Patent ID: 8152022

Claim:
A dispensing device for flat, flexible, absorbing articles, more specifically cotton wool tampons or cotton pads, adapted for withdrawing such articles one by one, said device comprising an enclosing wall defining an internal volume containing a number of said articles stacked with flat surfaces abutting each other in a longitudinal dimension of said volume, said longitudinal direction being perpendicular to a cross-sectional dimension, said volume terminating in said longitudinal dimension at a first, closed end and at an opposite, second end, said second end comprising an end wall with an aperture for withdrawing an outermost article, a cross-sectional dimension of said aperture being less than a cross-sectional dimension of said stacked articles such as to allow for withdrawing one of said articles nearest to said aperture through said aperture by means of deformation of said article, wherein a supporting structure is positioned near said second end and comprises protruding resting points defining a plane for supporting the device in an upright position on a supporting face such as to position said end wall at a distance from said supporting face, said supporting structure comprising at least one opening or cut-out adapted to allow for withdrawing said outermost article through said aperture and, subsequently, through said opening or cut-out, said supporting structure having cross-sectional dimensions, which are substantially identical to cross-sectional dimensions of said volume at said second end of said volume, said supporting structure forming a uniform continuation of said enclosing wall, which continuation extends in said longitudinal dimension.