Horizontally oriented paper product dispenser and related methods

A method for loading a stack of individual paper units into a dispenser including a casing and a drawer configured for sliding movement relative to the casing, the stack having a back face, a front face disposed opposite the back face, and a plurality of side faces each defined by a plurality of side edges of the paper units of the stack, the method comprising:

• inwardly pushing on a pair of oppositely disposed end portions of respective lateral walls of the casing to release a drawer of the dispenser for sliding movement of the drawer relative to the casing, the respective lateral walls of the casing each having a respective hook and the drawer including first and second, oppositely disposed sidewalls, a bottom wall, and an arcuate front wall having a dispensing aperture and a pair of locking tabs cooperating respectively with the hooks so as to release the drawer when the respective hooks are disengaged from the pair of locking tabs upon inwardly pushing on the end portions of the respective lateral walls of the casing, the bottom wall of the drawer extending between the first and second sidewalls of the drawer, the sidewalls of the drawer defining an open end of the drawer opposite the bottom wall and, jointly with the bottom wall and arcuate front wall defining a storage volume of the drawer, wherein the oppositely disposed sidewalls of the drawer are positioned inwardly of the respective hooks;
• outwardly sliding the drawer relative to the casing to thereby expose the first and second sidewalls and bottom wall of the drawer;
• inserting the stack into the storage volume of the drawer through the open end of the drawer such that one of the side faces of the first stack rests on the bottom wall of the drawer;
• longitudinally supporting the stack with inwardly protruding portions of one or both of the sidewalls of the drawer to thereby hinder pivotal movement of paper units of the stack in a direction away from the arcuate front wall of the drawer;
• inwardly sliding the drawer relative to the casing to cause a substantially flat paper-engaging surface of a platen of the dispenser to engage the back surface of the stack and exert an outwardly-directed force against the stack toward the arcuate front wall;
• maintaining the substantially flat paper-engaging surface of the platen in a substantially constant oblique orientation relative to the bottom wall of the drawer, the oblique orientation being substantially the same as an orientation of a plane circumscribing respective top and bottom junctures of the arcuate front wall with the sidewalls, said plane being also oblique relative to the bottom wall of the drawer;
• and
• extending a portion of an individual paper unit from the front face of the stack through the dispensing aperture of the arcuate front wall of the drawer to thereby dispense that individual paper unit;
• wherein:
• the dispenser includes an arcuate outer surface disposed opposite the arcuate front wall, the arcuate outer surface having a radius of curvature of at least about 350 degrees and shaped so as to cause the dispenser to wobble if the dispenser is stood on the arcuate outer surface.