Patent Application
20160340138
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field of rolled material dispensing apparatuses. More specifically, the present invention relates to rolled material dispensing apparatus for dispensing toilet tissue, paper towels, tape, wrapping paper, plastic bag products, films, foils, wire, ribbon, labeling products, or any rolled material.
The present invention is a rolled material dispensing apparatus including a housing, a frame, first and second retention structure, first and second ball bearings, first and second biasing components, and mounting structure.
The housing at least partially encloses the frame and includes one or more outer walls for protecting components of the apparatus. The housing may be welded together, held together by fasteners or adhesives, or unitarily formed out of a single piece of material. The walls of the housing may be spaced from the frame so as to form a rear-opening secondary chamber therebetween for providing access to the ball bearings and biasing components.
The frame at least partially encloses the material roll and includes one or more sides spaced from the walls of the housing. The sides cooperatively form an open-front dispensing chamber for receiving the material roll therein. Opposing sides of the frame may include first and second apertures, respectively. The apertures each have a diameter smaller than the diameter of the ball bearings for partially receiving the ball bearings therethrough.
The first and second retention structure form open-ended chambers therein for retaining the ball bearings and biasing components therein and are positioned adjacent the apertures. The retention structure may be removably connected to the sides of the frame or may be integrally formed with the frame.
The ball bearings engage ends of the material roll and may freely spin as the roll is being turned. The ball bearings are larger in diameter than the diameter of the apertures so that they cannot move all the way through the apertures.
The biasing components bias the ball bearings against the sides of the frame so that the ball bearings at least partially extend through the apertures. The biasing components may be coil springs, torsion springs, pressurized shocks, magnets, or any other suitable biasing components.
The mounting structure secures the apparatus to a restroom or bathroom wall, stall, or other fixture or surface and may include fastener holes, interlocking geometry, friction fitting, or other structure. Alternatively, the mounting structure may include legs or feet for placing the apparatus on the floor or surface of a bathroom fixture.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the detailed description below. The summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the current invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
The following detailed description of the invention references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the current invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the current invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separate references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the current technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
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The housing 12 at least partially encloses the frame 14 and broadly includes an outer top wall 30, an outer bottom wall 32, a first outer sidewall 34, and a second outer sidewall 36 opposite the first outer sidewall 34. The housing 12 at least partially protects the components of the apparatus 10 and rolls of material being held therein. The housing 12 may be formed of sheet metal, molded plastic, ceramics, or any other suitable material. The housing 12 may be welded together, held together by fasteners or adhesives, or unitarily formed out of a single piece of material. The housing 12 may be shaped to fit into a pre-cut hole of a restroom stall or a restroom or bathroom wall and may be sloped so that the front of the housing is shorter than the back of the housing.
The outer top wall 30, outer bottom wall 32, first outer sidewall 34, and second outer sidewall 36 of the housing 12 may be spaced from sides of the frame 14 so as to form a secondary chamber 38 therebetween. The secondary chamber 38 may be open to the rear of the housing 12 for providing access to the ball bearings 20, 22 and biasing components 24, 26 when the apparatus 10 is removed from the wall or stall.
The frame 14 at least partially encloses the material roll and broadly includes a back side 40, a top side 42, a bottom side 44, a first side 46, a second side 48 opposite the first side, and a front face 50. The back side 40, top side 42, bottom side 44, and first and second sides 46, 48 cooperatively form an open-front dispensing chamber 52 for receiving the material roll therein. The first and second sides 46, 48 may include first and second apertures 54, 56 respectively. Alternatively, the apertures 54, 56 may be located in the top and bottom sides 42, 44 for dispensing material vertically. The apertures 54, 56 may be positioned opposite from each other and each may be circular for partially receiving the ball bearings 20, 22 therethrough, as described below. The apertures 54, 56 may be smaller in diameter than the diameter of the ball bearings 20, 22 for preventing the ball bearings from moving completely therethrough. The front face 50 may extend flush or nearly flush with the walls of the housing 12 and may include fastener holes, interlocking geometry, or other means for connecting the frame 14 to the housing 12. The frame 14 may be formed of sheet metal, molded plastic, ceramics, or any other suitable material and may be integrally formed with the housing 12. Alternatively, the frame 14 may be removably attached to the housing 12 via fasteners or interlocking geometry for providing access to the ball bearings 20, 22 and biasing components 24, 26.
The first and second retention structure 16, 18 each form an open-ended chamber 58, 60 and retain the ball bearings 20, 22 and biasing components 24, 26 therein. The chambers 58, 60 each may be cylindrical or other suitable shape with a diameter large enough to fit one of the ball bearings 20, 22 therein and may be elongated for retaining one of the biasing components 24, 26 behind the bearing. The retention structure 16, 18 may be removably attached to the frame 14 and/or the housing 12 via fasteners or interlocking geometry or openable for accessing the ball bearings 20, 22 and biasing components 24, 26. The retention structure 16, 18 may be molded material surrounding the chambers 58, 60 or may comprise tubular metal components or the like.
The first and second ball bearings 20, 22 retain the material roll in a seated position, as described below, and may be substantially spherical balls positioned in the chambers 58, 60 of the retention structure 16, 18. The ball bearings 20, 22 have a diameter greater than the diameter of the apertures 54, 56 and are small enough to fit in one of the chambers 58, 60. The ball bearings 20, 22 may have a substantially smooth and homogeneous surface for spinning or rotating as material is dispensed from the material roll. The ball bearings 20, 22 may be solid or hollow and may be formed of plastic, metal, ceramics, or any other suitable material.
The first and second biasing components 24, 26 bias the ball bearings 20, 22 against the sides 34, 36 of the frame 14 and may be positioned in the chambers 58, 60 behind the ball bearings 20, 22. The biasing components 24, 26 may be coil springs, leaf springs, torsion springs, pressurized shocks, magnets, or any other suitable biasing components.
The mounting structure 28 secures the apparatus 10 to a restroom or bathroom wall, stall, or other fixture or surface and may include fastener holes and the like, interlocking geometry, friction fitting, or other structure. For example, the mounting structure 28 may include a number of fastener holes located at the back of the housing 12, as shown in
Use of the dispensing apparatus 10 will now be described in more detail. First, a roll of material may be loaded into the apparatus 10 by pushing the roll into the dispensing chamber 52. The roll may push against the ball bearings 20, 22 so as to overcome the biasing force of the biasing components 24, 26 until the ball bearings 20, 22 are sufficiently urged from a deployed position (
The above-described apparatus 10 provides numerous advantages over the prior art. For example, the apparatus 10 is difficult to tamper with and the components of the apparatus 10 are self-contained. That is, the ball bearings 20, 22 and biasing components 24, 26 will not fall out of the apparatus 10, break apart, or become fatigued. A roll of material can be loaded into the apparatus 10 simply by pushing the roll into the dispensing chamber 52. That is, a user does not need to open, unhinge, turn, or move components with his free hand to load the roll of material. The apparatus 10 is also ergonomically shaped and easily cleaned and serviced. The apparatus 10 does not include a spindle inserted inside the rolled material that can be lost, stolen, or misused. In addition, the apparatus 10 does not have parts that a user could misuse or injure himself with, as may be desired in prisons, nursing homes, mental hospitals, juvenile detention facilities, or similar settings.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a dispensing apparatus 100 similar to the apparatus 10 described above except that the apparatus 100 includes two sets of retention structure 102, two sets of ball bearing pairs 104, and two sets of biasing component pairs 106 similar to the components described above, as shown in
In another embodiment, the apparatus 10 may not include a housing 12 and the frame 14 may fit into a pre-cut hole of a wall or other fixture or surface. The front face 50 of the frame 14 may extend flush or nearly flush with the wall, fixture, or surface and may include fastener holes and the like for mounting the frame 14. Alternatively, the back side 40 of the frame 14 may be connected to a structure located inside the pre-cut hole. The frame 14 may be removably attached for providing access to the ball bearings 20, 22 and biasing components 24, 26.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.
