Device for dispensing webs of material rolled up on a core with automatic device for replacing the roll in use by a stand-by roll

The device is featured by a combination of: lateral slideways (5d-5e) taking with backlash, rods (26d-26e) integral with supporting means (26) for the rolls; articulated supporting means (10) to suspend the stand-by roll (R2) in a waiting position by its rods (26d-26e); articulated means (8) for hooking and taking pressing rods (26d-26e) of the roll in use (R1) on a drum (1) for driving of the said roll and cutting manually pulled web; a first connecting rod (12) between means (8) and (10) is mounted so that the said means can be separated or brought together by crossing each other; a second connecting rod (18) hinged with substantial backlash on the hooking means (8), and also articulating on the end of a lock (19) retaining the stand-by roll (R2); safety means locking at least in one rotation direction, the drum (1) during use or refilling.

This invention relates to a device for dispensing webs of material on a 
core, with an automatic replacing device for the roll in use with a 
stand-by roll. 
The object of the invention relates to the technical sector of means for 
dispensing webs of material rolled up on cores. More particuarly, but in a 
non-limitative manner, the invention relates to devices for dispensing and 
simultaneous cutting of webs of wiping materials. 
Devices dispensing wiping materials are known, which are equipped to take 
several rolls and to ensure possible continuous and automatic replacement 
of an empty roll and the dispensing of a new one. 
This is the case, particularly for devices forming the object of prior 
Patents from the applicant. 
In one of these devices (French Pat. No. 2,364,838), the rolls of wiping 
material are arranged directly one on top of the other, with their pins or 
ends, sliding in lateral slideways, and fixed to different mechanisms 
combined to automatically execute the replacement of the roll in use when 
it is empty. However, in the embodiment, when the device is refilled, it 
is necessary to operate the resetting control manually. 
In the other device (French Pat. No. 83.00737 and Addition 83.10533) as 
well as in another French Pat. No. 2,402,613, the rolls of wiping material 
are mounted on support arms with the stand-by roll locked in position 
until the roll in use is nearly empty, some mechanisms connected to the 
support arm of this roll, control the unlocking of the stand-by roll. 
For Patent 83.00737 and its Addition, the two support arms are hinged on a 
fixed structure and are connected to each other by a connecting rod 
judiciously mounted so that when the stand-by roll is transferred, the 
said support arms can cross over and thereby relay themselves so as to 
transfer the stand-by roll, obviously the roll in use which is nearly, 
empty, falls to the bottom of the device through gravity, to leave room 
for the stand-by roll. If this design is satisfactory, it is necessary to 
note that the principle developed requires a large bulk and the relating 
mechanisms which are complex and costly. 
For the Patent 2,402,613, only the support arm of the stand-by roll is 
pivotally mounted and connected to its locking mechanism, whereas the roll 
in use is mounted on a fixed support; the core of the said roll stays in 
place when it is empty. It can be imagined that the weight of the stand-by 
roll applied to the contact rollers wedged between the said roll and the 
core of the empty roll, generally made from cardboard, do not enable 
smooth and reliable operation of the device. Furthermore, the device 
cannot be refilled before the second roll is completely used up without 
fastidious handling. 
The device according to this invention remedies these disadvantages in as 
mush as it enables the roll in use to be replaced by a stand-by roll 
completely automatically and quick and easy refilling of the device 
without having to wait until the roll in use is used up, this along with 
simplified mechanisms with reduced dimensions, mainly in depth and is 
outstandingly smooth and reliable to operate. Also, the device enables the 
dispensing of rolls of different widths and diameters. 
According to a first feature, the dispensing device comprises, a 
combination of arms to suspend the stand-by roll in a waiting position, 
hook shaped arms to support the pressure from the roll in use on the 
periphery of a drum in a well known manner, an automatic cutting mechanism 
for the web of material dispensed through manual pulling on the end 
accessible under the device, the said arms being connected to each other 
by means of a connecting rod so as to come closer together and cross each 
other and lateral slideways to take the backlash of the pins projecting 
from the spooling on cores of the rolls; a second connecting rod, hinged 
to one of the arm hooks and a pivoting lock, being provided to free the 
stand-by roll when the roll in use which is nearly empty, is ejected. 
Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification 
proceeds.

The object of the invention will become apparent from the following 
non-limitative embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
In everything that follows, the invention is described in a non limitative 
manner on a device for dispensing and simultaneously and automatically 
cutting webs of wiping materials by means of simple pulling on the web 
projecting under the device. This type of device is covered under numerous 
Patents of which the applicant is the patentee. 
It is very briefly recalled that with this type of device the roll (R1) of 
material in use is directly applied and pressed to the drum (1) held, 
whilst freely turning, by the walls of the casing, and having an anti-slip 
surface so as to be firmly driven by means of pulling on the material. A 
pinked cutting blade (2) is mounted on the inside of the drum and is 
connected to an outside roller (3) which is in contact with a fixed cam 
(4) designed so as, when the web of material is manually pulled from the 
end projecting (B1) from the roll, the blade extends from the drum after 
the roll of material has passed, then it goes back in to the inside into 
the remaining sector. Different mechanisms are connected to the drum and 
walls of the casing to enable the drum to rotate and then stop after 
cutting, the projection of a new web of material and the freeing of the 
drum ready for a new pulling operation of the projecting web. 
Obviously the device according to the invention may be implemented into 
other types of dispensers without departing from the essence of the 
invention. With reference to figures of the drawings, the device according 
the invention shall now be described. 
The lateral walls (5a-5b) and base (5c) of the wall casing (5) holds the 
mechanism assembly, which is enclosed under a cover (6) hinged on the 
lower part of the casing and lockable at the opposite end. Each wall 
directly holds or has a built up slideway (5d-5e) rectilinear at the 
largest part of its height then curved at the inside end and flared at the 
top so as to facilitate the insertion of the rolls of wiping material. The 
slideways are wider at the top than the diameter of the guiding means of 
the rolls and have a height calculated so as to take and guide the two 
rolls until the roll in use is nearly used up. 
A means (B) destined to apply the roll of material in use on the drum is 
hinged on pins (7) above the drum (1). This means comprises two arms 
(8a-8b) connected by a spacer (8c), the free ends of which are hooked 
(8d-8e) with their opening substantially rounded and pointing downwards. A 
spring (9), preferably clad to avoid catching with the material to be 
dispensed and pressed against a stop (5f) of the casing base, returns the 
arms towards the drum so as to enable the pressure of the roll (R1) in use 
which is thereby hooked by the ends projected from its core. 
Higher up, a second means (10) is also hinged by means of pins (11) to the 
casing walls. This means comprises two arms (10a-10b) connected by means 
of a spacer (10c), its free ends of which are bevelled at the top so as to 
support the ends projecting from the core of the stand-by roll (R2). A 
spring (15) returns arms to top position against the sound-absorbing stop 
(16). 
Obviously, the arms (8a-8b) and (10a-10b) are designed with such a length 
so that their ends for hooking and suspending the rolls are situated 
within the plane of the slideways. It should be noted that the slideways 
have a curve at the bottom with the hinge pins (7) of the means (8) in the 
centre. 
The two means (8) and (10) are connected to each other by a connecting rod 
(12) cooperating with the pins (13-14) integral with the arms and fitted 
inversely with respect to the rotation pins (7) and (11) of the means (8) 
and (10), so as to be separated or brought together with each other by 
crossing over themselves. 
In this middle or substantially middle part, the arm (8a) also has a pin 
(17) to take a second swivelling connecting rod (18) through its very long 
slot (18a). The connecting rod (18) is hinged at the end of a lock (19) 
which is pivoted in (20) on a lateral wall of the casing. The top part of 
the lock (19) is designed so as to support a protruding member (10d) 
integral with one of the arms (10a or 10b), and a spring (21) returns the 
lock to a position where it retains the arm (8a). 
Obviously when the two rolls are new and in position in the device, the 
stand-by roll (R2) is held by arms (10a-10b) at a sufficient height so as 
not to be in contact with the roll (R1). 
Again, it is to be noted that a locking means has been provided for the 
driving and cutting drum when the cover (6) is open so as to avoid any 
risk of an accident with the cutting blade. For this purpose and as 
illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, a pivoting catch (22) is fitted on the 
casing in such a way so that its forwardly extending portion (22a) can 
penetrate, when urged by a return spring (23), into at least one opening 
(1a) of the drum wall (preferably, a plurality of equally-spaced openings 
are made). In this position, the opposed and profiled part (22b) of the 
catch projects from the lateral wall of the casing so as to be pushed back 
in by a wing (6a) of the cover on closing thereby unlocking the drum. 
Another safety device illustrated on FIG. 2 is provided in order to prevent 
the backward return of the drum on the end of the cutting operation in the 
event of inverse operation on the operating knob (24) connected to the 
drum and used for filling the device. It can be seen that the drum (1) has 
a projection (1b) on one of the walls which, when the drum rotates 
normally, can pass under a ratchet pawl (25) illustrated in dotted lines, 
and forms part of the mechanisms referred to at the beginning of the 
description, whereas in the opposite rotating direction of the drum, the 
projection (1b) abuts againsts the said ratchet pawl. This locking 
prevents the unrolling of the material at the front which could risk the 
device becoming out of order. According to an important feature of the 
invention, the structure of the unit enables the mounting and dispensing 
of rolls of wiping material of different diameters or widths. 
With this in mind, it is necessary to provide a sufficiently wide drum and 
sufficient width between slideways, along with supporting means (26) for 
rotating rolls of different lengths. 
An example of the means used is illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. This 
supporting means holder (26) is made up of two end pieces (26a-26b) with a 
diameter corresponding to that of the cardboard core (N) of the roll, 
connected by a thinner central part (26c). At each end, the end pieces are 
directly extended or extended by built up guiding means or rods (26d-26e) 
which are destined to slide with play in the slideways (5d-5e) and to 
cooperate with arms (8a-8b) and (10a-10b). 
One of the end pieces has a collar (26f) to be pressed against the end face 
of the core, whereas the other end piece takes a ratchet pawl (27) in a 
slot (26g) hinged in (28) and returned by spring (29), cleared away during 
insertion in the core (FIG. 7), then returned when a nose (27a) of the 
ratchet pawl has completely crossed the core (FIG. 6), thereby retaining 
the roll in a centred position with respect to the slideways. 
The operation of the automatic replacing device for the roll in use will 
now be described referring more specifically to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4. 
As and when the roll (R1) in use is unrolled, it lowers into the slideways 
(5d-5e) whilst being pressed to the drum by the return spring (9). When 
only a few turns of material are left to be dispensed, the roll (R1) 
escapes from the slideways and is retained by hooks (8d-8e) until the pin 
(17) pulls (arrow f1) on the connecting rod (18), which tilts the lock 
(19) around its pin (arrow f2); the protruding member (20) escapes from 
the lock (FIG. 3) which frees the supporting means (10). Through the 
weight of the stand-by roll (R2), the supporting means (10) pivots (arrow 
f3) around its pins (11), and the roll (R2) can take the place of the roll 
(R1) in contact with the drum since, simultaneously, the swivelling of the 
supporting means (10) enabled the lifting (arrow f4) of the hooking means 
(8) by their connecting rod (12) and therefore the freeing of the roll 
(R1) which falls to the bottom of the unit. The positions and movements of 
the means (8 and 10) are such that the hooks (8d-8e) are sufficiently 
lifted so as to be situated, in a backward position to the slideways 
before coming into contact with the rods (26d-26e) of the rotation pin of 
the roll (R2), (FIG. 4). 
When the roll (R2) is against or nearly against the drum, the bevelled ends 
of the arms (10a-10b) escape from the rods (26d-26e), and the said arms 
can then take up their initial position again being returned by the spring 
(15), which results in the lowering of the arms (8a-8b) through the 
connecting rod (12), the hooks (8d-8e) of the arms can then cover the rods 
(26d-26e). At the same time, the lock (19) has also taken up its initial 
position again (by the spring (21) thereby retaining the supporting means 
(10) by the finger (10d). The unit is now ready to take a new stand-by 
roll by simple insertion into the slideways. 
The ejected roll in use (R1) can be completely used up by simple pulling on 
the projecting web (B1), which also drives the stand-by roll (R2). So, 
until the roll (R1) is used up, the user will pull two webs of attached 
material, then one on its own (that of roll R2), in continuity. 
The advantages will become more apparent from the description, but the 
compact size and simplification of mechanisms with respect to known 
devices are more particularly underlined as well as the possibility of 
mounting rolls of different diameters and widths by changing pins (26).