Multiple stack dispensing container
A disposable, non-refillable container for holding and gravity-fed dispensing folded articles is disclosed. The container holds multiple stacks or articles. The container is non-permanently affixed to a surface with a mount and the container dispenses an individual stack of articles from an individual dispensing opening when that stack is configured substantially above the dispensing opening. To dispense another stack of articles within the container, the container is reconfigured such that the next stack of articles is placed in position for dispensing. The container may also include an area of the container adapted for use as a waste receptacle.
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Various types of dispensers and dispensing containers have been developed to provide ready availability of articles to users. Such dispensers are common for dispensing paper products such as facial tissues, napkins, paper towels and the like. One common type of dispensing container dispenses paper products from the top of the container. Such containers often utilize a stack of folded products that are interfolded with each other so that when the top product is dispensed through the dispensing opening of the container, the next product is pulled to the dispensing opening for future dispensing.
While such dispensing containers conveniently provide the user with folded products (e.g., folded tissues), they are inherently limited in their capacity. The stack height of products in such top dispensing containers is limited by the dimensions of the paper product being dispensed. If the box is too high the next product to be dispensed will not be pulled to the dispensing opening with the product being dispensed. Instead, the next product is left down inside the dispenser where it can be very difficult to remove; the user has to reach down through the dispensing opening into the dispenser to retrieve the product.
One solution to the limited capacity of such dispensing containers is to use a container having two dispensing sections. When the first section is fully dispensed from the top, the container is flipped over and the second section is dispensed. The container essentially acts as two containers that are attached back-to-back. However, each dispensing section of such a container will have the same type of height limitation as the single stack dispensing discussed above.
Another type of solution is to use a mechanical or spring means to push the paper products toward the dispensing opening. These types of dispensers are often found in both vertical and horizontal configurations. However, such a mechanical solution requires additional parts which add costs and can malfunction or break. Such solutions are not economical in the context of disposable dispensing containers.
Gravity-fed dispensing is another solution to these issues. With gravity-fed dispensing the products are dispensed from the bottom of the stack. Gravity ensures that the next product is always available at the dispensing opening. However, the height of the stack in gravity-fed dispensing is also limited. The entire weight of the stack rests on the product that is being dispensed. If the stack is too heavy, the product being dispensed can be difficult to dispense; the product can be damaged or more product than is needed may be removed from the dispenser. This becomes even a greater issue when dealing with heavier paper products, such as heavy wipers or towels.
Another issue with dispensers of all types is that they are usually found in fixed locations. For example, the towel dispensers in a public restroom are generally fixed to the wall. A person who is looking to provide such paper products has to generally install a dispenser, but is then stuck with the location of that dispenser. It is difficult for those who want to provide paper products in a temporary location, or who wish to frequently change the dispenser location, to do so with traditional mounted dispensers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn light of the problems and issues discussed above, it is desired to have a dispensing container that is able to dispense a large quantity of folded articles. It is also desired that the container be disposable and non-refillable. It is further desired that such a container be capable of being easily located and/or relocated wherever the user desires.
The present invention is directed to a disposable, non-refillable container for holding and gravity-fed dispensing folded articles. The container has an upper panel, a lower panel having at least a first dispensing opening, a front panel, a back panel, and at least one side panel. A first dispensing column is also present in the container and is formed by the cooperation of the upper, lower, front, back and side panels and is configured to hold stacks of folded articles. The container also has a first support structure within the first dispensing column and a mount which non-permanently affixes the container to a support surface. The first dispensing opening is configured to dispense a first stack of folded articles when the container is attached to the support surface such that the first stack of articles is substantially above the first dispensing opening. The first support structure is configured to support the weight of at least a second stack of folded articles while the first stack of folded articles is being dispensed. This first support structure is configured so that it may be manipulated such that the second stack of folded articles may be delivered to the first dispensing opening after the first stack of folded articles has been dispensed.
In various embodiments of the present invention the first support structure may be so manipulated by the container being configured for the first support structure to be removed from the container; the container having a bracing structure that supports the first support structure that can be removed from support of the first support structure; a removable panel integrally connected to the first support structure, where the removable panel and integrally connected first support structure are configured to be removed from the container; or the container and first support structure may be configured for the first support structure to be pulled from and reinserted into the first dispensing column.
In some embodiments the container may also have a second support structure within the first dispensing column, where the second support structure is configured to support the weight of at least a third stack of folded articles while the first and second stacks of folded articles are dispensed. This second support structure is configured to be manipulated such that the third stack of folded articles may be delivered to the first dispensing opening after the first and second stacks of folded articles have been dispensed.
In other embodiments the container may also have a second dispensing opening in the lower panel, and an interior wall. The interior wall cooperates with the upper, lower and side panels to provide a second dispensing column horizontally adjacent to the first dispensing column and configured to hold stacks of folded articles. The second dispensing opening is configured to dispense a third stack of folded articles when the container is attached to the support surface such that the third stack of articles is substantially above the second dispensing opening. In further embodiments such a container may have a second support structure within the second dispensing column, where the second support structure is configured to support the weight of at least a fourth stack of folded articles while the third stack of folded articles is being dispensed. This second second support structure may be configured to be manipulated such that the fourth stack of folded articles may be delivered to the second dispensing opening after the third stack of folded articles has been dispensed.
In embodiments of the present invention the folded articles of the first stack are different than the folded articles of at least one of the second, third or fourth stacks. In some embodiments the first stack of folded articles comprises a plurality of folded articles each having an effective dispensing length dimension and the first stack having a pre-dispensing height dimension which is greater than the effective dispensing length dimension of an individual folded article within the first stack
In various embodiments of the present invention the first support structure may be formed from at least one end tab of the back panel; from a portion of the back panel; from a portion of at least one side panel; or from a portion of two side panels.
In another embodiment the container may have one area configured for use as a waste receptacle.
The invention is also directed to a system for holding and gravity-fed dispensing a plurality stacks of folded articles. The system is made up of a plurality of stacks of articles, a container which is adapted to contain the plurality of stacks of articles in one or more vertical dispensing columns, at least one support structure within a vertical dispensing column that supports the weight of at least one stack of articles while a first stack of articles is being dispensed, and a mount which non-permanently affixes the container to a support surface. Each stack within the plurality of stacks of articles is configured to dispense articles of said stack when the stack is substantially above a dispensing opening. The support structure is configured to be manipulated such that the stack of articles being supported by the support structure may be delivered to be dispensed after the first stack of articles has been dispensed.
In various embodiments of the system the support structure may be so manipulated by the container being configured for the support structure to be removed from the container; the container having a bracing structure that supports the support structure that can be removed from support of the support structure; or the container and first support structure may be configured for the first support structure to be pulled from and reinserted into the first dispensing column.
In an embodiment of the system the container has at least one area configured for use as a waste receptacle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is a disposable, non-refillable container capable of gravity-fed dispensing of two or more stacks of folded articles. The articles dispensed by the container of the invention are any articles capable of being dispensed. Such articles may include, but are not limited to, facial tissue, toilet tissue, napkins, wipers, towels, absorbent personal care products (e.g., diapers, feminine care products, incontinence products), and the like. Such articles may be individually folded and stacked on top of each other or may be interfolded such that the folds of each individual folded article partially overlaps the folds of the folded article that is adjacent in the stack.
The plurality of stacks of articles to be dispensed by the containers of the present invention may be stacks of all the same type of articles. For instance, all of the stacks may be paper towels. Alternatively, the individual stacks of the container may each be a different type of article or the stacks may be a combination of similar and different types of articles. For example, a single container may dispense one or more stacks of facial tissue and one or more stacks of paper towel. In another example, the same container may dispense stacks of towels, stacks of tissues, stacks of wipers, and stacks of absorbent personal care products. In a further example, the same container may have multiple stacks of the same type of articles (e.g., diapers), but each stack may be a different size of that type of article (e.g., a stack of small-sized diapers, a stack of medium-size diapers, and a stack of large-size diapers). The articles and stacks contained within the container may be any combination of articles and attributes that the user desires.
The container of the present invention is intended to be a disposable, non-refillable dispenser of articles. The articles are loaded into the container during manufacture and delivered to the user as a single dispensing system. The user may use the dispenser on any substantially vertical surface they desire and dispose of the entire container when the articles have been dispensed; users need only to replace the empty container with a new container rather than refill the container. This reduces the amount of attention the user has to give the container and prevents problems with container overstuffing. Additionally, such a disposable container may be used wherever the user wishes to dispense the articles of the container; the user is not limited to dispensing locations where traditional dispensers have been installed (e.g., in or on a wall in a public restroom).
The container may be made of any material that can contain and dispense the articles of the present invention. Preferably, the container may be made of heavy paper, cardboard or plastic, but it may be made of any other suitable material within the scope of the invention.
The containers of the present invention dispense the articles they contain with the aid of gravity. Prior art top or horizontal dispensing containers rely on interfolding of the articles or the use of mechanical springs or other such devices to push or pull the stack of articles to the dispensing opening. As discussed earlier, such additional parts add cost to those dispensers and may malfunction or break. The container of the present invention relies on gravity to dispense the articles while the container is in a substantially vertical configuration. As used herein, “substantialy vertical” refers to a surface or container configuration that is more vertical in nature than it is horizontal in nature; i.e., perfectly vertical to less than forty-five degrees from perfectly vertical. As used herein, “configuration” refers to a particular arrangement of parts or components relative to each other and to their surroundings.
As discussed above, prior art vertically oriented dispensers use interfolded articles to dispense those articles from the top of such dispensers. Gravity tends to work against those types of dispensers. As the article trailing the article being dispensed is being pulled upward by the preceding article, it is also being pulled in the opposite direction by gravity. Often, such articles will fall back into the dispenser and the user will have to reach down into the dispenser to retrieve the article. By dispensing from the bottom of the container, the container of the present invention dispenses with the aid of gravity rather than working against gravity.
The containers of the present invention, such as the container 10 shown in
There are many configurations with multiple stacks of articles that are embodied in the present invention. In
The container 10 has a front panel 25, an upper panel 26, a lower panel 24 opposite the upper panel 26, side panels 27, and back panel (not shown in
The container 10 is shown as dispensing an article 12 from a first stack 41 of articles through the first dispensing opening 21. As seen in
The first stack 41 is separated from the second stack 42 by a first support structure 31. As seen in the cutout of
While the container 10 of
The embodiments of
Each of the dispensing columns 310, 320 are shown in
It is contemplated that greater than three or four stacks of articles may be dispensed from such containers. As can be seen by the few examples discussed above, there are many different combinations of container configurations that may dispense multiple stacks of articles. More horizontally adjacent dispensing columns may be added to a container, such as shown in
An example of the type of article that can be dispensed from the container 10 of the present invention is shown in
The articles 12 are dispensed from a stack 120 of such articles 12 as illustrated in
The fold pattern of the individual articles 12 and the interfolding of the articles 12 into a stack 120 as shown in
The actual interior dimensions of the containers 10 of either of
The container 10 of the present invention dispenses the articles from the bottom of the stack 120 and thus does not have the same limitation on the height. The height H of the stack 120 of articles 12 in the container 10 of the present invention is only limited by the size and weight of the stack of articles 12 being dispensed and the design of the dispensing opening. As is well known in the art, if too much stack weight is pressing on the article that is being dispensed, the dispensing article will be difficult to dispense and may be damaged during removal.
For example, the inventors have found that a stack of paper towels having a stack height H of approximately 13 inches (33 cm) may be effectively dispensed from a container 10 of the present invention. Paper towels having a basis weight of 45 grams per square meter, and measuring 8 inches (20.3 cm) in width and 12 inches (30.5 cm) in length, were folded in half and interfolded in the fashion shown in
The stack of towels was contained in a container with inside dimensions of approximately 8 inches (20.3 cm) wide by 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) deep. The towels were dispensed through an oval dispensing opening in the container which measured 7⅞-inches (20 cm) wide and 1.75 inches (4.4 cm) deep at its center point. The stack was positioned above the dispensing opening, such that the weight of the stack rested on the sheet to be dispensed. It was found that a stack of such towels having a pre-dispensing weight of approximately 900 grams could be dispensed through such an opening. The stack was approximately 13 inches (33 cm) tall and contained approximately 320 towels. Such a stack height H is greater than twice the effective dispensing length of the individual towels dispensed. Stack weights greater than 1070 grams were found to hinder acceptable dispensing, causing the sheet to tab or tear.
Different types of articles 12 of different weight, size and texture, along with differently designed dispensing openings, may allow for greater stack heights H or may require lower stack heights H. One skilled in the art would be able to adapt the stack height H, and the corresponding dimensions of the container 10 to meet the needs of the particular article 12 that is to be dispensed.
Several of the container configurations discussed above include a support structure to support a stack of articles while another stack of articles, vertically adjacent to the supported stack, is being dispensed from the lower portion of the container 10. To reduce material cost and simplify the production of such containers, it is desired that this support structure be a part of the body of the container 10.
While the lower end tab 56 is shown as extending to the front panel 25 of the container 10, alternatively, one or both of the end tabs may only extend a portion of the distance from the back of the container toward the interior surface of the front panel 25. The end tabs may be longer than the distance from the back of the container to the front panel 25 and may have additional folds where they contact the interior of the front panel 25. The upper end tab 54 may be longer than the lower end tab 56 or the lower end tab 56 may be longer than the upper end tab 56. The relative sizes of the upper and lower back panels 53, 55 and the size and folds of the upper and lower end tabs 54, 56 may be appropriately designed to meet the needs of the articles to be dispensed and the desires of the user.
Another exemplary support structure may be formed from a portion of the back panel 51 of the container 10. As shown in
The first support structure 31 of
In a similar way, as shown in
Alternatively, as shown in
Alternatively, the support structure may be formed from a portion both side panels 27 being folded up into the interior of the container 10 as shown in
The side flaps 77, may be long enough to overlap as in
The opening in one or more of the side panels 27 left when forming the support structure, providing the additional benefit of allowing the user to see into the interior of the container and thus acts as a gauge to the user as to the number of articles remaining to be dispensed. Markings on the exterior of the container 10 near the opening may aid the user in determining the relative number of articles remaining to be dispensed. Alternatively or in addition to exterior markings, the shape of the side flap may be designed such that a regular pattern would be formed about the periphery of the opening left in the side panel 27 that the user could utilize to estimate the articles remaining to be dispensed.
In the embodiments of the present invention, a single stack of articles 12 is dispensed while one or more stacks of articles are held in reserve vertically adjacent to the stack being dispensed. These one or more reserve stacks are separated from the stack being dispensed, and from each other, by support structures. When the dispensing stack is completely dispensed, these support structures are manipulated such that a reserve stack is allowed to drop into position for dispensing.
One method of such manipulation of the support structure is the removal of the support structure from the container 10. For example, a line of weakness may be incorporated into the container 10 to facilitate the removal of the support structure. The embodiment illustrated in
In other embodiments a tear strip may be used to facilitate the removal of the support structure 31; such an embodiment is illustrated in
The tear strip 83 is desirably formed by a tape, line, rope, and so forth, containing strong fibers within it. The tear strip 83 may be formed from a number of different materials, such as, but not by way of limitation, natural or synthetic fiber, plastic, metal wire, any combination(s) thereof, and so forth. It will be understood that material forming the tear strip would normally, but not by way of limitation, be applied to the shipping carton when it is in it flat form as a blank prior to formation. One such tear strip is available from H. B. Fuller Company, Linear Products Division, Vancouver, Wash., sold as OPEN SESAME®. Other tear strips as well as shipping cartons are available from Weyerhaeuser Company, Bowling Green, Ky. The tear strip 87 may be attached to the container 10 by any method, such as, by way of non-limiting example, adhesive, heat sealing, ultrasonically sealing, laminating, integrally formed with the container 10, and so forth.
As shown in
The support structure may alternatively be an integral part of a removable panel, such that the support structure is removed from the container 10 when the removable panel is removed. Such an embodiment is illustrated in
Such removable panels with integral support structures could also be used in other examples of the invention. The removable panel may be incorporated into a side panel 27 or the back panel 51 of the container 10 or any other panel as the particular design of the container 10 warrants. For embodiments having multiple dispensing columns and multiple stacks, and thus multiple support structures within that column, the removable panel may be broken into separately removable sections. These sections may be defined by tear strips such that only the portion of the removable panel with the desired particular support structure is removed.
Rather than complete removal of the support structure, another method of manipulating the support structure is the removal of the bracing structures that support the support structure. For example, in the embodiment illustrated in
Finally, the container 10 itself may be designed to allow the support structures to be manipulated when another stack is to be dropped down for dispensing. For the embodiment shown in
Any of the panels incorporating a support structure could be made to be moveable such that the support structure is moved away from the container 10, allowing the supported articles to drop; the panel could then moved back into place to maintain the integrity of the container. Alternatively, the support structure itself may itself be adapted to be moveable in or out of the dispensing columns of the container 10. Each support structure then could be independently slid in or out in such a manner as to control the stacks of article 12 being dropped to the dispensing opening or on to another support structure.
Any of the above methods for manipulating the support structures of the container 10 could be used individually or in combination with one another. The examples and illustrated embodiments are not intended to be limiting. One skilled in the art can see that there are many possible configurations of possible containers 10 of the present invention and many possible methods of manipulating support structures within those configurations.
Additional utility may also be added to the container 10 by supplying the container 10 with replenishment indicia on the container 10 revealed by the removal of the support structure. The term “replenishment indicia”, as used herein, means any word(s), numeral(s), line(s), symbol(s), color(s), picture(s), and/or combination(s) thereof, and so forth, which indicate to a user that one or more stacks have been dispensed and that the container 10 will need to be replaced or otherwise serviced in the near future. For example, the replenishment indicia may include a message or colored panel on the front panel 25 of the container 10 of the embodiment of
The container 10 may also include viewing openings 71, as illustrated in
Additional utility may also be added to the container of the invention by including one or more spaces within the container that may act as waste receptacles. Such spaces may be used to dispose of the dispensed articles after they are used or to dispose of other refuse. An embodiment of a container 10 with this added functionality is shown in
The container 10 is additionally designed to non-permanently attach to a substantially vertical support surface. As used here, the term “non-permanently” refers to the attribute that the container may be attached to a substantially vertical support surface, detached, and reattached to the surface, repeatedly, during the limited use-life of the container 10. The substantially vertical support surface may be any surface that when a container 10 is affixed to it will allow the articles to be dispensed in a downward direction (i.e., the majority of the stack of articles will be substantially above the particular dispensing opening). For example, the support surface may be, but is not limited to, a wall, a door, a post, a pole, a dispenser affixed to a wall or embedded into a wall, or the like. The embodiments of the container 10 of this invention may require removal from the support surface for disposal or for removal of the support structure 31 of the container. As such, the manner in which the container 10 is affixed to the vertical support surface must be non-permanent in nature. However, the means for attachment must also be strong enough and configured in such way that the container 10 is secured to the surface 135 while articles are dispensed from the container 10.
In the embodiment of
For example, the attachment strip 130 may be a pressure-sensitive adhesive or any other type of adhesive, as are well known, that would work for such purposes. Such an adhesive strip may be protected by a peel strip that covers the adhesive until the user wishes to affix the container 10 to a surface 135. Such an adhesive may be applied directly to the back panel 51 of the container 10 or may be in the form of two-sided adhesive tape. In another example, the attachment strip may be a hook or a loop material that affixes to corresponding loop/hook material on the surface 135 the container 10 is to be affixed.
The attachment strips 130 are illustrated in
The back tabs 141 in
In the embodiment illustrated in
Finally, the mounting connector 157 may be a bracket attached to the surface 135 designed such that the entire container 10 slips inside of or is otherwise wholly supported by the bracket.
Claims
1. A disposable, non-refillable container for holding and gravity-fed dispensing folded articles comprising,
- an upper panel,
- a lower panel having at least a first dispensing opening,
- a front panel,
- a back panel,
- at least one side panel,
- a first dispensing column, formed by the cooperation of the upper, lower, front, back and side panels and configured to hold stacks of folded articles,
- a first support structure within the first dispensing column, and
- a mount which non-permanently affixes the container to a support surface,
- where the first dispensing opening is configured to dispense a first stack of folded articles when the container is attached to the support surface such that the first stack of articles is substantially above the first dispensing opening, and
- where the first support structure is configured to support the weight of at least a second stack of folded articles while the first stack of folded articles is being dispensed, and
- where the first support structure is further configured to be manipulated such that the second stack of folded articles may be delivered to the first dispensing opening after the first stack of folded articles has been dispensed.
2. The container of claim 1, further comprising a second support structure within the first dispensing column, where the second support structure is configured to support the weight of at least a third stack of folded articles while the first and second stacks of folded articles are dispensed, and
- where the second support structure is configured to be manipulated such that the third stack of folded articles may be delivered to the first dispensing opening after the first and second stacks of folded articles have been dispensed.
3. The container of claim 1, where the container is configured for the first support structure to be removed from the container.
4. The container of claim 1, further comprising a bracing structure that supports the first support structure, where the bracing structure is configured to be capable of removal from support of the first support structure.
5. The container of claim 1, further comprising a removable panel integrally connected to the first support structure, where the removable panel and integrally connected first support structure are configured to be removed from the container.
6. The container of claim 1, where the container and first support structure are configured for the first support structure to be pulled from and reinserted into the first dispensing column.
7. The container of claim 1, further comprising a second dispensing opening in the lower panel, and an interior wall,
- where the interior wall cooperates with the upper, lower and side panels to provide a second dispensing column horizontally adjacent to the first dispensing column and configured to hold stacks of folded articles, and
- where the second dispensing opening is configured to dispense a third stack of folded articles when the container is attached to the support surface such that the third stack of articles is substantially above the second dispensing opening.
8. The container of claim 7, further comprising a second support structure within the second dispensing column, where the second support structure is configured to support the weight of at least a fourth stack of folded articles while the third stack of folded articles is being dispensed, and
- where the second support structure is further configured to be manipulated such that the fourth stack of folded articles may be delivered to the second dispensing opening after the third stack of folded articles has been dispensed.
9. The container of claim 8 where the folded articles of the first stack are different than the folded articles of at least one of the second, third or fourth stacks.
10. The container of claim 1, where the first stack of folded articles comprises a plurality of folded articles each having an effective dispensing length dimension and the first stack having a pre-dispensing height dimension which is greater than the effective dispensing length dimension of an individual folded article within the first stack
11. The container of claim 1, where the back panel further comprises at least one end tab and where the first support structure is formed from at least one end tab of the back panel.
12. The container of claim 1, where the first support structure is a portion of the back panel.
13. The container of claim 1, where the first support structure is a portion of at least one side panel.
14. The container of claim 13, where the first support structure is a portion of two side panels.
15. The container of claim 1, further comprising at least one area configured for use as a waste receptacle.
16. A system for holding and gravity-fed dispensing a plurality stacks of folded articles comprising,
- a plurality of stacks of articles,
- a container which is adapted to contain the plurality of stacks of articles in one or more vertical dispensing columns,
- at least one support structure within a vertical dispensing column that supports the weight of at least one stack of articles while a first stack of articles is being dispensed, and
- a mount which non-permanently affixes the container to a support surface,
- where each stack within the plurality of stacks of articles is configured to dispense articles of said stack when the stack is substantially above a dispensing opening, and
- where the support structure is configured to be manipulated such that the stack of articles being supported by the support structure may be delivered to be dispensed after the first stack of articles has been dispensed
17. The system of claim 16, where the container is configured for the support structure to be removed from the container.
18. The system of claim 16, further comprising a bracing structure that supports the support structure, where the bracing structure is configured to be capable of removal from support of the first support structure.
19. The system of claim 16, where the container and support structure are configured for the support structure to be pulled from and reinserted into the container.
20. The system of claim 16, where the container comprises at least one area configured for use as a waste receptacle.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 24, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 28, 2006
Applicant:
Inventors: Joseph Mitchell (Alpharetta, GA), Debra Welchel (Woodstock, GA)
Application Number: 11/166,529
International Classification: A47F 1/00 (20060101);