Abstract:
Apparatus for dispensing cloth, paper, and microfiber continuous roll toweling material interchangeably is shown along with apparatus for dispensing continuous flat weave split microfiber roll toweling. Microfiber continuous roll toweling material suitable for use in dispensing apparatus is described.

Description:
[0001]    This invention relates to roll towel apparatus and more particularly to continuous roll towel dispensing devices in which the toweling is formed from extended lengths of microfiber material. This application claims benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/738,957 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    Continuous roll towel dispensers in which a loop of towel material is fed out of a slot adjacent the front bottom edge of the dispenser and returned into the dispenser through a rear slot have been known for many years. See for instance U. S. Pat. No. 6,578,936 B1 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety Typically the towel material has been formed from cotton or linen and made into rolls having a length of twenty-five to fifty yards or so and a width of six to fifteen inches or so. Toweling of this sort has been expensive enough that most rolls of used toweling are removed from the dispenser, laundered and then reused. Typical life cycles for the rolls range from twenty to fifty or sixty reuses before the material is no longer useful. 
         [0003]    In an attempt to overcome the laundering cost various dispensers have been introduced which dispense individual sheets from continuos rolls of paper. The individual sheets of paper towel are then discarded after use creating a refuse problem. Continuous paper roll toweling has presented serious obstacles to dispensing from a conventional dispensing apparatus such as shown in the above referenced patents. Recently there has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,466 B1 a device for dispensing a loop of paper toweling from a continuous roll thereof for use and then rerolling up the used toweling which then may be disposed of in a more convenient and less volume consuming manner. The economic effect of paper in its various forms versus cloth has been and continues to be debated in the industry. 
         [0004]    In addition to the problems, discussed in the &#39;466 patent above, in handling and adapting synthetic toweling materials to continuous roll towel dispensers the industry has been plagued with the strength of the fiber necessary for the manual pulling operation of the traditional device without increasing the thickness of the fiber and thus making the rolls so large that very few uses could be supplied by the standard dispenser. The drying capability of the towel material and the number of washing cycles the material could withstand have also been significant problems. 
         [0005]    We have now discovered that with the proper choice of a microfiber toweling material and the use of the improved roll towel dispensing apparatus disclosed herein we can overcome the above problems and provide an economically practical roll towel material and dispenser which allows a number of uses per roll comparable to conventional cloth and dispenses a superior roll towel material compared to traditional cloth and paper dispensers 
         [0006]    For purposes of this disclosure “microfiber” material is defined to include material made from synthetic filament yarns of less than two denier and frequently fibers of less than one denier or 10 microns. These yarns are typically 100% polyester but can be made from a wide variety of synthetic polymers. 
         [0007]    “Split microfiber” generally is made from a compound filament consisting of two different synthetic polymers (most often polyesters and polyamides) extruded together. The extruded compound filament (which usually is greater than one denier but less than two denier), is subjected to a splitting operation to separate the two polymers thereby creating a series of individual pie shaped sections disposed about a “star” shaped center. The pie sections are less than one denier and often as small as 0.01 to 0.2 denier or from 0.1 microns to 1 or 2 microns. It is this small fiber size and the small interstices between the fibers that give microfiber its superior wiping and drying characteristics. They also allow a web of material to be made that is thin enough to be rolled into a roll of less than eight inches diameter and still have sufficient strength and a length of at least thirty five yards (Typically with cloth toweling some fifty yards of material can be wound into a roll of suitable size to be housed in a conventional dispenser). These dimensions have been found necessary to use microfiber economically in a roll toweling conventional dispenser. Preferably the “split microfiber” consists of some twenty to thirty percent polyamide and seventy to eighty percent polyester. 
         [0008]    For roll towel dispensers while the above fiber dimensions are important the “bulk” of the weave of the material is also a problem. It has been found that weaves such as used for clothing, thin dish towels, glass cleaner cloths (the so called flat weaves) function well for roll towel dispensers. High loft weaves such as “terry” weaves will become tangled in the rolls and jam the roll towel dispenser as well as increase roll size. 
         [0009]    Various other configurations of synthetic fiber yarns are being developed almost daily and as long as they provide the small interstices and can meet the strength and bulk or flat weave requirements for roll toweling dispensers may be used with or in place of the foregoing fibers according to this invention. 
         [0010]    According to the present invention we have found continuous roll toweling made from split microfiber, as defined herein, may be laundered and reused from two hundred to five hundred times before it must be discarded. Microfiber and especially split microfiber are initially more expensive than paper or cloth but its ability to withstand repeated cleaning and its superior absorbency ultimately results in a more economical product. In addition the ability of the microfiber to trap and hold soil material is far superior to currently available cloth or paper material. 
       OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0011]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a roll towel material that is more economical to use than paper or cloth towels. 
         [0012]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a roll towel material that is more efficient in trapping and holding soil than cloth or paper toweling. 
         [0013]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a microfiber material that may be dispensed in a conventional roll towel dispenser. 
         [0014]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a microfiber roll towel material and apparatus for dispensing same, that is more efficient and economical to use than conventional paper or cloth roll towel dispensing devices. 
         [0015]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide roll towel dispensing apparatus capable of dispensing cloth, paper, microfiber, and split microfiber toweling interchangeably. 
         [0016]    It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a roll towel dispensing apparatus that feeds a loop of clean toweling upon sensing the presence of an object to be wiped/dried and upon completion of the wiping/drying operation retracts the used towel and stretches a length of dean towel from the input to the output slots of the apparatus to prevent contact with soiled toweling and unwanted access to the external portion of the toweling material. 
         [0017]    These and other and further objects of the invention are achieved in an embodiment of the invention in which a split microfiber roll toweling material is fed from a roll towel dispenser by a first powered means when the presence of an object to be wiped/dried is sensed and the used toweling material is retracted by a second powered means when the completion of the wiping/drying operation is sensed by the dispenser apparatus. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of the roll towel dispenser according to the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic end view partially in section of the dispenser of  FIG. 1  in the towel retracted at rest position; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a partial end view similar to  FIG. 2  showing the roll towel dispenser with the toweling in the dispensed wiping/drying position 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the control circuitry for operating the roll towel dispenser of the present invention; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the sequential steps taken by the automatic towel dispenser apparatus. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  the roll towel dispenser  10  has a front cover  12  hinged at the upper edge so as to permit easy access to the frame (not shown) which is usually fixed to the wall or other support. A clean toweling bin  14  with false floor  16  (see  FIG. 2 ) is pivotally fixed adjacent the bottom of the cover  12  and holds a roll  19  of dean toweling material  20 . As discussed above in the conventional roll towel dispenser the roll diameter must be less than about eight inches to fit into bin  14  within the overall housing. With a flat weave split microfiber made from very small diameter fibers, rolls of this size will contain up to about fifty yards of material. This allows some 150 to 200 wiping/drying operations per roll which is equal to or better usage than with cloth rolls. Positioned below a false floor  16  in bin  14  is is the towel dispensing mechanism as will be described in more detail herein. Power supply and control circuitry may also be located here or further up in free space in cover  12 . 
         [0024]    Referring now to  FIG. 2  a dean roll  19  of toweling  20  is positioned in bin  14 . Toweling  20  is fed between a pair of rollers  22  and  24  to slot  28 . Roller  24  is connected to a motor  26  which is powered from the power supply in the bottom of bin  14 . Toweling  20  exits the cabinet through slot  28  at the front edge of the cabinet and is then directed back across the outer surface of bin  14  and up through the slot  30  at the rear of the dispenser. The toweling feed and retrieval slots shown are typical of currently available dispensers but the toweling may exit part way up the front of the cabinet  12  and return adjacent the bottom edge or otherwise of the housing as may be seen in other dispensers. 
         [0025]    A tunnel member  31  extends from side to side of bin  14  below the bottom thereof and has a depth of about one half the front to back dimension of the dispenser housing  12 . This ensures that only a small amount of used or dean toweling will remain exposed when the dispenser is in the rest position. In one option this small amount of dean towel is automatically fed out at the start off the used towel retrieval cycle. Alternatively the used towel is merely pulled into the tunnel and housing until stretched taught across the bottom. 
         [0026]    The toweling is then fed up to roll  32 . Roll  32  acts as the take up roll for the used toweling and is preferably constructed as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,974 incorporated herein by reference. Roll  32  is connected to a motor  36  by gear train  34 . Motor  36  is powered by the power supply in bin  14 . At rest toweling  20  is stretched tight across the bottom of the bin  14  through tunnel  31 . While at rest rolls  28  and  32  are locked in place to prevent undesired access to the toweling and/or the bottom of the cabinet. 
         [0027]    The rolls  22  and  24  usually have a frictionally enhanced surface in order to smoothly and positively grip and feed the cloth, paper or microfiber towel material. In the past “sandpaper” type surfaces have been used but we prefer a softer Neoprene or rubber like material. This is particularly important to prevent fibers of the microfiber material from catching and jamming the feeder mechanism. In other applications strips or bands of friction material are placed about the rolls. Suitable static remediation elements (not shown) are typically used to minimize user shock and control circuit interference. 
         [0028]    Positioned adjacent the bottom front edge of the bin  14  are infra red windows  38  behind which are located emitter and receiver sensors  41  and  42  directed so as to sense the presence of an object to be wiped/dried such as a users hands. 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIG. 4  a system block diagram of the circuitry for performing the operations of the dispenser is shown. With the unit in its powered up status the user places a hand or object slightly below the bottom front edge of the device whereby the infrared emitter  41  reflects from the users hand or object and enters the infrared receiver  42  The signal is then sent thorough amplifier  43  and to the respective circuitry within the micro controller  44  which then actuates dispensing motor  26  to dispense a preprogrammed length of dean or treated toweling  20  via the dispensing roller  24  which is linked to the dispensing motor  26 . The toweling exits through the slot  28  forming a usable loop  46  of toweling  20  suitable for wiping or drying purposes as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0030]    With completed towel use, the hand  39  or object is drawn away from the toweling and the infrared sensor receiver  42  not longer receives a signal from the emitter  41 . An adjustable dwell time is then effected by the micro controller  44 . At the end of the dwell time a command is sent by the micro controller  44  to the dispensing motor  26  to dispense a short length of toweling  20  sufficient to extend from slot  28  to tunnel  31 . When the short length dispensing is completed, a signal is sent from the micro controller  44  to the take up motor  36  and the used toweling is wound around the take up roller  32  linked thereto. 
         [0031]    Roll motor  36  is energized long enough to take up the loop  46  of soiled toweling and also the small length of dean toweling just fed out by motor  26  until a stall condition is noted by a rise in motor current at which time the motor  36  is shut off. If a small length of dean toweling was fed out by motor  26  before soiled toweling take up is initiated it will cause the dean toweling to be drawn taught across the bottom of the bin  14  into tunnel  31 . As indicated above this feeding of a small segment of dean toweling may be locked out and the micro controller will then go directly to the retrieval mode. Finally a locking pin or other means is energized to prevent further withdrawal of toweling by manual pulling or otherwise. 
         [0032]    In the event the end of the toweling  20  is reached during the activation of motor  36  the toweling will be completely retracted and wound up about take up roll  32  eliminating the possibility of any used toweling dangling out of the bottom of dispenser  10 . A time delay function is incorporated in micro controller  44  to turn off motor  36  if the stall condition noted above is not detected. 
         [0033]    The control circuitry and motors  26  and  36  are powered by a power supply(not shown) which may take the form of throw away or rechargeable batteries or if desired a suitable rectified commercial power connection which could be hard wired in upon installation of the dispenser. 
         [0034]    While there are given above certain specific examples of this invention and its application in practical use, it should be understood tat they are not intended to be exhaustive or to be limiting of the invention. On the contrary, these illustrations and explanations herein are given in order to acquaint others skilled in the art with this invention and the principles thereof and a suitable manner of its application in practical use.