Patent Application
20200329925
This invention relates to dispensers. More particularly, it relates to automated dispensers.
A wet wipe, also known as a wet towel or a moist towelette, or a baby wipe in specific circumstances, is a small moistened piece of paper or plastic cloth that often comes folded and individually wrapped for convenience. Wet wipes are used for cleaning purposes like personal hygiene and household cleaning.
Water companies warn people not to flush wet wipes down toilets, as theft failure to break apart or dissolve in water can cause sewer blockages known as fatbergs. Even wipes labelled “flushable” can cause blockages because they are not biodegradable.
Dispenser allow for a person in need of a wet wipe, to access the wipe in a clean manner. The dispenser can also be decorative and provide an accent to the décor of an area. Currently dispenser require the person to manually obtain the wipe from the dispenser. For cleanliness and ease of use, it would be advantageous to have an automatic dispenser for the wipe.
The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.
“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.
Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.
Referring to
The dispenser 100 has a holder 110, a motor 120, a top 140, at least one sensor 150, a lamp 160, a power switch 170, a wipe opening 180, and one or more wipes 190. The one or more wipes 190 are preferably wet but may be dry. The one or more wipes 190 may be baby wipes, wet wipes, etc.
The holder 110 has an upper end 112 and a lower end 114. The holder 110 is preferably a tub shape, but may be any other shape.
The top 140 of the dispenser 100 is coupled to the holder 110 of the dispenser at the upper end 112. The top 140 has the wipe opening 180 at substantially a center 142 of the top 140 of the dispenser 100.
The top 140 further has a lid 144, the lid 144 is hingedly coupled to the top 140 of the dispenser 100 at the wipe opening 180. The lid 144 can be in an open position as shown in
The motor 120 is contained inside of the holder 110. The motor 120 can be any motor that can provide electrical current to a wipe grip 124 and to a heating mechanism 126. The wipe grip 124 is further communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor 150. The at least one sensor 150 is preferably a motion sensor, but may be other types of sensors. The at least one sensor 150 senses an activity, then the at least one sensor 150 sends a signal to the wipe grip 124 to expel the wipe 190.
The heating mechanism 126 may be any type of heating mechanism, like a coil, etc. The heating mechanism 126 provides a heat to the liquid in the holder 110 which is associated with the wipe 190. The heating mechanism 126 is provided electrical current by the motor 120. When the heating mechanism 126 has warmed the liquid in the holder 110, a lamp 160 is lit to alert a user. The lamp 160 is preferably an LED lamp, but may be LCD, etc.
The motor 120 has a power source 122. The power source 122 may be AC/DC plug, battery, solar, etc. Further, the power switch 170 may be a toggle switch, a button switch, a touch screen, etc.
The power switch 170 controls the on and off condition of the motor 120. The power switch 170 is useful for controlling the energy and heating necessary at the dispenser 100.
In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.
The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
