Wipes dispenser with a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture

Abstract

Provided is a wipes dispenser including a dispenser having a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture, a pouch containing an interleaved stack of wipes or a rolled perforated web of wipes contained within the dispenser and accessed through the dispensing aperture, and a mounting element for mounting the dispenser to a mounting surface. The wipes dispenser may further include a pivotable dispensing lid that closes against the refill door and seal the dispensing aperture to protect the wipes from the outside environment when the wipes dispenser is not in use.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wipes dispensers, and, more particularly, to an improved wipes dispenser that includes a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture through which a front wipe of a stack or roll of wipes, disposed within the dispenser, may be easily grasped by a user.

2. Description of the Related Art

Dry, wet or partially wetted cleaning wipes are known in the art. Other similar sheet-like substrates such as towels, sponges, pads, napkins, diapers etc are also known in the art. Such items have been packaged in a number of different ways.

For example cleaning wipes, tissues, napkins, etc. were often packaged in a standard dispenser box, sometimes with a removable or hinged lid. Such packaging, however, presented the problem of locating, grasping and removing the first or front wipe or other substrate from a relatively small, narrow dispensing aperture at the front of the dispenser package through which the wipes were typically dispensed.

Attempts were made in the prior art to address this problem by stacking individual wipes or other substrates horizontally, interweaving each of the substrates with the preceding and subsequent substrate, sometimes referred to as interleaving the wipes. For example, containers or dispensers for wet wipes have been available wherein each of the wet wipes stacked in the container was arranged in a folded configuration such as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. A web of perforated wipes, formed as a roll and separated at the dispensing aperture when needed, has also been used to address this problem.

In use, a stack of interleaved wipes was disposed within the interior of the dispenser. The leading edge of the front wipe was next pre-threaded through the narrow dispensing aperture. The leading edge of the front wipe was thereby exposed to the exterior of the dispenser through the dispensing aperture. The wipes were folded in such a way that the trailing edge surface of each wipe was interleaved with the leading edge surface of its next adjacent wipe in the stack. When, by application of an extraction force in a dispensing action by a user, the front wipe was pulled by its exposed leading edge away from the dispensing aperture, frictional interleaving forces at the interleaved surfaces caused the next wipe, adjacent to and interleaved with the front wipe in the stack, to drag along with the front wipe through the dispensing aperture.

When the leading edge of the next wipe was exposed to the exterior of the dispenser, the front wipe and the next wipe unfolded and thus separated. The extraction force supplied by the user overcame the frictional interleaving force at the interleaved wipe surfaces and the frictional aperture force of the wipe passing through the restricting narrow dispensing aperture. By stacking the substrates or by using a perforated roll of wipes, when the user removed a substrate, the next substrate was made to “pop-up” for easy grasping the next time a wipe was needed. Thus, the lead edge of the next wipe remained exposed or “popped-up” to the exterior of the dispenser after the front wipe was extracted from the dispenser by the user. The dispensing action was repeated on the next wipe, which was then at the front of the stack of wipes.

Typically, in the prior art, in a pop-up dispensing system, wipes were dispensed through a narrow slit-like dispensing aperture. A dispensing aperture so configured provided a frictional dispensing aperture force, which opposed the extraction force supplied by the user to extract a wipe, as the wipes surfaces frictionally engaged the slit edges of the prior art dispensing aperture.

However, these prior art “pop-up” dispensing systems could only be successfully used when the substrate was sufficiently flexible to clear the restricting narrow dispensing aperture and where the dispensing aperture offered sufficient resistance to avoid “roping” of the interleaved wipes or perforated wipes. If the dispensing aperture did not sufficiently resist the extraction of a wipe, the interleaving of the wipes caused multiple wipes to be dispensed, i.e. the wipes “roped”. Further, if the dispensing aperture offered insufficient resistance, the exposed lead edge of the front wipe could fall back into the interior of the dispenser through the dispensing aperture. Roping and fall-back in a rolled web of perforated wipes was also likely when insufficient frictional dispensing aperture force at the dispensing aperture allowed multiple wipes to dispense without singulation by separation of the wipes at the wipes perforations. On the other hand, if the dispenser offered excessive resisting dispensing aperture force, the exposed leading edge of the next wipe to be dispensed could fail to pop-up, thereby necessitating re-threading of the leading edge of the front wipe through the dispensing aperture.

As noted, in the prior art, dispensing aperture force was achieved by configuring the dispensing aperture as a narrow slit. The top and bottom edges of the narrow slit-type aperture contacted and frictionally engaged respective top and bottom surfaces of the wipes during dispensing, thus providing a frictional resistance to the wipe as it was dispensed.

Wide-mouthed dispensing apertures have not been attempted on pop-up wipes since they provided insufficient dispensing aperture force to avoid wipe roping. With wide-mouthed dispensing apertures, the top and bottom surface of the wipe may not contact the respective top and bottom edges of the dispensing aperture during dispensing. Thus, dispensing aperture force did not overcome the interleaving force between wipes in the stack of interleaved wipes and roping resulted. Still further, a wide mouth dispensing aperture lead to faster moisture loss from moist wipes than a narrow slit-type dispensing aperture.

However, with a narrow slit-type dispensing aperture, a user could not easily grasp the front wipe to extract it through the narrow dispensing aperture. Typically, with a narrow slit-type dispensing aperture, a user needed to pre-thread the front wipe from the back of the dispensing aperture to the front outside surface of the dispenser. In addition, if the wipes were insufficiently flexible, the wipes bunched and knotted when extracted through the narrow slit-type dispensing aperture. Finally, the narrow slit-type dispensing aperture of prior art dispensers tended to act as a strainer that squeezed off non-negligible amounts of fluid from pre-moistened wipes as they passed through the narrow dispensing aperture. To compensate for this, more cleaning solution was needed to impregnate the wipe material.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved structures and processes for the dispensing of wipes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a wipes dispenser having a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture is provided. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser includes a dispenser that defines an interior pouch space configured to receive a pouch containing a stack or perforated web of wipes. In one embodiment, the stack or web of wipes is directly disposed within the interior space and the pouch containing the wipes is eliminated.

With the present invention, there is no need to first separately pre-thread the front wipe through the dispensing aperture before dispensing. The wipes dispenser provides for easy pop-up dispensing of wipes, without wipes “roping”, i.e. unintended dispensing of multiple wipes, or “fall-back”, i.e., failure of the next wipe to pop-up or return of an exposed portion of a wipe to the space within the dispenser behind the dispensing aperture. Further, the wipes dispenser of the present invention aids in mininizing gathering, knotting and bunching of the wipes, sometimes referred to as roving of the wipes, during dispensing. Further still, the wipes dispenser of the present invention aids in minimizing drying of wet wipes during dispensing through moisture squeeze-out.

In one embodiment, provided is a wipes dispenser comprising a base, and a refill door coupled to the base. The refill door defines a dispensing aperture therethrough. The dispensing aperture comprises a center lobe through which a user may readily grasp a front wipe from the stack or web of wipes disposed within the dispenser. The dispensing aperture further comprises at least one side lobe in communication with the center lobe at a side edge of the center lobe. The refill door further defines at least one top gripper projecting from a top edge of the dispensing aperture and at least one corresponding bottom gripper projecting from a bottom edge of the dispensing aperture opposite the top gripper. The top gripper and the corresponding bottom gripper cooperate to define a gap through which the wipes pass when extracted from the wipes dispenser by a user. When extracted, the wipes abuttingly contact and frictionally engage the top and bottom grippers, which exert a gap force opposing the extraction force exerted by a user when extracting a wipe from the dispenser.

In one embodiment the base of the wipes dispenser has a base outside surface that is coupled to a mounting element attached to a mounting surface. Alternatively, the wipes dispenser is permanently attached directly to the mounting surface with conventional fasteners such as screws or permanent high tack adhesives. The mounting element, and thus the wipes dispenser, is attachable in a variety of orientations and to a variety of fixed mounting surfaces, such as, for example, a wall, the door or bottom surface of a cabinet, a mirror surface, the under-counter surface of a counter top, etc. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser is releasably mounted to a surface by means of stretch release adhesive tape. The stretch release adhesive tape may have a range of dimensions as well as a range of adhesive formulations.

The dispenser may be attached to a variety surfaces, such as, for example, painted surfaces, tile, finished wood, particleboard, etc. The present invention is sufficiently flexible to fit in a variety of environments, including high humidity environments, such as bathrooms or near kitchen sinks, or environments subject to low temperatures, such as garages and outdoor work/tool sheds.

In one embodiment, the dispenser includes a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture that is oriented substantially parallel to the attachment surface of the dispenser, and which is configured to provide easy and reliable pop-up dispensing of single wipes from a stack of wipes contained in the dispenser. The dispensing aperture may be covered by a dispensing lid that pivots opens for easy access through the dispensing aperture to the interior of the dispenser.

In one embodiment, a pop-up stack of wipes, which is typically packaged in a flexible pouch, is placed within a pouch space at the inside of the dispenser. The pouch includes a pouch aperture through the front of the wipes pouch to the stack of wipes. A removable adhesive label covers the dispensing aperture to prevent contamination of the wipes prior to use and to prevent dryout of wet wipes. In other embodiments, wipes can be provided on a roll, where the wipes are connected consecutively in a perforated web. Wipes, either stacked or rolled, may also be disposed directly within the interior of the dispenser without the use of a pouch.

In use, in one embodiment, the pouch of wipes is inserted into the interior pouch space of the dispenser via the refill door that pivots open from the base of the dispenser. In one embodiment, the refill door is configured with a refill door holder that limits the extent to which the refill door can open. The refill door holder allows a user to place the pouch into the container using only one human hand, i.e., there is no need to hold the front face of the door open while placing the pouch into the dispenser.

A variety of wipe substrates and wet formulations can be used with the dispenser. Wipes may be of a variety of dimensions, substrate densities, folded stack dimensions, wipe-stack counts or stack weights. The dispenser may be used with dry, wet or partially wetted wipes.

Thus, by the present invention, a user may conveniently place, load, and extract wipes wherever and whenever generally needed or useful. Further, the wipes dispenser may be releasably mounted such that wipes may be dispensed from any direction and from a variety of orientations chosen by the user. Finally, the wipes dispenser system may be easily removed or relocated when desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and others will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan from the following description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a wipes dispenser having a dispensing lid shown in a closed position;

FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipes dispenser shown in FIG. 1A, but with the dispensing lid shown in an open position to expose a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipes dispenser shown in FIG. 1A, in which a refill door is shown in an open position to expose a wipes pouch;

FIG. 1D shows the wipes dispenser shown in FIG. 1C, with the refill door and dispensing lid removed for a more complete view of the wipes pouch;

FIG. 1E shows a perspective view of the refill door taken toward a refill door inside surface of the refill door opposite the refill door outside surface shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 shows a close-up view of the portion of FIG. 1B circled in dotted line, showing a corresponding top gripper and bottom gripper set of the wipes dispenser; and

FIGS. 3A-3D show a series of schematic edge outlines of alternative dispensing apertures in accordance with the present invention.

Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, in one embodiment, provided is a wipes dispenser having a wide-mouthed wipes dispensing aperture configuration. The wipes dispenser provides for convenient and easy dispensing of wipes in a variety of environments and in various orientations of the wipes dispenser.

In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser of the present invention includes a base and a refill door pivotably or releasably coupled to the base. When the refill door is placed in a closed position relative to the base, a pouch space is defined by the inside surfaces of the base and the refill door.

In one embodiment, a wipes dispenser of the present invention further includes a replaceable pouch, which contains a stack of singulated, folded, interleaved wipes or a laterally perforated web of wipes. In use, the refill door of the dispenser is placed in an open position relative to the base. The pouch is placed between the base and the refill door. When the refill door is next placed in a closed position relative to the base, the pouch, and the web or stack of webs contained therein, is disposed within the pouch space. When the pouch is disposed within the pouch space of the dispenser, a wide-mouthed pouch aperture through the front surface of the pouch aligns with a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture through the front outside surface of the refill door.

Thus, wipes are readily accessible to a user. The dispensing and pouch apertures are wide enough to allow grasping of the front wipe through the dispensing aperture and pouch aperture. After the front wipe is withdrawn from the dispenser, the leading edge of subsequent wipes is exposed through the dispensing aperture by “pop-up” action.

When it is desired to first access wipes in the pouch or the stack or web of wipes disposed directly within the interior pouch space of the dispenser, the dispensing lid is released and positioned open relative to the refill door, thereby making wipes in the pouch directly accessible through the wide-mouthed dispensing and pouch apertures without first pre-threading the front wipe through the dispenser and pouch apertures. It is envisioned that any means of pivotally or otherwise releasably coupling dispensing lid 108 to refill door 102, such as a living hinge or pin-in hole hinge, may be used in the present invention.

When all the wipes in the pouch have been removed, the refill door is placed in an open position and the empty pouch removed from the dispenser. A new pouch is placed in the pouch space between the base and the refill door and the refill door is again positioned closed, thereby disposing the new pouch within the pouch space.

In one embodiment, a dispensing lid pivotably coupled to the refill door is placed in a closed position relative to the refill door to seal the dispensing aperture when the wipes dispenser is not in use. In one embodiment the wipes dispenser is mounted to a fixed surface such as, for example, painted surface, tile, finished wood, particleboard, etc. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser is releasably mounted to the fixed surface with, for example, stretch release adhesive tape or double-sided foam tape. In other embodiments, the wipes dispenser system is more permanently mounted with, for example, permanent high tack adhesives, screws, permanently attached brackets, and the like.

More particularly, FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a wipes dispenser 10 having a dispensing lid 108 shown in a closed position. Dispenser 10 includes a base 100. In one embodiment, a refill door 102 is pivotably coupled to base 100. It is envisioned that any means of pivotally coupling refill door 102 to base 100, such as a living hinge or pin-in hole hinge, may be used in the present invention.

Refill door 102 may be placed and releasably locked in a closed position relative to base 100, or refill door 102 may be released from the locked, closed position and placed in an open position relative to base 100, as shown in FIG. 1C. Any manner of releasable fitment or fastening element, well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, may be used to releasably lock refill door 102 with base 100. When refill door 102 is placed in a closed position, a refill door inside surface 140 (FIG. 1E) of refill door 102 and a base inside surface 133 (FIG. 1C) of base 100 define a pouch space between refill door 102 and base 100 at the interior of wipes dispenser 10.

As shown in FIG. 1A, dispenser 10 further includes a dispensing lid 108 having a dispensing lid outside surface 110 and a dispensing lid inside surface 122 (FIG. 1B). In this embodiment, dispensing lid 108 is pivotably coupled to a refill door outside surface 112 of refill door 102, such that, dispensing lid 108 may be placed and releasably locked in a closed position relative to refill door 102. Alternatively, dispensing lid 108 may be released from the locked closed position and placed in an open position relative to refill door 102 (FIG. 1B). It is envisioned that any means of pivotally coupling dispensing lid 108 to refill door 102, such as a living hinge or pin-in hole hinge, may be used in accordance with the present invention. In another embodiment, dispensing lid 108 is releasable coupled to refill door 102 and may be completely removed by a user.

FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the wipes dispenser 10 shown in FIG. 1A, but with dispensing lid 108 pivoted in an open position to expose a wide-mouthed dispensing aperture 114 in accordance with the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1B, refill door 102 defines dispensing aperture 114 through refill door 102 from refill door inside surface 140 (FIG. 1E) to refill door outside surface 112. Dispensing aperture 114 comprises a generally ovoid shaped center lobe 116C and one or more generally ovoid shaped side lobes in communication with center lobe 116C. In one embodiment, at a first side of center lobe 116C is a left, i.e., first, side lobe 116L in communication with center lobe 116C. At a second opposite side of center lobe 116C, is a right, i.e., second side lobe 116R in communication with center lobe 116C. In this embodiment, dispensing aperture 114 is advantageously configured as a wide-mouthed opening through dispensing door 102 such that a user may readily grasp the front wipe (not shown) closest dispensing aperture 114 from a stack or web of wipes (not shown) contained in a wipes pouch 130 (FIG. 1C). It is not necessary to first pre-thread the front wipe through dispensing aperture 114. The overall contour of dispensing aperture 114 presents numerous contact points that will readily frictionally engage and grip the surface the wipe as a user extracts the wipe from dispenser 10.

The shape and size of the dispensing aperture 114 is configured such that a user may readily grasp the front wipe adjacent dispensing aperture 114 from the stack of wipes in wipes pouch 130 without the need to separately pre-thread the front wipe through dispensing aperture 114. As described more fully below, in one embodiment the over-all dispensing aperture length L of dispensing aperture 114 is about one half the width of the wipes contained in wipes pouch 130.

The front wipe of the stack of wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 is grasped through dispensing aperture 114 or, more particularly, through center lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114. As the front wipe is extracted, the left edge portion of the front wipe is dragged through left lobe 116L and passes through a left gap 270L. Likewise, as the front wipe is extracted, the right edge portion of the front wipe is dragged through right lobe 116R and passes through a right gap 270R. As the left and right portions of the front wipe are drawn through left and right lobes 116L and 116R, respectively, roving of the front wipe is ameliorated. The left and right side portion of wipes are not forced through the narrow slit-type dispensing aperture opening of the prior art that caused bunching and knotting of the wipes.

In one embodiment, the dispensing aperture width W is about 2.0 inches, measured from the top edge to the bottom edge of dispensing aperture 114. The dispensing aperture length L is about 3.5 inches, measured from the left side edge to the right side edge of dispensing aperture 114. Dispensing aperture 114 is configured such that, when grasping a wipe for the first time, center lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114 is wide enough to let through most sizes of a human index finger and thumb to grasp the wipe from the stack or roll of wipes disposed within the pouch space of wipes dispenser 10. Conveniently, when mounted to fixed surface S (FIG. 1A), wipes may be extracted from wipes dispenser 10 with one human hand without the need to handle wipes pouch 130 with both hands—one to hold wipes pouch 130 and one to extract a wipe from wipes pouch 130. In one embodiment, the wipes dispenser 10 is releasably mounted to fixed surface S with, for example, a stretch release adhesive tape 146 or double-sided foam tape. In other embodiments, wipes dispenser 10 is permanently mounted to fixed surface S with, for example, permanent high tack adhesives, screws, permanently attached brackets, and the like.

A variety of dispensing aperture dimensions is possible, so long as the dispensing aperture 114 satisfies the requirement of allowing grasping of wipes through dispensing aperture 114, or more particularly in the embodiment shown in the figures, through center lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114, without the need to pre-thread the front wipe through dispensing aperture 114. Dispensing aperture sizes may range from, for example, 0.75 inches by 4.5 inches to 2.5 inches by 3.0 inches (dispensing aperture width W by dispensing aperture length L).

Alternatively, the dispensing aperture size can vary according to the wipes stack footprint that is formed, such that the dispensing aperture size is in relation to the wipe stack footprint. For example, with a folded wipes stack length of 7.0 inches, dispensing aperture length L of dispensing aperture 114 is set at 3.5 inches, one half the length of a folded wipe in the wipes stack. Similarly, with a folded stack width of 4.0 inches, dispensing aperture width W of dispensing aperture 114 is set at 2.0 inches, one half the width of a folded wipe in the wipes stack. For a wipe of about 18 mils thickness, the ratio of dispensing aperture length L to folded wipe length of about one half is adventageous in avoiding wipes bunching. However, the dimensions and configuration of dispensing aperture depends on the thickness, size, and other parameters of the wipes, such as, material of construction, frictional properties, elasticity, and nature of any wetting compound on the wipes.

In one embodiment, refill door 102 defines a pair of appendages, sometimes called top, e.g., first, grippers 118T, projecting inward from the top edge of dispensing aperture 114 toward its center. The directional terms “lower” and “upper”, “left” and “right”, “up”, “down”, and the like are used herein for ease of description in conjunction with the drawings. These terms are not meant to indicate that the structural components of the present invention must have a specific orientation except when specifically set forth below.

Refill door 102 further defines another pair of appendages, sometimes called bottom, e.g., second, grippers 118B. Each bottom gripper 118B projects inward from the lower edge of dispensing aperture 114 toward its center. Each bottom gripper 118B is opposite a corresponding one of the pair of top grippers 118T. As described more fully below with reference to FIG. 2, each corresponding set of top grippers 118T and bottom grippers 118B cooperate to define left and right gaps 270L and 270R through which, respectively, left and right portions of the wipes pass when extracted from wipes dispenser 10.

In other embodiments, dispensing aperture 114 may have shapes other than the three-lobe shaped configuration shown in FIG. 1B. For example, refill door 102 may define a two-lobed dispensing aperture 114 with an oval, ovoid, round, rectangular or square shaped center lobe and only one side lobe in communication with the center lobe. Other configurations of dispensing aperture 114 will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG. 1C shows a perspective view of the embodiment of wipes dispenser 10 shown in FIG. 1A, in which refill door 102 is shown in an open position to expose wipes pouch 130. In one embodiment, refill door 102 is pivotable relative to base 100 by means of a living hinge (not shown), well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, thus allowing base 100 and refill door 102 to be integrally formed in one piece. In another embodiment, refill door 102 is pivotable relative to base 100 by any hinged means, such that refill door 102 and base 100 are formed in two or more pieces and joined along the hinge means. In another embodiment refill door 102 is releasably coupled to base 100 by any manner of releasable fitment or fastening elements well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Dispenser 10, and more particularly refill door 102, base 100, a dispensing lid 108 may be formed, integrally or separately, from a variety of materials, such as, for example, polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and other engineered plastics, and may be formed with a variety of fabrication technologies, such as, for example, injection molding. The other components of dispenser 10 may be similarly formed.

In use, refill door 102 of dispenser 10 is opened and wipes pouch 130, containing a web or stack of wipes (not shown), is positioned between refill door inner surface 140 (FIG. 1E) of the refill door 102 and base inner surface 133 (FIG. 1D) of base 100. When refill door 102 is next placed in a closed relationship with base 100, wipes pouch 130 is disposed within a pouch space defined by the interior surfaces of base 100 and refill door 102. In another embodiment, wipes may be disposed directly within the interior of dispenser 10 without first being contained in wipes pouch 130. A variety of wipe substrates and wet formulations can be used with wipes dispenser 10. Wipes having a variety of wipe dimensions, substrate densities, folded stack dimensions, wipe-stack counts, stack weights are suitable for use with wipes dispenser 10.

FIG. 1D shows wipes dispenser 10 shown in FIG. 1C with refill door 102 and dispensing lid 108 removed for a more complete view of wipes pouch 130. FIG. 1E shows a perspective view of refill door 102 taken toward a refill door inside surface 140 of refill door 102. Referring to FIGS. 1D And 1E together, wipes pouch 130 defines a pouch aperture 134 at the front of wipes pouch 130, through which wipes are removed. In one embodiment, pouch aperture 134 is advantageously configured such that a user may readily grasp the front wipe from the web or stack of wipes (not shown) contained in wipes pouch 130 without the need to thread wipes through pouch aperture 134. A removable adhesive label (not shown) may cover pouch aperture 134 to prevent contamination of the wipes prior to use and to prevent dryout of wet or partially wetted wipes. In this embodiment, the adhesive label is removed before placement of wipes pouch 130 between refill door 102 and base 100.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up view of the portion of FIG. 1B circled in dotted line as 2′, showing a corresponding top gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B set. Referring to FIGS. 1B and 2 together, corresponding opposing top gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B define a gap 270. The width of gap 270 is slightly larger than the thickness of the wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 to allow passage of wipes through gap 270.

After wipes pouch 130 is placed in the pouch space at the interior of wipes dispenser 10 as described above, the front wipe of the stack of interleaved wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 is grasped by a user through center lobe 116C of dispensing aperture 114 and through pouch aperture 134 (FIG. 1D) of wipes pouch 130. By application of an extraction force directed away from dispensing aperture 114 on the grasped front wipe, a user commences extraction of the front wipe from wipes pouch 130. During extraction, the front wipe a side portion of the wipe easily threads through gap 270 and contacts edges of one or both of top gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B. As the wipe is further extracted through pouch aperture 134, dispensing aperture 114, and through gap 270 in contact with the edges of top gripper 118T and corresponding bottom gripper 118B, frictional forces opposing the user supplied extraction force are generated.

In one embodiment, the extraction force overcomes the aggreagate of a resisting pouch aperture force generated as a wipe is extracted in contact with the side edges of pouch aperture 134, a resisting dispensing aperture force generated as a wipe is extracted in contact with the edges of dispensing aperture 114, and a resisting gap force generated as a wipe is extracted in contact with the edges of top and bottom grippers 118T and 118B. Further, for interleaved wipes, the extraction force supplied by the user to the front wipe must also be sufficient to overcome the interleaving forces between wipes in the interleaved stack of wipes contained in wipes pouch 130.

Wipes dispenser 10 is designed with top and bottom grippers 118T and 118L, respectively, to provide additional frictional gap force to prevent wipes from roping when dispensed. Top and bottom grippers 118T and 118L, respectively, can come in any form that supplies sufficient frictional gap force. In this design, top grippers 118T and bottom grippers 18B, forming gap 270 through which wipes are extracted from wipes dispenser 10, provide for wipes pop-up dispensing while preventing wipes roping and fall-back. At the same time, dispensing aperture 114 and pouch aperture 134 provide enough open space to allow index finger/thumb access to grasp the front wipe.

Stacked wipes may be made to “pop-up” when the resisting frictional force, generated, in part, by top gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B, is sufficient to avoid, “roping” of the interleaved wipes. Further, for a roll of perforated wipes, by dispensing the web of perforated wipes through dispensing aperture 114 or, more particularly, through gap 270, singulation of wipes at the wipes separation perforations may be accomplished.

Further, the overall contour of the dispensing aperture 114 presents numerous contact points that will readily engage and grip the surface of a perforated web of wipes as a user pulls the wipe to the side of dispensing aperture 114 at an angle. The wipe is readily torn from the web at the perforation. Moreover, the configuration of dispensing aperture is such that only a portion of the wipe is caught by the side edges of dispensing aperture 114 as it is being extracted. In the process of tearing and removing a wipe from the web, a portion of the remaining web is also pulled through dispensing aperture and remains outside dispensing aperture opposite the interior of wipes dispenser 10. This feature effectively prevents roping and fallback of the web material.

In one embodiment, the resisting force generated by top gripper 118T and bottom gripper 118B at gap 270 is about 2 pounds force. When wipes dispenser 10 is mounted on mounting surface S, as shown in FIG. 1A, dispensing aperture 114 is oriented generally parallel to mounting surface S, with the stack of wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 within the pouch space of wipes dispenser 10 between mounting surface S and dispensing aperture 114. In one embodiment, a mounting element 146, comprising double-sided stretch release adhesive tape, is design to withstand shear forces, i.e., forces parallel to the fixed surface as would be generated by gravitational pull on wipes dispenser 10 attached to a vertically oriented fixed surface S.

Stretch release adhesive tapes are also able to withstand tensile forces directed perpendicularly from fixed surface S, such as would be generated on the stretch release adhesive tape by a user supplied extraction force applied to a wipe. In one embodiment, the extraction force is equal to or less than 2.5 lbs, as measured by extracting a wipe at a steady rate of 10 inches/second using a force gauge mounted on a movable platform or an Instron device. However, it is envisioned that more or less resisting force may be attained using the present invention and the dispensing properties of the wipes. The extraction force should be less than the tensile strength of the mounting element, to prevent detachment of wipes dispenser 10 from fixed surface S. In addition, the extraction force should be less than the tensile strength of the wipes to avoid unintended tears across the wipe.

Thus when configured as described, dispensing aperture causes the wipes contained in wipes pouch 130 to pop-up and present front edges of successive wipes, with no unintended wipes tearing or detachment of wipes dispenser 10 from fixed surface S. If the wipes front edge falls back or is pushed back into wipes dispenser 10, a user may repeat the gripping and extracting or the front wipe as described above to return dispenser to a pop-up mode.

FIGS. 3A-3D show a series of schematic edge outlines of alternative dispensing apertures 114 in accordance with the present invention. As can be seen in the FIGS., center lobe 116C, left side lobe 116L and right side lobe 116R, may vary in shape, including but not limited to, generally ovoid, circular, rectangular, and oval.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, in one embodiment, wipes pouch 130 further includes a slider 132 on each of the left and right lateral sides of wipes pouch 130. A pair of tracks (not shown) on a base inside surface 133 of base 100 is adapted to slidably receive wipes pouch 130 at each slider 132. When fully engaged in the tracks, wipes pouch 130 is secured within the pouch space defined by the inside surface of base 100 and refill door 102 when refill door 102 is closed. In this manner, wipes pouch 130 is secured to base 100 and advantageously remains in place, within the pouch space defined by refill door 102 closed to base 100, whenever a user extracts a wipe contained in wipes pouch 130.

Other means of securing wipes pouch 130 to dispenser 10 will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, wipes pouch 130 may be secured to dispenser 10 by means of mating fitment elements. Referring again to FIGS. 1D and 1E together, in one embodiment, wipes pouch 130 includes a pouch fitment element 136 circumscribing pouch aperture 134. In this embodiment, pouch fitment element 136 is adapted to mate and cooperate with a refill door fitment element 138 coupled to refill door inside surface 140. When loading wipes pouch 130 in this embodiment, a user aligns and abuttingly contacts pouch fitment element 136 on wipes pouch 130 with refill door fitment element 138 on refill door inside surface 140 to snap and secure wipes pouch 130 to refill door 102. In this manner, wipes pouch 130 advantageously remains in place and substantially unmoved within the pouch space whenever a user extracts a wipe contained in wipes pouch 130. Alternatively, the back side of wipes pouch 130 opposite the aperture side of wipes pouch 130 may be secured to inside surface 133 of base 100.

Other means of attaching wipes pouch 130 to refill door inside surface 140 are possible, such as, for example, velcro tapes, suction cups, magnets, removable double-sided foam or other tapes. Such means of securing wipes pouch 130 may be placed at the left and right lateral edges, top or bottom edges or back surface of wipes pouch 130. In another embodiment, the left and right lateral sides of wipes pouch 130 are formed as gusseted edges (not shown), i.e., folded inward upon themselves, to allow a tighter fit of wipes pouch 130 into the pouch space defined when refill door 102 is closed with base 100. The top and bottom edges of wipes pouch 130 may be similarly formed.

Referring again to FIG. 1B, in one embodiment, one or more interfaces are formed by contacting rings, which are configured as ridges along the dispensing lid inside surface 122, with corresponding grooves. These interfaces, formed from rings and corresponding grooves, seal the dispensing aperture 114 and prevent moisture loss from wet or partially wetted wipes whenever dispensing lid 108 is closed on refill door 102. In one embodiment, an inner ring 124, is coupled to a dispensing lid inside surface 122 of dispensing lid 108. Inner ring 124 is configured as a ridge projecting away from dispensing lid inside surface 122. Inner ring 124 is adapted to abuttingly contact, mate, and cooperate with inner groove 120 to form an inner interface (not shown) whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102 (as shown in FIG. 1A). This inner interface seals dispensing aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112. An outer ring 125 is coupled to dispensing lid inside surface 122. Outer ring 125 is likewise configured as a ridge projecting from dispensing lid inside surface 122. Outer ring 125 is adapted to abuttingly contact, mate and cooperate with outer groove 121 to form an outer interface (not shown) further sealing dispensing aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102.

In other embodiments, more or fewer than two rings may be coupled to dispensing lid inside surface 122 to abuttingly contact, mate and cooperate with corresponding grooves to form more or fewer than two interfaces sealing dispensing aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102. Moreover, it is envisioned in further embodiments that the one or more grooves, e.g. grooves 120, 121, may be formed on the dispensing lid inside surface 122, while the one or more rings, e.g. rings 124,125, may be formed on the refill door outside surface 112 to create the interfaces sealing dispensing aperture 114 from the outside environment at refill door outside surface 112 whenever dispensing lid 108 is placed in a closed relationship with refill door 102.

Wipes dispenser 10 according to the present invention thus avoids the narrow slit-type aperture of the prior art. The wide-mouthed configuration of dispensing aperture 114 provides for easy access to the wipes in wipes pouch 130 disposed in the pouch space of dispenser 10 without the need to pre-thread a front wipe in wipes pouch 130 through dispensing aperture 114. Further, dispensing aperture 114 according to the present invention avoids excessive squeeze-out of moisture in wet wipes.

The embodiments of the wipes dispenser of the present invention are illustrated in detail in the context of a mountable wipes dispenser and a flexible wipes pouch. The skilled artisan will readily appreciate, however, that the invention can be carried out by different equipment, materials and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself. The materials, structures, and methods disclosed herein will have application in a number of other contexts where convenient and easy dispensing of single sheets of substrate material is desirable.

Claims

1. A wipes dispenser comprising: a base; a refill door coupled to said base, said refill door defining a dispensing aperture therethrough, said dispensing aperture having a dispensing aperture length and a dispensing aperture width, wherein said dispensing aperture comprises: a center lobe configured such that a user may readily grasp a front wipe from a stack or web of wipes disposed in said dispenser through said dispensing aperture; and at least one side lobe in communication with said center lobe at a side edge of said center lobe; wherein said refill door further defines at least one top gripper projecting from a top edge of said dispensing aperture; wherein said refill door further defines at least one bottom gripper projecting from a bottom edge of said dispensing aperture, each of said at least one bottom gripper being opposite a corresponding one of said at least one top gripper, whereby each of said at least one top gripper and corresponding said at least one bottom gripper define a gap through which said front wipe passes when extracted from said dispenser; and a pouch space defined by said base and said refill door.

2. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 wherein said wipes dispenser is mounted to a fixed surface by a mounting element having a tensile strength, wherein said tensile strength is greater than an extraction force supplied by a user to extracxt said front wipe.

3. The wipes dispenser of claim 2 wherein said wipes dispenser is releasably mounted to said fixed surface.

4. The wipes dispenser of claim 2 wherein said extraction force is about two pounds force.

5. The wipes dispenser of claim 2 wherein said mounting element is stretch release adhesive tape.

6. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a stack of interleaved wipes disposed within said pouch space.

7. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a roll of perforated wipes disposed within said pouch space.

8. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a wipes pouch disposed within said pouch space, said wipes pouch comprising a pouch aperture at a front of said wipes pouch, wherein said pouch aperture is configured to align with said dispensing aperture.

9. The wipes dispenser of claim 8 further comprising a removable adhesive label covering said pouch aperture.

10. The wipes dispenser of claim 8 wherein said wipes pouch contains a stack of folded interleaved wipes having a folded wipes length, a folded wipes width, and a wipes thickness.

11. The wipes dispenser of claim 10 wherein said folded wipes length is about one half of said dispensing aperture length.

12. The wipes dispenser of claim 10 wherein said folded wipes width is about one half of said dispensing aperture width.

13. The wipes dispenser of claim 10 wherein a width of said gap is less than said wipes thickness.

14. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 wherein said dispenser is formed from a material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and engineered plastics.

15. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 wherein said center lobe is configured generally in a shape selected from the group consisting of ovoid, circular, rectangular, and oval.

16. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 wherein said at least one side lobe is configured generally in a shape selected from the group consisting of ovoid, circular, rectangular.

17. The wipes dispenser of claim 1 further comprising: one or more grooves formed as indentations into a refill door inside surface of said refill door; one or more corresponding rings formed as ridges projecting from a dispensing lid outside surface of said dispensing lid; wherein each of said one or more grooves abuttingly contacts, mates and cooperates with a corresponding one of said one or more rings to form one or more interfaces; and wherein said interfaces seal said dispenser aperture from the outside environment when said dispensing lid is in a closed relationship with said refill door.

18. A wipes dispenser comprising: a base; a refill door coupled to said base, said refill door defining a dispensing aperture therethrough, said dispensing aperture having a dispensing aperture length and a dispensing aperture width, wherein said dispensing aperture comprises: a center lobe; and at least one side lobe in communication with said center lobe at a side edge of said center lobe; a pouch space defined by said base and said refill door; and wherein said dispensing aperture is configured such that, said center lobe is wide enough to let through most sizes of a human index finger and thumb to grasp said front wipe from a stack or roll of wipes disposed within said pouch space.

19. The wipes dispenser of claim 18 wherein said dispensing aperture width is about 2 inches, measured from a top edge of said dispensing aperture to a bottom edge of said dispensing aperture; and wherein said dispensing aperture length is about 3.5 inches, measured from a left side edge of said dispensing aperture to a right side edge of said dispensing aperture.

20. The wipes dispenser of claim 18 wherein said dispensing aperture width is between about 0.75 inches and about 2.0 inches and said dispensing aperture length is between about 3.0 inches and about 4.5 inches.

21. The wipes dispenser of claim 18, said wipes dispenser being mounted to a fixed surface whereby said front wipe may be extracted from said wipes dispenser with one human hand.

22. A wipes dispenser comprising: a base; a refill door coupled to said base, said refill door defining a dispensing aperture therethrough, said refill door and said base defining a pouch space therebetween, and wherein said dispensing aperture comprises: a center lobe configured such that a user may, by application of an extraction force directed away from said dispenser aperture, extract a front wipe from a stack of interleaved wipes contained in a wipes pouch having a pouch aperture at a front of said wipes pouch, said wipes pouch being disposed in said pouch space; and at least one side lobe in communication with said center lobe at a side edge of said center lobe; wherein said refill door further defines at least one top gripper projecting from an top edge of said dispensing aperture; wherein said refill door further defines at least one bottom gripper projecting from a bottom edge of said dispensing aperture, and whereby at least one top gripper and at least one bottom gripper define a gap through which said front wipe passes when extracted from said dispenser.