Towel dispenser

A towel dispenser for sequentially dispensing a primary roll of paper towel and a reserve roll of paper towel comprising:

• (a) a housing defining an enclosure with an enclosure front portion, enclosure sidewall portions and enclosure upper and lower portions;
• (b) a dispensing nip in the lower portion of said housing defined in part by a drive roller with a first friction surface means and further including a nip roller with a second friction surface means;
• (c) means for rotatably mounting a first roll of paper towel in the upper portion of said enclosure above said dispensing nip and feeding a continuous web of said first roll of paper towel downwardly where said web is gripped between said first and second friction surface means;
• (d) a cradle for supporting a second roll of paper towel in the lower portion of said enclosure behind said dispensing nip, said cradle configured so that a web of said second roll may be fed forwardly to said dispensing nip;
• (e) a lever member coupled to said cradle and mounted for rotation about a fulcrum wherein the cradle is disposed rearwardly with respect to the fulcrum and the lever member extends forwardly of said fulcrum in the lower portion of said dispenser and includes a tucker element, said cradle and said lever member being adapted such that when said cradle supports said second roll of paper towel which has not been substantially depleted, the tucker element is raised above said dispensing nip and when said second roll has been substantially depleted or in the absence of said second roll of paper towel on said cradle, the tucker element advances downwardly toward said dispensing nip in order to introduce paper towel thereto;
• (f) a rotatable driveshaft mounted in a one-way clutch bearing coupled to said drive roller and adapted to impart rotational motion thereto, said one-way clutch bearing having a drive pinion secured thereabout;
• (g) a vertically oriented press bar with an upper press bar portion, as well as a vertically oriented handle having a length greater than its width projecting forwardly from the housing of the dispenser, said handle being mounted with its length extending vertically with respect to the dispenser, said press bar being pivotally mounted about its upper portion at a pivot point for inward and outward rotation with respect to said enclosure and including at its lower portion a rack which engages the pinion coupled to the drive roller wherein said drive roller is adapted to advance one of said paper towel webs through said nip upon pivotal motion of said press bar;
• wherein the press bar has a top and a bottom separated by a distance and the rack is disposed more than about 65% of that distance from the top of the press bar toward the bottom of the press bar;
• and wherein the press bar and the vertically oriented press bar handle are mounted and configured such that the vertically oriented press bar handle defines a forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation with the pivot point upon rotation of the press bar thereabout, the rack, the pinion and the vertically oriented press bar handle remaining generally in said forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation upon inward and outward rotation of the press bar;
• and wherein further the vertically oriented press bar handle and vertically oriented press bar are mounted and configured such that the upper portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the pivot point and the lower portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the rack so that the force required for operation of the dispenser is generally horizontal, lying within the forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation;
• (h) means for biasing said press bar toward said front portion of said dispenser enclosure such that the press bar projects forwardly therefrom in a rest position;
• (i) a dispensing chute located below said dispensing nip with a lower shelf configured to direct the one paper towel web forwardly toward the front portion of said dispenser enclosure;
• and
• (j) a cutting blade disposed below said dispensing nip and above the lower shelf of said dispensing chute.

A dispenser for dispensing a continuous web of sheet material from a roll, the dispenser comprising:

• a housing;
• supports for supporting at least one roll of sheet material within the housing;
• a feed roller for dispensing a length of sheet material from the roll to the user;
• a drive gear to rotate the feed roller;
• a generally vertical press bar, the press bar including a support member with a gear rack as well as a vertically oriented handle having a length greater than its width projecting forwardly from the housing of the dispenser, said handle being mounted with its length extending vertically with respect to the dispenser and being pivotally mounted at a pivot point for swinging about a pivot axis extending through an upper end of the press bar, the press bar being pushed generally into the housing to dispense a length of sheet material, the press bar being connected to a spring to normally bias the press bar to a rest position, the gear rack of the support member of the press bar being positioned, configured and dimensioned to rotate the drive gear as the press bar swings about the pivot axis;
• and
• wherein the press bar has a top and a bottom separated by a distance and the rack is disposed more than about 65% of that distance from the top of the press bar toward the bottom of the press bar;
• and
• wherein the press bar and the vertically oriented press bar handle are mounted and configured such that the vertically oriented press bar handle defines a forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation with the pivot point upon rotation of the press bar thereabout, the rack, the drive gear and the vertically oriented press bar handle remaining generally in said forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation upon inward and outward rotation of the press bar;
• and
• wherein further the vertically oriented press bar handle and vertically oriented press bar are mounted and configured such that the upper portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the pivot point and the lower portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the rack so that the force required for operation of the dispenser is generally horizontal, lying within the forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation.

A dispenser for dispensing a continuous web of sheet material from a roll, the dispenser comprising:

• a housing;
• supports for supporting at least one roll of sheet material within the housing;
• a feed roller which cooperates with a nip roller for dispensing a length of sheet material from the roll to the user through a dispensing nip;
• a drive gear to rotate the feed roller;
• a generally vertical press bar, the press bar including a support member with a gear rack as well as a vertically oriented handle having a length greater than its width projecting forwardly from the housing of the dispenser, said handle being mounted with its length extending vertically with respect to the dispenser and being pivotally mounted at a pivot point for swinging about a pivot axis extending through an upper end of the press bar, the press bar being pushed generally into the housing to dispense a length of sheet material, the press bar being connected to a spring to normally bias the press bar to a rest position, the gear rack of the support member of the press bar being positioned, configured and dimensioned to rotate the drive gear as the press bar swings about the pivot axis;
• wherein the press bar has a top and a bottom separated by a distance and the rack is disposed more than about 65% of that distance from the top of the press bar toward the bottom of the press bar;
• and wherein the press bar and the vertically oriented press bar handle are mounted and configured such that the vertically oriented press bar handle defines a forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation with the pivot point upon rotation of the press bar thereabout, the rack, the drive gear and the vertically oriented press bar handle remaining generally in said forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation upon inward and outward rotation of the press bar;
• and wherein further the vertically oriented press bar handle and vertically oriented press bar are mounted and configured such that the upper portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the pivot point and the lower portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the rack so that the force required for operation of the dispenser is generally horizontal, lying within the forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation;
• a dispensing chute located below said dispensing nip with a lower shelf configured to direct said sheet material forwardly toward a front portion of said dispenser;
• a cutting blade disposed below said dispensing nip and above the lower shelf of said dispensing chute;
• and
• wherein further the dispensing nip is disposed upwardly and forwardly with respect to the cutting blade so that towel extending from the dispensing nip to an outer lip of the dispensing chute undergoes a direction change at the cutting blade, from a rearward direction above the cutting blade to a forward direction below the cutting blade.

A dispenser for dispensing a continuous web of sheet material from a roll, the dispenser comprising:

• a housing;
• supports for supporting at least one roll of sheet material within the housing;
• a feed roller which cooperates with a nip roller for dispensing a length of sheet material from the roll to the user through a dispensing nip;
• a drive gear to rotate the feed roller;
• a generally vertical press bar, the press bar including a support member with a gear rack as well as a vertically oriented handle having a length greater than its width projecting forwardly from the housing of the dispenser, said handle being mounted with its length extending vertically with respect to the dispenser and being pivotally mounted at a pivot point for swinging about a pivot axis extending through an upper end of the press bar, the press bar being pushed generally into the housing to dispense a length of sheet material, the press bar being connected to a spring to normally bias the press bar to a rest position, the gear rack of the support member of the press bar being positioned, configured and dimensioned to rotate the drive gear as the press bar swings about the pivot axis;
• wherein the press bar is coupled to the feed roller by way of a one-way clutch bearing;
• a dispensing chute located below said dispensing nip with a lower shelf configured to direct said sheet material forwardly toward a front portion of said dispenser;
• a cutting blade disposed below said dispensing nip and above the lower shelf of said dispensing chute;
• wherein the lower shelf of the dispensing chute extends forwardly with respect to the cutting blade over a distance such that a line between an outer lip of the lower shelf and the cutting blade makes an angle of at least about 25 degrees with respect to a vertical;
• and
• wherein the dispensing nip is disposed upwardly and forwardly with respect to the cutting blade so that the sheet material extending from the dispensing nip to the outer lip of the dispensing chute undergoes a direction change at the cutting blade, from a rearward direction above the cutting blade to a forward direction below the cutting blade;
• and
• wherein the press bar and the vertically oriented press bar handle are mounted and configured such that the vertically oriented press bar handle defines a forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation with the pivot point upon rotation of the press bar thereabout, the rack, the drive gear and the vertically oriented press bar handle remaining generally in said forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation upon inward and outward rotation of the press bar;
• and
• wherein further the vertically oriented press bar handle and vertically oriented press bar are mounted and configured such that the upper portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the pivot point and the lower portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the rack so that the force required for operation of the dispenser is generally horizontal, lying within the forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation.

In a dispenser for dispensing paper towel including a housing defining an enclosure with an enclosure front portion, enclosure sidewall portions and enclosure upper and lower portions, the improvement comprising:

• (a) a dispensing nip in the lower portion of said housing defined in part by a drive roller with a first friction surface means and further including a nip-defining member with a second friction surface means;
• (b) means for rotatably mounting a roll of paper towel above said dispensing nip and feeding a continuous web of paper towel downwardly whereby said web is gripped between said first and second friction surface means;
• (c) a rotatable driveshaft mounted in a one-way clutch bearing coupled to said drive roller and adapted to impart rotational motion thereto, said one-way clutch bearing having a drive pinion secured thereabout;
• (d) a vertically oriented press bar with an upper press bar portion, as well as a vertically oriented handle having a length greater than its width projecting forwardly from the housing of the dispenser, said handle being mounted with its length extending vertically with respect to the dispenser, said press bar being pivotally mounted about its upper portion at a pivot point for inward and outward rotation with respect to said enclosure and including at its lower portion a rack which engages the pinion coupled to the drive roller wherein said drive roller is adapted to advance said paper towel web through said nip upon pivotal motion of said press bar;
• (e) wherein said vertically oriented press bar is laterally located with respect to the dispensing nip adjacent one of the sidewall portions of the dispenser such that its inward and outward motion with respect to the dispenser does not interfere with paper towel being fed through the dispensing nip of the dispenser;
• and
• wherein the press bar has a top and a bottom separated by a distance and the rack is disposed more than about 65% of that distance from the top of the press bar toward the bottom of the press bar;
• and
• wherein
• (i) the press bar and the vertically oriented press bar handle are mounted and configured such that the vertically oriented press bar handle defines a forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation with the pivot point upon rotation of the press bar thereabout, the rack, the pinion and the vertically oriented press bar handle remaining generally in said forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation upon inward and outward rotation of the press bar;
• and
• (ii) the rack of the press bar is aligned with a lower portion of the vertically oriented press bar handle;
• and
• wherein further the vertically oriented press bar handle and vertically oriented press bar are mounted and configured such that the upper portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the pivot point and the lower portion of the press bar handle is in vertical proximity with the rack so that the force required for operation of the dispenser is generally horizontal, lying within the forwardly projecting substantially vertical plane of rotation;
• (f) means for biasing said press bar toward said front portion of said dispenser enclosure such that the press bar projects forwardly therefrom in a rest position;
• (g) a dispensing chute located below said dispensing nip with a lower shelf configured to direct said web forwardly toward the front portion of said dispenser enclosure;
• and
• (h) a cutting blade disposed below said dispensing nip and above the lower shelf of said dispensing chute.