Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6343491
-
Patent Number
6,343,491
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, March 15, 200025 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, February 5, 200223 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 068 13 R
- 068 205 R
- 068 175
- 118 325
- 118 235
- 134 64 R
- 134 122 R
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
An automatic wet towel supplying apparatus is disclosed. The automatic wet towel supplying apparatus comprises a housing, a casing, pulling means, cutting means, water supplying means and control means. The housing includes a cloth holding part for rotatably holding cloth in the form of a roll so that the cloth is pulled away and a towel storage chamber for storing wet towels for supply. The casing is fixed to the front portion of the interior of the housing by means of bolts so as to be easily removed from the housing. The cutting means includes a second motor, a rotary cutter rotated by the second motor, and a stationary cutter. The water supplying means is mounted in the housing, includes a water storage tank, a pump, a filtering unit and a nozzle, and serves to spray water on the cut towels. The control means includes a control board mounted on an outer surface of the housing, a first sensor for sensing a length of the cloth that is pulled by the pulling means, a second sensor for sensing a total number of rotations of the rotary cutter of the cutting means, and a microprocessor for controlling power supply to the first motor, the second motor and the pump by processing the signals from the control board, the first sensor and the second sensor.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus and, more particularly, to an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that supplies wet towels after cutting cloth into multiple towels to a certain length and wetting the towels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, a wet towel made of cloth or paper is provided in the form of a sheet in various ways so as to allow the hands to be cleaned using it. In addition, to such an end, a warm air supplying apparatus has been provided. In particular, the wet towel made of cloth is provided in the form of a roll so as to allow the hands to be cleaned easily in a place, such as a restaurant. However, since the wet towel is repeatedly laundered for reuse, a great deal of problems occur in regard to sanitation.
In order to overcome the problems, one or more wet towels made of material such as cloth or paper and packed in a vinyl envelope are provided for one time use. This approach is satisfactory for sanitation, but a manufacturing cost is increased and vinyl envelopes become disposable waste.
In order to solve the problems, a wet towel supplying apparatus, in which wet towels are supplied after cutting paper, cloth or non-woven fabric into multiple towels to a certain length and wetting the towels, is provided.
Such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,278. According to the patent, towel cloth wound in the form of a roll is spread by a pulling means. The spread cloth is cut into multiple towels to a certain length. The cut towels are wetted by spraying water on the towels while being moved toward a conveyor belt. The wet towels are respectively wound in the form of a roll. Afterwards, the wound wet towels are respectively supplied out of the apparatus.
However, in the patented apparatus, a conventional towel winding means comprises a U-shaped casing that is fixed around the conveyor belt and a pad that has a plurality of projections formed on its inner surface, thereby supplying only limited lengths of wet towels. In accordance with user's requests, it is preferably to supply various lengths of wet towels. Therefore, according to the patented apparatus, when a user requires a lengthier wet towel, the user stops and operates the apparatus again and takes one or more wet towels out of the apparatus. This causes the waste of resources and is troublesome to the user.
In addition, according to the patented apparatus, the pulling means and a cutting means are connected to a single motor and operated at the same time. Since the pulling means and the cutting means are rotated by means of the single motor, the length of a cut towel may not be controlled. Additionally, since the pulling means and the cutting means are respectively mounted to a housing, the maintenance and the cleaning of the apparatus is not easy. Furthermore, due to its mechanical design, such as having a cam, the noise of the apparatus is significantly loud.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that is capable of supplying various lengths of wet towels.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that reduces noise and is operated properly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that allows a pulling means and a cutting means to be easily removed, thereby allowing the maintenance and the cleaning of the apparatus to be easily performed.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus, comprising a housing including a cloth holding part for rotatably holding cloth in the form of a roll so that the cloth is pulled away and a towel storage chamber for storing cut, wet towels for supply, a casing that is fixed to the front portion of the interior of the housing by means of bolts so as to be easily removed from the housing, means for pulling the cloth while compressing the cloth, cutting means that includes a second motor, a rotary cutter rotated by the second motor, and a stationary cutter fixed at a position in which the stationary cutter intersects the rotary cutter, water supplying means being mounted in the housing, including a water storage tank, a pump, a filtering unit and a nozzle, and serving to spray water on the cut towels, and a control means that includes a control board mounted on an outer surface of the housing, a first sensor for sensing a length of the cloth that is pulled by the pulling means, a second sensor for sensing a total number of rotations of the rotary cutter of the cutting means, and a microprocessor for controlling power supply to the first motor, the second motor and the pump by processing the signals from the control board, the first sensor and the second sensor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a partially cut-away side view showing the entire construction of an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view showing a pulling means and a cutting means mounted to a casing that is separated from a housing;
FIG. 3
is a side view showing the operation of the pulling means and the cutting means;
FIG. 4
is a partially cut-away cross section of a water tank showing the improvement in the filtering unit of a water supplying means;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view showing a wet towel winding means that is removed from the housing;
FIG. 6
is a side view showing the operation of the wet towel winding means; and
FIG. 7
is a cross section taken along line A—A of FIG.
5
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention relates to an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that supplies wet towels after cutting cloth into multiple towels to a certain length and wetting the towels.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention for accomplishing the above objects is described as follows.
FIG. 1
is a partially cut-away cross section showing the entire construction of the wet towel supplying apparatus that includes a pulling means and a cutting means.
Cloth
3
, such as non-woven fabric, which is wound in the form of a roll, is positioned in the rear portion of the interior of an upstanding housing
5
. A control board
4
is disposed in the front surface of the housing
5
. A wet towel storage chamber
6
is positioned in the lower front portion of the housing
5
. The pulling means
7
and the cutting means
9
mounted in a casing
11
are positioned in front of the cloth
3
. The cloth
3
is inserted into the pulling means
7
that is operated by a first motor
13
, and is pulled toward the cutting means
9
.
The cutting means
9
using a known cutting method (in which a rotating cutter and a stationary cutter cooperate to cut an object) is operated by a second motor
15
and is positioned below the pulling means
7
. A towel winding means
17
is operated by a third motor
16
and is connected to a nozzle of a water supplying means
21
. An auxiliary water storage tank
23
is positioned in the lower portion of the housing
5
and includes a temperature regulating means and a pump, the temperature regulating means comprising a known electric heater or a known heat exchanger.
FIG. 2
is an exploded perspective view showing the pulling means
7
and the cutting means
9
that are mounted in the casing
11
.
FIG. 3
is a vertical cross section showing the operation of the pulling means
7
and the cutting means
9
.
Referring to
FIGS. 2 and 3
, the pulling means
7
and the cutting means
9
are mounted in the casing
11
. The casing
11
is fixed to the housing
5
by means of bolts, thereby allowing the casing
11
to be easily mounted and removed.
The pulling means
7
includes a first shaft
25
and a second shaft
27
that are rotated by means of the first motor
13
. The first shaft
25
is connected to the rotating shaft of the first motor
13
through gears. The second shaft
27
is mounted to the casing
11
, with the second shaft
27
being parallel to the first shaft
25
. The first shaft
25
and the second shaft
27
are operated together by means of pulleys
29
a,
29
b
and bands
31
, with the pulleys
29
a,
29
b
being mounted along the first shaft
25
and the second shaft
27
and the bands
31
passing a pair of opposing pulleys
29
a,
29
b.
The pulling means
7
further comprises a rake-shaped guide plate
33
and an L-shaped bent cover
35
. The guide plate
33
is fixed to the upper portion of the housing
5
at its one side by means of bolts so as to be positioned over the pulling means
7
. The cover
35
is fixed to the casing
11
with the fixing projections
35
a
of the cover
35
being inserted into the fixing holes
35
b
of the casing
11
, so as to cover the upper portion and a front portion of the casing
11
. A plurality of rollers
37
, which are in contact with the upper surface of the cloth
36
(refer to FIG.
3
), are situated at corresponding spots at which the bands
31
are located. The rollers
37
are extruded downwards from the lower surface of the cover
35
by elastic means such as springs.
The cloth
36
passes through the space between the upper surface of the guide plate
33
and the rollers
37
. Guide slits
39
(refer to
FIG. 3
) are formed along the length of the guide plate
33
at positions that correspond to the positions of bands
31
. When the apparatus is assembled, the bands
31
are projected from the upper surface of the guide plate
33
through the guide slits
39
and are rotated.
The rollers
37
are mounted so as to correspond to the bands
31
, and so press against the upper surfaces of the bands
31
. The rollers
37
are elastically mounted in the cover
35
so as to be elastically moved upwards and downwards, and so press against the bands
37
with a constant force. Therefore, the cloth
36
may be inserted into the space between each of the rollers
37
and each of the bands
31
.
The cutting means
9
comprises a fixed cutter
41
that is mounted under the front end of the pulling means
7
and a rotary cutter
43
that is rotated in response to a signal transmitted from a control means (not shown). The rotary cutter
43
, which is inserted to a certain depth along the length of the rotating cutter shaft
44
, is connected to the second motor
15
through gears.
Since a cutting method, in which an object is cut by intersecting two cutters, is known, the description on the cutting method is simplified here. The rotary cutter
43
is mounted along the entire length of the cutter shaft so as to be projected uniformly. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the cloth
36
is cut when the cutters
41
and
43
are intersected.
According to one feature of the present invention, the pulling means
7
and the cutting means
9
are individually operated by different motors
13
and
15
. Such a construction allows a user to regulate the length of a wet towel freely using a tachometer. To this end, the pulling means
7
comprises a rotating plate
45
and a first sensor
47
as a rotation sensing means, the rotating plate
45
being connected to a rotating shaft
25
and the first sensor
47
being connected to the rotating plate
45
. The cutting means
9
has a cam plate
49
and a second sensor
51
, the cam plate
49
being connected to the rotating cutter shaft
4
.
The control board
4
has a control part, such as a keypad or buttons, and a display. The control board
4
is used to regulate the length of the towel and set the temperature of the water.
A control means (not shown) comprises the control board
4
(refer to FIG.
3
), the first sensor
47
, the second sensor
51
, a microprocessor and a temperature control unit. The first sensor
47
senses the length of the cloth that is pulled by the pulling means
7
. The second sensor
51
senses the total number of the rotation of the rotary cutter of the cutting means. The microprocessor controls power supply to the first motor, the second motor and the pump of the water supplying means by processing the signals from the control board
4
, the first sensor
47
and the second sensor
51
. The temperature control unit controls the cooling means and the heating means of the water storage unit in response to the signal from the control board
4
.
If the apparatus is operated while the length of the towel is set to be 300 mm, the first sensor
47
of the pulling means
7
transmits a signal to the control means when 300 mm of the cloth is pulled. The control means that received this signal operates the second motor
15
. Since one rotation of the rotating cutter shaft
44
is sufficient for cutting the cloth, the second sensor
51
transmits a signal to the control means when the second sensor
51
senses one rotation of the rotating cutter shaft
44
. The control means that received this signal stops the second motor
15
. Additionally, the control means stops the first motor
13
of the pulling means
7
while the cutting means
9
cuts the cloth.
Incidentally, the control means may control the total number of supplied towels. That is, if the apparatus is operated while a user sets the desired number of towels to be three using the control board
4
(refer to FIG.
1
), the control means may control the apparatus so as to supply three towels. To this end, the cutting means
9
may be provided with a counter.
FIG. 4
is a partially cut-away cross section of a water tank showing the improvement in the filtering unit of the water supplying means.
The water tank
53
has a filter unit that is connected to the main body of the water tank
53
. The filter of the filter unit is easily removed while a cap
55
is opened. The water in the water tank is supplied to the auxiliary water storage tank
23
(refer to
FIG. 1
) along the arrows of FIG.
4
. This construction makes the replacement of the filter easy and the apparatus simple.
The automatic wet towel supplying apparatus may be constructed in the form of a vending machine (not shown) Such a type of an apparatus may be used in an opened area.
The towel winding means
17
is a characteristic of the present invention.
FIG. 5
is a perspective view showing the towel winding means according to the present invention.
FIG. 6
is a side view showing the operation of the towel winding means. Referring to
FIGS. 5 and 6
, the towel winding means is described, hereinafter.
A third shaft
61
and a fourth shaft
63
are rotatably mounted between both side plates
64
that form a frame, the third shaft
61
and the fourth shaft
63
being spaced apart from each other. A rubber belt
65
passes around the third shaft
61
and the fourth shaft
63
and serves as a movement transmitting means. The fourth shaft
63
is connected to a fourth motor
19
(refer to
FIG. 1
) by means of gears and serves as a driving shaft, while the third shaft
61
serves as a driven shaft by means of the rubber belt
65
. Additionally, the rubber belt
65
serves as a conveyor belt that moves cut towels toward the fourth shaft
63
. The rubber belt
65
may have a rugged surface so as to prevent the removal of the towel on its surface. Preferably, the rubber belt
65
may have a known configuration for winding the towels effectively.
A spread plate
67
is mounted between the side plates
64
, the spread plate
67
being vertically spaced apart from the rubber belt
65
.
An auxiliary winding means
69
is provided in the rear of the spread plate
67
. The auxiliary winding means
69
comprises a fifth shaft
73
and a sixth shaft
75
that are rotated together by means of one or more ring belts
71
.
The fifth shaft
73
and the fourth shaft
63
are rotated together by means of pulleys
77
and
79
and a movement transmitting belt
81
. For the movement transmitting belt
81
, a rubber belt, which is operated quietly and is resistant to humidity, may be employed and, more preferably, a timing belt may be employed so as to prevent unexpected removal.
As shown in
FIG. 5
, the ring belts
71
may be made of silicon and may be arranged to be spaced apart from each other. Consequently, although any one of the ring belts
71
is cut, it is not needed to change all the ring belts
71
. However, since it may be difficult to keep uniform tension when such ring belts
71
are employed, one wide ring belt may be employed.
A guide member
83
does not prevent only the lateral movement of the ring belts
71
but also prevents the towels from getting out of space between the ring belts
71
. As shown, the guide member
83
is inserted into the grooves
85
that are vertically formed on the inner surfaces of the side plates
64
.
The sixth shaft
75
, which is connected to the fifth shaft
73
, is mounted to be able to be moved upwards for the increasable diameter of the towel is increased in the process of winding the towel. To this end, two curved slots
87
are formed in the side plates
64
.
A bracket
89
is positioned between the fifth shaft
73
and the sixth shaft
75
so as to keep a constant distance between the fifth shaft
73
and the sixth shaft
75
.
The rubber belt
65
may be provided with a plurality of discharge holes (not shown) of small diameters. According to this construction, residual water that is sprayed on the towels falls down through the discharge holes while the towels are moved.
A nozzle
91
, which is a part of the water supplying means
21
, is positioned in front of the towel winding means
17
. The nozzle
91
is provided with a plurality of injection holes with the injection holes facing downwards. Water is supplied to the nozzle
91
through a water supplying pipe
93
. Nozzle can be provided in the form of pipe that is fixed at plates
64
. According to this construction, water is uniformly sprayed on the towels that are moved by the rubber belt
65
.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, a conveying roller
95
is mounted to the spread plate
67
so as to convey the towel
36
′ properly.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, the spread plate
67
includes a rubber plate
99
that has a plurality of tiny, sharp projections
97
. The projections
97
are arranged over the one surface of the rubber plate
99
and, preferably have cone-shapes, respectively. Since the lengths of the projections
97
become shorter toward the rear of the apparatus, the gap between the spread plate
67
and the rubber belts
65
becomes wider, thereby moving the towels to the auxiliary winding means
69
while the towel is wound somewhat. The projections
97
spread the moved towels uniformly like a comb and remove residual water from the towels. The removed residual water may be eliminated through the discharge holes (not shown).
A support plate
100
allows the wound towels, which pass the sixth shaft
75
, to be moved to the wet towel storage chamber
6
(refer to FIG.
1
), with the wound towels being in contact with the rubber belt
65
. The support plate
100
is spaced apart from the rubber belt
65
and is extended so as to surround the rear portion of the rubber belt
65
and the lower portion of the rubber belt
65
. The support plate
100
has a plurality of projections
100
a
along its inner surface, which is in contact with the towels, so as to prevent the slip of the towels.
As a result, the cut, wet towels
36
,
36
′ and
36
″ are moved while laid on the upper surface of the rubber belt
65
. After residual water is removed from the towels and the towels are spread while the towels are passing the projections
97
of the spread plate
67
, the towels reach the fifth shaft
73
. Subsequently, the wet towels pass the sixth shaft
75
while wound by means of the ring belts
71
that pass the fifth shaft
73
and the sixth shaft
75
. At this time, the wet towels are rapidly wound by the oppositely rotated rubber belt
65
and the ring belts
71
, thereby shortening the length of the apparatus and allowing the longer towels to be wound by the apparatus.
When the thickness of the towel or the length of the towel is great, the diameter of the wound towel becomes great. As described above, since the sixth shaft
75
may be lifted up, the wound towels may pass the sixth shaft
75
without a hitch. By this construction, the apparatus according to the present invention may supply various lengths of wet towels to a user.
According one embodiment of the present invention, a towel is wound and supplied within 3-4 seconds per a sheet, and the maximum length of the towel that may be supplied by the apparatus ranges from 150 mm to 500 mm.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, the spread plate
67
is mounted using a spring
101
, a washer
103
and a bolt
105
so as to be moved vertically, the bolt
105
being fixed to the side plate
64
. This construction reduces the resistance of the apparatus, which is increased, accordingly as the diameter of the towel becomes larger. The roller
95
may be moved vertically together with the spread plate
67
and is rotated while in contact with the upper surface of the towel. As a consequence, the towel is conveyed while residual water is removed from the towel and the towel is spread uniformly.
As described above, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that is capable of regulating the length of a wet towel in accordance with a user's request. As a consequence, since a relatively large number of towels may be supplied by one time manipulation, the waste of power is prevented and the troublesomeness in manipulation is eliminated.
In addition, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that is capable of winding a towel while the towel is spread uniformly.
Furthermore, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that is capable of removing residual water from a towel using projections formed on the bottom surface of a spread plate.
Additionally, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that is capable of reducing the noise and the abrasion of the apparatus and being operated properly by employing sensors
47
and
51
.
Furthermore, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus in which a pulling means and a cutting means are mounted in a casing
11
that is easily mounted easily removed, thereby making the maintenance and the cleaning of the apparatus easy.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
Claims
- 1. An automatic wet towel supplying apparatus, comprising:a housing including a cloth holding part for rotatably holding cloth in the form of a roll so that the cloth is pulled away and a towel storage chamber for storing cut, wet towels for supply; a casing that is fixed to a front portion of an interior of the housing by means of bolts so as to be easily removed from the housing; means for pulling the cloth while compressing the cloth, the pulling means including, a first motor, a first shaft that is connected to the first motor by means of gears, a second shaft that is operated together with the first shaft by means of a belt, a cover that is located above the belt while being fixed to the casing and a roller that is rotatably fixed while being projected from a bottom surface of the cover; cutting means that includes a second motor, a rotary cutter rotated by the second motor, and a stationary cutter fixed at a position in which the stationary cutter intersects the rotary cutter; water supplying means being mounted in the housing, including a water storage tank, a pump, a filtering unit and a nozzle, and serving to spray water on the cut towels; and control means that includes a control board mounted on an outer surface of the housing, a first sensor for sensing a length of the cloth that is pulled by the pulling means, a second sensor for sensing a total number of rotations of the rotary cutter of the cutting means, and a microprocessor for controlling power supply to the first motor, the second motor and the pump by processing the signals from the control board, the first sensor and the second sensor.
- 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said belt of said pulling means is a plurality of ring belts that pass the first shaft and the second shaft and are spaced apart from one another.
- 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said roller is elastically mounted to a bottom of the cover so as to treat various thicknesses of cloth by being moved elastically and vertically.
- 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first sensor and said second sensor are tachometers, respectively.
- 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control board of said control means includes select buttons for regulating a length of the wet towel and select buttons for selecting the number of wet towels.
- 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said water supplying means further includes a heating and cooling means for regulating a temperature of the water.
- 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for winding the wet towel and conveying the wound towel to the towel storage chamber, this means comprising,a third motor mounted in the housing, two side plates fixed to a frame while being spaced apart from each other, a third shaft rotatably mounted between front portions of the side plates, a fourth shaft connected to the third motor by means of gears and rotatably mounted between rear portions of the side plates, a rubber belt passing the third shaft and the fourth shaft and conveying the wet towels to the rear, a fifth shaft rotatably mounted between the side plates while being upwardly spaced apart from the rubber belt and connected to the fourth shaft by means of a belt, a sixth shaft rotatably mounted between the side plates while being upwardly spaced apart from the rubber belt and connected to the fifth shaft by means of ring belts so as to wind the towels, and a support plate serving to allow the wound towels, which pass the sixth shaft, to be moved to the wet towel storage chamber while the wound towels are in contact with the rubber belt and being extended so as to surround the rear portion of the rubber belt and the lower portion of the rubber belt while being spaced apart from the rubber belt.
- 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said sixth shaft is rotatably mounted to slots that are curvedly formed in the side plates so as to be moved upwards while connected to the fifth shaft.
- 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a spread plate, the spread plate being mounted between both side plates, being positioned in front of the fifth shaft and being vertically spaced apart from the rubber belt.
- 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said spread plate has a plurality of tiny, sharp, flexible projections that remove residual water from the towel and spread the towel uniformly.
- 11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said spread plate further includes two or more rollers that are projected downwards so as to be rotated while pressing against an upper surface of the towel.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
99-35708 |
Aug 1999 |
KR |
|
99-56272 |
Dec 1999 |
KR |
|
US Referenced Citations (19)