Various tissue dispensers are disclosed. The tissue dispenser can hold a main roll of tissue and a stub roll of tissue. In response to the tissue of the stub roll being exhausted, an advance system of the tissue dispenser can automatically transition the tissue dispenser to dispensing tissue material of the main roll.

A hands-free paper product dispenser has three separate IR emitter and sensor circuits, two controlling the length and/or number of sheets of paper cut and dispensed, and the third used both to safety interlock the cutter mechanism and to control retention of each cut sheet by the dispenser until removed from the dispenser by a user. A novel cutting mechanism and associated upper and lower pinch plates are employed to both hold the paper during cutting and assure a straight and unfrayed cut.

A hands-free paper product dispenser has three separate IR emitter and sensor circuits, two controlling the length and/or number of sheets of paper cut and dispensed, and the third used both to safety interlock the cutter mechanism and to control retention of each cut sheet by the dispenser until removed from the dispenser by a user. A novel cutting mechanism and associated upper and lower pinch plates are employed to both hold the paper during cutting and assure a straight and unfrayed cut.

Some example sheet product dispensers that accommodate one or more sheet product rolls are provided herein. An example sheet product dispenser includes a dispensing mechanism with a drive roller and nip roller. A motor is configured to rotate the drive roller to cause a portion of the sheet product to dispense from the sheet product dispenser. A controller is configured to determine a sheet length for dispensing and cause the motor to operate to cause sheet product to be dispensed from the sheet product dispenser. The controller is further configured to monitor an amount of rotation of the motor as the motor operates and cause, in an instance in which the amount of rotation of the motor corresponds to the determined sheet length, the motor to cease operation so as to cause the determined sheet length of sheet product to be dispensed from the sheet product dispenser.

Some example product dispensers that accommodate two full paper towel rolls are provided herein. The product dispenser may employ separate dispensing mechanisms for each product roll and may include roll holders that articulate out from the housing to facilitate easy loading and access to replacement and loading of the other product roll. A roll partition may be utilized to separate the web paths of the two product rolls and enable rotation of front roll holders. Example funnel covers and nip covers can aid with intuitive installation. Example roll holders with retention mechanisms help prevent unintentional dropping of the installed product roll. Other beneficial features include utilizing motor operation sensing to dispense a desired sheet length, automatic/assisted loading into the dispensing mechanism, automatic switching between dispensing of product rolls, and always dispensing from the smaller product roll first. Many other features/structures of example product dispensers are also described herein.

Some example product dispensers that accommodate two full paper towel rolls are provided herein. The product dispenser may employ separate dispensing mechanisms for each product roll and may include roll holders that articulate out from the housing to facilitate easy loading and access to replacement and loading of the other product roll. A roll partition may be utilized to separate the web paths of the two product rolls and enable rotation of front roll holders. Example funnel covers and nip covers can aid with intuitive installation. Example roll holders with retention mechanisms help prevent unintentional dropping of the installed product roll. Other beneficial features include utilizing motor operation sensing to dispense a desired sheet length, automatic/assisted loading into the dispensing mechanism, automatic switching between dispensing of product rolls, and always dispensing from the smaller product roll first. Many other features/structures of example product dispensers are also described herein.

A tissue paper refill for a tissue paper dispenser. The refill includes a web of tissue paper having a leading end and a trailing end for engagement with the trailing end and leading end respectively of a previous and subsequent refill. The web is provided with a mechanical connector at one or both of its ends to realize such engagement. The mechanical connector is water soluble for the purpose of tissue recovery. Also, a method of tissue recovery.

Apparatus for dispensing paper toweling from a roll of paper toweling including roll support structure, a rotatable support drum to transport the paper toweling and cause rotation of the roll of paper toweling, and a rotary damper resisting formation of overspin slack in the paper toweling resulting from a pulling force applied to the paper toweling.

An exemplary dispenser includes a housing and a refill unit. The refill unit being removable and replaceable. The dispenser also includes a processor, memory, a dose count stored in memory that is indicative of the number of doses in a full refill unit, a level sensor for detecting a predetermined level the refill unit and a dispense count indicative of the number doses of product dispensed from the refill unit. In addition, the dispenser includes memory and has logic stored in the memory for recalibrating the number of doses remaining in the refill unit as a function of the dose count, the number of doses of product dispensed and the predetermined level of product. The number of doses of product remaining in the refill unit may be displayed on the dispenser, on a remote station, or on both the dispenser and a remote station.

A flowable material dispenser for dispensing flowable material from a container having a pump may include a housing, an actuator, a motor, and a drive assembly. The actuator may be disposed within the housing and configured to translate relative to the housing between a first position and a second position during a dispense cycle. The actuator may be configured to move the pump between an extended configuration and a compressed configuration to dispense the flowable material as the actuator translates between the first position and the second position during the dispense cycle. The drive assembly may be coupled to the actuator and the motor and configured to translate the actuator between the first position and the second position at a varying rate of translation during the dispense cycle. The varying rate of translation may vary relative to a rate of rotation of the motor and follow a non-sinusoidal waveform.