Paper Towel Dispensing Apparatus and Toweling

Abstract

A wall mounted paper towel dispensing apparatus and an assembly for converting a cloth towel dispensing apparatus into a paper towel dispensing apparatus. A roll of toweling is carried in a towel bin from which the toweling is withdrawn and directed upwardly between a first drive roller and a pinch roller, about the pinch roller and downwardly, forming a depending loop from which the toweling is directed upwardly between a second drive roller and a take-up roller and is rolled about the take-up roller. As the user dries his hands on the loop of toweling and pulls downwardly on the toweling, a limited amount of clean paper toweling is pulled from the roll and an equal amount is wrapped about the take-up roller. The present invention provides both stronger and less expensive paper toweling for use in the dispensing apparatus and improved rollers, alignment and friction guides to direct the paper through the apparatus.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to towel dispensers of the type commonly used in public restrooms that employ a roll of toweling in which the toweling is withdrawn from a supply roll in a cabinet and forms a dependent loop accessible to the user drying his or her hands. The toweling is dispensed from the cabinet in successive portions in response to a pulling action by the user and the toweling is likewise continually taken up into the cabinet. The use of such dispensers in public restrooms is quite common and efforts to improve the working mechanisms employed therein are ongoing. Examples of such mechanisms are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,579,398 and 4,999,611. In these devices as in most other hand drying devices in which a towel is dispensed from a roll, the toweling is formed of cloth. As a result, the cloth roll is sufficiently expensive that it is not generally economically feasible to simply discard the soiled roll. As a result, when the entire length of the roll has been used, it must be collected from the apparatus, cleaned and re-rolled and a new, fresh roll of cloth installed in the dispensing apparatus. The cost of maintaining such towel dispensing devices could be significantly reduced if disposable paper rolls could be employed in lieu of the cloth rolls.

Efforts to substitute paper rolls for cloth rolls have heretofore proved unsuccessful due to the inability of the cloth take-up mechanisms employed in such dispensing devices to properly handle rolls of paper. It has been found that far better control of a paper roll is required in such a dispensing mechanism than is required with conventional cloth rolls. While some twisting and lateral movement of the roll of toweling can be accommodated with such mechanisms when the toweling is formed of cloth, such movement cannot be accommodated using paper rolls. The device will jam. Also, if the mechanism employed to more precisely handle a paper roll is appreciably more expensive than those employed with cloth roll dispensers, the economic advantages of using a paper roll are lost. It would be highly desirable to provide a towel roll dispenser which can accommodate disposable paper towel rolls in which the handling mechanism is not appreciably more costly than that employed with paper rolls. It would also be highly desirable if existing cloth roll dispensers could be easily and economically modified so as to be able to handle disposable rolls of paper as opposed to cloth. Such a dispenser and conversion assembly was subsequently developed and is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,466. However, it was subsequently discovered that the conversion system disclosed therein worked better with certain models of existing dispensers than others and in many models proved troublesome. In addition, the cost of the paper towels presented a substantial hindrance to the commercial success of the product. Accordingly, a more durable and less expensive paper towel was developed and the paper guidance system improved. The present invention is directed to those improvements.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a towel dispenser of the type employing a roll of paper toweling in which the toweling is withdrawn from a supply roll in a cabinet and forms a dependent loop accessible to the user drying his or her hands wherein the toweling is formed of paper.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a towel dispenser that is of simple construction and economical to manufacture.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for converting a towel dispenser of the type employing a roll of cloth toweling in which the toweling is withdrawn from a supply roll in a cabinet and forms a dependent loop accessible to the user to dry his or her hands into a dispensing apparatus capable of handling a roll of paper toweling.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a mechanism that is of simple construction and economical to manufacture and install.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a towel dispensing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the towel dispensing apparatus of the present invention with the front cover shown in the elevated position.

FIG. 3 is a side view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the towel dispensing apparatus of the present invention with the cover removed so as to illustrate the mechanisms employed therein.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the towel dispensing apparatus of the present invention illustrating the path of the toweling therethrough.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the towel dispensing apparatus of the present invention illustrating the towel bin in a lowered tilted position.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the guidance and friction plate employed in the towel dispensing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7B is a side view of the guidance and friction plate illustrating the preferred dimensional parameters thereof.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view showing the interior of the dispensing apparatus provided with the guide and tensioning assembly for handling longer paper rolls.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a portion of a length of the new paper towel scrim configuration developed for use in the towel dispensing dispenser of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a portion of a length of an alternate embodiment of the new paper towel scrim configuration developed for use in the towel dispensing dispenser of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the overall configuration and operation of towel dispenser 10 is very similar to those disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,579,398 and 4,999,611, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. The dispenser 10 of the present invention comprises a cabinet 12 adapted to be secured to a washroom wall at a suitable elevation to provide convenient access to the loop 14 defined by toweling 16. The cabinet includes a backing 18 adapted to be fixed to the washroom wall, opposed side walls 20 integrally formed with backing 18, a front cover 22 pivotally secured to side walls 20 by pivot mounts 24 and a lower towel bin 26 adapted to house a roll 16′ of clean toweling 16. A suitable latching mechanism 28 is operatively connected between one of side walls 20 and cover 22 to selectively secure the front cover 22 in the elevated open position to provide access to the towel bin 26 as well as the interior of cabinet 12. A suitable locking mechanism 29 is also provided to secure the cover 22 in the closed position.

Secured within cabinet 12 are a pair of opposed upper side plates 30 for supporting the various towel handling components and a pair of lower side plates 32 carried by plates 30 for supporting the towel bin 26 by means of integrally formed spaced tabs 34 which project laterally from the sides of bin 26 and ride on support surfaces 32′ defined by the lower side plates 32. Note that from the perspective of FIG. 4, only the supporting tabs 34 and support surfaces 32′ on the right side of the towel bin 26 are visible. It is to be understood that the opposed sides of the bin and lower side plates are of identical configuration. Through this configuration, the towel bin 26 can be tilted forwardly to receive a fresh new roll 16′ of toweling as illustrated in FIG. 6 and can be readily removed and replaced as needed. Other means of securing the towel bin in place could also be employed.

In a paper towel dispensing apparatus, it is critical that the roll 16′ of clean paper toweling 16 be maintained in a “square” disposition in the towel bin and that it neither twists nor translates from side to side. While such movement can be tolerated in cloth towel dispensers, with paper toweling, such movement will result in the jamming of the dispenser. Accordingly, the towel bin used in a standard cloth towel dispensing apparatus requires modification before it can be employed in a paper towel dispenser. A standard towel bin, like bin 26 in the present invention, typically defines inclined front and rear walls 40 and 42, side walls 44, a bottom wall 46 and a pair of laterally spaced inclined stops 48 extending between a forward portion of the bottom wall 46 and adjacent lower portions of the front wall 40 so as to provide an inclined surface adjacent the roll of toweling so as to maintain the roll in a slightly rearward inclination within the bin 26. To provide and maintain the desired square alignment of towel roll 16 within the bin, it is important that side walls of the bin are parallel and spaced apart not more than about 8-10 mm more than the width of the toweling. As this is not the case with typical towel bins such as bin 26, shown in the drawings, a pair of blocks 50, which can be formed of a foam or other suitable lightweight and inexpensive material, are positioned adjacent the front, rear and side walls 40-44 of the bin. Blocks 50 are configured and sized so as to fit snugly against the walls of the towel bin and define a spacing between each of the blocks 50 and the ends 16″ of the towel roll 16 of no more than 5 mm. Accordingly, as the toweling 16 moves from roll 16′ through the dispenser 10, the roll 16′ is continuously maintained in a true horizontal axis within the towel bin 26.

As is discussed later herein, the towel bin could and will be designed to maintain the desired alignment of the toweling roll without the need of spacing members and as blocks 50. However, a significant feature of the present invention is the ease with which existing cloth continuous loop type dispensers can be converted to a disposable paper roll dispenser.

As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the roll 16′ of clean toweling 16 is contained in the bottom of towel bin 26 adjacent stops 48 and the toweling 16 extends upwardly from roll 16′ and into the nip 52 between a first floating cylindrical pinch roller 54 and a first cylindrical drive roller 56. The toweling then passes counterclockwise about floating roller 54 and downwardly, exiting cabinet 12 between the depending tongue 58 on the bottom of cabinet cover 22 and the front wall 40 of towel bin 26. The toweling 16 then passes rearwardly through a slot 60 in a pivotally mounted protective plastic flap 62 depending from the underside of towel bin 26 and forming towel loop 14 where a user dries his or her hands on the towel (see arrows in FIG. 5). From slot 60, the toweling passes upwardly about the back side of the towel bin 26 and back into the cabinet. The toweling would then pass in a clockwise direction around a second floating cylindrical roller 64 and into the nip 66 between roller 64 and a second drive roller 62 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and as will be hereinafter described. Such a dispenser is disclosed in Applicant's issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,466.

On typical towel dispensers that utilize a roll of cloth toweling, the horizontal and vertical tolerances on the mountings for the two drive rollers 56 and 62 are such that each end of the roller can move with respect to the mounting plates about 1/16 of an inch or more. Similarly, the rollers can translate laterally about 1/16 of an inch or more. It has been found that these mounting tolerances are largely responsible for the inability of such dispensers to handle paper toweling—at least in shorter rolls. By reducing the mounting tolerances at both ends of the two drive rollers 56 and 62 such that the relative movement of each end of each roller is limited to ±0.010 in. with respect to the opposed upper side plates 30, and similarly limiting any transverse movement along the axes of the drive rollers 56 and 62 between the two side plates to ±0.010 in., such dispensers can accommodate rolls of paper toweling up to about 125 feet in length without the additional modifications to a standard cloth towel dispenser that are disclosed herein and in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,466. To enable such dispensers to accommodate rolls of paper toweling of over about 125 feet in length and up to about 200 feet in length, a guidance and friction plate assembly 100 is provided. As seen in FIG. 8, the toweling is passed to the guidance and friction plate 100 that is secured to the backing 18 of the cabinet prior to being directed about floating roller 64. The guidance and friction 100 plate also allows dispensers not meeting the tighter drive roll tolerances to handle such longer paper toweling rolls when modified in the manner described herein.

As seen in FIG. 7A, plate 100 is configured so as to define a vertical backing 102 by which the plate is secured to the dispenser backing by a suitable fastener or fasteners and a forwardly inclined support surface 104 that projects at a downward inclination from the upper end of backing 102 and terminates at its forward lower end in a transversely extending horizontal edge 106 and at its lateral ends in opposed upstanding guide flanges 108. Inclined surface 104 defines an angle of between about 45°-60° with respect to backing 102 with 45° being most preferable. Backing 102 may be provided with elongated fastener receiving slots 109 to provide for vertical adjustment of the plate 100 within the cabinet 12. For reasons that will become apparent, edge 106 is made smooth or rounded. A cylindrical bar 110 is affixed to and extends between flanges 108 parallel to edge 106. Flanges 108 are spaced slightly further apart (preferably 9.876 in.) than the width of the toweling (9.75 in.) to guide the toweling as it passes along surface 104 and about cylindrical bar 110.

Bar 110 is preferably secured in place between the laterally-spaced guide flanges 108 by means of a pair of threaded or other suitable fasteners 114 that extend through apertures in the guide flanges and threadably or otherwise suitably engage the opposed ends of bar 110. Bar 110 is preferably about ⅜ of an inch in diameter, formed of aluminum and rigidly affixed between the guide flanges 108 so as to be positioned such that its central axis is 0.62 inches along surface 104 from the upper end thereof and 0.70 inches from inclined surface 104 along a line normal to surface 104. Guide surface 104 is preferably 2.50 in. long. These measurements are illustrated in FIG. 7B. It is to be understood, however, that these dimensions are illustrative only and could be varied depending upon variations in, for example, cabinet size, the relative positioning of the rollers 64 and 68 downstream of plate 100 and, of course, any variations on the width of the toweling.

After the toweling passes upwardly over edge 106 of plate assembly 100, it passes over inclined surface 104 and about bar 110 and in a counterclockwise direction about the second floating cylindrical roller 64 and into the nip 66 between roller 64 and a second cylindrical drive roller 68. The toweling is wrapped about roller 64 so as to wind up thereon during use as illustrated in phantom lines in FIG. 2. Eventually the entire length of toweling 16 is wound onto roller 64. The direction of rotation of the rollers is shown by arrows in FIGS. 5 and 8. Thus, roller 64 defines a take-up roller. To enable roller 64 to accommodate the entire length of toweling thereon, the roller is provided with axial projections 70 that extend from the opposed ends thereof and are slidably disposed within slots 72 inside plates 30. Thus, as the take-up roller accumulates more toweling thereon, the roller can slide upwardly along slots 72. The first floating roller 54 similarly moves within guide slots 73.

In a conventional towel dispenser using cloth toweling, the floating take-up roller is formed of a lightweight material such as wood or plastic. However, in dispenser 10, the take-up roller 64 is formed of steel, is about 0.75 in diameter and weighs approximately 2.2 lbs. so as to press more heavily against the second drive roller 68 and thereby maintain the proper alignment and tension in the paper toweling as it wraps about the take-up roller 64. Without the added weight of the steel in roller 64, paper toweling will not feed properly through the dispenser 10. In addition to take-up roller 64, the first and second drive rollers 56 and 68 are provided with a neoprene rubber surface as opposed to a sandpaper or other rigid rough roller surfaces used to grip cloth toweling. It has been found that the surfaces of the conventional drive rollers do not adequately engage the paper toweling which causes slippage. By providing the drive rollers with a somewhat flexible outer gripping surface having a relatively high coefficient or friction, the contact with the paper toweling is significantly enhanced so as to precisely move the toweling through the dispensing device. The rubber surface can be provided on the main drive rollers in several ways, e.g., a rubber sock which can be heat-shrunk and glued in place on the surface of the cylindrical rollers. While materials other than rubber may prove viable on the drive roller surfaces, a somewhat flexible surface having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction so as to be somewhat tacky to the touch as opposed to or somewhat slick or slippery surface or a rigid surface such as sandpaper has proved highly successful in the operation of dispenser 10.

Conventional end sprockets 80 and 82 are provided at the ends of the drive rollers 56 and 68, respectively. The sprockets are connected by means of a chain 84 whereby a downward pull on the loop 14 formed by the toweling 16 causes the first floating roller 54 to press against the first drive roller 56 so that the toweling is firmly gripped between rollers 54 and 56 and drive is transmitted to roller 56 and thence via chain 84 to the second drive roller 68. The drive towel roller frictionally engages the take-up roller 64 causing the take-up roller to rotate and wrap the used toweling about its surface at the same rate that it is dispensed from roll 16′, whereby the loop 14 of toweling remains at a constant length throughout the period of use. A limiting mechanism (not shown) is provided to limit the length of towel which can be obtained by a user at a single pull on the towel loop portion 14. Any conventional limiting mechanism can be employed and a variety of such mechanisms are in common use on conventional cloth roll towel dispensers. An example of such a mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,398.

With the exception of the toweling 16, the remainder of the dispenser, including the limiting mechanism, is identical to that found in a cloth towel roll dispenser. While the above described towel dispenser of the present invention could be used with a variety of types of durable paper toweling such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,466, a stronger and significantly less expensive paper toweling has been developed for use with the dispenser. The new toweling 16, available from SRH, Inc. of Rice, Minn., is comprised of conventional 4-ply tissue 140 bonded about a (3×3) scrim 150 (see FIG. 9) that is preferably thicker and stronger in the edge portions 16A thereof (where the toweling is typically gripped and pulled through the dispenser) than in the central portion 16B of the toweling. The spacing between the individual threads in both the machine (longitudinal) direction and cross direction is preferably a constant three threads per inch. For the lateral edge portions 16A of the toweling, which is approximately 1.5 inches in width, the threads 151 in the scrim that extend in the machine direction are preferably comprised of two 150 denier, medium tenacity, twisted polyester threads. Such threads are produced by Middleburg Yarn Processing Co. of Selinsgrove, Pa. The horizontally extending threads in scrim 150 and the longitudinally extending threads in the central area 16B between the edge portions 16A of the toweling 16 are obtained from Straubel Paper Company of Green Bay, Wis. and are formed of nylon monofilament threads having a fineness of 40 denier and a strength of low tenacity. The resultant 300 denier longitudinally extending threads in the edge portions of the toweling each define a break point at 4 pounds per inch as compared with 0.5 pounds per inch for the threads employed throughout the scrim in the paper toweling disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,466. The result is a toweling in which the edge portions have a strength substantially greater than found in the central portion of the toweling. However, as noted earlier, it is the edge portions of the toweling, not the central portion, that are pulled upon by the user to cycle the toweling through the dispenser. Such a scrim configuration thus effectively increases the strength of the toweling while providing a significant reduction in the cost of construction. If desired, the scrim in the edge portions of the toweling could be formed of three twisted polyester threads of 150 denier, medium tenacity to provide even greater strength. However, such threads would be more visible in the finished product and increase the cost of manufacture. By employing the 2-ply threads in the edge portions of the toweling, a superior toweling is produced at a substantial reduction in costs over conventional paper toweling.

An alternate embodiment of the new paper toweling 216′ is illustrated in FIG. 10. As in the newer embodiment, the edge portions 216A of the toweling are stronger than the central portion 216B. The edge portions are again preferably 1.5 inches in width (although this dimension can be varied) and the toweling 216′ is again preferably 9.75 inches wide. The scrim 251 in the edge portions 216A is 6×2 and in the center portion 216B is 3×2. All threads in both the machine (longitudinal) and cross directions are 150 denier, low tenacity, polyester monofilament. As a result the edge portions 216A of the toweling define a break point of 9 lbs. per inch verses 4.5 lbs. per inch in the central portions 216B (each individual thread exhibitory a 1.5 lbs. per inch break point). Other variations in scrim configurations could also be employed in the new paper toweling to provide the strength in the toweling at the edge portions where it as needed.

While the description herein of the dispensing apparatus of the present invention was directed to modifying an existing cloth towel dispenser to accommodate paper rolls, it is to be understood that the above components could be provided in a dispenser designed and built to handle paper toweling. In such a design, the towel bin would be configured so as to be more of a “V”-shaped configuration having side walls spaced apart 8 to 10 millimeters more than the width of the toweling which presently is 9.75 inches wide and the ±0.010 in. tolerances discussed earlier herein preferably would be maintained. Such a configuration would maintain the roll in the desired true longitudinal disposition.

Various changes and modifications can be made in carrying out the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Insofar as these changes and modifications are within the purview of the appended claims, they are to be considered as part of the present invention.

Claims

1. An assembly for converting a cloth towel dispensing apparatus into a paper towel dispensing apparatus wherein the apparatus is of the type employing a wall-mounted cabinet, a roll of toweling disposed in a towel bin within the cabinet from which the toweling is withdrawn and directed upwardly between a first drive roller and a pinch roller, about the pinch roller and downwardly, forming a dependent loop below the cabinet from which the toweling is directed upwardly between a second drive roller and a take-up roller adjacent said second drive roller and is rolled about the take-up roller, the second drive roller being operatively connected to the first drive roller such that pulling on the loop in the drying of one's hands causes a limited amount of toweling to be pulled from the roll and an equal amount wrapped about the take-up roller, said conversion assembly comprising:

a cylindrical take-up roller having a weight of at least about two pounds;

a pair of replacement drive rollers, each of said drive rollers having a rubber outer cylindrical surface;

a roll of paper toweling of a predetermined width;

a pair of spacing members adapted to be disposed in said towel bin adjacent opposite sides thereof, said spacing members being sized such that upon being disposed in the bin adjacent the sides thereof, said members are spaced apart a transverse dimension of not more than about 8-10 mm greater than the width of the roll of paper toweling; and

a guide and friction assembly adapted to be mounted within the cabinet rearwardly of said take-up roller and configured to define a planar mounting surface, an inclined guide surface terminating at its lower end in a transversely extending horizontal edge, a pair of guide flanges projecting upwardly from lateral portions of said inclined guide surface and a cylindrical roller fixed to and extending between said flanges rearwardly of and above said horizontal edge.

2. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 1 wherein said inclined guide surface is integrally formed with said mounting surface and projects downwardly therefrom at an angle of about 45 degrees.

3. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 1 wherein said planar mounting surface and said pair of guide flanges are integrally formed with said inclined guide surface and wherein said guide surface is inclined with respect to said mounting surface at an angle of about 45 degrees.

4. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 3 wherein said cylindrical roller defines a diameter of about ⅜ of an inch.

5. An assembly for converting a cloth towel dispensing apparatus into a paper towel dispensing apparatus wherein the apparatus is of the type employing a wall-mounted cabinet, a roll of toweling disposed in a towel bin within the cabinet from which the toweling is withdrawn and directed upwardly between a first drive roller and a pinch roller, about the pinch roller and downwardly, forming a dependent loop below the cabinet from which the toweling is directed upwardly between a second drive roller and a take-up roller adjacent said second drive roller and is rolled about the take-up roller, the second drive roller being operatively connected to the first drive roller such that pulling on the loop in the drying of one's hands causes a limited amount of toweling to be pulled from the roll and an equal amount wrapped about the take-up roller, said conversion assembly comprising:

a cylindrical take-up roller having a weight of at least about two pounds;

a pair of replacement drive rollers, each of said drive rollers having a rubber outer cylindrical surface;

a roll of paper toweling of a predetermined width; and

a pair of spacing members adapted to be disposed in said towel bin adjacent opposite sides thereof, said spacing members being sized such that upon being disposed in the bin adjacent the sides thereof, said members are spaced apart a transverse dimension of not more than about 8-10 mm greater than the width of the roll of paper toweling; and

a guide and friction assembly adapted to be mounted within said cabinet rearwardly of said take-up roller, said guide and friction assembly including a planar mounting surface for securing said assembly within said cabinet, a transversely extending horizontal edge portion supported by said mounting surface, a pair of laterally spaced guide flanges extending upwardly from, rearwardly of and normal to said edge portion and a roller extending parallel to said edge portion and spaced rearwardly of and above said edge portion.

6. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 5 wherein said roller is fixed to and extends between said flanges.

7. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 5 wherein said guide and friction assembly includes an inclined guide surface disposed between said guide flanges and terminating at its lower end in said edge portion.

8. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 6 wherein said guide and friction assembly includes an inclined guide surface disposed between said guide flanges and terminating at its lower end in said edge portion.

9. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 5 wherein said roll of paper toweling defines lateral edge portions and comprises a plurality of sheets of paper tissue bonded to a scrim, said scrim being comprised of longitudinally extending strands and laterally extending strands, a first plurality of said longitudinally extending strands being disposed within said lateral edge portions of said paper toweling and a second plurality of longitudinally extending strands being disposed between said lateral edge portions, said first plurality of strands collectively having a higher break point per linear inch than said second plurality of strands.

10. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 9 wherein each of said first plurality of strands comprises at least two threads twisted together so as to form a single strand.

11. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 9 wherein said first plurality of strands are more closely spaced than said second plurality of strands.

12. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 10 wherein each of said threads is comprised of polyester.

13. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 12 wherein each of said threads is comprised of polyester and wherein each of said second plurality of longitudinal threads are comprised of nylon.

14. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 13 wherein said transversely extending strands are formed of nylon.

15. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 10 wherein said first plurality of strands have a fineness of about 300 denier, said second plurality of strands have a fineness of about 40 denier and said transversely extending strands have a fineness of about 40 denier.

16. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 11 wherein the individual strands in said first and second pluralities of strands are substantial equal in denier.

17. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 15 wherein said first plurality of strands are comprised of at least two twisted polyester threads and have a break point of at least six times the break point of said second plurality of strands.

18. A towel dispensing apparatus adapted for use with a roll of disposable paper toweling of a predetermined width, said apparatus comprising:

a cabinet;

a first drive roller rotatably mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet;

a pinch roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said first drive roller;

a second drive roller rotatably mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet rearwardly of said first drive roller;

a take-up roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said second drive roller and being freely movable in a horizontal disposition along an upwardly inclined path, said take-up roller having a weight in excess of about two pounds;

a towel bin carried by said cabinet below said rollers, said bin defining a transverse dimension of not more than about 8-10 millimeters greater than the width of the roll of paper toweling;

a chain drive mechanism operatively connected between said first and second drive rollers for synchronously rotating said first and second drive rollers upon one pulling downwardly on the paper toweling below said cabinet; and

a guidance and friction assembly adapted to be mounted within said cabinet rearwardly of said take-up roller, said assembly including a planar mounting surface for securing said assembly within said cabinet, a transversely extending horizontal edge portion supported by said mounting surface, a pair of laterally spaced guide flanges extending upwardly from, rearwardly of and normal to said edge portion and a roller extending parallel to said edge portion and spaced rearwardly of and above said edge portion.

19. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 18 wherein said roller is fixed to and extends between said flanges.

20. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 18 wherein said guide and friction assembly includes an inclined guide surface disposed between said guide flanges and terminating at its lower end in said edge portion.

21. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 19 wherein said guide and friction assembly includes an inclined guide surface disposed between said guide flanges and terminating at its lower end in said edge portion.

22. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 18 wherein said roll of paper toweling defines lateral edge portions and comprises a plurality of sheets of paper tissue bonded to a scrim, said scrim being comprised of longitudinally extending strands and laterally extending strands, a first plurality of said longitudinally extending strands being disposed within said lateral edge portions of said paper toweling and a second plurality of longitudinally extending strands being disposed between said lateral edge portions, said first plurality of strands having a higher break point than said second plurality of strands.

23. A towel dispensing apparatus adapted for use with a roll of disposable paper toweling of a predetermined width, said apparatus comprising:

a cabinet;

a first drive roller rotatably mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet;

a pinch roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said first drive roller;

a second drive roller rotatably mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet rearwardly of said first drive roller;

a take-up roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said second drive roller and being freely movable in a horizontal disposition along an upwardly inclined path, said take-up roller having a weight in excess of about two pounds;

a towel bin carried by said cabinet below said rollers, said bin defining a transverse dimension of not more than about 8-10 millimeters greater than the width of the roll of paper toweling;

a chain drive mechanism operatively connected between said first and second drive rollers for synchronously rotating said first and second drive rollers upon one pulling downwardly on the paper toweling below said cabinet; and

a guide and friction assembly adapted to be mounted within the cabinet rearwardly of said take-up roller and configured to define a planar mounting surface, an inclined guide surface terminating at its lower end in a transversely extending horizontal edge, a pair of guide flanges projecting upwardly from lateral portions of said inclined guide surface and a cylindrical roller fixed to and extending between said flanges rearwardly of and above said horizontal edge.

24. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 23 wherein said inclined guide surface is integrally formed with said mounting surface and projects downwardly therefrom at an angle of between about 40 to 60 degrees.

25. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 23 wherein said inclined guide surface is integrally formed with said mounting surface and projects downwardly therefrom at an angle of about 45 degrees.

26. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 23 wherein said planar mounting surface and said pair of guide flanges are integrally formed with said inclined guide surface and wherein said guide surface is inclined with respect to said mounting surface at an angle of about 45 degrees.

27. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 26 wherein said cylindrical roller defines a diameter of about ⅜ of an inch.

28. A paper towel dispensing apparatus comprising:

a cabinet;

a first drive roller mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet;

a pinch roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said first drive roller;

a second drive roller rotatably mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet rearwardly of said first drive roller;

a take-up roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said second drive roller and being freely movable in a horizontal disposition along an upwardly inclined path;

a towel bin disposed within said cabinet below said rollers;

a roll of disposable paper toweling disposed in said towel bin and extending upwardly therefrom between said first drive roller and said pinch roller, about said pinch roller and downwardly, forming a dependent loop below said cabinet from which the toweling is directed upwardly between said second drive roller and said take-up roller and is rolled about said take-up roller such that pulling on the loop in the drying of one's hands causes a limited amount of said toweling to be pulled from said roll and an equal amount wrapped about said take-up roller, said roll of toweling being no longer than about 125 feet in length;

a drive mechanism operatively connected between said first and second drive rollers for synchronously rotating said first and second drive rollers upon one pulling downwardly on said paper toweling below said cabinet; and

wherein said first and second drive rollers are mounted between opposed side walls within said cabinet such that any linear movement of an end of one of said drive rollers is limited in range to a radius of about 0.010 in. along one of said side walls and about 0.010 in. in an axial direction from one of said side walls whereby a proper alignment of the paper toweling through said dispensing apparatus is maintained.

29. A paper towel dispensing apparatus comprising:

a cabinet;

a first drive roller mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet;

a pinch roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said first drive roller;

a second drive roller rotatably mounted at a fixed position within said cabinet rearwardly of said first drive roller;

a take-up roller rotatably mounted within said cabinet upwardly adjacent said second drive roller and being freely movable in a horizontal disposition along an upwardly inclined path;

a towel bin disposed within said cabinet below said rollers;

a roll of disposable paper toweling disposed in said towel bin and extending upwardly therefrom between said first drive roller and said pinch roller, about said pinch roller and downwardly, forming a dependent loop below said cabinet from which the toweling is directed upwardly between said second drive roller and said take-up roller and is rolled about said take-up roller such that pulling on the loop in the drying of one's hands causes a limited amount of said toweling to be pulled from said roll and an equal amount wrapped about said take-up roller;

a drive mechanism operatively connected between said first and second drive rollers for synchronously rotating said first and second drive rollers upon one pulling downwardly on said paper toweling below said cabinet;

a guidance and friction assembly adapted to be mounted within said cabinet rearwardly of said take-up roller, said assembly including a planar mounting surface for securing said assembly within said cabinet, a transversely extending horizontal edge portion supported by said mounting surface, a pair of laterally spaced guide flanges extending upwardly from, rearwardly of and normal to said edge portion and a roller extending parallel to said edge portion and spaced rearwardly of and above said edge portion; and

wherein said first and second drive rollers are mounted between opposed side walls within said cabinet such that any linear movement of an end of one of said drive rollers is limited in range to a radius of about 0.010 in. along one of said side walls and about 0.010 in. in an axial direction from one of said side walls whereby a proper alignment of the paper toweling through said dispensing apparatus is maintained.

30. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 29 wherein said guide and friction assembly includes an inclined guide surface disposed between said guide flanges and terminating at its lower end in said edge portion.

31. Toweling for use in a dispensing apparatus of the type employing a wall mounted cabinet, a towel bin for carrying a roll of said toweling from which the toweling is withdrawn and directed upwardly between a first drive roller and a pinch roller, about the pinch roller and downwardly, forming a dependent loop below the cabinet from which the toweling is directed upwardly between a second drive roller and a take-up roller adjacent said second drive roller and is rolled about the take-up roller, the second drive roller being operatively connected to the first drive roller such that pulling on the loop in the drying of one's hands causes a limited amount of toweling to be pulled from the roll and an equal amount wrapped about the take-up roller, said toweling defining lateral edge portions and comprises a plurality of sheets of paper tissue bonded to a scrim, said scrim being comprised of longitudinally extending threads and laterally extending threads, a first plurality of said longitudinally extending threads being disposed within said lateral edge portions of said paper toweling and a second plurality of longitudinally extending threads being disposed between said lateral edge portions, said first plurality of threads collectively having a higher break point per liner inch than said second plurality of strands.

32. The toweling of claim 31 wherein each of said first plurality of threads comprises at least two threads twisted together so as to form a single thread.

33. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 31 wherein said first plurality of strands are more closely spared than said second plurality of strands.

34. The toweling of claim 32 wherein each of said threads is comprised of polyester.

35. The toweling of claim 32 wherein each of said threads is comprised of polyester and wherein each of said second plurality of longitudinal threads are comprised of nylon.

36. The toweling of claim 32 wherein said transversely extending threads are formed of nylon.

37. The toweling of claim 32 wherein said first plurality of threads have a fineness of about 300 denier, said second plurality of strands have a fineness of about 40 denier and said transversely extending strands have a fineness of about 40 denier.

38. The towel dispensing assembly of claim 33 wherein the individual strands in said first and second pluralities of strands are substantial equal in denier.

39. The toweling of claim 37 wherein said first plurality of threads are each comprised of at least two twisted polyester threads and have a break point of at least six times the break point of each said threads in said second plurality of threads.

40. Toweling for use in a dispensing apparatus of the type employing a wall mounted cabinet that carries a roll of said toweling and from which the toweling extends in a dependent loop, said toweling defining lateral edge portions and comprising a plurality of sheets of paper tissue bonded to a scrim, said scrim being comprised of longitudinally extending threads and laterally extending threads, a first plurality of longitudinally extending threads being disposed within said lateral edge portions of said paper toweling and a second plurality of longitudinally extending threads being disposed between said lateral edge portions, said first plurality of longitudinally extending threads collectively being substantially stronger than said second plurality of longitudinally extending threads.

41. The toweling of claim 40 wherein each of said first plurality of threads comprises at least two threads comprised of polyester and twisted together so as to form a single thread.

42. The toweling of claim 40 wherein each of said first plurality of threads define a break point of at least about 4 pounds per inch.

43. The toweling of claim 40 wherein said first plurality of threads have a fineness of about 300 denier, said second plurality of strands have a fineness of about 40 denier and said transversely extending strands have a fineness of about 40 denier.