BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field oi ^" towel roil dispensers, and more particularly, is directed to a method of indi¬ cating when a towel roil has reacned stub roll size and is near completion.

In designing commercial roll towel dispensers, it is important to signal the approac ing depletion of the roll in crcer "o minimize the amount of time wasted by the ≤er ^* . ice attendant. If the amount of towelling whicn remains on the roll is not accurately signaled to the attendant, the attendant may be needlessly compeiiec to open the dispenser in order to visually check the amount of remaining towels. Such a practice is wasteful of time which in a commercial environ¬ ment can become quite expensive. In addition, the absence of an indication of remaining towelling usually results in an erroneous assumption that sufficient towelling remains. Thus, the dispenser is likely to become inadvertently depleted, thereby frustrating the recipient user.

In many applications, the towel dispenser attendant routinely replaces the towel roll on a regular basis without regard to how much towelling remains on the roll. Such a practice reduces the likelihood that the dispenser will become depleted inadvertently but has the economic disadvantage that the towelling on partially depleted rolls is discarded. Over time, the amount of towelling discarded in this man¬ ner can become a rather significant cost factor.

In order to overcame some of the above mentioned problems, a number of signaling devices have been developed for towel dispensers in order to guage towel usage. Many of these devices rely on a

mechanical linkage which moves contrasting color indicators in accordance with towei usage. The indicators are visible outside the dispenser and serve as a guage of how much towelling remains on the roll.

In addition to being expensive to implement, mechanical indi¬ cators often malfunction and are prone to alignment problems, thus requiring regular service calls by a person trained in the art of repair¬ ing such devices. The low reliability of prior art usage indicators. thus remains a problem with respect to towel dispensers.

A number of methods and schemes are known in the prior art for marking the towel in order to indicate the amount of towelling remaining on the roll. For example. U.S. Patent No. 2.215.052 to Price et al. discloses one such scheme wherein the towels are pro¬ vided with a series of notches. As the towel roll is used, the spacing between the notches becomes closer together to thereby provide a visual indication of the quantity of towels remaining on the roil. U.S. Patent No. 3.158.938 to Phillipp's discloses a method of indicating the amount of filament remaining on a roll. Measuring marks are stamped on the end of the filament core to provide a visual indication of the quantity of filament left on the core. U.S. Patent Noε. 1.935.970 and 4,161.249 to ooster et al. and Dashow also disclose techniques for marking a towel roll with some form of a depletion mark.

While marking the towelling such as taught by the above pat¬ ents, represents an improvement over mechanical guages incorpo¬ rated into the dispenser, they do not provide the ideal solution. For example, the notches formed in the towels disclosed by Price requires the use of equipment capable of physically cutting the notches along the edge of the towel. Accurately cutting notches in a material hav¬ ing the consistency of a towel is dif icult given the so t and plyable texture of towels. Thus, the notches are likely to have ragged and frayed edges, making the spacing between them somewhat randum and difficult to interpret as an indicator of towel depletion. In addi¬ tion, notching is slow, requires special equipment and leaves less than a pleasing appearance to the towel.

The measuring marks taught c> Phiilipps is not he.pful in a dispenser since the end of the towei core is usually not visible to the user.

The towei deplet.on mark suggested by :r.e Woos ^* er .s a ciago- nal bar whicn runs the entire iengtn oi tne rout. Progression oi tne bar across the face of the towei serves as an lnαic tor oi ro'. e, ceple- tion. Implementation of this technique is aiso time coπsjmmg as it must be done in conjunction with the towe. rg Deing .vo nc into a roll. Calibrating the position of the bar relative to the end of the roll requires rather complex equipment.

Thus, there remains a need for a roll depletion .ndca ^* or - nich is reliable, low cost and easy to interpret. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the overall object of the present invention to prov ide a methoc oi mαicanng rowe. roll depletion .n a towel Oi≤Denser.

It is a specific ooject of the present invention to prov ice ≤ucn a method ich is reliable, ei ficient and economical to implement.

It is also a specific object of the present invention is to provide a method of indicating towel roll depletion which is fail-safe and easy to interpret.

These and other objects of applicant s invention are achieved by treating one end of the towel roil near the center with two ιnκ or dye stripes, one lorger than the other. Due to action, the stripes carry a short distance across the surface of the tow ei. Both stripes extend outwardly from the towel core for selected distances. When enough toweling is consumed to reach the longer stripe, a series of single coding marks appear along the edge of the towel, indicating that the roll has been reduced to stub size. The roll can then be moved to the stub compartment of the dispenser. As more toweling is used, the shorter mark is reached and a series of double coding marks appear along the edge of the towel. The double marks indicate that the end of the roll is imminent. In addition, the spacing between cod¬ ing marks decrease as more toweling is used which serves as a further visual indication of how much toweling remains on the roll.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a towel roll incorporating the depletion coding method of Applicant ^' s invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view- illustrating a first series of cod¬ ing marks across the surface of the towelling of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating a first and second series of coding marks across the surface of the towelling of Figure l. Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Figure 1 illustrates a towel roil 1 which has depletion stripes 2 and 3 in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, first and second dye stripes 2 and 3 extend outwardly from core 5 of towel roll 1. Stripes 2 and 3 are formed by application of a dye stain along the edge of roll 1 which, by capillary action, carries a short distance across the surface of web 4. Stripes 2 and 3 may be applied by automatic striping equipment located on the towel roil cover ting line or at any other convenient place along the manufactur¬ ing process.

As can be seen in Figure 1, stripe 2 is substantially longer than stripe 3 and is, therefore, reached first when towelling is dispensed by pulling web 4. The length of stripe 2 determines where along roll 1 Applicant's method of towel depletion indication begins. Stripe 2 should be made sufficiently long such that enough towelling remains on roll 1 that an attendant alerted to the end of the roil being near. has sufficient time to actually change the roil before it is depleted.

Stripe 2 causes single coding marks 6 to be formed along the edge of web 4 as can be seen in Figure 2. The visibility of coding marks 6 provides a first signal that the end of the roll is near and will need changing in the not to distant future. This signal serves as an indicator that stub roll size has been reached, which in some dispens¬ ers is the correct diameter to be placed in a stub roll compartment of a dispenser which is designed or that type of operation.

The spacing between coding marks 6 provides a second towel depletion signal. As more towelling is used, spacing 7 becomes smaller. Thus stripe 2 provides two separate and distinct signals indi¬ cating the amount of toweling remaining on the roll.

When enough towelling is consumed to reach stripe 3, a second series of coding marks 8 :s formed on web 4 as shown in Figure 3. The appearance of the seconc series of coding marks provides a third depletion signal which, depending -. the .e gtn or ≤ ^* r:pe 3. er ⁱ es as an indicator that tne end of tne rod i≤ imminent. The length oi stripe 3 can be adjusted to proviαe tne third signal wnen any conve¬ nient amount of towelling remains on tne ro .

The spacing 9 between pairs of coding marxs 6 and S a.so con¬ tinues to decrease as more towelling is used, to thereby prov ide a fourth depletion signal.

The towel depletion signals ci applicant s invention, thus pro- viαes a low cost, reliable and efficient alternative to the methocs and apparatus offered b> the prior art.

While there is snown and described herein certain specific fea¬ tures of this invention, it .\ :ii be manπest to those skilled m :ne art mat various modifications may be mace wimout departing iro the spirit and scope of the underlying .nv entive concept and that this invention is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.