FIELD OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the invention relates to a dispenser assembly. The invention further relates to a roll of sheet material adapted to be dispensed by the dispenser assembly of the invention. Such a dispenser assembly finds a particular, though non exclusive, application in dispensing paper towel roll.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The document US 5,449,127 describes a dispenser for rolls of sheet material including a base or housing for supporting one or more rolls of sheet material. An extension from one side of the housing includes a receiver for receiving one end of an axle/push rod. A journal is positioned on the opposite side of the housing from the receiver. The journal and receiver in turn are positioned along an axis. The axle/push rod has a first section which can be inserted into the center passageway through the roll and extend at least slightly out of the opposite side of the roll. A second section of the axle/push rod abutting the side of the roll has a diameter greater than the passageway through the roll and allows the axle/push rod to push the roll rotatably supported on the first section out of the housing. The entire length of the axle/push rod is greater than twice the length of a roll. The roll on the axle/push rod is then exposed outside the housing for dispensing of sheet material. Once the roll exposed for dispensing is expired, the axle is withdrawn from the receiver and withdrawn through the housing, with a half turn the remaining rolls drop in the housing and the axle right side up is reinserted into the next succeeding roll passageway. The axle/push rod is used to then push the next roll out to where it is positioned for dispensing.

The document US 6,145,771 describes a dispenser for dispensing a paper or plastic product that allows a user to easily tear off one sheet of the product at a time. The dispenser includes a first magnetized member, a second magnetized member, a support bar and at least one stop device.

However, these techniques are not satisfactory because the loading operation may not be easily and/or quickly done. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to propose a dispenser assembly that overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks, and in particular improve the ease of loading operation.

According to one aspect, there is provided a dispenser assembly for dispensing a sheet from a roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, the dispenser assembly comprising:

- a roll holder for removably holding the roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material being free to rotate relatively to the roll holder;

- a base for supporting the roll holder and for coupling the dispenser assembly with an environment structure;

- a pair of coupling elements comprising a first element coupled to the roll of sheet material and a second element integral to the roll holder, the first element being coupled in a free to rotate and removable manner relatively to the second element by magnetic coupling;

wherein the first element comprises a contacting portion extending transversally relatively to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially recover said lateral edge so that the first element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material.

The first element may be in the form of a sticker that adheres to the lateral edge of the roll of sheet material by means of an adhesive layer.

The first element may be in the form of a painted area that adheres to the lateral edge of the roll of sheet material as a result of a painting process.

The second element may be a flange secured to the base through an arm, the second element comprising another contacting portion arranged for magnetic coupling to the contacting portion of the first element.

The roll holder may further comprise a resilient element for pressing the flange against the contacting portion of the first element. The first element and the second element each may comprise a magnet, these magnets being oriented so as to provide an attractive magnetic force between the first element and the second element.

One of the pair of coupling elements may be made of a magnetic material, the other coupling element being made of a ferro-magnetic material.

One of the pair of coupling elements may be made of a plastic charged with a magnetic powder, the other coupling element being made of a plastic charged with a ferromagnetic powder.

One of the pair of coupling elements may comprise a magnet, the other coupling element comprising a piece of ferro-magnetic material.

The first element may be coupled to the second element through a punctual contact.

The first element may be coupled to the second element through a surface contact, each element having a contacting portion in the form of a planar surface.

The dispenser assembly may comprise a pair of coupling elements positioned at both end portion of the cavity of the roll of sheet material.

The roll of sheet material may be wound onto a hollow or solid core.

The roll of sheet material may be a paper towel roll.

According to a another aspect, there is provided a roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, the roll of sheet material being provided with a coupling element comprising a contacting portion extending transversally relatively to the longitudinal axis, which is adhered to a lateral edge of the roll of sheet material and arranged to at least partially recover said lateral edge so that the coupling element is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material being adapted to be dispensed by a dispenser assembly according to the invention.

According to a further aspect, there is provided a coupling element for coupling to a roll of sheet material, the roll of sheet material having a longitudinal axis, wherein the coupling element comprises a contacting portion extending transversally relatively to the longitudinal axis, arranged to at least partially recover a lateral edge of the roll of sheet material when adhered to said lateral edge so as to fixedly secure the coupling element to the roll of sheet material, the coupling element being adapted to be coupled in a free to rotate and removable manner relatively to another element by magnetic coupling in a dispenser assembly according to the invention.

The invention enables easy and quick authorized stuffing and loading operations. This is particularly advantageous during maintenance of dispenser assembly used in a commercial application context.

Further, the invention prevents unauthorized stuffing action of the dispenser assembly by an unauthorized provider or operator by requiring a specific coupling mechanism between the roll holder and the roll of sheet material. Further, the element or at least a part of it associated with the roll of sheet material is arranged to disappear once the roll has been used avoiding a second use in association with another roll of sheet material. It enables the client of such dispenser assembly to have a specific, qualitative and controlled service during the maintenance operations.

Furthermore, old dispenser assembly may be easily and economically retrofitted with the mechanism provided by the invention merely by replacing the old arms with new arms supporting one of the magnetic coupling elements as described in the various embodiments provided in the following description.

Other advantages will become apparent from the hereinafter description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] The present invention is illustrated by way of examples and not limited to the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements:

• FIG. 1 is a front sectional view schematically illustrating an embodiment of a dispenser assembly of the invention; · FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional cut-away views taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating a first embodiment of a pair of coupling elements of a dispenser assembly of the invention applicable to rolls of sheet material having a core and coreless rolls of sheet material, respectively;

• FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional cut-away views taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating a second embodiment of a pair of coupling elements of a dispenser assembly of the invention applicable to rolls of sheet material having a core and coreless rolls of sheet material, respectively;

• FIGS. 6 and 7 are sectional cut-away views taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating other type of coupling arrangements for a dispenser assembly of the invention applicable to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, respectively;

• FIG. 8 is sectional cut-away view taken of the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 schematically illustrating an example of roll holder in a dispenser assembly of the invention; and · FIGS. 9 to 11 are perspective views schematically illustrating the roll of sheet material of the first embodiment (FIGS. 9 and 10) and second embodiment (FIGS. 9 and 11) at different dispensing stages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, the terminology "a roll of sheet material" has a large meaning encompassing, as examples, the rolls of paper towels, toilet tissues, plastic sheets or the like, metal sheets (e.g. aluminum) sheets or the like, food preservation bags, wraps, etc... The sheet material may be rolled as a continuous non-perforated sheet or pre-perforated sheets. Further, the terminology "roll of sheet material" also covers either roll of sheet material having a core, or roll of sheet material being coreless. In particular, during the manufacturing process of the roll of sheet material, either the sheet material is wound into a cylinder onto a core (as an example a hollow cylinder made of cardboard, or a plastic mandrel, or a metallic axle, etc.), or the sheet material is wound into a cylinder on itself such as to define a central hollow cavity of substantially cylindrical shape and of variable size extending longitudinally. The dispenser assembly may be used for residential or commercial applications for dispensing multiple of the hereinbefore mentioned sheets of material from a roll of sheet material.

The dispenser assembly may dispense the sheets of material from the roll of sheet material either manually (a user may pull the sheet of material with a hand) or motor assisted (a motor may assist in automatically dispensing the sheet of material on wish). There are numerous mechanisms to automatically dispense the sheet of material, and also to cut the sheet of material at the user requested length. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a dispenser assembly

1 according to the invention. In this embodiment the dispenser assembly 1 is used to dispense a sheet 2 from a roll of sheet material 3. The roll of sheet material 3 defines a cavity 4 extending longitudinally of longitudinal axis of revolution 15. This cavity is a central hollow cylinder. In this particular example, the roll of sheet material 3 is wound onto a core 4a, namely a hollow cylinder made of cardboard. As depicted in FIGS. 3 and 5, the roll of sheet material 3 may alternatively be a coreless roll of sheet material. In this case, the cavity may not be finely and equally defined all along the roll length as it lacks the supporting effect of the core 4a. The size of the cavity, in particular the diameter of the cavity depends on the manufacturing process. It is generally adapted to the dispenser assembly as explained hereinafter.

The dispenser assembly 1 comprises a roll holder 5, 5a, a base 6, and a pair of coupling elements 8, 8a. In the embodiment depicted in FIG.1 , the dispenser assembly 1 comprises two roll holders 5 and 5a and two pairs of coupling elements 8 and 8a, one on each end of the roll of sheet material 3.

The roll holder 5, 5a holds in a removable manner the roll of sheet material 3. The roll of sheet material 3 is free to rotate relatively to the roll holder 5, 5a.

The base 6 supports the roll holder 5, 5a. The base 6 further couples the dispenser assembly 1 with an environment structure 7, for example a wall, by means of appropriate securing elements 16 (screw, glue, etc.). The base 6 may further comprise a housing 17 having a slit 18 that is adapted to dispense sheets 2 of material. The housing may comprise a hood (not shown) closed during the use of the dispenser assembly, and opened during loading or unloading operation of the roll of sheet material into the dispenser assembly.

The pair of coupling elements 8, 8a comprises a first element 9, 9a coupled to the roll of sheet material 3 and a second element 10, 10a integral to the roll holder 5, 5a. The first element 9, 9a is coupled to the second element 10, 10a by a magnetic coupling in an interface zone 13, 13a. The magnetic coupling is such that:

- the first element 9, 9a is free to rotate relatively to the second element 10, 10a enabling free-rolling of the roll of sheet material 3 relatively to the roll holder 5, 5a; and

- the first element 9, 9a is removable relatively to the second element 10, 10a enabling engagement or disengagement of the roll of sheet material 3 with regards to the roll holder 5, 5a. The first element 9, 9a is realized under the form of a transversally extending contacting portion (i.e., transverse to the longitudinal axis of revolution 15). The transversally extending contacting portion is adhered to a lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3 and arranged to at least partially recover a lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3 so that the first element 9, 9a is fixedly secured to the roll of sheet material 3. The terminology "adhere to" is intended to mean to stick, to become joined or to become united.

The second element 10, 0a may be a flange secured to the base 6 through for example an arm 14, 14a. FIGS. 2 to 7 show the interface zone 13/13a of FIG. 1 , schematically illustrating various embodiments of the pair of coupling elements 8.

These embodiments are well suited to a dispenser assembly 1 dispensing sheets 2 from a roll of sheet material 3 wound around a core 4a as depicted in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 7. Similarly, all these embodiments are also well suited to a dispenser assembly 1 dispensing sheets 2 from a coreless roll of sheet material 3, namely a roll of sheet material 3 lacking the core 4. FIGS. 3 and 5 show two examples of such embodiments applied to coreless roll of sheet material.

Only the pair of coupling elements referenced 8 on one end of the roll of sheet material 3 is illustrated on these FIGS. 2 to 7. The other pair of coupling elements referenced 8a on the other end of the roll of sheet material 3 is symmetrical and will not be further illustrated and described.

FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically illustrate a first embodiment of a pair of coupling elements wherein the first element 9 is in the form of a sticker 20.

The sticker 20 comprises the transversally extending contacting portion (i.e., transverse to the longitudinal axis of revolution 15) that is adhering to the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3 through an adhesive/gluing/sticking layer 21. The transversally extending portion protrudes and is arranged to at least partially recover the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3. This enables a satisfactory inter-coupling between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material 3, in particular avoiding a loose fit between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material.

The sticker 20 has a contacting surface 24 forming a plane. It may have various shapes, for example a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a rectangular shape, etc...

The sticker 20 is either a magnet, or a piece of ferro-magnetic material, or a plastic piece charged with a magnetic powder, or a plastic piece charged with a ferromagnetic powder. The sticker 20 is glued on each lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3 (through the adhesive layer 21 ).

The sticker 20 together with the gluing layer 21 may be obtained from a sticky tape that is cut according to the desired shape.

FIGS. 4 and 5 schematically illustrate a second embodiment of a pair of coupling elements wherein the first element 9 is in the form of a painted area 22.

The painted area 22 forms the transversally extending portion (i.e., transverse to the longitudinal axis of revolution 15) that is adhering to the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3 as a result of the painting process. The transversally extending contacting portion protrudes and is arranged to at least partially recover the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3. This enables a satisfactory inter-coupling between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material 3, in particular avoiding a loose fit between the first element 9 and the roll of sheet material. The painted area 22 has a contacting surface 24 forming a plane.

The painted area 22 is a magnetic or ferro-magnetic painting (i.e. a paint charged with a magnetic or ferro-magnetic powder) that is for example painted, spray-painted or sputter-painted on each lateral edge 12, 12a of the roll of sheet material 3. Various shapes of painted area 22 can be obtained, for example a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a rectangular shape, etc... using as an example an appropriate stencil or pattern during the painting process.

In the hereinbefore described first and second embodiments, the second element 10 supports a magnet or a piece of ferro-magnetic material 33 having a contacting surface 34 being an elliptical surface or a spherical surface.

Thus, the first element 9 is coupled to the second element 10 through a punctual contact. This feature enables limiting the friction effect between this two elements providing a rotation of the roll of sheet material 3 relatively to the roll holder 5 even if a low pull force is exercised on the dispensed sheet 2 (shown in FIG. 1).

The magnet or the piece of ferro-magnetic material 33 is positioned facing the first element 9. When the first element 9 comprises a magnet or a plastic piece charged with a magnetic powder, or a magnetic painting the second element 10 may comprise a magnet or a plastic piece charged with a magnetic powder, these magnetic elements being properly oriented to attract each other. Alternatively, the second element 10 may be made of a ferromagnetic material. When the first element 9 comprises a piece of ferromagnetic material, or a ferro-magnetic painting, the second element 10 may either comprise a magnet, or be made of magnetic material. In all these cases, an attractive magnetic force is provided for coupling the first element 9 to the second element 10. The size and thickness of the sticker 20 or of the painted area 22 is chosen such as to provide a sufficient magnetic coupling, for example a few centimeters in size and a few millimeters in thickness. The magnetic coupling through a punctual contact as hereinbefore described in relation with the various embodiments enables reducing the friction between the two coupling elements, thus between the roll of sheet material and the roll holder. This enables reducing the force or energy required to dispense a sheet of material either manually or motor assisted. When the dispenser assembly comprises a motor (not shown) to dispense the sheet of material, having a low friction enables either to reduce electrical consumption of the motor, or to downsize the motor power for the same dispenser assembly characteristics. Further, it also reduces the motor loudness during the dispensing operation. When the dispenser assembly is manually operated (i.e. without the help of a motor), the sheet of material may be dispensed in a quasi-automatic manner by combining a very low pull force exercised on the dispensed sheet with the low friction and the effect of gravity on the currently dispensed sheet of material.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5, the first element 9 is coupled to the second element 10 through a punctual contact, i.e. a planar contacting surface 24 (the sticker 20 or the painted area 22) against a contacting surface 34 being an elliptical surface or a spherical surface. However, the magnetic coupling between the first element 9 and the second element 10 may be implemented in other different ways.

FIGS. 6 and 7 schematically illustrate other possible coupling arrangements forming a surface contact. These coupling arrangements may replace the punctual contact in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5. The alternative embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7 are based on the embodiments depicted in FIG. 2 and 4, respectively. These embodiments differ in that the second element 10 supports a magnet or a piece of ferromagnetic material 35 having a contacting surface 36 being a plane. The magnet or the piece of ferro-magnetic material 35 may be, for example, a cylinder or a parallelepiped. Thus, each of the first element 9 and the second element 0 has a contacting surface in the form of a planar surface.

These embodiments of the pair of coupling elements 8 are also applicable to coreless rolls of sheet material. FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an example of roll holder 5 (or 5a). The second element 10 is a flange secured to an arm 14. The arm 14 may comprise a recess 40 receiving the second element 10 and also a resilient element, for example a spring 41. The second element 10 is free to move within the recess while being pushed by the spring 41 outside the recess. An abutment 42 in the recess may cooperate with a shoulder 43 of the second element 10 to block the full translation of the second element outside the recess 40. During a loading or unloading operation of the dispenser assembly 1 , the second element 10 is retracted into the recess 10 due to the pushing action of the roll of sheet material 3 being installed. Once in place, the spring 41 presses the second element 10 against the contacting surface 24 (e.g. the contacting surface 24 of the sticker 20 or the painted area 22) of the first element 9. This enables providing a satisfactory contact between the first and the second elements. FIGS. 9 to 11 are perspective views schematically illustrating the roll of sheet material 3 of the first and second embodiments at different dispensing stages.

FIG. 9 shows the roll of sheet material 3 after the manufacturing process. A first element 9 in the form of a sticker or a painted area is adhering to the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3.

The dispenser assembly 1 (depicted in FIG. 1) is used to dispense a sheet 2 from the roll of sheet material 3.

At a later stage, when a significant amount of sheet 2 have been dispensed from the roll of sheet material 3, further dispensed sheet portion comprises a border being an adhesive band 21a (first embodiment) or a band of magnetic painting 22a (second embodiment) on each side of the sheet when the sheet 2 splits from the roll of sheet material 3. This is particularly advantageous to prevent a direct subsequent use of the first element 9. With the first embodiment, at the end of the dispensing process, the adhesive layer is lacking to further stick the sticker to another roll of sheet material 3. With the second embodiment, at the end of the dispensing process, the magnetic painted area has gradually disappeared from the lateral edge 12 of the roll of sheet material 3 with the dispensed sheet 2. The drawings and their descriptions hereinbefore illustrate rather than limit the invention.

The depicted embodiment of dispenser assembly in FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example of a base comprising a closed housing with a slit. However, other kind of base, for example providing an open access to the roll of sheet material may be convenient provided that the coupling between the roll holder and the roll of sheet material is of the magnetic coupling kind as described hereinbefore.

The depicted embodiments illustrate a dispenser assembly wherein the roll of sheet material is positioned horizontally. However, it may also be positioned vertically, or at an angle.

The depicted embodiment of dispenser assembly in FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example of a dispenser assembly where the roll of sheet material is held on each edge by two pairs of coupling elements. However, it may also be held on one edge by one pair of coupling element as hereinbefore described and on the other edge by any other appropriate holding mechanism.

Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements than those listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such element.