The above aspects and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which:
Repeated use of reference characters in the specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the invention in different embodiments.
As used herein, forms of the words “comprise”, “have”, and “include” are legally equivalent and open-ended. Therefore, additional non-recited elements, functions, steps or limitations may be present in addition to the recited elements, functions, steps, or limitations.
As used herein, “top”, “bottom”, “left”, or “right” are used for convenience when describing the particular structure involved in the illustrations and do no imply that the dispenser or stack must be orientated in a particular manner. For example, the dispenser could be invented for use under a shelf or table and the top could become the bottom.
As used herein “dispensing panel” is one or more thin pieces of material that have or form a dispensing orifice, such as a slit, that is generally secured to the dispenser's surface adjacent an opening into the dispenser. The dispensing panel provides assistance with dispensing the sheets located within the dispenser, such as preventing debris from entering the dispenser, reducing multiple sheets from dispensing, or assisting with retaining the partially exposed sheet within the dispensing opening. The dispensing panel can be made from any suitable film, plastic, paper, nonwoven, or cloth material. The film can be a polypropylene, polystyrene, polyester, polyvinylchloride, or polyethylene material. The film material can be uniaxially oriented, a multilayer material, clear, opaque, or printed. Suitable paper dispensing panels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,177 entitled Facial Tissue Dispensing Carton that issued May 31, 1994 to Boldt. Suitable film and nonwoven dispensing panels are disclosed in U.S. patent application 2006/0151516 entitled Lint-Reducing Container published Jul. 13, 2006, by Etheridge et al.
It is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present discussion is a description of exemplary embodiments only and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects of the present invention, which broader aspects are embodied in the exemplary construction.
Referring to
In the illustrated embodiment, a first side dispensing panel 26 is placed over at least a portion of the right side of the first sheet 22. A second side dispensing panel 28 is placed over at least a portion of the left side of the first sheet 22 and interleaved with at least a portion of the first sheet 22 such that a leading edge 30 of the first sheet 22 is exposed between the first side and the second side dispensing panels (26, 28). The first sheet 22 in this embodiment is J-folded such that the leading edge 30 is formed where the first sheet is doubled back on itself. Such a folding configuration for the first sheet is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,276 entitled Folded Sheet Material Web and Assembly and Method and Apparatus Therefore and issued to Loppnow et al. on Feb. 9, 1999. Other folding configurations for the first sheet can be used.
The second side dispensing panel 28 is interleaved between a doubled over portion 31 of the first sheet 22 and a trailing panel 33 of the first sheet. The trailing panel 33 of the first sheet 22 is interleaved between the V-fold of the next sheet in the stack 20 and thereafter the interfolded sheets 21 are interleaved V-folded sheets to enable pop-up dispensing. The interfolded sheets within the stack 20 could be interleaved in another manner such as Z-folded or W-folded, fan folded and separated by perforated lines, adhesively attached, or otherwise constructed such that the withdrawal of one sheet from the stack partially withdraws or exposes the next sheet from the dispenser's opening.
After placing the first and the second side dispensing panels (26, 28) onto the stack 20, an adhesive 32 can be applied to the dispensing panels prior to inserting the stack into a dispenser 34. After insertion of the stack 20, the dispenser 34 can be inverted to attach the first side and the second side dispensing panels (26, 28) to an interior surface 35 of the dispenser such as the top interior surface 37 of the dispenser. The right and the left side dispensing panels (26, 28) are attached to the top interior surface 37 such that a portion of each panel extends into a dispensing opening 50 located in the dispenser 35. As such, to a consumer the dispenser 34 will appear and function similar to existing dispensers having a single piece of film adhered to the dispenser's top interior surface, having a small slit that forms the dispensing window; however, it will have a significant advantage in that the leading edge 30 of the first sheet 22 is exposed between the first and the second dispensing panels (26, 28), enabling the first sheet 22 to be easily grabbed and dispensed without having to search, reach-in or find it inside of the dispenser as previously required.
In previous dispensers, the dispensing window is attached by adhesive to the top interior surface of the dispenser while producing the carton blank that ultimately becomes the dispenser. After folding and gluing the carton blank with the attached dispensing window into a parallelepiped, the stack is inserted into an open end of the dispenser. As such, the leading edge of the stack is not exposed by the prior process since the dispensing window is not interleaved or interfolded with the stack. The leading edge remains within the interior of the dispenser until retrieved by a user to start the dispensing process.
To produce the product of
One advantage of the new process is the interfolded sheets 21, the first side dispensing panel 26, and the second side dispensing panel 28 can be placed, folded or interleaved using a multi-folder converting line. Therefore, it is possible to guide the first and the second dispensing panels (26, 28) to form either an overlap distance O, a slit with no gap, or to provide a gap G between the dispensing edge 36 of each dispensing panel to create differently shaped or sized dispensing orifices 38 for the dispenser 34.
In another embodiment, since the leading edge 30 of the first sheet 22 is exposed, it is also possible to apply adhesive 32 to the leading edge 30 in order to attach the first sheet 22 to a removable panel 40 of the dispenser 34. In this manner, the first sheet can be fully or partially withdrawn when the removable panel 40 is detached from the dispenser 34. However, with at least one dispensing panel 24 interleaved with the stack 20, it is possible to attach the first sheet 22 to the removable panel 40 and have either a gap G or an overlap O for the dispensing orifice 38. In the various embodiments, the removable panel 40 covers at least a portion of the dispensing opening 50. Preferably, the removal panel extends the length of the dispensing opening 50 and covers the dispensing edges 36 and the leading edge 30 of the first sheet 22. In order to more easily remove the removable panel 40, preferably a cutout 48 is present on opposing sides of the removable panel.
Referring now to
This embodiment can provide more surface area to glue the dispensing panels to the interior surface 35 of the dispenser 34 and can reduce the dispensing force needed to remove the first sheet 22. Often the coefficient of friction for a tissue sheet on a film surface can be less than for a tissue sheet on a paperboard surface. Since all or a significant portion of the interfolded sheets 21 in the stack are mostly in contact with the first and the second dispensing panel (26, 28), it can be easier to remove them from the dispenser 34; especially, when the dispenser is full or nearly full.
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As with the embodiment of
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In the various embodiments described, the adhesive 32 can be a pressure sensitive adhesive, hot melt adhesive, radio frequency activated adhesive, two-part adhesive, contact cement, tape, double sided adhesive tape, or other suitable adhesive as known. In the various embodiments of the invention, the adhesive can be applied to the dispensing panel 24, the interior surface 35 of the dispenser 34, or to both surfaces. The adhesive 32 can be located in a recess or depression 54 on the interior surface 35 of the dispenser 34, such as in a recess fully or partially surrounding the dispensing opening 50 as shown in
The dispensing panel 24 can be electrostatically charged. By charging the dispensing panel, dust or lint may tend to stick to the dispensing panel reducing the amount of lint created during dispensing. Additionally, by charging the dispensing panel 24 either positively or negatively with regard to the stack 20, or by creating a charge potential between the stack and the dispensing panel, the dispensing panel can stick, cling, or be attracted to the stack. This can assist with keeping the dispensing panel 24 positioned as the stack 20 is conveyed during manufacturing or while the stack 20 is inserted into the dispenser 34. For example, the dispensing panel 24 can be charged either positively or negatively as it is unwound by using a static induction device such that it clings to or is attracted to the stack 20.
In various embodiments of the invention, the gap G can be between about 0.5 mm to about 20 mm, or between about 0.5 mm to about 10 mm, or between about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm, or between about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm. In various embodiments of the invention, the overlap distance O can be between about 0.5 mm to about 20 mm, or between about 0.5 to about 10 mm, or between about 0.5 to about 5 mm. Alternatively, the dispensing edges 36 can be adjusted such that they touch or meet and the gap G is 0 mm. The dispensing edges 36 can be linear, wavy, curved, zigzag or have a cutout.
In various embodiments of the invention, the dispensing panel 24 can be interleaved with any of the sheets in the stack 20 such as with the second, third, or fourth sheet in the stack, including the first sheet 22. For example, the first sheet and second sheet in the stack can be folded together into a J-fold as shown in
The leading edge 30 can be a single thickness of a sheet, a doubled over thickness of a sheet such as the folded edge shown in
The dispenser 34 can be made from paperboard, cardboard, coated paperboard, carton stock, or other paper materials comprising cellulose. Alternatively, the dispenser can be made from plastic, films, metallic foils, wood or other materials. In one embodiment, the dispenser 34 comprised six panels including a top panel 56, a bottom panel 58, a left side panel 60, a right side panel 62, a left end panel 64, and a right end panel 66 forming a parallelepiped shape. The dispensing opening 50 can be located in the top panel 56 or another panel of the dispenser 34. The dispensing opening 50 can be any suitable size or shape such as rectangular, oval, or circular. As previously described, the dispensing orifice 38 is created by the gap, overlap, or slit with no gap created by the dispensing panel 24 which can be attached to the interior surface 35 of the dispenser 34 after being interleaved with the stack 20. To facilitate filling the dispenser on an automated cartoner, the left and right end panels (64, 66) can comprise a plurality of flaps 68 which are folded shut and glued to seal the dispenser. For clarity in the drawings, the top flap has been cut away to illustrate more of the top panel 56.
Other modifications and variations to the present invention may be practiced by those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which is more particularly set forth in the appended claims. It is understood that aspects of the various embodiments may be interchanged in whole or part. All cited references, patents, or patent applications in the above application for letters patent are herein incorporated by reference in a consistent manner. In the event of inconsistencies or contradictions between the incorporated references and this application, the information present in this application shall prevail. The preceding description, given by way of example in order to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the claimed invention, is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims and all equivalents thereto.