HAND-HELD ADHESIVE TAPE DISPENSER

Abstract: A hand-held adhesive tape dispenser (10) is in the form of a partial shell which has a support face (14) and a peripheral wall (16) to form an open face housing. A spool of adhesive tape (20) is mounted to the support face (14) through the use of mounting structure on the shell which rotatably and detachably mounts the core (18) of the spool to the shell. The mounting structure includes spring fingers (24) which snap over the core (18). An applicating end of the shell has a passage in its peripheral wall (16) located near a fixed guide and a cutter (44) at the applicating end so that tape (20) removed from the core (18) would pass through the passage (38) around the guide to be applied to a substrate and then to be cut by the cutter (44).

Description: HAND-HELD ADHESIVE TAPE DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of adhesive tape dispensers are known which are intended to conveniently apply some form of adhesive tape to a substrate such as paper or the like. Such dispensers have taken various forms. In general, the dispensers are most widely known in the form of desk dispensers and hand-held dispensers requiring the use of two hands, whereby the tape roll is stored on a revolving spool and can be cut at the desired length by means of a blade. There are also adhesive tape dispensers which can apply tape directly onto the paper, and which allow the tape to be cut using more or less elaborate cutting implements. Obviously, such adhesive tape dispensers are made up of a considerable number of components, and therefore are relatively large. Furthermore, changing rolls is often a complicated task. One form of hand-held dispenser generally includes a closed housing in which a spool of tape is rotatably mounted. The tape extends out of the housing through an applicator tip. Frequently the applicator tip is provided with a cutter having a serrated edge intended to make a clean cut of the tape when the desired amount has been dispensed. One of the factors in suitability of such tape dispensers is the minimizing in the cost of manufacturing the dispensers without impairing the effectiveness of operation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a hand-held adhesive tape dispenser which fulfills the above needs. A further object of this invention is to provide such a dispenser, which can be easily manufactured with minimal parts at low cost without impairing the effectiveness in the operation of the dispenser. In accordance with this invention a hand-held adhesive tape dispenser includes a partial shell, which has a support face and a peripheral wall extending outwardly from the support face to form an open face housing. A spool having adhesive tape thereon is detachably mounted to the housing by mounting structure, which includes spring fingers that snap over the spool. In a preferred practice of the invention the spring fingers may also be utilized to mount a carrier board to the open face of the housing for display purposes. The peripheral wall has an open space at the applicator end of the housing where a cutter is located l and where a fixed guide is disposed so that a segment of a tape could extend from the spool through a passage near the fixed guide and then around the guide surface for being cut from the remainder of the tape. In a preferred practice of the invention the dispenser is made of only three separate parts. One of the parts is the spool with its tape. Another separate part is the carrier board. The remaining part includes all other components of the dispenser which are of one-piece construction. THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front elevational view a hand-held adhesive tape dis- penser in accordance with this invention; Figure 2 is a rear elevational view of the dispenser shown in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through Figure 2 along the line 3-3; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken through Figure 1 along the line 4-4; Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the dispenser shown in Figures 1 -4 detached from the carrier board and during the dispensing of tape; Figure 6 is a rear elevational view of the dispenser shown in Fig- ures 1 -5 detached from the carrier board; Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the dispenser shown in Figure 6 with the carrier board shown in phantom; Figure 8 is a top plan view of the dispenser shown in Figures 6-7; Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the dispenser shown in Figures 6- 8; Figure 10 is a rear elevational view similar to Figure 5 showing the adhesive tape being dispensed; and Figure 1 1 is an enlarged fragmental rear elevational view showing the adhesive tape in the process of being cut. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention is based upon variations of a tape dispenser as described in PCT Application Serial No. PCT/ BOO/00741 , all of the details of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. In general the invention involves a hand-held tape dispenser, which would initially be mounted to a carrier board functioning as a display board for the dispenser. Such carrier board could be made of any suitable material such as stiff paper or cardboard and could contain various information on one or both sides which would be useful to the user, such as directions for use as well as advertising information. As illustrated, the dispenser 10 includes an open faced housing 12. Housing 12 is of generally tear drop shape with a widened end and a narrower applicating end or tip. Housing 12 is a partial shell having a support face 14 and a peripheral wall 16 extending outwardly from the support face 14. The partial shell or housing 12 is thus open on its face opposite the support face 14. A spool of adhesive tape is located in the widened end of housing 12. The spool includes a core 18 with the tape 20 mounted thereon in a conventional manner. Any suitable tape material may be used such as an acetate material. As best shown in Figures 1 , 3 and 6 the core 18 is rotatably mounted to the housing and more specifically to the support face 14 by mounting structure which includes a boss 22, which is generally rectangular in shape and extends outwardly from support face 14. There is sufficient clearance between the inner surface of core 18 and the outer surface of boss 22 that core 18 freely rotates around boss 22. Opposite sides of boss 22 have slots 23 to form a pair of spring fingers 24 having outwardly directed tabs 26. Tabs 26 extend sufficiently outwardly to be snapped over core 18 thereby preventing dislodgment of the core 18 during normal use of the dispenser. There is sufficient clearance between tabs 26 and the outer surface of core 18 to accommodate the thickness of carrier board 28. Thus, Figure 3 shows carrier board 28 sandwiched between tabs 26 and core 18. As shown in Figure 2 tabs 26,26 extend through a slot 34 in carrier board 28. The use of the spring fingers permits the carrier board 28 to be readily removed from the dispenser housing 12 by the purchaser. As later described and as shown in Figures 1 and 4 a further spring finger 30 with its tab 32 is provided near the applicator end of dispensing housing 12 extending through a slot in carrier board 28 to act in cooperation with spring fingers 24 in mounting the housing 12 to the carrier board 28. As illustrated housing 12 is thus reliably mounted directly to carrier board 28 without requiring a plastic bubble pack for the mounting. As illustrated in Figure 6 the applicator tip 36 of dispenser housing 12 has an open space in the peripheral wall 16 to create a discharge passage 38 so that a segment of the tape 20 can be unwound from core 18 and pass to the outside of dispenser housing 12. As shown in Figures 6, 10 and 1 1 a fixed guide 40 is located at the discharge passage 38 so that the tape 20 would be guided around the outer arcuate guide surface of guide 40 onto a substrate 42 such as paper. The guide 40 is preferably a segment of a cylinder. If desired, however, a complete cylindrical member may be mounted near passage 38 to function as the guide member. Guide 40 is located adjacent to a serrated blade or cutter 44 so that the segment 21 of tape 20 applied to the substrate 42 can be cut from the remainder of the tape. The downstream most end of the remainder of the tape remains exposed to the structure at the exposed portion of applicator tip 36 so that a next segment of tape may be used. While guide 40 is preferably non-movable or fixed to minimize parts, the guide could be a rotatable cylinder which would act as a roller to facilitate the tape dispensing. An advantage of the dispenser 10 is that the discharge passage 38 is the sole opening in the wall of the housing 12 particularly at the applicator tip 36 to assure that when a new spool of tape is being inserted and a segment of tape 20 is withdrawn from the spool the tape will exit the housing 12 only in the proper location, namely through the passage 38 and then around the guide surface 40. The adhesive side of the tape is pressed against the substrate 42 by guide mem- ber 40, as shown in Figures 5 and 10. The dispenser 10 is then pulled in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 10 to be applied to the substrate. When a proper amount of tape has been applied the housing is rotated as shown in phantom in Figure 5 and as shown in Figure 1 1 so that the cutter 44 cuts the segment 21 as shown in Figure 16 leaving an adjacent portion 20 exposed from the dispenser while the severed segment 21 remains on the substrate. Serrations or dimples could be located at passage 38 so that the end of the remaining tape, after segment is cut, will stick to these serrations and not retract into the housing. As illustrated housing 12 includes a small guide cheek 45 disposed close to cutter blade 44. Cheek 45 has a number of functions. For example, cheek 45 acts as an outer guide member to hold the tape in its proper position while the tape 20 is being dispensed. As shown in Figure 10, for example, during the dispensing operation the guide 40 presses the tape 20 against the paper or substrate 42. At the same time the cheek 45 also presses against the paper or substrate 42, thus assuring the proper dispensing angle being achieved when both the guide 40 and cheek 45 are disposed against the substrate. Because the cheek is located along the support face of the housing 12 the cheek is located slightly outwardly of the tape itself and thus functions as a guide confining the tape along a path that would be located across cutter 44 during the later cutting opera- tion, thus, keeping the tape in position on the guide 40. As also shown in Figure 10 cheek 45 functions to hold the cutter 44 elevated above and out of contact with the tape 20 during the tape application process. The cheek is preferably rounded rather than being sharply pointed so as to function as a rolling pivot member. Thus, when it is desired to cut the segment 21 from tape 20 the dispenser is ro- tated about cheek 45 until the cutter 44 makes contact with the tape 20 as shown in Figure 1 1 . This arrangement, which assures elevating the cutter completely out of contact with the substrate during the dispensing operation helps to minimize damage as by tearing of the substrate while the tape is being applied and then permits a sharp cut when the dispenser is pivoted about cheek 45 to move the cutter into contact with the tape 20. When the tape has been completely dispensed a new spool could be mounted to housing 12. First spring fingers 24,24 would be squeezed together sufficiently to withdraw the empty core 18. The new spool could be slid over boss 22 when the spring fingers are squeezed toward each other to be mounted in place. The free end of the tape would be pulled through housing 12 and out of discharge passage 38 ready for the next tape application. The dispenser 10 would initially be mounted to the carrier board 28 which could have a hole 46 for being mounted, for example, to a hook as part of a display in a store. When it is desired to remove the housing 12 from the carrier board the housing and carrier board are simply pulled apart and released from each other due to the springiness of the fingers 24,30. The tabs 26 prevent the spool of tape from being dislodged from the housing. The housing is then manipulated to apply the tape in the manner shown in Figures 5, 10 and 11 with all of these operations taking place with the use of only one hand. Housing 12 is ergonomically shaped and generally has a teardrop shaped appearance. Housing 12 may include a thumb receiving recess 46, as shown in Figures 1 and 9, and may further include grip ribs 48 shown in Figures 6 and 1 1 for receiving the forefinger of the user. If desired, stiffening ribs 50 could be molded to support face 14 to further rigidity the housing 12. An advantage of the slotted boss 22 is to allow for shrinkage of the spool of tape under certain temperature conditions. A further feature of the spool is that it is of only single wall thickness thus providing extra space within the housing to accommodate a greater length of tape. For example, the tape 20 may be wrapped around core 18 a distance of one-half inch or greater in a radial direction from the outer surface of core 18 outwardly. The spool of tape almost completely fills the widened end of housing 12 as shown in Figure 6. This provides an improvement over conventional spools which are of double wall thickness and wherein the amount of tape extends radially from the outer wall by a distance of less than one-half inch where the overall diameter of the housing 12 at its wide end where core 18 is located need be no larger than 1.5 inches. The overall diameter of the tape roll would be about 1.5 inches with a tape length of at least 350 inches. Where the tape roll has a diameter of 1 .25 inches the tape length would be at least about 300 inches. The width of the tape could be of any dimension as determined by such factors as ease of handling the dispenser since the dispenser itself does not otherwise restrict the width of the tape. A further advantage of the present invention is that it lends itself to a minimal number of parts. The dispenser 10, for example, could comprise only three parts. One part would be the carrier board 28. Another part would be the spool of tape. All of the remaining components would be integrally molded to form the third part. It is to be understood, however, that if desired various of these components could be separate members. C:\NrPortbl\CB\SEB\116105 1.DOC

Claims: IN THE CLAIMS: 1 . A hand-held adhesive tape dispenser comprising a partial shell, said shell having a support face and a peripheral wall extending outwardly from said support face to form an open 5 face housing, a core in said housing having adhesive tape wound thereon, mounting structure on said shell rotatably detachably mounting said core to said shell, said mounting structure including spring fingers which snap over said core, said shell having an applicating end, said peripheral wall 10 having an open space, a cutter in said open space extending externally of said wall, a guide in said open space disposed adjacent to said cutter, said guide having a guide surface externally of said wall, and said guide being spaced from said wall to create a discharge passage for a segment 15 of said tape to extend from said core through said passage and around said guide surface for being cut by said cutter from the remainder of said tape. 2. The dispenser of claim 1 including a carrier board, and said mounting structure mounting said carrier board to said open 20 face of said housing. 3. The dispenser of claim 2 wherein each of said spring fingers terminates in an offset tab extending through a slot in said carrier board for detachably mounting said carrier board to said housing. 25 4. The dispenser of claim 3 including a further spring finger mounted to said support face located remote from said mounting structure spring fingers, said further spring finger having an outwardly extending tab which extends through a slot in said carrier board to cooperate with said mounting 30 structure spring fingers in mounting said carrier board to said housing. 5. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein said passage is the sole opening in the side wall of said shell to assure the proper positioning of said tape as it exits from said housing. 6. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein said guide surface is of arcuate shape, and said guide is a fixed non-movable guide. 7. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein said housing is of gener- 5 ally tear drop shape having an arcuate wide end and a narrow end remote from said wide end, said narrow end comprising said applicating end, said core being mounted in said wide end wherein said support face includes a thumb recess, and said peripheral wall includes a finger recess. 10 8. The dispenser of claim 1 including a cheek mounted adjacent to said cutter for elevating said cutter during the dispensing of said tape. 9. The dispenser of claim 8 wherein said cheek has an arcuate surface whereby said cheek may function as a rolling pivot 15 member when said dispenser is being moved from the dispensing position to the cutting position. 10. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein said mounting structure comprises a boss having a wall which is slotted at two different locations to create said spring fingers and to allow for 20 any shrinkage of said tape. 1 1 . The dispenser of claim 10 wherein said boss is generally rectangular shape. 12. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein said core and said tape substantially fills said wide end, said core being of single 25 wall thickness, and said tape extending radially around said core to a radial thickness of at least Vz inch. 13. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein each of said spring fingers includes an outwardly extending tab to selectively maintain said core rotatably mounted to said shell and to permit said 30 core to be removed from said shell. 14. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein said mounting structure and said guide and said cutter are integral with said shell. 15. The dispenser of claim 15 wherein a carrier board is detachably mounted to said housing, and said dispenser being 35 of three-part construction comprising said shell as one part and said carrier board as a second part and said core with said tape as a third part. 16. A hand-held adhesive tape dispenser comprising a partial shell, said shell having a support face and a peripheral wall extending outwardly from said support face to form an open face housing, a core in said housing having adhesive tape wound thereon, mounting structure on said shell rotatably detachably mounting said core to said shell, a carrier board mounted across the open face of said housing, said shell having an applicating end, said peripheral wall having an open space, a cutter in said open space extending externally of said wall, a fixed guide in said open space disposed adjacent to said cutter, said fixed guide having a guide surface externally of said wall, said fixed guide being spaced from said wall to create a discharge passage for a segment of said tape to extend from said core through said passage and around said guide surface for being cut by said cutter from the remainder of said tape, said mounting structure and said fixed guide and said cutter being integral with said shell to form a one-piece part, and said dispenser compris - ing only three separate parts consisting of said one-piece part and said carrier board being a second part and said core and tape being a third part. 17. The dispenser of claim 16 wherein said housing is of gener- ally tear drop shape having an arcuate wide end and a narrow end remote from said wide end, said narrow end comprising said applicating end, said core and said tape being located in and substantially filling said wide end, said core being of single wall thickness, and said tape extending radi- ally around said core to a radial thickness of at least Yz inch. 18. The dispenser of claim 16 including a cheek mounted adjacent to said cutter for elevating said cutter during the dispensing of said tape. 19. The dispenser of claim 18 wherein said cheek has an arcuate surface whereby said cheek may function as a rolling pivot member when said dispenser is being moved from the dispensing position to the cutting position.

Inventors: FERGUSON TIMOTHY S, VULPITTA BRIAN A, FERGUSON, TIMOTHY, S., VULPITTA, BRIAN, A.
Applicants: FERGUSON TIMOTHY S, HENKEL KGAA, VULPITTA BRIAN A, FERGUSON, TIMOTHY, S., HENKEL KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFT AUF AKTIEN, VULPITTA, BRIAN, A.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B32B31
IPC codes: B65D73, B65H35