PACKET ZIGZAG FOLDED CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF TOWELLING, IN PARTICULARLY ADAPTED FOR HYGIENIC USE, SUCH AS IN AN APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING LENGTHS OF TOWELLING

Abstract: Packet zigzag folded continuous length of disposable towelling,in particularly adapted for hygienic use,such as in an apparatus for dispensing lengths of towelling(20).The material of the disposable towelling consists of paper,that has a reinforcement for enlarging the tensile strength,so that there is no danger of tearing off in wet condition.This reinforcement consists preferably of synthetic material having the form of a fabric or fleece,that is united with the paper.The packets(11A,11B) have been provided on at least one of the outer end layers with a two sided adhesive strip(29A,29B),which makes a mutual coupling of the packets possible.This gives the advantage that the packets,that are already present in the dispenser, can be coupled with fresh packets without interruption of the length of towelling that is at the disposal of the user.

Description: The invention relates to a packet of toweling for single use adapted to be dispensed for hand drying from an apparatus having a supply chamber from which the toweling is removed for use ,said packet comprising a zig-zag folded,continuous web of paper material extending between the first and the second web ends.Such a dispensing apparatus is for example described in EP 0 107 223,of which the present Application is a divisional application. A packet of towelling of the type described in the preamble is shown in US 2.809.082.The towelling used comprises normal single or double ply,zigzag folded paper that is simply cranked out and torn off at a sheet of sufficient length,used for drying the hands and then disposed in a waste paper basket.This has the first objection of frequent littering the floor of the toilet or bath room is which the dispenser 15 installed.Although this known document proposed for coupling of successive packets to place a drop of glue or other adhesive on the topmost sheet of the packet in the unit and to press against this the bottom-most sheet of the new packet ,or as an alternative to use pressure sensitive tape,this has also serious objections.Placing the unprotected glue or other adhesive into a narrow dispenser,which is usually suspended at eye level is very difficult and can also prove to cause quite a problem as, especially at higher temperatures,the glue or adhesive may flow from its place and soil the mechanism of the dispenser so that this one gets out of order.Also the placing of the alternative pressure sensitive tape into a narrow dispenser needs a ladder of some sort and is very difficult and can prove to be quite a problem as the unprotected tape may stick to undesired surfaces of the dispenser.Furthermore this coupling operation can certainly not be effected by untrained personnel,like janitors and cleaners that usually service the towelling apparatus in public toilets and bathrooms. The object of the invention is to remove all these objections and provide a packet of zigzag folded disposable paper towelling which can be rolled up in wet condition after use in a dispenser,whereas successive fresh packets can easily coupled to another by untrained personnel,without tedious threading of the first end of the web of a new packet into a dispenser. This object is reached according to the invention, in that said paper material has a reinforcement for providing the web with a tensile strength sufficient to prevent tearing during manually withdrawal,use and rolling up on a storage roller operable in response to the withdrawal of toweling to roll up and store the used wet toweling,said web having an adhesive area on the exposed surface adjacent one of said ends by which an additional,similar packet may be joined to said packet,said adhesive area having a removable cover strip. This has as the effects that 1)the packet zigzag folded paper towelling comprises reinforced paper with sufficient wet strength; 2)the reinforced paper is flexible enough in order to be zigzagged before and rolled up after use and before disposal; 3)at both ends the packet carries adhesive strips covered by cover strips to enable untrained labor easy coupling at both ends to a similar packet. In the present application there are no problems with applying the adhesive,as the double adhesive tape protected by a cover strip is already in its place and the strip needs only to be removed immediately before the actual coupling operation that is done by untrained labor,like a cleaner or charlady.No dripping of glue or other adhesive onto,or sticking of pressure sensitive tape to undesired parts of the towelling dispenser ever occurs. According to a preferred embodiment the reinforcement comprises a synthetic material. In a favorable embodiment the reinforcement comprises the addition of synthetic material in the form of a fleece to the disposable paper material. In another effective embodiment the reinforcement comprises the addition of synthetic fabric to the web of disposable paper material. The invention will now further be elucidated referring to the accompanying schematic drawing, showing a vertical cross section of an apparatus according to the invention. In the drawing an embodiment is shown of an apparatus for dispensing a lane shaped product, particularly adapted for hygienic use, such as towels, and is adapted for placing in a lavatory, washing or changing room and such. The apparatus comprises a body that is partly enclosed by a (non shown) removable hood. The body has a back wall 1, with which the apparatus can be hung on a (non shown) wall of for instance a lavatory space on substantially the average shoulder height. Furthermore the body comprises two side walls, of which only the back lying side wall 2 is visible. On the front side the side wall 2 has a substantially vertical front edge 3, which has on the upper end lower side a preferably backward sloping part 4 and 5 respectively. The lower side of the body is provided with a bottom 6, which has a strip 6A that slopes upwardly according to the front edge part 5. Between the end edge of this bottom part 6A and the front edge 3 an opening 7 is left free. On the back side of the body between the back wall of the bottom 5 and the lower edge of the back wall 1 the opening 8 is left free. On the upper side of the body between the upper edge of the back wall 1 and the backwardly sloping front edge part 4 the opening 9 is left free. This opening 9 gives access to the supply chamber 10 for unused or clean product, which is in the form of one or more packets 11A, 11B, etc. The cross section of the opening 9 to the supply chamber 10 is at least as great as the cross section of this supply chamber. This supply chamber 10 is formed by the front wall 12, side walls of which only one side wall 13 is visible in the drawing, and the bottom 14. This bottom 14 is provided with an outlet slit 15, which is arranged substantially backwards of the center of the width of the bottom 14 along the complete length of the supply chamber. This outlet slit 15 is yet provided with an outlet funnel 16 for guiding the lane shaped product 17. The lane shaped product 11A, that rests on the lower side of the supply chamber 10 on the bottom 14, comprises zigzag folded lane shaped product. From the lower side this product 17 runs through the slit 15 to the lower side of the guide roll 18, along this upwardly and to the upper lying guide roll 19, in order to run subsequently downward behind the (non shown) hood and the front edge 3. The product lane 17 leaves the front side of the house through the opening 7 and forms a downwardly pending loop 20 in the dispensing space and enters again at the back side via the opening 8. Above the opening 8 a product lane 20 runs between a guide plate 21, which flattens the possibly creased material, and the back wall 1, in order to be guided over the rounded of upper side of the guide plate 21 to the pressure roll 22. This pressure roll 22 presses against the roll 23, on which the used product 20 is collected to a roll. The part 24 between the upper side of the guide plate 21 and the pressure roll 22 is kept pressed against the pressure roll 22 by means of the guide plate 25, which is pivotly fastened above the guide plate 21 to the inside of the back wall 1 and keeps the part 24 taut. Thus no return of the product lane is possible and transverse lane deviations are encountered. In order to be able to adapt to the variable sizes of the used material roll 23 the pressure roll is furthermore movable in a slanting upward and downward direction in the guides 26, which are fastened to the side wall of the body. Furthermore the guiding 27 ensures that the lane 24 cannot get any transverse deviations. The guide roll 19 on the upper side of the apparatus is also vertically movable in the guiding 28. The upper side of the product packet 11A is provided with a two sided adhesive strip 29, and also the lower side of the upper lying packet 11B. By removing the cover strip from the adhesive outside of this adhesive strip and pressing both packets together, the coupling between the upper lying end layer of the underlying packet 11A and the underlying beginning layer of the upper lying packet 11B is formed. Thereby is reached, that the user always gets an uninterrupted supply of unused or clean product 17. After this product 17 has moved into the loop 20 and is in this place used for drying the hands, the product is rolled up into the roll 23. When this roll 23 has reached suitable dimensions it can be removed from the apparatus by the service personnel. This service personnel can then also add through the inlet opening 9 one or more additional packets 11 and couple these to the already present packet. The inlet opening 9 can suitably be provided with a (non shown) removable lid or be closed of by the (non shown) hood. As lane shaped product paper can be used that is reinforced with a fabric or fleece of synthetic material. It is however also possible to use a textile fabric from natural or synthetic fibres or of mixtures thereof. When as lane shaped product paper has been used, the collected roll 23 will normally be thrown away. When textile material is used, this will in most cases can be used after washing. The operation of the apparatus is as follows: the user pulls with both hands on the product 17, where this leaves the opening 7 of the body and obtains a length of clean unused towel 20. As the rolls 13 and 23 are rotatably inter connected by (non shown) means, the used, dirty lane part 20 is automatically rolled up on the roll 23 by this pull. Furthermore (non shown) eventually adjustable means are present for adjusting the length of the towel and blocking a new dispensing during an adjustable time after the last dispensing.

Claims: A packet of toweling for single use adapted to be dispensed for hand drying from an apparatus having a supply chamber from which the toweling is removed for use ,said packet comprising a zig-zag folded,continuous web of paper material extending between the first and the second web ends, characterized in that said paper material has a reinforcement for providing the web (17) with a tensile strength sufficient to prevent tearing during manually withdrawal,use and rolling up on a storage roller (23) operable in response to the withdrawal of toweling to roll up and store the used wet toweling(20),said web having an adhesive area (29A) on the exposed surface adjacent one of said ends by which an additional,similar packet (11B) may be joined to said packet(11A),said adhesive area having a removable cover strip. A packet according to claim 1, characterized in that the reinforcement comprises a synthetic material. A packet according to claim 2, characterized in that the reinforcement comprises the addition of synthetic material in the form of a fleece to the disposable paper material. A packet according to claim 2, characterized in that the reinforcement comprises the addition of synthetic fabric to the web of disposable paper material.

Inventors: TEN WOLDE, ANNE WILLEM
Applicants: VENDOR HOLDING B.V.
Application year: 1983
Main classification: A47K10
IPC codes: A47K10