POP-UP WIPE ROLL

Abstract

A box of wipes includes a roll of pop-up wipe sheets. The roll has flat opposing sides connected by opposing rounded sides, whereby an individual wipe sheet in the roll of pop-up wipe sheets is separable from a preceding wipe sheet along a perforated score line. The box has six generally rectangularly shaped sides and receives the roll of wipe sheets therein. The box has an opening in a top side thereof for withdrawal of at least one wipe sheet therethrough, and defines a height corresponding to a height of the roll of wipes and a width corresponding to an original width of the roll. The length of the box is greater than a depth of the box.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to pop-up wipes, and, more particularly, to pop-up wipe rolls.

Pop-up wipes are a globally utilized product. As one example, pop-up wipes are found in bathrooms worldwide. Traditional pop-up wipe wall mounts are square or rectangular in shape with flat sides or are generally cylindrical in shape. Accordingly, conventional pop-up wipe packaging boxes 50 (see FIG. 1) are complementarily square or rectangular in shape with flat sides. Therefore, the pop-up wipes are traditionally vertically stacked in an interfolded/interleaved manner to form a square or rectangular stack 1.

One drawback of interleaved, stacked wipes 1 is the complicated, and, therefore, time consuming and expensive, assembly process required to form the stack 1. For example, a dedicated vacuum or mechanical system is required to interleave the wipes. Another drawback of the vertical stack 1 is the potential for the remaining wipes to slide down within the packaging box 50 after consumption of some of the wipes, and, in turn, hinder accessibility to the wipes through the opening in the top side of the packing box. Traditional pop-up wipe wall mounts are already prevalent worldwide, however, and, therefore, reconfiguring conventional pop-up wipe packages is not sensible.

Alternatively, traditional pop-up wipes may take the form of cylindrical perforated rolls. One drawback of such rolls, however, is that they only fit in square boxes and not in rectangular boxes, thereby limiting the market for cylindrical rolls to square shaped or cylindrical dispensers.

It would, therefore, be desirable to design, develop and implement a roll of pop-up wipes, rather than a vertical, interleaved stack of wipes, that remains insertable in all conventional pop-up wipe packaging boxes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Briefly stated, one aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a box of wipes including a roll of pop-up wipe sheets. The roll has flat opposing sides connected by opposing rounded sides, whereby an individual wipe sheet in the roll of pop-up wipe sheets is separable from a preceding wipe sheet along a perforated score line. The box has six generally rectangularly shaped sides and receives the roll of wipe sheets therein. The box has an opening in a top side thereof for withdrawal of at least one wipe sheet therethrough, and defines a height corresponding to a height of the roll of wipes and a width corresponding to an original width of the roll. The length of the box is greater than a depth of the box.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a box of wipes including a roll of pop-up wipe sheets. The roll has flat opposing sides connected by opposing rounded sides, the flat opposing sides defining a length greater than a length of the rounded sides. The roll further includes a generally central, open-ended bore spanning a height of the roll, whereby a last wipe sheet of the roll is at least partially positioned within the bore. An individual wipe sheet of the roll is separable from a remainder of the roll along a perforated score line via manual withdrawal of the last wipe sheet from the bore. The box has six generally rectangularly shaped sides, the box receiving the roll of wipe sheets therein and having an opening in a top side thereof. The bore is axially aligned with the opening for withdrawal of at least one wipe sheet therethrough. The box defines a height corresponding to a height of the roll of wipe sheets and a width corresponding to an original width of the roll, the length of the box being greater than a depth of the box. A thickness of the roll of wipe sheets, between peripheral edges of the opposing flat sides, prior to use, corresponds to the depth of the box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description of embodiments of the disclosure will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. It should be understood, however, that the disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top, perspective view of a conventional stack of rectangularly shaped interleaved wipes insertable in a conventional pop-up wipe packaging box;

FIG. 2 is a top, perspective view of a roll of pop-up wipes of the present disclosure, partially inserted in a conventional pop-up wipe packaging box; and

FIG. 3 is a is a top, perspective view of the roll of pop-up wipes of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “lower,” “bottom,” “upper” and “top” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly,” “outwardly,” “upwardly” and “downwardly” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the roll, and designated parts thereof, in accordance with the present disclosure. Unless specifically set forth herein, the terms “a,” “an” and “the” are not limited to one element, but instead should be read as meaning “at least one.” The terminology includes the words noted above, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

It should also be understood that the terms “about,” “approximately,” “generally,” “substantially” and like terms, used herein when referring to a dimension or characteristic of a component of the disclosure, indicate that the described dimension/characteristic is not a strict boundary or parameter and does not exclude minor variations therefrom that are functionally similar. At a minimum, such references that include a numerical parameter would include variations that, using mathematical and industrial principles accepted in the art (e.g., rounding, measurement or other systematic errors, manufacturing tolerances, etc.), would not vary the least significant digit.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in FIGS. 2-3 a roll of perforated pop-up wipe sheets, generally designated 10, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The wipe sheets 11 may be paper, cloth or the like. In one configuration, the individual wipe sheets 11 may be sized substantially the same as the wipes 1 stacked in a conventional interleaved manner.

As shown, the roll of wipe sheets 10 are formed in a long oval or stadium shape, i.e., having flat opposing long sides 12, connected by rounded/semi-circular opposing short sides 14. A generally central open-ended channel or bore 16, spanning the height H of the roll 10, is formed within the roll 10, and individual wipe sheets 11 are pulled up, and separated from the remainder of the roll 10, from the central channel 16. That is, the wipe sheets 11 may be perforated, whereby each sheet/wipe is separable from the preceding sheet along a perforated score line 18 in a manner well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. The channel 16 may be of generally the same stadium shape as the roll 10.

Advantageously, and as shown best in FIG. 2, the flat long sides 12 of the roll of wipe sheets 10 adapt the roll 10 for insertion into a conventional, rectangular pop-up wipe packaging box 50, i.e., a box 50 having six generally rectangularly shaped sides. In turn, existing machines utilized to manufacture the packaging boxes 50 themselves may be retained as well as existing packaging equipment utilized to insert the roll of wipe sheets 10 into a respective packaging box 50. Additionally, the traditional packaging box 50 is retained for customers accustomed to the use thereof. Moreover, the roll of wipe sheets 10, packaged in the packaging box 50, may be utilized in the traditional, rectangular wall mounts (not shown) that are already in place and used worldwide. As should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the dimensions of the roll 10 may be selected to correspond to the dimensions of the target sized packaging box 50. That is, the original width W and thickness T of the roll 10, i.e., before use, and the height H of the roll 10 may respectively correspond to the width, depth/thickness and height of the packaging box 50, in order to utilize the maximum space within the box 50. As should be understood (and shown in FIG. 3), the width W of the roll 10 extends from an apex of one of the rounded sides 14 to an apex of the other of the rounded sides 14. The channel 16 may be formed to generally align with the opening 52 at the top of the box 50, such that the wipe sheets 11 may be pulled therethrough.

Further advantageously, the roll of wipe sheets 10 may be assembled faster and significantly more economically than the assembly of a similarly sized traditional stack 1 of interleaved wipes. For example, the wipe sheets 11 may initially be rolled into a cylindrical shape and then inserted or advanced into a “press” (not shown) to flatten two opposing sides thereof, thereby eliminating additional machines, such as the vacuum systems, otherwise required to assemble the traditional stack 1 of interleaved wipes. Thus, assembly of the roll of wipe sheets 10 may be performed, for example, twice as fast as assembly of the same number of wipes into a traditional interleaved stack 1. Eliminating some of the assembly machines otherwise required to assemble the traditional stack 1 of interleaved wipes also results in reduced energy usage.

Yet further advantageously, the roll of wipe sheets 10 remains of the same height H throughout consumption thereof. That is, the thickness T (and width W) of the roll 10, rather than the height H thereof, decreases upon consumption. Thus, irrespective of consumption, the roll 10 does not slide down into the packaging box 50. Accordingly, sliding of the wipe sheets 11 out of the opening 52 of the packaging box 50 is greatly reduced.

It will, therefore, be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alterations could be made to the disclosure above without departing from the broad inventive concepts thereof. Some of these have been discussed above and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is understood, therefore, that this disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A box of wipes comprising: a roll of pop-up wipe sheets, the roll having flat opposing sides connected by opposing rounded sides, whereby an individual wipe sheet in the roll of pop-up wipe sheets is separable from a preceding wipe sheet along a perforated score line; andthe box having six generally rectangularly shaped sides, the box receiving the roll of wipe sheets therein and having an opening in a top side thereof for withdrawal of at least one wipe sheet therethrough, the box defining a height corresponding to a height of the roll of wipes and a width corresponding to an original width of the roll, the length of the box being greater than a depth of the box.

2. The box of wipes of claim 1, wherein the flat opposing sides define a length greater than a length of the rounded sides.

3. The box of wipes of claim 1, wherein the roll of wipes further includes a generally central, open-ended bore spanning a height of the roll and formed within the roll, whereby a last wipe sheet of the roll is at least partially positioned within the bore and is manually separable from a remainder of the roll along the perforated score line via manual withdrawal of the last wipe sheet from the bore.

4. The box of wipes of claim 3, wherein the bore is axially aligned with the opening of the box.

5. The box of wipes of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the roll of wipe sheets, between peripheral edges of the opposing flat sides, prior to use, corresponds to the depth of the box.

6. A box of wipes comprising: a roll of pop-up wipe sheets, the roll having flat opposing sides connected by opposing rounded sides, the flat opposing sides defining a length greater than a length of the rounded sides, and the roll of wipe sheets further including a generally central, open-ended bore spanning a height of the roll, whereby a last wipe sheet of the roll is at least partially positioned within the bore, an individual wipe sheet of the roll of pop-up wipe sheets being separable from a remainder of the roll along a perforated score line via manual withdrawal of the last wipe sheet from the bore; andthe box having six generally rectangularly shaped sides, the box receiving the roll of wipe sheets therein and having an opening in a top side thereof, the bore being axially aligned with the opening for withdrawal of at least one wipe sheet therethrough, the box defining a height corresponding to a height of the roll of wipe sheets and a width corresponding to an original width of the roll, the length of the box being greater than a depth of the box, and a thickness of the roll of wipe sheets, between peripheral edges of the opposing flat sides, prior to use, corresponds to the depth of the box.