Patent Application
20060273100
The present invention relates to dispensers for inter-folded napkins. There is disclosed in a preferred embodiment a napkin dispenser having a depth which is shorter than the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the folded napkins.
Inter-folded napkin dispensers are well known in the art. There is shown, for example, a gravity feed dispenser and method of dispensing inter-folded napkins in the United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0062375 of Christensen et al. which shows a high capacity gravity feed dispenser. Such dispensers are particularly useful where a large number of napkins need to be made available at a single location. Likewise, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,129 to Moody et al. a napkin dispenser for inter-folded napkins, a plurality of which dispensers may be placed on tabletops giving consumers multiple access points in a given eating establishment. Napkin dispensers for commercial use have been designed to limit the number of inter-folded napkins dispensed in order to eliminate waste which occurs when more napkins than necessary are withdrawn from the dispenser. The '129 patent, for example, teaches to add a baffle to the dispensing aperture in order to limit digital access to the napkin stack.
Spring-loaded dispenser which are often used in restaurants are somewhat prone to being over-filled such that they do not operate properly and are relatively expensive. These dispensers also may cause unwanted curl to be imparted to the napkins. See United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0019880 of Timmers et al. Further features and general background may be found in the following patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,466 to Petterson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 to Salzmann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,703 to De Luca; U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,158 to Jones et al., as well as U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,136 to Agamaite, Jr.
Despite advances in the art, there exists a need for relatively inexpensive dispensers designed to reliably supply inter-folded napkins in a commercial setting. It has been found in accordance with the present invention that an injection-molded dispenser, with a suitably dimensioned internal cavity, and without moving parts, alleviates drawbacks of existing dispensers.
There is provided in one aspect of the invention a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including a housing with a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall for dispensing a stack of inter-folded napkins each of which napkins has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins, wherein at least one of the sidewalls or back panel is provided with a display window made of a substantially optically clear material suitable for displaying removably mounted promotional material. The display window is suitably made from a thermoplastic resin composition, such as one which consists essentially of a thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of: polyacrylic resins; polycarbonate resins; polystyrene resins; and styrene-acrylic copolymer resins. Suitable specific resins include: poly(methylmethacrylate); bisphenol A containing polycarbonate; polystyrene; and styrene-methyl methacrylate copolymer.
There may be one display window mounted on a sidewall of the dispenser or a display window is mounted on each sidewall of the dispenser. In some cases, the sidewalls of the dispenser are injection-molded from a substantially optically clear material, thereby providing a pair of display windows.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including a housing with a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall for dispensing a stack of inter-folded napkins each of which napkins has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins, wherein at least one of the sidewalls or back panel is provided with a unitary display holder having at least one U-shaped edge formed from a substantially optically clear material. The unitary display holder is made from a thermoplastic resin composition in most embodiments. Here again, the thermoplastic resin composition may consist essentially of a thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of: polyacrylic resins; polycarbonate resins; polystyrene resins; and styrene-acrylic copolymer resins. In some embodiments, the unitary display holder is mounted on each sidewall of the dispenser. One method of construction is wherein the unitary, display holders are thermoformed from a generally planar, substantially optically clear polymeric sheet. The unitary display holder may be made in an overall U-shape or with U-shaped edges at opposed sides of the display window. When U-shaped edges are used, the terminal ends of the “U” preferably extend vertically or laterally less than 30% of the height or width of the holder.
In still yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including a housing with a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall for dispensing a stack of inter-folded napkins each of which napkins has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins, wherein the housing includes a unitary, injection-molded structure made from a substantially optically clear polymeric material comprising at least four walls selected from the front panel, the back panel, the top wall, the bottom wall and the two sidewalls, and wherein further at least two of the four walls of the unitary injection-molded structure are suitable for removably mounting promotional material for display. One construction is wherein the unitary injection-molded structure comprises the two sidewalls of the dispenser. The injection-molded unitary structure is made from a thermoplastic resin composition as noted above, that is, such as one having a styrene-containing resin, a methyl methacrylate containing resin, or a bisphenol containing resin.
Still further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the discussion which follows.
The invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts and wherein:
The invention is described in detail below with reference to the Figures for purposes of illustration only. Modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention, set forth in the appended claims, will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art.
Terminology used herein is given its ordinary meaning; for example, “ABS” resin, “ABS” composition and like terminology refers to acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers and compositions containing such copolymers.
A resin composition “consists essentially of” a particular thermoplastic resin when the composition is over about 75% by weight of that resin. Such terminology does not exclude impact modifiers, mold release agents, lubricants and so forth which do not change the basic and novel characteristics of the product and are routinely added to extrudable plastic compositions.
“Polyacrylic” resins are those polymeric resins prepared from acrylic acid derivatives and related compounds such as methyl methacrylate. Poly(methyl methacrylate) is a suitable optically clear resin for use in connection with the invention. A polyacrylic resin contains at least about 90% acrylate content.
Polycarbonate resins especially useful in practice of the invention are aromatic polycarbonates produced by reacting di-(monohydroxyaryl)alkanes (bisphenols) or dihydroxybenzenes and substituted dihydroxybenzenes with derivatives of carbonic acid such as carbonic acid diesters, phosgene, bis-chlorocarbonic acid esters of di-(monohydroxyaryl)-alkanes and the bis-chlorocarbonic acid esters of the dihydroxy-benzenes and the substituted dihydroxy-benzenes. Examples of suitable bisphenols are: 4,4′-dihydroxy-diphenyl, 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane (bisphenol A; 2,4-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-methylbutane; 1,1-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-cyclohexane; α,α-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-p-diisopropyl-benzene; 2,2-bis-(3-methyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane; 2,2-bis-(3-chloro-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane; bis-(3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-methane; 2,2-bis-(3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane; bis(3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-sulphone; 2,4-bis-(3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-methylbutane; 1,1-bis-(3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-cyclohexane; α,α-bis-(3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-p-diisopropyl-benzene; 2-2-bis-(3,5-dichloro-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane; 2,2-bis-(3,5-dichloro-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane and 2,2-bis-(3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxyphenyl)-propane (tetrabromo bisphenol A).
Polystyrene resins when referred to as such means those resins which contain at least about 90 mole % styrene.
Styrene-acrylic copolymer resins have at least about 90 mole % combined styrene and acrylate content, i.e. 45% each.
“Substantially optically clear material” is substantially transparent to visible light at the thicknesses employed in connection with the present invention; i.e. typically at ⅛″ or less thickness. Examples include commercially available clear grades of poly(methyl methacrylate), polycarbonate and so forth.
Referring to
Front panel 14 has a dispensing slot 28. Slot 28 has a height 30 as well as a width 32.
Front panel 14 is also provided with four mounting posts at 34, 36, 38, and 40, as well as outer edges 42, 44, which are generally orthogonal to the front of panel 14. There is also provided a sub-housing 46.
Sub-housing 46 is a unitary structure, preferably injection-molded, which includes side panels 18 and 20 as well as rear panel 16, a top wall 56 and bottom 24. Side panels 18 and 20 have elongated holes such as hole 48 and L-shaped slots such as slot 50 for receiving the mounting posts 34-40 of front panel 14. There is further provided a recess 52 in each of the side panels for receiving edges 42 and 44 of front panel 14.
A top wall 56 has a plurality of holes 58, 60, 62, and 64 for purposes of assembling the inventive dispenser. The rear panel has a second dispensing slot, 66 which is in space facing relationship with front slot 28.
On bottom panel 24 there is provided another plurality of holes 68, 70, 72 and 74 as well as support ribs 76, 78, and 80.
In order to assemble the inventive dispenser, the various portions thereof are injection-molded, preferably from a substantially amorphous molding resin such as acrylonitrile—butadiene—styrene resin (ABS) resin, polycarbonate or the like. The parts contain assembly features such as holes 58, 60, 62, 64, 68, 70, 72, 74, and so on as well as barbed assembly posts such as posts 82, 84, 86, and 88 on pedestal 26 as well as posts 90, 92, 94, and 96 on top panel 22. The shape of the various barbed assembly posts is perhaps best appreciated from
Note that front panel 14 is also mounted for up and down motion with respect to sub-assembly 46. That is to say the lower posts 34 and 36 are mounted in elongated slots 48 and 49 so that the front panel may be opened in order to provide a stack of napkins to the interior of the dispenser. That is, the dispenser is opened as shown in
When loaded with napkins, the dispenser is thus capable of dispensing napkins through slot 28 of front panel 14 as well as slot 66 of rear panel 16. The slots have height such as height 30 which is substantially equal to a width, W, of a single-fold napkin.
The inventive dispenser is suitably sized such that the depth, D, of the dispenser (i.e., the distance between the front and back walls of the dispenser when closed) is equal or shorter in length than the lead panels (L′) of inter-folded napkins to be dispensed thereby as will be appreciated from the discussion which follows. Likewise, the distance between the sidewalls, 31, is preferably equal to the lead panel folded length, L′, and the interior height 33 is equal to the width of the napkins when a stack is secured in the “portrait” orientation shown in
Referring to
In accordance with the present invention, the stack of napkins has a lead panel folded length, L′, which is longer than the depth, D, of the inventive dispenser. Thus when the napkins are oriented such that a stack is aligned along slot 28, that is to say, the width, W, of the stack is along the height 30 of the dispensing slot 28 each napkin may be drawn there through and bring the tail of the next napkin into proximity with the dispensing aperture. Because the lead panel folded length, L′, is longer than or equal to the depth, D, of the dispenser, the napkins of the stack are never beyond the reach of a consumer. Thus, unlike the prior art which requires more sophisticated geometry, springs and so forth, the present invention simply uses the relative sizes of the dispenser and napkins to make the napkins available. Note that the dispenser accommodates a stack which may be of a height H up to where H is about equal to the depth, D, of the dispenser. In preferred embodiments, the distance between the top and bottom walls will correspond to the width, W, of the stack, allowing for tolerances of both napkin size and the alignment of stacking. Typically, between about ¼″ and ⅜″ of “headroom” will be observable.
Referring to
The dispenser of
One convenient way of forming holders 162, 164 is by thermoforming a generally planar sheet of thermoplastic material around a heated wire or rod as in known in the art. Back panel 170 is then secured to the sidewalls as is shown in
It is seen that back panel 170 is thus adapted to removably support a removable card 174 which is viewed through window panel 166. Card 174 may be used to promote specials at a restaurant, for example, without the need for additional display units on the table.
Panels 166, 170 and transition 168 may be configured such that panel 166 is urged toward panel 170 in order to grip card 174 when it is placed therebetween. Card 174 may thus be made of relatively lightweight 20 lb per 3000 square foot ream) paper or heavier card stock or a laminate if so desired. The promotional material may include text, images and so forth as is known and shown in the various Figures appended hereto.
There are shown in
Referring to
Holder 162A utilizes less thermoplastic sheet than holders 162, 164 and may be made from the same materials. Less material is used because the inner portions of the U-shaped ends extend a vertical distance 190 which is less than 50% of the height 192 of the holder. Preferably, each of the inner or terminal portions of the U-shaped ends extend a distance which is less than 30% of height 192.
Referring to
Referring to
Sub-housing 246 is a unitary structure, preferably injection-molded, which includes side panels 218 and 220 as well as rear panel 216, a top wall (not shown) and bottom 224. Side panels 218 and 220 have elongated holes and L-shaped slots for receiving mounting posts of front panel 214 as discussed in connection with the dispenser of
Front panel 214 may be injection molded from this material if so desired.
Because side panels 218 and 220 are transparent, a promotional card 230 may be removably taped or otherwise removably affixed to an interior wall such as the internal surface of panel 218 as shown for display. Thus, additional structure for holding the promotional card is not required; providing an even more highly cost effective advertising surface.
Still other features of the inventive dispenser are noted briefly below.
In general, there is provided in a first aspect of the invention a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including a housing with a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall for dispensing a stack of inter-folded napkins each of which napkins has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins. Preferably, the back panel of the dispenser has a second elongate dispensing aperture corresponding in size and orientation to the elongate dispensing aperture of the front wall. In one preferred embodiment, the elongate dispensing apertures on the front and rear walls of the dispenser are vertically oriented and another preferred feature is wherein the dispenser consists essentially of the apertured housing and the distance between sidewalls of the housing corresponds to the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the folded napkins and the distance between the top and bottom wall of the housing corresponds to the width, W, of the napkins of the inter-folded napkin stack.
Typically, at least one of the top wall, bottom wall, sidewalls, front panel or back panels is hinged to the housing by way of hinge means such that it pivots between a closed position for dispensing napkins and an open position for reloading. Preferably there is further provided locking means adapted to require movement of the hinged wall or panel along a plane defined thereby in a closed and locked position prior to pivotal motion to its open position. This may be achieved, for example, wherein the hinge means includes two elongate slots and the locking means include two L-shaped slots. A preferred construction is wherein the sidewalls each include an elongate hinge slot and an L-shaped locking slot and the front panel includes two hinge posts for mounting in the elongate hinge slots and two locking posts for engaging with the locking slots, the posts and slots being configured such that the front panel is hinged to the housing when the hinge posts of the front panel are mounted in the elongate hinge slots and is thereby pivotable between a closed position for dispensing inter-folded napkins and an open position for reloading, the locking posts of the front panel and the L-shaped locking slots of the sidewalls are configured such that when the front wall is in a closed and locked position, the locking posts and L-shaped locking slots cooperate to prevent pivotal motion of the front panel and wherein the front panel is movable between a closed and locked position and an unlocked position by movement of the front panel in a plane defined thereby in its closed and locked position, the front panel being movable to the open position from the unlocked position.
Another preferred feature is wherein the front panel has a pair of opposed edge sections generally orthogonal to its front surface adapted to reside in a pair of corresponding recesses in the sidewalls of the dispenser when the dispenser is in a closed position, such that the edge sections are generally flush with the sidewalls of the dispenser. In such cases, the edge sections may be provided with hinge posts adapted to fit with corresponding slots in the sidewalls of the dispenser so as to mount the front panel for pivotal motion with respect to the sidewalls, and wherein the recesses in the sidewalls may have arcuate portions configured to accommodate pivotal motion of the front panel with respect to the sidewalls of the dispenser.
The bottom wall optionally has a plurality of retaining surfaces projecting upwardly therefrom, the retaining surfaces being transverse to a dispensing direction; the retaining surfaces are conveniently defined by a plurality of assembly posts projecting into the interior of the dispenser upwardly a distance of from about 1/16″ to about ¼″ from an interior surface of the bottom wall.
The housing includes a unitary, injection-molded structure in a preferred construction comprising at least four walls selected from the front panel, the back panel, the top wall, the bottom wall and the two sidewalls. The injection-molded structure may be formed from a polymeric composition comprising a resin selected from ABS resins and polycarbonate resins, mixtures thereof. Most preferably all of the parts are made of ABS resin injection molding composition.
Another aspect of the invention is an improved method for dispensing inter-folded napkins, each of which has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, comprising:
withdrawing inter-folded napkins through the dispensing aperture; wherein the stack of inter-folded napkins is a stack of single-fold inter-folded napkins. A preferred size napkin is wherein the lead panels and tail panels each have a folded length, L′, of about 5 inches and a width, W, of about 6.5 inches.
While the invention has been described in connection with several examples, modifications to those examples within the spirit and scope of the invention will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art. In view of the foregoing discussion, relevant knowledge in the art and references discussed above, further description is deemed unnecessary.
This non-provisional application is a continuation-in-part of United States Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/253,476 filed Oct. 19, 2005 entitled “Tabletop Napkin Dispenser”, which application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/621,915 of the same title, filed Oct. 25, 2004. The priorities of the foregoing applications are hereby claimed and their disclosures, in their entirety, are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60621915 | Oct 2004 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11253476 | Oct 2005 | US |
| Child | 11449308 | Jun 2006 | US |
