WO2014065732A1

WO2014065732A1 - Dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO2014065732A1
Application number: PCT/SE2012/051161
Authority: WO
Inventors: Björn Larsson
Original assignee: Sca Hygiene Products Ab
Priority date: 2012-10-26
Filing date: 2012-10-26
Publication date: 2014-05-01

Abstract

Dispenser (10) for dispensing web material (12) comprising at least one web (14) of products having a sheet length (L) separated from each other by preformed lines of weakness. Said dispenser (10) comprises a reservoir for containing the web material (12), a separation unit (30) for separating said at least one web (14) into individual products at said preformed lines of weakness, and a dispensing opening (32) for presenting a leading edge (34) of said web to a user, said separation unit (30) being arranged at a distance (D) from the dispensing opening (32). The distance (D) between said separation unit (22) and said dispensing opening (32) is adjustable such that the preformed line of weakness preceding said leading edge (34) of the web remains in the separation unit (30) after dispensation of a product to a first user, while a selected portion of the leading edge (34) of the web is presented to the next user at the dispensing opening (32) regardless of the sheet length of the product.

Description

DISPENSER TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention concerns a separation unit for separating a perforated web material such as paper towels, tissue paper or nonwoven material along the perforation lines, and a dispenser including said separation unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Automatic touchfree dispensers (or "hands-free dispensers") for paper towels are known on the market. The hands-free dispensers are electronically manoeuvred, they store and advance the paper towel with different kinds of control devices, sensors and power sources available. Without touching the dispenser, the user can get a paper towel that is fed automatically by the electronic dispenser. Dispensers like this are commonly used in public lavatories for dispensing paper towels to users. The most common type of a powered, hands-free dispenser is a roll-dispenser that uses sensors to initiate the mechanisms for advancing the towel such that the next sheet is presented to the user.

Rolls of paper towels are often heavy and there is a friction and resistance for unrolling the paper, especially when the roll is accelerated there is a high demand of energy.

Consequently there is a need for a strong paper in order to withstand the force necessary to make a full heavy roll start to rotate. A strong paper usually has drawbacks in that the softness of the paper is low. In addition, hands-free dispensers for rolled paper towels demand a large amount of space due to the relatively large volume of the heavy paper rolls.

As an alternative to using rolls of paper towels, US2011/0101020, WO 2011/045493, EP 1 830 687 all disclose dispensing units comprising a housing for holding a pile of a continuous length of accordion-like folded web of towels. The dispenser comprises an access opening to the pile, a dispensing opening for the web of towels, a feeding mechanism comprising a member for controlling the dispensing of the web of towels, and a drive unit. Bundles of paper towels with connecting means therebetween are insertable through the access opening into the housing in the dispensing unit and may be added to the bottom of the pile. The web of towels is dispensable from the upper part of the pile by the feeding mechanism, which positions the web of towels in a starting mode in the dispensing opening. This solution enables feeding of a large amount of wipe products while avoiding the problems relating to the weight of a heavy paper roll or large pile.

Preferably the folded web material comprises a double folded perforated web material, where two perforated webs are interfolded, such that the perforations are arranged in an off-set relationship in relation to each other. A separation unit enables the wipe products to be separated at the lines of weakness when the web is pulled by the user. This feature will allow the feeding of the products to be performed manually by the user, hence avoiding any additional arrangements of the dispensers such as electrical power.

However, to realize the dispenser as described above a number of problems must be solved, including, separating the webs correctly along the perforation lines, feeding the next portion of the web to be separated to the separation unit, and presenting a leading end of the web having an appropriate size to the next user. Furthermore, separation shall be possible for different types of web materials and web materials having different lengths between the perforation lines. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide solutions in order to reduce the above-mentioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide an improved automatic or non-automatic dispenser including a separation unit adapted to separate and dispense a web material of various sheet lengths, made from e.g. tissue paper or nonwoven material and containing at least one web of products separated from each other by preformed lines of weakness into individual products of a certain sheet length.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved automatic or non-automatic dispenser with a separation unit wherein web material containing products of various sheet lengths between preformed lines of weakness may be used and dispensed from the dispenser, while the selected portion of the leading edge of the web presented to the next user at the dispensing opening remains the same regardless of the sheet length of the web material.

According to the present invention this object is achieved by a dispenser adapted to dispense web material comprising at least one web of products having a sheet length (L) separated from each other by preformed lines of weakness, said dispenser comprising a reservoir for containing the at least one web, a separation unit adapted for separating web material into individual products, and a dispensing opening for presenting a leading edge of said web to a user. The separation unit is arranged at a distance (D) from the dispensing opening, and said distance may be adjusted such that the preformed line of weakness succeeding said leading edge of the web remains in the separation unit after dispensation of a product to a first user, while a selected portion of the leading edge of web material is presented to the next user at the dispensing opening regardless of the sheet length (L) of the product. The dispenser defines a reservoir wherein the web material comprising at least one web containing products of a certain sheet length to be presented to a user is included. The web material may be a continuous web of towels of tissue paper or non-woven provided with preformed lines of weakness. Advantageously, the web material is Z-folded in an accordion-like manner to form a stack, or is contained in the form of a roll. The dispenser comprises at least one stack of folded or interfolded webs, whereby the dispenser is configured so that a preceding stack of folded or interfolded webs in the reservoir has to be lifted to position a new, succeeding stack in the reservoir underneath the preceding stack to refill the dispenser. Stacks of folded or interfolded webs in the dispenser may be interconnected via connections means, such as glue or mechanical fasteners at the bottom and/or top of each of the refill stacks. The web may comprise a double folded perforated material, where two perforated webs are interfolded such that the perforations are arranged in an off-set relationship with respect to one another.

As used herein the term "sheet length" is defined as the distance (L) between two consecutive preformed lines of weakness which are longitudinally spaced and extending across the web. This means that the "sheet length" equals the length of each individual product in the longitudinal direction of the web.

The sheet length (L) of a web material may vary from one web to another, mainly depending on the intended end use of the individual product. Examples of such end uses may be products for wiping such as paper towel sheet products, facial tissues, toilet tissues, napkin sheet products, wet wipe sheet products, or the like. The sheet length (L) of a product may be from about 15 to 50 cm, preferably between 18 to 30 cm, and more preferably between about 21 to 25.5 cm.

The at least one web comprises preformed lines of weakness which may be perforation lines formed by alternating bonds and slots and having the perforation strength between 4% and 10%. By "perforation strength" is meant the total bond length/(the total bond length + total slot length). It is desired to form perforation lines which are strong enough to enable feeding of the web material, but which are also weak enough to enable separation of the sheets along the perforation lines using the separation unit of the present invention. In this context, it is known that also other parameters may influence the strength of the perforation line, such as the paper quality, and the size, shape and distribution of the slots and bonds. Therefore, the perforation strength of the perforation lines of the web material is advantageously between 20-80 N/m, and more preferably 30-45 N/m, measured using SS-EN ISO 12625-4:2005. It is believed that the above-mentioned measure is useful for guiding the person skilled in the art when selecting suitable perforation lines.

The web material may contain only one layer, or be a two-layer or multi-layered web. Advantageously the web material to be used in the dispenser of the invention has a two layer structure, wherein the web material comprises at least a first web layer divided into products having a sheet length (L) defined between longitudinally separated preformed lines of weakness extending across the first layer; and at least a second web layer divided into products having a sheet length (L) defined between longitudinally separated lines of weakness extending across the second web layer. The web layers may be interfolded so that the lines of weakness of the first web layer are offset from the lines of weakness of the second web layer in a longitudinal direction.

If the web material is a single layer product, the single web layer is divided into products between longitudinally separated preformed lines of weakness extending across said single web layer.

However, the present invention is not limited to single or two layered web material, For example it is envisaged that each product could be divided into one, two, three or more panels. The number of webs could be greater than two, for example, stacks with three, four or more interfolded, offset webs could be provided.

The dispenser further comprises a separation unit located nearby or adjacent to the dispensing opening. Said separation unit is arranged to receive the web material and tear or cut said web material along the preformed line of weakness. This may be accomplished by any separation unit intended for this purpose. However, advantageously a separation unit comprising at least one nip (such as e.g. a roller) that will engage the at least one web and tear or cut the web material at the preformed line of weakness is used.

If two-layered or multi-layered web material (as described above), is used, the separation of the web material is advantageously accomplished by a separation unit that will engage opposing major surfaces of a web material of offset webs. When a user pulls the more advanced one of the web layers, i.e. the leading edge of the web which equals the next product dispensed to the user, in the dispensing direction, a sheet length of another of the web layers is pulled to partly pass the nip in the separation unit, and when the sheet product of the more advanced of the web layers (i.e. the leading edge) wholly passes through the nip, the sheet product of the more advanced web layers tears away at the preformed line of weakness that has passed through the nip to leave the nip engaging on opposed major surfaces of the subsequent web or webs, one of which is more advanced than the others in the dispensing direction and which will now be the leading edge of the web. Dispensing proceeds in this manner so that a portion of one of the webs is alternating more advanced from a portion of another of the webs.

The dispensing opening located on a wall of the dispenser, is arranged to present a leading edge of the web, alternatively a separated product to the outside of the dispenser. The dispensing opening may be provided with a cut-in portion large enough to permit a user's hand to be inserted to grasp the leading edge of web material.

The dispenser may also optionally include a control unit for determining a correct tension and path of the web material.

Advantageously a leading portion of the web material, i.e. the portion of the web extending between the stack of Z-folds and the leading edge at the separation unit, is supported in an upwardly, optionally around a roller having a web-supporting surface, and thereafter partly downwardly fed dispensing path extending from said reservoir to said dispensing opening. Said dispensing path extends from the top of said stack of web material, or from the peripheral or central part of a roll, past a separation unit wherein the web material is torn or cut into individual dispensable products when the web material is pulled by a user, and thereafter towards the dispensing opening where the separated product is presented to a user when the dispenser is in use.

The dispensing path may further be defined by at least one guiding member supporting the web in the dispensing path. The at least one web is arranged to be fed between the roller and the guiding member when the dispenser is in use, and at least one part of the guiding element is arranged to bear against the web. The guiding element holds the web in place on the roller and prevents the web from moving backwards or sidewards during the use of the dispenser and in case of web breakage. The guiding element also provides an intuitive guide for an attendant feeding a web through the dispenser, thereby reducing the risk of incorrect web feeding.

Advantageously the at least one guiding member is defined by a curved apex portion being positioned above the top of the product reservoir, and about which the at least one web is wrapped in transition from an upwardly extending dispensing path to a downwardly extending path before entering the separation unit positioned below said curved apex guiding member.

The separation unit is located at a distance (D), adjacent to or in the vicinity of the dispensing opening. Advantageously the separation unit is located vertically below said guiding member, i.e. along the downwardly extending dispensing path of the web material, but above the dispensing opening.

After an individual product has been separated from the web by the separation unit as described above, and dispensed to a user at the dispensing opening on the outside of the dispenser, a selected portion of the leading edge of the continuous uncut web material is presented at the dispensing opening to the next user. The term "selected portion of the leading edge" refers to a predetermined length of the portion of the web material that is left projecting from the dispensing opening to the outside of the dispenser after the previous product has been dispensed to the earlier user.

Advantageously the selected portion of the leading edge is long enough for a user to be able to grab a hold of and pull the web material in the dispensing direction, yet short enough so that at least the main part of the product is still protected by the dispenser mostly due to hygienic reasons. An optimal length for the selected portion of the leading edge is about 5 to 20 cm, more preferably between 5 to 10 cm. The optimal length may also be determined by other circumstances, such as the quality of the web material, end use of product or the like. It may, however, be a problem to present a leading end having an optimal length when the dispenser is loaded with web material with varying sheet lengths.

This problem is according to the invention solved by making the distance (D) between said separation unit and said dispensing opening, adjustable such that after the product has been dispensed to a user, only the selected portion of the leading edge with the determined optimal length (as discussed above) is presented at the dispensing opening to a subsequent user, regardless of the type of web material, or sheet lengths between preformed lines of weakness contained in the dispenser. The advantage of presenting only the optimal length of the leading edge, is that only the length required for the user to be able to comfortably and securely be able to pull the leading edge in the dispensing direction. The remainder of the product, regardless of its size will remain inside the container until pulled its selected portion is pulled by the next user. Advantageously the distance (D) between the separation unit and the dispensing opening may be adjusted by moving the separation unit either closer to, or away from the dispensing opening. Advantageously the distance (D) is adjusted by moving the separation unit in the vertical direction to the dispensing opening. The adjustment of the separation unit may be stepwise at fixed positions, or infinitely variably adjustable.

As an alternative, it is envisaged that the dispensing opening is moved in relation to the separation unit.

The dispenser may be adapted to dispense web materials containing products of varying sheet lengths as follows: The reservoir of the dispenser is loaded with the chosen web material containing products of a certain sheet length (L) between preformed lines of weakness. Preferably the web material is Z-folded in an accordion-like manner to form a stack. Alternatively it may be contained in the form of a roll.

Thereafter the leading portion of the web is loaded into the dispensing path of the dispenser, and through the separation unit such that the complete sheet length of the leading edge most proximate the end of the web material (when facing the dispensing opening), has not wholly left the engaging grip of the nip in the separation unit.

Next, the distance (D) between the separation unit and the dispensing opening is adjusted by moving the separation unit in relation to, i.e. either closer to or further away from, the dispensing opening, such that only the selected portion of the leading edge projects to the outside of the dispenser through the dispensing opening. For longer sheet lengths (L) the separation unit will generally be moved further away from the dispensing opening, and for web materials having shorter sheet lengths (L), the separation unit will generally be moved closer to the dispensing opening. Thereafter the separation unit is fixed at the distance (D) from the dispensing opening. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will hereinafter be further explained by means of non-limiting examples with reference to the appended schematic figures where;

Figure 1 shows a dispenser according to an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a front view of the separation unit

Figure 3 is a front view of the separation unit when the distance D has been

adjusted to accommodate web materials having longer sheet lengths (L). Figure 4 is a front view of the separation unit when the distance D has been adjusted to accommodate web materials having shorter sheet lengths (L).

Figure 5 is a side view of the separation unit showing how the distance D between the separation unit and the dispensing opening is adjusted to accommodate web material of different lengths (L).

It should be noted that the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale and that the dimensions of certain features may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 schematically shows a dispenser 10 for dispensing web material 12 comprising at least one continuous or non-continuous web 14 of products having a sheet length (L) separated from each other by preformed lines of weakness13, said dispenser 10 being viewed from the side. The dispenser 10 has an outer front wall 16, two outer side walls and a reservoir intended for holding a pile 22 of continuous length of accordion-like folded web 14 of towels of tissue paper or nonwoven contained in one or more stacks 24, 25, 26 alternatively one or more rolls. The dispenser 10 is configured so that a preceding stack 24 of interfolded webs 14 in the reservoir has to be lifted to position a new, succeeding stack 25 in the reservoir underneath the preceding stack 24 to refill the dispenser 10. Stacks 24, 25, 26 of interfolded webs 14 in the dispenser 10 may be interconnected via connecting means, such as adhesive, adhesive tape or mechanical fasteners, such as hook and loop fasteners, at the bottom and/or top of each of the refill stacks.

The dispenser 10 further comprises a separation unit 30 for separating web material 12 into individual products, a dispensing opening 32 for presenting a leading edge 34 of said web 14 to a user, and optionally a roller 36 and guiding member 38 having web- supporting surfaces. Said separation unit 30 is located in between the roller 36 and the dispensing opening 32.

The separation unit 30 for separating the web 14 is located at a distance (D) nearby or adjacent to the dispensing opening 32 (figure 2). Said separation unit 30 is arranged to receive the web 14 and tear or cut said web 14 along the preformed lines of weakness. The roller 36 is arranged to rotate about a longitudinal axis A, whereby the at least one web 14 is arranged to be fed upwards from the top of a web stack within the reservoir, between the roller 36 and the guiding member 38 as indicated by the arrow W, and towards the dispensing opening 32 (figure 3). The guiding member 38 thereby holds the at least one web 14 in place on the roller 36 so that it does not move backwards or sidewards during the use of the dispenser 10, or in case of web-breakage. The guiding member 38 also provides an intuitive guide for an attendant, feeding web 14 through the dispenser 10. The dispenser 10 will thereby function correctly, and it will be simple for an attendant to feed, and in cases of web breakage, re-feed a web 14 through the dispenser 10.

The dispenser 10 may be adapted to dispense web materials 12 containing products of varying sheet lengths as follows: The reservoir of the dispenser 10 is loaded with the chosen web material 12 containing products of a certain sheet length (L) between preformed lines of weakness. Preferably the web 14 is Z-folded in an accordion-like manner to form a stack. Alternatively it may be contained in the form of a roll.

Thereafter the leading portion of the web 14 is loaded into the dispensing path of the dispenser 10, and through the separation unit 30 such that the complete sheet length of the leading edge 34 most proximate the end of the web 14 (when facing the dispensing opening 32), has not wholly left the engaging grip of the nip in the separation unit 30.

Next, the distance (D) between the separation unit 30 and the dispensing opening 32 is adjusted by moving the separation unit 30 in relation to, i.e. either closer to or further away from, the dispensing opening 32, such that only the selected portion of the leading edge 34 projects to the outside of the dispenser 10 through the dispensing opening 32. For longer sheet lengths (L) the separation unit 30 will generally be moved further away from the dispensing opening 32, (see figures 3 and 5) and for web materials 12 having shorter sheet lengths (L), the separation unit 30 will generally be moved closer to the dispensing opening 32 (see figures 4 and 5). Thereafter the separation unit 30 is fixed at the distance (D) from the dispensing opening 32.

The dispensing opening 32 located on a wall of the dispenser 10, is arranged to present a leading edge 34 of the web, alternatively a separated product to the outside of the dispenser 10. The dispensing opening 32 is provided with a cut-in portion 40 large enough to permit a user's hand to be inserted to grasp the leading edge 34 of the web 14. The cut-in portion 40 is preferably located in the central portion of the dispensing opening 32, opposite to the separation unit 30, thereby providing the user with improved access to the leading edge 34 of the web material 12. It should be noted that the dispenser 10 according to the present invention may be any type of automatic or non-automatic dispenser for dispensing at least one web 14, i.e. a plurality of webs 14 may be dispensed simultaneously, or a plurality of different webs 14 may be dispensed by the dispenser 10 one at a time.

5 The dispenser 10 is a free-standing dispenser, but the dispenser 10 may also be mounted on any suitable object in any suitable manner. Furthermore, a dispenser reservoir of a dispenser according to the present invention need not necessarily contain an entire web 14 that is to be dispensed by the dispenser 10. At least one web 14 may for example be stored outside the reservoir and merely be fed through the reservoir when the dispenser 10 10 is in use.

Further modifications of the invention within the scope of the claims would be apparent to a skilled person.

Claims

1. A dispenser (10) adapted to contain web material (12) of various sheet lengths, said dispenser (10) comprising

- a reservoir for containing web material (12) comprising at least one web (14) of products having a sheet length (L), and said products being separated from each other by preformed lines of weakness; and

- a separation unit (30) adapted for separating said at least one web (14) into individual products at said preformed lines of weakness; and

- a dispensing opening (32) for presenting a leading edge (34) of said web to a user, said separation unit (30) being arranged at a distance (D) from the dispensing opening (32) characterized in that

the distance (D) between said separation unit (22) and said dispensing opening (32) is adjustable such that the preformed line of weakness succeeding said leading edge (34) of the web remains in the separation unit (30) after

dispensation of a product to a first user, while a selected portion of the leading edge (34) of the web is presented to the next user at the dispensing opening (32) regardless of the sheet length of the product.

2. The dispenser (10) according to claim 1 , wherein a leading portion of said web (14) is supported in a dispensing path from said reservoir to said dispensing opening (32).

3. The dispenser (10) according to anyone of claims 1-2, wherein said web (14) is Z- folded to form a stack.

4. The dispenser (10) according to anyone of claims 1-2, wherein said web (14) is in the form of a roll.

The dispenser (10) according to anyone of claims 1-4, wherein said preformed lines of weakness are perforation lines formed by alternating bonds and slots and having a perforation strength of 20-80 N/m, preferably 30-45 N/m.

The dispenser (10) according to anyone of claims 1-5, wherein said web (14) is a single web layer product, the single web layer is divided into products between longitudinally separated preformed lines of weakness extending across said single web layer.

7. The dispenser (10) according to anyone of claims 1-5, wherein said web (14) comprises at least a first web layer divided into products defined between longitudinally preformed lines of weakness extending across the first web layer; and at least a second web layer divided into products defined between longitudinally preformed lines of weakness extending across the second web layer; wherein the webs are interfolded so that the lines of weakness of the first web layer are offset from the lines of weakness of the second web layer in a longitudinal direction of the first web layer.

8. The dispenser (10) according to anyone of claims 1-7, wherein the dispenser (10) further comprises a control unit.

9. The dispenser (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said web (14) is arranged to be fed upwards within said reservoir, to a control unit (18) and downwards towards the separation unit (30) and said dispensing opening (32).

10. The dispenser (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said

dispensing opening (32) is provided with a cut-in portion (40).

1 1. The dispenser (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the

separation unit (30) is movable for adjustment of said distance.

12. The dispenser (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the

separation unit (30) is movable in a vertical direction for adjustment of said distance (D).

13. The dispenser (10) according to any one of claims 1 1-12, wherein the adjustment of the separation unit (30) is stepwise at fixed positions.

14. The dispenser (10) according to claims 11-12, wherein the adjustment of the separation unit (30) is infinitely variable.

15. The dispenser (10) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said

dispenser (10) is non-automatic.

16. A method for adapting a dispenser comprising a reservoir (20) for containing at least one web (14), a separation unit (30) for separating web material (12) into individual products, and a dispensing opening (32) for presenting a leading edge 34 of said web to a user, to dispense web materials (12) containing products of varying sheet lengths (L), said method comprising the steps of

- loading the dispenser of claims 1-13, with web material (12) having a sheet length (L) between preformed lines of weakness; and

- adjusting the distance (D) between the separation unit (30) and dispensing opening (32) such that the preformed line of weakness succeeding said leading edge (34) of the web remains in the separation unit (30) after dispensation of a product to a first user, while a selected portion of the leading edge (34) of the web is presented to the next user at the dispensing opening (32)

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the distance (D) between the

separation unit (30) and dispensing opening (32) is adjusted by moving the separation unit (30).

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the distance (D) between the

separation unit (30) and dispensing opening (32) is adjusted by moving the separation unit (30) in the vertical direction.

19. The method according to claims 16-18, wherein the distance (D) between the separation unit (30) and dispensing opening (32) is adjustable in a stepwise manner at fixed positions.

20. The method according to claim 16-18, wherein the distance (D) between the separation unit (30) and dispensing opening (32) is infinitely variable adjustable.