Article dispensing – Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article – With presentation of non-coextensive or distorted fold
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-26
2004-11-16
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Article dispensing
Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article
With presentation of non-coextensive or distorted fold
C221S063000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06817484
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL AREA
The invention pertains to a stack of interfolded tissue-sheets packed in a container, said container having a generally planar bottom wall and a top wall and side walls connecting the bottom wall with the top wall and an opening provided in at least one wall for the removal of said tissue-sheets from the container, said stack of interfolded tissue-sheets being placed in said container with at least the edges of a lowermost tissue-sheet placed on the bottom wall and an uppermost tissue-sheet placed near or in contact with the top wall and adjacent to the opening in the top wall.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Soft tissue sheets such as facial tissue sheets are commonly offered as a stack of tissue sheets packed in a dispensing box. The dispensing box has an opening through which the user pulls the tissue sheets. In order to facilitate the removal of the tissue sheets from the dispensing box, the tissue sheets are interfolded, which means that the tissue sheets are folded into one-another, so that they form a chain of tissue sheets being interconnected by folded portions. In this manner, when removing the top tissue sheet from the stack of tissue sheets and pulling the tissue sheet completely through the dispensing opening in the dispensing box, the pulled-out tissue sheet will automatically bring a portion of the next tissue sheet in the stack out through the opening thereby making it readily available for gripping and removing from the dispensing box. The praxis of interfolding tissue sheets in this manner is a convenient way of ascertaining that all of the tissue sheets can be easily removed from the container. There are many types of interfolding, e.g., Z-folding, but neither the type of interfolding, nor the type of tissue is important to the invention.
A dispenser of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,357 (YOH), which discloses a box with a dispensing opening having a curvilinear or “S”-shape. The opening facilitates the dispensing of interfolded tissues from a box by fixing the top sheet in a position extending out through the opening, where it is readily accessible to a user.
However, a problem arises when it is desired to dispense a flat tissue sheet from the stack of tissue sheets. After opening the dispensing box, which basically means exposing the opening in the box, the user must try and get a grip on the first tissue sheet in order to remove it. In ordinary boxes of this type, the uppermost tissue is usually wrinkled when it is presented to the user through the opening in the box. The reason for this is that the width of the tissue is broader than the opening in the box, in order to fix the tissue in a position ready to use. To dispense a flat tissue sheet it is therefore necessary to have a wider opening in the box. Although a wider opening in the box solves the problem with tissues being wrinkled as they are pulled out of the box, it creates a further problem with tissues falling back into the box where they are inaccessible for the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention offers a simple and expedient means of solving the problem of dispensing a flat tissue sheet from a stack of interfolded tissue sheets which are packed in a container having a dispensing opening. In a preferred embodiment, the opening is wider than the width of said tissue sheets. The invention will, however, also be applicable for openings of equal or narrower width than the width of the tissue sheets.
In accordance with the invention the dispensing opening is provided with means for presenting a tissue blocked in a fixed position, with a flat configuration. This allows the user to pull the presented tissue out flat, whereby potential wrinkling is smoothened out by the presenting means. The presented tissue may be a single sheet, or may itself have additional folding.
The means for presenting the tissue is preferably in the form of a number of elongated projections or fingers extending from opposite sides of the dispensing opening of the box. The dispensing opening is preferably, but not necessarily, located in the top wall of the box. In order to fix a tissue in position the fingers are overlapping either by being positioned one on top of the other or by extending between each other. As the box is opened the fingers are initially arranged in substantially the same plane, until the first tissue has been extracted through the dispensing opening. The fingers are preferably attached to the underside of the top wall of the box, on opposite sides of the opening. It is, however, also possible to attach the means including said fingers on the upper side of the top wall of the box, or to integrate it into the top wall itself, e.g., by making the fingers part of the top wall. When the first tissue is being pulled out through the opening, the fingers will be pulled upwards by the tissue on either side thereof. The pulled-out tissue will automatically bring a portion of the next tissue out through the opening, where it will pass between the fingers. As the first tissue is removed, the following tissue will be held in position and prevented from falling back into the box by the gripping action of the opposing fingers. The fingers must be sufficiently flexible to allow a tissue to be pulled out, while at the same time being sufficiently stiff to retain the tissue and prevent it from falling back. Accordingly, the thickness and stiffness of a plastic film, or other suitable material, used for the fingers must be selected to match the stiffness and material properties of the tissue.
It is possible to produce opposing sets of fingers from a continuous sheet of material by using a profile for the fingers that can be offset from opposite sides of the edge of said sheet. If the finger profile is substantially V-shaped, a zig-zag cut can be made along the longitudinal axis of the continuous sheet. Sets of opposing fingers can be cut to length from the resulting halves. Fingers of this type can be arranged in pairs, overlapping and in contact with a directly opposing finger, or staggered, having fingers arranged side-by-side and overlapping by extending across the dispensing opening of the box. Alternatively the fingers can be angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the opening, in which case each finger may overlap one or more opposing fingers as it extends across the dispensing opening.
In the following text, the term “overlap” is used to denote that the tips of a pair of adjacent projections, which are not necessarily in contact, extend past each other, as seen in a plan view. The term “contacting overlap” is used to describe an arrangement of projections extending over/under one another and being in contact with each other.
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Morin Emmanuelle
Widlund Urban
SCA Hygiene Products GmbH
Schlak Daniel K
LandOfFree
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