Towel dispenser with improved drive roll and improved dispensing chute
First Claim
1. In a dispenser for dispensing rolls of paper towel including means for rotatably mounting the roll, a feed nip including a segmented drive roll with a plurality of drive surfaces and a nip roll adapted to cooperate therewith to advance the towel to a dispensing chute, an improved drive roll having an elongate axis and a plurality of drive segments defining drive surfaces disposed along its length of generally equal radius with respect to the elongate axis of the roll, as well as a plurality of guide disks interposed between adjacent drive segments configured to alleviate wrinkling as the towel is dispensed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a dispenser for dispensing rolls of paper towel including means for rotatably mounting the roll, a feed nip including a segmented drive roll with a plurality of drive surfaces and a nip roll adapted to cooperate therewith to advance the towel to a dispensing chute, an improved drive roll having an elongate axis and a plurality of drive segments defining drive surfaces disposed along its length of generally equal radius with respect to the elongate axis of the roll, as well as a plurality of guide disks interposed between adjacent drive segments configured to alleviate wrinkling as the towel is dispensed. Further improvements include a textured delivery chute and a method for dispensing a partially depleted roll of towel together with a fresh roll.
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Citations
20 Claims
- 1. In a dispenser for dispensing rolls of paper towel including means for rotatably mounting the roll, a feed nip including a segmented drive roll with a plurality of drive surfaces and a nip roll adapted to cooperate therewith to advance the towel to a dispensing chute, an improved drive roll having an elongate axis and a plurality of drive segments defining drive surfaces disposed along its length of generally equal radius with respect to the elongate axis of the roll, as well as a plurality of guide disks interposed between adjacent drive segments configured to alleviate wrinkling as the towel is dispensed.
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11. A dispenser for dispensing rolls of paper towel comprising:
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(a) a housing;
(b) means for rotatably mounting rolls of paper towel in the housing;
(c) a feed nip including a drive roll and a nip roll adapted to cooperate to advance the towel to a dispensing chute;
(d) a cutter bar disposed between the feed nip and the dispensing chute; and
(e) wherein the dispensing chute is provided with a textured delivery tray surface configured to guide the dispensed towel forward toward a dispensing aperture. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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- 16. In a towel dispenser for dispensing rolls of paper towel of the class including a housing, means for rotating mounting the roll within the housing, drive means for advancing the towel to a dispensing chute and a cutter bar located between the drive means and a dispensing chute, the improvement comprising providing the delivery chute with a textured delivery tray surface configured to guide dispensed towel forward over the cutter bar to a dispensing aperture, wherein the textured delivery tray surface has a topography free from projections other than the texture provided thereto.
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18. A method of dispensing paper towel from a primary feed roll and a partially depleted stub roll comprising:
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(a) providing a towel dispenser with housing, an elevated mounting rack for rotatably mounting a primary feed towel roll, a stub roll cavity below the elevated towel mounting rack and drive means for advancing paper towel from the rolls to a dispensing chute, the drive means consisting of;
a feed nip with (i) a drive roll and (ii) a nip roll as well as (iii) means for rotating the drive and nip rolls;
(b) rotatably mounting a primary feed paper towel roll on the elevated mounting rack;
(c) concurrently with step (b), disposing a partially depleted stub roll in the stub roll cavity below the primary feed roll;
(d) concurrently with steps (b) and (c), providing towel from both the primary feed roll and the stub roll into the feed nip such that towel from both the primary feed roll and the stub roll are advanced when the drive and nip rolls are rotated in a dispensing direction; and
(e) simultaneously dispensing towel from both the primary feed roll and the stub roll through the feed nip. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification