Sheet product dispenser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10729289-B2
Application number	US-201314780051-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 28, 2013
Priority date	Mar 28, 2013
Publication date	Aug 4, 2020
Grant date	Aug 4, 2020

Abstract

A dispenser is disclosed that includes a housing defining an interior volume for receiving a stack of sheet products, an actuator, a dispensing member, a roller, and a support structure for engaging a front face of the stack including opposed shelves for supporting opposed sides of the front face. The actuator is operable by a user to activate a dispensing member to dispense a desired number of sheet products. The actuator includes two or more user interfaces that a user can actuate to transmit to the dispensing member an amount of movement corresponding to different numbers of sheet products being dispensed depending upon which of the user interfaces is actuated. The roller is located between the opposed shelves and engages and grips on the front face of the stack. The actuator imparts a predetermined amount of rotation to the roller depending upon which of the user interface ledges is actuated, which causes the roller to separate one or more sheet products at the front face of the stack in a one-at-a-time fashion.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A dispenser comprising:
a housing configured to hold a stack of sheet products in an interior volume thereof;
a support structure at one end of the housing against which a front face of the stack is to be supported, wherein the support structure comprises:
one or more shelves to support the front face of the stack; and
a dispensing opening in the support structure adjacent the one or more shelves that reveals at least a portion of the front face of the stack when a front-most sheet product forming the front face of the stack is in contact with the one or more shelves, wherein the support structure is configured to hold the stack in position against a weight of the stack or for holding the stack in position against a force of a biasing member acting on the stack so that the front face of the stack is pressed against the support structure by virtue of the weight of the stack or the urging provided by the biasing member such that a front-most sheet product is pinched between the other sheet products in the stack and one or more shelves of the support structure; and

a dispensing member positioned to engage and to press, in the stacking direction, into the portion of the front face of the stack revealed within the dispensing opening at a location in the dispenser the same distance or closer to the end of the housing opposite to the support structure than at least one of the one or more shelves, wherein the dispensing member is moveable and adapted to grip the portion of the front face of the stack revealed within the dispensing opening and to grip and move the front-most sheet product off at least a portion of the support structure to separate a portion of the front-most sheet product from a remainder of the stack for dispensing from the dispensing opening while another portion of the front-most sheet product is being pressed against underlying sheet products in the stack,
wherein the dispensing member and support structure are arranged so that the dispensing member moves one portion of the front-most sheet product to hang through the dispensing opening with the front-most sheet product no longer contacting the dispensing member and for grasping by a user, while another portion of the front-most sheet product remains pinched between the other sheet products in the stack and one of the one or more shelves of the support structure that is on an opposed side of the dispensing opening from the dispensing member.

2. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is configured to move a fold or edge of the front-most sheet product by gripping and moving a face of the front-most sheet product.

3. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is configured to move the front-most sheet product past a barrier so that once the barrier is cleared, the front-most sheet product passes into the dispensing opening.

4. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is positioned adjacent one of the one or more shelves and is configured to move the front-most sheet product from off the shelf adjacent the dispensing member as the front-most sheet product is moved into the dispensing opening.

5. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is positioned closer to one edge of the front face of the stack than to an opposed edge.

6. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is configured to move one edge or fold of the front-most sheet product into the dispensing opening for grasping by a user, while an opposed edge or fold of the sheet product remains stationary.

7. The dispenser according to claim 1 , further comprises an actuator that is user operable to cause the dispensing member to move relative to the sheet products in the stack to dispense one or more sheet products.

8. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is moveable to move a sheet product adjacent the dispensing opening into the dispensing opening, and, as a result of a preceding sheet product being cleared by moving it into the dispensing opening, the dispensing member is positioned for engaging and gripping a succeeding sheet in the stack and configured to move the succeeding sheet into the dispensing opening for grasping by a user.

9. A method comprising loading a stack of sheet products into the housing of the dispenser according to claim 1 .

10. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is turnable to move the front-most sheet product into the dispensing opening.

11. The dispenser according to claim 10 , wherein an axis about which the dispensing member turns is disposed parallel to sheet faces in the stack.

12. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing member is provided as a roller engaging the front face of the stack adjacent the dispensing opening.

13. The dispenser according to claim 12 , wherein a peripheral surface of the roller grips a face of the front-most sheet product at the front face of the stack adjacent the dispensing opening.

14. The dispenser according to claim 13 , wherein the roller defines a cylindrical outer profile for engaging the front-most sheet product.

15. The dispenser according to claim 14 , wherein the cylindrical outer profile includes lobes, paddles, or fins that engage the sheet product.

Assignees

• Sca Hygiene Prod Ab
• Essity Hygiene & Health Ab

Inventors

• Formon John S
• Wieser Joseph
• Woerpel Matthew T
• Raleigh Edward A
• Brickl Jeffrey J

Classifications

• A47K10/44 Primary

  with mechanical dispensing means {for prehension of the next sheet to be dispensed} · CPC title

• A47K10/425

  with means for urging the whole stack towards the dispensing opening, e.g. a weight plate · CPC title

• B65B25/14

  Packaging paper or like sheets, envelopes, or newspapers, in flat, folded, or rolled form · CPC title