The disclosed embodiments are generally directed to methods and apparatus for dispensing rags, such as reusable rags.
Rags may be used for cleaning, such as for cleaning an interior or exterior of an automobile. Dispensers are used to dispense various paper products, such as paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues.
According to one embodiment, a dispenser for dispensing a plurality of rags is disclosed. The dispenser includes a housing have an opening and a plurality of rags disposed in the housing, below the opening. The plurality of rags are biased in a direction towards the opening of the housing via at least one of a bag and a dispensing plate.
According to another embodiment, a method of assembling a dispenser for dispensing a plurality of rags is disclosed. The method includes ultrasonically cutting a plurality of rags, forming a stack of rags, and inserting the stack of rags into a dispenser having a housing with an opening, the stack of rags being positioned below the opening.
It should be appreciated that the foregoing concepts, and additional concepts discussed below, may be arranged in any suitable combination, as the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.
The foregoing and other aspects, embodiments, and features of the present teachings can be more fully understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:
As is known, rags are used for cleaning, such as for cleaning the exterior or interior surfaces of an automobile. For example, a user may use a rag to dust the interior of the automobile. As will be appreciated, each rag includes a piece of material, such as a piece of cloth, that is cut or torn from a larger piece of material. In some instances, the rag may be reusable. For example, the rag may be washed after being used to clean the exterior of the automobile for use at a later time. The rags also may be disposable.
Typically, rags are purchased by a user in bulk, with the rags being packaged for sale in a plastic bag or in another suitable package, such as in a cardboard sleeve that wraps around a portion of a plurality of rags. For example, a user may purchase 10 rags packaged in a sealed plastic bag. When the user needs a rag, the user rips open the bag or other packaging to obtain a clean rag for use. The remaining rags may be stored in the original packaging, or may be stored in another suitable container, such as in another bag or bin. This is inconvenient and also may lead to lost or dirty rags. For example, if a user forgets where he stored the opened package or storage container of rags, or if the rags or container are accidentally thrown away, new rags will need to be purchased. In another example, if the extra rags are simply stored loose on a work station, the rags may become dirty prior to being used. This also may create a larger mess. For example, if a user's hands become dirty while working and the user has to go searching in drawers or bags for a clean rag, the user may inadvertently soil additional rags and/or the workstation.
Applicant has realized that by packaging rags in a dispenser such that a user may withdraw a single rag from the dispenser while the other rags are maintained in the dispenser for storage and later dispensation, advantages may be achieved. To that end, embodiments disclosed herein include a dispenser having a housing within which a plurality of rags are stored for subsequent dispensing. In some embodiments, the rags are stored in the housing in a stacked arrangement, with a rag at the top of the stack being positioned at an opening at the top if the housing. As will be appreciated, the top rag may be pulled through the opening by the user for dispensing.
Applicant has further realized that advantages may be realized by dispensing rags that are designed to minimize or prevent scratching of a surface to be cleaned. Accordingly, in some embodiments, rags may be formed without edges or hems such that the rag will not scratch a surface to be cleaned. In some embodiments, such hemless or edgeless rags also facilitate removal of the rags from the dispenser. Without wishing to be bound by theory, in embodiments where the rags do not include a hem, less friction may be experienced between adjacent rags when one of the rags is being pulled out of the dispenser.
As will be appreciated, as more and more rags are dispensed from the dispenser, it may become more difficult for the user to have ready access to the rags. In this regard, a dispenser having a low rag count may cause the remaining rags to sit well below an access opening in the dispenser, making it difficult to readily grasp the next available rage for use. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the stack of rags is first placed inside a bag, such as a plastic bag, before being placed into the dispenser housing. Such a bag may assist in dispensing the rags by applying a compressive force to the rags. Such compression may encourage the stack of rags to move upwardly towards the opening in the dispenser when the user pulls a first rage from the dispenser. Such compression also may maintain the remaining rags within the dispenser when the user pulls a rag out of the dispenser.
In other embodiments, the stack of rags may be placed on a dispensing plate that is moveable towards the opening at the top of the dispenser to assist in dispensing the rags from the dispenser. In some embodiments, the dispensing plate may be manually moved in an upward direction. For example, the housing may have one or more tabs that engage with one or more openings in the dispensing plate to advance the dispensing plate in a direction towards the top of the housing. The dispensing plate also may be arranged to automatically move in an upward direction as the rags are dispensed.
Turning now to the figures,
As shown in
In some embodiments, a rag shield 108, such a sheet of plastic, may extend across the opening 104. As will be appreciated, the rag may be pulled through such a shield for dispensation. The shield 108 also may be sized so that a user may insert his or her fingers into the housing to grab a rag that does not extend outwardly beyond the opening (like that shown in
In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, as shown in
Although the shield is shown as having a perforated seam in these views, it will be appreciated that the shield may have other suitable arrangements for dispensing the rag. For example, the slit may be cut in the shield prior to assembling the dispenser. The shield also may have a differently shaped opening, such as an oval-shaped opening, for dispensing the rags.
Although the shield is described as being a plastic sheet, the shield may be formed of other suitable flexible materials.
Although the dispenser is shown as having an opening and corresponding shield in these embodiments, it will be appreciated that the dispenser need not have a shield. For example, the dispenser may include only an opening, such as opening 104, though which the rags may be directly dispensed. In such embodiments, the opening may be the same size or may be smaller than the opening shown in the dispensers in
As shown in
As shown in
As will be appreciated, in dispensers having a single opening in the housing, the dispenser may dispense a single type of rag. For example, the dispenser may include just automotive cleaning rags. The dispenser also may dispense just a household cleaning rag or just a rag designed to clean glasses. In such embodiments, the dispenser may include 5 rags, 10 rags, 25 rags, 50 rags, or more.
In embodiments in which the housing has two openings, the dispenser may be arranged to dispense more than one type of rag. For example, a first opening may dispense a rag for household cleaning while a second opening may dispense a rag for cleaning glassware or silverware. As will be appreciated, the rags may include different colors or patterns to alert a user to the different types of rags being dispensed by the dispenser(s). The housing also may include one or more labels adjacent to the respective opening, each label listing the type of rag being dispensed from the opening.
As will be appreciated, the dispenser may dispense other types of rags. For example, rags also may be dispensed for cleaning a garage or bathroom, or for cleaning a restaurant (e.g., a counter of a bar). Other suitable types of rags also may be dispensable. As will be appreciated, each type of rag may be formed of a different color. Each type of rag also may include different properties, corresponding to the particular surface that is to be cleaned.
In some embodiments, the rags may include a microfiber material. In some embodiments, the microfiber material may be polyester. The microfiber also may be a combination of polyester and polyamide. The microfiber may be formed with varying thicknesses, depending upon the type of surface being cleaned. For example, the microfiber material may between 150 and 300 GSM. As will be appreciated, other suitable materials also may be used for cleaning surfaces.
Turning now to
As shown in this view, a stack 113 of rags 112 may be stored in the housing and positioned below the opening in the top of the housing. For purposes herein, being stacked means that a first rag is placed on top of and is vertically aligned with a second, adjacent rag. As will be described, the stack of rags may be formed by folding a first rag over a portion of the second rag. As will be appreciated, the rags need not be perfectly vertically aligned to be stacked in these embodiments. For example, a rag may be offset slightly from a second, adjacent rag while still being stacked on top of one another.
Although the dispenser is shown has having 17 stacked rags in this embodiment, it will be appreciated that the dispenser may include more or fewer rags. For example, the dispenser may have only 10 rags or may have as many as 50 or even 100 rags.
As also shown in
As will be appreciated, the bag 114 may be sealed in any suitable manner, such as by folding over and securing the edges of the bag to the body of the bag. Other suitable binding methods also may be used to seal the edges of the bag. In some embodiments, the bag extends around the entire stack of the rags. In some embodiments, as shown in this view, the bag 114 includes and opening at the top of the bag (at the top of the stack) for dispensing the rags. In such embodiments, the opening may include a slit (e.g., formed via a perforated seam), similar to that formed in the shield.
As will be appreciated, the opening in the bag may be aligned with the opening in the shield such that a user may insert his or her finger into the dispenser to reach and grab a rag, when needed. As will be further appreciated, the shape and size of the opening in the bag need not be the same as the opening formed in the shield. For example, a slit in the shield may be longer than a slit in the bag. The openings also may be the same in each.
Although
As also shown in these views, the dispenser 100 may include a dispensing plate 114 onto which the stacked rags are placed in the housing. As shown in
As will be appreciated, the dispenser may include any suitable mechanism for moving the dispensing plate relative to the housing and for holding the plate at one or more positions in the housing. In some embodiments, as shown in
For purposes herein, being moved relative to the housing may mean that the dispensing plate is moved in a direction towards the top of the housing (see direction arrow B), between different vertical heights. As will be appreciated, the vertical height includes a distance between the bottom of the housing and the position of the dispensing plate. In such embodiments, the dispensing plate may extend substantially parallel to a top and bottom of the housing and substantially perpendicular to the sides of the housing. As will be appreciated, the plate also may be angled slightly (e.g., less than about 5 degrees) as the dispensing plate is moved relative to the housing. The plate also may remain slightly angled while being held at one of the first, second and third positions.
In some embodiments, as shown in
As will be appreciated, the tabs and openings may have any suitable shape and size. For example, the tabs also may be rectangular, circular, square, another polygonal shape or another shape. The tabs also may be longer or shorter than those shown in
Although the dispensing plate is shown as having a plurality of openings that engage with tabs formed on the bottom of the housing, it will be appreciated that the openings may be formed on the bottom of the housing and the tabs may be formed on the dispensing plate. In such an embodiment, the tabs may be biased in a downward direction so that as the rags are dispensed, the dispensing plate may move upwardly and the tabs on the plate may engage with the openings on the housing.
In some embodiments, the tabs may be formed by creating perforations on the bottom of the dispenser. In such embodiments, the perforations may intersect at firs tide of the tab. During use, the user may press inwardly on the tabs 116a, 116b (e.g., towards an interior of the housing) to separate at least a portion of the tab from the dispenser housing and to extend the tab portion in a direction towards the top of the dispenser. In this extended position, the tab may engage with one of the openings on the dispensing plate. For example, a portion of the tab may move into a first opening, which may hold the dispensing plate at the first position relative to the dispenser housing. Without wishing to be bound by theory, in the extended position, the tab may be angled relative to the bottom of the housing, with the tab applying an upward force to hold the dispensing plate in place.
As will be appreciated in light of
As will be appreciated, as the tab is pressed further into the housing (see arrow C), a length of each tab extending into the housing may be increased. For example, as shown in
Although the dispensing plate is shown as having only three openings that engage with each tab (a total of 6 openings), it will be appreciated that the dispensing plate may have more or fewer openings in other embodiments. For example, the dispensing plate may have 8 or 10 or more openings, such that each tab may engage with 4 or 5 openings. The dispensing plate also may have fewer than 6 openings. For example, each tab may engage with only two openings and be moveable between only first and second positions.
As will be appreciated, although two tabs are shown on the bottom of the dispenser housing for engagement with the dispensing plate, in other embodiments, the dispenser may include more or fewer tabs. For example, the bottom of the housing may have one tab, that engages with respective openings on the dispensing plate. The bottom of the housing also may have three tabs in other embodiments.
According to another embodiment, a method of preparing a rag dispenser is disclosed. In some embodiments, the method includes forming a rag having a desire shape. In some embodiments, the rag is formed by cutting a piece of material to the desired rag shape. For example, as shown in
Next, the method may include ultrasonically sealing the four edges of the rag. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic seal may formed by ultrasonically cutting the rag, such as ultrasonically cutting the four sides of the rag shown in
The method also includes forming a stack 113 of rags 112, like that shown in
In other embodiments, the method includes inserting a dispensing plate into the housing and placing the stack of rags on the dispensing plate in the housing. In such embodiments, the dispensing plate may include a plurality of openings. In such embodiments, the housing may include one or more tabs on a bottom surface to engage with the plate.
In some embodiments, a rag shield may be place in and attached to the top of the dispenser. In such embodiments, the shield may be attached prior to inserting the rags.
As will be appreciated, although the stack of rags is described as being formed prior to inserting the stack into the dispenser housing, in other embodiments, the rags may be stacked in the housing.
In some embodiments, as shown in
According to another embodiment, a method of dispensing a rag from a dispenser is disclosed. As shown in
Although methods have been shown and described in which a single rag is dispensed from the housing at a time, it will be appreciated that a user may pull more than one rag out of the dispenser at a time. For example, if the user exerts excessive force when pulling on the rag, it may be possible to pull two rags out of the housing at the same time. As another example, two rags may become stuck to one another in the housing and may be removed at the same time.
Although embodiments have been shown and described in which the dispenser includes only a bag or only a dispensing plate to bias the rags towards the opening, it will be appreciated that the dispenser may include both a dispensing plate and a bag in some embodiments.
While the present teachings have been described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments or examples. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.
Various aspects of the present invention may be used alone, in combination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically discussed in the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings. For example, aspects described in one embodiment may be combined in any manner with aspects described in other embodiments.
Also, the invention may be embodied as a method, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.
Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.
Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including”, “comprising”, “having”, “containing,” or “involving,” and variations thereof herein, are meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional item.
This Application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/467,043, entitled “RAG DISPENSER” and filed on Mar. 3, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62467043 | Mar 2017 | US |