Diaper dispenser

Details Diaper dispenser Diaper dispenser

2002-12-12

2004-11-16

Noland, Kenneth (Department: 3653)

Article dispensing

Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article

With casing or support

C206S494000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06817483

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a diaper dispenser consisting of a container designed for receiving horizontally stacked diapers, comprising a wall, a bottom and a removal opening disposed therebetween, through which the bottommost diaper can be withdrawn.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ready-made diapers intended for single usage, so-called disposable diapers, are put on the market rectangularly folded and packed individually in stacks of, for instance, 50 piece. Cotton diaper cloths usually likewise are kept ready for usage folded to an approximately rectangular format and stacked. The diaper stacks generally deposited on the changing table can easily tip over in particular when removing a diaper.
This is avoided by a diaper dispenser of the type mentioned above, which is designed for receiving disposable diapers and is known from DE 296 07 763 U. The removal opening constitutes a transverse slot at the bottom end of one of the two side walls of the container and is defined below by the corresponding edge of the container bottom having a small recess and above by the lower edge of the correspondingly shortened side wall. The side wall also has a longitudinal slot opening into the transverse slot for checking the filling level. This construction for removing the respective bottommost diaper is not much practicable.
A diaper dispenser of quite similar design with the same disadvantages, which in addition must be charged with the diapers from above, is known from DE 296 21 781 U.
Another diaper dispenser is known from DE 201 03 529 U1. In these diaper dispensers, too, the diapers must be charged from above, which in the case of a diaper stack comprising e.g. 50 diapers involves the risk that the stack will fall apart, so that one or more diapers no longer lie flat, but are jammed or bent. As a result, both the removal of the diapers and the proper descent of the stack after each removal is made more difficult or even blocked. Removal is effected through an opening disposed in the container wall and thus aligned horizontally, supported by an inclined intermediate bottom as additional part, which requires a separate attachment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object underlying the invention to create a diaper dispenser which simplifies the storage and removal of the diapers.
In accordance with the invention, this object is solved by a diaper dispenser with the features indicated in claim
1
.
The container forming the diaper dispenser has an inner cross-section adapted to the very similar format of folded disposable diapers also of different manufacturers. Normally, conventional cotton diaper cloths are also folded to the same format. The height of the container can be dimensioned such that it can receive two commercially available packaging units of e.g. 50 piece disposable diapers stacked one above the other. The container can have feet or a pedestal, so that its removal opening is accessible from below. However, the container primarily is designed for attachment to a wall. This has the advantage that the space requirement for keeping ready the diapers on the changing table is eliminated or at least reduced. The most important advantage of the diaper dispenser, however, consists in that the respective bottommost diaper can directly be withdrawn from the diaper dispenser in forward and downward direction in no time at all.
The removal opening on the one hand comprises an entry hole, and on the other hand a recess in the bottom of the container which extends at least almost across the entire container width. The entry hole preferably is arranged centrally at the lower edge of the front wall of the container and is optimally designed for entry with the thumb, so that the fingers come to lie below the bottommost diaper in the vicinity of the bottom recess. The flute in the vicinity of the entry hole ensures that the bottom diapers are slightly upset in the direction towards the rear wall of the container and the bottommost diaper can better be seized between thumb and fingers.
The entry hole preferably has a height exceeding the thickness of a stacked diaper (claim
2
). However, its height expediently is distinctly smaller than twice the thickness of a stacked diaper (claim
3
), so that the entering thumb separates the bottommost diaper from the second bottommost diaper automatically, so to speak, and said bottommost diaper then can be withdrawn in downward direction through the recess in the bottom of the container by applying a slight pressure.
The fact that the stock of diapers is running short can easily be recognized when the front wall has inspection windows (claim
4
). One inspection window can be enough. Instead, there can be arranged a plurality of inspection windows at different levels or one elongate inspection window.
Expediently, the container approximately has the shape of a straight, tetrahedral prism (claim
5
), which for design reasons can have slightly rounded shapes.
To adapt its inner cross-section to diaper stacks of different formats, the container preferably has an inner wall which can be adjusted and fixed parallel to the rear wall of the container in the direction towards the front wall (claim
6
).
Fixing the inner wall can be achieved in particular by an elastic design and the cooperation of ribs in the container bottom and in the container cover surface or in the container side walls, which ribs are parallel to the rear wall of the container, and corresponding detents on the corresponding edges of the inner wall.
To ensure that the folded diapers remain lying flat in the stack moving downwards and reducing its height with each removal of a diaper, weighting the stack of diapers by a plate-shaped body or the like can be expedient (claim
7
).
Advantageously, at least one of the container side walls can be designed for attachment of a deposition bracket (claim
8
), on which e.g. powder or cream receptacles can be deposited.
In the drawing, the diaper dispenser in accordance with the invention is represented in an embodiment chosen by way of example, simplified in part, in which:


REFERENCES:
patent: 2923435 (1960-02-01), Chaplin
patent: 3156378 (1964-11-01), Bua
patent: 4491242 (1985-01-01), Trinidad
patent: 4573608 (1986-03-01), Hansen
patent: 4706845 (1987-11-01), Schnurer et al.
patent: 2 156 307 (1997-02-01), None
patent: 36 21 550 (1988-01-01), None
patent: 296 07 763 (1996-09-01), None
patent: 2 773 315 (1999-07-01), None
patent: 402 802 (1933-12-01), None
patent: 1 180 434 (1970-02-01), None

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