TOILET PAPER SUPPLY MACHINE AND IDENTIFIABLE TOILET PAPER ROLL

Abstract

The present utility model provides a toilet paper supply machine and identifiable toilet paper roll, in which the toilet paper roll supporting base of a supply machine body is provided with a motion sensing device, and two ends of the toilet paper roll each is associated with a cover tube, in which one outer tube portion of one cover tube is provided with a through hole, through which the toilet paper roll is mounted to the supply machine body, such that when the motion sensing device is covered by the outer tube, the motion sensing device can identify the through hole; in addition, a cutting device arranged within the supply machine body is further provided with a stopping device, in the case when the motion sensing device senses that the toilet paper roll is an incorrect one or an unqualified one, the stopping device is started to stop the cutting device, such that the cutting device is stopped from cutting the toilet paper. In this way, the present utility model is able to protect the toilet paper supply machine.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a toilet paper supply machine and an identifiable toilet paper roll, in particular to a toilet paper supply machine that is able to identify whether a correct toilet paper roll is installed into the toilet paper supply machine, and a toilet paper roll that can be identified by the toilet paper supply machine.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

For a currently available toilet paper supply machine, a paper roll is added into the supply machine, where the paper roll may be a roll of toilet paper, a roll of paper towel or the like. A small part of the paper roll is exposed from an opening located in the lower portion of the toilet paper supply machine, such that a user can pull the exposed paper by hand. In this way, when a user pull the exposed paper, a cutting device arranged inside the toilet paper supply machine is activated, accordingly a cutting device located within the paper roll cut through the paper. So, a user can easily tear off a piece of toilet paper. However, concerning the design of the currently available toilet paper supply machine, only when a correct roll of toilet paper is inserted into a toilet paper supply machine, the toilet paper supply machine can operate properly without damage, and thus the toilet paper supply machine can have a long service life. Nevertheless, it is noted that the currently available toilet paper supply machines do not have the necessary technology to automatically identify the inserted paper roll. As a result, in the case that the inserted and unsuitable paper roll, such as the paper roll is in a wrong quality, wrong size, the paper is too thick or the diameter of the roll is too large, and so on, this may cause various issues, such as a paper jam occurs, the cutting device becomes blunt quickly, a part of the machine is damaged, and so on. In light of the foregoing, the present utility model intends to solve the technical problem of enabling a toilet paper supply machine to automatically identify whether a paper roll inserted therein is a correct one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present utility model is to provide, a toilet paper supply machine and an identifiable toilet paper roll. By way of modifying the currently available toilet paper supply machine and toilet paper roll, the present utility model achieves the object of enabling a toilet paper supply machine to identify whether a toilet paper roll inserted therein is a correct one.

In order to achieve the object mentioned above, the present utility model provides a toilet paper supply machine, in which a toilet paper roll can be inserted, and the toilet paper supply machine is able to cut the inserted toilet paper roll to provide a piece of toilet paper. The toilet paper supply machine comprises: a supply machine body, wherein the supply machine body comprises a rear base for wall mounting and a front cover movably pivoted in front of the rear base, and a paper outlet opening which is provided below or in front of the front cover; two integral or assembled paper roll supporting bases provided in front of the rear base, wherein a storage space for storing a toilet paper roll is provided between the two paper roll supporting bases; a cutting device for cutting the toilet paper, wherein the cutting device is arranged in front of the rear base and below the two paper roll supporting bases, and wherein one side of the cutting device is provided with a manual knob rotating synchronously with the cutting device; a motion sensing device, wherein the motion sensing device is arranged on an inner surface of one of the two paper roll supporting bases; and a protruding ring provided in a center of one end of the toilet paper roll, wherein the protruding ring is provided with at least one through hole through which the motion sensing device can sense, wherein the toilet paper roll is placed between the two paper roll supporting bases, and wherein the through hole is adjacent to the motion sensing device to allow the motion sensing device to sense via the through hole.

The toilet paper supply machine described above further comprises two cover tubes, the cover tube comprises an inner tube portion adapted to insert into a paper tube located in the center of the toilet paper roll, and an outer tube portion protruding from one end of the toilet paper roll, wherein the outer tube portion of one cover tube is provided with the through hole form the protruding ring, and the protruding ring covers the motion sensing device.

In the toilet paper supply machine described above, the through hole is a through hole radially penetrating the outer tube, and the outer tube is provided with a plurality of through holes.

In the toilet paper supply machine described above, the motion sensing device is an infrared sensor comprising a transmitter and a receiver.

The toilet paper supply machine described above further comprises a stopping device, wherein the stopping device comprises a motor which is arranged on one side of the cutting device, a reduction gear set which is arranged on one side of the cutting device and driven by the motor, and a hindering element driven by the reduction gear set; and a hindering portion provided on one side of the manual knob, a hindering bar of the hindering element is adapted to stop the hindering portion to stop the cutting device from cutting the paper.

In the toilet paper supply machine described above, the hindering element is a sector gear, and the hindering bar protrudes from one side of the sector gear.

In the toilet paper supply machine described above, the stopping device further comprises a housing, the housing is fixed outside of the paper roll supporting base, the reduction gear set and the hindering element are disposed within the housing, and the hindering bar of the hindering element protrude from the housing.

The toilet paper supply machine described above further comprises a controller, wherein the controller is connected to the infrared sensor and the motor.

The toilet paper supply machine described above further comprises a battery power supply unit, wherein the battery power supply unit is connected to the controller.

In order to achieve the object mentioned above, the present utility model further provides an identifiable toilet paper roll, which comprises: a toilet paper roll which comprises a toilet paper roll which comprises a paper tube and toilet paper wound thereon; and two cover tubes, the two cover tubes each comprises an inner tube portion adapted to insert into the paper tube located in the center of one end of the toilet paper roll, and an outer tube portion protruding from one end of the toilet paper roll, wherein the outer tube portion of one cover tube is provided with a through hole to allow the motion sensing device to sense.

The present utility model provides a toilet paper supply machine and an identifiable toilet paper roll, which have the following advantageous effects:

(I) The toilet paper supply machine provided in the present utility model is able to identify if the inserted toilet paper roll is a suitable one. The motion sensing device provided in the present utility model is able to sense through hole on the protruding ring at one end of the toilet paper roll. Accordingly, in the case when there is no such through hole on the protruding ring or the position of the through hole is incorrect, the motion sensing device can detect it immediately.

(II) The toilet paper supply machine provided in the present utility model is able to stop using an incorrect toilet paper roll, so as to protect cutting blade and other parts and allow them to have a long service life. In the case that the motion sensing device detects that there is no such through hole on the protruding ring or the position of the through hole is incorrect, the information is sent to the controller, and the controller then further controls the motor of the stopping device to make the hindering bar of the hindering element hinders the hindering portion of the manual knob, so as to stop the cutting device from operating. In this way, when a toilet paper roll without the through hole on the protruding ring, the toilet paper will be identified as unqualified one; in such case, the toilet paper supply machine does not operate, thereby protecting the toilet paper supply machine.

(III) The toilet paper supply machine provided in the present utility model has a power supply by itself. The battery power supply unit provided in the present utility model works with an ordinary battery; accordingly it does not need to be connected to a power outlet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a first schematic side view of the toilet paper supply machine provided in the present utility model after it is started.

FIG. 2 is a second schematic side view of the toilet paper supply machine provided in the present utility model after it is started.

FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded view of the identifiable toilet paper roll provided in the present utility model.

FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded view of the stopping device provided in the present utility model.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the toilet paper supply machine provided in the present utility model when it is in normal operation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the stopping device provided in the present utility model when the supply machine is stopped.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The structural features and other functions and objects of the present utility model will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

In reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present utility model provides a toilet paper supply machine and an identifiable toilet paper roll, in which the toilet paper roll 200 can be inserted into the toilet paper supply machine 100, and the toilet paper supply machine is able to cut the toilet paper roll 200 to provide a piece of toilet paper 201. A preferred embodiment of the toilet paper supply machine 100 comprises: a supply machine body 10, wherein the toilet paper roll 200 can be inserted into the supply machine body 10, in a preferred embodiment, the supply machine body has a rear base 11 for wall mounting, the rear base 11 is a molded plastic piece, in addition, a front cover 12 is movably pivoted in front of the rear base 12, the rear base 12 is a molded plastic cover, the lower parts or upper parts of the two side surfaces of the front cover are pivoted on two sides of the rear base 11; moreover, a paper outlet opening 121 is provided below or in front of the front cover 12. The toilet paper supply machine further comprises two paper roll supporting bases 20, 20′, each of the paper roll supporting bases 20, 20′ can be made of a plastic material, specifically, and the supporting bases can be horizontally integrated or assembled in front of the rear base 11. A storage space 21 for storing the toilet paper roll 200 is provided between the two paper roll supporting bases 20, 20′; in addition, two paper roll supporting bases 20, 20′ supports in the centers of the two ends of the toilet paper roll 200.

The toilet paper supply machine has a cutting device 30. The cutting device 30 is arranged in front of the rear base 11 and below the two paper roll supporting bases 20 for cutting the toilet paper roll 201, the cutting device 30 has a roller, a cutting blade and other related structures (not shown), where the roller and the cutting blade are existing technologies in the art. In addition, one side of the cutting device 30 is provided with a manual knob 31 rotating synchronously with the cutting device, the manual knob 31 allows a user to drive the roller and the cutting blade within the cutting device 30 when the user turns the manual knob 31, such that the cutting device 30 is able to provide a piece of toilet paper 201 from the toilet paper roll 200, and then the cutting blade in the cutting device 30 operates to cut the piece of toilet paper 201.

The toilet paper supply machine also has a motion sensing device 40. The motion sensing device 40 can be an infrared sensor comprising a transmitter and a receiver, or other type of motion sensing device; in addition, the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor) is arranged on one inner surface of one of the two paper roll supporting base 20 in a protruding manner. Moreover, a protruding ring 50 is provided in the center at one end of the toilet paper roll 200, wherein the surface of the protruding ring 50 is provided with at least one through hole 51 through which the motion sensing device 40 can sense. The toilet paper roll 200 is placed between the two paper roll supporting bases 20, and the protruding ring 50 covers the motion sensing device 40. In this way, the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor) is able to sense through the through hole 51, so as to identify whether the toilet paper roll 200 is a correct material provided by the supplier.

In reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a preferred embodiment of the protruding ring 50 provided at one end of the toilet paper roll 200 is shown. In this example, the two ends of the toilet paper roll 200 are each provided with a cover tube 52, and the cover tube 52 is a plastic cylinder or a tube in a shape of polygon. Each of the cover tube 52 has an inner tube portion 521 adapted to insert into the paper tube 202 within the toilet paper roll 200, and an outer tube portion 522 protruding from one end of the toilet paper roll 200. In the foregoing structure, the outer tube portion 522 of one cover tube 52 is selected to have the through hole 51, so as to form the protruding structure 50 described above. One preferred example of the through hole 51 is a through hole radially penetrating the outer tube portion 522. More specifically, a plurality of through holes 51 may be provided on the outer tube portion 522. In this way, a sensing light can be emitted by the transmitter of the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor), the sensing light passes through the through hole 51 and then is received by the receiver of the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor), such that a sensing signal is generated. In this way, the toilet paper supply machine according to the present utility model is able to identify the toilet paper roll 200

Further referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, one preferred example of the present utility model further comprises a stopping device 60, which is configured to stop the operation of the cutting device 30 in the case when the toilet paper roll inserted is identified as an incorrect or unqualified one. One preferred example of the stopping device 60 comprises a motor 61 which is arranged on one side or other location of the cutting device 30, a reduction gear set 62 which is arranged on one side of the cutting device and driven by the motor 61, and a hindering element 63 driven by the reduction gear set 62, in which the reduction gear set 62 comprises a plurality of gears engaging with each other. By way of setting the numbers of teeth of these gears, the reduction gear set is able to reduce the driving power to output. In addition, the hindering element 63 is preferred to be a sector gear, and the hindering bar 631 protrudes from one side of the sector gear. Moreover, the stopping device may further comprise a housing 64, the housing 64 is fixed on the outer side or other location of the paper roll supporting base 20, the reduction gear set 62 and the hindering element 63 are disposed within the housing 64, and the hindering bar 631 of the hindering element 63 protrudes from the housing 64. Furthermore, one side of the manual knob 31 of the cutting device 30 is provided with a hindering portion 32, the hindering portion 32 can be a hindering hole 321 radially within the manual knob 31 or a hindering protruding portion. In this way, as shown in FIG. 6, when the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor) senses that the toilet paper roll inserted is an incorrect or unqualified one, the motor 62 is started to drive the reduction gear set 62 and hindering element 63, such that the hindering element 63 turns to make the hindering bar 631 engage with the hindering portion 32 on one side of the manual knob 31. In this way, the operation of the cutting device 30 is stopped, and the device cannot provide toilet paper anymore.

Further in reference to FIG. 2, one preferred embodiment of the present utility model further comprises a controller 70 and a battery power supply unit 80. The controller 70 is connected to the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor) and the motor 61 of the stopping device 60. The battery power supply unit 80 is connected to the controller 70. A dry battery or rechargeable battery can be installed in the battery power supply unit 80. In this way, the battery power supply unit 80 is able to supply power to the motion sensing device 40, the motor 61 and the controller 70 without being connected to a power outlet, and the controller 70 further controls the motion sensing device 40 and the motor 61 to perform the aforementioned operations.

According to the present utility model, as shown in FIG. 2, when in use, the toilet paper supply machine 100 is provided with a toilet paper roll 200 inserted therein. If the toilet paper roll 200 has the through hole 51, the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor) can sense the through hole 51, so as to identify that the toilet paper roll 200 is a qualified one. In this case, the controller 70 does not start the stopping device 60. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, a user can get a piece of toilet paper 201 from the paper outlet opening 121 located at the lower part of the supply machine body 10 (the piece of toilet paper 201 is cut off by the cutting device 30). Alternatively, a user may turn the manual knob 31 located on one side of the machine to rotate the cutting device 30, such that the machine outputs a piece of toilet paper 201, and then the cutting device 30 cuts off the piece of toilet paper 201, which is then taken by the user. On the other hand, in the case that a toilet paper roll 200 without the through hole 51 is loaded to the supply machine body 10, the motion sensing device 40 (infrared sensor) cannot sense the through hole 51, accordingly, the toilet paper roll 200 is identified to be an unqualified one. So, a corresponding signal is sent to the controller 70, the controller 70 then controls the motor 61 of the stopping device 60 to drive the hindering element 63 to rotate, such that the hindering bar 631 engages with the hindering portion 32 located on one side of the manual knob 31. As a result, the cutting device 30 is stopped from further operation. So, no toilet paper is further provided.

In summary, the toilet paper supply machine and identifiable toilet paper roll provided in the present utility model has industrial applicability and involves an inventive step. There is no doubt that the technical means used in the present utility model is novel, and the functions and effects provided are consistent with the objects of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A toilet paper supply machine, in which a toilet paper roll can be inserted, and the toilet paper supply machine is able to cut the inserted toilet paper roll to provide a piece of toilet paper, wherein the toilet paper supply machine comprises: a supply machine body comprising: a rear base for wall mounting;a front cover movably pivoted in front of the rear base;a paper outlet opening is provided below or in front of the front cover;two integral or assembled paper roll supporting bases provided in front of the rear base, wherein a storage space for storing a toilet paper roll is provided between the two paper roll supporting bases;a cutting device for cutting the toilet paper, wherein the cutting device is arranged in front of the rear base and below the two paper roll supporting bases, and wherein one side of the cutting device is provided with a manual knob rotating synchronously with the cutting device;a motion sensing device, wherein the motion sensing device is arranged on an inner surface of one of the two paper roll supporting bases; anda protruding ring provided in a center of one end of the toilet paper roll, wherein the protruding ring is provided with at least one through hole through which the motion sensing device can sense, wherein the toilet paper roll is placed between the two paper roll supporting bases, and wherein the through hole is adjacent to the motion sensing device to allow the motion sensing device to sense via the through hole.

2. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 1, further comprising two cover tubes, each cover tube comprising an inner tube portion adapted to insert into a paper tube located in the center of the toilet paper roll, and an outer tube portion protruding from one end of the toilet paper roll, wherein the outer tube portion of at least one cover tube is provided with the through hole to form the protruding ring, and the protruding ring covers the motion sensing device.

3. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 2, wherein the through hole is a through hole radially penetrating the outer tube, and the outer tube is provided with a plurality of the through holes.

4. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 2, wherein the motion sensing device is an infrared sensor comprising a transmitter and a receiver.

5. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 1, further comprising a stopping device, wherein the stopping device comprises a motor which is arranged on one side of the cutting device, a reduction gear set which is arranged on one side of the cutting device and driven by the motor, and a hindering element driven by the reduction gear set; and a hindering portion provided on one side of the manual knob, a hindering bar of the hindering element is adapted to stop the hindering portion to stop the cutting device from cutting the paper.

6. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 5, wherein the hindering element is a sector gear, and the hindering bar protrudes from one side of the sector gear.

7. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 5, wherein the stopping device further comprises a housing, the housing is fixed outside of the paper roll supporting base, the reduction gear is set and the hindering element are disposed within the housing, and the hindering bar of the hindering element protrude from the housing.

8. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 5, further comprising a controller, wherein the controller is connected to the infrared sensor and the motor.

9. The toilet paper supply machine according to claim 8, further comprising a battery power supply unit, wherein the battery power supply unit is connected to the controller.

10. An identifiable toilet paper roll, comprising: a toilet paper roll which comprises a paper tube and toilet paper wound thereon;