MX2011004653A

MX2011004653A - Absorbent sheet dispenser having improved hand sensor performance.

Info

Publication number: MX2011004653A
Application number: MX2011004653A
Authority: MX
Inventors: John S Formon; Scott Wagner
Original assignee: Sca Tissue North America Llc
Priority date: 2008-12-02
Filing date: 2009-10-28
Publication date: 2011-05-30
Also published as: CN102231962A; WO2010065215A1; CN102231962B; RU2011127133A; RU2508040C2; AU2009322874A1; BRPI0923221A2; EP2355682A1; CL2011000997A1; CO6361873A2; EP2355682B1

Abstract

A hands-free dispenser for dispensing lengths of absorbent sheet products, includes: a dispenser body containing a dispensing mechanism; a hand sensor for detecting the presence of a user's hand in the vicinity of the dispenser; an elongated metallic conductive element having a proximate end in electrical communication with at least one metal surface of the dispenser positioned at a first location relative to the hand sensor, and a distal end in electrical communication with at least one charge receiver positioned at a second location relative to the hand sensor, the second location being at a greater distance from the hand sensor than the first location.

Description

ABSORBENT LEAF DEPACHATOR THAT HAS IMPROVED OPERATION OF HAND SENSOR This invention relates to hands-free dispatchers for absorbent sheet products (preferably paper towels), and provides dispensers that have improved hand-held hands-free mode operation.

The present inventors have recognized that the presence of metal objects or surfaces in hands-free dispatchers, in the vicinity of the hand sensor, sometimes adversely affects the operation of the hand sensor. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0234868, the entirety of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein, discloses a hands-free dispatcher in which a capacitive hand sensor (proximity) is projected through an opening in the front cover of the dispenser, which allows the dispenser cover to have a metallic external surface.

When dispatchers are developed as described in US Published Patent Application No. 2007/0234868, it has been found that when the cover has an external surface plated with nickel, the operation of the capacitive hand sensor may be adversely affected, resulting in , for example, in decreased sensibility of the hand sensor, hypersensitivity of the hand sensor, and / or spontaneous interruption of the hand sensor. Additional problems may arise due to the buildup of static electricity on the metal parts of the dispenser and / or surfaces, which can result in problems such as double feeding of the absorbent sheet through the internal rollers of the dispenser, spontaneous interruption of the sensor. hands, and paper uncontrolled assortment.

The present inventors have discovered that one or more of these problems can be mitigated by providing a conductive path from one or more of the metal surfaces that interferes with the intended operation of the dispenser, to a load receptor that is located further away from the hand sensor that metal surfaces that interfere.

The invention is preferably applied to hands-free dispatchers using capacitive proximity sensors for hand detection, as described for example in U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0234868, but it can also be applied to dispatchers who they use hand sensors that operate on different detection principles, such as active or passive infrared hand sensors.

The invention preferably attracts load away from a metallized front cover and / or a metal dispensing roll mounted within the dispenser housing, but it will be appreciated that the invention can attract charge away from any metal surface or component of the dispenser, or away of any metal item near the dispenser, which interferes with the intended manner of operation of the dispenser.

In a preferred embodiment, a conductive wire is mounted within the dispenser housing, and electrically connected at one end to both, a metallized dispenser cover and a rotating aluminum grip roller mounted within the dispenser. The wire is preferably housed in plastic or other intermediate insulating material at its exposed ends. The wire is preferably connected at its other end exposed to a negative terminal of the battery compartment that retains the batteries that activate the dispenser. This mode provides a self-contained conductive path that does not complicate the installation of the dispenser; and even though the wire does not serve to ground the metal surfaces to any object outside the dispenser, it does nevertheless provide improved hand sensor performance by providing a conductive path between the interfering metal surfaces and the battery compartment positioned more toward behind.

When the conductive element is connected at its proximal end to a movable member such as a nip roll, the electrical contact will be established by appropriate means such as a metal brush element. When the conductive element is connected at its proximal end to the dispenser cover, it is preferred that the electrical contact occur through the intermediate of a conductive element such as a metal spring that is mounted on the dispenser body, and that is in contact electrical with the dispenser cover only when the cover is closed.

It will be appreciated that interfering metal surfaces and components will typically not be connected to the load receptor other than the conductive element in accordance with the invention. For example, a wire that supplies driving current to an electric motor would not be a conductive element in accordance with the invention, because said wire is present for the normal operation of the motor. The metal surfaces interfering in accordance with the invention, therefore, those not necessarily connected to the load receptor, be the battery compartment or other load receptor, for its conventional operation.

It will be appreciated that the conductive path may take different forms from that of a wire, for example, a metallic element mounted to an interior surface of the dispenser body. Said metallic element, either in the form of a wire or flexible plate, may be housed in the intermediate insulating material at the connections to the interfering surfaces and the load receptor, or may be exposed in these intermediate regions. In another embodiment, inner brackets are formed in the dispenser body at the time of injection molding thereof, and the conductive element is placed in these brackets. The brackets may retain a conductive element that has already been provided with an insulating cover, or the brackets themselves may provide an insulating cover that partially or completely covers an otherwise exposed conductive element.

As noted above, the load receptor is the negative terminal of the battery compartment in an embodiment of the invention, which uses the batteries as a charge sink when the dispenser is in operation. However, the load receptor can take the form of other metallic elements either inside or outside the dispenser housing, as long as said load receptor is placed at a greater distance from the hand sensor than the metal surfaces interfering with the that the conductive element is connected at its other end. However, it is preferred that the carqa receptor be a metal component within the dispenser housing, in light of the benefits described above.

The invention is applicable not only to battery-powered dispensers but also to hard wire dispatchers that attract their current supply from the main line of the installation in which they are installed. In that case, the distal end of the conductive element would be connected to an appropriate load receptor inside or outside the dispenser.

The accompanying figures illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention. In Figure 1, a cassette of a hands-free dispatcher is shown, incorporating the one version of the improvement of the present invention. That cassette corresponds to the cassette shown in the figures of the United States Published Patent Application No. 2007/0234868. As shown in Figure 1, a conductive wire housed in red plastic is connected at one end to both, an aluminum nip roll (corresponding to roll 16 shown in Figure 5 of U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2007/0234868) through the same metal bracket) to a metal spring that is in electrical contact with the dispenser cover when the latter is closed. The details of this proximal end connection are shown in greater magnification in Figure 2. At this distant end, the wire is connected to the negative terminal of the battery compartment, and therefore to the negative side of the batteries when the dispenser is in use, as shown in more detail in Figure 3.

The following claims reflect various aspects of the current contemplation of the inventors of the present invention, and are presented without prejudice to the possible claim of the invention differently and / or more broadly in a subsequent PCT application or application filed under 35 USC Slll (a),, and these claims should not impair the ability of any subsequent request to claim the priority of the present application in accordance with any other applicable statute or rule.

Claims

1. - A hands-free dispatcher to dispatch stretches of absorbent sheet products, the dispenser comprising: a dispatcher body containing a dispensing mechanism; a hand sensor to detect the present of the hand of a user in the vicinity of the dispatcher; a battery compartment inside the dispenser body; an elongate metallic conductive element having a proximal end in electrical communication with at least one interfering metal surface of the dispenser placed in a first location relative to the hand sensor, and a distal end in electrical communication with at least one load receptor placed in a second location relative to the hand sensor, the second location being at a greater distance from the hand sensor than the first location, the load receptor being a metallic negative terminal of the battery compartment, whereby the operation of the sensor The hand is improved by providing a conductive path between the at least one metal surface that interferes and the battery compartment placed further back.

2. - A hands-free dispatcher to dispatch stretches of absorbent sheet products, the dispenser comprising: a dispatcher body containing a dispensing mechanism; a hand sensor to detect the presence of a user's hand in the vicinity of the dispenser, the hand dispenser being in a front part of the dispensing mechanism; at least one load receptor in a backward part of the dispensing mechanism; an elongate metallic conductive element having a proximal end in electrical communication with at least one metal surface interfering with the dispenser placed at a first location relative to the hand sensor, and a distal end in electrical communication with the at least one load receptor placed in a second location relative to the hand sensor, the second location being at a greater distance from the hand sensor than the first location, whereby the operation of the hand sensor is improved by providing a conductive path between the at least one metal surface that interferes and placed more backward than at least one load receptor.

3. - The dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is a wire.

4. - The dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the wire is housed in intermediate insulating material at its proximal and distant ends.

5. - The dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is completely contained within the dispenser body.

6. - The dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is in electrical communication at its proximal end with at least one of a metallized dispenser cover and a metal grip roller.

7. - The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is in electrical communication at its proximal end with a metal grip roller through a metal brush.

8. - the dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is in electrical communication at its proximal end with a metallized dispenser cover through a metal spring mounted on the dispenser body.

9. - The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is a flexible metal plate or sheet.

10. - The dispenser according to claim 9, wherein the elongated metal conductive element is mounted on molded brackets toward at least one interior surface of the dispenser body.

11. - The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the interfering metal surfaces are not connected to the load receptor other than the conductive element.

12. - The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the hand dispenser is placed in a front part of the dispenser.

13. - The dispenser according to claim 2, wherein at least one load receptor is a metallic negative terminal of a battery compartment.

14. - The dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the interfering metal surfaces are not connected to the load receptor other than the conductive element.

15. - A hands-free dispatcher to dispatch stretches of absorbent sheet products, the dispenser comprising: a dispatcher body containing a dispensing mechanism; a hand sensor to detect the presence of a user's hand in the vicinity of the dispenser, the hand dispenser being in a front part of the dispensing mechanism; a battery compartment inside the dispensing body in a backward part of the dispensing body; an elongated metallic conductive element having a proximal end in electrical communication with at least one interfering metal surface of the dispenser placed in a first location relative to the hand sensor, and a distal end in electrical communication with a negative metal terminal of the dispensing compartment. battery placed in a second location in relation to the hand sensor, the second location being a greater distance from the hand sensor than the first location, whereby the functioning of the hand sensor is improved by providing a conductive path between the metal surfaces that interfere and the battery compartment placed further back. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hands-free dispatcher to dispatch stretches of absorbent sheet products includes a dispensing body containing a dispensing mechanism; a hand sensor to detect the presence of a user's hand in the vicinity of the dispenser; an elongated metal conductive element having a proximal end in electrical communication with at least one metal surface of the dispenser placed at a first location relative to the hand sensor, and a distal end in electrical communication with at least one load receptor positioned at a second location relative to the hand sensor, the second location being at a greater distance from the hand sensor than the first location.