Patent Application
20120193389
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 12/416,167, filed Apr. 1, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional adhesive tape dispenser are disclosed in patents U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,049, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,023, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,357, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,175062. This kind of tape dispensers are disadvantageous that the adhesive face of tape located between the blade and the tape axle is usually contaminated by dust. Also, the blade is exposed outside directly to be possible to hurt a user accidentally.
To solve the problem of exposedness of the blade and the tape, a protection cover is usually disposed on the outside of the blade to conceal the blade and the tape selectively, as disclosed in patents U.S. Pat. No. 2,678,777, U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,365, U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,691, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,835. However, the tape dispenser with a protection cover is too complicated structurally, and the protection cover hampers the operation. Furthermore, the tape rolls of the tape dispensers mentioned above are difficult to be replaced. More specifically, the tape dispenser has to be disassembled before replacement of the tape roll. Although another cover disposed on a lateral side to facilitate the replacement of tape roll is disclosed in patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,980, it means that manufacturers must manufacture two covers to conceal the blade and to facilitate replacement of tape roll respectively. The cost is increased, and also the appearance of the tape dispenser is unattractive.
The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.
The main object of the present invention is to provide an adhesive tape dispenser which is able to prevent the cutter from hurting a user and to prevent the tape from contaminated, and replacement of tape roll is easier.
To achieve the above and other objects, an adhesive tape dispenser of the present invention includes a housing and a tape holder.
The housing has a first wall, an opposite second wall, and a cavity between the first and the second walls. The second wall has a sliding axle protruding toward the cavity and a pressing portion which is able to protrude toward the cavity. The housing forms an opening between the first and the second walls, and a pivot axle is disposed on the opening. The pivot axle partitions the opening into a first opening and a second opening.
The tape holder is received in the cavity and has a first face and an opposite second face. The first face faces the first wall, and the second face faces the second wall. The first face has a tape axle, and a longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the first face. The second face has a first limiting piece and a second limiting piece, and extending directions of the first and the second limiting pieces are parallel to the second face. A sliding slot is defined between the first and the second limiting pieces to enable the sliding axle to slide inside. The first limiting piece has a fixed first end and a free second end, and the second limiting piece has a free third end and a fixed fourth end. The first end corresponds to the third end positionally, and the second end corresponds to the fourth end positionally. The tape holder has a lateral face between the first face and the second face. The lateral face has a pivot hole to receive the pivot axle to enable the tape holder to pivot relative to the housing. The lateral face has a pressing end and an opposite cutting end wherein the pressing end is able to pivot toward inside of the first opening and the cutting end is able to pivot away from the second opening. A terminal end of the cutting end has a cutter.
Besides, the sliding slot has a receiving portion at the second end of the first limiting piece and the fourth end of the second limiting piece. When the sliding axle is located on the receiving portion, a width of the receiving portion is larger than widths of parts of the sliding slot except the receiving portion. When the sliding axle moves toward the first end of the first limiting piece and the third end of the second limiting piece, the sliding axle is able to press the first and the second limiting pieces away from the sliding slot to broaden the widths of the sliding slot. Thereby, the sliding axle is able to be positioned at any position in the sliding slot due to the clamping of the first and the second limiting pieces.
Due to the limitation to the sliding axle by the sliding slot, the tape holder is able to pivot between a closed position and an open position. When the tape holder is at the closed position, the opening is covered by the lateral face of the tape holder. On the contrary, when the tape holder is at the open position, the sliding axle abuts against a blocking portion of the third end of the second limiting piece. At the same time, the pressing end enters inside of the first opening, and the cutting end is away from the second opening. When the tape holder is at the open position and the pressing portion protrudes toward the cavity, the third end of the second limiting piece moves toward the first wall of the housing under the pressing of pressing portion. Hence, the cutting end is able to pivot away from the second opening further to expose the tape axle outside of the second opening.
Thereby, the adhesive tape dispenser of the present invention can provide an easy way to operate. More specifically, when the tape holder is at the closed position, the cutter can be concealed to prevent from hurting a user, and the tape is also concealed to prevent from being contaminated. On the other hand, the tape holder is abele to pivot to at most the open position for availability of the tape by the pressing the pressing end. Moreover, when the tape holder is at the open position and the pressing portion is pressed or pushed, the tape holder is able to pivot away from the second opening further to expose the tape axle outside of the second opening. Thus, replacement of tape can be easily achieved without any disassembling step.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention.
Please refer to
The housing 1 has a first wall 11, an opposite second wall 12, and a cavity between the first wall 11 and the second wall 12. The second wall 12 has a sliding axle 122 protruding toward the cavity and a pressing portion 121 which is able to protrude toward the cavity. More preferably, the pressing portion 121 is an elastic piece. The housing 1 forms an opening 13 located between the first wall 11 and the second wall 12. The housing also has pivot axle 14 disposed on the opening 13, and a longitudinal direction of the pivot axle 14 is perpendicular to the first wall 11 and the second wall 12. The pivot axle 14 partitions the opening 13 into a first opening 131 and a second opening 132.
The tape holder 2 is received in the cavity and has a first face and an opposite second face. The first face faces the first wall 11, and the second face faces the second wall 12. The first face has a tape axle 21 which has a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the first face. The second face has a first limiting piece 22 and a second limiting piece 23. A sliding slot 24 is defined between the first and the second limiting pieces 22,23 to enable the sliding axle 122 to slide inside. The first limiting piece 22 has a fixed first end and a free second end, and the second limiting piece 23 has a free third end and a fixed fourth end. The first end corresponds to the third end positionally, and the second end corresponds to the fourth end positionally. The tape holder 2 has a lateral face 25, and the lateral face 25 has a pivot hole 253 to receive the pivot axle 14 to enable the tape holder 2 to pivot relative to the housing 1. The lateral face 2 has a pressing end 251 and an opposite cutting end 252. The pressing end 251 is able to pivot toward inside of the first opening 131, and the cutting end 252 is able to pivot away from the second opening 132. The cutting end 252 has a cutter 2521 corresponding to an edge of the second opening 132 away from the first opening 131 positionally. More preferably, the cutter 2521 has a saw-tooth edge.
Please refer to
Practical operations are shown in
To conclude, the adhesive tape dispenser of the present invention is able to conceal the cutter and the tape to prevent from danger and contamination. Also, the tape can be easily reached by pressing the pressing end, and the tape holder won't pivot freely between the open and the closed positions to cause inconvenience. The most important is that the tape holder and the housing don't have to be dissembled before replacement of tape rolls. On the contrary, the tape axle can be exposed outside of the housing to be available for replacement of tape rolls when the pressing portion is pushed to release the sliding axle from the sliding slot. After replacement, the tape holder can be pushed back to the cavity easily. In brief, the adhesive tape dispenser of the present invention is easy for using, has a simple structure, and is also low-cost.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12416167 | Apr 2009 | US |
| Child | 13443476 | US |
