Towel cabinet

Abstract

 A towel cabinet incorporates a mechanism adapted to prevent the tension in the towel being withdrawn from exceeding a predetermined value. In one embodiment the cabinet incorporates a stop mechanism (18-25) which operates when a predetermined length of towel has been withdrawn, and a friction clutch (42-45) which allows the stop mechanism to be overridden if a user continues to pull strongly on the towel.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a cabinet for a roll of towel and more particularly but not exclusively to a cabinet for a roll of paper towel.

[0002] Towel cabinets housing a roll of towel material (nomally linen) are well known. In these prior cabinets an exposed reach of towel is grasped by the user for drying his hands and fresh towel is withdrawn from the cabinet by pulling on the exposed reach. Soiled towel is normally fed back into the cabinet to be re-reeled therein or otherwise stored within the cabinet.

[0003] In order to avoid the expense involved in the laundering of linen towel rolls the applicant has developed a cabinet which is particularly suited to use with a roll made from a web of disposable material such as paper.

[0004] A main drawback to the use of paper towel is that the strength of such a towel, which must be produced relatively cheaply to be viable, is necessarily less than that of a linen towel. Rupture of a paper towel is therefore a reasonably likely event where this towel may be subject to careless use or even vandalism.

[0005] It is well known in towel cabinets to control the outfeed of towel such that only a predetermined length of towel can be pulled out in one go. When such a length has been withdrawn the user normally has to wait a few seconds before more towel is available. Such cabinets incorporate a stop mechanism which comes into operation when the perdetermined length of towel has been withdrawn. In order to minimize the risk of rupture in a paper towel, embodiments of the present cabinet incorporate a friction clutch such that if a user continues to pull strongly on the towel when the stop mechanism is operational the clutch will slip and allow the towel to be withdrawn. In another embodiment of the present cabinet there is no stop mechanism, rather, the material is pulled from the cabinet against an opposing force which increases in normal use up to a predetermined value.

[0006] According to the present invention there is provided a towel cabinet comprising a housing for supporting a roll of fresh towel material which is manually withdrawn from the cabinet in use, and control means operated by withdrawal of the towel material from the cabinet and adapted to oppose continuous withdrawal of material from the cabinet; said control means being arranged such that the tension created in the material as a result of the opposing force provided by the control means does not exceed a predetermined value.

[0007] Some embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic side elevation of a towel cabinet with several parts omitted for clarity;

Figure 2 shows a partial section through a friction clutch employed in an embodiment of the towel cabinet.

Figure 3 shows a stop mechanism incorporated in an embodiment of the towel cabinet;

Figure 4 shows a detail of a further embodiment of the cabinet; and

Figure 5 shows a section through an alternative friction clutch used in a further embodiment of the cabinet.

[0008] The cabinet shown in Figure 1 is normally mounted on a wall or other suitable surface by means of its rear wall 1 and generally comprises a housing having an upper portion for supporting and containing a roll 2 of web material for use as a hand towel, mechanism for dispensing such towel under controlled conditions, and a bin section 13 for retaining soiled towel after use. The cabinet has been,particularly designed for use with a roll of paper towel material and reference to such a roll will be made throughout this description although a conventional linen roll-towel could also be employed.

[0009] The roll 2 is supported within the housing in a tray 3 and access to the interior of the housing for loading is achieved by means of a hinged lid 4. A web of paper towel from the roll 2 passes between outfeed rolls 5 and 6 and thence out of the housing via a gap formed between a depending portion of the lid 4 and a front wall 7 of the housing. A guide plate 8 serves to guide the web and to prevent the roll climbing out of the tray 3. The roll is free to move and unroll in the tray 3 but may alternatively be mounted for rotation about its axis in known manner. A long and substantially vertical exposed reach 9 of paper towel is presented at the front of the cabinet. It is this reach of towel which is grasped for hand-drying and for pulling clean towel from the roll. At the bottom of the reach 9, the towel passes upwardly and back into the cabinet between a pair of infeed rolls 14 and 15 and thence into the bin section where it is retained.

[0010] The mechanism whereby towel is withdrawn under controlled conditions operates as follows. Outfeed roll 5 is driven when towel is pulled from the roll and is drivingly coupled to a first of the infeed rolls 14, by means of a drive belt 16 or other suitable means.

[0011] Figure 2 and 3 show details of the cabinet which assist in the controlled dispensing of towel. It is well known in the field of towel cabinets to provide stop a mechanism for limiting the length of towel which can be pulled out of the cabinet at one go. It is also well known for such stop a mechanism to be held in its operative position for a set period of time by means of suction cups. A suitable device is shown in Figures 2 and 3 which show a cam 18 in the form of a profiled disc mounted for rotation on a shaft 17 on the end of the outfeed roll 5 and a cam follower and stop arm 19 mounted for limited rotation about an axis 20. The arm has a first limb 21 which in the position shown prevents the continued rotation of the cam 18 and hence the roll 5. Mounted on a second arm 22 is a first suction cup 23 which cooperates with a second fixed suction cup 24 to retain the arm 19 in the position shown in Fig. 3. Air leakage into the suction cups, and thus the period during which they operate, is controlled by means of an adjusting screw 25.

[0012] When the suction cups fall apart the arm 19 rotates clockwise under gravity so that the limb 21 no longer prevents rotation of the cam 18 and delivery of towel. On rotation of the cam, the limb 22 follows the cam surface and the suction cups are brought together again. Only one complete rotation of the cam 18 can, therefore, be achieved at one go and excessive dispensing of towel is thus prevented. Suitable gearing between the cam 18 and the roll 5 may be arranged to provide for suitable lengths of fresh towel to be dispensed.

[0013] In order to minimize the risk of tearing a paper towel dispensed in this manner, a friction override clutch may be incorporated between the cam 18 and the roll 5. Thus, excessive pulling on the towel whilst the stop mechanism is effective will not cause tearing of the towel since the clutch will slip and allow towel to be pulled from the roll 2.

[0014] The cam 18 is held between two plates 42 and 43 which are fixed in rotation with the shaft 17 which is located at one end of the roll 5 and by means of which the roll is journalled for rotation. The plate 42 is free to move axially on the shaft 17 and clamps the cam 18 between the plates 42, 43 under the action of a spring washer 44. The clamping action of the spring washer 44 is adjustable by means of a nut 45 threaded on the end of the shaft 17.

[0015] Figure 4 shows an alternative device for regulating the withdrawn of towel from the roll 2. In this device a coil spring 36 is housed within a spring barrel 37 and connected at its inner end to the shaft 17. The outer end of the spring is connected to the inner surface of the spring barrel 37 which is mounted for rotation on the shaft 17.

[0016] The outer periphery of the spring barrel 37 may be toothed for co-operation with a toothed cog 39 or may have a friction surface for co-operation with a friction wheel. The cog 39 or friction wheel is journalled for rotation on a shaft.40 and a vane 41 or other damping and dissipating device is fixed on the shaft 40.

[0017] The operation of the regulating device shown in Figure 4 is as follows. When a user pulls on the reach 9 to withdraw fresh towel, the roll 5 is caused to rotate. This in turn causes the shaft 40 and vane 41 to rotate through the intermediary of the coil spring 36 and the spring barrel 37. Air resistance on the vane will thus oppose the rotation of the shaft 41 and the coil spring will tend to be wound up. Resistance to withdrawal of towel will thus increase gradually up to the point where the coil spring is completely wound up and in this way an abrupt interruption of withdrawal is avoided. A one way drive (not shown) is also incorporated into the device to prevent the roll 5 being driven in reverse by stored energy in the spring when the user releases the towel.

[0018] The damping and dissipating device will be suitably designed such that the opposing force which it provides does not exceed the required predetermined level. Alternatively a friction clutch may be incorporated between the roll 5 and the damping and dissipating device. For example, the coil spring 36 might be connected at its inner end to a sleeve frictionally fitted over the shaft 17. The adjustment of this friction clutch being carried out by means of the nut 45.

[0019] In Figure 5 there is shown an alternative version of a friction clutch which in this case is built inside the roll 5 which is covered in a layer of elastomeric material to provide good grip between the roll and the towel material. Fitted into an open end of the roll 5 and keyed thereto is an elastomeric friction block 50 which has an internal conical surface 51 engaging an external conical surface 52 on an extension of the cam 18. The two conical surfaces are urged together by means of a spring 53. In this embodiment the shaft 17 may be fixed; the rollers being journalled for rotation thereon at one end by the block 50 and cam extension as shown in Figure 5 and at the other end by any suitable means. The frictional contact between the surfaces 51 and 52 is adapted to allow the clutch to slip when the tension in the towel material exceeds the predetermined value.

[0020] The cabinet described with reference to Figures 1-5 is particularly advantageous for use with a paper based or other disposable towel. In one example of a suitable disposable towel the towel strength is about 180-200 lbs. The setting of the clutch employed in any circumstance will naturally be determined by the nature of the web being employed. The normal "pull" required to operate known roll towel cabinets is of the order of 3 - 6 lbs. The minimum setting of the clutch mechanism must be sufficiently strong to give a measure of feel and should be set at least 2 - 3 1bs above the operating pull. The preferred range of clutch settings is in the region of 10 - 25 lbs. This is a small proportion of the strength of a suitable paper towel across its width but it should be borne in mind that the pull on the towel will, in practice, be concentrated in the edge regions of the towel and parts of the towel will be greatly weakened by wetting.

[0021] A suitable towel for use with the cabinet comprises a web formed from two layers of absorbent paper materials having a layer of perforated plastics material therebetween. In order to avoid tearing of the towel right across its width, the edge portions of the web may be provided with elongate reinforcing elements. The reinforcing elements may suitably extend inwardly beyond the edge portions to the parts of the web which tend to be engaged by a user's thumbs. The provision of reinforcing elements in these areas will substantially reduce the likelihood of the user's thumbs bursting through the web.

[0022] The setting of the control means should be such that the opposing force provided thereby does not exceed 75% and is preferably less than 50% of the tensile breaking strain of the towel across its full width.

[0023] Although not shown, it will be understood that the bin section will be adapted to allow emptying. This may conveniently be achieved, for example, by mounting the bin section removably on the cabinet or by the provision of a closure which can be opened to afford access to the bin section.

[0024] The material when fed back into the cabinet may be re-reeled or as shown may be fed upwardly reeled into a collecting bin. Alternatively the material may be allowed to fall unreeled into a collecting bin. Although described in relation to use with a paper towel, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the cabinet can also be usefully employed with linen towel.

Claims

1. A towel cabinet comprising a housing (1) for supporting a roll of fresh towel material (2) which is manually withdrawn from the cabinet in use, and control means (18-25, 42-45) operated by withdrawal of the towel material from the cabinet and adapted to oppose continuous withdrawal of material from the cabinet; said control means being arranged such that the tension created in the material as a result of the opposing force provided by the control means does not exceed a predetermined value.

2. A towel cabinet according to Claim 1, wherein the control means comprises a stop mechanism (18-25) which operates to stop the withdrawal of material after a predetermined length of material has been withdrawn from the cabinet.

3. A towel cabinet according to any preceding Claim 1, wherein the control means (36-41) is adapted to apply an increasing opposing force, as material is withdrawn from the cabinet in normal use, up to the predetermined value.

4. A towel cabinet according to Claim 3, wherein the control means comprises an energy dissipating element comprising an energy storage device such as a coil spring (36).

5. A towel cabinet according to Claim any preceding claim, wherein the control means comprises a friction clutch (42-45) which will slip when the tension in the towel exceeds the predetermined level.

6. A towel cabinet according to Claim 5 as appendant to Claim 2, wherein the stop mechanism comprises a rotary element (18) driven in rotation by withdrawal of towel material, and a movable stop (19) which is moved as towel material is withdrawn from the cabinet from an inoperative position to an operative position in which it acts to oppose further rotation of the rotary element.

7. A towel cabinet according to Claim 6, wherein the rotary element (18) comprises a profiled disc mounted for rotation on a shaft (17) and driven in rotation with the shaft via the friction clutch (42-45) which comprises a pair of plates (42,43) mounted on the shaft on either side of the disc and fixed in rotation with the shaft; at least one of the plates being axially movable along the shaft under the action of a resilient element (44) so as to grip the disc (18) between the plates.

8. A towel cabinet according to Claim 7, wherein the interfaces between the disc and the plates are provided by friction material.

9. A towel cabinet according to any preceding claim wherein the control means is coupled to a roll (5) over which the material passes and which is driven in rotation as towel material is withdrawn from the cabinet.

10. A towel cabinet according to Claim 9 as appendant to Claim 6, wherein the rotary element (18) comprises a conical surface (52) and is driven in rotation with the roll (5) via the friction clutch which comprises a friction block (50) coupled in rotation with the roll (5) and having a corresponding conical surface (51) coaxial with the conical surface (52) of the rotary element and adapted to frictionally engage therewith over a conical interface; the friction block being urged axially into engagement with the rotary element under the action of a resilient element (53).

11. A towel cabinet according to Claim 7 or Claim 10, wherein the predetermined value of tension in the towel material at which the clutch slips can be varied by adjustment of the resilient element (44,53).

12. A towel cabinet according to any preceding claim, wherein the material is fed back into the cabinet after use and is retained therein.

13. A towel cabinet as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the control means is set such that the opposing force provided thereby does not exceed about 10 - 25 lbs.

14. A towel cabinet comprising a stop mechanism (18-25) for limiting the dispensing of towel and a clutch mechanism (42-45) associated with the stop mechanism such that the stop mechanism may be overriden to prevent tearing of the towel.

15. A towel cabinet as claimed in any preceding claim in combination with a roll of towel material comprising a web formed of at least one layer of absorbent paper and a layer of perforated plastics material; at least the edge portions of the web being formed with reinforcing elements.

16. The combination claimed in Claim 15, wherein the web is provided with further reinforcing elements inwardly of the edge portions of the web.

17. The combination claimed in Claim 16 or Claim 15, wherein the control means is arranged such that the opposing force provided thereby does not exceed 75% of the tensile breaking strain of the web across its full width.

18. The combination claimed in Claim 16, wherein the control means is arranged such that the opposing force provided thereby is less than 50% of the tensile breaking strain of the towel web across its full width.

Drawing