DISPENSER OF ROLLED-UP SHEET MATERIALS

DISTRIBUTRICE DE MATERIAU EN FEUILLE EN ROULEAU

English Abstract

Device that enables a person to separate from a roll any length of flexible sheet material, typically toilet paper or paper kitchen towel. The moving parts of the device consist of a rotor, to which the roll is firmly attached, and an L-shaped braking arm that has a limited freedom of movement around a peg that can be added to any conventional roll-holding device. The free end of the roll is slid through a slit in one leg of the L. Directing the pull on the roll's free end up or down, the arm will bend slightly upward or downward. When bent upward, a smooth section of an opening in the other leg of the L becomes engaged with a section of the rotor consisting of a sprocket or gear (Variant A), or with a cylindrical surface of the rotor (Variant B), and thus the rotor/roll assembly is allowed to turn unimpeded under the effect of pull on the end of the roll. When bent downward, the sprocket or gear of the rotor becomes engaged with a protrusion in the same opening of the arm (Variant A), or the said cylindrical surface of the rotor becomes engaged with a braking surface in the same opening (Variant B), and thereby the rotor/roll assembly will stop turning. Increasing the pull, a piece of the roll outside slit will tear off.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif qui permet à une personne de séparer d'un rouleau la longueur désirée de matériau en feuille souple, par exemple une feuille de papier toilette ou d'essuie-tout. Les parties amovibles de l'appareil se composent d'un rotor, auquel le rouleau est solidement attaché, et un bras de freinage en forme de L qui a une liberté de mouvement limitée autour d'une cheville qui peut être ajoutée à n'importe quel dispositif classique de porte-rouleau. Le bras s'incline légèrement vers le haut ou vers le bas en fonction de la direction verticale que vous donnez à l'extrémité libre du rouleau lorsque vous tirez dessus. Lorsque le bras est incliné vers le haut, une partie lisse d'une ouverture de l'autre branche du L entre en prise avec une section du rotor composée d'un pignon ou engrenage (variante A), ou avec une surface cylindrique du rotor (variante B), et ainsi l'ensemble rotor/rouleau peut tourner librement sous l'effet de la traction sur l'extrémité du rouleau. Lorsque le bras est incliné vers le bas, le pignon ou engrenage du rotor entre en prise avec une saillie dans la même ouverture de bras (variante A), ou ladite surface cylindrique du rotor entre en prise avec une surface de freinage dans la même ouverture (variante B), et ainsi l'ensemble rotor/rouleau cesse de tourner. Si vous accentuez la traction, un morceau de la fente extérieure du rouleau se déchire.

Claims

I claim:
1. A device for dispensing any flexible sheet material rolled up on a core,
the device
consists of (I) a holding device comprising (a) a U-shaped holding base with
two arms, into one of which a peg is installed; and (b) a collapsible spindle
made
up of two interacting cylinders pushed apart by a spring, and equipped with
nipples that fit in the holes or indentations in the auras of the holding
base; (II) a
rotor to which the roll of flexible sheet is firmly attached so that the two
turn
together, and to the rotor a disk attached on the side where the peg in the
holding
base is located; and (III) an L-shaped braking arm with a narrow slit on one
side,
through which the free end of the rolled-up sheet material is slid when the
roll is
installed in the device, and the other side of the L, having an opening larger
than
the disk attached to the rotor such that the disk fits into the opening, and
this side
also having a slot at a point furthest from the first side of the L, this slot
cooperating with the peg ouch that the braking arm rotates around tree peg;
the
disk of the rotor and he opening in the braking arm interact to provide
braking
action whenever the arm is rotated around the peg as a result of pulling the
free
end of the rolled-up sheet downward.
2. The device as defined in Claim 1, in which the said disk is a sprocket or
gear, and
the opening in the braking arm is oval, along the longer axis of which on one
side
the surface is smooth, so that the sprocket or gear when in contact with this
surface can turn unimpeded, and on the other side of the longer axis of the
oval
opening there is a protrusion that, when pressed against the sprocket or gear
penetrates a gap in them thereby stops the turning of the rotor/roll assembly.
3. The device as defined in Claim 1, in which the said disk is a cylindrical
surface,
and the opening in the braking arm is oval, along the longer axis of which on
one
side the surface is smooth, so that the sprocket or gear when in contact with
this
surface can turn unimpeded, and on the other side of the longer axis of the
oval
opening there is a braking surface that, when pressed against the said
cylindrical
surface, stops the turning of the rotor/roll assembly.
4. The device as defined in Claim 1, in which the lower edge of the slit in
the
braking arm near the ends is equipped with two sharp protrusions that
penetrate

the material of the roll as the downward pull on the free end of the roll is
increased, and thereby prevent the material from bouncing back through the
slit
after the desired length of material is separated from the roll.
5. The device defined in Claim 1, in which a permanent bond is achieved
between
the inside hole in the rotor and that cylinder of the collapsible spindle
which has
the larger diameter.

Description

CA 02304357 2003-05-21
Llispenser of rolled-up sheet materials
Inventor: Tibor Zoltan Harmathy, Canadian citizen, residence: Ottawa, ON, K1H
SSl,
Canada, Tel.: (613) 733-6873, Fax: (61~>) 73:i-8485
CROSS REFERNCE TO RELATED P,~7"EN''TS
Canadian Patent No. 2,212, 569; CJ,S. Patent No. 6,'267,32?; I~.S. Patent No.
6,439,501.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Various flexible sheet materials are marketed in the form of strips rolled up
usually
on a paper tube. To facilitate the separation of pieces from the roll, the
manufacturers,
as a rule, divide the sheet into unit pieces by providing lines ofweakness,
e.g.
perforations, at regular intervals. Toilet papers and kitchen towels are the
most
common examples of such 1~lexible sheet materials. In the following text, the
term
"roll" will be used to denote any kind of sheet materials marketed in rolls.
People often find it annoying that separating a piece from the roll requires
bath
hands, one to pull the material ofl° the roll, and the other to prevent
the roll fi~orn
overspinning on its spindle when the pull is increased in order to separate
the piece. It
may happen that one hand of the user is dirty ar wet, and therefore the
material still on
the roll may become unsanitary or weakened by moisture. It may also happen
that one
hand of the user is disabled ar occupied with holding some object.
lVlany devices have already been patented that enable a person to separate a
piece
with one hand from the roll. With most of them, unrolling is do>ne by pulling
the
material off the roll in one direction, and separating is done by changing the
direction
of the pull by exerting a sudden tug on the free end of the roll. 'The
majority of these
devices use techniques belonging in one afthe following groups: ( 1)
preventing the
overspinnig of the roll is achieved by braking the turning of the roll at the
periphery.
(2) Preventing the overspinning of the rail is achieved 9~y braking the
turning

CA 02304357 2000-04-10
of the roll at its core; {3) Preventing the overspinning of the roll is
achieved by braking the movement
of an already unrolled piece of material.
0.S. Patent No. 452,719, U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,518, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,474,
U.S. Patent No.
4,913,364, U.S. Patent No. 4,919,350, U.S. Pat. No, 5,054,675, U.S. Patent No.
5,651,487, FR.
Patent No. 1,440,814, and DR. Patent No. 1,294,626 are examples of devices
belonging in the first
group; U. S. Patent No. I ,243,569, U. S. Patent No. 2,488,492, U. S. Pat. No.
5,215,274, U. S. Patent
No. 5,249,755, U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,227, U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,357, U.S. Pat. No.
5,758,843, U.S. Pat.
No. 5,794,882, U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,142, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,561 are
examples of those in the
second group; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,651,434, U.S. Patent No. 1,837,507, U.S.
Patent No. 4,454,974,
U. S. Patent No. 4,467,974, and U. S. Pat. No. 4,881;675 are examples of those
in the third group.
Several difficulties have been encountered, however, with the patented
devices. Among them:
preventing the roll from overspinning may not be satisfactorily achieved at
all possible weight and
size of the roll, or the length of the piece to be separated may be limited to
one unit piece, or the
installation of the roll in the device may be time-consuming, or the device
may be costly for mass
manufacture. A further factor that may discourage people from using most of
the patented devices is
that they already have simple, conventional devices for the intended purpose,
and the advantages
offered by the newer devices do not seem to justify buying a new dispenser.
The device to be described here is simple, reliable, inexpensive, and allows a
person to separate
from the roll any length of the material measured in multiples of the unit
piece. Its main advantage is,
however, that with a simple modification -- that can be done by any pexson who
knows how to use a
drill -- it can be added to a roll-dispenser already owned. The device belongs
in the second group;
i.e., preventing the overspinning of the roll is done by braking the turn ,~f
the roll at its core.
REFERENCES CITED
U.S. Pat. No. 5/1891 Ross 225/82
452,719
U.S. Pat. No. 10/1917 Taylor 225/51
1,243,569
U.S. Pat. No. 12/1927 Bell 242/595
1,651,434
U.S. Pat. No. 12/1931 Towers 242/419.4
1,837,507
U.S. Pat. No. 11/1949 Dumbleton 242/598.5
2,488,492
U. S. Pat. No. 2/ 1970 Goss 225/46
3,494,518
U.S. Pat. No. 8/1981 Perez 242/55.2
4,285,474
U.S. Pat. No. 6/1984 Cooke 225/106
4,454,974
U.S. Pat. No. 8/1984 Crim 242/419.4
4,467,974
2

CA 02304357 2000-04-10
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,67511/1989 Varley 225/4
U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,3644/1990 Hu 242/598.5
U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,3504/1990 Miller 242155.2
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,6758/1991 Taves 225/20
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,2746/1993 Lin 242/55.2
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,75510/1993 Jespersen 243/596.7
U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,22712/1993 Smith 242/55.2
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,3575/1995 Smith 42/160.1
U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,4877/1997 Hansen 225/1p6
U.S. Pat. No. 5,75$,8436/1998 Ongaro 242/565
U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,8828/1998 Lewis 242/423.1
U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,1428/1999 Halperin 242/423.1
U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,56111/1999 Mele 242/599.1
FR. Pat. No 1,440,8144/1966 Grognot 242/595
F.R,G. Pat. No. 5/1969 Lantz 242/58.5
1,294,626
BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The roll dispenser to be described here enables a person to separate with one
hand a piece from a
roll of a flexible sheet material, typically toilet paper or paper kitchen-
towel. The novel parts of the
device consist of a rotor, to which the conventional spindle of the holding
base and the roll are firmly
attached, and an L-shaped braking arm, which has a limited freedom of bending
up or down around a
small peg installed in the holding base. Since the free end of the roll is
slid through a slit in leg of the
L, directing the pull on the free end of the roll up or down the arm can be
slightly lifted or lowered.
When bent upward, a smooth section of an opening in the other leg of the arm
will be brought in
contact with the rotor, and thereby the spindle/rotor/roll assembly is allowed
to turn unimpeded.
When bent downward, another section of the opening in the arm will be brought
in contact with the
rotor and cause the assembly to stop turning. By increasing the pull on the
free end of the roll, a piece
of the roll outside the slit can be torn off.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
In the drawings that illustrate the embodiments of the invention:
3

CA 02304357 2000-04-10
Fig. I is an elevational view of a commonly used roll-holding device, adapted
to the dispenser to be
described.
h'ig. 2 is the side-view that holding assembly taken from the right.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the moving parts of Variant A of the roll
dispenser, with the roll and
its core shown in broken lines, and a disk partially broken off to reveal the
mode of braking.
Fig. 4 is an elevational view of Variant A of the rotor.
F'ig. 5 is a side view of Variant A of the rotor taken from the right.
Fig. 6 is a side view of the rotor taken from the left, with the core of the
roll shown in broken lines.
Fig. 7 is a side view of Variant B of the rotor taken from the right.
Fig. 8 is an elevational view of Variants A or B of the braking arm.
F'ig. 9 is a side view of Variant A of the braking arm taken from the deft.
Fag. 10 is a side view of Variants A or B of the braking arm taken from below.
F'ig. I I is a side view of Variant B of the braking arm taken from the left.
Fig. 12 is a side view of yet another variant the braking arm taken from
below.
I-'ig. 13 shows two views of a disk.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Shown in Figs I and 2, the roll-holding device 1 is a component probably
already owned by the
user. It may, however, be purchased as an integral part of the roll-dispenser.
It consists of a stable U-
shaped holding base la, which has holes 1b for screws for fastening the base
to a solid surface. The
side arms of the base have holes or indentations 1 c for accommodating a
spindle, which itself
consists of three parts: a hollow outer cylinder 1d, an inner cylinder 1e, and
a spring I f that causes
the nipples 1 g and 1 h of the two cylinders to snap into the holes or
indentations 1 c on the side arms.
If already owned, the holding device can be adapted to the dispenser to be
described here by inserting
(screwing or pasting) a small peg 1 i into one of the arms of the base at an
appropriate location.
As shown in Figs. ~, ~ and 6, Variant A of the rotor 2 has a hole 2a running
through, the diameter
of which is infinitesimally larger that the diameter of the outer cylinder 1d
of the spindle. The outside
surface of rotor can be divided into five sections: Sections P, R, S, T and U.
Section P has a
cylindrical base 2b, to which ribs 2c are attached. Section R consists of a
disk 2d. The ribs 2c along
Section P protrude from the cylindrical base in such a way that at the left
end of the rotor (in F'ig. ~)
the distance between the outer edges of the ribs is only slightly larger than
the diameter of the paper
tube that forms the core 3a (shown in dashed lines in Figs. 3 and G) of the
roll 3 (also shown in
4

CA 02304357 2000-04-10
dashed lines in Fig. 3) to be installed on the rotor. That distance increases
on approaching disk 2d.
The purpose of this design is that when the roll is installed on the
rotorlfrom the left, the core of the
roll will slightly deform into a shape between a circle and a rectangle, as
indicated by letter D in Fig.
6. In this way the roll will be made to turn together with the rotor. Section
S consists of a sprocket or
gear 2e, the outside diameter of which is significantly less than that of disk
2d. Section T is formed
by a cylindrical surface 2f. Zone U is also formed by a cylindrical surface
2g; its role is simply to
provide some space between the end of the rotor and the side arm of holding
base 1 a.
Variant B of the rotor is similar to Variant A in all respects except, as Fag.
7 shows, Section S
consists of a simple cylindrical surface 2h, instead of a sprocket or gear.
Variant A of the braking arm 4, shown in F'i~s. 8, 9 and 10, is an L-shaped
component. One side of
the L, shown in Fig. 9, has an oval opening 4a, with a small protrusion 4b on
one side of its
longitudinal axis. The sire of this protrusion is such that it can penetrate
any of the gaps in the
sprocket or gear 2e of the rotor. The lesser dimension of the opening is
sufficient to accommodate the
sprocket or gear Ze of the rotor, and its larger dimension is greater than the
outside dimension of the
sprocket or gear plus the height of the protrusion. The thickness of this side
of the arm is only slightly
less than the width of Section S of the rator. There is also a slot 4c on this
side of the L-shaped arm,
to accommodate the small peg 1 l in one of the side arms of holding bade 1 a.
The other side of the L,
shown in Fig. I D, has a narrow slit 4d in it, which runs throughout the
length of this side.
Variant B is similar to Variant A in all respects except, as Fig. I I shows,
in opening 4a, instead of
a protrusion 4b, the braking arm has a short braking surface 4e, which may be
roughened or serrated
for better effect. The lesser dimension of the opening is sufficient to
accommodate disk 2h of the
rotor, and its larger dimension is greater than the diameter of disk 2h plus
the height of the braking
surface 4e.
The disk 5 shown in Fig. 13 has an inside diameter infinitesimally larger than
that of the
cylindrical surface 2f forming Section T of the rotor, and an outside diameter
about the same as that
of disk 2d forming Section R. The thickness of this disk is equal to the width
of Section T.
The roll-dispenser is assembled as follows. The opening in the braking arm 4a
is placed over
Section S of the rotor in a position shown in F'ig. 3, then disk 5 is
permanently fastened (e.g., by
pressing or gluing, dependent on the materials used) to the rotor over Section
T. The wider side of
the L-shaped braking arm is now sandwiched between disks 2d and 5. Finally,
the spindle of the
holding device is pushed through hole 2a of the rotor, and the spindle's outer
cylinder 1d is
permanently fastened (e.g., by pressing or gluing, dependent on the materials
used) to the rotor in a

CA 02304357 2000-04-10
position to enable slot 4c in the braking arm to engage with peg I i in one of
the arms of the holding
base when the spindle/rotorlbraking arm assembly is installed into the holding
base.
Fig. 3 shows a roll mounted on the spindle/rotor/braking arm assembly. The
mounting takes place
as follows. First a few unit pieces of the roll 3 is unwound. Then the tote 3a
of the roll is pushed over
the ribs 2c of the rotor, whereby the roll becomes solidly attached to the
spindle/rotor/braking arm
assembly. At the same time, the unwound end of the roll is slid through slit
4d in the braking arm.
Finally, nipples 1 g and I h of spindle are snapped into the indentations or
holes I c in the side arms of
the holding base in such a way to allow slot 4c in the braking arm to engage
with peg 1 i.
In using the device, first the unwound free end of the roll is pulled at an
upward angle through slit
4d, thereby causing the braking arm 4 to bend upward around peg 1 i. I~ this
way the smooth lower
side of opening 4a in the braking arm will get in contact with the sprocket or
gear 2e (with Variant
A), or with the circular surface 2h (with Variant B) of the rotor, and the
roll/spindle/rotor assembly is
allowed to turn unimpeded as the free end of the roll is pulled through slit
4d. When the direction of
the pull is changed downward and the braking arm bends downward around peg I
i, protrusion 4b in
opening 4a of the braking arm will penetrate one of the gaps in the sprocket
or gear 2e of the rotor
(with variant A), or the braking surface 4e will be pressed against the
cylindrical surface 2h of the
rotor (with variant B), whereby the turning of the roll/spindle/rotor assembly
is stopped. Increasing
the downward pull on the free end of the roll, one or more unit pieces of the
roll outside slit 4d will
separate from the roll along a line of weakness.
It may happen that, after the separation of the required piece, the free end
of the roll bounces back
through the slit. To prevent this eventuality, the slit 4d in the braking aim
should be very thin, and
instruction for the use of the device should mention that at least half a unit
piece preceding the piece
to be torn off be outside the slit when the downward pull is increased.
Another solution for coping with this eventuality is to make the slit somewhat
wider, shown as 4f
in F'ig. 12, and to have the lower edge of the slit equipped with two sharp
protrusions 4g near the
ends of the slit. These protrusions penetrate the material of the roll when
the downward pull is
increased, and prevent the free end of the roll from bouncing back through the
slit after the required
piece is separated.

Representative Drawing