Mechanical sheet product dispenser

A spring assembly for a dispenser for dispensing sheet product, wherein the dispenser includes a housing that defines an interior configured to accommodate at least one source of sheet product, wherein the housing further defines an outlet through which sheet product is dispensed, wherein the dispenser includes a first roller that is rotatable and disposed in the housing, wherein a portion of the sheet product is designed to be in contact with the first roller, wherein the dispenser includes a knife drum that is rotatable and configured to cooperate with the first roller to dispense the sheet product, wherein the knife drum comprises a knife configured to cut the sheet product into individual sheets, wherein the spring assembly comprises:

• a crank arm;
• a floater link;
• a rocker link;
• a first torsion spring being configured to be disposed about a pivot point on the housing that defines a rotatable connection between the housing and the rocker link;
• and
• a second torsion spring being disposed about a rotatable connection point between the rocker link and the floater link,
• wherein the spring assembly is configured to attach to the housing and bias the knife drum of the dispenser during rotation of the knife drum toward a predetermined position, and
• wherein the first torsion spring and the second torsion spring are each configured to charge and then discharge when the knife drum rotates in a feed direction in response to a user pulling on a free end of the sheet product, and wherein the discharge of the first torsion spring and second torsion spring causes the knife drum to rotate to the predetermined position.

A dispenser for dispensing sheet product, the dispenser comprising:

• a housing that defines an interior configured to accommodate at least one source of sheet product, wherein the housing further defines an outlet through which sheet product is dispensed;
• a first roller that is rotatable and disposed in the housing, wherein a portion of the sheet product is designed to be in contact with the first roller;
• a knife drum that is rotatable and configured to cooperate with the first roller to dispense the sheet product, wherein the knife drum comprises a knife configured to cut the sheet product into individual sheets;
• and
• a spring assembly configured to bias the knife drum during rotation of the knife drum toward a predetermined position, wherein the spring assembly comprises a crank arm, a floater link, a rocker link, and at least one biasing element, wherein the at comprises a first torsion spring and a second torsion spring, the first torsion spring being disposed about a pivot point on the housing that defines a rotatable connection between the housing and the rocker link and the second torsion spring being disposed about a rotatable connection point between the rocker link and the floater link, wherein the first torsion spring is operably coupled to the housing and the rocker link, wherein a first arm of the second torsion spring is attached to the rocker link and a second arm of the second torsion spring is attached to the floater link;
• and wherein the first torsion spring and the second torsion spring are each configured to charge and then discharge when the knife drum rotates in a feed direction in response to a user pulling on a free end of the sheet product, and wherein the discharge of the first torsion spring and second torsion spring causes the knife drum to rotate to the predetermined position.