Patent Application
20070235494
This invention relates to the art of dispensers for rolls of tape and, more particularly, to improvements in connection with the packaging and/or use of such dispensers.
Dispensers for rolls of tape such as cellophane tape, for example, are of course well known. Basically, such a dispenser includes a hub for rotatably supporting a roll of tape to be dispensed and, generally, a wall which circumferentially encompasses a roll of tape on the hub. Such a dispenser includes a tape guide radially spaced from the axis of the hub and which includes a serrated cutting edge for severing a portion of tape from the roll. Most often, the dispenser is made of a plastic material, and the cutting edge is either integral therewith or in the form of a metal blade attached to the tape guide. Often, the tape guide provides a radially narrow surface whereby, following severance of a length of tape from the roll, the trailing edge releases from the tape guide and adheres to the remainder of tape on the roll, requiring a user of the dispenser to separate the end of the tape from the roll and move the end back onto the tape guide in connection with dispensing another piece of tape from the roll. Moreover, it is not uncommon for a user of such tape dispensers to have a plurality of dispensers in a use location such as a desk and, heretofore, such a plurality of dispensers are disassociated with one another in the area of use which can be inconvenient if not annoying to the user. Further, such dispensers heretofore available are generally individually packaged which adds to the expense of purchasing a plurality of the dispensers at a given time. Even if a plurality of such dispensers should be offered in a single package, the orientation of the dispensers relative to one another in the package is not conducive to optimizing the size of the package and, therefore, the cost of such packaging. Still further, regardless of whether one or a plurality of such dispensers are available in a single package, heretofore the dispensers are necessarily structurally separate units which, as mentioned above, are not integrated in an area of use.
In accordance with the present invention, a tape dispenser is provided which minimizes or overcomes the foregoing and other problems and disadvantages associated with tape dispensers heretofore available. In this respect, for example, tape dispensers in accordance with the present invention are structured for an interengaging relationship which promotes compactness and efficiency with respect to the packaging thereof and for a tandem interrelationship therebetween, if desired, in connection with their use in a given work area. More particularly in this respect, the hub of a tape dispenser in accordance with the invention includes a portion extending beyond the confines of a dispenser with respect to a roll of tape thereon for mating interengagement with a hub portion of a second dispenser of like construction, whereby a nested relationship is provided which promotes compactness in connection with packaging of a plurality of dispensers such as by shrink wrapping. Moreover, the interengaging relationship provides for the selective use of two or more dispensers in the interengaged relationship which advantageously maintains the dispensers in a common area of use in a work area such as a desk or the like. Preferably, the structures of the dispensers promotes the joining of two or more dispensers with a desired alignment therebetween, thus promoting efficiency with respect to the combining of two or more dispensers either for packaging and/or use thereof in a tandem relationship.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a radially elongated tape guide surface is provided to promote adherence of the distal end of a tape being dispensed to the guide so as to minimize the undesired displacement of the distal end back onto the tape roll following a dispensing operation. In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the tape guide is provided with inwardly extending recesses along the opposite sides thereof which facilitate engagement of the fingers of a user with the tape to initiate a dispensing operation.
It is accordingly an outstanding object of the present invention to provide improvements in the structure of dispensers for rolls of tape which promote compactness and efficiency in connection with the packaging and use of the tape dispensers.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a tape dispenser of the foregoing character which is structured for a plurality of the dispensers to be releasably interengaged in a manner which promotes compactness of a plurality of the dispensers in connection with the packaging thereof and which, optionally, provides for a plurality of the dispensers to be maintained in a tandem relationship during use.
Still another object is the provision of a tape dispenser of the foregoing character wherein alignment of adjacent dispensers during interengagement therebetween promotes the efficiency of an assembly of a plurality of the dispensers and maintaining such alignment for packaging and/or use purposes.
Yet another object is to provide a dispenser of the foregoing character with an improved tape guide structure which optimizes surface contact with respect to the distal end of tape to be dispensed and which promotes ease of access to the distal end for dispensing the tape from the roll.
The foregoing objects, and others, will in part be obvious and in part pointed out more fully hereinafter in conjunction with the written description of a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention, a tape dispenser 10 in accordance with the invention, as shown in
Tape dispenser 10 has a bottom portion defined by a pair of ribs or feet 32 extending axially of second wall 22 and projecting outwardly therefrom for supporting the dispenser on an underlying surface with axis A parallel to the surface. The second wall of the dispenser provides the dispenser with a front end in the form of a tape guide 34 which is defined in part by a plate portion 36 integral with first wall 18 and extending tangentially of outer edge 20 thereof and a lower plate portion 38 integral with the lower portion of second wall 22 and intersecting plate portion 36 to provide a nose 40 therebetween which provides a serrated cutting edge 41 for tape to be dispensed. Plate portion 36 has radially inner and outer ends 36a and 36b, respectively, and is planar and elongate in the direction between the inner and outer ends to optimize the area thereof for surface contact with tape on the dispenser so as to promote maintaining the end of the tape on the tape guide after a cutting operation. As best seen in
As best seen in
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, and as will be best appreciated from
The ability to align and axially interengage a plurality of tape dispensers in the foregoing manner promotes efficiency with respect to assembling a plurality of dispensers as well as the compactness of the assembly in connection with the packaging thereof. Furthermore, such packaging could be of a plurality of dispensers providing a variety of tapes available to a consumer. Furthermore, a plurality of the dispensers having the same or a variety of tapes can be maintained in assembled relationship and supported on an underlying surface such as a desk for use by the consumer.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the structures and structural interrelationships between component parts of a preferred dispenser, it will be appreciated that other embodiments can be devised and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation and that it is intended to include other embodiments and all modifications of the preferred embodiment insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
