Article dispensing – Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article – With casing or support
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-12
2004-02-10
Bollinger, David H. (Department: 3653)
Article dispensing
Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article
With casing or support
C221S047000, C221S055000, C221S063000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688488
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved package for dispensing individual sheets of material from a stack. In particular the present invention relates to an improvement in packages for individually dispensing sheet material formed in a stack and adhered together with a peelable adhesive layer along alternating opposing edges, e.g., in a Z-fold manner, such that one sheet of the material can be removed from the package and separated from an adjacent sheet of material without withdrawing the adjacent sheet of material.
An example of known packaging for dispensing such sheet material is depicted in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the package
10
includes a base
12
and a compartment
14
(a.k.a. a blister) attached to base
12
. Compartment
14
is designed to contain the stack of sheet material and allow removal of individual sheets from the stack. The compartment
14
includes side walls
16
, which are dimensioned to accommodate a stack of sheet material, and a cover
18
connected to the side walls
16
about the periphery of the compartment
14
to contain the stack of sheet material. The cover
18
is configured to define an opening
20
that extends across the cover
18
through which individual sheets of material can be removed from the stack. The cover also includes a pair of slits
22
at opposite ends of and transverse to opening
20
to facilitate in the removal of an individual sheet of material. The opening
20
and slits
22
thereby define a pair of opposing flanges
24
and
26
. Flanges
24
and
26
each include one or more raised portions
28
, which are designed to support an individual sheet of material above the cover
18
and thereby facilitate removal of the sheet.
FIG. 2
, which is a cross-sectional view of
FIG. 1
taken along line
2
—
2
, best shows the manner in which package
10
functions to dispense individual sheets of material. As shown in
FIG. 2
, a stack of sheet material
30
is contained within compartment
14
when compartment
14
is connected to base
12
. An individual sheet of material
32
extends through opening
20
and is supported above cover
18
by raised portions
28
. As is shown in
FIG. 2
, a biasing means is positioned within the package between the base
12
and the stack of sheet material
30
. Biasing means
34
is designed to maintain the top of the stack in contact with an inner surface of cover
18
as individual sheets are removed from the stack. Sufficient contact between the top of the stack and the cover is necessary to ensure that the coefficient of friction between the inner surface of cover
18
and the top-most sheet
36
in the stack
30
within the compartment
14
is greater than that of the peelable adhesive that interconnects sheet
36
with sheet
32
, as sheet
32
is removed. An insufficient contact between the top of the stack and the cover can result in multiple sheet dispensing. A package constructed as depicted in
FIGS. 1 and 2
thus was designed to allow a sheet of material from a stack of interconnected sheets of material to be dispensed one at a time. In the known package of
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the biasing means
34
is constructed of a folded paper board material, which can be compromised in its biasing ability by conditions such as high humidity or prolonged periods of compression. Also, the use of such biasing means complicates assembly of the package (e.g., positioning and aligning biasing means between the base and the stack of material) and constitutes an additional packaging cost. The present invention is an improved package for dispensing individual sheets of material from a stack without the need for a separate biasing means between the stack of material and the base of the package.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a package for dispensing pop-up sheet material. The package comprises a compartment attached to a base, the compartment having side walls extending from the base and a cover connected to the side walls for containing the sheet material. An opening is provided in the cover to allow individual sheets to be dispensed. A pair of movable flanges are located on opposite sides of the opening, and are formed to be angularly displaced relative to the cover toward the base to thereby apply a biasing force against the sheet material in the compartment.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4416392 (1983-11-01), Smith
patent: 4586631 (1986-05-01), Loder
patent: 4653666 (1987-03-01), Mertens
patent: 4770320 (1988-09-01), Miles et al.
patent: 4781306 (1988-11-01), Smith
patent: 4993590 (1991-02-01), Windorski
patent: 5080254 (1992-01-01), Feer
patent: 5080255 (1992-01-01), Windorski
patent: 5165570 (1992-11-01), Windorski
patent: 5518144 (1996-05-01), Samuelson et al.
patent: 5540354 (1996-07-01), Annand
patent: 5671866 (1997-09-01), Bodzian
patent: 6123221 (2000-09-01), Simpson
patent: 6514585 (2003-02-01), Pearson et al.
patent: 1085560 (1967-10-01), None
patent: 2 041 882 (1980-09-01), None
3M Innovative Properties Company
Peters Carolyn V.
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