US20040069892A1

US20040069892A1 - Toilet roll dispenser

Info

Publication number: US20040069892A1
Application number: US10/269,180
Authority: US
Inventors: John Fida
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-10-15
Filing date: 2002-10-15
Publication date: 2004-04-15

Abstract

A toilet roll dispenser comprising a housing having a top surface, a bottom surface, a back wall, and a first sidewall and a second sidewall with the sidewalls each having a track with the tracks running parallel to each other for guiding a toilet paper roll from a receiving end of the tracks to a dispensing end of the tracks with the toilet roll dispenser also including at least one pair of reserve tracks comprising a track branching from the track of the first sidewall and a track branching from the track of the second sidewall with the reserve track located parallel to each other for supporting a further toilet paper roll in an out of the way condition so that all of the toilet paper rolls supported by the dispenser are spaced from each other.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to dispensers, and more specifically, to a toilet roll dispenser for supporting a plurality of toilet paper rolls in a condition in which the toilet paper rolls are all spaced from each other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

None

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

None

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Toilet roll dispensers are know in the art and vary in their shapes and size but all generally provide a configuration which supports a toilet paper roll while simultaneously allowing the toilet paper roll to rotate to dispense paper therefrom. In bathrooms which are frequently attended, such as in restaurants, office buildings, dorms, and some family homes, it is not uncommon to find toilet roll dispensers which may hold multiple rolls of toilet paper, thus avoiding the inconvenience of running out of toilet paper while the bathroom is in use.

The typical problem with dispensers that support multiple roll of toilet paper is that the rolls of toilet paper are generally packed within the dispenser in a condition, which causes the rolls of toilet paper to press against each other. As a result, it is often difficult and time consuming for a user to obtain sufficient paper as the contact between the toilet paper rolls hinders the rotational dispensing of the toilet paper roll that is being made available for use. In addition, the packing of the toilet paper rolls also may lead to deformation of their shapes, which may also hinder their dispensing.

The present invention solves the above problem by supporting the reserve toilet paper rolls in an out of the way condition from the toilet paper roll that is being made available for use thereby allowing for the toilet paper roll to freely rotate to dispense toilet paper therefrom.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A toilet roll dispenser comprising a housing having a top surface, a bottom surface, a rear wall and a first sidewall and a second sidewall with each of the sidewalls having a track located within an interior surface of the sidewalls and running parallel to each other for guiding a toilet paper roll supported by a roller from a receiving end of the tracks to a dispensing end of the tracks. Also located within the interior surface of the sidewalls is at least one pair of reserve slots with each pair of reserve slots comprising of a slot branching from the track of the first sidewall and a slot branching from the track of the second sidewall with each slot in the pair of reserve slots located parallel to each other for supporting a further toilet paper roll supported by a further roller in an out of the way condition so that all of the toilet paper roll supported by the toilet roll dispenser are spaced from each other to allow for the toilet paper roll supported by the dispensing end to freely dispense toilet paper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a toilet roll dispenser of the present invention; [0009]
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the toilet roll dispenser of FIG. 1 taken along the lines [0010] 2-2;
FIG. 3 shows a cross-section view of an alternative embodiment of a toilet roll dispenser of the present invention; [0011]
FIG. 4 shows a close-up cross-sectional view of a toilet paper roll supported at the dispensing ends of the dispenser.[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, the complete assembly of the present invention comprises a housing having a rear wall, a top surface, a bottom surface and a first sidewall and a second sidewall. Located within an interior surface of each of the sidewalls is a track, the track of the first sidewall located parallel to the track of the second sidewall with the tracks of the sidewalls running from a toilet paper roll receiving end to a toilet paper roll dispensing end. The sidewalls also include at least one pair of reserve slots branching from their respective tracks with the reserve slots of the first sidewall located parallel to the reserve slots of the second sidewall for supporting further rolls of toilet paper in an out-of-the-way condition so that the rolls of toilet paper supported by the housing are all spaced from each other. [0013]
Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a [0014] toilet roll dispenser 10 of the present invention for supporting multiple rolls of toilet paper therein. As shown in FIG. 1, toilet roll dispenser 10 includes a housing 11 having a rear wall 12, a top member 13, a bottom member 14, a first sidewall 15 and a second sidewall 16. Although the present invention is preferable made from wood, the present invention may also be made from plastic, metal, or any moldable material.
In addition, although toilet roll dispenser of the present invention may be mounted to a wall by any suitable means, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, [0015] toilet roll dispenser 10 includes an attachment member 17 surrounding toilet roll dispenser 10 for fixingly mounting the toilet roll dispenser 10 to a wall surface.
The embodiment of FIG. 1 also includes a cover comprising a pair of [0016] doors 18 that are operable to place a toilet roll in the dispenser and closeable for blocking a user's view of the toilet rolls, which are supported by the reserve slots.
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the [0017] toilet roll dispenser 10 of FIG. 1 taken along the lines 2-2 showing a first toilet paper roll 19 and a second toilet paper roll 20 supported by the dispenser 10.
Although not described or shown in FIG. 2, since the second sidewall [0018] 16 (shown in FIG. 1) of dispenser 10 is a mirror image of the first sidewall 15, the second sidewall 16 will have all the correspond parts that are described for first sidewall 15.
As shown in FIG. 2, the [0019] first sidewall 15 includes a track 23 extending partially into sidewall 14 with the track 23 of the first sidewall 15 running parallel to a track of the second sidewall 16 (not shown) for guiding first toilet paper roll 19 supported by a first roller 21 through the interior of the dispenser 10. Located proximate the top surface 13 is a receiving end 26 of the track 23 for receiving toilet paper rolls therein. Located proximate the bottom surface 14 of dispenser 10 is a dispensing end 24 of the track 23. Branching off from track 23 is a reserve slot 25 for supporting a second toilet paper roll 20 through the use of a second roller 22. As shown in FIG. 2, a first toilet paper roll 19 is supported by a first roller 21 in a dispensing condition through the support of the ends of the first roller 21 by a dispensing end 24 of the first sidewall 15 and a dispensing slot 24A of the second sidewall 16 (shown in FIG. 4). The second toilet paper roll 20 is shown supported by a second roller 22 in a reserve condition through the support of the ends of the second roller 22 by a reserve slot 25 of the first sidewall 15 and a reserve slot 25A of the second sidewall 16 (not shown).
A novel feature of the present invention is that by supporting the second [0020] toilet paper roll 20 in reserve slots 25 and 25A (not shown), the second toilet paper roll 20 is support in an out-of-the-way condition. The out-of-the-way condition is defined as a condition in which the second toilet paper roll 20 is spaced from the first toilet paper roll 19 so as to prevent the second toilet paper roll 20 from hindering the rotation of the first toilet paper roll 19 around first roller 21 thereby permitting the first toilet paper roll 19 to freely dispense toilet paper therefrom. In addition, since the toilet paper rolls are all spaced from each other, the present invention also prevents the shapes of the toilet paper roll from becoming deformed due to the toilet paper rolls pressing against each other.
In the operation of the [0021] toilet roll dispenser 10, a user first feeds the first toilet paper roll 19, supported by roller 21, into the receiving end 26 of track 23. Toilet paper roll 19 is then guided along the track 23 through the interior of dispenser 10 until toilet paper roll 19 reaches dispensing end 24 of the track 23. At the dispensing end 24, a portion of the toilet paper roll 19 (as shown in FIG. 2) extends outwardly from the interior of the dispenser housing 10. At dispensing end 24, the toilet paper roll 19 may freely rotate around the roller 21 to freely dispense toilet paper. Once toilet paper roll 19 reaches dispensing end 24, the user then feeds the second toilet paper roll 20 (supported by roller 22) into the receiving end 26 of track 23. Toilet paper roll 20 is then guided along track 23 to reserve slot 25 where toilet paper roll 20 is maintained in an out-of-the-way condition so as not to interfere with the rotational dispensing of toilet paper roll 19. Once toilet paper roll 19 has been depleted, the user then removes the empty roll and releases the toilet paper roll 20 from the reserve slot 25 into track 23 so that toilet paper roll 20 may be guided to the dispensing end 24 of track 23.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-section view of an alternative embodiment of a toilet roll dispenser [0022] 27 of the present invention. Toilet roll dispenser 27 is similar to the toilet roll dispenser 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 except that toilet roll dispenser 27 includes a second pair of reserve slots, the second pair of reserve slots also branching from the tracks of toilet roll dispenser 27. Since the second sidewall of dispenser 27 has all the corresponding parts of first sidewall 28, only the features of sidewall 28 will be further described.
In the operation of the toilet roll dispenser [0023] 27, a user first feeds a first toilet paper roll 35, supported by a roller 36, into a receiving end 31 of a track 29. Toilet paper roll 35 is then guided along the track 29 through the interior of dispenser 27 until toilet paper roll 35 reaches a dispensing end 32 of the track 29. Once toilet paper roll 35 reaches dispensing end 32, the user then feeds a second toilet paper roll 37 (supported by a roller 38) into the receiving end 31 of track 29. Toilet paper roll 37 is then guided along track 29 to a first reserve slot 33 where toilet paper roll 37 is maintained in an out-of-the-way condition so as not to interfere with the rotational dispensing of toilet paper roll 35.
Once [0024] toilet paper roll 37 is supported by reserve slot 33, the user then feeds a third toilet paper roll 39 (supported by a roller 40) into the receiving end 31 of track 29. Toilet paper roll 39 is then guided along track 29 to a second reserve slot 34 where toilet paper roll 39 is also maintained in an out-of-the-way condition so as not to interfere with the rotational dispensing of toilet paper roll 35. The out-of-the-way condition is defined by the toilet paper rolls 37 and 39 supported in the reserve slots being spaced from toilet paper roll 35 when toilet paper roll 35 is supported at dispensing end 32 to permit toilet paper roll 35 to freely dispense toilet paper. As shown in FIG. 3, by supporting toilet paper rolls 37 and 39 in the reserve slots, the toilet paper rolls supported by toilet roll dispenser 27 are also all spaced from each other. Each of the reserve slots is angled downward to maintain the reserve rolls in a ready condition yet prevent rolls from accidentally falling down onto the lower rolls.
Once [0025] toilet paper roll 35 has been depleted, a user then removes the empty roll and releases toilet paper roll 37 from the first reserve slot 34 into the track 29. Track 29 then uses the force of gravity acting on toilet paper roll 37 to guide toilet paper roll 37 to the dispensing end 32. Once toilet paper roll 37 has been depleted, a user then removes the empty roll and release toilet paper roll 39 from the second reserve slot 34 into the track 29. Again, track 29 then use the force of gravity that is acting on toilet roll 39 to guides toilet paper roll 39 to the dispensing end 32 for use. Since the reserve slots are now empty, the user may restock the toilet roll dispenser 27 with new rolls toilet paper by repeating the above steps. Alternatively, a user may also restock toilet roll dispenser 27 before all of toilet paper rolls have been used by sequentially moving the toilet paper rolls from a higher reserve slot to their next sequentially lower reserve slot. For example, in toilet roll dispenser 27, once the first reserve slot 33 becomes empty, the user may move toilet paper roll 39 from the second reserve slot 34 to the first reserve slot 33 and then feed another toilet paper roll into the second reserve slot 34.
Similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, [0026] toilet roll dispenser 37 further includes a cover 41 for blocking a user's view of the toilet paper rolls, which are supported by the reserve slot.
FIG. 4 shows a close-up cross-sectional view of a [0027] toilet paper roll 19 supported between the dispensing end 24 of the first sidewall 15 and a second dispensing end 24A of the second sidewall 16. As previously mentioned, the dispensing ends of the present invention are located within the interior surfaces of sidewalls 14 and 15 and are positioned parallel to each other for supporting a toilet paper roll in a dispensing condition through the use of the roller. As shown in FIG. 4, the distance between the dispensing end 24 of the first sidewall 15 and the dispensing end 24A of the second sidewall 16 is longer than the diagonal length of the roller 21 to permit a user to pivotally remove roller 21 from dispensing end 24 and 24A of dispenser 10 without having to remove the reserve toilet paper rolls.
In replacing a deplete toilet paper roll with a new toilet paper roll, a user first pushes the [0028] roller 21 towards one of the sidewalls, tilts the roller 21 and then pivotally removes the roller 21 along with the depleted toilet paper roll out from dispensing ends 24 and 24A. After the depleted toilet paper roll has been pivotally removed from the dispenser, the user then guides the reserve toilet paper roll from the reserve slot into the tracks to the dispensing ends 24 and 24A.

Claims

I claim:

1. A toilet roll dispenser comprising:

a housing having a top member, a bottom member, a rear wall and a first sidewall and a second sidewall, said sidewalls each having a track with the track of said first sidewall running parallel to the track of said second sidewall for guiding a toilet paper roll supported by a roller from a receiving end of said tracks to a dispensing end of said tracks; and

at least one pair of reserve tracks comprising a first track branching from the track of the first sidewall and a second track branching from the track of the second sidewall with the reserve tracks located parallel to each other for supporting a further toilet paper roll in an out-of-the-way condition and a spaced condition from the toilet paper roll supported by the roller in the dispensing end of said tracks.

2. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a cover openable for inserting a toilet paper roll therein and closeable for blocking a user's view of the toilet paper rolls supported by the reserve slots.

3. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a first pair of reserve tracks and a second pair of reserve tracks, each of said pair of tracks for supporting a toilet paper roll in an out-of-the-way condition.

4. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein the dispensing end of the first sidewall and the dispensing end of the second sidewall includes a distance therebetween sufficient to support the rollers therein while also permitting the rollers to be pivotally removable from said dispensing ends.

5. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein said toilet roll dispenser comprises a wood base material.

6. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein said toilet roll dispenser comprises a plastic, metal, or any moldable material.

7. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein said toilet roll dispenser includes an attachment member surrounding said toilet roll dispenser for fixingly mounting said toilet roll dispenser to a wall surface.

8. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein a force of gravity maintains the roller supported by the dispensing end of the tracks in a dispensing condition.

9. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein the tracks angle downward to confine the roller supported by the dispensing end of the tracks in the dispensing condition.

10. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1 wherein the reserve tracks angle downward to confine the further toilet paper roll in the out-of-the-way condition and the spaced condition.

11. A toilet roll dispenser comprising:

a housing having a top member, a bottom member, a back wall, and a first sidewall and a second sidewall; said sidewalls each having a track running parallel to each other for guiding a toilet paper roll supported by a roller from a receiving end of said tracks through said dispenser and into a dispensing end of said tracks wherein a distance between the dispensing ends is sufficiently long to support the rollers therein while also permitting the rollers to be pivotally removable from said dispensing ends; and

at least one pair of reserve tracks comprising of a first rack branching from the track of the first sidewall and a second track branching off from the track of the second sidewall with the reserve tracks located parallel to each other for supporting a further toilet paper roll in an out of the way condition so that all the toilet paper rolls supported by said housing are spaced from each other.

12. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 11 wherein said housing includes a cover openable for inserting a toilet paper roll therein and closeable for blocking a user's view of the toilet paper rolls supported by the reserve tracks.

13. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 11 wherein said housing includes a first pair of reserve tracks, a second pair of reserve track, and a third pair of reserve tracks, the reserve tracks for supporting toilet paper rolls within said housing so that all of the toilet paper rolls are spaced from each other.

14. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 11 wherein said toilet roll dispenser comprises a wood base material.

15. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 11 wherein said toilet roll dispenser comprises a plastic, metal, or a moldable material.

16. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 1I wherein said toilet roll dispenser includes an attachment member surrounding said toilet roll dispenser for fixingly mounting said toilet roll dispenser to a wall surface.

17. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 11 wherein the rollers are held in a horizontal condition.

18. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 11 wherein the tracks angle downward to confine the roller at the dispensing end of the tracks.

19. The toilet roll dispenser of claim 12 wherein said cover comprises at least one door openable for inserting a toilet paper roll therein and closeable for blocking a user's view of the toilet paper rolls supported by the reserve tracks.

20. A dispenser for supporting multiple rolls of toilet paper comprising:

a housing having a rear wall, top surface, a bottom surface and a first sidewall and a second sidewall;

a first track located within an interior surface of said first sidewall and a second track located within an interior surface of said second sidewall, said tracks positioned parallel to each other and having a first end and a second end with the first end of the tracks forming an inlet for receiving a toilet paper roll supported by a roller and the second ends of the tracks forming a dispensing end for supporting said toilet paper roll in a dispensing condition for dispensing paper therefrom, said tracks angle downward to confine the roller at the dispensing end of the tracks; and

at least one pair of reserve slots, each pair of reserve slots comprising of a slot branching from the track of the first sidewall and a slot branching from the track of the second sidewall with the reserve slots located parallel to each other for supporting a further toilet paper roll supported by a further roller in an out of the way condition so that all the toilet paper roll supported by said housing are spaced from each other.