TICKET DISPENSER

Abstract: The present invention relates to a dispenser for labels, stickers and the like which have been applied to one or more rolls of tape material, comprising: a container, for accommodating the at least one roll, which container has a front wall having a guide rim for guiding the tape material out of the container, and a bracket having a contact rod and a guide strip, which bracket is hingeable between a first position, in which the contact roller and the guide strip extend essentially on either side of the guide rim, and a second position, in which the contact roller and the guide strip have been moved away in the direction of the interior of the container.

Description: Title: TICKET DISPENSER The present invention relates to a dispenser for labels, stickers and the like which have been applied to one or more rolls of tape material, comprising a container, for accommodating the at least one roll, which container has a front wall having a guide rim for guiding the tape material out of the container, and a bracket having a contact rod and a guide strip, which bracket is hingeable between a first position, in which the contact roller and the guide strip extend essentially on either side of the guide rim, and a second position, in which the contact roller and the guide strip have been moved away in the direction of the interior of the container. A device of the type mentioned in the preamble is disclosed in the prior art. Such a device can be used when various stickers or labels have to be kept in one location and have to be able to be dispensed in situ in a user-friendly manner. With the known device the tape material of the rolls is forced along the guide rim with the aid of the bracket, so that the stickers or the labels detach from the strip. However, when the tape material is pulled from the device, a force is exerted on the bracket so that the bracket starts to move relative to the container. As a result of this movement the guide function of the bracket is partially cancelled out. This is undesirable. The aim of the present invention is to provide a device of the said type with which guiding of the tape material along the guide rim is better ensured than is the case in the prior art. Said aim is achieved in the present invention in that the dispenser has a guide rod which extends essentially parallel to the guide rim, which guide rod is fixed to the outside of the container in order to guide a surface of the tape material moving towards the outside. As a result of the presence of the guide rod the movement of the strip around the guide rim on that side of the front wall which faces away from the container is achieved by means of the stationary guide rod and no longer by means of the bracket. Tensile forces on the strip are taken up by the guide rod and not by the bracket. This means that the guide function fulfilled by the bracket in the device according to the invention is better ensured than in devices according to the prior art. It is advantageous that the movement of the bracket in the direction of the guide rim is restricted in such a way that the contact roller does guide the tape material of the rolls during use but that said contact roller does not jam the tape material against the surface of the front wall. It is therefore possible according to the present invention for the movement of the bracket into the first position to be so restricted with the aid of at least one stop that in the extreme position the contact roller is held away from the surface of the front wall. With this arrangement it is advantageous that said at least one stop is formed by nibs which extend in the extension of the guide rod. This has the advantage that there is no need to fit an independent element on the device for the nibs. The guide rod is fitted in any case. Extension of said rod can be achieved without a great deal of effort or cost. The known device is usually used in a horizontal position only, the rolls being supported by the bottom wall. If the known device were to be tilted, the rolls would then roll out of the device over the front wall, which is usually inclined. The device is therefore improved if the device is provided with a stop element with the aid of which the rolling movement of the rolls contained in the container over the front wall in the direction of the guide rim is impeded. With this arrangement it is advantageous that the bracket is hingeably fixed on the container with the aid of the stop element. The stop element can, for example, be in the form of a rod. Two functions are then combined with the aid of said rod: on the one hand restraint of the rolls in the vertical position; on the other hand allowing the bracket to pivot. The present invention will be explained with the aid of four figures. In Figure 1 the dispenser according to the present invention is shown in a perspective view. In this context Figure 2 shows the dispenser according to the present invention set up in a horizontal position with an open lid. Figure 3 shows the dispenser according to the present invention in a vertical position with a closed lid. Figure 4 shows a side view of an unfilled dispenser according to the present invention. Figure 1 shows the dispenser 1 according to the present invention in a perspective view. The dispenser 1 can be filled with rolls of stickers or labels. These are rolls of tape material on which stickers or labels have been stuck one after the other. The surface of the tape material is of a composition such that the stickers or the labels can easily be removed from the material without the stickers or the labels being damaged by this. The rolls are placed alongside one another in the dispenser 1, the free end of the tape material being guided out of the dispenser. A user can pull the free end of the tape material further out of the dispenser 1 by hand, the stickers or labels detaching from the tape material. Figure 1 shows the case where a strip of tape material is protruding from the device. The device 1 has fixing means, such as screw holes, in order to fix the device to, for example, a wall. The mode of operation of the dispenser is further explained with the aid of Figures 2, 3, and 4. Figure 2 shows the dispenser 1 in cross-section. The dispenser 1 comprises a container 2 with a rear wall 3, which is vertical in the position shown, a horizontal base 4 positioned at right angles to said rear wall and a sloping front wall 5. The container 2 is closed off at the top by means of a lid 6. If desired for the use of the dispenser, the lid 6 can be so constructed that the container 2 is watertight to splashed water. The container 2 is, for example, made of metal, for example steel. The lid 6 can be made of plastic and can, for example, be of transparent construction. Several rolls of tape material, such as rolls 7 of labels can be placed alongside one another in the container 2. Said rolls 7 of labels can be placed in the container 2 when the lid 6 is open. The rolls 7 of labels comprise a tape 20 with stickers or labels 21 applied thereon. Spacer partitions 8 are positioned between the rolls 7 of labels placed alongside one another. Said spacer partitions 8 are clamped on two rods 9. Plastic blocks 10 are fixed to the outside of the rods 9. Said blocks 10 are of relatively short length, it being possible for the partitions 8 to be clamped between two plastic blocks 10 located next to one another. The spacing between two partitions 8 can be adjusted in a simple manner by varying the number of blocks 10 between two successive partitions 8. The end of the roll 7 of labels is moved essentially over the front wall 5 in the direction of the guide rim 11. The tape material 20 is guided out of the container 2 via said guide rim 11. The tape 20 is moved around the rim 11 and pulled under a guide rod 12. Said guide rod 12 is mounted on the outside of the container 6. The guide rod 12 can, for example, be fixed to a projection 16. The tape material 20 is, moreover, pressed against the rim 11 of the front wall 5 with the aid of the bracket 13. The bracket 13 is pivotably fixed to the container 6 with the aid of the rod 17. Said bracket 13 has a contact rod 14 and a guide strip 15. The contact rod 14 ensures that the tape material 20 is forced against the wall 5 on the inside. Together with the guide rod 12, the contact rod 14 ensures that the tape material 20 is moved in a sharp bend around the guide rim 11. The guide strip 15 ensures that the stickers or labels 21 are not able to move with the tape material 20. Usually the flexural resistance of the stickers or labels 21 will be greater than that of the tape material 20. As a result of the sharp bend which the tape material 20 makes around the rim 11, the labels or stickers 21 are detached from the tape material 20. The guide strip 15 ensures that the stickers or the labels 21 move straight on, whilst the tape material 20 makes a bend. The bracket 13 is able to pivot freely about the hinge point that is formed by the rod 17. In the position shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the bracket will move downwards in the direction of the guide rim 11 under the influence of gravity. It is undesirable that the bracket 13 swings round to such an extent that the contact rod 14 comes into contact with the inside of the front wall 15. If this were to occur, the stickers or the labels 21 could be swept off the tape material 20 by the contact rod 14. Therefore the swinging movement of the bracket 13 can be restricted with the aid of a stop 31. Said stop 31 can be implemented in a simple manner by allowing one or both ends of the guide rod 12 to protrude somewhat on either side of the projections 16. This is shown in Figure 1, where the stop 31 is shown by a broken line. In Figure 3 the dispenser 1 is shown in the vertical position. In Figure 3 the lid 6 is closed. With this arrangement the lid 6 will click shut on the rod 17. Moreover, it can be seen that the roll 7 of stickers will try to move down over the inclined front wall 5. This movement is counteracted by the spindle 17. The advantage of this measure is that the roll 7 is not able to come into contact with the lid 6. This means that the lid 6 cannot be pushed open by the weight of one or more rolls 7. The mode of operation of the device 1 is as follows. The free end of a tape 20 of one of the rolls 7 of stickers or labels protrudes from the dispenser 1. Said free end is pulled down by hand so that it emerges further from the device 1. As a result of the guiding of, respectively, the contact rod 14, the strip 15 and the guide rod 12 in conjunction with the guiding over the guide rim 11 , the free end of the tape 20 is always pulled out of the device at the same angle with respect to the end 11 of the front wall 5. This means that the angle α (see Figure 3) which the free end of the tape 20 makes with the vertical has no effect on the orientation of the tape 20 at the location of the end 11 of the wall 5. This means that the material of the roll 7 of stickers will always be pulled around the end 11 of the wall 5 in the same way. On leaving the device the stickers or labels 21 applied to the tape 20 will move straight on at the rim 11, via the top of the strip 15. This is shown in Figures 2 and 3. What is also achieved by the presence of the guide rod 12 is that when force is exerted on the free section of the tape 20 no tensile or compressive forces are exerted on the bracket 13. The orientation of the bracket 13 with respect to the wall 5 thus remains guaranteed at all times. It can be seen from both Figure 2 and Figure 3 that the bracket 13 is of such a size and has been mounted on the container 2 in such a way that the tape 20 with the labels or stickers 21 thereon is in contact with the inside of the front wall 5 both in the horizontal position (Figure 2) and in the vertical position (Figure 3). What is achieved by this means is that the free end of the tape 20 is not able to slide back into the container 2 but is always pressed relatively closely around the guide rim 11. As a result this avoids, inter alia, the need for regular opening of the lid 6 in order to pull the free end of the tape 20 out of the container 2 again. The rod 9 has a number of functions. Firstly the rod 9 is used for fixing the partitions 8 in the container 2. Furthermore, in the horizontal position, the rod 9 is used as a stop for the rolls 7 of labels. When the free end of the tape 20 is pulled, the roller 7 will start to rotate. Since the blocks 10 are positioned independently on the rod 9, said blocks 10 assist the rotation here. The device 1 according to the present invention is shown again in Figure 4. In this case no rolls of labels have been placed in the container 2. The method of assembly of the partitions 8 on the respective rods 9 can clearly be seen from Figure 4. Usually the rear of the partitions 8 will first be clicked home on the first rod 9 (on the left in the figure). To this end a notch 41 has been made in the partition 8. The partition 8 is then clicked home on the lower rod 9 in a swivel movement. A notch (not shown) has been made in the partition 8 for this purpose as well. The swivel movement of the bracket 13 can also be seen from Figure 4. When a roll of labels has been placed in the container 2 (see Figures 2 and 3) the bracket 13 acts as a contact element. However, when the rolls have to be exchanged, it is handy to be able to flip the bracket 13 up. This releases the restraint on the tape 20 by the contact roller 14. With this arrangement the user has full freedom of movement to place a new roll 7 of labels in the container 2 and to pull the free end of the tape 20 under the guide roller 12 in the correct manner.

Claims: Claims 1. Dispenser (1) for labels (21), stickers and the like which have been applied to one or more rolls (7) of tape material (20), comprising: a container (2), for accommodating the at least one roll (7), which container (2) has a front wall (5) having a guide rim (11) for guiding the tape material (20) out of the container (2), and a bracket (13) having a contact rod (14) and a guide strip (15), which bracket (13) is hingeable between a first position, in which the contact roller (14) and the guide strip (15) extend essentially on either side of the guide rim (11), and a second position, in which the contact roller (14) and the guide strip (15) have been moved away in the direction of the interior of the container (2), characterised in that the dispenser (1) has a guide rod (12) which extends essentially parallel to the guide rim (11), which guide rod (12) is fixed to the outside of the container (2) in order to guide a surface of the tape material (20) moving towards the outside. 2. Device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the movement of the bracket (13) into the first position is so restricted with the aid of at least one stop (31) that in the extreme position the contact roller (14) is held away from the surface of the front wall (5). 3. Device according to Claim 2, characterised in that said at least one stop is formed by nibs (31) which extend in the extension of the guide rod (12). 4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the device (1) is provided with a stop element (17), with the aid of which the rolling movement of the rolls contained in the container (2) over the front wall (5) in the direction of the guide rim (11) is impeded. 5. Device according to Claim 4 characterised in that the bracket (13) is hingeably fixed on the container (2) with the aid of the stop element (17).

Inventors: BUSSEMAKER ERIK BOI, CORNELISSE FEICO JOAN, BUSSEMAKER, ERIK, BOI, CORNELISSE, FEICO, JOAN
Applicants: BUSSEMAKER ERIK BOI, CORNELISSE FEICO JOAN, NL SPECIAAL DRUKKERIJEN B V, BUSSEMAKER, ERIK, BOI, CORNELISSE, FEICO, JOAN, NEDERLANDSE SPECIAAL DRUKKERIJEN B.V.
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B65C11
IPC codes: B65C11