Textiles: fluid treating apparatus – Machines – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-15
2002-02-05
Stinson, Frankie L. (Department: 1746)
Textiles: fluid treating apparatus
Machines
Combined
C068S20500R, C118S325000, C118S235000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06343491
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus and, more particularly, to an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that supplies wet towels after cutting cloth into multiple towels to a certain length and wetting the towels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, a wet towel made of cloth or paper is provided in the form of a sheet in various ways so as to allow the hands to be cleaned using it. In addition, to such an end, a warm air supplying apparatus has been provided. In particular, the wet towel made of cloth is provided in the form of a roll so as to allow the hands to be cleaned easily in a place, such as a restaurant. However, since the wet towel is repeatedly laundered for reuse, a great deal of problems occur in regard to sanitation.
In order to overcome the problems, one or more wet towels made of material such as cloth or paper and packed in a vinyl envelope are provided for one time use. This approach is satisfactory for sanitation, but a manufacturing cost is increased and vinyl envelopes become disposable waste.
In order to solve the problems, a wet towel supplying apparatus, in which wet towels are supplied after cutting paper, cloth or non-woven fabric into multiple towels to a certain length and wetting the towels, is provided.
Such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,278. According to the patent, towel cloth wound in the form of a roll is spread by a pulling means. The spread cloth is cut into multiple towels to a certain length. The cut towels are wetted by spraying water on the towels while being moved toward a conveyor belt. The wet towels are respectively wound in the form of a roll. Afterwards, the wound wet towels are respectively supplied out of the apparatus.
However, in the patented apparatus, a conventional towel winding means comprises a U-shaped casing that is fixed around the conveyor belt and a pad that has a plurality of projections formed on its inner surface, thereby supplying only limited lengths of wet towels. In accordance with user's requests, it is preferably to supply various lengths of wet towels. Therefore, according to the patented apparatus, when a user requires a lengthier wet towel, the user stops and operates the apparatus again and takes one or more wet towels out of the apparatus. This causes the waste of resources and is troublesome to the user.
In addition, according to the patented apparatus, the pulling means and a cutting means are connected to a single motor and operated at the same time. Since the pulling means and the cutting means are rotated by means of the single motor, the length of a cut towel may not be controlled. Additionally, since the pulling means and the cutting means are respectively mounted to a housing, the maintenance and the cleaning of the apparatus is not easy. Furthermore, due to its mechanical design, such as having a cam, the noise of the apparatus is significantly loud.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that is capable of supplying various lengths of wet towels.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that reduces noise and is operated properly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus that allows a pulling means and a cutting means to be easily removed, thereby allowing the maintenance and the cleaning of the apparatus to be easily performed.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an automatic wet towel supplying apparatus, comprising a housing including a cloth holding part for rotatably holding cloth in the form of a roll so that the cloth is pulled away and a towel storage chamber for storing cut, wet towels for supply, a casing that is fixed to the front portion of the interior of the housing by means of bolts so as to be easily removed from the housing, means for pulling the cloth while compressing the cloth, cutting means that includes a second motor, a rotary cutter rotated by the second motor, and a stationary cutter fixed at a position in which the stationary cutter intersects the rotary cutter, water supplying means being mounted in the housing, including a water storage tank, a pump, a filtering unit and a nozzle, and serving to spray water on the cut towels, and a control means that includes a control board mounted on an outer surface of the housing, a first sensor for sensing a length of the cloth that is pulled by the pulling means, a second sensor for sensing a total number of rotations of the rotary cutter of the cutting means, and a microprocessor for controlling power supply to the first motor, the second motor and the pump by processing the signals from the control board, the first sensor and the second sensor.
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Lee & Hong
Stinson Frankie L.
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