Towel roll

Abstract

 In one aspect, the invention provides a replaceable winding roller for flat strip material in a towel dispenser. The roller comprises a cylindrical roll, an outer surface forming a winding surface for the flat strip material, the roll comprising a groove axially extending from one end part of the roll to another end part of the roll. The groove is open on the one end part. The roller further comprises a freestanding pin being connected to the another end part of the roll, forming a gap between the groove and the pin into which the strip material may be slid. The freestanding pin is positioned in the groove below the winding surface. The gap distance is at least the width of the material in an uncompressed state.
It is an object of the invention to provide a winding roller that may be easily removed from the roll of used cloth.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to the field of winding rollers for flat strip material in towel dispensers.

[0002] A typical towel dispenser typically comprises two rollers. A first roller on which a roll of clean cloth is provided and a second roller for winding up the cloth that has been used, the so-called winding roller. When all the clean cloth has been used, the first roller will be empty and a roll of used cloth will be winded on the winding roller. After removal of the winding roller, the used cloth will be washed and reused.

[0003] When a new roll of clean cloth is provided in the towel dispenser, the end of the clean cloth is attached to the winding roller. This is usually done by clamping the end of the clean cloth into a groove in the winding roller. Publication EP1176898 shows a system wherein the cloth is clamped into a groove in the winding roller by means of a pivoting rod. A disadvantage of clamping the cloth to the winding roller is that it makes the removal of the winding roller from the roll of used cloth more difficult.

[0004] It is an object of the invention to provide a winding roller that may be easily removed from the roll of used cloth.

Disclosure of the invention

[0005] According to one aspect, the invention provides a replaceable winding roller for flat strip material in a towel dispenser. The roller comprises a substantially cylindrical roll, an outer surface of the roll forming a winding surface for winding the flat strip material, the roll comprising a groove axially extending from one end part of the roll to another end part of the roll. The groove is open on the one end part. The roller further comprises a freestanding pin being connected to the another end part of the roll, forming a gap between the groove and the pin into which the strip material may be slid. The freestanding pin is positioned in the groove below the winding surface and the gap distance between the groove and the pin is at least the width of the flat strip material in an uncompressed state.

Brief description of the drawings

[0006] 

Figure 1: Schematic view of a replaceable winding roller according to the present invention.

Figure 2: Perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a replaceable winding roller according to the present invention.

Description of the embodiments

[0007] FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a replaceable winding roller 1 for flat strip material in a towel dispenser according to the present invention. The directions of two cross-sections of the roller A - A' and B - B' as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C respectively, are indicated.

[0008] FIG. 1B shows a schematic view of cross-section A - A' of the winding roller 1 as indicated in FIG. 1A. The winding roller 1 comprises a substantially cylindrical roll 2, an outer surface 3 of the roll forming a winding surface 4 for winding the flat strip material. The outer surface 3 of the roll preferably is a smooth surface to reduce frictional forces between the roller and the cloth while removing the roller from the roll of used cloth. Furthermore, a smooth surface may be easier to clean. This may be especially important with regard to sanitary facilities.

[0009] The roll comprises a groove 5 axially extending from one end part 61 of the roll 2 to another end part 62 of the roll 2. The end parts are only visible in FIG. 1C. The groove 5 is open on the one end part 61. The groove 5 may have a substantially semi circular shape, but it may also be tapered. The winding roller comprises a freestanding pin 7 that is connected to the another end part 62, forming a gap 8 between the groove 5 and the pin 7 into which the strip material may be slid from the one end part 61 where the groove 5 is open.

[0010] Fig. 1C shows a schematic representation of a cross-section B - B' of the winding roller as indicated in FIG. 1A. Besides all the elements already shown in FIG. 1B, this cross-section clearly shows the end parts 61 and 62 and the connection of the freestanding pin 7 to the cylindrical roll 2. In this embodiment pin 7 has the same length as the cylindrical roll 2. The pin 7 may also be of a different length, e.g. shorter than the cylindrical roll 2. Preferably, the surface of the groove 5 and the surface of the pin 7 are smooth. This may make it easier to slide the cloth into the gap 8 while connecting the clean cloth to the winding roller 1. Furthermore, smooth surfaces may be easier to clean. This may be especially important with regard to sanitary facilities.

[0011] The freestanding pin 7 is positioned in the groove 5, below the winding surface 4 of the roll. The dashed line 41 shows the winding surface 4 above the groove 5. The dashed lines 41 makes it clear that the freestanding pin 7 is positioned below the winding surface 4 of the roll. In this position, the pin 7 does not protrude above the winding surface 4 of the roll. This position of the pin 7 may make it easier to remove the winding roller 1 from the roll of used cloth.

[0012] The gap distance 9 between the groove 5 and the pin 7 is at least the width of the flat strip material in an uncompressed state. With this gap distance 9, the strip material is not compressed when slid into the gap 8 and therefore not clamped in the gap 8. The winding roller 1 may be easier removed from the roll of used cloth, when the cloth is not clamped in the gap 8. Furthermore, a gap distance 9 whereby the cloth is not clamped in the gap 8 may also make it easier to slide the end part of the clean cloth into the gap 8.

[0013] FIG. 2 shows a view of an exemplary embodiment of the replaceable winding roller according to the present invention from three perspectives respectively shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. In the following, FIG. 2 will be referred to as regarding FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. If a certain aspect may only be seen in one of the figures or an aspect may particularly well be seen in one of these figures, there will be explicit reference to this figure.

[0014] After sliding the free end of the clean cloth into the gap 8 (see Fig 1B), the roller may be rotated a couple of times to stably connect the clean cloth to the winding roller 100. The embodiment of the winding roller 100 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a turning element 10. FIG. 2A and 2B show the turning element on the side of the cylindrical roll 2 where the groove 5 (see Fig 1B) is open, the turning element 10 on the other side of the roller is shown in FIG. 2C. The turning elements 10 may be helpful for rotating the roll a couple of times to stably connect the clean cloth to the winding roller 100.

[0015] The embodiment of the winding roller 100 as shown in FIG. 2 comprises a flange 11 on the another end part 62 (see Fig 1C) of the roller where the pin 7 (see Fig 1B) is connected to the roller. The flange 11 may align the various layers of cloth during winding and therefore stabilize the roll of used cloth on the winding roller 100.

[0016] In the embodiment of the winding roller 100 shown in FIG. 2, the one end part 61 (see Fig 1C) of the roll, i.e. the part of the roller where the groove 5 is open and where the strip material may be slid in, does not comprise a flange 11. This makes it possible to pull on the another end part 62 of the roll 2, i.e. the part of the roller where the pin 7 is connected to the roller 100, and remove the cylindrical roll 2 (see Fig 1B) from the wound up roll of used cloth. A flange 11 on the one end part 61 would impede removing the roller from a roll of cloth without unrolling the roll of cloth.

[0017] To make it easier among others to slide the towel into the gap 8, the embodiment of the winding roll shown in FIG. 2 and especially in FIGS. 2A and 2B comprises a slant recessed cylinder surface 12 on the one end of the roller where the groove 5 is open.

[0018] For cost effective manufacturing, a winding roller comprising a groove 5 and a pin 7, may be manufactured in one piece. A typical way of manufacturing a winding roller in one piece is via injection moulding. In injection moulding, a mass of viscous material is injected under high pressure in a mould in the form of the desired product. After cooling the synthetic material in the mould, the desired product may be obtained. The mass of the typically synthetic viscous material is preferably provided as a granulated material or as a powder and melted into a viscous mass.

[0019] The replaceable winding roller according to the present invention may be comprised in a towel dispenser.

[0020] The detailed drawings, specific examples and particular formulations given serve the purpose of illustration only. Furthermore, other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Claims

1. Replaceable winding roller (1) for flat strip material in a towel dispenser, comprising:

a substantially cylindrical roll (2), an outer surface (3) of the roll (2) forming a winding surface (4) for winding the flat strip material, the roll (2) comprising a groove (5) axially extending from one end part (61) of the roll (2) to another end part (62) of the roll (2), the groove (5) being open on the one end part (61),

a freestanding pin (7) being connected to the another end part (62) of the roll (2), forming a gap (8) between the groove 5 and the pin (7) into which the strip material may be slid,
wherein

the freestanding pin (7) is positioned in the groove (5) below the winding surface (4) and wherein the gap distance (9) between the groove (5) and the pin (7) is at least the width of the flat strip material in an uncompressed state.

2. The roller according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the cylindrical roll (2) comprises a flange (11) on the another end part (62) of the roll (2).

3. The roller according to claim 1, wherein the one end part (61) of the roll (2) does not comprise a flange (11) so as not to impede removing the roller (1) from a roll of material.

4. The roller according to claim 1, wherein the one end part (61) of the roll (2) comprises a slant recessed cylinder surface (12).

5. The roller according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the roller (1) is manufactured in one piece.

6. A towel dispenser comprising the replaceable winding roller (1) according to any one of the previous claims.

Drawing