Patent ID: 11877703
Assignee: nan
Field: Furniture, games (Other fields)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 6:
7. A ligature-resistant, paper towel dispenser, comprising:
a housing having a top panel, a front panel, a rear panel, and a pair of side panels secured together to define a hollow, interior chamber configured and dimensioned for receipt therein of a stack of paper towels, said housing having an open bottom end through which a stack of paper towels may be inserted into said interior chamber thereof; and
means for resiliently and flexibly supporting a stack of paper towels in said interior chamber above said open bottom end of said housing and for permitting manual dispensing of successive individual paper towels from the bottom of said stack and from said interior chamber downwardly through and out of said open bottom end of said housing, wherein said means for resiliently and flexibly supporting and permitting manual dispensing of successive paper towels comprises at least one resilient, flexible member having a fixed end secured in said housing adjacent to said open bottom end thereof and an opposite free end, said at least one resilient flexible member spanning at least a portion of said open bottom end of said housing to support a stack of paper towels disposed thereabove, and wherein said free end of said at least one resilient flexible member is movable upwardly relative to said open bottom end to permit insertion of a stack of paper towels into said interior chamber and wherein said resilient flexible member is movable downwardly to permit successive removal of paper towels one at a time through said open bottom end of said housing;
at least one of said rear panel and said front panel has an inner surface which has a channel formed therein adjacent to said open bottom end of said housing which extends substantially the entire width of said at least one panel;
said fixed end of said at least one resilient, flexible member is slidably mounted in said channel and is configured and dimensioned to form a mechanical interlock with said channel to releasably lock said fixed end of said at least one resilient flexible member in said channel; and
said channel being substantially U-shaped and having a horizontally-extending, upper sidewall, a horizontally-extending lower sidewall, and a vertically-extending basewall joined to both of said sidewalls, and wherein said lower sidewall of said channel is shorter than said upper sidewall thereof which permits greater downward flexing of said resilient flexible member.