Article dispensing – Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article – With presentation of non-coextensive or distorted fold
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-15
2004-11-30
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Article dispensing
Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article
With presentation of non-coextensive or distorted fold
C221S056000, C221S059000, C221S052000, C221S055000, C221S063000, C221S047000, C221S048000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06824007
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed to napkin dispensers generally, and more particularly to a dispenser for receiving interfolded napkins and dispensing them while reducing the tendency of the napkins to curl about an edge thereof.
BACKGROUND
Spring biased napkin dispensers are well known in the art. An early example appears in U.S. Pat. No. 1,682,580 to Pratt. In the '580 patent there is provided a napkin dispenser including a casing and a pressure carriage to urge the stack of napkins towards the face or dispensing plate. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,930,805 to Hope there is disclosed a napkin dispenser including a container adapted to receive a stack of napkins which are urged toward the dispensing aperture by way of a follower attached to a leaf spring. Still yet another example of a napkin dispenser appears in U.S. Pat. No. 1,993,885 to Horwilt. The device of the '885 patent includes a face plate that is outwardly bulged or obliquely offset to afford a pocket like extension of progressively increasing depth from the bottom to the top which arrangement defines a transverse slot of relatively small width.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,136 to Agamaite, Jr. there is disclosed a napkin dispenser having a lid which may be opened for replenishing the napkins and a latch controlled by the lid to hold a follower in retracted position while the napkins are being replenished.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,158 to Jones et al. discloses a napkin dispenser provided with a pair of spaced pusher plates attached to the free ends of a U-shaped spring which urges napkins towards a dispensing aperture.
Of more recent vintage is U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,001 to Filipowicz et al wherein there is disclosed a dispenser for folded paper napkins including a cabinet with a carriage assembly. A pair of constant force springs are affixed to the cabinet and engage the rear of the pressure plate to urge the plate and carriage assembly forwardly against the rear of the napkin supply to facilitate individual removal of the napkins through the cabinet opening.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,703 to De Luca there is disclosed a napkin dispenser including means for preventing napkins from bunching at the dispensing opening. A pair of pressure relief rods are provided along the upper and lower portions of the dispenser face plate to relieve pressure between the face plate and the center portion of the napkin stack. According to the '703 patent the friction between each napkin is substantially reduced thereby permitting individual napkins to be withdrawn from the dispenser without displacing napkins remaining in the stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 to Salzmann et al. discloses a napkin dispenser including a drawer which slides in and out of a housing and a push plate which also slides in the housing and a spring to the push napkins forward. A pair of locks on the rear of the drawer in the napkin dispenser push the plate forward when the drawer is open but pivot to release the push plate when the drawer is closed so that the napkins are not pressed too tightly, even if napkins are overloaded into the drawer when it is open.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,466 to Petterson et al. shows a napkin dispenser with anti-overfill mechanism. Generally speaking the dispenser includes a housing, a support member movably mounted within the housing and a follower for urging the stack in the direction of a dispenser element included in the support member. The apparatus includes a mechanism for engaging the follower and retaining it at a predetermined location relative to the support member when the support member is in open condition which is disengaged in the follower when the support member moves to its closed position to compensate for any over filling of the dispenser.
The foregoing patents (the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference) may be distinguished from gravity feed devices of the class generally employed to dispense heavier weight paper towels for example, as are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,863 to Schutz et al. by virtue of the fact that a spring biased device operates quite differently than a gravity feed device and does not rely primarily on the weight of the stack for delivery of product to the dispensing aperture.
In existing dispensers for napkins, when an interfolded napkin is dispensed it is often found that a tightly curled portion is formed at one end of the napkin in every other napkin in a stack of single fold napkins, particularly when the napkin is dispensed through a slot located away from the centerline of the napkin stack. This curl not only hinders proper use of the napkin by reducing the napkin's overall size, but is also aesthetically unattractive. It has been discovered in accordance with the present invention that this curl is induced in the napkin during the dispensing operation by interaction between napkins in the stack with each other and the dispenser. This phenomenon seems to be somewhat more pronounced when baffles are used to limit the ease of withdrawal of multiple napkins. The invention which is described in detail hereinafter is directed to reducing and most preferably substantially eliminating the curl associated with dispensing a stack of interfolded napkins. Other advantages of the invention include promoting the distribution of a single napkin at a time and controlling the tendency of napkins to bunch about the dispensing slot or aperture.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
A curl reducing adapter kit is provided for a napkin dispenser used for dispensing interfolded napkins. The dispenser generally includes an enclosure provided with a dispensing wall defining a horizontal dispensing slot about its upper portion and a slidably mounted, biased pressure carriage adapted to advance a stack of napkins in the enclosure toward the dispensing wall. The kit includes a tongue for mounting about the dispensing wall such that the tongue projects into the dispensing slot and narrows the slot, about its central portion in one preferred embodiment. The tongue includes a plurality of friction tabs configured to project inwardly into the enclosure from the upper inner lip of the modified dispensing slot and frictionally engage the napkins to limit bulge through the slot. A plurality of orienting ridges configured to be disposed about a lower portion of the dispensing wall adapted to frictionally engage the napkin stack are provided to guide napkins toward the dispensing aperture and reduce curl. A plurality of curl limiting tabs configured to be disposed about the lower inner lip of the dispensing slot also project inwardly into the enclosure so as to frictionally engage the stack of napkins and further discourage curl. In a typical embodiment, there is further provided a pressure plate for mounting on the pressure carriage in opposed facing relationship to the dispensing wall, the pressure plate having a pressure rib on its upper portion which is configured to project towards the dispensing wall closer than the lower portion of the pressure plate in opposed facing relationship to said dispensing wall. In such embodiments, the pressure rib of the pressure plate is configured to project a distance of from about ½ inch to about 1 inch closer to the dispensing wall then the lower surface of the pressure plate in opposed facing relationship to the dispensing wall. The kit also limits the number of napkins which can be dispensed in a single grasping motion.
In one embodiment, the tongue is preferably configured to define a narrow elongated slit about the central portion of the dispensing slot as well as to define a pair of open areas about the terminal portions thereof. Typically, the terminal portions have an open area span of at least about ½ inch and more characteristically, the terminal portions have an open area span of at least about ⅓ inch or sometimes at least about 1 inch. If so desired, the tongue can be configured to define an open area in the central region of the dispensing aperture. The narrowed portions of the dispensing slot generally spans more than about 50 percent of the
Geddes Daniel J.
Gooding, Jr. Chester W.
Timmers James K.
Ferrell Michael W.
Fort James Corporation
Kohner Matthew J.
Walsh Donald P.
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