Patent ID: 7325768

Claim:
A hands-free paper towel dispenser, comprising: (a) a cabinet defining an interior space sufficient to house a main paper towel roll, the cabinet including a housing defined by a plurality of walls and a front cover that is pivotally attached to the housing so that the front cover is pivotable between an open position and a closed position; (b) a sensing mechanism mounted to the housing in a direction facing the front cover and disposed entirely within the interior space of the cabinet at a location adjacent to the front cover, the sensing mechanism configured to detect through the front cover an object positioned outside of the cabinet and adjacent the front cover without the object contacting the front cover, and at least a portion of the sensing mechanism is accessible when the front cover is at the open position; (c) a dispensing mechanism disposed within the housing for dispensing a length of towel, the dispensing mechanism including a drive roller and a motor in driving engagement with the drive roller; (d) control circuitry that controls operation of the sensing mechanism and the motor, controls the length of towel that is dispensed, and provides a delay between cycles of towel dispensing; and (e) an electric power source for powering operation of the dispenser.