This application is a national stage filing under section 371 of International Application No. PCT/FR2009/050876 filed on May 13, 2009, published in French on Dec. 17, 2009 as WO 2009/150342 and claims priority of French application No. 0853284 filed on May 21, 2008, the entire disclosure of these applications being hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to the technical field of dispensing machines for wipe materials of the hand wipe, toilet paper, general-purpose wipe and similar types.
The Applicant has worked in this specific field for many years and has filed several dozen patents for machines of this type with automatic or semi-automatic cutting which operate simply by the user pulling the end of the strip of material that emerges from the machine.
The strip of material can be wound on a reel and the machine then has to be designed with an automatic cutting device which makes it possible to cut the strip into pieces of a predetermined size while allowing the end of the strip to emerge from the machine so that it can be pulled and cut to size depending on the wipe material.
In this configuration, the strip of material is uniform and is not pre-cut when it is manufactured and wound.
The Applicant was also interested in designing a machine to dispense wipe material pre-folded in an accordion pleat, but with complex configurations and layouts.
For general-purpose wipe material, the use of a reel with the material pre-cut to pieces of a set size is, moreover, already known. These reels are generally wound on a core which can, if applicable, be mounted on a simplified unwinding device with two end pieces which penetrate into the core and a mounting base.
The approach adopted by the Applicant was to concentrate on designing a simplified machine for dispensing strips or pre-cut wipe material that can be wound on a reel or folded in Z- (or accordion) pleats.
The Applicant aimed to produce a simple, inexpensive dispensing machine which, because of the way in which the pre-cut material, on a reel or accordion pleated, is presented, does not need a cutting system.
The sought-after object was to produce a compact, silent, easy-to-load dispensing machine which can be used with both these types of materials.
The solution devised by the Applicant fulfils these various objectives.
According to a first aspect, the wipe material dispensing machine of the type comprising a housing forming a receptacle with a back plate, a horizontal lower wall and side walls as well as an articulated cover with means of locking, is distinctive in that the inner face of the cover is designed with a protruding curved shape, and in that it comprises a device which is articulated relative to the housing and fulfils the functions of loading, guiding and preventing creasing of the pre-cut strip of material which is pulled so that it can be removed from the forward, lower part of the machine and in that said device includes curved shapes capable of surrounding the shape on the cover when said cover is closed, said shapes being concentric and allowing the pulled pre-cut strip of material to pass through, and in that the pre-cut wipe material is wound on a reel or accordion pleated, and in that the lower part of the machine comprises, at the point where the material emerges, opposite-facing limit stops either side of the strip of material which ensure separation of a piece of strip relative to the opposite facing perforation line of the strip.
According to another aspect of the invention, the wipe material dispensing machine is distinctive in that the device for loading, guiding and preventing creasing of the pre-cut strip of material comprises a single component which fulfils said functions.
According to another aspect of the invention, the wipe material dispensing machine is distinctive in that the device for loading, guiding and preventing creasing of the pre-cut strip of material comprises a plate for loading and guiding the strip of material and a plate for preventing creasing (anti-crease plate).
The object of the present invention is described, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:
In order that the object of the invention may more readily be understood, the following description is given, merely by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings.
The wipe material dispensing machine is referred to in its entirety as (A) and is used to dispense pre-cut strips of material, wound on a reel or accordion pleated. It comprises a housing (1) having a parallelepiped shape which forms a receptacle with a back plate (1a), a lower horizontal wall (1b), lateral side walls (1c) and an articulated cover (2) with means of locking (3).
According to the invention, the housing and the cover are designed with central cut-out shapes to allow the strip of material pulled by the operative to emerge from the machine. The machine comprises a device (D) for loading, guiding and preventing creasing of the pulled pre-cut strip of material so that it can be removed from the base of the machine. In a first version, this device is designed and produced as a single part which fulfils various functions such as loading, guiding and preventing creasing in cooperation with the cover which is designed with matching shapes, as shown in
Each of the versions in the above-mentioned Figures can be used, regardless whether the pre-cut material that is dispensed is wound on a reel or folded. Depending on the nature of the strip of wipe material—wound on a reel or folded—one can, without modifying the concept of the invention, use a housing which accommodates both types of materials or the volume of the housing can be designed depending on the presentation of the pre-cut strip of material (wound on a reel or folded). First of all, the design and implementation of the housing of the machine may have characteristics that are common to all the versions described below.
In the model for dispensing strips of material wound on a reel, the second version is shown but the first version is not shown, the side walls (1c) of the housing in the model for dispensing strips of material wound on a reel, each comprise a flexible strut (1d) to support end fitting (2) to accommodate and fit into core (3) of reel (B) of wipe material.
In the embodiment of the first version (
In the embodiment of the second version (
The front part of the latter accommodates a cover (4) articulated on connecting shafts (5) located on the side walls of the housing. The cover thus has a front wall (4a) with a cut-out (4b) located very precisely opposite the central cut-out (1f) formed in the housing which allows the strip of material to pass through and be pulled by the user. The upper wall (1b) of the cover is designed with a tab (5) which locks the cover in its closed position. According to one essential feature of the invention, in both versions, the internal part (4a1) of the front wall is designed with a protruding shape (6) designed to help guide and prevent creasing of the pulled material in close cooperation with device (D) for loading, guiding and preventing creasing of the strip of material pulled by the operative.
The two implementations of said device (D) shown respectively in
In the first case, said device (D) is made in the form of a single one-piece plate (7) which is capable of moving up against the front part of housing (1) and shutting it off by locking into position. To achieve this, the upper part of this single plate (7) which forms a flap is designed with a convex or rounded shape (7a) having a curved configuration which protrudes slightly either side of the thickness of the wall of the plate. This makes it possible to support and transport the pre-cut accordion-pleated material or material obtained from a pre-cut reel located in the rear part of the housing. Laterally, plate (7) has, on one or both of its edges (7b), a protruding shape which hooks onto the side wall or walls of the housing in order to obtain locking The version in
It is apparent that this first version of the machine comprises only three components, the housing, the cover and device (D) which constitutes a single plate (7) which fulfils the various functions of loading, guiding and preventing creasing of the strip of material. These three components are made of plastic and can be assembled by simply snapping them together without any external screws or similar fasteners. When the machine is closed, the front wall of the cover is parallel to plate (7) leaving room for the strip of material and enabling it to be pulled and emerge from the lower front part of the machine. If the material is in a folded pre-cut configuration, the configuration of the folded material makes it possible to route the material over the device on the upper part of the housing (7a) and then dispense it one piece at a time.
In the case of a reel of pre-cut material, the retention and transport of the strip of material between matching shapes (6-8) allow, in combination with lateral limit stops (17-18), successive separation of pieces of material. These limit stops which are in contact with the material exert a retention effect which involves separation of the piece of strip by gradual tearing from the ends of the perforation line and thus complete separation of a piece of a strip from the rest of the strip of material.
The second version of the invention illustrated in
Cover (4) is designed with two identical matching protruding extra-thick shapes (6) either side of cut-out (4b) which have a triangular configuration, for example, and the base of each shape has a curved configuration (6a). The solid exposed faces of these two shapes (6a) are capable of constituting support surfaces over which the pulled strip of material slides flat and are involved in shaping the strip as it emerges from the machine. These shapes (6a) are roughly 2 to 3 mm thick.
Device (D) comprises a loading plate (9) which is articulated relative to the housing and has, on its upper end, a deflecting roller (11) and a plate (10) for preventing creasing of the pre-cut strip of material from a reel or the accordion-pleated material, located in front of the loading plate in a parallel plane and elastically recoiling relative to the plate.
More specifically, the base (9a) of loading plate (9) is articulated around pivot axes (12) relative to the side walls (1c) of the housing and is in the longitudinal plane of the housing. This plate (9) is articulated in opposition to elastic return means (13) of the spring type with a forward pivoting movement in order to assist the pull force exerted when the strip of pre-cut material is pulled by the user. One end (13-1) of the return means is attached to one of the side walls of the housing or, if applicable, to the back plate. The other end (13-2) of the return means is attached to the loading plate. In addition, loading plate (9) has a central cut-out (9b) which directly matches the above-mentioned cut-outs (1f) and (4b) in the housing and in the cover. The upper part of loading plate (9) has flexible tabs (9c) between which deflecting roller (11) is fitted. The latter is therefore in the upper part and in contact with the strip of material obtained from a reel or accordion-pleated material as it is paid out. Advantageously, to obtain better guidance, deflecting roller (11) has a curved configuration and its ends are thus bowed in order to allow the strip of material to be pulled by the user to the right or to the left. Plate (10) for preventing creasing of the strip of material is located in front of loading plate (9) in a plane which is parallel to the latter and leaves a gap (e) between them. This anti-crease plate is elastically attached relative to the loading plate in opposition to return means (14) mounted on connecting shafts (15) or equivalent which are attached on the loading plate. Thus, the anti-crease plate, which constitutes the flat bearing surface for the pre-cut strip of material after it passes over the roller and is deflected, is capable of elastically controlled movement relative to the loading plate, depending on the pulling and tensile forces exerted on the pulled strip of material. Also and according to one aspect of invention, said anti-crease plate (10) has an upper half-moon or curved shape (10a) to allow transport of the pre-cut strip of material and to direct it towards the outlet of the machine. This half-moon shape matches the curved shapes on the protruding parts on the inner face of the cover by fitting between them and leaving room (P) for the strip of material to pass through. It is therefore apparent that, when the machine is closed, the anti-crease plate comes up against the inner face of the cover and defines a route and guides output of the strip of material.
The thickness of the anti-crease plate is identical to that of the protruding parts so as to ensure that they fit inside each other snugly. When the cover is closed, there is a space (P) of 3 to 5 mm, for instance, between the respective curved edges of the protruding parts and the half-moon shape of the anti-crease plate in order to allow the strip of material to slide through. Return means (14) make it possible, through elastic expansion of the spring, to push the anti-crease plate against the inner face of the cover by exerting slight pressure.
The anti-crease plate, by flattening the strip of material, allows it to slide as it emerges from the machine.
The pull force exerted ensures separation of a piece of strip from the rest of the reel as its movement comes to an end thanks to two limit stops (17-18). The various cut-outs in the cover, loading plate and anti-crease plate enable the user to grasp the material.
Without departing from the scope of the invention,
Moreover and according to one essential aspect of the invention, it is possible to envisage dimensional adjustment of the dispensed strip of material. To achieve this, the two limit stops (17-18) are arranged symmetrically relative to the area through which the strip of material passes and emerges. These limit stops are located close to the front lower part of the machine and slide relative to its edge. These limit stops are therefore adjusted on the machine depending on the configuration of the various versions.
The solution provided by the invention is extremely practical, inexpensive and very easy to use.
It is applicable to various methods of presenting the strip of pre-cut material, i.e. on a reel or accordion pleaded.
The machine can be made of plastic or of disposable cardboard packaging.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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08 53284 | May 2008 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/FR2009/050876 | 5/13/2009 | WO | 00 | 11/22/2010 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2009/150342 | 12/17/2009 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1334653 | Dwyer | Mar 1920 | A |
1514399 | Steiner | Nov 1924 | A |
2169399 | Steiner | Aug 1939 | A |
2434194 | Broeren et al. | Jan 1948 | A |
2645170 | Reinhold | Jul 1953 | A |
2747547 | Drasher | May 1956 | A |
3974947 | Budny | Aug 1976 | A |
4666072 | McCarter | May 1987 | A |
Entry |
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International Search Report for PCT/FR2009/050876 dated Dec. 1, 2009. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110089213 A1 | Apr 2011 | US |