientation with respect to the orientation of the front wall and preferably the length dimension of the opening is generally perpendicular to the front wall. In general, the shape of the opening may be characterized as rod-shaped, egg-shaped, star-shaped, dumbbell-shaped, clover-shaped, oval, keyhole-shaped, and / or rectangular. The shape of the opening can be characterized by another form as long as it is configured to narrow the sheet material through which the width dimension passes.

The material supplied by the dispenser may be a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets. Each sheet may comprise a leading edge and a trailing edge spaced by side edges connecting the leading and trailing edges. During the process of supplying this material, the side edges of the folded sheet are pushed inwards towards each other as the sheets pass through the discharge opening or converge by the width width of the discharge opening. In this way, it can be said that the sheet is "narrowed" by the width dimension of the release opening as the sheet passes or traverses the release opening.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a dispenser is provided for feeding sheet sheets from a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets. The dispenser includes a housing sized to receive a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets. The housing includes a bottom face, a vertically oriented front wall, and a vertically oriented back wall separated by vertically oriented side walls connected to the bottom face, front wall, and back wall. The bottom surface defines a sheet ejection opening having a length dimension greater than the width dimension. The length dimension is the orientation generally transverse to the orientation of the front wall. A plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets and a plurality of vertically stacked and interleaved sheets are provided in the housing and supported by the bottom surface. Each sheet includes a leading edge and a tail edge separated by spaced side edges. The side edges of each sheet are pushed inward by the width dimension of the discharge opening as the sheet is released from the dispenser through the discharge opening. In general, the shape of the release opening may be characterized as rod-shaped, egg-shaped, star-shaped, dumbbell-shaped, clover-shaped, oval, keyhole-shaped and / or rectangular.

Embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a bottom release tissue or paper towel dispenser 10 is shown. The dispenser 10 comprises a housing 12 sized to accommodate a supplyable material, preferably a plurality of folded sheets, particularly preferably a plurality of vertically stacked and interleaved sheets (see FIGS. 4A and 4B). do.

The housing 12 includes a front wall 14, a rear wall 16, and two side walls 18, 20. Preferably, the front wall 14 and the rear wall 16 are vertically oriented and separated by spaced apart vertically oriented sidewalls 18, 20. The back wall 16 is preferably shaped to adhere to a support surface (Figs. 4A and 4B) such as a wall in a conventional manner such as by bolts, glue, nails, brackets, screws. In this manner, the front wall 14 of the dispenser 10 is closest to a unitary body (not shown) in a relationship facing the front wall 14.

In one embodiment, the housing 12 further includes a bottom surface 22. Preferably, the bottom surface 22 is "bi-plane". That is, the bottom surface 22 is formed by two surfaces 24 and 26 that cross each other along the edge 28 at an angle greater than or less than 180 degrees. Surfaces 24 and 26 may be flat or curved.

The bottom surface 22 further includes a portion defining the discharge opening 30. The release opening 30 has a length dimension shown by the cutout line A and a width dimension B shown by the cutout line B. FIG. The width dimension B generally lies in a parallel orientation with respect to the orientation of the rear wall 16 or front wall 14 and generally lies in a transverse or vertical orientation with respect to the orientation of one of the side walls 18 or 20. The length dimension A lies in a transverse or vertical orientation with respect to the orientation of the rear wall 16 or the front wall 14 and in a parallel orientation with respect to the orientation of one or both of the side walls 18 or 20. This orientation of the opening 30 relative to the bottom surface 22 is also referred to as "front to back", ie the longer length dimension A of the two dimensions A, B is the rear wall from the front wall 14. Oriented in the direction up to (16).

A portion of the dispenser 10 is shown in cross section in FIG. 1A and the position of the opening 30 with respect to the bottom surface 22, in particular with respect to the surfaces 24, 26 is more clearly shown.

2 shows a dispenser 10A which is generally similar to dispenser 10 except that opening 30 is defined by the dimensions of surface 24 of bottom surface 22.

A portion of the dispenser 10 is shown in cross section in FIG. 2A, and the position of the opening 30 with respect to the bottom face 22, in particular with respect to the surfaces 24, 26 is more clearly shown.

3A-3E show several examples of the shape of the discharge opening 30. In Figures 3A-3E the individual length dimensions of each shape are shown by the cutout line A. In FIG. In Figures 3A-3E the individual width dimensions of each shape are shown by the cutout line (B).

In some examples, for example, cut lines B1 and B2 in FIGS. 3C and 3D illustrate individual width dimensions of various sizes within each individual shape. However, in these examples, the length dimension A is greater than the larger of the two width dimensions B1, B2.

The shape of the discharge opening 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be characterized as "rod". Referring now to FIG. 3A, shape 32 may be characterized as a “star”. The shape 34 of the ejection opening 30 shown in FIG. 3B may be characterized as "clover-shaped." The shape 36 of the ejection opening 30 shown in FIG. 3C may be characterized as "subdued". The shape 38 of the ejection opening 30 shown in FIG. 3D may be characterized as "keyhole shaped". The shape 40 of the ejection opening 30 shown in FIG. 3E can be characterized as "elliptical."

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, two columns 42 and 44 are shown, each comprising a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets 46, in particular a plurality of vertically stacked interleaved sheets. In particular, within each column 42, 44 each sheet 46 itself is folded in half so that the folded half captures the tail edge 54 of the immediately preceding sheet and the leading edge 52 of the immediately above sheet. . Each column 42, 44 is supported in the dispenser 48 by a support surface 22. Dispenser 48 is similar to dispenser 10, 10A. For illustrative purposes of the folded sheet 46, only the front wall 14, rear wall 16, bottom surface 22 and discharge opening 30 of the dispenser 48 are shown. As already mentioned, the dispenser 48 may be secured to a support surface 50, such as a wall, by firmly attaching the rear wall 16 to the support surface 50.

The interleaved folded form illustrated in Figures 4A and 4B results in a "front to back" sheet feeding continuation. In other words, referring to FIG. 4A, the portion of the seat 46 that extends through the opening 30 is closer to the front wall 14 than to the rear wall 16. As such, in Figure 4A, the seat 46 is at the "front" end of the front-to-back continuation. As the remaining portion of the sheet 46 (see FIG. 4B) extending through the opening 30 of the dispenser 48 is removed, the leading edge 52 of the next sheet 46 extends through the opening 30 ( 4B). The portion of this sheet 46 that extends through the opening 30 in FIG. 4B is closer to the rear wall 16 than to the front wall 14. As such, in FIG. 4B the seat 46 is at the "back" end of the front to back continuous.

Referring now to FIG. 5, dispenser 10 is shown in a supply operation state. A portion of the side wall 18 and the front wall 14 are removed such that a column 42 including a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets 46 located within the housing 12 of the dispenser 10 can be shown. . A plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets 46 are supported by the bottom surface 22.

As already explained, the length dimension of the ejection opening 30 shown by the cutout line A is larger than the width dimension indicated by the cutout line B. FIG. The orientation of the release openings 30 may be described based on the orientation of the length and / or width dimensions with respect to the front and / or rear walls 14, 16 and / or with respect to the side walls 18 and / or 20, respectively. have. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the length dimension A lies in a transverse orientation, preferably perpendicular, relative to the orientation of the front wall 14 or the rear wall 16 and generally has sidewalls 18 or 20. In parallel to the orientation of For example, another description of the orientation of the opening 30, which is the width dimension B, lies in a transverse orientation, preferably perpendicular, relative to the orientation of the sidewalls 18 and / or 20 and the front wall 14 and / or. Or in a parallel orientation with respect to the orientation of the rear wall 16.

5 shows a state in which a portion of one of the sheets 46 extends through the discharge opening 30. In particular, the leading edge 52 of the seat 46 extends below the opening 30 and a portion of each side edge 56 also extends below the opening 30. In the process of feeding the sheet 46 from the dispenser 10, the side edges 56 of the sheet 46 are pushed inward toward each other or as the sheet passes through the opening 30, Converges by the width dimension (B). In this manner, the sheet 46 may be said to be "narrowed" by the width dimension B of the opening 30 when the sheet 46 passes through or traverses the opening 30. According to the invention, the stack of folded sheets 46 is shaped such that the leading edge 52 extends across the opening 30 parallel to the width dimension B (ie perpendicular to the length dimension A).

Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily be able to make modifications, variations, and equivalent changes in these embodiments when understanding the above.

Claims (12)

And a bottom surface defining an opening having a length dimension greater than the width dimension, wherein the opening is configured such that the material passing through the opening is narrowed by the width dimension. The system of claim 1, further comprising a front wall and a rear wall connected by spaced side walls, the rear wall configured to secure the dispenser to the support, the length dimension of the opening being generally transverse to the orientation of the front wall. The dispenser, characterized in that the orientation. 3. The dispenser of claim 2, wherein the length dimension is generally perpendicular to the front wall. And having a bottom surface for supporting the material and supplying the material through an opening defined by the bottom surface, the length dimension being greater than the width dimension of the opening, the opening being such that the material passing through the opening is narrowed by the width dimension. Dispenser, characterized in that configured. 5. The dispenser of claim 4, wherein the material comprises a leading edge and a trailing edge spaced by the side edges, the side edges of the material being pushed inward by the width dimension as the material passes through the opening. 6. The dispenser of claim 4 or 5, wherein the material is defined as a plurality of vertically stacked interleaved sheets. The apparatus of claim 4, 5 or 6, further comprising a front wall and a rear wall connected by spaced side walls, the rear wall being configured to secure the dispenser to the support, the length dimension of the opening being A dispenser characterized in being generally transverse to the orientation of the front wall. 8. The dispenser of claim 7, wherein the length dimension is generally perpendicular to the front wall. A dispenser for supplying a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets, A housing sized to accommodate a plurality of vertically stacked interleaved sheets and having a vertically oriented rear wall spaced by vertically oriented side walls spaced from one another and a vertically oriented front wall; , Consists of a plurality of vertically stacked folded sheets in a housing supported by the bottom surface, The bottom face defines an opening having a length dimension greater than the width dimension, the length dimension being generally transverse to the orientation of the front wall, Wherein each sheet comprises a leading edge and a tail edge separated by spaced side edges, the side edges of the sheet being pushed inward by the width dimension of the opening as the sheet passes through the opening. 10. The dispenser of claim 9, wherein the length dimension is perpendicular to the front wall. The dispenser according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the folded sheet is a sheet interposed therebetween. The shape of any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shape of the opening is generally characterized by a shape selected from the group consisting of rod, egg, star, dumbbell, clover, oval, keyhole or rectangle. dispenser.