Paper towel dispenser apparatus

Paper towel dispenser apparatus for dispensing paper toweling from a roll of paper toweling responsive to a pulling force being applied to said toweling, said apparatus comprising, in combination:

• a housing;
• a roll support operatively associated with said housing for rotatably supporting the roll of paper toweling;
• a rotatable toweling support roller within said housing spaced from said roll support for receiving toweling from the roll of paper toweling and supporting the toweling, said toweling support roller having a cylindrically-shaped outer peripheral portion having an external surface and being rotatable in a predetermined direction of rotation when a manual pulling force is applied to toweling supported thereby;
• a cutter blade located at the cylindrically-shaped outer peripheral portion and having a cutting edge, said cutter blade being pivotally movable between a first condition wherein said cutter blade does not project substantially outwardly from the external surface of said cylindrically-shaped outer peripheral portion and a second condition wherein said cutter blade projects outwardly from the external surface of said cylindrically-shaped outer peripheral portion with the cutting edge thereof spaced from the external surface of said cylindrically-shaped outer peripheral portion;
• blade actuator means for pivoting said cutter blade between said first and second conditions responsive to rotation of said toweling support roller due to the manual pulling force being applied to said toweling at a location externally of said housing and tensioning of said toweling, the cutting edge of the cutter blade when said cutter blade is in said second condition engaging toweling on the toweling support roller during rotation of the toweling support roller to sever the toweling to create a towel sheet severed from the remainder of said paper toweling due to said manual pulling force and tensioning of said toweling between the cutting edge of the cutter blade and the location on said toweling where the pulling force is applied, and said toweling support roller being rotatable after severing of said toweling to position a lead end of the remainder of said toweling for subsequent manual pulling;
• and
• a damping structure including at least one damping element engaging a portion of said toweling between said roll of paper toweling and said toweling support roller to dampen forces applied to said roll of paper toweling resulting from taking up of toweling slack between said roll of paper toweling and said toweling support roller caused by manual pulling of the remainder of said toweling at a location externally of said housing, said at least one damping element comprising a rotatable damping roller along the path of movement of said toweling displaceably mounted relative to said housing, said roll of paper toweling and said toweling support roller, said rotatable damping roller engageable with and displaceable by said portion of the toweling extending between said roll of paper toweling and said toweling support roller to move away from said toweling support roller when the remainder of said toweling is manually pulled and the portion of the toweling extending between said roll of paper toweling and said toweling support roller changes from a slack condition to a taut condition, the rotatable damping roller maintaining the portion of the toweling extending between said roll of paper toweling and said toweling support roller in taut condition at least until said toweling is severed by said cutter blade.