US 6,202,956 B1Granted

Dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue from rolls

AssigneeFort James Corporation

InventorsKamala J. Grasso, Jason E. Short, Robert Mervar, John R. Moody, Douglas W. Johnson, Peter D. Johnson

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue alternately from two rolls includes a housing and roll support spindles for supporting the rolls in coaxial spaced relationship relative to the housing. A sliding cover is slidably positioned on the housing. The roll support spindles are mounted on a pivoted support frame and a pivotally mounted engaging member extends from the support frame and is located in the space between adjacent roll ends. The cover includes detents which cooperate with the pivotally mounted tissue roll engaging member to prevent the cover from being moved from one position in which one of the tissue rolls is exposed to a second position in which the other tissue roll is exposed until the one tissue roll is depleted or substantially depleted.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue from rolls of toilet tissue, comprising:

a double-ended housing defining a housing interior and including a first housing member and a second housing member connected to said first housing member and movable relative to said first housing member between an open position for accessing the housing interior and a closed position;
roll support means including first and second roll support spindles for supporting first and second rolls of toilet tissue in a coaxial relationship, with the first roll of toilet tissue located adjacent to one of the ends of said housing, the second roll of toilet tissue located adjacent to the other of the ends of said housing, and adjacent ends of said rolls of toilet tissue defining a space therebetween, each of said roll support spindles including a support shaft and a sleeve rotatably disposed about said support shaft for insertion into a toilet tissue roll;
a cover slidably positioned on said second housing member and selectively slidably movable relative to said housing between a first cover location wherein said first roll of toilet tissue is exposed for manual access and said second roll of toilet tissue is not exposed for manual access and a second cover location wherein said second roll of toilet tissue is exposed for manual access and said first roll of toilet tissue is not exposed for manual access;
and
locking means for locking said cover against slidable movement relative to said second housing member between said first and second cover locations until substantial depletion of one of the rolls of toilet tissue which is exposed for being dispensed, said locking means including a toilet tissue roll end engagement member pivotally mounted on said roll support means at a location between said first and second roll support spindles, dependent from said roll support means, and positioned in the space defined by the adjacent ends of toilet tissue rolls supported by said roll support means, and detents on said cover which are engageable with said toilet tissue roll end engagement member.

2 more elements

A dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue from rolls of toilet tissue, comprising:

a housing in which is defined a housing interior, the housing including a first housing member and a second housing member connected to said first housing member, said second housing member including and opening and being movable relative to said first housing member between an open position for accessing the housing interior and a closed position;
a support frame mounted within the housing interior;
first and second roll support spindles mounted on the support frame and extending in opposite directions from the support frame for supporting respective rolls of toilet tissue so that a space exists between facing ends of the rolls of toilet tissue;
a cover slidably mounted in the opening in the second housing member and selectively slidably movable relative to said second housing member between a first cover location in which the roll of toilet tissue supported on the first roll support spindle is exposed for manual access and the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle is covered to prevent manual access, and a second cover location in which the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle is exposed for manual access and the roll of toilet tissue supported on the first roll support spindle is covered to prevent manual access, said cover being provided with at least one detent;
and
a toilet tissue roll end engagement member pivotally mounted on and extending from said support frame to be positioned in the space between the facing ends of the toilet tissue rolls, said toilet tissue roll end engagement member including a first leg and a second leg, said second leg extending transversely from said first leg, said toilet tissue roll end engagement member being engaged by the detent on the cover when the cover is urged from the first cover location towards the second cover location, said second leg being adapted to engage the facing end of the tissue roll supported on the second roll support spindle when the cover is urged from the first cover location towards the second cover location prior to substantial depletion of the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle to thereby prevent the cover from being moved to the second cover location.

3 more elements

A dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue from rolls of toilet tissue, comprising:

a housing in which is defined a housing interior, the housing including a first housing member adapted to be mounted on a support surface and a second housing member connected to said first housing member and movable relative to said first housing member between an open position for accessing the housing interior and a closed position, said second housing member being provided with an opening bounded by an upper edge, a lower edge and a pair of side edges, said second housing possessing an inner side facing towards the housing interior when the second housing member is in a closed position, the second housing member including a rib located at the inner side of the second housing member, said rib being positioned above the upper edge of the opening and extending between opposite ends of the second housing member;
a support frame mounted within the housing interior;
first and second roll support spindles mounted on the support frame and extending in opposite directions from the support frame for supporting respective rolls of toilet tissue;
a cover slidably mounted within said opening in said second housing member and selectively slidably movable relative to said second housing member between a first cover location in which the roll of toilet tissue supported on the first roll support spindle is exposed for manual access and the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle is covered to prevent manual access, and a second cover location in which the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle is exposed for manual access and the roll of toilet tissue supported on the first roll support spindle is covered to prevent manual access, said cover having an upper side and opposite ends, said cover including at least one housing engaging member located at the upper side of the cover, the at least one housing engaging member is provided with a slot that receives said rib on the inner side of the second housing member.

1 more element

A dispenser for dispensing toilet tissue from rolls of toilet tissue, comprising:

a housing in which is defined a housing interior, the housing including a first housing member adapted to be mounted on a support surface and a second housing member connected to said first housing member and movable relative to said first housing member between an open position for accessing the housing interior and a closed position, said second housing member being provided with an opening bounded by an upper edge, a lower edge and a pair of side edges, said second housing possessing an interior surface facing towards the housing interior when the second housing member is in a closed position, said second housing member including a reinforcement member having opposite ends fixed to the interior surface of the second housing member and an intermediate portion spaced from the interior surface of the second housing member to define a through slot located below the opening in the second housing member, said second housing member including a fixing element that fixes a part of the intermediate portion of the reinforcing member to the interior surface of the second housing member;
a support frame mounted within the housing interior;
first and second roll support spindles mounted on the support frame and extending in opposite directions from the support frame for supporting respective rolls of toilet tissue;
a cover slidably mounted within said opening in said second housing member and selectively slidably movable relative to said second housing member between a first cover location in which the roll of toilet tissue supported on the first roll support spindle is exposed for manual access and the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle is covered to prevent manual access, and a second cover location in which the roll of toilet tissue supported on the second roll support spindle is exposed for manual access and the roll of toilet tissue supported on the first roll support spindle is covered to prevent manual access, said cover having a lower side from which extends a projecting engaging element extending into said through slot.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/262,355Filed 4 Mar 1999 · continuation in part
Priority: 10 Oct 1996
Granted: 20 Mar 2001
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

A47K 10/3836
The web being rolled-up: with roll spindles which are supported at one side
A47K 2010/3206
Dispensers for paper towels or toilet paper: coreless paper rolls
A47K 2010/3253
Dispensers for paper towels or toilet paper: with one or more reserve rolls
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

Application08/728,208Parent of this continuation · filed 10 Oct 1996
Application09/118,547Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 17 Jul 1998
Application09/118,547Parent of this continuation
US 5,813,624 AParent of this continuation
US 6,202,956 B1This patent

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