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(11) | EP 1 938 725 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
Locking device Verschlussvorrichtung Dispositif de verrouillage |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0001] The present invention concerns a locking device to be used in the housings of different towel dispensers and the like. This kind of housings comprise in general two basic parts to be separated or opened with respect to each other in order to refill the towel product to be dispensed. In the dispensers mounted in public places the separation or opening of the parts must be lockable only to be opened with an opening tool, in order to eliminate the misuse of the products of the dispenser. On the other hand, corresponding dispensers and the products included therein are used in places, where the use is controlled or does not include any risk of misuses. In the last-mentioned places the locking hinders the use, the opening tool must always be at hand when the dispenser must be refilled or a malfunction occurs.
[0002] A locking device providing one solution to said problem is disclosed in the publication EP 1 702 547 A. This publication describes a dispenser including a hood for covering the operational parts mounted on the base of the dispenser. The hood may be inserted on the base by a turning and a subsequent sliding action relative to the base. During the sliding movement a resilient latch member fixed in the base snaps into a retaining opening of the hood and locks the hood onto the base and prevents an opening turning of the hood from the base. A proper tool is required for releasing the latch from its locking position and enabling a sliding of the hood relative to the base for an opening turning movement. The locking device includes also a retainer for optional use of the locking device. Said retainer prevents the latch to snap into the retaining opening of the hood during said sliding operation.
[0003] An improvement for the problems has been provided by means of a locking device of the present invention, said locking device being based on a locking device of a traditional type, comprising at least one tongue fixed to one part of the dispenser to be connected with the other part, and a retainer formed to the opposite part, said tongue and retainer being arranged to be engaged to a mutual locking position by means of a mutual approaching motion of the parts and by means of the material spring of the tongue and/or the retainer. The tongue and/or the retainer have two optional operating positions, whereby the locking can be opened in one of them by distancing the parts from each other and in the other only by means of an opening tool. The characterizing features of the locking device are disclosed in the enclosed claim 1.
[0004] The invention will be described in more details in the following, with respect to the enclosed drawing, wherein
Figure 1 shows a locking device in accordance with the present invention in one operating position,
Figure 2 illustrates the changing of the operating position of the locking device, and
Figure 3 shows the locking device in the other operating position.
[0005] A part of the back plate 3 of the towel dispenser and the housing 4 of the dispenser are shown in the figures. The back plate is meant to be attached as usual for example to the wall of a room. The housing 4 can be pushed into contact with the back plate after the refilling stage for the operating situation. For keeping the parts reliably in the mutual position required by the operation of the dispenser, the dispenser includes a locking device 5. In the solution shown in the figures, the locking device comprises two tongues 1 projecting from the back plate. The tongues are manufactured of a flexible material, and their projecting end is equipped with a beveled surface. Due to the beveled surface and the flexibility, the tongues bend downwards, when getting into contact with the edge of the housing 4, when the parts of the dispenser are pushed together. After the parts of the dispenser have reached the locking position, the ends of the tongues 1 spring up behind the retainer 2 of the housing. The projecting ends of the tongues have behind the beveled surface a locking claw that engages the retainer.
[0006] In the position of Figure 1 of the locking device, the locking claw is more gently sloping in the projecting direction of the tongues, whereby the provided locking effect in the retainer is limited. The housing 4 can be pulled outwardly from the back wall 3 with a reasonable power, whereby the edge of the retainer presses the tongues 1 down by sliding against the more gently sloped locking claw.
[0007] Figure 2 shows the changing of the operation mode of the locking device. The tongues 1 are mounted on a suitable frame piece 6 that can be turned in the locking device so that the tongues 1 set in a position that is 180° rotated about the axial direction thereof. In this position, a part having a sharp locking claw in the projecting end of the tongues comes out. The tongues in this position are firmly engaged to the retainer of the housing, whereby the housing cannot be pulled out of the back wall. For pulling it out, the tongues 1 must be pressed by means of a tool designed for this purpose, through the retainer 2 of the housing 4.
1. A locking device for paper or towel dispensers for detachably attaching two parts
of the dispenser to each other, said locking device comprising at least one tongue
(1) attached to one of the parts to be connected and a retainer (2) formed to the
opposite part, and the tongue and the retainer are arranged to be brought into a mutual
locking position by means of the mutual approaching motion of the parts and by means
of the material flexibility of the tongue and/or the retainer, whereby the tongue
and/or the retainer have two optional operating positions, one of them having the
locking to be opened by means of a distancing motion of the parts and the other only
by means of an opening tool, characterized in that the at least one tongue (1) of the locking device can be turned 180° about its axial
direction for changing the operating position.
2. A locking device in accordance with Claim 1, characterised in that the locking device has in its tongue (1) in one operating position a beveled locking
claw engaging the retainer (2) and in the other operating position respectively a
sharp locking claw.
1. Verschließvorrichtung für Papier- oder Handtuchspender zur lösbaren Befestigung zweier
Teile des Spenders aneinander, wobei die Verschließvorrichtung wenigstens eine an
einem der zu verbindenden Teile befestigte Zunge (1) und eine am gegenüberliegenden
Teil angebrachte Halterung (2) umfasst, wobei die Zunge und die Halterung derart angeordnet
sind, dass diese in eine gegenseitige Verschließstellung bringbar sind durch eine
gegenseitige Annäherung der Teile und durch die Materialflexibilität der Zunge und/oder
der Halterung, wobei die Zunge und/oder die Halterung zwei optionale Betriebsstellungen
aufweist, wobei eine davon eine Öffnung des Verschlusses durch eine Auseinanderbewegung
der Teile und die andere eine Öffnung des Verschlusses nur mittels eines Öffnungswerkzeuges
veranlasst, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die wenigstens eine Zunge (1) der Verschließvorrichtung um 180° in ihrer axialen
Erstreckung gedreht werden kann, um die Betriebsstellung zu wechseln.
2. Verschließvorrichtung gemäß Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Verschließvorrichtung in ihrer Zunge (1) in einer Betriebsstellung ein abgekantetes
Greifelement aufweist, welches mit der Halterung (2) in Eingriff bringbar ist, und
in der anderen Betriebsstellung ein spitzes Greifelement aufweist.
1. Un dispositif de verrouillage pour distributeurs de papier et de serviettes convenant
pour attacher deux parties du distributeur entre elles de façon détachable, ledit
dispositif de verrouillage comportant au moins une languette (1) reliée à l'une des
parties à assembler et un arrêtoir (2) agencé sur la partie opposée, la languette
et l'arrêtoir étant disposés de telle manière qu'ils peuvent être amenés dans une
position de verrouillage mutuel par un mouvement d'approche mutuelle des parties et
par la flexibilité du matériau de la languette et/ou de l'arrêtoir, la languette et/ou
l'arrêtoir ayant deux positions de service optionnelles, l'une d'entre elles entraînant
l'ouverture du verrouillage par un mouvement d'éloignement des parties et l'autre,
uniquement au moyen d'un outil d'ouverture, caractérisé en ce que ladite au moins une languette (1) du dispositif de verrouillage peut être tournée
de 180° autour de son sens axial pour modifier la position de service.
2. Un dispositif de verrouillage selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que le dispositif de verrouillage présente, dans sa languette (1), une griffe de verrouillage
biseautée engageant l'arrêtoir (2) dans une position de service et une griffe de verrouillage
pointue, respectivement, dans l'autre position de service.
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.
Patent documents cited in the description