Patent Application
20110039677
The present disclosure relates generally to paper toweling, and various methods associated with the supply and replenishment of paper toweling. More particularly, this disclosure relates to pleated paper toweling, and various methods associated with pleated paper toweling.
A variety of paper towel dispensing arrangements currently exists. One common arrangement includes a paper towel dispenser having pre-folded, interleaved paper towels or sheets that are pulled from an opening in the dispenser. The paper towels are interleaved so that a tab of a second following paper towel is delivered when a first paper towel is pulled from the dispenser. This type of paper towel dispenser is typically recessed into a wall structure, such as a restroom wall in the vicinity of a restroom sink.
There are a number of disadvantages to the interleaved paper towel dispensers. One disadvantage is that pre-folded paper towels are relatively expensive, because the towels must be pre-cut to the desired length and interleaved (i.e., interwoven or overlapped), each of which adds to manufacturing costs. Another disadvantage is that these dispensers sometimes dispense more than one sheet of pre-folded paper towel at a time, whether the user intended to take more than one sheet or not. The extra paper towels are often discarded without use, or left on the restroom sink, for example, where the extra towels become wet and possibly contaminated.
Improvements related to paper toweling is needed generally to reduce paper towel waste and further simplify maintenance of paper towel dispensers.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a continuous length of pleated paper towel. The pleated paper towel has a leading end and a trailing end. The pleated paper towel is designed to stack upon another pleated paper towel such that the trailing end of one towel stack attaches or bonds to the leading end of the other towel stack. Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of supplying or replenishing a paper towel dispenser. The method includes stacking a continuous length of pleated paper towel upon an existing length of paper towel wherein the trailing end of the existing length of paper towel and the leading end of the continuous length of pleated paper towel dispenses without interruption.
A variety of examples of desirable product features or methods are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practicing various aspects of the disclosure. The aspects of the disclosure may relate to individual features as well as combinations of features, including combinations of features disclosed in separate embodiments. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory only, and are not restrictive of the claimed invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary aspects of the present disclosure that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
The present disclosure relates to a continuous length of pleated paper towel for use in a towel dispenser. The towel dispenser can be located within a recessed space in a wall or mounted flush to a wall. One towel dispenser, for example, includes a cabinet recessed within a wall having a dispenser assembly that dispenses a continuous length of pleated paper towel. Details of a dispenser assembly that dispenses a continuous length of pleated paper towel are provided in U.S. application Ser. No. ______ [having Attorney Docket No. 7542.313US01, entitled TOWEL DISPENSER]; which application is incorporated herein by reference.
As previously described, conventional pre-cut paper towel dispensers often dispense more individual towels than what is needed by a single user, resulting in towel waste and/or mess. The extra dispensed towels are sometimes left out in the open, for example upon a sink ledge, where the extra towels can become wet and/or contaminated. The present continuous length of pleated paper towel eliminates the unintended dispensing of paper toweling associated with individual pre-cut paper towels. The present continuous length of pleated paper towel is also designed to provide a convenient way of supplying or replenishing the paper toweling of a pleated paper towel dispenser.
Referring now to
What is meant by continuous length of “pleated” paper toweling is that the length includes a plurality of fold lines 12 (
Referring now to
A bonding agent or bonding material 18 is provided at one of the leading end 16 and the trailing end 14 of the continuous length of pleated paper towel 10. In the illustrated embodiment of
In one embodiment, the bonding material 18 is an adhesive material. Referring to
Referring now to
The method of replenishing the dispenser 30 generally includes providing a stacked pleated paper towel arrangement 40 including the first continuous length of pleated paper towel 10a (e.g., the existing length of pleated paper towel) and a second continuous length of pleated paper towel 10b (represented in dashed line).
Providing the stacked pleated paper towel arrangement includes exposing the bonding material 18 on the trailing end 14a of the existing length of pleated paper towel 10a. The bonding material 18 of the pleated paper towel 10a in
With the adhesive strip 20 exposed, the second continuous length of pleated paper towel 10b is placed upon or stacked on the existing length of pleated paper towel 10a. The trailing end 14a of the existing pleated paper towel 10a bonds with the leading end 16b of the second continuous length of pleated paper towel 10b. The bonding material 18 attaches the trailing end 14a of the existing pleated paper towel 10a to the leading end 16b of the second continuous length of pleated paper towel 10b such that the lengths of pleated paper towel 10a, 10b are inseparably joined or connected.
To inseparably join or connect the lengths of pleated paper towel 10a, 10b, in an alternative method, the bonding material can be applied to the trailing end 14a of the existing length of pleated paper towel 10a at the time of replenishment. In yet other alternative embodiments, the bonding material provided can be of a type that is activated by application of force, or can be of a type that uses water, for example, to effect bonding characteristics.
The bond between the two ends 14a, 16b, of the lengths of pleated paper towel 10a, 10b permits the dispenser 30 to operate such that a dispense cycle of the trailing end 14a of the existing length of pleated paper towel 10a and the leading end 16b of the second continuous length of pleated paper towel 10b occurs without interruption. That is, when the existing length of pleated paper towel 10a becomes depleted, the second continuous length of pleated paper towel begins to dispense. A user or technician is not required to initiate the feed of the end of a new continuous length of pleated paper towel, for example, rather dispensing operation of the dispenser continues without interruption.
As can be understood, the dispenser 30 can be loaded or initially supplied with two or more continuous lengths of pleated paper towel in the manner described above. For example, the dispenser can be initially supplied with a first continuous length of pleated paper towel and a second continuous length of pleated paper towel placed there upon. In an embodiment having the bonding material 18 on the trailing end (e.g., 14a,
With regards to an embodiment having the bonding material 18 on the leading end 16 of the length of pleated paper towel 10 (e.g., see
With regards to an embodiment having the bonding material 18 on both the trailing end 14 and the leading end 16 of the length of pleated paper towel 10 (e.g., see
Additionally and still referring to the two-strip embodiment of
Referring now to
For example, the continuous length of pleated paper towel 100 has a first top trailing end 114 and a second bottom leading end 116. In this second embodiment, however, the continuous length of pleated paper towel 100 includes a labyrinth type fold 44 at one of the ends that joins the ends of two continuous lengths of pleated paper towel.
In one method of use, the leading end (e.g. 116) of a second continuous length of pleated paper towel is inserted into the labyrinth type fold 44 at the trailing end 114 of a first continuous length of pleated paper towel 100. The labyrinth type fold 44 captures the leading end of the second continuous length of pleated paper towel to join or connect together the two lengths of paper towel. Similar to the previous embodiment, the connected lengths of paper towel permit a dispenser to operate such that a dispense cycle of the trailing end 114 of the one length of pleated paper towel and the leading end (e.g., 116) of the another stacked continuous length of pleated paper towel occurs without interruption.
While reference is made with respect to bottom leading ends and top trailing ends, it is to be understood that the particular orientation of the pleated paper towel stack is made only for purposes of describing the particular orientation illustrated. As can be understood, in other applications, the bottom leading end of the continuous length of pleated paper towel can define the top leading end of the continuous length of pleated paper towel, for example, depending upon the orientation of the pleated paper towel stack.
The above specification provides a complete description of the present invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, certain aspects of the invention reside in the claims hereinafter appended.
