Dispenser for dispensing sheet products

Abstract

Dispenser for dispensing sheet products stacked in a stacking direction comprising a housing having first opposite side walls and second opposite side walls defining an interior space configured to accommodate the stack of the sheet products, the housing defining a dispensing opening at a front end of the first and second opposite side walls, and an engagement surface arranged at a front end portion of each of the first opposite side walls closer to one of the second opposite side walls than to the other of the second opposite side walls, wherein the engagement surfaces are engageable with respective opposite edges of the sheet products and extend in the stacking direction.

Claims

1. A dispenser for dispensing sheet products stacked in a stacking direction, comprising: a housing having a pair of first opposite side walls and a pair of second opposite side walls defining an interior space configured to accommodate a stack of the sheet products, the housing defining a dispensing opening at a front end of each of the first and second opposite side walls, and an engagement surface arranged at a front-end portion of each of the first opposite side walls closer to one of the second opposite side walls than to the other of the second opposite side walls, wherein each engagement surface is engageable with a respective opposite edge of the sheet products and extends in the stacking direction, wherein the dispenser further comprises a dispensing mechanism, the dispensing mechanism comprising a roller having an axis of rotation and configured to engage with a leading sheet product in the stack of sheet products to dispense at least a portion of the sheet product through the dispensing opening upon rotation, wherein each engagement surface is arranged between the axis of rotation and the respective second opposite side wall to which each engagement surface is located closer to.

2. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein each engagement surface is inclined relative to a respective side wall of the first opposite side walls so that a distance between the engagement surfaces decreases towards the dispensing opening.

3. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the engagement surfaces is biased towards the other of the engagement surfaces.

4. The dispenser according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the engagement surfaces is formed on a tab, the tab being elastic in a direction towards the respective side walls of first opposite side walls.

5. The dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the tab is a sheet metal or bent sheet metal.

6. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the engagement surfaces are a friction increasing surface or surface-increasing surface.

7. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the engagement surfaces each comprise a plurality of parallel grooves arranged in a row in the stacking direction.

8. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a housing body and a cover, the cover being movably attached to the housing body for refilling, wherein the engagement surfaces are arranged on and movable together with the cover.

9. The dispenser according to claim 1, further comprising a support plate reciprocally movable within the interior space and having a support surface for supporting the stack of sheet products at one of opposite faces of the stack, wherein the support plate is urged in a direction toward the dispensing opening.

10. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a respective length of the engagement surfaces in the stacking direction is different to one another.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a dispenser according to an embodiment in the open refilling position;

(2) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the dispenser according to the embodiment in FIG. 1 in the closed use position with the top being removed;

(3) FIG. 3 shows a perspective top view of the dispenser in FIG. 2 with the further parts being removed to show the engagement surfaces;

(4) FIG. 4 shows an engagement surface member defining the engagement surface in a perspective front view (FIG. 4A) and a perspective back view (FIG. 4B);

(5) FIG. 5 shows a tab 23 used to for attaching the engagement surface member; and

(6) FIGS. 6A-D show an alternative tab or alternative engagement surface members in top and side view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals have been used for the same elements.

(8) A particular embodiment of a dispenser 1 is described as an example with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

(9) The dispenser 1 includes a housing 2 having a housing body 3 and a cover 4 (the cover may also be referred to as a door or lid). A dispensing opening 5 is provided at the front of the cover 4. The dispenser 1 is configured for being placed on a horizontal surface as shown in FIG. 1 and with the dispensing opening 5 directed forward. Yet, also other orientations of the dispenser 1 are conceivable such as with the dispensing opening 5 being directed downward or upward. A dispenser 1 having a downwardly oriented dispensing opening is for example known from WO 2014/154282 A1.

(10) The cover 4 is hinged to the housing body 3 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis. This has been proven advantageous for refilling the dispenser and the implementation of an automatic dispensing mechanism 6 incorporated into the cover 4. Yet, it is also conceivable that the cover 4 is rotatable about a horizontal axis or to attach the cover so as to be translationally and rotatably movable. In any case, the cover 4 is fixed to the housing body 3 so as to be movable between a closed use position (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) in which the dispenser 1 is ready for dispensing sheet products and an open refilling position (shown in FIG. 1) allowing refilling (loading) of the dispenser 1. In the present embodiment, the cover 4 is rotated about the vertical axis for moving the cover 4 between the two positions.

(11) As previously described, a dispensing mechanism 6 is incorporated into the cover 4. The dispensing mechanism 6 is driven by an electric motor for dispensing one or more sheet products at a time. The dispensing mechanism 6 may be triggered by a bottom 7 located on the cover 4. The dispensing mechanism 6 comprises a roller 8 rotatable about a rotation axis 9. The roller 8 has an outer surface made of rubber with a plurality of longitudinal grooves extending parallel to the axis of rotation 9. The roller 8 is configured to engage with the first sheet product (leading sheet product) in the stack of sheet products. As will be apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, the roller 8 is located in a top end portion behind the refilling opening and hidden by the cover 4 so as to be invisible when the cover 4 is closed. The roller 8 is configured to engage with an upper end portion of the sheet products closer to an upper edge than to a lower edge resting on a bottom wall 14. In the present example, the roller 8 rotates about the axis of rotation 9 counterclockwise. Thus, the roller 8 engages with an upper end portion of the sheet product and upon rotation pulls the upper end portion downward through the dispensing opening 5, where it can be withdrawn. For this purpose, the stack of sheet products is urged toward and against the roller 8 via a support plate 19 as described further below. During this process, there is a relative movement between two consecutive folds of a sheet product or between two consecutive sheet products causing a sliding friction.

(12) Yet, also other dispensing mechanisms known in the art are possible. Further, the engagement surfaces described in the following are also applicable to pure manual dispensers in which one sheet product at a time is dispensed by being manually pulled out of the dispensing opening 5 instead of using an automatic dispensing mechanism 6.

(13) The housing body 3 of the housing 2 has opposite side walls 16, 17 (first opposite side walls), a top wall 13 and a bottom wall 15 (second opposite side walls) and defining a compartment 14 (interior space) for accommodating a stack of sheet products in a stacking direction 21. The housing body 3 further has a refilling opening 11 defined in a front wall 12. The cover 4 is hinged to the front wall 12 and configured to cover the refilling opening 11 in the closed use position and to give access to the refilling opening 11 in the open refilling position.

(14) The compartment 14 is delimited at its lower side by the bottom wall 15 on which a lower edge of the sheet products may rest.

(15) A support plate 19 is provided within the compartment 14. The support plate 19 has a support surface 20 for supporting a back face of the stack of sheet products (a last sheet product in the stack of sheet products contained in the dispenser 1). The support plate 19 is translationally movable along guides in a stacking direction 21.

(16) The support plate 19 is urged toward the refilling opening 11 and, hence, the dispensing opening 5 of the shown dispenser 1. Accordingly, the support surface 20 of the support plate 19 pushes (urges) the stack of sheet products toward the dispensing opening 5. According to an example, this may be achieved by constant force springs 33 on either side of the support plate 19 as seen perpendicular to the direction of movement of the support plate 19. The constant force springs 33 tend to coil about a rotatable axis 34. One end of the longitudinal and sheet shaped constant force springs 33 is attached relative to the housing body 3, whereas the opposite end thereof is attached to the rotatable axis 34. Upon dispensing the sheet products from the dispenser 1, the support plate 19 is pushed by the springs 33 towards the front, wherein the springs 33 coil about the thereby rotating axis 34. Yet, also other mechanisms are conceivable such as a tension spring fixed at one end relative to the support plate 19 and at the other end relative to the housing body 3.

(17) In the present example, engagement surfaces 22 are respectively arranged at the side walls 16, 17. The engagement surfaces 22 are arranged so as to be engageable with side edges of a plurality of sheet products arrayed in the stacking direction.

(18) In particular, a tab 23 (see FIG. 5) made of a bent sheet metal is fixed to the cover 4 as shown in FIG. 1. The tab 23 is substantially V-shaped, though the legs of the “V” do not necessarily have to have the same length. An attachment leg 24 extends substantially parallel to the surface of the respective side wall 16, 17 to which it is attached. The support leg 25 is inclined relative to the attachment leg 24 and, hence, relative to the respective sidewall 16, 17 to which the tab 23 is attached. The attachment leg 24 and the support leg 25 are connected via a bent 26. Due to the elasticity of the material, the support leg 25 is, hence, urged away or biased away from the attachment leg 24 and springs back upon the compression of the legs 24, 25. The support leg 25 has engagement holes 27.

(19) Moreover an engagement surface member 28 as shown in FIG. 4 defines the engagement surface 22. The engagement surface member 28 is made of plastic material. In one example, the engagement surface member 28 may be made of rubber. Yet, any other high friction material could be used as described earlier. The engagement surface member 28 has a back surface 29 opposite to the engagement surface 22. Engagement members 30 are formed on the back surface 29 and are configured to engage with the engagement holes 27 of the tab 23. Thus, the engagement surface member 28 can be snapped onto the tab 23 and is supported on the support leg 25. Yet, any other attachment technique could be used as described above.

(20) As is also shown in FIG. 4, the engagement surface 22 comprises a plurality of grooves 31. The grooves 31 extend parallel to each other so that the engagement surface 22 is corrugated. In the mounted state and as shown in FIG. 1, the grooves 31 are arranged in a row in the stacking direction 21. Moreover, the grooves 31 extend in a direction from the bottom to the top or vice versa and in the example perpendicular to the axis of rotation 9 of the roller 8. The grooves are V-shaped. However, any other shape of the grooves such as U-shaped or rounded (wave-shaped) could be employed.

(21) In the mounted state and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tabs 23 including the engagement surface members 28, and as a result the engagement surfaces 22, are mounted between the roller 8 and the top wall 13. Thus, the engagement surfaces 22 are located at the side walls 16 and 17 closer to the top 13 than to the bottom 15. In the particular example, the engagement surfaces 22 are even located at the connection of the side walls 16, 17 with the top wall 13.

(22) As will be apparent, the tabs 23 protrude from an inner surface of the cover 4 facing the housing body 3 and particularly the front wall 12. In order to accommodate the attachment leg 25 when closing the cover 4, indentations 32 are provided in the side walls 16 and 17 as shown in FIG. 1.

(23) It is also clear from FIGS. 1 to 3 that the engagement surfaces 22 are mounted at a front end portion of the side walls 16, 17. In this context, a front end portion is a portion closer to the dispensing opening 5 than to the back wall 10 or even more accurately a portion adjacent or near the dispensing opening 5.

(24) Due to the mounting of the tab 23 and its configuration, the engagement surfaces 22 which are attached to the tabs 23 are biased towards each other. In particular, the support leg 25 is elastically urged away from the respective sidewall 16, 17. Thus, if a force is applied on the engagement surfaces 22, the spring force of the leg 25 biases the engagement surfaces 22 away from the respective side wall 16, 17 and therefore towards each other.

(25) As previously described, the engagement surfaces 22 are mounted on opposite sides, i.e., one at each side wall 16 and 17. Due to the support leg 25 to which the engagement surfaces are attached being inclined relative to the attachment leg 24 which is attached to the respective sidewall 16, 17, the engagement surfaces are each inclined so that a distance between the engagement surfaces decreases towards the dispensing opening 5 as best seen in FIG. 3. In the present example the angle of inclination a between the support leg 25 and the attachment leg 24 and, hence, the engagement surface 22 and the sidewall 16, 17 is about 20°.

(26) The engagement surfaces 22 are, by this arrangement, engageable with opposite side edges of sheet products stacked in the compartment 14. The opposite side edges would likely extend parallel to the side walls 16, 17 but be out of contact with the side walls. In other words, the cross-section defined by the side walls 16, 17, the bottom 15 and the top 13 is larger than the footprint of the sheet products toward the stack of sheet products. Thus, the sheet products in this particular example will rest on the bottom 15 and there will be a gap between the sheet products and the side walls 16, 17 and the top 13.

(27) As the sheet products are fed towards the dispensing opening 5 by the support plate 19, the side edges of the sheet products engage with the engagement surfaces 22. Due to the inclination of the engagement surfaces 22 and the decreasing distance towards the dispensing opening 5, the sheet products are guided into engagement with the engagement surfaces 22. Further, due to the elasticity of the support leg 25 and, therefore, the elasticity of the engagement surfaces 22, differences in width of the sheet products may be compensated and the engagement surfaces 22 will always be in secure engagement with the side edges thereof. Thus, the further movement of the sheet products will be restrained at their top on opposite side edges by the engagement with the engagement surfaces 22. Due to the inclination of the engagement surfaces 22, the sheet products will be restrained from moving further forward the more they approach the dispensing opening 5. Thereby the friction between consecutive folds of sheet products and/or consecutive sheet products will be modified and particularly be increased in ascending fashion, the more the sheet products approach the dispensing opening 5. Concurrently and because the sheet products are further urged forward by the support plate 19, a top center of the sheet products will move further forward than the side edges restrained by the engagement surfaces 22. As a consequence, the sheet products will bulge forward at the top center. As a consequence, there is only low friction between consecutive folds or sheet products in the top center. This simplifies gripping/engaging of an upper edge of the sheet products by the roller 8 and, hence, one sheet product at the time can be dispensed more accurately. In addition, due to the arrangement of the grooves 31 in a direction parallel to the side edges of the sheet products, the friction of the side edges relative to the engagement surfaces 22 is relatively low when the leading sheet product is slid down by the rotation of the roller 8 in the counterclockwise direction. In other words, the leading sheet product is pulled down by the roller 8, whereby the side edges slide along the grooves 31 out of contact with the engagement surfaces 22. Thus, the sheet product can reliably be presented via the dispensing opening 5.

(28) The present invention has been described with respect to a particular embodiment. However, it is clear that variations of this embodiment are possible within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the engagement surface members 28 may rigidly be fixed to the side walls 16, 17 instead of using the tab 23 which is elastic. It is also possible to fix one of the engagement surface members rigidly and the other of the engagement surface members elastically to the side walls. It is also conceivable to use other mechanisms to provide for the elasticity than the tab 23. For example, a hinged arm can be used which is urged away about its pivot by a spring. Moreover, the engagement surfaces 22 may be arranged in parallel to the sidewalls 16, 17 rather than being inclined. The engagement surfaces 22 may also merely be of friction increasing material and not having the parallel grooves 31. In addition, the engagement surfaces 22 may as well be attached to the housing body 3 rather than to the cover 4. Yet, as will be visible from FIG. 1 mounting the engagement surfaces 22 at the cover 4 provides for the advantage that the engagement surfaces 22 do not interfere with the refilling process.

(29) Some further alternatives are shown in FIGS. 6 A to D. In FIG. 6A, the engagement surface member 38 is attached at opposite ends in the stacking direction at an attachment surface 35 using attachment members 36 such as screws. In addition, the grooves are only provided on a part of the engagement surface 22. The remainder is substantially the same as in the previous Figures, wherein the engagement surface member 38 also provides for the function of the tab in the previous embodiments.

(30) FIG. 6B shows a solid engagement surface member 39 made of elastic material, such as rubber. The engagement surface member 39 may, e.g., glued to the side walls 16, 17 at its attachment surface. The rest is similar to FIG. 6A.

(31) FIG. 6C shows a stack of metal spring members 40 having a different length to create a stepped portion having a plurality of steps 37 at a part of the engagement surface 22. Accordingly, a higher friction is created similar to the use of the previously described grooves.

(32) FIG. 6D shows a simple straight tab 41 attached to the side walls 16, 17 by an attachment member 36 as described with respect to FIG. 6A above. In addition and to increase the friction, a part of the engagement surface 22 is textured defining a textured surface 42. The surface may for example be textured by lasering.

(33) While the present invention has been illustrated by description of various embodiments and while those embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of Applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such details. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The present invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of Applicants' invention.