Patent Publication Number: US-8967523-B2

Title: Sheet roller dispenser

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a sheet roller dispenser and, more particular, to a sheet roller dispenser that accommodates a plastic bag roll, a toilet tissue roll, a paper towel roll, etc. and allows users to easily and conveniently separate one sheet unit by pulling. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A current plastic bag, toilet tissue, or paper towel is shaped continuously in a sheet wound in a roll for package and transportation convenience. The sheet has a dotted line formed between two adjacent sheet units to allow sellers or consumers to separate one unit from the roll by pulling to tear at the dotted line, which is a most common way to take the sheet unit in daily life. However, when breaking the sheet at the dotted line, the user has to hold the roll by one hand and pull the sheet unit at the free end by the other hand until the sheet unit is separated from the roll. If the user does not hold the roll well, the plastic bag roll, the toilet tissue roll, or the paper towel roll will be loose and in a mess, so that the user needs to rewind the sheet. Therefore, although the plastic bag, the toilet tissue, or the paper towel shaped in a roll is convenient in package and transportation, it is still inconvenient in use, because the user has to use both hands to take the sheet unit by pulling. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A main objective of the present invention is to provide a sheet roller dispenser that is convenient in operation by using one hand only. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the sheet roller dispenser comprises: 
     a case with an accommodating space for receiving a sheet roll, with the case having an elongated hole defined on a longitudinal side face; 
     an extension plate with a tongue extending upward, with the extension plate formed on the case below the elongated hole; and a pressing block formed on the case above the elongated hole to align with the extension plate; 
     with the sheet roll composed of multiple sheet units and having multiple dotted lines between each adjacent two of the multiple sheet units; and with each dotted line having a slit to allow the tongue to penetrate via the slit. 
     Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a sheet roller dispenser in accordance with the present invention, with the sheet roller dispenser open; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the sheet roller dispenser of  FIG. 1 , with the sheet roller dispenser closed; 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the sheet roller dispenser in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a lateral cross-sectional view of the sheet roller dispenser in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an operational perspective view of receiving a sheet roll inside the sheet roller dispenser; 
         FIG. 6  is an operational perspective view of pulling a sheet unit out from the sheet roller dispenser; 
         FIG. 7  is a lateral cross-sectional view of the sheet roller dispenser in  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an operational perspective view of further pulling the sheet unit out from the sheet roller dispenser until a next sheet unit is stopped; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the sheet roller dispenser, with the sheet unit completely removed; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective of a second embodiment of the sheet roller dispenser in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective of a third embodiment of the sheet roller dispenser in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective of a fourth embodiment of the sheet roller dispenser in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A sheet roller dispenser in accordance with the present invention has a case with an interior for an accommodating space to receive a sheet roll. The case has an elongated hole longitudinally defined on a side face. An extension plate with a tongue extending upward is formed below the elongated hole at the central section of the elongated hole, and a corresponding pressing block is formed above the elongated hole to align with the extension plate. The sheet roll has a dotted line formed between two adjacent sheet units, and a slit is defined at a center of the dotted line. When a free end of the sheet roll is pulled out from the case via the elongated hole, the tongue inserts into the slit of the dotted line to act as a stop, so that the pulled out sheet unit is separated apart from the sheet roll easily and conventionally by tearing along the dotted line in operation. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 5 , a first preferred embodiment of a sheet roller dispenser in accordance with the present invention comprises a case composed of a first case body  1  and a second case body  2  in combination or formed integrally. The interior of the case has an accommodating space A. The first case body  1  and the second case body  2  are pivotally connected at pivotal ends to make the case open or closed operationally. A locking structure B is formed at free ends opposite to the pivotal ends of the first case body  1  and the second case body  2 . The locking structure B has a recess  11  defined on the first case body  1  and a hook  21  formed on the second case body  2  to engage the recess  11  to lock the case after being closed. The first case body  1  has an elongated cutout  12  at a longitudinal edge of the opening and has an extension plate  13  formed below the elongated cutout  12 . The extension plate  13  has a tongue  14  formed thereon and protruding upward. The second case body  2  has a pressing block  22  formed at a longitudinal edge of the opening corresponding to the extension plate  13 . A trim plate  23  is formed inside the second case body  2  near the pressing block  22 . When the second case body  2  covers the first case body  1 , the elongated cutout  12  turns into an elongated hole C, and the extension plate  13  is below the elongated hole C at the central section. Correspondingly, the pressing block  22  is above the elongated hole C. A gap D (shown in  FIG. 4 ) is defined between the extension plate  13  and the pressing block  22 . Preferably, the trim plate  23  extends downward to exceed the elongated hole C but does not abut the first case body  1 . 
     When the sheet roller dispenser is in use, the accommodating space A is loaded with a sheet roll  3 , which can be a plastic bag roll, a toilet paper roll, a paper towel roll, etc., composed of multiple sheet units divided by multiple dotted lines  31 . More particularly, each dotted line  31  has a slit  32  with a length larger than the width of tongue  14 . As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , when a free end of the sheet roll  3 , i.e. a first sheet unit  33 , is pulled out via the gap D between the extension plate  13  and the pressing block  22  and via the elongated hole C, the first sheet unit  33  is flattened by the trim plate  23  and slightly damped by the pressing block  22 . After passing the first sheet unit  33  over the pressing block  22 , the tongue  14  of the first case body  1  inserts into the slit  32  at the middle of the dotted line  31  to stop the second sheet unit  34  being pulled out. If the user keeps pulling as shown in  FIG. 9 , the first and second sheet units  33 ,  34  are torn at the dotted line  31  to obtain a single sheet unit of the plastic bag, the toilet paper or the paper towel. 
     After tearing, the second sheet unit  34  slightly extends out from the elongated hole C, because the tongue  14  is located at an outer edge of the extension plate  13 . Thus, the second sheet unit  34  is enabled to be pulled out by lifting slightly to disengage from the tongue  14  of the first case body  1  until the tongue  14  inserts into the next slit  32  on the dotted line  31  again. 
     Moreover, the second case body  2  further has a ring  24 . A second embodiment of the sheet roller dispenser of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 10  has a hooking ear  25 . The sheet roller dispenser can be suspended on the wall or other desired place by the ring  24  or the hooking ear  25 . 
     A third embodiment of the sheet roller dispenser of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 11  has the same features with the first embodiment except that the first case body  1  and the second case body  2  are pivotally combined at a longitudinal rear side to allow opening or closing the case. A fourth embodiment of the sheet roller dispenser of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 12  further engages with a bracket  4 . The bracket  4  has a clip  41  to easily attach to any proper device after the sheet roller dispenser is mounted thereon. 
     According to above description, the sheet roller dispenser of the present invention has the following advantages: 
     1. By having the elongated hole C and the tongue  14  formed below the elongated hole C and having the slit  32  at the central section on the dotted line  31  of the sheet roll  3 , the tongue  14  inserts into the slit  32  of the dotted line  31  to stop the subsequent sheet units being pulled out and to facilitate breaking the dotted line  31  to obtain the single sheet unit of the plastic bag, the toilet paper or the paper towel without worrying about pulling excessive ones. Such operation is achieved by one hand easily and conveniently. 
     2. The pressing block  22  extending outward and formed over the elongated hole C constrains the sheet units to ensure the tongue  14  inserts into the slit  32  of the sheet roll  3  no matter what the pulling angle is when the sheet unit is pulled out. Thus, operation of separating the sheet unit is smooth and convenient. 
     3. The trim plate  23  is formed in the accommodating space A inside the second case body  2  near the elongated hole C and extended downward to trim the sheet unit during pulling and to keep the sheet roll  3  rolling in case the sheet roll  3  gets stuck by bias rolling. Thus, operation of separating the sheet unit is smooth. 
     Although this invention has been described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present invention of the preferred forms has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.