Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
  • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
  • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
  • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
  • A47K10/34—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means
  • A47K10/38—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means the web being rolled up with or without tearing edge
  • A47K10/3836—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means the web being rolled up with or without tearing edge with roll spindles which are supported at one side
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
  • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
  • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
  • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
  • A47K2010/3253—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper with one or more reserve rolls

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a dispenser for rolls of material in the form of a web, such as paper, non-woven fabric, or film or foil, which dispenser comprises a housing with a withdrawal opening arranged at the bottom for the material in the form of a web, the housing having space for at least two rolls which are arranged with their centre axes lying essentially horizontally, a first space being arranged adjacent to the withdrawal opening and being intended for a roll in use position, and a second space being located above the first space and being intended for a roll in reserve position, in addition to which a retaining means is arranged so as, in a retaining position, to hold the second roll in reserve position, the retaining means being arranged so as to be freed in order to allow the reserve roll to drop down into use position when the first roll is removed.
• Dispensers of this type for example for rolls of toilet paper, are intended for two or more rolls, one roll being in use position and other rolls in reserve position, and the latter being moved into use position when the preceding roll is finished and its empty core is removed from the dispenser.
• the user guides a lever on the pendulum-type mechanism backwards in such a way that on the one hand the core and wooden rod of the lower roll are freed and drop down into a storage space and on the other hand the roll above can drop down into use position for feeding out paper.
• This dispenser therefore requires separate wooden rods for suspending the rolls in the dispenser. Furthermore, the mechanism as a whole is particularly complicated.
• CH-A-404 124 describes a somewhat simpler but still relatively complicated mechanism using levers and pendulum-type arrangements.
• a roll in reserve position is held in place by two opposite projecting support arms, each on its own pendulum-type arrangement, arranged on either side of the roll.
• the pivoting spindles of these are arranged on levers which are held in place by a roll in use position.
• the levers are freed and the weight of the roll in reserve position presses said support arms in a direction outwards from the inner space of the dispenser at the same time as the pivoting spindle of the pendulum-type arrangement is moved.
• the construction does not appear especially reliable, and there is a risk that the rolls will catch on the support arms on their way down from reserve position to use position.
• US-A-4,383,657 discloses a dispenser for two rolls of paper where the lower roll slides freely against the bottom of the dispenser housing and an inclined rear edge in such a way that it is advanced into feed-out position against a withdrawal opening provided with a tearing edge.
• the upper roll is prevented from dropping down by the upper part of a lever.
• the user presses on the lower part of the lever, which is designed as a pressure plate.
• the empty core is then pressed through an opposite hole, and the stop lug at the top of the lever is moved aside in such a way that the upper roll can drop down.
• EP-A-0 034 121 discloses a paper dispenser for a number of rolls arranged one above another, where the roll located in use position adjacent to the withdrawal opening rests on a rocking plate. When the roll is finished, it is possible, by pressing on a part of the rocking plate projecting from the withdrawal opening, to cause the latter to fold upwards, on the one hand the empty core being pressed out through the withdrawal opening and on the other hand a retaining device, which holds a roll in reserve position, being moved aside in such a way that the reserve roll can drop down into use position.
• EP-A-0 298 931 and GB-A-2 193 703 likewise describe constructions which call for manual handling in order to bring a roll from reserve position into use position. It is common to both these mechanisms that the user inserts a hand into the inside of the container and takes hold of a lower lever arm of a two- armed lever and raises this, the upper lever arm being lifted upwards and taking the roll in reserve position upwards.
• the upper lever arm is short in relation to the lower, which means that the upper lever arm is, after a short pivoting movement of the lower, brought out of supporting engagement with the roll in reserve position.
• the roll can then drop down from reserve position into use position and bring the lower lever arm with it, which results in the upper lever arm being brought into its previous supporting position and being capable therein of supporting a new reserve roll.
• US-A-2,839,346 describes an arrangement in which a roll in reserve position automatically drops down into use position when the empty core of a finished roll is taken out of the use position.
• This document discloses a dispenser for two rolls, where the reserve roll is held in place by a retaining means which is acted on by the lower roll which presses on a spring-loaded tongue.
• This tongue is connected firmly to an upwardly extending wire, the upper portion of which is arranged inside the side edge of a tippable stop washer for supporting it when the spring-loaded tongue is pressed in by a roll in use position.
• a roll in reserve position therefore rests on the stop washer.
• the tongue springs out and brings said wire out of engagement with the stop washer which then tips downwards and lets a roll down from the reserve position into the use position.
• the tongue then returns counter to the action of the spring, and the wire pivots back and lifts the stop washer into the support position, in which it can support a new reserve roll.
• the roll rests on two elongate rotatable rollers at the bottom of the dispenser housing.
• the dispenser described in the last-mentioned publication includes a fragile mechanism which will not withstand the wear which occurs when dispensers are used in public toilets. It is also awkward and difficult to reach the empty core from the narrow withdrawal opening.
• SE 512 595 describes a dispenser for a number of rolls, where a roll in use position is held in place between a casing (housing) and a spring-loaded dished plate which is provided with an edge flange running all the way round for supporting the roll in use position.
• the dished plate controls a tippable support plate, the support plate being in a support position for supporting a reserve roll when the dished plate is loaded by a roll in use position, whereas the support plate tips for lowering a new roll from the reserve position into the use position when the empty core of the finished roll is removed from the use position and the spring is freed.
• the retaining means which holds the reserve roll in place consists of a pair of support pins which form an integrated part with a holding means.
• the dished plate, which supports a roll in use position is attached to said holding means which is therefore carried along when the dished plate is pivoted.
• the reserve roll is supported by said support pins as long as a roll or empty core is in place on the dished plate but, as soon as the empty core is removed, the dished plate, and the holding means acted on by it, will, in a manner corresponding to that described above, rock about its axis, the support pins being moved in a direction towards the rear plate and out of engagement with the reserve roll which then drops down into use position in the dished plate.
• the construction of the dispensers has to be robust and reliable. These requirements are especially important when these are dispensers for large, heavy rolls of paper which drop from reserve position into use position and moreover have to be handled in the dispenser.
• One object of the present invention is to produce a dispenser which is more robust and operationally reliable than previously known solutions and which moreover is easier to handle.
• the way in which the reserve roll is brought into active position should be both simple and obvious.
• the way in which the empty core of a finished roll is taken out in order to cause the reserve roll to be brought into use position should therefore be simple and obvious.
• Another problem to which attention is not always paid is that it must be easy to reach the end of the material on a new roll.
• the outermost turns are usually joined together in order that the roll can be handled before use, and it must therefore be easy to rotate the roll from the outside and to reach the roll of paper via the withdrawal opening in order to free the end of the material web of the roll.
• the present invention is not limited to dispensers for paper but is intended for all types of flexible material in the form of a web, such as plastic film or aluminium foil, non-woven fabric and paper.
• a dispenser of the type referred to in the introduction has been produced, which is robust and operationally reliable and which moreover solves all the problems described above in connection with the description of known dispensers.
• a dispenser according to the invention is characterized mainly in that a spindle end is arranged in the first space in the housing, which spindle end is displaceable in its longitudinal direction and rotatably mounted, is intended to lie in engagement with the interior of a central core of a roll in use position and is connected to an operating knob arranged outside the housing, by means of which knob the material web can be fed out of the withdrawal opening and by means of which the spindle end can be drawn out of engagement with the central core, and in that means are arranged so as to free the retaining means when the spindle end is drawn out of engagement with the central core of a roll in use position and to bring the retaining means back into retaining position when the spindle end is brought into engagement with the interior of the central core of a new roll in use position.
• the invention is characterized in that said means include a rocking means which is arranged around the spindle end and arranged rockably about a horizontal rocking pin extending at right angles to said spindle end, in that the upper part of the rocking means is arranged so as to be taken along in a rocking movement by the spindle end when the latter is drawn out of engagement with the central core, and in that the upper part of the rocking means is arranged so as to interact with a link mechanism which is in turn arranged so as to free the retaining means when said drawing-out of the spindle end takes place and to lock the retaining means again when the spindle end is guided into engagement with the interior of the core of a roll arranged in the use position.
• the invention is characterized in that the rocking means has on its lower part a locking heel which projects in the direction of a roll arranged in use position and is arranged so as to interact with a roll in use position, one edge side of the roll limiting, until the roll is virtually finished, the pivoting of the rocking means when the locking heel strikes against said edge side of the roll, and in that said locking heel is arranged so as to prevent said rocking movement and thus the drawing of the spindle end out of the core of the roll in use position until the roll is virtually finished and the locking heel has space to pass in under the virtually finished roll.
• the invention is characterized in that the spindle end is arranged so as to be drawn manually out of the core of a finished roll by means of the operating knob counter to the action of a spring, the latter being arranged so as automatically to guide the spindle end into engagement with the central core of a new roll introduced into use position.
• the invention is characterized in that the spindle end has a portion which, when the spindle end is drawn out, strikes against the upper part of the rocking means and takes the latter along in said rocking movement.
• the invention is characterized in that the locking heel is arranged so as to be pivotable downwards from its laterally projecting state in relation to the rest of the rocking means counter to the action of a spring, as a result of which the locking heel can be pivoted aside about its pivoting pin when it is acted on by the weight of a new roll of full size dropping down into the use position, and in that the locking heel is arranged so as, by virtue of the action of said spring, to return to its projecting state and in doing so rock the rocking means back out of engagement with the link mechanism when the spindle end is guided into engagement with the interior of the central core of the roll located in use position, the retaining means being arranged so as to return to retaining position to support a new roll in reserve position.
• the dispenser according to the invention is characterized in that the link mechanism includes a link arm which is pivotable about a horizontal pin, is arranged so as by its upper end to support a locking catch and to hold the retaining means in retaining position and is arranged so as, counter to the action of a spring, to be brought out of engagement with the locking catch when the rocking means takes the lower end of the link arm along in a pivoting movement when the spindle end is drawn out of a core of a finished roll.
• the link mechanism includes a link arm which is pivotable about a horizontal pin, is arranged so as by its upper end to support a locking catch and to hold the retaining means in retaining position and is arranged so as, counter to the action of a spring, to be brought out of engagement with the locking catch when the rocking means takes the lower end of the link arm along in a pivoting movement when the spindle end is drawn out of a core of a finished roll.
• the invention is characterized in that the retaining means is arranged so as, counter to the action of a spring, to drop like a trapdoor under the weight of a roll in reserve position when the link arm is brought out of engagement with the locking catch and, by virtue of the action of said spring, to return to its retaining position when the roll has dropped past the retaining means.
• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a dispenser according to the invention with the outer cover removed.
• Figure 2 shows diagrammatically a longitudinal section through the centre of a dispenser according to Figure 1.
• Figure 3 shows an exploded diagram of some of the parts included in a dispenser according to Figures 1 and 2 to illustrate the invention.
• the invention relates to a dispenser for rolls of material in the form of a web, which means all types of flexible material in the form of a web, for example plastic film or aluminium foil, non-woven fabric and paper.
• a dispenser for rolls of material in the form of a web which means all types of flexible material in the form of a web, for example plastic film or aluminium foil, non-woven fabric and paper.
• the paper can be in the form of a continuous web, the dispenser being provided with tearing teeth or another sharp tearing edge in order to cut off a certain length of the paper.
• the paper web can also be provided with perforations at a certain interval so as to allow a given length of the paper to be torn off from the roll.
• the dispenser according to the invention comprises a wall bracket 1 , on which a casing 2 is mounted to form a dispenser housing.
• the dispenser also includes an openable outer cover, preferably made of transparent plastic.
• This cover which has been omitted in the drawing for the sake of simplicity, consists of a hood which is mounted pivotably about a horizontal axis at 3 in Figure 1 and is suitably lockable at 4 in order to prevent the theft of rolls of paper.
• the housing formed by the wall bracket 1 and the casing 2 has a withdrawal opening 5 at the bottom, which has tearing teeth 6 along a number of edges, as can be seen from Figures 1 and 2.
• the housing has room for two rolls of paper, a first 7, as can be seen from Figure 2, being arranged in a first space. This is arranged adjacent to the withdrawal opening 5. In use position, the roll of paper is arranged with its centre axis lying essentially horizontally and projecting straight out from the wall bracket 1.
• the dispenser is provided with an operating knob 8 which, as can be seen from Figure 2, is connected rigidly via a spindle 9 to a short spindle end 10.
• the spindle 9 is mounted rotatably and displaceably in a bearing sleeve 11 connected rigidly to the casing.
• the spindle end can therefore be both rotated and axially displaced by means of the operating knob 8.
• the spindle end 10 has a peripherally projecting bearing flange 12, the circumference of which is adapted to the interior of the central core 70 so that the spindle end can be inserted into the interior of the central core with the bearing flange in friction engagement with the interior of the central core 70.
• Figure 2 shows the operating knob in a slightly drawn-out position and with the bearing flange out of engagement with the central core of the roll.
• the operating knob can be drawn out counter to the action of a spring (not shown) arranged in the bearing sleeve 11 , which spring is intended automatically to insert the spindle end into a roll in use position and bring the bearing flange into engagement with the interior of the core when the operating knob is released.
• a spring (not shown) arranged in the bearing sleeve 11 , which spring is intended automatically to insert the spindle end into a roll in use position and bring the bearing flange into engagement with the interior of the core when the operating knob is released.
• Rolls of paper are introduced into the dispenser via an opening 15.
• the dispenser also accommodates a roll in reserve position.
• the reserve roll is supported by two support pins 16 of a retaining means designated as a whole by reference number 17.
• a rocking means 18 in the form of a rocking ring is arranged around the bearing sleeve 11.
• the rocking means takes up the position shown in Figure 2, in which a locking heel 19 is in engagement with one edge side 20 of the roll.
• the spindle end is partly drawn out of the roll by means of the operating knob 8.
• Continued drawing-out of the spindle end is prevented by the upper part 21 of the rocking means when the bearing flange strikes against this part and the roll of paper is full, as shown in Figure 2. This is due to the fact that the rigid rocking means cannot rock counterclockwise because the locking heel 19 is in engagement with the edge side 20 of the roll.
• the upper part 21 of the rocking means is arranged so as to interact with a link mechanism which is in turn arranged so as to free the retaining means 17 when said drawing-out of the spindle end is effected by means of the operating knob.
• the link mechanism consists of a link arm 22.
• the upper end 29 of the link arm 22 is in locking engagement with a locking catch 30, and the link arm in this way holds the retaining means 17 in retaining position with the support pins horizontal as in Figure 3 and in a position to be capable of supporting a reserve roll arranged on them.
• the support pins 16 are connected rigidly to a central strut 31 , on which the locking catch 30 is arranged.
• the central strut 31 of this is mounted rotatably in the casing 2, as can be seen from Figure 1 , and the support pins 16 will drop like a trapdoor by virtue of the action of the weight of a reserve roll when the link arm comes out of locking engagement with the locking catch.
• a torsion spring 32 Arranged on the central strut 31 is a torsion spring 32 which is tightened when the support pins drop down under the weight of the reserve roll and returns the support pins to support position when the roll has passed.
• the operating knob When the operating knob is released, it will, as mentioned above, return automatically to its normal position and insert the spindle end 10 into the new roll.
• the rocking means 18 rocks back by virtue of the action of the torsion spring on the pin 23 of the locking heel 19.
• the link arm 22 When the spindle end 10 and the bearing flange 12 are inserted into the central core of the new roll, the link arm 22 is freed, and its upper end 29 goes back into locking engagement with the locking catch by virtue of the action of the spring 28.
• the casing 2 is provided with an opening 33, through which it is possible to observe whether and how much paper remains in use position.
• the associated cover (not shown) is provided with transparent portions directly in front of said opening 33.
• the cover is also suitably provided with a transparent portion directly in front of the opening 15 in the casing, through which it is possible to see whether a reserve roll is in place.
• the material used for the cover can furthermore be coloured plastic or sheet metal. Alternatively, the whole cover can of course be transparent.
• the size of the housing formed by the wall bracket and the casing is adapted to the roll of material. It is of course important that a falling new roll passes into the first space, that is to say comes to lie in the correct place in use position in such a way that the spindle end can enter the core of the roll. In a construction with a bearing flange, however, a relatively great tolerance is permissible. The bearing flange guides the core into the correct position. The construction described above also allows tolerances in the width of the roll of material and also for the roll to be slightly lopsided. To this end, the rocking means has a certain free play between the bearing flange on the spindle end and the lower end 26 of the link arm 22.
• the casing 2 can be provided on its inside with friction means in the form of one or more inwardly protruding projections (not shown) in order to brake the fall of the reserve roll down into use position.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Unwinding Webs (AREA)
• Replacement Of Web Rolls (AREA)
• Rolls And Other Rotary Bodies (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20285454

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (1)

Citations (7)

• 2001
  • 2001-09-26 SE SE0103206A patent/SE519989C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2002
  • 2002-09-12 AT AT02773066T patent/ATE293387T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2002-09-12 DE DE60203814T patent/DE60203814D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-09-12 WO PCT/SE2002/001633 patent/WO2003041549A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-09-12 EP EP02773066A patent/EP1435819B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (7)

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