Abstract:
A toilet paper dispenser is provided that is operable in an automatic dispensing mode and a manual dispensing mode. The dispenser comprises a housing for containing a toilet paper roll; a drive roller engagable with the roll; a motor; and a one-way coupling that couples the motor to the drive roller in a first direction to automatically dispense paper from the dispenser and decouples same in an opposite second direction, thereby enabling toilet paper to be manually dispensed in the first direction.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/423,100, filed on Jun. 8, 2006, now pending, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/245,585, filed on Oct. 7, 2005, now pending, where these two applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates generally to paper dispensers and particularly to away-from-home type toilet paper dispensers.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     A common concern in providing toilet paper in public facilities is wastage and theft of toilet paper. Known toilet paper dispensers, whether single roll or double roll, dispense a user-selectable portion of the toilet paper roll stored in the dispenser. The toilet paper roll may be perforated, in which case the user unwinds a desired number of perforated segments from the roll then tears the segments away from the roll along one of the perforations. Alternatively, the toilet paper roll may be non-perforated, in which case the user must press the paper roll portion against a knife, a serrated edge or other severing means in the dispenser to separate the portion from the roll.  
         [0004]     In both cases, the user has unlimited access to the roll of toilet paper in the dispenser. Wastage occurs when the user pulls a long portion of the roll from the dispenser and does not use it, leaving the portion hanging out of the dispenser and/or laying on the floor. Worse, abuse can occur by unwinding the entire roll and stealing the paper, or leaving the paper unused and wasted.  
         [0005]     Another problem with known toilet paper dispensers is that users typically have to reach under the dispensers to grab the leading edge of the toilet paper roll, then pull the leading edge downwards in order to extract paper from the dispenser. This can be an awkward process, especially if the dispenser is mounted low, or if there is an insufficient tail protruding under the dispenser for the user to obtain a firm grip. Persons with disabilities or restricted mobility can find operating such dispensers to be particularly challenging. Sometimes when the paper is particularly fragile or when the roll is difficult to rotate, the paper segment separates from the roll by the downwards pull by the user, leaving the user with a much shorter portion than intended.  
         [0006]     Some dispensers are provided with a rotary knob on the exterior of the dispenser to aid the user in dispensing paper. However, many users are reluctant to touch the dispenser, as such dispensers can be dirty and can contain bacteria or other unhygienic material.  
         [0007]     In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide a toilet paper dispenser that can solve at least some of the shortcomings of present toilet paper dispensers.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     It is a general objective of the invention to provide a hands-free toilet paper dispenser that solves at least some of the problems in present toilet paper dispensers. A particular objective of the invention is to provide an improved toilet paper dispenser that can automatically advance a toilet paper portion of predetermined length for the user. A further objective of the invention is to provide a toilet paper dispenser that can operate in both an automated dispensing mode and a manual dispensing mode.  
         [0009]     According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a toilet paper dispenser comprising a housing for containing a toilet paper roll; a drive roller engagable with the roll; a motor; and a one-way coupling that couples the motor to the drive roller in a first direction to automatically dispense paper from the dispenser and decouples same in an opposite second direction, thereby enabling toilet paper to be manually dispensed in the first direction.  
         [0010]     The dispenser can have a manual dispensing means that is rotationally coupled to the toilet paper roll and operable by a user to rotate the roll in the first direction to manually dispense paper from the dispenser. The dispenser can further comprise a roll support rotatably coupled to the housing and which serves to receive a core of the roll. In such case, the manual dispensing means is a knob coupled to the roll support and operable to rotate the roll support thereby rotating the roll.  
         [0011]     The dispenser can further comprise a sensor mounted on the housing and a controller communicative with the sensor and the motor. The controller is programmed to operate the motor when the sensor is activated. A power supply such as a battery can be electrically coupled to the motor to provide power thereto.  
         [0012]     The drive roller can be positioned in the housing to engage a leading edge of the roll. When the roll is perforated, a secondary pair of pinch rollers can be provided to grip the leading edge of the roll and prevent perforations in the leading edge of the roll from breaking about the drive roller. When the roll is non-perforated, severing means like a knife can be provided to sever a dispensed portion from the roll.  
         [0013]     Alternatively, the drive roller can be positioned in the housing to engage the surface of the roll. In such case, the drive roller can be movably connected to the housing thereby being movable to maintain contact with rolls of varying diameter. More particularly, the drive roller can be movably connected to the housing by a track in the housing in which the roller is slidable therealong. Biasing means can be provided to bias the roller against the roll. The motor can be suspended from the roller thereby serving as the biasing means.  
         [0014]     Alternatively, the drive roller can be the roll support that receives a core of the roll. In such case, the roll support is rotationally coupled to the motor by the one way bearing. Manual dispensing means can also be rotationally coupled to the roll support to allow a user to manually dispense portions from the roll.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)  
       [0015]     FIGS.  1 ( a ) to ( d ) are respective front elevation, top plan, side elevation and perspective views of an automated toilet paper dispenser according to one embodiment of the invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram view of certain components of the toilet paper dispenser.  
         [0017]     FIGS.  3 ( a ) and ( b ) are side and perspective views, respectively, of a motor and gears for coupling to rollers of the dispenser.  FIG. 3 ( c ) shows the motor and gears coupled to a drive roller and driven roller of the dispenser.  
         [0018]     FIGS.  4 ( a ) to ( d ) are respective front elevation, top plan, side elevation, and back elevation (with battery pack removed) views of an automated toilet paper dispenser according to a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram view of certain components of the toilet paper dispenser according to the second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0020]     FIGS.  6 ( a ) to ( c ) are respective front elevation, top plan, and side elevation views of an automated toilet paper dispenser according to a third embodiment of the invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram view of certain components of the toilet paper dispenser according to the third embodiment of the invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is a schematic block diagram of certain components of the toilet paper dispenser modified to dispense a perforated toilet paper roll.  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a portion of a two-roll toilet paper dispenser according to another embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0024]     Directional terms such as “top”, “bottom”, “right”, and “left” are used in this description merely to aid the reader understand the embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the embodiments to any particular orientation during operation or in connection to another apparatus.  
         [0025]     According to one embodiment of the invention and referring to FIGS.  1 ( a ) to ( d ), a toilet paper dispenser  10  is provided that is particularly suited for away-from-home use. The dispenser  10  is motorized and has a sensor  12  that can be activated by a user to cause the dispenser  10  to automatically dispense a portion of a toilet paper roll A stored inside the dispenser  10  (toilet paper roll A not shown in  FIG. 1 ( d )). The dispenser  10  is also provided with a manual dispense mechanism  14  which enables the user to manually cause the dispenser  10  to dispense toilet paper, e.g. in the event of a power failure or a dead battery that causes the automatic dispensing feature to stop working.  
         [0026]     As can be seen in  FIG. 1 ( c ), the dispenser  10  has a housing  16  and a door  18  hingedly coupled to the housing  16  by hinges  20  at the bottom of the housing  16 . The door  18  can be locked by a locking mechanism  22  located at the top of the housing; such locking mechanism  22  is a conventional key-based lock and is thus not described in detail here. The door  18  can be unlocked and opened to allow the loading of the toilet paper roll A. A dispensing opening  24  is provided at the bottom of the housing for toilet paper to be dispensed therethrough.  
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the dispenser  10  comprises a number of components that work together to automatically dispense a portion of the toilet paper roll (hereinafter “automatic dispensing assembly”). The automatic dispensing assembly comprises a motor  26  electrically coupled to a battery pack  28  and a drive roller  30 . A control circuit  31  is electrically communicative with the sensor  12  and the motor  26  and is programmed to actuate the drive roller  30  when a signal is received from the sensor  12 . In this embodiment, the sensor  12  is located on the housing door  18  but can be optionally located elsewhere on the dispenser  10  in a place that enables a user to conveniently activate the sensor  12 .  
         [0028]     The toilet paper roll A as shown in  FIG. 2  is a standard non-perforated core-type roll. A serrated knife  31  is provided near the opening  24  for severing a portion from the roll A. A user severs the portion from the roll A by pressing the portion against the knife  31 . Alternatively, the knife  31  or another suitable cutting means can be movably mounted to the dispenser  10  and coupled to an actuator (not shown) which moves the knife  31  against a sheet of the roll A to sever the portion therefrom.  
         [0029]     The roll A is loaded into dispenser  10  by sliding the hollow cylindrical core over a cylindrical support  32  extending horizontally from the housing  16 . The support  32  is freely rotatably mounted to the vertical wall of the housing  16  and has a plurality of fins  33  that bite into the roll core, thereby creating a friction fit that causes the roll A to rotate with the roll support  32 . Alternatively, the cylindrical support  32  is fixed to the housing  16  and is made of a low-friction plastic or similar material, or coated with a low friction material to enable the roll A to rotate freely about the fixed support  32  with minimum effort.  
         [0030]     After the paper roll A is loaded in the dispenser and while the door  18  is still opened, the leading edge of the paper roll A is threaded between a pair of rollers, namely, the drive roller  30  and an adjacent free-spinning roller  34 . One or both rollers  30 ,  34  are spring-mounted to the housing  16  to enable the rollers  30 ,  34  to be separated to form a gap and allow the leading edge of the roll A to thread through the gap. When the rollers  30 ,  34  are released, the springs (not shown) cause the rollers  30 ,  34  to apply a force onto the paper roll A.  
         [0031]     The rollers  30 ,  34  have a rolling surface with a sufficient coefficient of friction that rotation of the roller surface  30 ,  34  will pull the paper roll A therethrough.  
         [0032]     Referring to FIGS.  3 ( a )-( c ), the drive roller  30  is rotationally coupled to the motor  26  by a one-way bearing  36  and a plurality of reduction drive gears  38 ( a )-( b ). The motor  26  is a DC-powered gear head motor mounted on the base of the housing  16 . A suitable motor is a Jameco Reliapro model 151440 with 4.5-12 VDC operating range and a no load speed of 69 RPM; however, other motors with similar specifications can be readily substituted. The motor  26  has a drive shaft  40  which connects a motor drive gear  38  ( a ). The motor drive gear  38 (a) is rotatably coupled to a roller drive gear  38 ( b ). The roller drive gear  38 ( b ) is fixed to an outside surface of the one-way bearing  36 . The outside surface of the one-way bearing  36  is rotationally coupled to an inside surface of the one-way bearing  36  in a single direction as is known in the art. The inside surface of the one-way bearing  36  is in turn is fixed to a shaft (not shown) coupled to the drive roller  30  and extending along the rotational axis thereof. The drive gears  38 ( a )-( b ) serve as reduction gears between the motor  26  and drive roller  30 .  
         [0033]     The one-way bearing  36  is aligned to transfer torque from the motor  26  to the drive roller  30  and yet allow the drive roller  30  to rotate freely in the drive direction. Therefore, when the motor  26  is not operating, the dispenser  10  can still be manually operated to dispense toilet paper by the user manually pulling downwards on the leading edge of the roll A protruding from the dispenser  10 . The one-way bearing will allow the drive roller  30  to spin in the drive direction even though the motor  26  is not operating. The user can also use the manual dispensing mechanism  14  to assist in the manual dispensing of the roll A from the dispenser  10 . This mechanism  14  comprises a knob located on the exterior of the door  18  and connected to the support  24 . When the knob is rotated by the user, the support  24  rotates and paper is unwound from the roll A. (If the support  24  is fixed, the knob can be directly attached to the roll, e.g. by spikes that penetrate into the side of the roll A.  
         [0034]     The ability to manually dispense is particularly useful when power is unavailable to the motor  26 , e.g. power outage or dead batteries. Without such one-way bearing  36 , the rotational resistance presented by the reduction gears  38 ( a ) and ( b ) and motor  26  would make it very difficult to rotate the drive roller  30 . Additionally, the one-way bearing  36  allows the drive roller  30  to rotate at a faster rate than the rate as driven by the motor  26 . This permits the user to manually advance the paper out of the dispenser  10  at a faster rate than is being advanced by the motor  26 .  
         [0035]     Although the use of a one-way bearing is described here, other one-way rotational couplings as known in the art can be substituted. Other suitable one-way couplings include one-way clutches and one-way ratchets.  
         [0036]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the motor  26  is one component of an automatic dispensing assembly that enables the dispenser  10  to automatically dispense toilet paper segments to the user. These components include the motor  26 , the DC power supply  28 , the control circuit  31 , the sensor  12 , and a door open disconnect switch (not shown).  
         [0037]     The DC power supply  28  is electrically coupled to the motor  26  by the door open disconnect switch and the control circuit  31 . In this embodiment, the DC power supply  28  is a battery pack capable of providing 6 or 9 volt output. Alternatively or additionally (but not shown), the DC power supply  28  can be an inverter that connects to an AC power source, e.g. a building&#39;s AC power outlet. The inverter converts the AC power into DC for use by the motor  26 . The door open disconnect switch is located on the dispenser  10  such that the switch opens when the door  18  is opened. This prevents the motor  26  from operating and causing injury when the door  18  is opened and dispenser  10  is being serviced.  
         [0038]     The control circuit  31  includes a programmable logic controller (PLC) programmed to control the automatic dispensing operation of the dispenser  10 . The control circuit  31  is electrically coupled and communicative with the sensor  12 , the motor  26 , the power supply  28  via the door open disconnect switch. The sensor  12  can be any type of sensor that detects the presence of the user, and can for example be a proximity sensor such as an IC digital capacitance sensor, a motion sensor, or an infrared sensor such as a pyroelectric sensor that detects the user&#39;s body heat. The sensor  12  is powered by the power supply  28  via the control circuit  31 . When the sensor  12  detects the user, it sends a user detected signal to the control circuit  31 . The PLC of the control circuit  31  is programmed to check the sensor  12  and when detecting the user detected signal, to send a motor actuation signal to the motor  26 . In response to the motor actuation signal, the motor  26  activates and rotates the drive roller  30  a selected number of rotations corresponding to a selected length of paper towel roll to be dispensed. This length can of course be adjusted by changing the programming of the control circuit  32 .  
         [0039]     The PLC is programmed to wait for a selected period of time before checking the sensor  84  again; this wait period provides the user with enough time to obtain and use the dispensed paper segment, leave the vicinity of the dispenser  10 , or request another paper segment. The wait time also can serve to discourage a user meaning to waste paper by continually extracting paper from the roll.  
         [0040]     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the dispenser  10  of this first embodiment can be modified to accept a standard perforated core-type roll B. Two pairs of rollers are provided to grip the roll sheet B, namely a pair of main rollers  30 ,  34  and a pair of secondary pinch rollers  39 . At least one roller from each roller pair are spring-loaded so that continuous pressure can be applied to the roll sheet B. Like in the first embodiment, the main rollers comprise the drive roller  30  coupled to the motor  26  and the driven roller  34 . The pinch rollers  39  are both free spinning and serve to prevent the perforations in the sheet from breaking about the main rollers  30 , causing the tail of the sheet B to be lost within the dispenser  10 . As the user can now easily tear a perforated portion from the sheet B, the cutting knife  31  is no longer required.  
         [0041]     Referring to FIGS.  4 ( a )-( d ) and  5  and according to a second embodiment of the invention, the automated dispensing assembly of the dispenser  10  is modified so that the rollers  30 ,  34  are replaced by a drive roller  100  which is in direct contact with the surface of the paper roll A. The drive roller  100  has an axle  102  that is movably mounted to the housing  16  and is biased against the paper roll A such that the drive roller  100  is always in contact with the roll A regardless of the roll&#39;s size. The axle  102  extends through a track  104  in the housing  16  and is weighted at one end so that gravity biases the drive roller  100  downwards through the track  104  and against the roll A. Alternatively, the drive roller  100  can be biased using springs or other biasing means known in the art.  
         [0042]     The surface of the drive roller  100  has a sufficient coefficient of friction to rotate the roll A when the motor  26  rotates the drive roller  100 . The motor  26  is also movably mounted along the track  104  and is rotationally coupled to the drive roller  100  using the one way bearing and gears as described in the first embodiment. Alternatively, the motor  26  can be fixed to the housing  26  and rotationally coupled to the drive roller  100  using a series of gears and chain as is well known in the art (not shown).  
         [0043]     Like the first embodiment, the drive roller  100  is coupled to the motor  26  by the one way bearing  36 . Therefore, a user can manually operate the dispenser  10  either by pulling on the leading edge of the roll A, or turning the knob of the manual dispensing assembly  14 , or both.  
         [0044]     Referring to FIGS.  6 ( a )-( c ) and  7  and according to a third embodiment of the invention, the automated dispensing assembly of the dispenser  10  is modified so that the support  32  is rotatably coupled to the housing  16 , and is driven by the motor  26 . In other words, the support  32  acts as a drive roller, and is coupled to the motor  26  by the one way bearing and reduction gears as described in the previous embodiments. Like in the previous embodiments, the knob  14  is provided on the door  18  and is coupled to the support  32  such that rotation of the knob  14  by the user causes the support  32  to rotate and paper to be manually dispensed, whether or not the motor  26  is operating.  
         [0045]     Because the roll A diameter diminishes as paper is dispensed, the length of toilet paper dispensed is not constant relative to the number of rotations of the roll support  32 . Therefore, the dispenser  10  in this embodiment is provided with a roller sensor  50  which is in contact with the leading edge of the roll A. The control circuit  31  is programmed to determine the length of toilet paper dispensed from the measurements made by the sensor  50  then stop the rotation of the roll support  32  when the predetermined length has been dispensed. While a roller sensor is shown in this embodiment, other sensors can that can measure the length of paper dispensed be provided as is known in the art.  
         [0046]     Although the present described embodiments all relate to a single roll toilet paper dispenser, it will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art to adapt the automated and manual dispensing features of the single roll dispenser for a double roll dispenser such as the dispenser shown in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0047]     All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.  
         [0048]     While the present invention has been described herein by the preferred embodiments, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and added to the invention. The changes and alternatives are considered within the spirit and scope of the present invention.