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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention.

5 The present invention relates to an illuminated apparatus for warming and dispensing pre-packaged, pre- wetted disposable towels.

2. Description of Related Art.

In recent years, small pre-wetted paper or

10 fabric towels which are disposable, and are packaged in plastic canisters, have become available to the general public. The towels are typically rolled or folded to fit within the canister so as to be dispensed one at a time from the top of the container. A reservoir of the

15 wetting fluid, which typically contains a cleansing agent, is located in a pool at the bottom of the canis¬ ter. The towels are wetted through capillary action.

These disposable towels are used for a vari¬ ety of purposes, most of which involve contact between

20 the towels and human skin. Perhaps one of the more predominant uses of the disposable towels is for cleans¬ ing the diaper areas of infants. Since the towels are typically kept at room temperature, there is an average temperature difference of about 30 degrees Fahrenheit

25 between the skin of the infant and the temperature of the wet towel. This temperature difference causes dis¬ comfort to the user. In younger babies, the infant's startle reflex is triggered when the towel touches its skin, and crying often ensues.

30 The towels are dispensed from their plastic canisters through a small opening in the top of the container. The small opening prevents the excess liq¬ uid from spilling out of the container, should the can¬ ister be upset from its normal upright position, and

35 prevents evaporation of the liquid. The towels are

removed from the canister through a small opening. The weight of the canister is insufficient to overcome the frictional contact between the towel and the canister. In order to remove a single towel from the opening, it is generally necessary to grip the container with one hand as the towel is pulled out of the opening with the remaining hand, resulting in a momentary hazard to the infant which may be unrestrained on an elevated changing table while the parent is extracting the towel. Simi¬ larly, disposable towels are also commonly used to re¬ move cosmetics. It would be far more convenient if the towels could be removed with one hand, leaving the other hand free.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a device which economically and efficiently warms the disposable tow¬ els while they remain in their original canister, se- cures the towel canister to provide for one-handed dis¬ pensing of towels, and provides a night light. The device is a dispenser for disposable towels which con- sists of a cup which has an upper sector into which the canister fits, and a lower sector beneath the upper sector in which one or more incandescent, light bulbs heat the reservoir of fluid in the lowest end of the canister. The cup also secures the canister to facili- tate one-handed dispensing of the towels.

The light from the incandescent light bulbs is sufficient to warm the liquid in the canister to a comfortable 110°F, yet is of a low intensity, so as not to disturb a sleeping child. The power demand of such incandescent bulbs is very low, and the amount of heat generated is sufficient to warm the liquid through the walls of the plastic container without danger of melt- ing or igniting the plastic container itself. The de¬ vice may safely be left plugged in for long periods of time without fear of fire.

Disposable pre-wetted towels are sold in plas¬ tic canisters of various sizes and shapes. The canis¬ ters are usually constructed from a molded thermoplastic, and are cylindrical or rectangular in shape. The dis¬ penser of the present invention is designed to accommo- date one or more sizes of similar shaped canisters, without any loss in heating efficiency. These and other features of the invention are more easily understood with reference to the following figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIGURE 1 is a perspective illustration of the dispenser unit.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the dispenser unit.

FIGURE 3 is a detail plan view taken along the line A-A.

FIGURE 4 is a detail plan view taken along the line B-B.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the top of an al¬ ternative embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The dispenser unit 2, with an installed can¬ ister of disposable towels, is illustrated in Figure 1. The towels 6 protrude from the dispenser opening 8 at the top of the unit 2. The device requires a power supply, preferably consisting of a wall mount 12 volt transformer 4 or any suitable power supply such as an automobile cigarette lighter or 110 volts from conven¬ tional home circuits. The dispenser unit is designed to warm the disposable towels 6 continuously to approx- imately 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and may safely be left plugged in and unattended over long periods of time. All parts of the device must safely be able to withstand the amount of heat generated by the incandescent light bulbs.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the unit 2 taken longitudinally through a diameter of the unit. The outline of a disposable towel canister 9 is indi¬ cated by broken lines. In this particular embodiment, the dispenser cup, generally designated as 10, is a right circular cylinder in shape and is fabricated in three parts. Of course, it is understood that the dis¬ penser might also be rectangular in shape or any poly¬ gonal shape as well. The cup 10 consists of the main tube section 12, a base 14 and a cap 16.

Cap 16 must be removed to install the dispos- able towel canister 9 in upper sector 18. The cover 20 for the towel canister, typically attached to canister 9 by a strip of plastic is folded down alongside the canister while it is installed in the unit 2. The can¬ ister 9 rests at its bottom on the dish 22. The dish 22 is biased upwardly by a spring 23. At the center of dish 22 is a recessed bowl 24, defining a lower sector 25, in which the incandescent light bulbs 26 are mounted. ^■ A series of holes 28 (see Figure 3) are provided in the wall of the bowl 24. The base portion 14 of cup 10 is formed from a translucent material so that light passing through the holes 28 illuminate the base 14.

The upper end of canister 9 is restrained by a series of upper stop protrusions 30 which project downwardly from the cap 16 into the upper section 18. The protrusions 30 prevent the canister 9 from moving in an upward direction as a towel is being pulled out of the container and urge the container into contact with the dish 22. The upper stop protrusions in coop¬ eration with the spring mounted dish 22 assures a snug fit for containers of different heights within the unit. The combined weight of the unit 2 and the canister 9 may alone be sufficient to permit one-handed dispensing of towels from the canister 9. A suction cup 32 at the undersurface of the base 14 secures the unit 2 to an- other surface to assure that the device does not move

as a towel is being removed. The suction cup also pre¬ vents an infant from inadvertently knocking the dispen¬ ser off of the dressing table.

The unit 2 adjusts to efficiently warm dis¬ posable towels packaged in canisters of various sizes. Any resistance heating circuit would be suitable, al- though in the preferred embodiment, incandescent light bulbs are used.

The dish 22 is generally concave in shape, and is provided with shoulders which engage the perime¬ ter of the canister (see Figure 3). For a large canis- ter 9, such as is illustrated, the container rests a- gainst the outer shoulder formed by the lip 34. The perimeter of a smaller canister (not illustrated) would be engaged by the inner shoulder formed by the lip 36. In either case, there would be an air space in lower sector 25 formed by the bottom of the canister 9, bounded by the shoulder formed by the applicable lip and the walls of bowl 24. Within this lower sector 25, the bulbs 26 would be separated from any contact with the canister 9. This configuration places the bulbs as close as possible to the canister bottom when installed in the unit, which improves the heating of the fluid pool at the base of the container.

To improve the heat transfer characteristics of the device, the interior surface of the bowl 24 might be coated with reflective material. Also, the walls of the tube section 12 might be covered with insulation to prevent heat loss. The dispenser opening 8 of the cap 16 is also minimized in size in order to prevent heat loss to the surrounding atmosphere. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate in plan views two alternate embodiments of the cap 16. In figure 4, the dispenser opening 8 is simply a hole 38 at the center of the cap through which the towels pass. In such a case, a separate lid (not illustrated) might be provided for the dispenser so that heat loss would be minimized

while the device is not being used. Figure 5 illus¬ trates a cap in which the dispenser opening 8 ^' consists of a pair of perpendicular slots, forming flaps 40 in a sheet of somewhat flexible material stretched across the center of the cap. Towels would pass through the opening formed as the flaps 40 are deflected upwardly. Once the towel has been pulled through, the flaps would relax into a horizontal position, minimizing the open¬ ing to prevent heat loss.

The device of the present invention may be inexpensively manufactured through injection molding techniques. The simplicity of the heating system also minimizes the operating cost by utilizing very energy efficient components. The exterior appearance of the dispenser may be customized to present an attractive appearance which makes the dispenser a piece of furni- ture adaptable to any docor. While the above provides a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodi¬ ments of the invention, various modifications, alter¬ nate constructions, and equivalents may be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, a simple resistance heating circuit could be substituted for the incandescent light bulbs as the heat source. Further, the dispenser might also be constructed without a heat source, and used simply to facilitate the one-handed removal of dispos- able towels from their canisters. Therefore, the above description and illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.