A dispenser assembly facilitating selective dispensing of sheet material from a plurality of supplies of sheet material can be provided. The dispenser assembly can include a drive system to facilitate dispensing of the sheet material from the plurality of supplies of sheet material from the dispenser. The drive system can include a plurality of driven rollers each configured to engage and move sheet material from a respective supply of sheet material, and a drive mechanism driving the plurality of driven rollers and connected thereto by a belt driven transmission. When the drive mechanism is driven in one direction, one of the plurality of driven rollers is rotated to dispense sheet material from one of the plurality of supplies of sheet material, and when the drive mechanism is driven in the opposite direction, another one of the plurality of driven rollers is rotated to dispense sheet material from another supply of sheet material.

In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a sheet material dispenser. The dispenser can include support for supporting a supply of the sheet material, and a feed roller arranged along a feed path of the sheet material downstream from the supply of sheet material that is operable to pull the sheet material from the supply of sheet material for feeding thereof. Additionally, the dispenser can include a controller that is in communication with the feed roller and includes programming for monitoring rotation of the feed roller during a dispensing cycle for feeding a selected length of the sheet material from the supply of sheet material. A material supply monitoring system further can be in communication with the controller, and operative to detect a number of rotations or an angle of rotation of the supply sheet material during at least a series of dispensing cycles.

Apparatus, and methods of operating such apparatus to produce disposable towels moistened with aqueous solution containing hypohalous acid.

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.

Sheet product dispensers and methods of dispensing sheet products are provided, including feeding a sheet material from a roll via a sheet feeding mechanism, separating one or more discrete sheet products from the roll via a separation mechanism, dispensing the one or more discrete sheet products to an end user at a presentation station via a sheet product conveying mechanism, and detecting a presence of the sheet material via a sensor downstream of the sheet feeding mechanism, wherein the sheet product conveying mechanism is driven in response to the sensor detecting the presence of the sheet material.

A battery compartment for an electronically driven dispensing unit includes an electronic unit having a fixed first structure and a battery holding unit having a fixed second structure adapted to receive and contain at least two cylindrical batteries side by side. The first structure includes a first electrical connection and a second electrical connection positioned opposite each other. The second structure is rotatably connected to the first structure via a joint allowing rotation between a first open position in which the batteries are loaded or unloaded in the battery holding unit and a closed position in which loaded batteries are connected to the first and second electrical connections via spring action and movement of the batteries in the loading direction.

A dispenser for dispensing portions of a continuous web of tissue from a tissue roll is disclosed. Further, the invention relates to a method for dispensing portions of a continuous web of tissue from a tissue roll. The dispenser comprises a first tissue roll position for receiving a tissue roll and a second tissue roll position for receiving a tissue roll; an output mechanism for supplying portions of tissue; a transfer mechanism for releasably holding and transferring an end of a tissue roll in the first tissue roll position to the output mechanism; wherein the transfer mechanism is adapted to transfer the end of the tissue roll in the first tissue roll position to the output mechanism when the second tissue roll position is empty.

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 power management system for a dispenser that includes a passive infrared radiation sensor arranged along the dispenser and configured to detect infrared radiation emitted by one or more users within a prescribed detection range, area, or zone of the dispenser. When the passive infrared radiation sensor does not capture infrared radiation within the prescribed detection range, area, or zone, the dispenser is placed in a low power state with the passive infrared sensor remaining connected to a power source and a controller, a dispensing mechanism, and/or the proximity sensor being disconnected from the power source. Other aspects also are described.

A roll towel dispenser includes a frame configured to support a first roll of first paper towel and a second roll of second paper towel and a main roller coupled to the frame. During operation, the first paper towel and the second paper towel are positioned adjacent the main roller such that the first paper towel is positioned between the second paper towel and the main roller. The main roller is configured to engage the first paper towel such that rotation of the main roller moves the first paper towel from the first roll, at least partially around the main roller, and through an outlet of the roll towel dispenser. The first paper towel slips relative to the second paper towel while the main roller moves the first paper towel such that only the first paper towel is dispensed through the outlet.