Dispensing Cabinet For Sheet Material

Abstract

A dispensing cabinet for sequentially dispensing sheet material from first and second rolls of spirally wound sheet material, incorporating a mechanism which monitors the diameter of a first roll of sheet material and, when the diameter decreases to a predetermined level representative of the sheet material remaining from a second roll. The arrangement of components in the cabinet enables the rolls to be unwound in either direction without affecting the operation of the cabinet.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a dispensing cabinet for sheet material and, more particularly, to a dispensing cabinet which sequentially dispenses sheet material from first and second rolls of spirally wound sheet material.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

In the past, dispensing cabinets have been designed to dispense two rolls of sheet material sequentially so that upon the depletion of the sheet material from one of the rolls, the unwinding of the second roll was commenced. Some of such systems have involved a modification of the roll core upon which the sheet material was wound. Other systems have involved a modification of the sheet material itself such as by cutting a groove or aperture therein in the sheet material near the tail end of the strip on the roll. In either case, the modification in the roll core or the sheet material itself was detectable as the sheet material on the roll became almost depleted or was completely unwound from the core. The mechanism which accomplished detection of the modification was operably attached to some means for commencing the unwinding of sheet material from the second roll.

Regardless of the particular nature of the system employed for detecting the depletion of sheet material on one roll and for commencing the unwinding of the sheet material on the other roll, it is readily apparent from the above that all of such systems require that a specially modified roll of sheet material be formed and utilized. This situation inherently prevents the dispensing of normal, that is, unmodified rolls of sheet material from such cabinets in the sequential manner desired. It also increases the cost of incorporating such features into the roll or into the roll core, whichever form it may take, is quite high. Sheet materials are normally manufactured in a standard form so that they can be dispensed from any one of a large number of different types of cabinets. However, they could not be dispensed from this type of cabinet without modification. This would inherently narrow the source of supply of sheet material which could be dispensed by these particular forms of cabinets.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,234 to Batlas et al. discloses a system for sequentially dispensing sheet material from two rolls, in which such modified cores or rolls of sheet material as mentioned above are not required for detection of the end of the sheet material on one roll. However, the Batlas et al. cabinet does require that a special roll core be utilized, that is, one which has an insert or trunnion in one end thereof. This insures that the roll of sheet material will be inserted in the cabinet in a particular manner so that the sheet material will always unwind in the same direction. This also is a limiting factor in that the insert or trunnion attaches an additional cost to the roll of sheet material. In addition, this feature causes inconvenience in the loading of the cabinet with new rolls of sheet material since the serviceman must take care in orienting the roll properly in the cabinet with respect to the direction of unwinding.

The dispensing mechanisms of prior art cabinets have also been somewhat unreliable, especially where the unwinding of the second roll was to be commenced. This often caused problems since the failure of the second roll to unwind resulted in unavailability of sheet material until the dispensing cabinet received service which, of course, frustrates the purpose of a two-roll cabinet where the rolls are sequentially dispensed to allow greater time intervals between servicing.

Accordingly, it is a principal object and advantage of the present invention to provide a new and improved dispensing cabinet for sequentially dispensing sheet material from first and second rolls of spirally wound sheet material in a reliable manner.

It is an additional object and advantage of the present invention to provide such a dispensing cabinet in which the components of the cabinet are positioned relative to the rolls of sheet material so as to allow the sheet material on the rolls to be unwound in either direction without affecting the ability of the cabinet to dispense the sheet material on the two rolls in a sequential manner.

It is a still further object and advantage of the present invention to provide a mechanism in a dispensing cabinet for automatically commencing the feeding of sheet material from a second roll upon the depletion of sheet material from a first roll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The dispensing cabinet of the present invention includes the combination of a frame having a dispensing opening through which sheet material is to be disposed. The frame is adapted to hold first and second rolls of sheet material in spaced-apart and substantially parallel positions. Feed means are provided which include two rollers forming a nip through which the sheet material passes prior to being dispensed. The dispensing cabinet also includes follower means adapted to engage the surface of the first roll and to move in response to changes in the diameter of the first roll resulting from unwinding the sheet material therefrom, and transfer means operably connected to the follower means and adapted to introduce into said feed means an unwound portion of the sheet material running from the second roll in response to movement of the follower means so as to commence the dispensing of sheet material from the second roll. The follower means and the transfer means are arranged so that the sheet material from the first and second rolls may be unwound in either direction without affecting the operation of the dispensing cabinet. In some embodiments, the first roll of sheet material is disposed in a position where it contacts a bottom surface and a rear surface of the cabinet in a manner such that the lower surface of the roll moves toward the front of the cabinet as the sheet material is unwound therefrom. In this embodiment, guide means are provided to prevent the roll from moving upwardly beyond a predetermined point in the cabinet due to frictional resistance between the roll and the rear surface of the cabinet as the sheet material is unwound from the roll.

One of the important features of the invention is the mechanism for commencing the feeding of the sheet material from the second roll when the sheet material on the first roll has been or is about to become depleted. Reliability is insured by running the sheet material from the first roll through the nip of the feed means so that it always contacts the roller thereof which is driven. The sheet material from the second roll may be fed into the nip by crowding before the sheet material is completely exhausted from the first roll, but it will always be reliably fed into the nip after the sheet material has been completely exhausted from the first roll, since it then contacts the surface of the feed roll having a higher coefficient of friction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional side elevation view of the dispensing cabinet of the invention, showing in dotted line the open door of the dispensing cabinet and the linkage means of the cabinet in its forwardmost position during insertion of new rolls of sheet material into the dispensing cabinet, and showing in solid line the closed door of the dispensing cabinet and the linkage means in a position for dispensing sheet material;

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial sectional side elevation view, illustrating the manner in which the transfer means operate to commence the dispensing of sheet material from the second roll with the sheet material from the first roll;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional side elevation view of the dispensing cabinet of the invention, illustrating the manner in which a roll of sheet material may be unwound in the opposite direction; and

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional side elevation view similar to that shown in FIG. 4, illustrating the function of the guide means of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the dispensing cabinet of the invention includes a housing having a rear wall 10, top wall 11, bottom wall 12, spaced-apart sidewalls 13 and a hinged front wall or door 14 which provides convenient access to the cabinet so that fresh rolls of sheet material can be inserted therein. The door 14 has an inwardly depending upper portion 17 which mates with the edge of the top wall 11. The door 14 also has two spaced, inwardly depending, side flanges 15 and is pivotably attached by pins 16 through its side flanges 15 to the respective sidewalls 13 of the dispensing cabinet. This allows the door 14 to be pivotably lowered to the position shown in dotted line in FIG. 1 so as to expose the dispensing mechanism and rolls of sheet material located inside of the dispensing cabinet. Fastener means are provided in the form of a spring detent 18 attached to the upper portion 17 of door 14 which cooperates with a downwardly depending front lip 20 on the top wall 11 to secure the door 14 in its closed position, shown by solid line in FIG. 1. The cabinet may be mounted for use on a wall or other vertical supporting surface or it may be supported on a horizontal surface for use. The above-described housing forms a frame for carrying other elements of the dispensing cabinet of the invention.

The bottom wall 12 of the housing includes a generally horizontal rear portion 21 extending from the rear wall 10 to an upwardly depending central portion 22 which connects to a arcuate portion 23 extending downwardly and outwardly and terminating in a downwardly depending lip 24. The upper surface of the arcuate portion is smooth and forms one wall of an arcuate dispensing passageway 25 terminating in a dispensing opening 26. The other wall of arcuate passageway 25 is formed by a plate 27 extending transversely between the sidewalls 13 and rearwardly from the lower edge of door 14 to a point spaced from the arcuate portion 23 of bottom wall 12.

Two rolls, 28 and 30, of spirally wound sheet material are disposed in spaced-apart and generally parallel relationship in the dispensing cabinet. The lower roll 30 of sheet material, which may be either a completely fresh or a partially used roll, is disposed in a position where it rests upon and slidingly contacts the bottom wall 12. It also slidingly contacts the rear wall 10 of the cabinet. If the surfaces of these walls are smooth, it has been found that the roll 30 can be easily unwound and that no means are necessary for rotatably supporting the core. Alternatively, however, the roll 30 may be mounted on rotatable means such as inwardly extending trunnions (not shown) secured to the sidewalls 13 without affecting the operation of the dispensing cabinet of the invention in any significant way. The sheet material from the lower roll 30 is fed over a follower means, which comprises a rotatably mounted roller 35, and into feed means, indicated generally by reference numeral 36.

Feed means 36 comprise two parallel, rotatably mounted rolls 37 and 38 arranged to form a pressure nip through which the sheet material is drawn prior to being dispensed from the cabinet. The feed means 36 shown include a first rotatably mounted roller 37 having its axis in a fixed position and a second rotatably mounted roller 38 having its axis movable toward and away from the axis of the first roller 37. The ends 40 of the roller 38 are of reduced diameter and are carried in brackets 41 which house coil springs 42 which exert a force on the ends 40 of the roller 38 so as to press the second roller 38 against the first roller 37. The sheet material issuing from the feed means 36 is fed into dispensing passageway 25 and issues from dispensing opening 26 located in the lower front of the dispensing cabinet.

The upper roll 28 of sheet material is a complete roll and serves as a reserve roll. It is rotatably supported on spaced-apart wire brackets 31 which have inwardly depending portions 32 adapted to project inwardly into the ends of the roll core 33 upon which the sheet material is wound so as to rotatably support the roll 28 thereon. The wire brackets 31 are affixed to the rear wall 10 of the dispensing cabinet. The leading end of the sheet material running from the upper roll 28 is preferably engaged by an engagement means such as the prong 34 located adjacent the front edge of the plate 27 upon which the sheet material is impaled. This insures that the initially unwound length of sheet material from the upper or reserve roll 28 will be maintained in the desired position until it is fed into the feed means and dispensed as hereinafter described. The engagement means also promotes the formation of a fold in the sheet material which leads to the introduction of the sheet material into the nip of the feed means.

A linkage means, indicated generally be reference numeral 43, is provided to operably connect the follower means 35 with a transfer means, which comprises a rotatably mounted roller 44. The linkage means 43 is preferably adjusted to cause the transfer means 44 to introduce the sheet material from the upper roll 28 into the feed means 36 when the follower means 35 indicates that the sheet material on the lower roll 30 is almost depleted. This commences the unwinding of the sheet material from the second or upper roll 28 prior to the complete unwinding of the sheet material from the first or lower roll 30. The rotatably mounted roller 44 comprising the transfer means is carried by the linkage means 43, and is adapted to urge the unwound portion of the sheet material from the upper roll 28 into proper dispensing position and engagement by the feed means 36 without causing an excessive tension or friction which might cause the web to break.

The linkage means 43 comprises two pivotably mounted, upstanding members 45 and 46 and a movable elongate member 47 pivotably connected to the upstanding members 45 and 46 so that upon movement of the upstanding member 45, the elongate member 47 transmits a corresponding movement to the upstanding member 46. The upstanding member 45 comprises a wire bracket pivotably held in a bracket 48 secured to the upstanding central portion 22 of the bottom wall 12. The roller 35 comprising the follower means is rotatably carried on the opposite end thereof and the member 45 is arranged to permit arcuate movement of the follower roller 35 toward any away from the surface of the lower roll 30.

The upstanding member 46 likewise comprises a wire bracket pivotably held in a bracket 50 secured to the upper surface of the plate 17. The roller 44 comprising the transfer means is rotatably carried on the opposite end thereof and the member 46 is arranged to permit arcuate movement of the transfer roller 44 from a position adjacent the feed means 36 to a position forward of the door 14 of the cabinet, which position is assumed when the door 44 is opened as described below. Biasing means are provided in the form of a tension spring 51 connecting the upstanding central portion 22 of the bottom wall 12 of the dispensing cabinet with the linkage means 43 so as to urge the linkage means 43 toward the lower roll 30 of sheet material, that is, toward the rear wall 10 of the cabinet. In this manner, the follower roller 35 is ultimately held in rolling contact with the surface of the lower roll 30 of sheet material as it is unwound. The upstanding member 45 carrying the follower roller 35 in some instances may initially ride in contact with the surface of the lower roll 30 until the diameter of roll 30 becomes small enough to allow the follower means 35 to contact the roll 30 due to the geometry of the cabinet with respect to roll size. However, this has no substantive effect on the operation of the cabinet.

FIG. 2 illustrates the preferred manner in which sheet material is fed into the feed means 43 by the transfer means 44 so as to commence the unwinding of sheet material from the upper roll 28. The linkage means are adjusted to commence the feeding of sheet material from the upper roll 28 when the diameter of the lower roll reached a predetermined minimum. This predetermined minimum may be representative of the roll when the sheet material thereon is depleted or, more preferably, when a predetermined length of sheet material remains thereon to better insure continuity of supply and reliability of transfer. When the diameter of the lower roll 30 reaches the predetermined minimum, as detected by the follower roller 35, the transfer roller 44 shown in FIG. 2 presses the sheet material running from the upper roll 28 into contact with sheet material running from the lower roll 30 and disposed upon the roller 37 of the feed means 36. This causes the sheet material from the upper roll 28 to be crowded into the space between the two rollers 37 and 38 of the feed means 36 and, by frictional contact either with the sheet material from the lower roll 30 or with the surface of roll 37, to be drawn through the nip of the feed means 36. Thereafter, the sheet material from the upper roll 28 is dispensed. If there is any sheet material remaining on the lower roll 30, the two sheets will be dispensed simultaneously for a short period until the lower roll is exhausted. In this manner dispensing continuity is insured. When the sheet material on the lower roll 30 is depleted, the sheet material from the upper roll 28 continues to be dispensed. The term "crowding" has been used to describe the manner in which the sheet material from the second roll is urged into the nip of the feed means 36. The engagement means or prong 34 serves to retain the lead end of the sheet material from the second roll in a position near but spaced from the feed means. When the transfer roller 44 presses the sheet material from the second roll 28 into frictional contact with the surface of roller 37, or into contact with the sheet material from the first roll 30 disposed over roller 37, the sheet material from the second roll 28 is advanced. However, the leading end of the sheet material from upper roll 28 is effectively blocked by the prong 34 and the upstanding member 46. This forces the sheet material from roll 28 to fold and to feed into the feed means 36. Upon being engaged by the feed means 36, the lead end is torn or withdrawn from the prong 34 and the dispensing is commenced. Of course several folds may be formed in the sheet material before it is finally crowded into the nip where it is gripped.

It is preferred that one of the rollers 37 and 38 have a surface with a greater coefficient of friction than the other. This surface may be comprised of rubber or some material having good frictional characteristics so that it frictionally grips the sheet material running in contact therewith under pressure in the nip. Alternatively, the surface may be roughened or otherwise treated as by the adherence thereto of an abrasive, so as to impart increased frictional properties to it. This roller should preferably be the roller 37 in the arrangement in FIGS. 1 and 2 since this is the roller which runs in contact with the original strip of sheet material being fed through feed means 36 when two strips of sheet material are being fed. This insures good contact between the roller 37 with the sheet material being depleted so that it is positively drawn through the nip of the fed means 36. The sheet material being fed from the upper roller 28 may be introduced into the feed means 36 during this period, but after the sheet material from the first roll is depleted and no longer covers the roller 37, the roughened surface of the roller 37 then contacts the sheet material from the second roll and positively draws it into the feed means. Although either of the rollers 37 or 38 may be driven, as by a crank arm (not shown) attached to one end thereof and extending through the side wall 13 of the cabinet, preferably the roller 37 having a surface with a greater coefficient of friction is driven. This will insure that the sheet material from the roll being depleted will be reliably advanced until it no longer covers the frictional surface of roller 37.

A release means is provided on one sidewall 13 of the dispensing cabinet for releasably holding the linkage means in a position of interference with the front door of the cabinet when it is in its closed position. As shown in FIG. 3, the release means comprises a spring detent 52 adapted to engage the elongate member 47 of the linkage means 43 and to hold it in a forward position. The detent 52 provides sufficient holding force to overcome the force of the spring means 51 and to hold the linkage means 43 in a forward position where the follower roller 35 is out of the space generally occupied by the lower roll 30 so that new rolls of sheet material may be conveniently inserted into the cabinet. In the position shown by dotted line in FIG. 1, when the linkage means 43 is engaged by the detent 52, the transfer roller 44 protrudes forwardly of the cabinet beyond the position of the door 14 when in its closed position. In the embodiments shown, the cabinet is designed such that the upper roll 28 may be moved to the position of the lower roll 30 when the upper roll 28 is partially unwound. A new upper or reserve roll 28 may then be inserted into position as the reserve roll. In this manner, a fresh supply of sheet material is always present in the cabinet in the amount of at least one complete roll. The above arrangement insures that the front door 14 of the cabinet, upon being closed, will contact the protruding portion of the linkage means 43 or the transfer roller 44 so as to detach the linkage means 43 from the detent 52. The spring biasing means 51 then pulls the follower roll 35 toward the surface of the roll 30 of sheet material.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the sheet material is unwound as it unwinds forwardly from the top of the roll 30, that is, in a counterclockwise direction. However, in accordance with the invention, with the same arrangement of equipment components, either or both of the rolls 28 and 30 of sheet material may be inserted so that the sheet material unwinds in the opposite direction, that is, in a clockwise direction as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings. Thus, one of the key features of the cabinet of the invention is that it can function reliably regardless of the direction in which the sheet material unwinds from the upper and lower rolls. When this arrangement of the roll 30 is to be utilized, it has been found desirable to include guide means on the rear wall 10 of the cabinet to prevent the roll 30 of sheet material from rising above a predetermined level in the cabinet due to friction between the sheet material of the roll 30 and the rear wall 10 of the cabinet against which the roll 30 is pressed by action of the follower roller 35 on the diametrically opposed side of the roll 30. Such guide means is preferable in the form of a rotatably mounted roller 53 although it may also comprise other friction-reducing means protruding from the rear wall 10 of the cabinet and arranged to engage the surface of the roll 30. Such means prevent the roll 30 from climbing up the rear wall 10 of the cabinet beyond a predetermined point, as shown in FIG. 5.

With the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, the transfer means 44 are not activated until all of the sheet material from roll 30 is expended. At that point, the core of roll 30 drops, allowing the follower roller 35 to move downwardly and causing the transfer roller 44 to introduce the sheet material from upper roll 28 into feed means 43. Thus, with the transfer mechanism of the present invention, it is always certain that the unwinding of the second roll will commence. In addition, the rolls of sheet material can be inserted into the cabinet in either manner without the need to alter the mechanism or the manner of operation of the cabinet.

In view of the above description of the invention and of the drawings, it can be seen that the invention provides a new and improved form of cabinet for sequentially dispensing two rolls of spirally wound sheet material. Furthermore, the invention overcomes some of the serious problems of prior art cabinets; that is, it eliminates the need to modify the rolls of sheet material in order to allow the depletion of the sheet material to be detected during dispensing. Moreover, by the arrangement of components of the dispensing cabinet, the invention eliminates the need to arrange the rolls of sheet material in the cabinet so that they will unwind in a particular direction.

From the above description of the invention, it will be apparent that various modifications in the apparatus described in detail herein may be made within the scope of the invention. For example, other forms of linkage means and feed means might be employed with equal success. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited to the specific details of the apparatus described herein except as may be required by the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In combination in a dispensing cabinet for sequentially dispensing sheet material from first and second rolls of spirally wound sheet material,

a frame having a dispensing opening through which sheet material is to be dispensed, said frame being adapted to hold said first and second rolls of sheet material in spaced-apart and substantially parallel positions,

feed means including two rollers which form a nip through which said sheet material passes prior to being dispensed

follower means adapted to engage the surface of said first roll and to move in response to changes in the diameter of said first roll resulting from unwinding said sheet material therefrom, and

transfer means operably connected to said follower means and adapted to introduce into said feed means an unwound portion of the sheet material running from said second roll in response to movement of said follower means so as to commence the dispensing of sheet material from said second roll,

said follower means and said transfer means being arranged so that the sheet material from said first and second rolls may be unwound in either direction without affecting the operation of said dispensing cabinet.

2. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 1, wherein said dispensing cabinet has a bottom surface and a rear surface, and wherein said first wound roll of sheet material is disposed in a position where it contacts said bottom surface and said rear surface such that when the sheet material is unwound from said roll, the lower surface of said roll moves toward the front of said cabinet, said combination including guide means to prevent said roll from moving upwardly beyond a predetermined point due to frictional contact between the surface of the roll and said rear surface as the sheet material is unwound therefrom.

3. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 2, wherein said guide means comprise a rotatable element disposed in a position spaced apart from said rear surface toward the interior of said cabinet, said element being adapted to contact the surface of said first roll when it moves a sufficient distance above said bottom surface.

4. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 1, including spring biasing means arranged to press one of the rollers of said feed means into contact with the other.

5. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 1, including linkage means interconnecting said follower means with said transfer means, said linkage means comprising two upstanding members disposed in spaced-apart relation and pivotably attached at one of their ends to said frame, a movable elongate member having each of its ends pivotably connected to one of said upstanding members so that upon movement of one upstanding member, said elongate member transmits a corresponding movement to the other upstanding member, said follower means being carried by one of said upstanding members and said transfer means being carried by the other.

6. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 5, wherein a portion of the sheet material running from said second roll is initially disposed between said transfer means and said feed means, and wherein said linkage means are arranged so that upon movement of said follower means to a predetermined point, said transfer means are arranged to crowd the sheet material between said two rollers of said feed means so as to cause the sheet material from said second roll to fold and to be drawn into said feed means.

7. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 6, including means for engaging the leading end of the sheet material running from said second roll so as to promote the formation of a fold in a succeeding portion of the sheet material from said second roll when said transfer means crowd said sheet material.

8. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 5, including spring biasing means operably connected to said follower means and adapted to urge said follower means into engagement with the surface of said first roll during the unwinding of sheet material therefrom.

9. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 8, wherein said cabinet includes a front door, sand said linkage and said transport means are arranged so that a portion thereof protrudes into a position of interference with said front door when it is closed, said cabinet including detent means for releasably holding said linkage means in said protruding position while counteracting the force from said biasing means until said front door is closed, whereby the loading of new rolls of sheet material in said dispensing cabinet is facilitated when the front door is opened, and the linkage is returned to its operative position when the front door is closed.

10. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 1, wherein one of the two rollers of said feed means has a surface having a higher coefficient of friction than does the surface of the other roller.

11. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 10, wherein said roller having a surface with a higher coefficient of friction is adapted to be driven.

12. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 10, wherein said roller having a surface with a higher coefficient of friction is arranged to run in engagement with the sheet material from said first roll when the sheet material from said second roll is introduced into said feed means.

13. The combination in a dispensing cabinet according to claim 10, wherein said second roll of sheet material is disposed relative to said first roll of sheet material and to said feed means such that the sheet material from said second roll runs in contact with the sheet material from said first roll and the surface of said other roller upon actuation of said transfer means by said follower means.

14. In combination in a dispensing cabinet,

two rotatably mounted rollers disposed generally parallel and adjacent to each other so as to form a nip, one of said rollers comprising a feed roller and the other comprising a pressure roller, said feed roller being adapted to be driven, the surface of said feed roller having a higher coefficient of friction than the surface of said pressure roller,

a first sheet material running from a first roll through said nip,

sheet material engagement means disposed near said pressure roller,

a second sheet material running from a second roll of said engagement means, the leading end of said second sheet material being secured to said engagement means, and

a transfer roller disposed on the side of said second sheet material opposite said rollers, said transfer roller being mounted for movement toward said feed roller and adapted to press said second sheet material into contact with said feed roller or said first sheet material moving thereover so as to release said second sheet material from said engagement means and to commence the feeding of said second sheet material through said nip.