Patent ID: 7222816

Claim:
An apparatus adapted for use with a dispenser housing for rolled sheet material to provide reliable dispensing of sheet material therefrom, the dispenser housing including a roll support configured to hold at least one cylindrical roll of sheet material and a dispensing assembly, the dispensing assembly including an exit port to permit sheet material to be withdrawn therefrom, the cylindrical roll of sheet material mounted on a portion of the roll support and the roll including opposing flat surfaces and an outer circumference, a cylindrical member spaced a distance apart from the roll support, the apparatus comprising: a guide roller including an elongated central portion positioned between two opposing ends and a flange positioned near each end of the guide roller, wherein the central portion is configured to be positioned adjacent an outer circumference of a roll of sheet material when such a roll is a new roll disposed in the dispenser housing, and wherein at least a portion of an inner surface of each flange is positioned adjacent a flat surface of such a roll of sheet material when such a roll is a new roll, and when such a new roll becomes depleted of sheet material, it is positioned away from the guide roller by the removal of sheet material therefrom such that the guide roller does not touch an outer circumference of such a roll, the guide roller positioned such that sheet material flows from a roll between the flanges and over the central portion of the guide roller to the dispensing assembly, the flow of sheet material aligned on a path to the dispensing assembly such that non-alignment of sheet material is eliminated.