Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE  
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/813,588 filed on Jul. 9, 2007 which is a §371 national phase of International Application No. PCT/GB2005/004972 filed Dec. 20, 2005. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]    This invention relates to wipes. The term “wipes” is used herein to refer to the kinds of disposable absorbent products known variously as tissues, cloths, paper towels, kitchen roll and the like, which may be made of paper, cloth or any other suitable material and which may be moist, wet or dry and which may be embossed, perforated, quilted or printed or have any other surface decoration or treatment. 
         [0003]    Conventional products of this nature, and the dispensers in which they can be stored, are typically not very attractive to look at. Also it is often necessary to use two hands to extract the product from its dispenser. The present invention seeks to improve upon these existing products. 
         [0004]    The invention provides a wipe comprising a generally flat piece of material in which said piece of material is formed into a non-planar form having a three-dimensional shape for storage in said shape. 
         [0005]    The invention also provides a dispenser for storing a multiplicity of wipes, wherein the dispenser has a body which is adapted to suit the three-dimensional shape of the wipes. 
         [0006]    The invention further provides a method of making wipes comprising the steps of producing a generally flat piece of material, forming the piece of material into a non-planar form having a three-dimensional shape and storing the piece of material in said shape. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0007]    By way of example, embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0008]      FIGS. 1   a,    1   b  and  1   c  show a wipe according to the invention in its various stages of formation, and 
           [0009]      FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4  show various forms of dispensers suitable for storing the wipes of  FIG. 1   c.    
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0010]    The wipe shown in the drawings is formed initially as a flat round disc  10  of material ( FIG. 1   a ). The wipe may comprise a single layer of material, or it may have two or more plies of the same or different materials. Here, the wipe has a laminated construction, with a lower layer  10   a  of absorbent material, such as paper or the like, and an upper layer  10   b  of impervious material, such as glacene paper. Each of the layers  10   a,    10   b  may comprise one or more plies. The wipe may be impregnated, for example with a scent and/or possibly with an antibacteriological agent. The disc  10  may be formed by any suitable process, such as by being cut from a web of material produced in a continuous process on a machine. 
         [0011]    As seen in  FIGS. 1   a,    1   b  and  1   c,  the wipe is transformed from the planar form of disc  10  seen in  FIG. 1   a  into the three-dimensional form  11  seen in  FIG. 1   c  by tucking in a pleat  13  formed by two radial fold lines  14 ,  15  in the disc  10 . The pleat  13  enables the disc  10  to be partially wrapped over itself, as seen in  FIG. 1   b,  which has the effect of drawing it into a conical configuration, as seen in  FIG. 1   c.    
         [0012]    By the nature of the material of which it is made, the wipe will tend to remain in its conical configuration once formed, and a number of wipes can thus be stacked one upon another in this configuration. There will be a tendency for the pleat  13  to protrude slightly from the wipe&#39;s conical profile, and this provides a useful provision by which a user can readily grasp a wipe from a stack. It will be noted that this can be done using only one hand. When a wipe is to be used to mop up a spillage of liquid on a kitchen top, for example, it can be lifted from a stack by its pleat  13 , carried to the spill and simply dropped onto it. When dropped, the wipe will tend to unwrap and return to its original planar form. This transformation will be assisted as the lower layer  10   a  begins to absorb the liquid from the spill. When all the spilt liquid has been absorbed (or when the wipe has become saturated), the wipe can be lifted and disposed of In this process, the upper layer  10   b  ensures that the user&#39;s hand does not become wet or soiled. 
         [0013]    Various dispensers suitable for storing the wipes of  FIG. 1   c  are seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 . The dispenser of  FIG. 2  comprises an essentially round hollow cylindrical body  16  with an internal diameter roughly equal to the overall diameter of the wipes when in their conical form of  FIG. 1   c.  A vertical slit  17  in the container body allows access to the pleat  13  of the uppermost wipe in the stack for grasping by a user. 
         [0014]    The dispenser of  FIG. 3  is in the nature of a free-standing support, with a base  18 , a stem  19  and a head  20 . The head  20  has a conical configuration to suit the conical configuration of the wipes, which sit upon it. 
         [0015]    The dispenser of  FIG. 4  is similar to that of  FIG. 3  in that it has a conically-shaped head  20  on which the wipes are stacked. Here, however, the head  20  is attached by an elbow  21  to a bracket  22  which enables the dispenser to be mounted on a wall. 
         [0016]    A stack of wipes stored and presented in the manner described above offers a more attractive solution for a kitchen than the more traditional forms of paper roller. The arrangement also facilitates use of the wipes, because they can be picked up with just one hand, unlike removing a tissue from a conventional roll of kitchen paper, which often requires two hands. Furthermore, the material and form of the wipe maximise its efficiency and ease of use. 
         [0017]    It will be understood that the wipe may be formed initially in any suitable shape, not necessarily a geometric shape, and that it may also be formed into any suitable three-dimensional shape, again not necessarily a geometric one.

Technology Category: 4