Severing by tearing or breaking – Breaking or tearing apparatus – Web restrainer
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-19
2004-10-19
Goodman, Charles (Department: 3724)
Severing by tearing or breaking
Breaking or tearing apparatus
Web restrainer
C225S047000, C225S051000, C225S084000, C206S409000, C242S419400, C242S592000, C242S597000, C242S599200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06805271
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a novel paper towel sheet dispenser. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a single hand, paper towel sheet dispenser that does not require a user to hold a roll of serrated, paper towel sheets with one hand in order to facilely tear off a desired number of the paper towel sheets.
Paper towels are routinely used in kitchens, restaurants and other settings where food is prepared and served. No matter where food is served, paper towel dispensers are often used to dispense paper towel sheets to clean up spills or to clean tables, floors and kitchen appliances. In addition, paper towel dispensers are often used in recreational settings, in addition to garages, auto or wood working shops and in other work or recreational areas where people need to absorb or wipe-up a spill, dry a surface or simply clean and/or dry their hands. Paper towels are usually sold in a roll having a width of approximately eleven inches or so and sheets of approximately six to fifteen inches in length connected end-to-end along serrated tear lines. The paper towel sheets are wound upon a paper core of approximately an inch in diameter and sell with a retail diameter of the roll of about four to five inches in diameter.
Paper towels are often formed from one or two ply sheets of absorbent paper material. One brand of such paper towel product is known as BOUNTY, which is a registered trademark of the Procter & Gamble Company. This brand comes in sheet lengths of a few inches or so to approximately eleven-by-eleven inches square. Another brand is referred to as BRAWNY which is a registered trademark of the Fort James Corporation and is conventionally sold in a roll of sheets eleven inches wide by thirteen point eight inches in length joined end-to-end along serration tear lines. In certain instances, sheets of paper towels may have other length and width dimensions, however, most disposable paper towel rolls have periodic transverse serrations to facilitate separation of discrete lengths or sheets.
The above paper towel products are often dispensed by using a simple U-shaped bracket holder. These holders are usually designed to be mounted upon a vertical wall surface or beneath a horizontal wood cabinet by wood screws. Each end of the U-shaped bracket is designed to hold one end of the paper towel core or alternatively a rod can be axially extended through the center of the paper core and mounted at its ends between the U-shaped bracket or frame. At least one disadvantage of traditional paper towel dispensers, including a simple U-shaped bracket holder, is that a person usually needs to use both hands to dispense the paper towels. This disadvantage represents an inconvenience and difficulty for some people, when one hand is holding a container, object of use, or is otherwise soiled or occupied. In such moments, the only option, in most instances, is for a person to find a place to set the container or other object of use so that both hands are free to tear off one or more sheets of paper towels. If a user attempts to use inertia and jerk a few sheets of towel from a roll, the roll often unreels. The user is then left with the task of rewinding unused lengths of towel segments. In other instances, if a user attempts to use inertia to tear sheets from a paper towel roll, the entire roll may be pulled off the holder. The user must then pick up the roll rewind any useful portion and reposition the roll on the holder. Still further, if a roll of towels is held with one hand, and a length of towel ripped off with the other, the sheets of paper towels may not tear at the serrated edges between individual sheets. This leaves uneven or jagged edges or strips of paper sheets hanging from the roll.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide a means for dispensing different types of serrated, paper, towels that only requires a user to use a single hand to facilely tear off any length of paper towel desired in a reliable and convenient manner. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated paper sheets wherein a user can use a single hand to tear off serrated, paper towel sheets without touching or soiling other sheets of the roll of paper towels with a user's hand.
Traditional paper sheet dispensers, including dispensers for paper towels, are often poorly designed or cheaply produced which means that a roll of paper towels often falls off the dispenser when a person attempts to tear off a segment. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a paper sheet dispenser that is rugged and reliable in design and function and will securely retain a roll of paper towels during a dispensing procedure.
At least one paper towel dispenser, known in the past, that is designed to operate with one hand, includes a pair of nesting plastic yokes that are pivotally connected to a base plate. In this design, a paper towel roll is mounted on one of the yokes and trained over a top edge of the other yoke for tearing by a downward movement. In one embodiment this tearing operation is enhanced by use of tooth-shaped projections or a sharp blade fitted at an edge of the second yoke to assist in separating a desired length of towel from a roll This design, although more convenient than most traditional roll dispensers, is composed of relatively lightweight plastic and a multipart mounting mechanism for the yokes. Accordingly, this design lacks ruggedness and does not take advantage of gravity to assist in a dispensing process. Moreover the tear mechanism is simply an over a yoke bar design that is lacking user friendliness for a one handed operation.
In at least one further prior design, a roll of paper towels was operably received within a trough with a slit along one edge of the bottom of the trough. A free end of the roll of towels was trained through the slit and therefore operated as a dispensing unit. In this device there is nothing to brake rotation of the roll, except a user's second hand, and therefore while this design will dispense towel segments it exhibits many of the limitations of prior designs.
Traditional paper sheet dispensers do not provide an effective mechanism for limiting the unreeling of a roll of paper towels except with the use of two hands. If would be desirable to enable a user to dispense one or more paper towel sheets using a single hand. Moreover, it would be useful to enable a user, relying on just one hand, to be able to reliably and conveniently dispense paper sheets from a dispenser mounted either against a wall or under a cabinet.
In the past paper sheet dispensers also do not have means for mounting the dispenser in different positions in a manner that provides for alternative left or right side loading of a roll of serrated, paper towel sheets on the dispenser and reliable single hand operation of the dispenser. Bi-directional loading and operation of a paper towel sheet dispenser enables a user to use a single hand to tear off a desired number of sheets of paper towels from either the left side or right side of the dispenser in a reliable and convenient manner. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated, paper towel sheets such that the dispensing unit can be mounted in different positions, such as against a generally vertical surface or in a generally horizontal mounting position such as under a cabinet, either in a kitchen or other work or recreational area, wherein the dispensing means is designed for reversible loading and operation. Such dispensing means would enable a user to reliably and conveniently mount a serrated, paper sheet, dispenser on either the right side or left side of a generally planar surface, for convenient dispensing of serrated, paper towel sheets. It would also be desirable to provide a means for dispensing serrated, paper towel sheets that can be mounted on a wood or plastic surface with screws or on a metallic surface by utilizing a permanent magnet, and optionally wherein the base may be utilized to display personal or decorative
Goodman Charles
Holden Art Inc.
Houtteman Scott
Kile Bradford
Kile Goekjian Reed & McManus
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