NZ510427A

NZ510427A - Toilet roll and paper towel dispenser

Info

Publication number: NZ510427A
Application number: NZ51042701A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Darryll Lawrence Heaven
Original assignee: Darryll Lawrence Heaven
Priority date: 2001-03-12
Filing date: 2001-03-12
Publication date: 2004-11-26

Abstract

Shaft 6 is located within housing 1 and has a stopper 3. One of more rolls of toilet paper of paper towels can be pushed over the stopper which then retains the roll and prevents it being removed. When a roll is spent its cardboard core (if present) may be torn from the dispenser.

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> 510427? Patents Form No. 5 THE PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION A DISPENSER I, DARRYLL LAWRENCE HEAVEN, a New Zealand citizen, of 524 Swanson Road, Ranui, Auckland, New Zealand, hereby declare this invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: "INTELLECTUAL PROPtRTY OFFICE OF N.Z. 11 CCT 2CCH RECEIVED 2 TITLE A Dispenser FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a dispenser. A preferred form of the invention relates to a dispenser for toilet paper or paper towels. BACKGROUND A disadvantage with many known toilet paper or paper towel dispensers is that they only hold one roll at a time. Some known dispensers hold more than one roll, but suffer from the disadvantage that one must open and access the interior of a housing in order to restock rolls. It is accordingly an object of one form of the invention to go at least some way towards addressing the above disadvantages, or to provide the public with a useful choice. The term "comprising", "comprises", or derivatives thereof, if and when used herein, should be interpreted non-exclusively - ie to convey "consisting of or including". SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a dispenser for a plurality of rolls of toilet paper or rolls of paper towels, comprising a housing, a shaft, and a stopper, at least a substantial portion of the shaft being within the housing, the stopper being at an end portion of the shaft, and the stopper extending beyond a periphery of the shaft adjacent the stopper; The dispenser being formed such that when it is in use a plurality of rolls of toilet paper or rolls of paper towels can be pushed over the stopper and on to the shaft so that such rolls are rotatably retained on the shaft and cannot slide off the shaft once thereon due to obstruction by the stopper, the pushing of the rolls over the stopper and intellectual property office I of n.z. i 11 OCT 2m ^RECEIVED 3 onto the shaft resulting in a stack of rolls wherein only one of the rolls in the stack is immediately adjacent the stopper at any one time and the other roll or rolls in the stack are at least substantially within the housing. Preferably the dispenser has tilt adjustment means such that when it is in use it can be tilted away from a vertical disposition to regulate a rate at which the toilet paper or paper towels can rotate about the shaft and be pulled free from the dispenser adjacent the stopper. Preferably the housing has an opening to enable finger access to a roll or rolls in the stack other than the roll immediately adjacent the stopper. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of arranging a toilet paper roll or a paper towel roll on a dispenser, the dispenser comprising a shaft and a stopper at an end part of the shaft, the stopper extending beyond a periphery of the shaft adjacent the stopper, the method comprising the steps of: i) securing the dispenser in a desired area so that the shaft is substantially upright, and ii) pushing the toilet paper or paper towel roll over the stopper so that it moves onto the shaft but cannot slide back off the shaft due to obstruction by the stopper, the method being such that when the roll is on the shaft it can be rotated to release toilet paper or paper towels. Preferably the method is such that the dispenser is as described above. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of 4 example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toilet paper or paper towel dispenser, Figure 2 is an alternative perspective view of the dispenser of figure 1, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a set size stopper/cap which can be used as part of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to figure 1, the dispenser has a housing 1, optionally formed from sheet steel. The housing 1 has a slot 2 and a stopper in the form of a multi-sized security cap 3. The cap 3 is optionally formed from a suitable flexible plastic material. As also shown in figure 1, the housing has a concave recessed portion 4 to expose a shaft in the form of an inner tube 6, preferably formed from steel. Referring to figure 2, the housing has screw holes 5 arranged to allow the dispenser to be set at any one of a number of angles when mounted to a wall. Figure 2 also shows a pop rivet 7 which connects the cap 3 to the tube 6. Referring to figure 3, there is shown an alternative security cap 8, optionally formed from sheet steel and steel tubing. Referring to figures 1 and 2, when the dispenser is in use toilet rolls or paper towel rolls are pushed over the security cap 3 until the dispenser is full - ie until a complete stack of rolls is located around the tube 6. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the shape of the cap 3 prevents rolls dropping or sliding free from the tube 6 under gravity. To access toilet paper or paper towels, as the case may be, the roll immediately adjacent the cap 3 is turned by hand and its customary glued edge is torn away from the rest of the roll. This leaves a trailing edge of paper which can be pulled Intellectual property office of n.z. 11 OCT 200*} RECEIVED to rotate the roll and release more paper. When enough paper has been pulled out in this way it is torn free of the roll. When the roll immediately adjacent the cap 3 is spent its cardboard centre tube, if it has one, can be removed from the shaft by tearing it free. This results in the next highest roll in the stack dropping down against the cap 3 ready for use as described for the spent roll. Alternatively the spent roll can be left on the tube 6 and the roll or rolls above it in the stack can be accessed through the slot 2. One can thus pull free a leading edge of one of the rolls above the spent roll, and allow that edge to drop down to adjacent the cap. From there the leading edge can be pulled to rotate the roll concerned and deliver toilet paper or paper towels as desired. An advantage of the preferred form of the invention described with reference to the drawings is that it can be used in a public toilet without the need to lock the housing to address theft of paper rolls. A further advantage of the preferred form is that rolls are mounted on the tube with their central axis generally vertical, which can serve to reduce undesired "free flow" and thus wastage of paper. In some embodiments of the invention the housing may be absent. The dispenser can function without the housing, for example in a household or hotel environment, where wastage or theft of paper is not such an issue. Optionally the dispenser may have stoppers/caps (ie as per the cap 3) of various sizes to accommodate different sized central tubing (eg a cardboard core) in rolls. In some embodiments of the invention the stopper/cap 3 is "multi-sized" to suit a variety of roll central tubing. Optionally the dispenser is formed to accommodate a stack of three rolls at a time, although it will be understood that the number of rolls involved is not crucial to the invention. While some preferred forms of the invention have been described by way of example it should be appreciated that modifications and improvements can occur without departing from the scope of the appended claims. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. 11 OCT 2094 RECEIVED </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> 7 WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A dispenser for a plurality of rolls of toilet paper or rolls of paper towels, comprising a housing, a shaft, and a stopper, at least a substantial portion of the shaft being within the housing, the stopper being at an end portion of the shaft, and the stopper extending beyond a periphery of the shaft adjacent the stopper; The dispenser being formed such that when it is in use a plurality of rolls of toilet paper or rolls of paper towels can be pushed over the stopper and on to the shaft so that such rolls are rotatably retained on the shaft and cannot slide off the shaft once thereon due to obstruction by the stopper, the pushing of the rolls over the stopper and onto the shaft resulting in a stack of rolls wherein only one of the rolls in the stack is immediately adjacent the stopper at any one time and the other roll or rolls in the stack are at least substantially within the housing. i

2. A dispenser according to claim 1, having tilt adjustment means such that when the dispenser is in use it can be tilted away from a vertical disposition to regulate a rate at which the toilet paper or paper towels can rotate about the shaft and be pulled free from the dispenser adjacent the stopper.

3. A dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the housing has an opening to enable finger access to a roll or rolls in the stack other than the roll immediately adjacent the stopper.

4. A dispenser substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5. A method of arranging a toilet paper roll or a paper towel roll on a dispenser, the dispenser comprising a shaft and a stopper at an end part of the shaft, the stopper INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. 11 OCT 2004 RECEIVED ¥ 8 extending beyond a periphery of the shaft adjacent the stopper, the method comprising the steps of: i) securing the dispenser in a desired area so that the shaft is substantially upright, and ii) pushing the toilet paper or paper towel roll over the stopper so that it moves onto the shaft but cannot slide back off the shaft due to obstruction by the stopper, the method being such that when the toilet paper or paper towel roll is on the shaft it can be rotated to release toilet paper or paper towels respectively.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the dispenser is as defined in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4. DARRYLL LAWRENCE HEAVEN By His Attorney A.J. PIETRAS & ASSOCIATES |[ INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE I OF N.Z. 11 OCT 2004 1 RECEIVED I </div>