Waste minimizing carousel-style dispenser
First Claim
1. A dispenser for absorbent web material stored in a roll, the dispenser comprising:
- a carriage rotatable between at least a first orientation and a second orientation, the carriage comprising;
a first roll holder adapted to hold a first roll of absorbent web material in a primary position when the carriage is in the first orientation and in a secondary position when the carriage is in the second orientation; and
a second roll holder adapted to hold a second roll of absorbent web material in the secondary position when the carriage is in the first orientation and in the primary position when the carriage is in the second orientation;
a roll sensor for sensing the amount of absorbent web material remaining on the roll held in the primary position;
a feed mechanism into which absorbent web material from at least one of the two rolls is fed for dispensation; and
a transfer mechanism adapted to feed absorbent web material from the roll held in the secondary position into the feed mechanism when the roll sensor senses that the absorbent web material on the roll held in the primary position is depleted to less than a first predetermined diameter.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dispenser for rolled absorbent web material is disclosed. A carriage is rotatable between at least two orientations. The carriage includes a first roll holder, which holds a first roll of absorbent web material in a primary position when the carriage is in a first orientation and in a secondary position when the carriage is in a second orientation, and a second roll holder, which holds a second roll of absorbent web material in the secondary position when the carriage is in the first orientation and in the primary position when the carriage is in the second orientation. A roll sensor senses the amount of absorbent web material remaining on the roll in the primary position. A feed mechanism dispenses absorbent web material from at least one of the rolls. A transfer mechanism feeds absorbent web material from the roll in the secondary position into the feed mechanism when the absorbent web material on the roll in the primary position is nearly depleted.
-
Citations
45 Claims
-
1. A dispenser for absorbent web material stored in a roll, the dispenser comprising:
-
a carriage rotatable between at least a first orientation and a second orientation, the carriage comprising;
a first roll holder adapted to hold a first roll of absorbent web material in a primary position when the carriage is in the first orientation and in a secondary position when the carriage is in the second orientation; and
a second roll holder adapted to hold a second roll of absorbent web material in the secondary position when the carriage is in the first orientation and in the primary position when the carriage is in the second orientation;
a roll sensor for sensing the amount of absorbent web material remaining on the roll held in the primary position;
a feed mechanism into which absorbent web material from at least one of the two rolls is fed for dispensation; and
a transfer mechanism adapted to feed absorbent web material from the roll held in the secondary position into the feed mechanism when the roll sensor senses that the absorbent web material on the roll held in the primary position is depleted to less than a first predetermined diameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A dispenser for absorbent web material stored in a roll, the dispenser comprising:
-
a rotatable carriage comprising;
a first roll holder adapted to hold a first roll of absorbent web material; and
a second roll holder adapted to hold a second roll of absorbent web material;
wherein the carriage is rotatable between at least a first rotation orientation, in which the first roll holder holds the first roll in a primary position and the second roll holder holds the second roll in a secondary position, and a second rotation orientation, in which the first roll holder holds the first roll in the secondary position and the second roll holder holds the second roll in the primary position;
a roll sensor for sensing the amount of absorbent web material remaining on the roll held in the primary position;
a feed mechanism into which absorbent web material from at least one of the two rolls is fed for dispensation; and
a transfer mechanism, wherein when the roll sensor senses that the absorbent web material on the roll held in the primary position is depleted to less than a first predetermined diameter, the transfer mechanism feeds absorbent web material from the roll held in the secondary position into the feed mechanism;
wherein the carriage is rotatable to move the roll held in the secondary position into the primary position when absorbent web material from the roll held in the secondary position is fed into the feed mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
-
35. A paper dispenser comprising:
-
a housing;
a carriage disposed within the housing, the carriage being rotatable about a central axis and comprising;
a first roll holder adapted to hold a first roll of paper;
a second roll holder adapted to hold a second roll of paper, the second roll holder being disposed equidistant from the central axis and on an opposite side of the central axis from the first roll holder; and
a radially aligned lever arm adapted to engage a catch disposed on the housing to maintain the carriage in one of two orientations, wherein in the first orientation, the first roll holder holds the first roll in a primary position and the second roll holder holds the second roll in a secondary position, and in the second orientation the first roll holder holds the first roll in the secondary position and the second roll holder holds the second roll in the primary position, and wherein in each orientation the roll held in the secondary position is offset from vertical alignment with the roll in the primary position by approximately 5°
;
a feed mechanism disposed within the housing, wherein paper from at least one of the two rolls is fed into the feed mechanism for dispensation; and
a transfer mechanism disposed within the housing, the transfer mechanism comprising a roll sensor adapted to sense the amount of paper remaining on the roll held in the primary position, wherein when the roll sensor senses that the paper on the roll held in the primary position is depleted to less than a first predetermined diameter, the transfer mechanism feeds paper from the roll held in the secondary position into the feed mechanism, wherein the carriage is rotatable to move the roll held in the secondary position into the primary position when the roll held in the primary position is exhausted and when the roll held in the secondary position is depleted to less than a second predetermined diameter.
-
-
36. A method of dispensing absorbent web material stored in a roll, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a rotatable carriage in a first orientation, the rotatable carriage comprising a first roll holder adapted to hold a first roll of absorbent web material and a second roll holder adapted to hold a second roll of absorbent web material, wherein in the first orientation the first roll is held in a primary position and the second roll is held in a secondary position;
feeding absorbent web material from the first roll into a feed mechanism for dispensation;
sensing when absorbent web material on the first roll is depleted to less than a predetermined diameter; and
automatically feeding the absorbent web material from the second roll into the feed mechanism when the absorbent web material on the first roll is depleted to less than a first predetermined diameter. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. A method of dispensing absorbent web material stored in a roll, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a rotatable carriage in a first orientation, the rotatable carriage comprising a first roll holder adapted to hold a first roll of absorbent web material and a second roll holder adapted to hold a second roll of absorbent web material, wherein in the first orientation the first roll is held in a primary position and the second roll is held in a secondary position;
feeding absorbent web material from the first roll into a feed mechanism for dispensation;
feeding the absorbent web material from the second roll into a transfer mechanism;
sensing when absorbent web material on the first roll is depleted to less than a predetermined diameter;
activating the transfer mechanism to automatically feed the absorbent web material from the second roll into the feed mechanism when the absorbent web material on the first roll is depleted to less than a predetermined diameter such that absorbent web material from both rolls is dispensed;
rotating the carriage to a second orientation when the absorbent web material on the first roll is exhausted, wherein in the second orientation the second roll is held in the primary position; and
placing a third roll of absorbent web material in the first roll holder. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
-
Specification