Dispenser for sheet material
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A dispenser comprising:
- a support for a roll of web material;
a drive roller cooperating with an idler roller to feed web material supported by said roll support;
a mouth through which the web material is dispensed;
a motor for selectively driving said drive roller to feed a predetermined amount of web material through said mouth; and
a sensor generating a sensing field for selectively activating said motor in response to an incursion into said sensing field, wherein said sensor comprises an infrared emitter and receiver and wherein said sensor has two states, a quiescent state and an active state, wherein in the quiescent state the sensor pulsates at a first non-zero frequency and in the active state the sensor pulsates at a second non-zero frequency that is at a faster rate than the first non-zero frequency.
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Abstract
The present invention is a dispenser that, in one embodiment, includes a support for a roll of web material, a drive roller cooperating with an idler roller to feed web material supported by the roll support, and a mouth through which the web material is dispensed which has a floor but not a roof such that the web material does not jam when dispensed through the mouth. In another embodiment, the mouth is slot shaped. In various embodiments of the invention with either a slot shaped mouth or a wide mouth without a roof, a sensor is provided for selectively activating a drive motor in response to an incursion into a sensing field, wherein the sensor comprises an infrared emitter and receiver.
81 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A dispenser comprising:
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a support for a roll of web material; a drive roller cooperating with an idler roller to feed web material supported by said roll support; a mouth through which the web material is dispensed; a motor for selectively driving said drive roller to feed a predetermined amount of web material through said mouth; and a sensor generating a sensing field for selectively activating said motor in response to an incursion into said sensing field, wherein said sensor comprises an infrared emitter and receiver and wherein said sensor has two states, a quiescent state and an active state, wherein in the quiescent state the sensor pulsates at a first non-zero frequency and in the active state the sensor pulsates at a second non-zero frequency that is at a faster rate than the first non-zero frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A dispenser comprising:
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a support for a roll of web material; a drive roller cooperating with an idler roller to feed web material supported by said roll support; a mouth through which the web material is dispensed; a motor for selectively driving said drive roller to feed a predetermined amount of web material through said mouth; and a sensor generating a generally conical shaped sensing field for selectively activating said motor in response to an incursion into said sensing field, wherein said sensor comprises an infrared emitter and receiver, and wherein the sensor is pulsed at a first non-zero pulse rate when an object is not detected within the sensing field and is pulsed at a second non-zero pulse rate when an object is detected within the sensing field, wherein the second non-zero pulse rate is at a faster frequency than the first non-zero pulse rate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A dispenser comprising:
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a support for a roll of web material; a drive roller cooperating with an idler roller to feed web material supported by said roll support; a mouth through which the web material is dispensed; a motor for selectively driving said drive roller to feed a predetermined amount of web material through said mouth; and a sensor generating a sensing field for selectively activating said motor in response to an incursion into said sensing field, wherein said sensor comprises an infrared emitter and receiver, and wherein said sensor is operable in a quiescent state in which the sensor senses for an object in the sensing field at a first sensing rate and is operable in an active state in which the sensor senses for an object in the sensing field at a second sensing rate faster than the first sensing rate, and wherein the sensor is switched from operating in the quiescent state to the active state upon detection of an object in the sensing field and stays in the active state until an object is no longer detected in the sensing field. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification