Patent ID: 6069354
Filing Date: 2000-05-30
Classification: A47K

Abstract:
A photonic paper product dispenser for dispensing a portion of a roll of a paper product, comprising:a. a housing for holding the roll of the paper product therewithin;b. an infrared light source in the front of said housing, said light source having a variable intensity level;c. a photodetector in the front of said housing for detecting infrared light from said infrared light source reflected off a user and converting the light received to an electrical signal, said photodetector including a phototransistor;d. a signal processing circuit for processing said signal from said photodetector said signal processing circuit reducing noise and amplifying the signal form said photodetector;e. a noise rejection circuit for rejecting signals from light sources other than said infrared light source;f. a motor;g. a monostable timing circuit for receiving a signal from the noise rejection circuit and generating a timing signal for controlling the operation of the motor;h. one or more gears mechanically connected to said motor, said one or more gears rotating upon activation of said motor;i. a pair of rollers mounted in said housing, one of said rollers being mechanically connected to said gears causing said roller to rotate upon rotation of said gears, the pair of rollers being frictionally engaged with the roll of the paper product thereby causing rotation of the roll of the paper product upon rotation of said roller, rotation of the roll of the paper product advancing a sheet of the paper product out from the housing which can then be removed from the roll; andj. a power supply unit and for providing power to the electrical components in the photonic paper product dispenser, the power supply unit including two different power supplies in order to isolate the infrared light source form the other components therein.