WO2008032233A1

WO2008032233A1 - A product dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO2008032233A1
Application number: PCT/IB2007/053369
Authority: WO
Inventors: Abraham Huibrechd Van Der Ende; John Cheney; Roger Basil Lawson Scheepers
Original assignee: Inhouse Products (Proprietary) Limited
Priority date: 2006-09-11
Filing date: 2007-08-23
Publication date: 2008-03-20
Also published as: ZA200707116B

Abstract

A product dispenser includes a housing (12) having a base portion (14) and a cover portion (16) connectable to one another and an opening (20) in the cover portion through which products can be dispensed. A product engaging member ( 22) in the form of a plate directly or indirectly engages a product to be dispensed. The product engaging member is movable towards and away from the opening in the housing. A biasing mechanism (24) biases the product engaging member and thereby any product engaged by the product engaging member towards the opening. The biasing mechanism includes at least two legs which are pivotally connected to one another at a point along a length of each leg. The legs are movable between an extended position and a retracted position so that when the legs are moved towards the extended position the product engaging member is moved towards the opening in the housing and when the legs are moved towards the retracted position the product engaging member is moved away from the opening in the housing.

Description

A PRODUCT DISPENSER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a product dispenser, particularly to a wipe product dispenser.

Wipe dispensers have been in use in the market for some time. These dispensers either have refills made up of rolls of perforated wipes or have a plastic flat pack having a resealable flap on the package itself. The wipes within these flat packs are folded in a Z, C or W configuration, for example, and stacked on top of one another. The result is that the wipe emerges from the pack as an attractive flat cloth. The perforated wipes on the other hand are pulled from the dispenser through an aperture designed to assist in tearing off each individual wipe at the perforation. The wipe emerges from the container in a "bundle" form. The difference in the wipes emerging from the system dispensing perforated wipes from a roll and those emerging from a so-called flat pack is one of aesthetics and user appeal and convenience.

Where folded wipes are dispensed from dispensers it is necessary for the pack to be pushed towards the front opening of the dispenser so as to present the wipe to the user for ease of access. This has necessitated a metal spring or other device to push these wipes towards the opening.

While the spring operates fairly successfully with smaller dispensers the springs have various limitations. The major problem being that whether the spring is fully depressed by a full pack of wipes or after the majority of wipes have been used the pressure on the wipes must remain constant. If this pressure is too great then a user attempting to pull out an individual wipe finds that the wipe tears significantly making it relatively unusable or at worst unsightly.

If the pressure from the spring is not strong enough the wipes are not pushed close enough to the aperture to be reached by the fingers of users. In addition, the last few wipes tend to form a bundle at the base of the dispenser.

If the spring mechanism loses its tension for whatever reason over time it means that the user finds it difficult to reach the wipes through the aperture of the dispenser.

Furthermore, particularly in those dispensers dispensing large quantities of wipes i.e. where the pack thicknesses are greater due to the increased quantity of folded wipes, the spring system does not exert sufficient resistance to the fingers of the user to enable the wipes to be grasped

The present invention seeks to address these and other drawbacks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first embodiment there is provided a product dispenser including:

a housing having a base portion and a cover portion connectable to one another and an opening in the cover portion through which products can be dispensed;

a product engaging member for directly or indirectly engaging a product to be dispensed, the product engaging member being movable towards and away from the opening in the housing;

a biasing mechanism for biasing the product engaging member and thereby any product engaged by the product engaging member towards the opening.

The biasing mechanism may include at least two biasing means.

The product engaging member may be in the form of a plate with a product engaging surface which may either be flat or slightly curved.

The at least two biasing means are arranged to bias two opposing sides of the plate towards the opening.

The biasing mechanism may include at least two legs which are pivotally connected to one another at a point along a length of each leg and movable between an extended position and a retracted position so that when the legs are moved towards the extended position the product engaging member is moved towards the opening in the housing and when the legs are moved towards the retracted position the product engaging member is -A-

moved away from the opening in the housing, furthermore wherein the at least two springs bias the legs towards the extended position.

The biasing mechanism may include two pairs of legs, wherein the legs of each pair are pivotally connected to one another at a point along a length of each leg and movable between an extended position and a retracted position so that when the legs are moved towards the extended position the product engaging member is moved towards the opening in the housing and when the legs are moved towards the retracted position the product engaging member is moved away from the opening in the housing, furthermore wherein the at least two biasing means bias the legs towards the extended position.

In one example embodiment the biasing mechanism may further include a ratchet mechanism so that the product engaging member is able to move towards the opening but is prevented from being moved away from the opening.

The ratchet mechanism may be engaged by the cover so that when the cover is moved away from the base the ratchet mechanism disengages and allows the product engaging member to be moved away from the opening, and wherein when the cover is connected to the base the ratchet mechanism is engaged.

The cover may include at least one holding formation for holding a product in the cover while the cover is being connected to the base.

The dispenser may be a tissue product dispenser wherein the opening is sized to dispense tissue products from the dispenser. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows an example embodiment of a dispenser;

Figure 2 shows a partially cut away side view of the dispenser of

Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a side view of the biasing mechanism included in the dispenser of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a first perspective view of the biasing mechanism included in the dispenser of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 5 is a second perspective view of the biasing mechanism included in the dispenser of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 6 is perspective view of a ratchet member included in the biasing mechanism;

Figure 7 is a first schematic view illustrating the operation of the biasing mechanism and ratchet; and

Figure 8 is a second schematic view illustrating the operation of the biasing mechanism and ratchet.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

According to a first embodiment there is provided a product dispenser 10 including a housing 12 having a base portion 14 and a cover portion 16 connectable to one another. In the illustrated embodiment the cover portion 16 pivots relative to the base portion 18 so that the cover 16 can be opened and closed. An opening 20 is formed in the cover portion 16 through which products can be dispensed. In the illustrated embodiment the opening 20 is covered with a slideable cover.

A product engaging member 22 is used to directly or indirectly engage a product to be dispensed.

In the illustrated embodiment the product to be dispensed is a wipe which is typically a moist wipe. The wipe may be made from a special paper such as those called "wet laid". Alternatively, the wipe may be made from Viscose, Viscose and cotton blend, Viscose and polypropylene blend, Various blends of non-woven fibre products or a material known as "Spunlace" to name but a few examples.

The wipes 40 can be seen located inside the dispenser in Figure 2. The wipes may be inside a plastic wrapping with a hole therein through which the wipes can be pulled out of the plastic wrapping by a user.

In any event, the product engaging member 22 is in the form of a plate with a product engaging surface 22a which may either be flat or slightly curved.

The product engaging member 22 is movable towards and away from the opening 20 in the housing.

A biasing mechanism 24 is used to bias the product engaging member 22 and thereby any product directly or indirectly engaged by the product engaging member towards the opening 20.

The biasing mechanism 24 includes at least two biasing means in the form of springs 26a and 26b (Figure 4). In the illustrated embodiment the biasing means also included a third spring 26c which is best seen in Figures 7 and 8. The at least two biasing means 26 are arranged to bias two opposing sides of the plate 22 towards the opening. This means that an even pressure will be exerted on the wipes rather than a single point of pressure as was done in the prior art.

The biasing mechanism may include at least two legs 28 which are pivotally connected to one another at a point along a length of each leg and movable between an extended position and a retracted position in the direction of arrow "A" in Figure 2. When the legs are moved towards the extended position the product engaging member is moved towards the opening 20 in the housing and when the legs are moved towards the retracted position the product engaging member is moved away from the opening 20 in the housing. It will be appreciated that the springs 26 bias the legs towards the extended position. It will also be appreciated that the legs 28 move in a scissor fashion as the pivot with about the pivot point.

To achieve this action, one of the at least two legs is pivotally connected to the base and slideably connected to the plate and another of the at least two legs is slideably connected to the base and pivotally connected to the plate.

In the illustrated embodiment the biasing mechanism 24 includes two pairs of legs as described above.

In one example embodiment the biasing mechanism 24 may further include a ratchet mechanism 30 so that the product engaging member is able to move towards the opening 20 but is prevented from being moved away from the opening.

Referring to Figures 6, 7 and 8, in the illustrated embodiment this is achieved by connecting one set of legs 28 to a ratchet member. An example of a ratchet member 32 is illustrated in Figure 6. It includes ratchet teeth 34 formed therein. The teeth 34 cooperate with a pawl 36. The pawl 36 is fixed in position.

When the pawl 36 engages the teeth 34 this holds the ratchet member 32 in position and prevents the legs from moving towards the retracted position.

This can best be seen in Figure 8 where the pawl 36 has engaged the teeth 34. In this position the ratchet member 32 cannot move in the direction of arrow "B" and the legs 28 are prevented from moving in the direction of arrow "C". This means that the product engaging member 22 will hold the wipes and prevent them from being pushed away from the opening 20 by a user.

However, even when the pawl 36 is engaged with the teeth 34 the ratchet member 32 can still move in the direction of arrow "D" which means that the legs 28 can move in the direction of arrow "E". Thus the product engaging member 22 will still exert a force on the wipes and push them towards the opening 20.

The ratchet mechanism may be engaged by the cover 16 so that when the cover is moved away from the base 14 the ratchet mechanism disengages and allows the product engaging member 22 to be moved away from the opening.

This is achieved by using a ratchet engaging member in the form of a spring 38 which moves between a first and a second position. When in the first position the spring 38 biases the ratchet member 32 away from the pawl 36 (when the cover 16 is moved away from the base 14) as can be seen in Figure 7.

However, when the cover 16 is moved towards the base 14 and the housing is thereby closed, the cover 16 engages the spring 38 which moves into the second position and thereby moves the ratchet member 32 into contact with the pawl 36, as can be seen in Figure 8. Thus, when the cover 16 is connected to the base 14 the ratchet mechanism is engaged.

Thus the ratchet engaging member 38 is moved into the first position by the cover being closed and moved into the second position by the cover being opened to allow new wipes to be inserted.

The cover also includes at least one holding formation 42 for holding a product in the cover while the cover is being connected to the base.

This facilitates the easy loading of the dispenser by cleaning staff.

It will be appreciated that the leg 28 construction and plate 22 enables the folded wipes to be supported evenly across an area at least as large as the aperture in the dispenser. The pressure on the plate 22 of the system is evenly distributed over the face 22a of the plate and is relatively constant whether totally depressed by a large quantity of wipes or by a lesser quantity. This pressure can be adjusted by altering the strength of the springs 26

The centre spring 26c adds pressure but is spread across the entire plate 22 of the system in an even manner and reduces any stress which may be exerted on the legs due to stronger spring action being necessary.

The ratchet system included in the design ensures that the front wipe is always within access of fingers through the aperture 20 and at the same time presents a solid base for the wipes, to enable fingers to exert sufficient pressure on the wipes so as to grasp them before pulling out of the dispenser.

When the cover of the dispenser is unlocked and opened so that a fresh refill can be inserted, the ratchet system is automatically disengaged thereby enabling the biasing mechanism to be depressed when the refill pack is inserted. When the dispenser lid is closed the ratchet system is reengaged.

The holding formations 42 on the inside of the lower portion of the dispenser are placed so as to assist in the forward motion of the refill pack towards the opening of the dispenser.

The plate 22 is formed separately and is attached to the flat top of the spring system which clips onto it. This separate plate 22 may be shaped so as to enable the wipes to be curved facilitating the grasping of each wipe by the users fingers.

This separate plate 22 may then be printed with instructions regarding the operation of the dispensers and may also be specially coloured or printed according to the brand of wipe dispensed or the name of a distributor and such like.

The fact that the plate 22 is removable facilitates the printing process and means that various different plates may be kept in stock and fitted to the system.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A product dispenser including:

2. A product dispenser according to claim 1 wherein the biasing mechanism includes at least two biasing means.

3. A product dispenser according to claim 2 wherein the product engaging member is in the form of a plate with a product engaging surface.

4. A product dispenser according to claim 3 wherein the plate is either flat or slightly curved.

5. A product dispenser according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the at least two biasing means are arranged to bias two opposing sides of the plate towards the opening.

6. A product dispenser according to any one of claims 2 to 5 wherein the biasing mechanism includes at least two legs which are pivotally connected to one another at a point along a length of each leg and movable between an extended position and a retracted position so that when the legs are moved towards the extended position the product engaging member is moved towards the opening in the housing and when the legs are moved towards the retracted position the product engaging member is moved away from the opening in the housing, furthermore wherein the at least two biasing means bias the legs towards the extended position.

7. A product dispenser according to claim 6 wherein one of the at least two legs is pivotally connected to the base portion and slideably connected to the product engaging member and wherein another of the at least two legs is slideably connected to the base portion and pivotally connected to the product engaging member.

8. A product dispenser according to any one of claims 2 to 7 wherein the at least two biasing means are springs.

9. A product dispenser according to any preceding claim wherein the biasing mechanism further includes a ratchet mechanism so that the product engaging member is able to move towards the opening but is prevented from being moved away from the opening.

10. A product dispenser according to claim 9 wherein the ratchet mechanism is engaged by the cover so that when the cover is moved away from the base the ratchet mechanism disengages and allows the product engaging member to be moved away from the opening, and wherein when the cover is connected to the base the ratchet mechanism is engaged.

11. A product dispenser according to any preceding claim wherein the cover includes at least one holding formation for holding a product in the cover while the cover is being connected to the base.

12. A product dispenser according to any preceding claim wherein the dispenser is a tissue product dispenser, wherein the opening is sized to dispense tissue products from the dispenser.

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