Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
8~374
1 E`:[ELD OF Tll INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dispenser for
dispensing serviettes and the like.
BACKG~OUND OF THE INVENTION
There are presently available, man~ different
types of serviette dispensers which are used in restaurants
directly at the serving counter or at each of the individual
tables. The bulk of these disperlsers are often awkward to
load. A common example of à serviette dispenser which is
awkward to work with is one which comprises an inner unit
housed within an outer casing. The outer casing rather
than the inner unit is provided with a pusher pla-te which
moves forwardly, through the open rear end of the inner
unit. As the inner unit is removed from the casing, the
pusher plate moves to the front of the casing. In order to
reload, the serviettes are placed in the open ended inner
unit and must be manually held in position while the inner
unit is fitted back into the casing. ~t the same time,
the spring loaded pusher plate must be pushed to the rear
of the casing to permit insertion of the inner unit. One
person is usually assigned the job of loading these dis-
pensers and as will be appreciated from the above, the load-
ing job is very difficult for that one person.
Other types of dispensing units have been devel-
oped in which the pusher plate is fitted in the inner uni-t
but is opera-ted by a casing con-trolled spring mechanism
which extends from the casing in-to the inner unit after
which the pusher plate is fitted into position. ~ccording
to this arrangement, the pusher plate must be removed from
the inner unit in order to allow its withdrawal from, the
1 . casing. The inner unit ls then loaded and the pusher plate
must be refitted back into the inner unit in order to rein-
sert the inner unit into the casing. Again, loading of this
type of unit is ex-tremely awkward for one person.
A further difficulty according to the prior art
arrangements described above, is that the inner unit can not
be used separately from the casing.because the pusher plate
and/or the mechanism for operating the pusher plate is
provided in the casing rather than directly in the inner unit.
This restricts the type of usage for the prior art dispensers
and at the same time, increases cost for replacement parts.
The present invention provides a dispenser for
dispensing serviettes and the like, which overcomes these
drawbacks of the prior art arrangements~ The present inven-
tion dispenser comprises an open topped full drawer having
a forward dispensing opening and a dispensing mechanlsm
contained directly within the drawer. As such, the drawer
is usable either in conjunction with an outer shroud or
independently of the shroud. The dispensina mechanism it-
self, comprises a pusher member which is spring loaded tomove toward the dispensing opening of the drawer and guide
means in the drawer for guiding the pusher member as it
moves in the drawer.
As a result of the provision of the dispensing
mechanism directly within the drawer, the drawer is, as
mentioned above, operational independently of the shroud.
However, a second feature resulting from the dispensing
mechanism arrangement is that the pusher member can be lo-
cated in the drawer in a loading position which leaves one
of the attendantls hands free, for loading of the serviettes
- 2 -
~39~37~
into the drawer. Once the serviettes have been loaded,
the pusher member is then released from the loading position
to urge the serviettes or whatever other articles are dispen-
sed from the-dispense:r toward the dispensing opening. The
pressure applied upon the serviettes by the pusher maintains
them in the loaded position, leaving both hands free to locate
the dispensing drawer where it is desired, i.e., in its shroud
if necessary.
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE DRAWINGS
lQ The above as well as other advantages and features
of the present invention will be descrlbed in greater detail,
according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention
wherein:
Figure l is a perspective view of a dispenser accord-
ing to a preferred arrangement of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser accord-
ing to Figure 1 with the dispenser drawer removed from its casing.
Figure 3 is a top view of the dispenser shown in Figure
1 wlth the top of the shroud removed to view the internal arrange-
ment.
Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4
of Figure 3, and showing the loadin~ of serviettes into the
dispenser drawer with the shxoud shown in dotted lines where it
would surround the dispensing drawer after loading.
Figure 5 is a rear view of the dispensing arrangement
shown in Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a perspective view looking down on an
unloaded dispensing drawer with the pusher member releaseably
secured in the loading position according to a preferred
arrangement of the present arrangement.
Figure 7 is a perspective view looking down on
--3--
7~
1 the rear of a pusher member according to -the arrangemen-t
shown in Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a front perspective view of -the dispen-
ser shown in Figure 1 when empty and with the pusher plate
pulled back away from the dispensing opening.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ~CCORDING TO THE
p FFERRED EMBODI~IENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Figure l shows one embodimen-t of the invention in
which a dispensing drawer 3 is housed within an outer shroud
1. Figure 2 shows the drawer removed from the shroud which
is open at its forward end 2. Drawer 3 has an open top 9
and a forward dispensing opening 11. The drawer is addition-
ally provided with a rear endwall 13 and a pair of upstanding
sidewalls 15, as shown in Figure 6.
Shroud 1 also has a rear end wall indicated at 5
in Figure 5. End wall 5 is provlded with a hook receiving
catch 8 and an access opening 7 while the drawer is provided
with a spring loaded hook member 17. -When the drawer is
fitted into the shroud as shown in Figure 1, hook 17 auto-
matically locks onto catch 8. In order to remove the drawer20
from the casing, hook 17 is released through opening 7 and
the drawer is slid outwardly. It should be noted that open-
ing 7 is large enough to permit quick and easy access to
clip 17 through the back of the shroud.
Drawer 3 is usable totally independently of shroud
1 and as such, may be installed directly into a counter or
the llke, either in the horizontal position shown in the
figures or in a vertical position. It should be noted that
due to the provision of rear endwall 13 the serviettes will
not fall out of the drawer when in the vertical position.
l Furthermore, the counter may be provided with a clip receiv-
ing opening remote from the customer side of the counter
to prevent any tampering -to the dispensing drawer and at
the same time, to allow quick and easy withdrawal of the
drawer from the counter by an au-thorized attendant.
Provided interiorly of the dispensing drawer and
totally independently of the shroud, is a dispensing mechan-
ism comprising a pusher plate l9, a housing portion 21,
extending rearwardly from the pusher plate as best shown in
Figure 7; a pair of guide tracks 23 secured to -the sidewalls ;
of the drawer and a pair of coil springs 25 secured within
the housing portion and uncoiling through the open sides 22
of housing 21.
The coil springs are set up to urge the pusher
member toward the dispensing opening by securing the free
end of each spring to the drawer wall adjacent the dispens-
ing opening. Therefore, as the pusher member is moved rear-
wardly in the drawe~ the coil springs uncoil by virtue o~
their connection to the front of the drawer. The memory
of the springs urges them to recoil which pulls the pusher
plate and the housing back towards the front of the drawer.
The pusher assembly is guided by trac]cs 23 as it
slides in the drawer. The guide tracks are located approx-
imately centrally of the drawer walls while housing portion
21, which extends completely across the back of the pusher
plate, is positioned approximately centrally of the pusher
mechanism. The central loca-tion of the guide tracks and
pusher housing as well as the substantial horizontal ex-
tension of the housing assures a smooth even sliding action
3~ with essentially no binding or the pusher plate.
~887~
1 ~ Furthermore, springs 25 uncoil direc-tly in the guide tracks,
which also enhances the smooth travel of the pusher plate and
its housing.
Guide tracks 23 extend over subs-tan-tially the en-tire
length of the dispensing drawer. As such, the pusher plate is
slidable from a forward position in which it is adjacent the
dispensing opening to a rearward loading position, away from
the dispensing opening as shown in Figure 6.
As shown in Figure 4, the drawer is easily loaded
by a single individual by merely pulling the pusher plate
rearwardly in the drawer and holding it in -the loading
position in one hand using the rear wall for leverage. This
leaves the other hand freeto load a bundle B of ser-viet-tes,
which according to conventional practice, is secured in a
wrapper, into the drawer. After -the bundle is loaded, the
wrapper is removed and the plate is released to urge the
serviettes towards the dispensing opening.
This dispensing opening itself comprises a mouth
portion surrounded exteriorly by a plurali-ty of lip portions
one along each edge of the mouth portion. These lip portions
curve gently outwardly away from the mouth portion and facil-
itate the removal of serviettes through the dispensing open-
ing.
The formed dispensing opening itself, is slightly
smaller than the folded servie-ttes but permits them to be
withdrawn one by one, from the opening. As the serviettes
are withdrawn, the pusher plate forces -the entire bundle
forwardly in the drawer, so that a new serviette is presented
to the dispensing opening. The tension provided by the coil
spring is such that the pusher plate will push even the las-t
-few serviettes to the dispensing opening un-til the drawer is
~L~98i37~1L
1emptied so -tha-t there is positive dispensing of the en-tire
bundle. When the drawer is empty, the pusher plate can
be seen through the dispensing opening. The attendan-t can
then remove the drawer from i-ts housing whether it be an
e~ternal shroud as shown in the drawings, or a table counter,
as described above, to refill the drawer with a new serviette
bundle.
Although, the description above is related to the :
dispensing of Eolded serviettes, the dispener of the present
invention can also be used for the dispensing of other
similar items, which can be pulled out through the dispensing
opening. Furthermore, it will now be apparent that the load-
ing and maneuvering of the dispenser drawer can easily be
attended to by one indi.vidual and is not restricted to use
with a specific type of housing.
Therefore, although various preferred embodiments
of the invention have been described herein in detail, it
will be apparent to one skilled in the art, that variations
may be made thereto, without departing from the spirit of
~0 the invention or the scope of the appended claims.
-7-
