Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With cutting – punching – piercing – severing – or tearing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-01
2003-04-08
Osele, Mark A. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With cutting, punching, piercing, severing, or tearing
C156S577000, C156S579000, C206S411000, C225S046000, C225S056000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06543511
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to tape dispensers, and particularly to a tape dispenser that facilitates single-handed use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Adhesive tape is a long thin flexible strip with opposite longitudinal side edges and a longitudinal axis centrally between the side edges. The strip of tape is wound around a spool for storage, shipment, sale and use. The spool has opposite ends and a rotational axis that extends between the ends. The tape is wound onto the spool such that the side edges of the tape register with the ends of the spool. Additionally, the longitudinal axis of the wound tape defines a plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis of the spool. The combination of the tape and the spool is referred to as a roll.
A roll of adhesive tape typically is mounted in a dispenser. The typical dispenser includes at least one side wall aligned substantially perpendicular to the axis of the spool. The side wall includes structure for rotatably maintaining the spool in the dispenser. The typical adhesive tape dispenser further includes a metal or plastic serrated cutting blade. The cutting blade is mounted to a portion of the dispenser spaced from the spool and typically is aligned parallel to the rotational axis of the spool. A portion of the adhesive side of the tape may be supported and releasably retained on the cutting blade of the dispenser.
The tape may be used by grabbing a portion of the tape with a thumb and forefinger at a location between the spool and the cutting blade. Forces generated by the fingers then separate the tape from the cutting blade and enable the tape to be pulled relative to the dispenser. These pulling forces cause the spool to rotate in the prior art tape dispenser, and permit the tape to be dispensed. After a sufficient length of tape has been pulled from the spool, the user then engages a portion of the tape slightly beyond the cutting blade and urges the tape against the cutting blade with sufficient force to sever the tape at a location adjacent the cutting blade. The severed section of tape then is applied to a substrate as needed. Portions of the tape on the spool side of the cutting blade will remain adhered to the cutting blade for the next dispensing operation.
The typical prior art tape dispenser is not well suited for single-handed use. In particular, a small tape dispenser must be gripped by one hand while the other hand engages the tape and pulls the tape from the blade and beyond the dispenser. The one hand remains on the dispenser and the other hand remains on the tape as the tape is severed. A two-handed dispensing of tape can be carried out fairly easily with a small tape dispenser and for a small piece of tape (e.g., 1-2 inches). In particular, the hand that pulls the tape typically will not have to be repositioned to urge the tape against the blade. The dispensing becomes much more difficult if a longer piece of tape is required. In particular, to dispense a long piece of tape, the tape is first grabbed between the blade and the spool and separated from the blade. The user then pulls a sufficient length of tape from the spool and urges the tape against the blade. The hand that had pulled the tape then must be removed from the free end of the tape to engage the tape at a location closer to the blade. This causes the free end of the tape to move, often in response to electrostatic forces. The free end of the tape often will adhere to itself or to an unintended surface.
The above-described complications can be avoided with a large heavy tape dispenser that has a broad base. This type of prior art tape dispenser can be supported without being gripped manually. Hence, the tape can be pulled from the dispenser with one hand, thereby leaving the other hand free for some other purpose, such as holding the object to be taped. Additionally, two hands can be employed, if necessary, to hold both ends of a long piece of tape.
Both the lightweight and the heavy typical prior art tape dispenser have the problem of manually gripping the adhesive surface of the tape at least once to dispense the tape. This manual gripping reduces the adhesiveness and may transfer soil from the finger to the adhesive side of the tape. The soil, often in the form of a fingerprint, remains on the tape and is visible on the object to which the tape is applied.
It often would be desirable to apply the tape directly from the dispenser to the object being taped. The large heavy prior art tape dispenser that is suitable for some single-handed use cannot conveniently be positioned adjacent the object to which the tape is to be applied. The lighter weight disposable tape dispenser can be manipulated fairly easily. However, the shape of the prior art tape dispenser is not well suited to direct application of the tape from the dispenser to the object being taped. In particular, the tape leaving the dispenser typically defines a plane that extends either through or parallel to the rotational axis of the spool. Thus, the portion of the tape in proximity to the cutting blade typically will be offset from the surface being taped by a distance approximately equal to the radial distance from the axis of rotation to the outside of the tape dispenser. Conceivably, the light weight tape dispenser can be manipulated so that the tape bends about an axis transverse to the longitudinal direction of the tape. This causes an inconvenient angular orientation of the tape dispenser, and typically moves the tape a distance further from the cutting blade than would normally be obtained during a tape dispensing operation. An extremely complicated maneuver of the tape dispenser then would be required to employ the cutting blade and sever the tape. An attempt to use the prior art tape dispenser in this manner typically would require the tape to be cut at a considerable distance from the surface being taped, and hence would require a difficult estimate of the amount of tape that is required to be cut. Through all of this maneuvering, all portions of the tape typically are aligned approximately parallel to the axis of the spool, with the longitudinal axis of the tape defining a single plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis of the spool.
The prior art includes some tape dispensers where the tape is twisted approximately 90° about the longitudinal axis of the tape as the tape is being dispensed. These prior art tape dispensers also have the longitudinal axis of the tape lying in a single plane that is orthogonal to the rotational axis of the spool. Examples of such prior art tape dispensers are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,393,368, 5,595,626, 5,759,341, 6,062,286 and 6,112,796. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,898 shows a tape dispenser where the amount of twist of the tape about the longitudinal axis of the tape can be varied.
Several of the above-described tape dispensers are intended for tapes that have a carrier strip. Thus, these prior art tape dispensers include take-up reels, and means for delivering the carrier strip from the dispensing end of the dispenser back to the take-up reel. None of the prior art identified above is well suited to single handed dispensing. In particular, these prior art dispensers still require the tape dispenser to be held with one hand and the leading end of the tape to be gripped with the other hand for application to the object to be taped. Thus, the problems of reduced adhesiveness and fingerprints on the tape remain. Additionally, the angle of the dispenser during use is not ideal for directly dispensing the tape to the substrate. Thus, inconvenient manipulation of the tape dispenser is required for both the dispensing and the severing of the tape.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention is directed to a dispenser for a flexible tape, such as a flexible adhesive tape. The adhesive tape is a long narrow strip of thin flexible material that has a length many times greater than the width. The tape has opposite side edges extending along the length of the tape
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