Door towel dispenser

Details Door towel dispenser Door towel dispenser

1998-10-27

2001-05-29

Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)

Article dispensing

Concurrent separation and distortion of flexible article

With casing or support

C221S046000, C221S047000, C221S034000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06237805

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field
This invention relates to paper towelette or napkin/towel dispensers. More particularly, it relates to a door mounted paper towelette or napkin/towel dispenser system connected or attached to a bathroom door in public rest rooms of restaurants for sanitary purposes, and laboratory and hospital doors where spread of contamination is of concern. It is designed mainly to aid employees or anybody leaving restrooms, sickrooms, or laboratories in preventing their hands from becoming contaminated from the door knob or handle with other people's germs or chemicals when leaving after washing their hands. Owners and operators of restaurants, or those who work in the health services trades, will readily appreciate the use of the door towel dispenser. The present method of opening a bathroom, laboratory, or sickroom door is by twisting a door knob, touching handles or pushing the door with your just-cleaned hands and therefore contaminating them from other people ahead of you who have pushed the door open or opened it with the door knob. At times this can be quite an unpleasant experience.
2. State of the Art
Various constructions and designs of containers or dispensers are known, which are designed to accommodate rolls, stacks or other arrangements, consisting of serially arranged sheet materials especially dry or wet towels or tissues intended for use, for example, by mothers of infants. In this context, it is known that, due to the serially intertwined or seated arrangement of sheet materials, the respective previous or leading one of the sheet materials pulls with the next succeeding one until a portion of the latter projects through an opening provided in the container for the removal of such sheet material. After the preceding or leading sheet material becomes dislodged from the succeeding sheet material, it can be used for its intended cleaning purpose. No device has been found to date that is similar to the Sani-Door Napkin Dispenser, or used for the specific purpose of dispensing a sanitarily packaged napkin for opening bathroom, sickroom, or laboratory doors.
Prior art reveals a number of receptacles for holding and carrying paper napkins and towels, etc. As far as paper towel and napkin carriers or dispensers are concerned, the most common types are metal, plastic, paper boxes, etc. Although the above carriers are the preferred forms, they possess characteristic disadvantages and inconveniences that render them unsatisfactory when it comes to comfort, safety and sanitary usability.
In recognition of these disadvantages, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a sanitarily approved napkin or towelette at the location most convenient for opening a bathroom door with a container-dispenser that holds articles in an efficiently organized and independently accessible manner for dispensing sanitary towelette
apkins when necessary and convenient to the user, as needed.
The following are patents and fields of Prior art for devices that have been found relating to the Sani-Door Napkin Dispenser with some similarities.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 331,515 dated Dec. 8, 1992 titled Paper Napkin Dispenser, by T. Petterson, teaches an ornamental design of a paper napkin dispenser, as shown and described. It is a napkin dispenser that is wall-mounted with a curved body and a standard paper dispenser opening. This differs from the present art in that the dispenser opening has an elongated elliptical opening which tends to eliminate the snagging and dragging of the paper as it is pulled from the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 dated Jun. 13, 1989 by F. Salzmann et al. teaches a napkin dispenser includes a drawer which slides in and out of a housing and a push plate which also slides in the housing and is spring-based to push the napkins forward. A pair of locks on the rear of the drawer in the preferred napkin dispenser push the plate forward when the drawer is open but pivots to release the push plate when the drawer is closed so that the napkins are not pressed too tightly, even if napkins are overloaded in the drawer when it is open. Similarly, a pair of locks on the push plate apparatus in the alternative napkin dispenser push the plate forward when the drawer is open but pivot to release the push plate when the drawer is closed. This differs from the present art in several ways. One is that the dispenser is a table model dispenser and secondly it is not designed to mount on anything. Thirdly, the dispenser opening is an elongated elliptical type opening where the napkins are held at the outer edges of the napkin, but are released more easily through the smooth opening of the towelette dispenser, of the present art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,836 dated Jul. 1, 1997, by F. Merriweather, Jr., titled Single Piece Towel Dispenser; describes a towel dispenser consisting of a single unitary molded piece having a container with a front, back, right and left sides, and a top, forming a box with an open bottom, arcuate slots in each side, and a bottom member joined to the back with a living hinge. It has opposed tabs extending laterally for riding in the slots, and an access opening for passage of a towel from the interior of the container. The bottom member is movable from the initial position out of the box to a dispensing position with the tabs in the slots for closing the bottom and supporting the towels thereon, and to an upward loading position for insertion of towels upward into the box past the bottom member. This prior art differs from the present invention in that it is not mounted proximate the door handle.
None of the above prior art inventions and patents, either singularly or in combination, are seen to describe the present invention as claimed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises a towel dispenser system for a door openably attached to a door frame via hinges or slides where the door is opened by a handle. The towel dispenser system comprises a napkin/towel dispenser mounted to the door or door frame via fasteners, screws of hinges. It has a top, bottom and sides defining an internal napkin/towel storage area designed to accommodate rolls, stacks or other arrangements of serially arranged sheets of dry or wet towels. For most operations, dry towels are adequate to protect a users' hand from contamination. However, for use in certain laboratory environments, or where water for hand washing is not available, a wet towel is preferred to remove and prevent contaminants from being spread by a user opening the door.
The side of the dispenser defines dispenser opening such that the sheets of dry or wet towels are aligned and stacked in a manner for dispensing through the dispenser opening. The dispenser is mounted proximate the handle of the door such that a napkin or towel can be withdrawn by a user to cover the handle for assisting in the opening of the door to prevent hand contamination.
The napkin/towel dispenser is openable and refillable so that a new supply of napkins or towels may be added. For serially arranged sheets, tension means may be mounted underneath the serially arranged sheets of dry or wet towels to force the serially arranged sheets toward the dispenser opening.
A towel dispenser system may include a disposal receptacle attached to the door or door frame near the handle into which used napkins or towels are discarded after use.
Preferably, the napkin/towel dispenser is a one-piece unit with a slot in the top to drop the towelette
apkin packages into the dispenser. It generally includes a back plate for mounting to the door or door frame proximate the handle. The dispenser is preferably structured as an openable rectangular box type container. It is hingedly mounted to the back plate in an initial closed or dispensing position removably secured to the backplate with openable securing structure. When the dispenser is emptied, the container is pivoted open in an upward loading position for insertion of towelette
apkins upward into the box container dispenser. The filled container dispenser is then shut for use.
The

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