US 10,441,116 B2Granted

Automatic towel dispenser

AssigneeGPCP IP Holdings LLC

InventorsWilliam Bryant Troutman, William Bryant Troutman, II

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A towel dispenser includes a housing for receiving toweling. The housing includes a main body; a loading door that is configured to rotate relative to the main body between a closed position and an open position; and a guide system that includes a first roller attached to the main body and a second roller attached to the loading door. The towel dispenser may include a motor for driving dispensing of the toweling from the housing and an associated sensor. The towel dispenser can be mounted to an underside of a cabinet. In an aspect, the front wall of the main body and a lip of the loading door collectively define a gap to which the guiding system guides the toweling and through which towels are dispensed when the loading door is in the closed position.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A sheet material dispenser comprising:

a housing defining a top and configured to be mounted to hang down from underneath a cabinet, wherein the housing comprises:
a main body comprising a main body roller;
a loading door movable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the loading door comprises a loading door roller, wherein the loading door is configured to rotate downwardly from the main body when the sheet material dispenser is installed underneath the cabinet;
and
a cavity formed between the loading door and the main body, wherein the cavity is sized to house a roll of sheet material therein, wherein, in an instance in which the loading door is in the open position, the loading door roller is spaced apart from the main body roller and an opening is formed, wherein the opening is sized to enable a user to insert the roll of sheet material into a cavity portion of the loading door and position a leading portion of the roll of sheet material between the spaced apart loading door roller and main body roller, wherein, in an instance in which the roll of sheet material is within the cavity portion of the loading door and the leading portion of the roll of sheet material is positioned between the loading door roller and the main body roller, movement of the loading door to the closed position causes the roll of sheet material to be installed in the sheet material dispenser and ready for dispensing with the leading portion of the roll of sheet material sandwiched between the loading door roller and the main body roller.

2 more elements

A sheet material dispenser comprising:

a housing comprising:
a main body comprising a main body roller;
a loading door movable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the loading door is configured to move downwardly from the main body when the sheet material dispenser is mounted;
and
a cavity formed between the loading door and the main body, wherein the cavity is sized to house a roll of sheet material therein, wherein, in an instance in which the loading door is in the open position, the loading door is spaced apart from the main body roller and an opening is formed, wherein the opening is sized to enable a user to insert the roll of sheet material into a cavity portion defined by the loading door and position a leading portion of the roll of sheet material between the spaced apart loading door and main body roller, wherein, in an instance in which the roll of sheet material is within the cavity portion and the leading portion of the roll of sheet material is positioned between the loading door and the main body roller, movement of the loading door to the closed position causes the roll of sheet material to be installed in the sheet material dispenser and ready for dispensing with the leading portion of the roll of sheet material sandwiched between the loading door and the main body roller;
a motor configured to operate the main body roller to cause the leading portion of the roll of sheet material to dispense from the sheet material dispenser;
and
a proximity sensor that is configured to sense an object and, in response, generate a signal to cause the motor to operate to cause dispensing from the roll of sheet material.

5 more elements

A sheet material dispenser comprising:

a main body defining an internal surface comprising a drive roller disposed thereon;
a loading door movable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the loading door is configured to rotate downwardly from the main body when the sheet material dispenser is mounted;
and
a cavity formed between the loading door and the main body, wherein the cavity is sized to house a roll of sheet material therein, wherein, in an instance in which the loading door is in the open position, the loading door is spaced apart from the drive roller and an opening is formed, wherein the opening is sized to enable a user to insert the roll of sheet material into the loading door and position a leading portion of the roll of sheet material between the spaced apart loading door and the drive roller, wherein, in an instance in which the roll of sheet material is within the loading door and the leading portion of the roll of sheet material is positioned between the loading door and the drive roller, movement of the loading door to the closed position causes the roll of sheet material to be installed in the sheet material dispenser and ready for dispensing with the leading portion of the roll of sheet material sandwiched between the loading door and the main body roller,
wherein the loading door defines an internal curved surface that corresponds to curvature of an outer circumference of the roll of sheet material, wherein the internal curved surface forms a portion of the cavity.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/003,188Filed 8 Jun 2018 · continuation
Priority: 12 Sep 2007
Published: US 2018/0289224 A111 Oct 2018
Granted: 15 Oct 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

A47K 10/36
Dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means: with mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices
A47K 10/3612
The cutting devices being motor driven: with drive and pinch rollers
A47K 2010/3668
With mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices: detection of the presence of a user
A47K 2010/3681
With mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices: characterised by the way a new paper roll is loaded in the dispenser

Family

Application11/854,193Parent of this continuation · filed 12 Sep 2007
Application12/779,227Parent of this continuation · filed 13 May 2010
US 7,887,005 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 15 Feb 2011
Application13/337,286Parent of this continuation · filed 26 Dec 2011
US 8,083,170 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 27 Dec 2011
Application13/584,683Parent of this continuation · filed 13 Aug 2012
US 8,561,933 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 13 Aug 2012
US 8,240,594 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 14 Aug 2012
Application14/035,938Parent of this continuation · filed 24 Sep 2013
Application15/064,573Parent of this continuation · filed 8 Mar 2016
US 9,282,855 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 15 Mar 2016
US 2018/0289224 A1Pre-grant publication · published 11 Oct 2018
US 2009/0065628 A1Published application
US 2010/0219283 A1Published application
US 2012/0104141 A1Published application
US 2012/0305696 A1Published application
US 2014/0021286 A1Published application
US 2016/0287036 A1Published application
US 10,441,116 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

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