Abstract:
A bracket for supporting a container of absorbent sheet products includes first and second side walls each having a flange section perpendicular thereto for mounting to a substantially vertical mounting surface. A cross member extends between the first and second side walls as a front member. At least one bottom portion extends between the first and second side walls perpendicular to the cross member. The bottom portion is structured and arranged to be spaced apart from the mounting surface so that various containers of absorbent sheets can be arranged in the bracket to be dispensed from the top, bottom or front depending on the particular container.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The invention relates to a bracket, especially for supporting a container of absorbent or saturated sheet products.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     Brackets are known that support various articles. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,063, a bracket is provided that supports a dental floss container. The bottom of the dental floss container rests on a solid bottom mount of the bracket, to dispense the dental floss in an upright position. The design of the bracket is such that a floss container slides snugly into the bracket.  
         [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,462 has a mounting bracket with a dispensing slot in the bottom mount to allow paper towels to be dispensed through the slot. This bracket is designed for use with a special housing that snaps into the bracket.  
         [0006]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,333 describes a mounting bracket having a pair of tracks for sliding a container that holds a stack of sheet material thereon. The sheet material is then dispensed from the top of the container. This bracket is part of a complicated bathroom fixture that also includes a toilet roll dispenser.  
         [0007]     The approach taken by the prior art in dispensing articles is to have a specially designed container that will only fit into the bracket in a single configuration. This approach requires a relatively complicated bracket and limits the size, shape and/or size of the container that can be held within the bracket.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, by providing a bracket that is relatively simple and is easy to manufacture, assemble and install.  
         [0009]     It is another object of the invention to provide a bracket that can be used with a variety of different sized containers in a variety of different configurations.  
         [0010]     According to the invention, a bracket for supporting a container of absorbent or saturated sheet products comprises first and second walls each having a flange section extending therefrom for mounting to a substantially vertical mounting surface, a cross member extending between the first and second walls, and at least one bottom portion extending between the first and second walls and perpendicular to the cross member. The bottom portion is structured and arranged to be spaced apart from the mounting surface.  
         [0011]     The invention pertains to the bracket proper, i.e., with or without a container of absorbent sheet products contained therein.  
         [0012]     The absorbent sheet product to be used in the container according to the invention is preferably, but not necessarily, a stack of interfolded paper napkins. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, given with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1   a  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bracket according to the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 1   b  is a top view of the bracket according to  FIG. 1   a;    
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is the bracket according to  FIG. 1   a  mounted to a vertical surface and supporting a container of absorbent sheet to be dispensed from the top;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is the bracket according to  FIG. 1   a  mounted to a vertical surface and supporting a container of absorbent sheet to be dispensed from the bottom; and  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is the bracket according to  FIG. 1   a  mounted to a vertical surface and supporting a container of absorbent sheet to be dispensed from the front;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a bracket according to the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a bracket according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]      FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  show a bracket  10  according to an embodiment of the invention. The  FIG. 1   a  embodiment is intended to support a container that dispenses wipers, but it will be appreciated that the bracket according to the invention could support substantially any rectangular shaped container, containing wipers, paper towels, tissues or other sheet products whether absorbent, or not, or other products such as safety spectacles or chewing gum contained within substantially rectangular containers.  
         [0022]     The term “absorbent sheet products” as used herein embraces not only paper products such as paper napkins, but also absorbent nonwoven materials not normally classed as papers or tissues. Such nonwoven materials include pure nonwovens and hybrid nonwoven/pulp webs whose properties are similar to those of tissue paper, but which are based for example on nonwoven or airlaid materials containing low amounts of synthetic fibers, binders, wet strength agents and the like.  
         [0023]     The members of the bracket  10  comprise a front piece or cross member  20 , preferably having a substantially elongate rectangular configuration and optionally a cut out portion  25 . The cross member  20  is between walls  30 ,  40  that form the sides of the bracket.  
         [0024]     Each of the walls  30 ,  40  has a flange  35 ,  45  extending perpendicularly thereto for mounting to a substantially vertical surface, such as a wall of a room (not shown). In the preferred embodiment, the walls  30 ,  40  and flanges  35 ,  45  are perpendicular to each other. However, it is contemplated that the walls  30 ,  40  and even the crossmember  20  may not be straight and may even be curved to accommodate non-rectangular containers. In  FIG. 1   a , the flanges  35 ,  45  have mounting holes  36  and face away from the walls  30 ,  40  such that the flanges  35 ,  45  are outside a boundary defined by the walls  30 ,  40 , the cross member  20  and the surface (not shown) to which the flanges  35 ,  45  would mount.  
         [0025]     The bracket also includes at least one bottom portion (two bottom portions  50 ,  60  are shown in  FIG. 1   b ). In the embodiment of  FIG. 1   b , the bottom portions  50 ,  60  extend from the walls  30 ,  40  such that there are gaps  75 ,  85  between ends  55 ,  65  of the bottom portions  50 ,  60  and the mounting surface (not shown) and also a space  90  between respective sides  58 ,  68  of the bottom portions  50 ,  60 .  
         [0026]     As seen in  FIGS. 2-4 , the above configuration of the mounting bracket  10  enables containers  100 ,  101 ,  102  having different dispensing capabilities to use the same mounting bracket  10 . Specifically, as seen in  FIG. 2 , a container  100  with a top dispensing configuration can be placed in the bracket  10 .  FIG. 3  shows a bottom dispensing configuration with container  101  and  FIG. 4  shows a front dispensing configuration with container  102 . The space  90  allows the container  101  to dispense the product from the bottom as seen in  FIG. 3 , while the bottom portions  50 ,  60  provide support for the container  101 . In addition, cut out  25  allows the container  102  to dispense the product from the front of the bracket  10  as seen in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0027]     In the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , the flange sections  35 ′,  45 ′ are facing inward such that each flange section  35 ′,  45 ′ is within a boundary defined by the walls  30 ,  40 , the cross member  20  and the surface (wall  99  in  FIG. 2 , for example) to which the flanges  35 ′,  45 ′ would mount.  
         [0028]     In the embodiment of  FIG. 1   a , the flange sections  35 ,  45  have the same height as the walls  30 ,  40  and the cross member  20 . However, as seen in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the height of the flange sections may be different than that of the height of the walls  30 ,  40 . Specifically,  FIG. 5  shows the height of the flange sections  35 ′,  45 ′ is larger than the height of walls  30 ,  40 . This may be advantageous when the medium connecting the flange sections to a vertical wall is an adhesive and the increased flange section surface area provides increased adhering strength.  
         [0029]      FIG. 6  shows the flange section  35 ″,  45 ″ smaller that the walls  30 ,  40 . Although  FIG. 6  shows the flange sections  35 ″,  45 ″ aligned with the top of the walls  30 ,  40 , one of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand that the flanges  35 ″,  45 ″ could be aligned with the bottom of the walls or any position in between.  
         [0030]     As further seen in  FIG. 6 , through holes  95 ,  96  are formed in each of the flange sections  35 ″,  45 ″ to facilitate mounting the bracket  10  to a wall or other substantially vertical surface. Although one through hole is shown in each of the flange sections  35 ″,  45 ″ in  FIG. 6  and two holes are shown in  FIG. 1   a , neither the number of through holes nor the specific placement of the through holes is of particular importance. In fact, As set forth above with respect to  FIG. 5 , the bracket  10  could be mounted to a wall using an adhesive without any through holes. Of course, other methods of mounting the bracket to the wall would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.  
         [0031]     The bracket  10  is readily manufactured and can be formed as an integral one-piece member. Specifically, one way of manufacturing the bracket is by starting from an elongate rectangular plastic blank. A central portion of the blank is cut out to form cut out  25 . The blank is then folded to form walls  30 ,  40  and cross member  20 . Walls  30 ,  40  are further folded to form the flanges  35 ,  45 . Thereafter, the intersections of the cross member  20  and the walls  30 ,  40  and the intersections of the walls  30 ,  40  and the flanges  35 ,  45  are either notched or portions are removed and then are folded to form bottom portions  50 ,  60  (having portions removed) in  FIG. 1   a . Please note that  FIG. 6  shows bottom front portion  92 , while portion  92  is removed from both  FIGS. 1   a  and  5 .  
         [0032]     Alternatively, the bracket could be molded as a single piece or could be formed as a plurality of pieces that are adhered or welded together, for example.  
         [0033]     Accordingly, the bracket of the invention is a relatively simple device that is easy to manufacture. In addition, the bracket is readily mounted to a substantially vertical surface, such as a wall, using a fastener in the through holes or using an adhesive that is either part of the bracket (for example an adhesive surface with a peel-back protective covering) or that is applied between the flange sections and the wall to mount the bracket.  
         [0034]     The bracket is also a “universal” bracket in that various different containers can be mounted in different configurations in the same bracket in order to dispense from the top, bottom or front of the bracket.  
         [0035]     While the present invention has been described in connection with various preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that those embodiments are provided merely to illustrate the invention, and should not be used as a pretext to limit the scope of protection conferred by the true scope and spirit of the appended claims.