U.S. patent application number 09/956075 was filed with the patent office on 2002-03-21 for rolled tissue dispensing system.
Invention is credited to Gergek, Franc.
Application Number | 20020033405 09/956075 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22880339 |
Filed Date | 2002-03-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020033405 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Gergek, Franc |
March 21, 2002 |
Rolled tissue dispensing system
Abstract
An automatic rolled tissue dispensing system, which includes a
housing within which is located a tissue advancing element
comprising a pair of feed rollers which pull the tissue product
from a roll of continuous rolled tissue product and advance the
tissue to a sheet separating element comprising a pair of tearing
rollers which remove individual tissue sheets from the continuous
roll. A guide allows the tissue sheets discharged from the tearing
rollers to be laid horizontally and stacked in a dispensing tray
accessible to the user. An electric motor drives the rollers. The
tearing rollers are driven through a variable clutch at a faster
speed than the feed rollers, which causes the tissue to tear along
its perforations in between the two sets of rollers. A first photo
detecting sensor monitors the number of tissue sheets discharged
from the tearing rollers, and a second photo detecting sensor
monitors the presence of tissue sheets in the dispensing tray. When
a pile of tissue sheets is removed from the dispensing tray, the
second sensor activates the motor, which allows tissue sheets to be
dispensed into the tray until the number of sheets pre-selected by
the user has been counted by the first sensor.
Inventors: |
Gergek, Franc; (Gormley,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OGILVY RENAULT
1981 MCGILL COLLEGE AVENUE
SUITE 1600
MONTREAL
QC
H3A2Y3
CA
|
Family ID: |
22880339 |
Appl. No.: |
09/956075 |
Filed: |
September 20, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60234193 |
Sep 20, 2000 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
225/96 ;
225/106 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 225/321 20150401;
A47K 10/3618 20130101; A47K 10/3625 20130101; Y10T 225/393
20150401 |
Class at
Publication: |
225/96 ;
225/106 |
International
Class: |
B65H 035/10; B65H
035/00 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A rolled tissue dispensing system, comprising: a housing
dimensioned to accept at least one roll of a continuous rolled
tissue product, having at least a lower dispensing opening; at
least a tissue sheet separating means disposed within said housing,
for removing individual tissue sheets from said continuous rolled
tissue product; at least a tissue advancing means disposed within
said housing, for advancing said continuous tissue product from
said roll to said sheet separating means; at least a tissue sheet
guide disposed within said housing, enabling tissue sheets
discharged from said tissue sheet separating means to be laid
horizontally and stacked in a dispensing tray accessible by said
dispensing opening in said housing; at least a motor means for
powering said tissue advancing means and said tissue sheet
separating means whereby the tissue sheets are individually
separated from the rolled tissue product as continuous tissue
product is advanced through the tissue separating means.
2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein an activating means
is provided for activating the motor wherein the activating means
comprises first and second sensing means and a user activated
control.
3. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein said first sensing
means is disposed to monitor the number of said tissue sheets
discharged from said tissue sheet separating means.
4. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein said second sensing
means is disposed to monitor the presence of said tissue sheets in
said dispensing tray, and activates said electric motor when said
second sensing means indicates that no tissue sheets remain in said
dispensing tray.
5. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein said sensing means
are comprised of a photocell detector and an opposed reflecting
mirror.
6. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein a user activated
control is provided with said activating means which comprises a
detent accessible from the exterior of said housing means which
starts said motor means when activated.
7. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said motor means is
deactivated when the number of tissue sheets discharged from said
tissue sheet separating means equals the number of sheets
pre-selected by a detent accessible from the exterior of said
housing means.
8. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said tissue
advancing means comprises a pair of feed rollers and said tissue
sheet separating means comprises a pair of tearing rollers.
9. The invention as defined in claim 8, wherein said pair of feed
rollers comprises: a first feed roller which is in contact with
said roll of a continuous rolled tissue product, and driven by said
motor in a direction such that it pulls tissue from said roll of a
continuous rolled tissue product; and a second feed roller which is
biased against said first feed roller, such that it rotates in the
opposite direction.
10. The invention as defined in claim 8, wherein said tissue
advancing means further comprises an additional feed roller which
is in contact with said roll of a continuous rolled tissue product,
and is driven by said motor means in the same direction and at the
same speed as said first feed roller.
11. The invention as defined in claim 8, wherein said pair of
tearing rollers comprises: a first tearing roller which is driven
by said motor means through a clutch, in the same direction as said
first feed roller; and a second tearing roller which is biased
against said first tearing roller, such that it rotates in the
opposite direction.
12. The invention as defined in claim 8, wherein said tearing
rollers are driven faster than said feed rollers, such that
individual tissue sheets of a pre-perforated roll of said
continuous rolled tissue product are removed.
13. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said tissue sheet
guide means is downwardly sloping towards the rear of said housing,
and comprises an upwardly curved front portion positioned to accept
tissue sheets discharged from said tissue sheet separating means
and a trapezoidal cut-out in the rear portion.
14. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein the motor means
includes a first electric motor and a second electric motor is
comprised within said housing.
15. The invention as defined in claim 14, wherein said first
electric motor drives said first feed roller and said additional
feed roller, in a direction such that tissue is pulled from said
roll of a continuous rolled tissue product, and said second
electric motor independently drives said first tearing roller, in
the same direction as said first and alternate feed rollers.
16. The invention as defined in claim 8, wherein said first and
second feed rollers are smooth cylinders having a constant
cross-section.
17. The invention as defined in claim 8, wherein said first and
second feed rollers are generally cylindrical having a centrally
bulbous longitudinal profile, whereby the circular cross-section
gradually decreases towards the ends of the roller.
18. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said tearing
rollers are smooth cylinders having a constant cross-section.
19. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said tearing
rollers have an interlocking wavelike longitudinal profile.
20. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said housing
encloses duplicate rolled tissue dispensing systems mounted side by
side containing two rolls of said continuous rolled tissue
product.
21. The invention as defined in claim 20, further comprising
duplicate corresponding additional photocell detectors and
corresponding reflecting mirrors disposed to indicate if said rolls
are full.
22. The invention as defined in claim 21, wherein an electronic
control system will dispense tissue from the least full of said two
rolls.
23. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said continuous
rolled tissue product includes toilet paper and paper towels.
24. A rolled tissue dispensing system, comprising: a housing means
dimensioned to accept at least one roll of a continuous rolled
tissue product, having at least a lower dispensing opening; at
least a tissue sheet separating means disposed within said housing
means, for removing individual tissue sheets from said continuous
rolled tissue product, and comprised of a pair of tearing rollers;
at least a tissue advancing means disposed within said housing
means, for advancing said continuous tissue product from said roll
to said sheet separating means, and comprised of a pair of feed
rollers; at least a tissue sheet guide disposed within said housing
means, enabling tissue sheets discharged from said tissue sheet
separating means to be laid horizontally and stacked in a
dispensing tray accessible by said dispensing opening in said
housing means; at least an electric motor for powering said tissue
advancing means and said tissue sheet separating means; at least an
activating means for said electric motor, comprising a photocell
detector and a manual detent; an electronic control system; a
tissue serration means, comprising a serrator solenoid, a serrator
base and serrator blade means, which enables individual tissue
sheets to be separated from an unserrated roll of said continuous
rolled tissue product; two sensing means disposed to indicate if
said continuous rolled tissue product strays off center of said
feed rollers; a self-correcting device for said tissue advancing
means, which re-centers said continuous rolled tissue product on
said feed rollers, comprising two solenoids which act on either end
of one of said feed rollers through attached lever arms.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application has a Convention priority date based
on a first provisional application Ser. No. 60/234,193 filed Sep.
20, 2000. A second provisional application was filed Mar. 12,
2001.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to a paper dispensing system.
More specifically, it relates to a system for dispensing tissue
from a continuous length paper product stored on a roll, such as
toilet paper, paper toweling, and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Most toilet paper comes on rolls. To use it, the paper has
to be unrolled and torn off. The torn-off strip of paper has then
to be folded, to create a layered strip of sufficient strength. The
paper, perforated so that it can be torn off easily, is generally
divided into square sheets between each perforation. Although the
perforations make it easier to tear the paper from the roll, they
do create a problem. If the tissue is not carefully folded along
the perforations, a perforated line will be located in the middle
of the layered strip. If perforation lines of juxtaposed layers
line up, the tissue strip is significantly weakened. To compensate
for this resulting reduced strength, more paper generally has to be
used.
[0004] In order to use the tissue in the most economical fashion,
the perforations should ideally be located at the edges of the
layered strip. This achieves greatest strength from the least
amount of paper. Whether the paper is folded over at the edges, or
torn creating separate sheets, makes little difference. However,
the perforated lines are often hardly noticeable, and most people
cannot be bothered to locate the perforated lines, count the
sheets, and then fold the tissue along the perforations. As a
result, they use more tissue to compensate for the reduced
strength. While the paper waste for a single toilet may not be that
significant, the combined paper waste on a city, country or global
scale is staggering. As forests are steadily depleted world-wide,
the environmental impact of paper waste on such a large scale is
significant. Another problem associated with traditional use of
perforated toilet paper from a roll is having to tear it off
manually. While this does not necessarily require much effort for
most, a dispenser which tears sheets off the roll for the user
eliminates a step which could be of greater challenge for people
with reduced mobility. Also, sheets are often manually torn off a
roll in between the perforated lines, creating further waste.
Unless diligence is taken and both hands are used, the tissue will
often not tear along the perforations. No known prior art addresses
the problem of having to manually tear off paper from the roll.
[0005] Motorized paper dispensers with photoelectric detectors, and
motorized paper towel dispensers are well known.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 2,243,686, issued May 27, 1941 to Steiner et
al, discloses a sheet dispensing cabinet which comprises a gravity
fed supply roll which is continuously engaged with a feed roll. An
operating disk, used to start the paper dispensing after tear-off,
is attached at one end of the feed roll. A tear-off knife allows a
sheet to be manually torn from the roll.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,368, issued Jan. 26, 1965 to Rozlog et
al, discloses a motor-driven dispenser, actuated by an accessible
button, for rolled sheet material such as toilet tissue and paper
towels. Two electric motor-driven feed belt assemblies within an
external housing, resiliently engage the sheet material being fed.
A guide chute receives the sheet material and guides it from its
roll to the discharge opening in the front cover of the housing.
Sheets are separated from the continuous roll by manual pulling of
the free end of the material by the user, which causes the material
to tear along a perforation line of the material within the housing
of the dispenser.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,005, issued Nov. 22, 1988 to Hoffman et
al, discloses an apparatus for dispensing rolled sheet material
such as paper towels. The apparatus automatically dispenses sheet
material when actuated in response to the proximity of a hand of a
user. An electric motor drives the dispensing apparatus for a
predetermined time, dispensing a predetermined length of sheet
material. The user then manually tears away the length of sheet
material.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,832, issued Sep. 26, 1995 to Niada,
discloses an apparatus for dispensing, in response to the movement
of a user's hand, an adjustable length of paper towel manually
severable from a continuous roll of paper. A proximity detector
actuates a motor for a predetermined time which operates a dragging
roller, thereby dispensing a set length of paper from the feed
roll. A stationary blade cuts the strip from the continuous roll
when the user applies pressure with the paper on the blade.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,898, issued Aug. 22, 2000 to Byrd et al,
discloses a hands-free paper towel dispenser which dispenses a
length of paper in response to the movement of a user's hands. A
photo sensor activates a motor which rotates a drive roller,
dispensing a predetermined sheet length which can be grasped by the
user and manually torn off along a blade. Provision for two paper
rolls, a main roll and a stub roll, allows a partially depleted
main roll to be transferred by an attendant to the stub roll
position, so that it can be completely depleted before a new roll
is started.
[0011] There exist four principal deficiencies in the conventional
use of toilet paper: paper has to be manually unrolled, paper has
to be torn off, paper has to be folded, and paper use is not most
economical. Of these, the prior art fails to address all but the
first of these deficiencies, and sufficiently solves none of them,
as all known automatic unrolling dispensers nevertheless require
the direct input of a user, whether to operate a push button or
create a hand movement for a proximity detector. As a result of the
foregoing, an improved paper dispensing device capable of providing
a combined solution to all the aforementioned needs is presented
herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
improved rolled paper dispensing device.
[0013] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a
paper dispensing device that automatically dispenses rolled toilet
paper.
[0014] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
paper dispensing device that automatically tears off individual
toilet paper sheets.
[0015] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
device which dispenses toilet paper for most economical use.
[0016] Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there
is provided a rolled tissue dispensing system comprising a housing
means dimensioned to accept at least one roll of a continuous
rolled tissue product, having at least a lower dispensing opening;
at least a tissue sheet separating means disposed within said
housing means, for removing individual tissue sheets from said
continuous rolled tissue product; at least a tissue advancing means
disposed within said housing means, for advancing said continuous
tissue product from said roll to said sheet separating means; at
least a tissue sheet guide disposed within said housing means,
enabling tissue sheets discharged from said tissue sheet separating
means to be laid horizontally and stacked in a dispensing tray
accessible by said dispensing opening in said housing means; at
least an electric motor for powering said tissue advancing means
and said tissue sheet separating means; whereby the tissue sheets
are individually separated from the rolled tissue product as
continuous tissue product is advanced through the tissue separating
means.
[0017] The device operates automatically in order to maintain a
supply of stacked tissue sheets in the dispensing tray. The device
separates the continuous rolled tissue along the perforated lines,
counts the pre-selected number of discharged sheets, and then
stacks the sheets on top of each other in the dispensing tray. No
force is required to remove the pile from the tray of the
dispenser, and as soon as a pile is removed, another is delivered
by the device.
[0018] Further features and advantages of the present invention
will become fully apparent by referring to the following detailed
description, claims, and the appended drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rolled tissue dispensing
system.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the present invention
with the lateral face of the housing removed.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of an alternate embodiment
of the present invention, having two independent motors, with the
lateral face of the housing removed.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a top elevation view of the sheet paper guide
means of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of a multiple dispenser
embodiment of the present invention having two dispensers
side-by-side.
[0024] FIG. 6 is a top elevation view of an alternate embodiment of
the sheet separating rollers having a jagged profile.
[0025] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of
the present invention showing the tissue advancing and tissue sheet
separating means, and including a tissue serration element, convex
shaped rollers, and solenoid driven paper guiding means.
[0026] FIGS. 8a to 8d are top elevation views of the tissue
advancing means of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, showing the
possible feed roller positions established by the paper guiding
means.
[0027] FIG. 9 is a partially exploded perspective view of the
serration means of the embodiment of FIG. 7.
[0028] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the adjustable clutch
mounted on the driven tearing roller of the tissue sheet separating
means.
[0029] FIG. 11 is a schematic circuit diagram of the electronic
control system.
[0030] It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like
features are identified by like reference numerals.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0031] Referring to FIG. 1, the rolled tissue dispensing device 10
is comprised of an exterior housing 12 having a front face 11, a
back face 15, and two lateral faces 13. A top cover 14, attached to
the exterior housing 12 along the top edge of the back face 15 by
hinge 16, provides access for the top loading of replacement tissue
rolls 30. A bottom dispensing tray 18 provides the dispensing
medium for users, and an opening 20 in the tray 18 facilitates the
removal of a pile of tissue sheets. A lower cutout 17 in the
vertical front face 11 of the housing 12, provides frontal access
to the tissue sheets for the user. The front face 11 of the casing
12 also comprises an out-of-paper indicator light 26 and a
load-paper push button 28. A selector switch 24 which permits the
pre-selection of the number of tissue sheets desired, and a power
switch 22 are located on a lateral face 13 of the exterior housing
12.
[0032] Referring now to FIG. 2, the device uses two sets of
rollers, namely, feed rollers 32 and 34 and tearing rollers 40 and
42, to pull the tissue from the feed roll 30. Roller 32 is driven
by a motor 48 through a belt 38. The motor 48 is also used to drive
tearing roller 40, through an adjustable clutch 44 having a free
pulley 41, by belt 46. Rollers 34 and 42 are held in contact with
rollers 32 and 40 respectively, by helical coil compression springs
54 and 56 mounted on fixed bases 58. The springs ensure contact
with driven rollers 32 and 40 causing spring-loaded rollers 34 and
42 to rotate in opposite directions from rollers 32 and 40. The
spring-loaded rollers 34 and 42 apply pressure to the paper,
however still allowing small foreign objects which may fall inside
the housing, such as coins, to pass through without obstructing the
system. The size of the pulleys are chosen such that rollers 40 and
42 rotate faster than rollers 32 and 34.
[0033] An optional additional feed roller 36 provides additional
support and rotating force for the tissue roll 30. Small guide
rollers 50 on either side of the tissue feed roll 30 ensure that
the tissue roll 30 is centered and does not translate forward when
it is rotated by the feed rollers 32 and 36. Alternate feed roller
36 is driven by the attached pulley 37 which is driven by the motor
48 through a belt 39. The motor pulley 51 is the driver for the
belt driven roller pulleys 33, 37, and 41.
[0034] The entire roller support assembly 52 is fixed to the inside
of the lateral faces 13 of the housing 12. The sheet paper guide
60, as shown in FIG. 4, is downwardly biased towards the rear face
15 of the exterior housing 12. The curved upper portion 62 of the
sheet paper guide 60, accepts tissue sheets pushed into the guide
by tearing rollers 40 and 42. Paper sheets then slide down the top
surface of the guide 63. To ensure that the paper sheets slide down
the guide smoothly, the guide can be coated with a material such as
Teflon. At the upper portion of the guide, the individual tissue
sheets are supported by the top surface 63 such that the sheets
remain generally flat as they slide down the guide. Trapezoidal
shaped cutout 66, in the middle of the guide 60, eliminates the
center support for the descending tissue as it reaches the lower
portion of the guide. This causes the tissue sheet to cave in the
middle, and fall through the guide into the dispensing tray 18
below. An opening 64 in the upper curved portion 62 of the sheet
paper guide 60, allows for the number of sheets dispensed to be
counted by a censor. The device uses two photocell detectors 68 and
72 which have corresponding reflecting mirrors 70 and 74
respectively. Photocell detector 68 monitors the number of tissue
sheets torn from the roll. Photocell detector 72 monitors the
presence of paper in the dispensing tray 18.
[0035] When a roll of tissue 30 is inserted into the space 31 above
the rollers, such that gravity maintains contact between the paper
roll and the rollers, and the load button 28 on the front face 11
of the exterior housing 12 is pushed, the rollers 32 and 36 begin
turning and rotate the roll of paper tissue 30. As the freed end of
the paper roll reaches feed rollers 32 and 34, the loose end will
get caught between feed rollers which pull the continuous tissue
strip 19 down through the paper guide 25, feeding the end into
tearing rollers 40 and 42. As rollers 40 and 42 are spinning faster
than feed rollers 32 and 34, the clutch 44 on roller 40 will begin
to slip. The difference in rotating speeds between the lower
rollers 40 and 42 and the upper rollers 32 and 34 creates pressure
on the tissue strip between the two sets of rollers. The clutch 44
is adjusted so that the pressure on the tissue is such that it does
not break the non-perforated tissue. However, when a perforated
line in the tissue strip comes between the upper and lower sets of
rollers, the tissue strip will break. The now separated individual
tissue sheet 21 is pushed down into the tissue sheet guide 60 under
the tearing rollers 40 and 42, and subsequently falls into the
dispensing tray 18 below. The system would equally work if rollers
32 and 34 were driven through the clutch and rollers 40 and 42 were
driven directly by the motor. However, the roll of paper 30 would
subsequently rotate in a less smooth and continuous manner.
[0036] FIG. 10 shows the individual elements of the adjustable
clutch 44. The driven tearing roller 40 rotates about an axial
shaft 55, and is located by a support bearing 53. Drive disk 43 is
fixed on the shaft 55 by a keyway 57. A free clutch pulley 41 is
driven by the electric motor 48 through a drive belt 46. The clutch
pulley 43 is held against the drive disk 43 by a clutch helical
coil compression spring 47, and a retaining nut 49 is threaded onto
the shaft 55. By tightening or loosening the retaining nut 49, the
spring will exert more or less force on the clutch pulley 41. This
allows the amount of slip of the clutch to be varied, and therefore
permits calibration of the force applied by the tearing rollers on
the tissue.
[0037] An alternate embodiment of the present invention, shown in
FIG. 3, comprises two independent electric motors, namely, existing
motor 48 and additional motor 76. No clutch is required in this
embodiment, as motor 48 drives feed rollers 32 and 36, and the
additional motor 76 drives the tearing roller 40. The additional
motor 76, however, is driven with a higher voltage than the first
motor 48. This difference in voltages translates directly into a
difference in torques. Therefore, the motor 76, having more torque
than the first motor 48, would apply a greater downward pressure on
the paper tissue, thereby tearing off tissue sheets from the
continuous roll. The voltage difference for the alternate motor 76
is calibrated in a manner similar to the variable clutch 44 in the
first embodiment. The voltage difference is set to a value such
that if there is no perforated line in the tissue paper between the
two sets of rollers, the tissue strip will not break. However, when
a perforated line in the tissue strip appears between the two sets
of rollers, the tissue will tear along these perforations. A
sufficient discharge speed of the torn-off tissue sheets is
required in order to guarantee that the tissue sheets 21 will fall
through the trapezoidal cutout 66 in the guide 60 and settle in the
dispensing tray 18 before the next sheet arrives. This guarantees
that the individual tissue sheets 21 are stacked neatly on top of
each other.
[0038] The user can select the number of sheets desired in the
dispensed stack by presetting the sheet selector switch 24 on the
lateral face 13 of the exterior housing 12, which varies the
subsequent thickness of the tissue sheet pile. As each individual
torn-off tissue sheet 21 is discharged from the tearing rollers 40
and 42, the photocell detector 68 senses each sheet of paper as it
passes through the light beam of the detector. An electronic
control system 97, as shown in FIG. 11, receives the input of the
photocell detector 68 and compares the number of sheets that have
passed by the detector 68 to the value preset by the user with the
selector switch 24. When these two numbers are equal, the drive
motor is stopped by the control system 97. When the photo detector
72 senses that the pile of sheets in the dispensing tray 18 has
been removed, the motor is activated, and the cycle restarts
delivering another pile of sheets into the dispensing tray. When
the load paper button 28 on the exterior of the casing 12 is
pushed, the motor is similarly started and runs until the preset
number of individual tissue sheets have been dispensed into the
tray. If the photocell detector 68 fails to sense paper for a
preset time period, the motor will automatically stop, and the
out-of-paper indicator 26 on the exterior of the casing 12 will
light up.
[0039] Although the system has been designed for toilet paper use,
the device could be equally used in other applications requiring
larger systems, such as paper toweling or sheet paper production.
Similarly, this system could replace boxed facial tissue when used
in commercial establishments. Additional features which would
prevent the abuse of the device can be easily introduced through
the control system 97, such as fixing a maximum number of tissue
sheets which can be dispensed at one time, and presetting a delay
time before subsequent tissue sheets are dispensed following the
removal of a stack of tissue sheets.
[0040] FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of the tissue
dispensing device. A double dispenser system 78 comprises a double
system exterior housing 80 enclosing two individual tissue
dispensing devices 10, as previously described. This system solves
the problem associated with a single roll dispensing device running
out of paper. Such a double dispenser system is necessary for
commercial uses. Commercial establishments, such as restaurants and
hotels, are reluctant to leave partially used rolls in the roll
dispensing holders in the event that a partial roll will not be
sufficient. Full spare rolls left unattended can be stolen or
incorrectly inserted into the dispenser by the user. Dispenser
holders which stack one roll above the other are not ideal, as the
stacked rolls impede the bottom dispensing roll from turning. Two
individual rolls side by side do not adequately solve the problem
either, as there is no way to ensure that users will use the
smallest roll first. This increases the likelihood that two
partially used rolls will remain. Attendants then have to replace
the partially used rolls with full ones in order to ensure a
sufficient quantity is supplied. A solution is to use two identical
dispensing systems in one single enclosure with an electronic
switch-over from one system to another when the smallest roll is
completely used up. In this way, there is also a backup system
should one fail. Two additional photocell detectors 82 are provided
on the interior wall 81 of the double system housing 80.
Corresponding reflecting mirrors 84 on the interior of the lateral
faces 83 of the housing 80 reflect back the light beam from the
photocell detectors when a paper roll is empty. When a photocell
detector 82 senses that one roll is used beyond a preset level, the
system automatically dispenses paper from the smallest roll, making
sure that the roll will be completely finished before switching to
the fuller roll.
[0041] FIG. 6 shows an alternate embodiment of the tearing rollers
40 and 42. In this embodiment, rollers 86 and 88 are formed having
an interfitting wavy profile, which gives the paper passed through
the rollers added rigidity. This prevents tissue sheets from them
curling backwards as they slide down the tissue sheet guide 60.
[0042] Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.
7. One potential problem with the device is that a paper roll which
is not correctly inserted or which for some other reason moves
laterally as it is pulled through rollers 32 and 34, can become
jammed. A solution to this problem, as shown in this embodiment, is
to replace one or both feed rollers 32 and 34 having a uniform
circumferential surface, with rollers 94 and 96 which have a
double-convex longitudinal profile such that they are generally
cylindrical but have a circular cross-section which gradually
decreases towards the ends of the roller. Additionally, two control
system activated solenoids 90 and 92 can provide slight rotation of
the rollers about a vertical central axis through roller lever arms
91 or 93.
[0043] Two additional sensors, a left photocell 102 with
corresponding light emitting diode 104 and a right photocell 106
with corresponding light emitting diode 108, are positioned on
opposing ends of the sensing and serrating assembly 110, such that
they are located on either side of the descending tissue strip 19.
If the continuous tissue strip wanders too far to one side, the
photocell on the corresponding side will sense the presence of the
tissue, and the control system will activate the opposing solenoid
side in order to recenter the tissue strip. The curve of the
rollers 94 and 96, and their relative rotation when the solenoids
are activated, will re-align the off center tissue strip. FIG. 8a
shows such a system in normal operation.
[0044] FIG. 8b shows the case where the tissue strip has moved
laterally to the left in the drawing, and the rollers are squeezed
together on the opposite side, creating a pulling center to the
right side of the tissue strip, thereby recentering the strip. FIG.
8c shows the same situation, but for a strip that has strayed to
the opposite side of center. Activating both solenoids
simultaneously, as shown in FIG. 8d, permits the rollers to be
completely removed from contact with each other. This removes the
pressure put on the tissue strip and allows the strip to pass
through the device without being broken. This permits a continuous
sheet to be delivered if desired. The tissue feed slot 109, between
the opposing halves of the sensing and serrating assembly 110,
helps guide the descending tissue strip between the sets of
rollers.
[0045] For certain applications, the rolled tissue may not be
preperforated into individual sheets. The embodiment shown in FIG.
7 permits the serration of such a tissue roll. A comb-like serrator
assembly 111 comprises a serrator base 114, serrator blades 116,
and a dedicated solenoid 112. Corresponding holes 117 for the
serrator blades 116 are located in the opposing half of the sensing
and serrating assembly 110, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9. When the
serrator is activated by the solenoid 112, the sharp edges of the
serrator blades are pushed through the stretched paper tissue,
causing it to break. A control system, as shown in FIG. 11, detects
if the inserted roll of tissue is non-perforated and switches
automatically to the program for providing serrations using the
serrator assembly 111. This allows the use of both perforated and
non-perforated tissue.
[0046] The embodiment(s) of the invention described above is(are)
intended to be exemplary only. The scope of the invention is
therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the
appended claims.
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