Patent ID: 7237744

Claim:
A dispenser for dispensing flexible sheet material, comprising: a support for rotatably supporting a roll of sheet material; a feed mechanism for advancing the sheet material from said roll; a motor for driving the feed mechanism; a structure defining a discharge chute of the dispenser downstream of said feed mechanism; a transfer mechanism for contacting a leading segment of sheet material extending from a roll and moving said sheet material into a feed nip of said feed mechanism; a plurality of sensors for detecting the presence and absence of sheet material in said discharge chute and outputting respective signals indicative thereof; and a control device for receiving said respective signals, and controlling said motor to selectively drive said feed mechanism in response thereto to dispense a predetermined length of the sheet material from the point at which a leading edge portion is detected by at least one sensor of said plurality of sensors, said control device further determining, based upon said signals, a condition wherein a working roll of sheet material is either absent or depleted, and in response to said determination controlling said transfer mechanism to attempt a transfer of feed to a new roll of sheet material.