Electronic towel dispensers and methods of operation disclosed. In one embodiment, a towel dispenser for dispensing web material from a roll of web material may comprise a housing comprising a back panel and a front cover and having an internal volume so as to retain at least one roll of web material therein, an electronically powered dispensing mechanism contained within the housing for dispensing web material from the roll of web material upon actuation of said dispensing mechanism, a tear bar disposed within the housing, the tear bar comprising a tear bar back edge and a tear bar cutting edge, and a tear bar actuator coupled to the tear bar and configured to move the tear bar between a tear bar primary position and a tear bar secondary position.

A paper dispenser includes a paper input area and a paper output area; the paper input area including a holder for a paper roll and including a paper input unit provided to displace paper from the paper roll towards the paper output area, the paper output area including a paper output unit which is adapted to dispense paper to an outside of the dispenser, the dispenser further including a paper cutting unit arranged between the paper input unit and a paper output unit, which paper cutting unit is adapted for cutting the paper, wherein the paper output unit is operationally connected to the paper input unit to dispense the paper at a dispensing speed that is at least as large as a displacing speed of the paper input unit.

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.

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.

A fluid dosing substrate dispenser comprises a housing with a first fluid reservoir and/or a first fluid reservoir holder configured to removably receive the first fluid reservoir and a second fluid reservoir and/or a second fluid reservoir holder configured to removably receive the second fluid reservoir. The dispenser includes a substrate advancing mechanism configured to receive substrate from a substrate source and to advance a portion of the substrate through the housing and an application mechanism configured to apply fluid from at least one of the first fluid reservoir or the second fluid reservoir to one or more portions of the substrate. A computing system is configured to select at least one of amount of fluid for application, composition of fluid for application, or portion of the substrate the fluid is applied based on an input received by the computing system indicating the user of the substrate 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.

A dispenser for dispensing consumable product having a consumable product storage area configured to store the consumable product within the dispenser; a dispensing mechanism operatively coupled to the consumable product and configured to facilitate a dispensing cycle to dispense a portion of consumable product, and wherein the dispensing cycle creates a vibration event in at least a portion of the dispenser; a vibration sensing device configured to sense a vibrational characteristic of the vibration event, wherein a value of the vibrational characteristic changes as a function of an amount of consumable product remaining in the dispenser; and a data processing device configured to (i) store data describing the vibrational characteristic and (ii) communicate the data to a remote receiver separate from the dispenser.

Various dispensing systems with drop-down features are disclosed. In certain embodiments, the dispensing system includes a roll support with a sensor and a piston. The sensor can move as the roll decreases in size (e.g., the outside diameter decreases) and can apply a force to the roll. The piston can move to become less engaged with the roll, such as becoming less received in a roll plug or the hollow core of the roll. When the roll has decreased to a threshold size, the piston substantially or fully disengages from the roll and/or the sensor applies a force to dislodge the roll from the roll support. This results in the roll automatically dropping off the roll support. The roll support is thus available to receive a fresh roll.

A paper sheet material dispenser apparatus for dispensing paper sheet material from a roll of paper sheet material having a tail portion includes a sensor structure having a light emitter and a light sensor for sensing the absence of a replacement tail portion projecting from a housing exit opening and for activating an electric motor to rotate a roll support drum and cause the replacement tail portion to project from the exit opening.