Sheet dispenser

A dispenser for flexible sheets from a stack of the sheets disposed one on top of another, each sheet having a band of pressure sensitive adhesive coated on one surface adjacent one edge thereof, being free of adhesive coating along a portion adjacent an opposite edge thereof, and having a predetermined width parallel to said edges, and the sheets being stacked with the adhesive coating on each successive sheet disposed along alternate opposite sides of the stack and releasably adhering the sheets together to maintain the sheets in the stack, said dispenser comprising:

• walls having surfaces defining a cavity adapted to receive the stack, said surfaces including
• opposed end surfaces having generally parallel upper ends, said end surfaces being adapted to be engaged by the opposite sides of the stack,
• two friction surface portions extending generally toward each other from the upper ends of said end surfaces, said friction surface portions being generally arcuate and concave about an axis parallel to said upper ends of said end surfaces, and having ends opposite said end surfaces spaced from and aligned with each other, and
• opposed parallel outlet surfaces at the ends of the friction surface portions opposite the end surfaces defining an opening through said walls between said friction surface portions, said opening being generally centered between said end surfaces and having a width along said outlet surfaces at least as great as the width of the sheets, and
• means generally centered on the friction surface portions adapted for arcing the entire stack and for pressing the stack toward the friction surface portions with generally equal pressure at the two friction surface portions to afford positioning the uppermost sheets of the stack along the friction surface portions with the adhesive free portion of the uppermost sheet in the stack projecting through the opening so that by grasping that end portion the uppermost sheet on the stack can be manually pulled through the opening and will carry with it the adhesive free end portion of the sheet beneath it in the stack to which the uppermost sheet is adhered by the adhesive coating, placing that adhesive free end portion in a position where it also may be grasped and pulled to withdraw the next sheet from the stack,
• said friction surface portions and said means for arcing the stack and for pressing the stack being adapted to restrict sliding movement of the adhesively joined end portions of the uppermost sheet and the sheet beneath it between the stack and the adjacent friction surface portion until a predetermined force is applied to pull the uppermost sheet from the stack, which predetermined force is greater then the fore affording pealing separation between the uppermost sheet and the sheet beneath it by pulling only on the uppermost sheet after the uppermost sheet is withdrawn from the dispenser.