Patent Application
20050077309
The use of single sheets provided as interfolded sheets for facial tissue and bath tissue has been widely accepted. Such single stacked, interfolded or festooned sheets often provide less waste than traditional rolled bath tissue. Similarly, the use of premoistened or “wet” sheets has also gained wide acceptance for a variety of uses, particularly premoistened bathroom applications. Dry sheets and premoistened sheets are generally formed from an absorbent material such as a paper or a polymeric web, or combinations thereof, and may contain a disinfectant, medicant, deodorant, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, cleansing agent, and so forth, in one or more combinations, on a dry sheet, or in a “wet” formulation on a premoistened sheet. Premoistened sheets are generally stored and dispensed from a sealable container to prevent the sheets from drying out.
Various dispenser designs for dry or premoistened sheets have been used for table top use in various rooms of a user's home. In addition, various dispenser designs for dry or premoistened sheets have been used in a user's bathroom. However, most table top dispenser designs do not adapt well to use in a conventional rolled product fixture. Similarly, dry or premoistened sheets designed for use with bathroom fixtures have not been readily adaptable for table top use in other areas of a user's home.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dispenser capable of dispensing dry and/or premoistened sheets from a table top in a user's home, which would easily convert into a dispenser which may be quickly and easily attached to a conventional rolled product fixture used for toilet tissue. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a non-refillable, disposable dispenser that is adapted for use with such a fixture.
Definitions
As used herein, the term “fasteners” means devices that fasten, join, connect, secure, hold, or clamp components together. Fasteners include, but are not limited to, screws, nuts and bolts, rivets, snap-fits, tacks, nails, loop fasteners, and interlocking male/female connectors, such as fishhook connectors, a fish hook connector includes a male portion with a protrusion on its circumference. Inserting the male portion into the female portion substantially permanently locks the two portions together.
As used herein, the term “hinge” refers to a jointed or flexible device that connects and permits pivoting or turning of a part to a stationary component. Hinges include, but are not limited to, metal pivotable connectors, such as those used to fasten a door to frame, and living hinges. Living hinges may be constructed from plastic and formed integrally between two members. A living hinge permits pivotable movement of one member in relation to another connected member.
As used herein, the term “couple” includes, but is not limited to, joining, connecting, fastening, linking, or associating two things integrally or interstitially together.
These terms may be defined with additional language in the remaining portions of the specification.
In response to the difficulties and problems discussed above, a dispenser adapted to dispense sheets as a table top dispenser and convertible to a dispenser configured to dispense sheets from a conventional rolled product fixture is provided. The dispenser includes a housing having sheets provided therein and at least one opening oriented to dispense sheets therefrom. The housing is adapted to be positioned on a horizontal surface such as a table top. The housing includes a platform positioned thereover which is masked due to its appearance as providing at least a portion of the housing. The dispenser is converted into a dispenser for dispensing sheets from a conventional rolled product fixture when the platform is released. The platform is pivotably moved on an axis and a portion of the platform is positioned against the housing such that the housing is supported above the platform on a fixture for dispensing sheets therefrom.
Reference will now be made in detail to one or more embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example and embodiment is provided by way of explanation of the invention, and is not meant as a limitation of the invention. For example, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used with another embodiment to yield still a further embodiment. It is intended that the invention include these and other modifications and variations as coming within the scope and spirit of the invention.
Referring to the figures in general, a dispenser is provided for storing and dispensing sheets. It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to any particular type of sheets. The dispenser, however, is well suited for dispensing, by way of non-limiting example, individual stacked, interfolded sheets, as generally illustrated in the figures. Non-limiting examples of dry sheets are disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 3,301,746 to Sanford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,617 to Osborne, U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,589 to Cook et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,412 to Sudall et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,551 to Farrington et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,248 to Wendt et al., all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Non-limiting examples of premoistened sheets are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,741,944 and 4,865,221, both to Jackson et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,081 to Richards et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,361 to Vogt et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,351 to Zander, all of which are incorporated by reference in there entirety herein. Such stack configurations for dry sheets, such as toilet tissue and facial tissue, and/or premoistened sheets are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and need not be described in great detail herein.
As illustrated in
As shown in
When the platform or support member 18 is moved away from the housing 12, it is moved in a direction 59 such that an upper surface 24 of the support member 18 is positioned against another outer surface 26 of a front wall 28, as shown in
Turning now to the structures of the dispenser, the housing 12, as shown in
The support member 18 (
The dispenser 10 may be disposed on a generally horizontal surface 52, such as, by way of non-limiting example, a table top, to permit dry sheets 16 to be dispensed therefrom (
The dispensing openings 20, 21′ desirably are provided in an upper end 38 of the housing 12 and the upper surface 24 of the support member 18, respectively. One or more dispensing openings, however, may be provided, however, in any wall, structure, and/or combination thereof in the housing 12 and/or support member 18 in any embodiment herein to permit dispensing of any sheet(s) shown and/or described herein. It will be appreciated that the dispensing openings 20, 20′ may take any suitable shape and configuration. One or more dispensing openings shown and/or described herein may be covered, for example, but not by way of limitation, by a plastic film 54 having a slit 56 to provide access to the dry sheets 16, and so forth. In another alternative, one or more dispensing openings may be formed from perforated portions that, when removed, provide the openings (not shown), and so forth.
When the dispenser 10 is disposed on the horizontal surface 52, the dispensing openings 20, 20′ therein are desirably disposed in a superior or higher position, to dispense dry sheets 12 for use as facial tissue, and so forth. Structures of the dispenser 10 which do not have a dispensing opening therein are desirably positioned in an inferior or lower position. However, as often occurs in a bathroom, it may be desirable to have a dispenser 10 which is suitable for dispensing dry sheets 16 for use as bath or toilet tissue. In this instance, it may be desirable to have one or more dispensing openings oriented at a different level. The dispenser 10 easily adapts to this task, converting for use to dispense dry sheets 12 for toilet tissue and releasably coupling to a conventional rolled product fixture 22.
The support member 18 is releasably attached to the housing 12 by a release member or release strip 58 (
When the release strip 58 is pulled, it separates a portion of the sidewalls 30 of the support member 18 such that the back wall 44, the upper surface 24 and an adjacent generally first triangular portion 62 of the sidewall 30 separate from the sidewall 30 and from the remainder of housing 12, as shown in
The upper surface 24 of the support member 18 is pivotably moved or rotated in a direction 59 more than about 180 degrees. Desirably, the upper surface 24 of the support member 18 is pivotably moved more than about 200 degrees. Even more desirably, it is moved more than about 250 degrees. Yet even more desirably, it is moved to about 270 degrees from its initial position against the upper end 38 of the housing 12. Alternatively, it moves until it rests against the front wall 28 of the housing 12 and desirably adhesively couples thereto.
In this orientation, as shown in
Such a fixture 22, as illustrated in
The roll mount 34 is positioned through at least one opening 66 in each first triangular portion 62 of the support member 18 and coupled to the support arms 68, as shown in
In the embodiments illustrated herein, the width dimension 76 between the support arms 68 also determines at least a portion of a width dimension 78 of at least the portion of the support member 18 which is positioned between the support arms 68 and coupled to the roll mount 34. The width dimension 76 between the support arms is typically in a range of about 6.0 inches to about 4.0 inches.
The width dimension 78 of the portion of the support member 18 which is positioned between the support arms 68 is desirably, in a range of about 5.5 inches to about 4.7 inches. Even more desirably, the width dimension 78 is in a range of about 5.25 inches to about 4.6 inches. Yet even more desirably, the width dimension 78 is in a range of about 5.25 inches to about 4.5 inches.
Any portion of the housing 12 may include an opening therein (not shown) which reveals the amount of remaining dry sheets 16 contained in the compartment 14. Such an opening provides an indication of whether there is sufficient dry sheets 16 for use in the compartment 14, or whether a refill may be needed.
The housing 12 may desirably be non-refillable, and when the sheets (dry and/or premoistened) are removed therefrom, the dispenser 10 is disposed of. However, the housing 12 may be provided as a refillable housing. It refillable, the housing will open along the junction of at least surface or wall (not shown), which is coupled to the housing by hinges, such as living hinges, fasteners, latches, and so forth, to permit access and closure to the compartment.
The housing 12 may be formed from any conventional material, such as, but not by way of limitation, metal, plastic, wood, and combinations thereof, and so forth. The housing 12 may also be provided from a relatively inexpensive cardboard, paperboard, plastic, any combinations thereof, and so forth. The housing 12 may be provided in any shape or configuration, and the present embodiment is provided only as one non-limiting example thereof.
If the dispenser 10 permits refilling, a group of sheets (dry and/or premoistened) are disposed in the compartment 16. Desirably, the sheets may, by way of non-limiting example, be provided as a cartridge and/or a container of sheets (not shown).
In another embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in
The container 119 of premoistened sheets 117 may be formed as a separate container 119. Alternatively, however, the container 119 of premoistened sheets 117 may be provided as a portion of a cartridge of dry sheets (not shown), or it may be provided as a separate container with a separate cartridge of dry sheets (not shown). The premoistened sheets 117 are dispensed from the container 119 from an opening (not shown) in the container and through a first dispensing opening (not shown) in the housing 112, as shown in
The housing 112, as shown in
As illustrated in
As shown in
The resealable cover 180 is used to maintain the moisture conditions within the container and to prevent undesired drying out of the premoistened sheets 117. In a non-limiting example of one possible resealable cover,
The dispenser 110 may be disposed on a generally horizontal surface 52, such as, by way of non-limiting example, a table top, to permit dry sheets 16 and premoistened sheets 117 for use, for example, as facial tissue, and so forth, to be dispensed therefrom, as shown in
When the release strip 158 is pulled, it again separates a portion of the sidewalls 130, as previously described herein. The upper surface 124, the front wall 143, and an adjacent first triangular portion 162 separate from the sidewall 130 and the housing 112, and pivot on the axis 148 which permits the upper surface 124 of the support member 118 to pivotably move such that the front wall 143 of the support member 118 is moved against the lower end 140 of the housing 112, as shown in
The dispenser 110 and the housing 112 includes all characteristics and/or features previously shown and/or described for the dispenser 10 and the housing 12, and so forth. Moreover, the housing 112 may be non-refillable, or it may be refillable. The housing 112 may be constructed from any material shown and/or described herein. The housing 112 may also include a peel strip 160.
As illustrated in
The premoistened sheets 117 may be encased in a liquid impermeable film, and this film may provide a portion, or all, of the container 119 as shown in
It will be understood that the position of the premoistened 117 and dry sheets 16 within the housing 112 may be reversed, and they need not be in a specific configuration, and may take on any suitable arrangement, including a stacked arrangement, a side-by-side arrangement, a coaxial arrangement, and so forth. Any number of configurations may be used for simultaneously dispensing dry and premoistened sheets from a single housing. All such configurations are within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
While the present invention has been described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the subject matter encompassed by way of the present invention is not to be limited to those specific embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended for the subject matter of the invention to include all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as can be included within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
