Paper towel dispensing systems
AssigneeDispensing Dynamics International
InventorsRichard Lalau, Damir Vallener, Lockland Corley, Andrew Jackman, Alex Trampolski, Matthew Friesen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Paper towel dispenser apparatus and method wherein one or more targets are connected to a rotatable toweling support roller. A sensor senses capacitance changes caused by the rotating roller and the one or more targets and sends signals to a controller to control rotation of the roller.
Claims26
Paper towel dispenser apparatus for dispensing paper toweling from a roll of paper toweling, said apparatus comprising, in combination:
- a housing;
- a roll support within said housing for supporting a roll of paper toweling;
- a rotatable toweling support roller within said housing for receiving paper toweling from the roll of paper toweling and transporting said paper toweling;
- an electric motor operatively associated with said toweling support roller for rotating said toweling support roller;
- at least one target operatively associated with said rotatable toweling support roller and movable responsive to rotation of said rotatable toweling support roller by said electric motor;
- capacitance sensor structure operatively associated with said electric motor;
- and
- a controller for receiving signals from said capacitance sensor structure for controlling rotation of said rotatable toweling support roller by said electric motor responsive to capacitance changes caused by movement of said at least one target sensed by said capacitance sensor structure.
A method of dispensing paper toweling from a roll of paper toweling from dispenser apparatus including a housing, a roll support within said housing, a rotatable toweling support roller within said housing and an electric motor for rotating said toweling support roller, said method comprising the steps of:
- operatively connecting at least one target to said rotatable toweling support roller;
- while toweling from said roll is located on said rotatable toweling support roller, employing said electric motor to rotate said toweling support roller and said at least one target to transport said paper toweling;
- employing sensor structure operatively associated with said electric motor to sense capacitance changes caused by movement of said at least one target;
- directing signals from said sensor structure representative of the capacitance changes sensed by said sensor structure and representative of target movement to a controller;
- and
- employing said controller to control rotational movement of said rotatable toweling support roller responsive to the signals received by said controller from said sensor structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.