Plastic bag dispenser and support mechanism therefore

A dispenser is disclosed for dispensing and separating plastic bags from a roll of bags rolled on an axle which projects beyond the ends of the roll. The dispenser comprises a container which includes a surface which frictionally engages the roll to apply a braking force thereto. The braking surface includes an upper section and a lower sloped section which engages the roll when its diameter has decreased to a value which is such that the roll does not engage the upper section. The container includes opposing tracks extending from the upper portion of the container to a lower portion for supporting the projecting ends of the axle so that the roll will fall gradually in the tracks to the lower portion of the container as the articles are dispensed. The container also includes spring biased surfaces for applying an additional braking force to the ends of said roll.

This invention relates to a device for dispensing articles from a roll of
 continuous articles. Specifically, the invention relates to plastic bag
 dispensers and devices for mounting such dispensers on pivotable surfaces
 of the type commonly found in grocery stores.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,262 dated Sep. 24, 1996 and entitled "Plastic Bag
 Dispenser" (hereinafter the '262 patent) illustrates a number of different
 plastic bag dispensers wherein plastic bags can be dispensed and separated
 from a roll of bags. In the embodiment of the dispenser shown in FIGS.
 13-18 of the '262 patent, a braking force is applied to the roll by
 friction due to the weight of the roll. The axle, which supports the roll,
 sits in opposing tracks which are shaped so that the component of force
 which causes the friction increases as the roll is depleted. The object is
 to provide a braking force which, regardless of the size of the roll, is
 not so great as to prevent rotation of the roll in normal use yet will
 provide sufficient braking force when the roll is small to prevent free
 wheeling of the roll. In the illustrated embodiment, a separate friction
 roller is used to brake the roll when the roll is almost depleted. U.S.
 Pat. No. 5,558,262 is hereby incorporated by reference into this
 application.
 The present invention provides a dispenser of the type shown in the '262
 patent wherein the use of a friction roller is not required to retard or
 brake rotation of the roll when its diameter is small.
 The dispenser of the '262 patent is designed to be mounted in a particular
 orientation. If the orientation of the dispenser is changed significantly,
 the braking force may become greater or less than desired. Proper
 orientation of the dispenser is not a problem if the dispenser is mounted
 on a stationary surface but it is becoming increasingly common in grocery
 stores for produce to be offered to customers on what are known as
 "European tables". These are tables in which the surface is pivotable by
 raising the back of the table. If a plastic bag dispenser as shown in the
 '262 patent is fixed to such a table, its orientation will not be optimal
 for all table positions.
 Accordingly, a further object of this invention is to provide a dispenser
 support for use with a pivotable supporting surface which can be easily
 adjusted to maintain the dispenser in its optimal orientation for all
 positions of the supporting surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 Briefly, in accordance with the invention, a dispenser for use with a roll
 of separable articles mounted on an axle, comprises a container for
 holding the roll, the container including a surface which frictionally
 engages the roll to apply a braking force to the roll as the articles are
 dispensed. The axle on which the roll is mounted rides in opposing tracks
 in the dispenser whereby the roll gradually falls in the tracks to the
 bottom of the container as the articles are dispensed. The tracks are
 bound by spring loaded elements (for example, the walls of the dispenser
 in which the tracks are formed) which apply an additional braking force to
 the ends of the roll.
 In accordance with a further feature of the invention, a support is
 provided for mounting a dispenser or other such device on a pivotable
 supporting surface. The support includes a bracket having transverse
 plates one of which is adapted to be connected to the supporting surface.
 The other plate has a center hole and two or more circumferential holes
 equally spaced from the center hole. A mounting bar is attached at one end
 to the bracket by means of fasteners which extend through the center hole
 and a selected one of the circumferential holes so as to enable
 orientation of the mounting bar depending on the angle of the supporting
 surface. A mounting plate is connected to the upper end of the mounting
 bar and engages a complementary supporting surface on the dispenser.
 DETAILED DESCRIPTION
 According to a preferred embodiment, the dispenser comprises a container
 which includes a bottom wall 10, side walls 12 and 14, and a back wall 16.
 The side wall 12 and 14 each include upper sections 12A, 14A and lower
 sections 12B and 14B. The upper and lower sidewall sections are offset by
 curved guide flanges 18 and 20 which form the curved tracks which support
 a roll of plastic bags 24 wound on an axle 22. (see FIG. 3). The
 configuration of the preferred roll and axle is shown in the '262 patent.
 An angled mounting panel 25 connects the bottom wall 10 to back wall 16.
 The back wall 16 includes top and bottom vertical sections 16A and 16B
 separated by a sloped section 16C. Two spaced apart ribs 26 and 28 extend
 across back wall sections 16A and 16C and provide the surfaces which brake
 the rotation of the roll 24 as the individual bags are dispensed.
 The angled relationship between the back wall sections 16A and 16C service
 an important functional purpose. As shown in FIG. 3, when the roll 24 is
 large it engages both wall sections. However, as the roll is depleted,
 causing it to drop on the tracks formed by the flanges 18 and 20, it
 contacts only the sloped back wall section 16C. In the '262 patent, which
 does not include a sloped wall section comparable to section 16C, it is
 necessary to use a separate friction roller to create a frictional braking
 force. Here, however, because of the configuration of the back wall, the
 use of a friction roller is not required. As in the '262 patent,
 separation of the bags is caused by engagement of the central slot in the
 separation line between adjacent bags and a tongue 30 which cooperates
 with a finger 32 to facilitate separation of the bags.
 The dispenser may be molded from a suitable plastic material such as
 polycarbonate which is strong, sturdy and flexible although the material
 selected is not a feature of this invention. Other materials, such as
 steel rod, may also be used. As shown in FIG. 2, the side walls 12 and 14
 are angled slightly toward each other. This angle is selected so that when
 the roll of bags is placed in the container, with the projecting ends of
 axle 22 resting on the flanges 18 and 20, the upper side wall sections 12A
 and 14A are slightly spring biased toward each other thereby applying
 pressure to the ends of axle 22, which is slightly longer than the
 distance D2 between the upper side wall sections 12A and 14A.
 The construction thus provides two braking forces to the roll as the bags
 are dispensed. The first is caused by friction between ribs 26 and 28 and
 roll 24 due to the weight of the roll. As in the '262 patent, because of
 the shape of the flanges 18 and 20, the relative frictional force
 component increases as the roll is depleted. The second braking force is
 supplied by the pressure exerted by the spring biased upper side wall
 sections 12A and 14A against the ends of the axle 22. This additional
 force becomes the primary braking force as the roll diminishes during use.
 As shown in FIG. 2, the side walls 12 and 14 converge which means that the
 distance between the tracks in which the roll rides increases as the
 plastic bags are dispensed and the roll drops in the tracks. This is an
 important feature of the invention because it means that the force applied
 to the core by the spring biased side walls when the roll is full (and the
 core is farthest from the back wall 16 where the side walls are more
 flexible) is less than the force applied by the spring biased side walls
 when the roll is depleted (and the core moves closer to the back wall 16
 where the side walls are less flexible). The effect of this is to increase
 gradually the force applied to the core by the spring biased side walls as
 the bags are dispensed. Since the weight of the roll diminishes as the
 plastic bags are dispensed, which reduces the braking force due to
 friction between the roll and the back wall 16, the increased force due to
 the spring biased side walls compensates for the reduced frictional forces
 as the roll is depleted.
 Referring to FIG. 2, and as an example, if the length of the core is 5.15
 inches, the distance D1 may be 5.25 inches and the distance D2 4.85
 inches. Because the distance between the tracks near the rear wall 16 is
 greater than the length of the core, the core theoretically could reach a
 point where no force is applied to it by the side walls. If that were to
 happen, the retarding force on the core would be so low that the roll
 would free wheel. The ribs 26 and 28 on the back wall portion 16C prevent
 the roll from dropping to a point where free wheeling can occur.
 Although the precise position of the dispenser in use is not critical, it
 is preferred that the dispenser be mounted with the bottom wall 10
 horizontal as shown in FIG. 3. The support mechanism shown in the drawings
 enables this result.
 FIG. 1 shows a typical "European table" 40 which consists of spaced slats
 42 secured by two or three cross slats (not shown). The table 40 can be
 pivoted in the direction of arrow 41 (FIG. 3) which would alter the
 orientation of the dispenser if its position were fixed relative to the
 table.
 In accordance with this aspect of the invention an L-shaped bracket is
 provided which includes transverse plates 44 and 46 (FIG. 1). The plate 46
 overlies one of the slats 42 and is held in place by a retaining plate 48
 (FIG. 3) and suitable fastener means such as bolts 52 which engage
 threaded holes (not numbered) in the retaining plate 48.
 The upstanding bracket plate 44 includes a center hole 54 and a plurality
 (nine, in the illustrated embodiment) of circumferential holes 56 each
 spaced the same distance from center hole 54. A mounting bar 58 can be
 attached to the bracket plate 44 in various different angular
 relationships by nuts 60 and bolts 61 (for example) which pass through
 center hole 54, a selected one of the circumferential holes 56, and
 corresponding holes (not numbered) in mounting bar 58. The dispenser
 includes three apertures 63A, 63B and 63C (FIG. 4), any one of which can
 be used to secure the dispenser to the mounting bar 58. The upper end of
 the mounting bar 58 supports a circular mounting plate 65 which engages
 the undersurface of the dispenser mounting panel 25 and is retained by a
 bolt 62 extending through aperture 63B, nut 64, lock washer 66 and washer
 68. Projections 70 on the undersurface of dispenser panel 25 engage
 complementary apertures 72 in mounting plate 65 to fix the dispenser
 relative to the mounting bar 58 after bolt 62 is tightened. The angular
 position of the dispenser relative to the mounting bar 58 can, of course,
 be varied, if desired.