Dispenser for dispensing sheet products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11253113-B2
Application number	US-201716606052-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2017
Priority date	Apr 18, 2017
Publication date	Feb 22, 2022
Grant date	Feb 22, 2022

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

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.

Assignees

• Essity Hygiene & Health Ab

Inventors

• Zerweck Jason
• Zhang Rui

Classifications

• A47K10/424

  dispensing from the bottom part of the dispenser (A47K10/44 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A47K10/44

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

• A47K10/427 Primary

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