Dispenser assembly

Abstract

A dispenser assembly for dispensing a sheet from a roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, including: a roll holder for removably holding the roll of sheet material, which is free to rotate relative to the roll holder; a base for supporting the roll holder and for coupling the dispenser assembly with an environment structure; and a pair of coupling elements including a first element coupled to the roll of sheet material and a second element integral to the roll holder, the first element being coupled in a free to rotate and removable manner relative to the second element by magnetic coupling. The first element includes a contacting portion extending transversally relative to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially recover the lateral edge so that the first element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material.

Claims

1. A dispenser assembly for dispensing a sheet from a roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, the dispenser assembly comprising: a roll holder for removably holding the roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material being free to rotate relative to the roll holder; a base for supporting the roll holder and for coupling the dispenser assembly with an environment structure; and a pair of coupling elements comprising a first element coupled to the roll of sheet material and a second element integral to the roll holder, the first element being coupled in a removable manner relative to the second element by magnetic coupling; wherein the first element is coupled to the second element in a free to rotate manner, and wherein the first element comprises a contacting portion extending transversally relative to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially cover said lateral edge so that the first element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material.

2. The dispenser assembly of claim 1, wherein the first element is in the form of a sticker that adheres to the lateral edge of the at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material by an adhesive layer.

3. The dispenser assembly of claim 1, wherein the first element is in the form of a painted area that adheres to the lateral edge of the at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material as a result of a painting process.

4. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the second element is a flange secured to the base through an arm, the second element comprising another contacting portion arranged for magnetic coupling to the contacting portion of the first element.

5. The dispenser assembly of claim 4, wherein the roll holder further comprises a resilient element for pressing the flange against the contacting portion of the first element.

6. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first element and the second element each comprises a magnet, these magnets being oriented so as to provide an attractive magnetic force between the first element and the second element.

7. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of coupling elements is made of a magnetic material, the other coupling element being made of a ferro-magnetic material.

8. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of coupling elements is made of a plastic charged with a magnetic powder, the other coupling element being made of a plastic charged with a ferromagnetic powder.

9. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein one of the pair of coupling elements comprises a magnet, the other coupling element comprising a piece of ferro-magnetic material.

10. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first element is coupled to the second element through a punctual contact.

11. The dispenser assembly according to claim 10, wherein the punctual contact comprises a planar surface of the first element contacting an elliptical or spherical surface of the second element.

12. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first element is coupled to the second element through a surface contact, each element having a contacting portion in the form of a planar surface.

13. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, further comprises a second pair of coupling elements, wherein the second pair of coupling elements is positioned at an opposite end portion of the cavity of the roll of sheet material from the first coupling element and the second coupling element.

14. The dispenser assembly according to claim 13, wherein the second pair of coupling elements comprising a third element coupled to an opposite end of the roll of sheet material as the first coupling element and a fourth coupling element integral to the roll holder, the third element being coupled in a removable manner relative to the fourth element by magnetic coupling.

15. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the roll of sheet material is wound onto a hollow or solid core.

16. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the roll of sheet material is a paper towel roll.

17. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein an interface zone between the first element and the second element is external to the roll holder.

18. The dispenser assembly according to claim 1, wherein the roll holder is disposed on an interior surface of the base, and the second element is disposed on an interior surface of the roll holder.

19. A roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, the roll of sheet material being provided with a coupling element comprising a contacting portion extending transversally relative to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially cover said lateral edge so that the coupling element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material being adapted to be dispensed by a dispenser assembly including: a roll holder for removably holding the roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material being free to rotate relative to the roll holder; a base for supporting the roll holder and for coupling the dispenser assembly with an environment structure; and a pair of coupling elements comprising a first element coupled to the roll of sheet material and a second element integral to the roll holder, the first element being coupled in a removable manner relative to the second element by magnetic coupling, wherein the first element is coupled to the second element in a free to rotate manner, and wherein the first element comprises a contacting portion extending transversally relative to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of the at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially cover said lateral edge so that the first element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material.

20. The roll of sheet material according to claim 19, wherein the first element is coupled to the second element through a punctual contact.

21. The roll of sheet material according to claim 20, wherein the punctual contact comprises a planar surface of the first element contacting an elliptical or spherical surface of the second element.

22. A coupling element for coupling to a roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, wherein the coupling element comprises a contacting portion extending transversally relative to the longitudinal axis, arranged to at least partially cover a lateral edge of at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material when adhered to said lateral edge so as to fixedly secure the coupling element to the roll of sheet material, the coupling element being adapted to be coupled in a free to rotate and removable manner relative to another element by magnetic coupling in a dispenser assembly including: a roll holder for removably holding the roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material being free to rotate relative to the roll holder; a base for supporting the roll holder and for coupling the dispenser assembly with an environment structure; and a pair of coupling elements comprising a first element coupled to the roll of sheet material and a second element integral to the roll holder, the first element being coupled in a removable manner relative to the second element by magnetic coupling, wherein the first element is coupled to the second element in a free to rotate manner, and wherein the first element comprises a contacting portion extending transversally relative to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of the at least one sheet of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially cover said lateral edge so that the first element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material.

23. The coupling element according to claim 22, wherein the first element is coupled to the second element through a punctual contact.

24. The coupling element according to claim 23, wherein the punctual contact comprises a planar surface of the first element contacting an elliptical or spherical surface of the second element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of examples and not limited to the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements:

(2) FIG. 1 is a front sectional view schematically illustrating an embodiment of a dispenser assembly;

(3) FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional cut-away views taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating a first embodiment of a pair of coupling elements of a dispenser assembly applicable to rolls of sheet material having a core and coreless rolls of sheet material, respectively;

(4) FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional cut-away views taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating a second embodiment of a pair of coupling elements of a dispenser assembly applicable to rolls of sheet material having a core and coreless rolls of sheet material, respectively;

(5) FIGS. 6 and 7 are sectional cut-away views taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating other types of coupling arrangements for a dispenser assembly applicable to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, respectively;

(6) FIG. 8 is sectional cut-away view taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating an example of a roll holder in a dispenser assembly; and

(7) FIGS. 9 to 11 are perspective views schematically illustrating the roll of sheet material of the first embodiment (FIGS. 9 and 10) and second embodiment (FIGS. 9 and 11) at different dispensing stages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(8) In the following description, the terminology a roll of sheet material has a large meaning encompassing, as examples, the rolls of paper towels, toilet tissues, plastic sheets or the like, metal sheets (e.g. aluminum) sheets or the like, food preservation bags, wraps, etc. . . . The sheet material may be rolled as a continuous non-perforated sheet or pre-perforated sheets. Further, the terminology roll of sheet material also covers either a roll of sheet material having a core, or a roll of sheet material being coreless. In particular, during the manufacturing process of the roll of sheet material, either the sheet material is wound into a cylinder onto a core (as an example a hollow cylinder made of cardboard, or a plastic mandrel, or a metallic axle, etc. . . . ), or the sheet material is wound into a cylinder on itself such as to define a central hollow cavity of substantially cylindrical shape and of variable size extending longitudinally.

(9) The dispenser assembly may be used for residential or commercial applications for dispensing multiple of the hereinbefore mentioned sheets of material from a roll of sheet material.

(10) The dispenser assembly may dispense the sheets of material from the roll of sheet material either manually (a user may pull the sheet of material with a hand) or motor assisted (a motor may assist in automatically dispensing the sheet of material on wish). There are numerous mechanisms to automatically dispense the sheet of material, and also to cut the sheet of material at the user requested length.

(11) FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a dispenser assembly 1. In this embodiment, the dispenser assembly 1 is used to dispense a sheet 2 from a roll of sheet material 3. The roll of sheet material 3 defines a cavity 4 extending longitudinally of longitudinal axis of revolution 15. This cavity is a central hollow cylinder. In this particular example, the roll of sheet material 3 is wound onto a core 4a, namely a hollow cylinder made of cardboard. As depicted in FIGS. 3 and 5, the roll of sheet material 3 may alternatively be a coreless roll of sheet material. In this case, the cavity may not be finely and equally defined all along the roll length as it lacks the supporting effect of the core 4a. The size of the cavity, in particular the diameter of the cavity depends on the manufacturing process. It is generally adapted to the dispenser assembly as explained hereinafter.

(12) The dispenser assembly 1 includes a roll holder 5, 5a, a base 6, and a pair of coupling elements 8, 8a. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the dispenser assembly 1 includes two roll holders 5 and 5a and two pairs of coupling elements 8 and 8a, one on each end of the roll of sheet material 3.

(13) The roll holder 5, 5a holds in a removable manner the roll of sheet material 3. The roll of sheet material 3 is free to rotate relatively to the roll holder 5, 5a.

(14) The base 6 supports the roll holder 5, 5a. The base 6 further couples the dispenser assembly 1 with an environment structure 7, for example a wall, by means of appropriate securing elements 16 (screw, glue, etc.). The base 6 may further include a housing 17 having a slit 18 that is adapted to dispense sheets 2 of material. The housing may include a hood (not shown) closed during the use of the dispenser assembly, and opened during loading or unloading operation of the roll of sheet material into the dispenser assembly.

(15) The pair of coupling elements 8, 8a includes a first element 9, 9a coupled to the roll of sheet material 3 and a second element 10, 10a integral to the roll holder 5, 5a. The first element 9, 9a is coupled to the second element 10, 10a by a magnetic coupling in an interface zone 13, 13a. The magnetic coupling is such that:

(16) the first element 9, 9a is free to rotate relative to the second element 10, 10a enabling free-rolling of the roll of sheet material 3 relative to the roll holder 5, 5a; and

(17) the first element 9, 9a is removable relative to the second element 10, 10a enabling engagement or disengagement of the roll of sheet material 3 with regards to the roll holder 5, 5a.

(18) The first element 9, 9a is realized under the form of a transversally extending contacting portion (i.e., transverse to the longitudinal axis of revolution 15). The transversally extending contacting portion is adhered to a lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3 and arranged to at least partially recover a lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3 so that the first element 9, 9a is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material 3. The terminology adhere to is intended to mean to stick, to become joined or to become united.

(19) The second element 10, 10a may be a flange secured to the base 6 through for example an arm 14, 14a.

(20) FIGS. 2 to 7 show the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1, schematically illustrating various embodiments of the pair of coupling elements 8.

(21) These embodiments are well suited to a dispenser assembly 1 dispensing sheets 2 from a roll of sheet material 3 wound around a core 4a as depicted in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 7.

(22) Similarly, all these embodiments are also well suited to a dispenser assembly 1 dispensing sheets 2 from a coreless roll of sheet material 3, namely a roll of sheet material 3 lacking the core 4. FIGS. 3 and 5 show two examples of such embodiments applied to a coreless roll of sheet material.

(23) Only the pair of coupling elements referenced 8 on one end of the roll of sheet material 3 is illustrated on these FIGS. 2 to 7. The other pair of coupling elements referenced 8a on the other end of the roll of sheet material 3 is symmetrical and will not be further illustrated and described.

(24) FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically illustrate a first embodiment of a pair of coupling elements wherein the first element 9 is in the form of a sticker 20.

(25) The sticker 20 includes the transversally extending contacting portion (i.e., transverse to the longitudinal axis of revolution 15) that is adhering to the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3 through an adhesive/gluing/sticking layer 21. The transversally extending portion protrudes and is arranged to at least partially recover the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3. This enables a satisfactory inter-coupling between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material 3, in particular avoiding a loose fit between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material.

(26) The sticker 20 has a contacting surface 24 forming a plane. It may have various shapes, for example a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a rectangular shape, etc. . . . .

(27) The sticker 20 is either a magnet, or a piece of ferro-magnetic material, or a plastic piece charged with a magnetic powder, or a plastic piece charged with a ferromagnetic powder. The sticker 20 is glued on each lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3 (through the adhesive layer 21).

(28) The sticker 20 together with the gluing layer 21 may be obtained from a sticky tape that is cut according to the desired shape.

(29) FIGS. 4 and 5 schematically illustrate a second embodiment of a pair of coupling elements wherein the first element 9 is in the form of a painted area 22.

(30) The painted area 22 forms the transversally extending portion (i.e., transverse to the longitudinal axis of revolution 15) that is adhering to the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3 as a result of the painting process. The transversally extending contacting portion protrudes and is arranged to at least partially recover the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3. This enables a satisfactory inter-coupling between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material 3, in particular avoiding a loose fit between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material.

(31) The painted area 22 has a contacting surface 24 forming a plane.

(32) The painted area 22 is a magnetic or ferro-magnetic painting (i.e. a paint charged with a magnetic or ferro-magnetic powder) that is for example painted, spray-painted or sputter-painted on each lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3.

(33) Various shapes of painted area 22 can be obtained, for example a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a rectangular shape, etc. . . . using as an example an appropriate stencil or pattern during the painting process.

(34) In the hereinbefore described first and second embodiments, the second element 10 supports a magnet or a piece of ferro-magnetic material 33 having a contacting surface 34 being an elliptical surface or a spherical surface.

(35) Thus, the first element 9 is coupled to the second element 10 through a punctual contact. This feature enables limiting the friction effect between this two elements providing a rotation of the roll of sheet material 3 relatively to the roll holder 5 even if a low pull force is exercised on the dispensed sheet 2 (shown in FIG. 1).

(36) The magnet or the piece of ferro-magnetic material 33 is positioned facing the first element 9. When the first element 9 includes a magnet or a plastic piece charged with a magnetic powder, or a magnetic painting the second element 10 may include a magnet or a plastic piece charged with a magnetic powder, these magnetic elements being properly oriented to attract each other. Alternatively, the second element 10 may be made of a ferro-magnetic material. When the first element 9 includes a piece of ferro-magnetic material, or a ferro-magnetic painting, the second element 10 may either include a magnet, or be made of magnetic material. In all these cases, an attractive magnetic force is provided for coupling the first element 9 to the second element 10. The size and thickness of the sticker 20 or of the painted area 22 is chosen such as to provide a sufficient magnetic coupling, for example a few centimeters in size and a few millimeters in thickness.

(37) The magnetic coupling through a punctual contact as hereinbefore described in relation with the various embodiments enables reducing the friction between the two coupling elements, thus between the roll of sheet material and the roll holder. This enables reducing the force or energy required to dispense a sheet of material either manually or motor assisted. When the dispenser assembly includes a motor (not shown) to dispense the sheet of material, having a low friction enables either to reduce electrical consumption of the motor, or to downsize the motor power for the same dispenser assembly characteristics. Further, it also reduces the motor loudness during the dispensing operation. When the dispenser assembly is manually operated (i.e. without the help of a motor), the sheet of material may be dispensed in a quasi-automatic manner by combining a very low pull force exercised on the dispensed sheet with the low friction and the effect of gravity on the currently dispensed sheet of material.

(38) In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5, the first element 9 is coupled to the second element 10 through a punctual contact, i.e. a planar contacting surface 24 (the sticker 20 or the painted area 22) against a contacting surface 34 being an elliptical surface or a spherical surface. However, the magnetic coupling between the first element 9 and the second element 10 may be implemented in other different ways.

(39) FIGS. 6 and 7 schematically illustrate other possible coupling arrangements forming a surface contact. These coupling arrangements may replace the punctual contact in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5. The alternative embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7 are based on the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 2 and 4, respectively. These embodiments differ in that the second element 10 supports a magnet or a piece of ferro-magnetic material 35 having a contacting surface 36 being a plane. The magnet or the piece of ferro-magnetic material 35 may be, for example, a cylinder or a parallelepiped. Thus, each of the first element 9 and the second element 10 has a contacting surface in the form of a planar surface.

(40) These embodiments of the pair of coupling elements 8 are also applicable to coreless rolls of sheet material.

(41) FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an example of roll holder 5 (or 5a). The second element 10 is a flange secured to an arm 14. The arm 14 may include a recess 40 receiving the second element 10 and also a resilient element, for example a spring 41. The second element 10 is free to move within the recess while being pushed by the spring 41 outside the recess. An abutment 42 in the recess may cooperate with a shoulder 43 of the second element 10 to block the full translation of the second element outside the recess 40. During a loading or unloading operation of the dispenser assembly 1, the second element 10 is retracted into the recess 10 due to the pushing action of the roll of sheet material 3 being installed. Once in place, the spring 41 presses the second element 10 against the contacting surface 24 (e.g. the contacting surface 24 of the sticker 20 or the painted area 22) of the first element 9. This enables providing a satisfactory contact between the first and the second elements.

(42) FIGS. 9 to 11 are perspective views schematically illustrating the roll of sheet material 3 of the first and second embodiments at different dispensing stages.

(43) FIG. 9 shows the roll of sheet material 3 after the manufacturing process. A first element 9 in the form of a sticker or a painted area is adhering to the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3.

(44) The dispenser assembly 1 (depicted in FIG. 1) is used to dispense a sheet 2 from the roll of sheet material 3.

(45) At a later stage, when a significant amount of sheet 2 have been dispensed from the roll of sheet material 3, further dispensed sheet portion includes a border being an adhesive band 21a (first embodiment) or a band of magnetic painting 22a (second embodiment) on each side of the sheet when the sheet 2 splits from the roll of sheet material 3. This is particularly advantageous to prevent a direct subsequent use of the first element 9. With the first embodiment, at the end of the dispensing process, the adhesive layer is lacking to further stick the sticker to another roll of sheet material 3. With the second embodiment, at the end of the dispensing process, the magnetic painted area has gradually disappeared from the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3 with the dispensed sheet 2.

(46) The drawings and their descriptions hereinbefore illustrate rather than limit the invention.

(47) The depicted embodiment of dispenser assembly in FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example of a base including a closed housing with a slit. However, other kind of base, for example providing an open access to the roll of sheet material may be convenient provided that the coupling between the roll holder and the roll of sheet material is of the magnetic coupling kind as described hereinbefore.

(48) The depicted embodiments illustrate a dispenser assembly wherein the roll of sheet material is positioned horizontally. However, it may also be positioned vertically, or at an angle.

(49) The depicted embodiment of dispenser assembly in FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example of a dispenser assembly where the roll of sheet material is held on each edge by two pairs of coupling elements. However, it may also be held on one edge by one pair of coupling element as hereinbefore described and on the other edge by any other appropriate holding mechanism.

(50) Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim. The word comprising does not exclude the presence of other elements than those listed in a claim. The word a or an preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such element.