US3865295A

US3865295A - Toilet paper roll holding device

Info

Publication number: US3865295A
Application number: US396749A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tadasu Okamura
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-12-29
Filing date: 1973-09-13
Publication date: 1975-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-11
Also published as: JPS4993167A; GB1437516A; CA981223A; FR2212126A1; JPS52430B2; DE2352222A1

Abstract

A toilet paper roll holding device comprising a housing receiving a plurality of toilet paper rolls one upon another with their axes lying in parallel to each other and including a pair of spaced side walls provided with paper roll core guide grooves; a rockable paper roll receiving and core discharge member pivoted to said side walls and including a pair of spaced arms extending uprightly; a pair of arcuate tracks formed on said side walls on which said arms are guided as said rockable member is pivoted; and operation means for said rockable member provided on one of said arms and one of said side walls adjacent to said one arm.

Description

United States Patent ()kamura 1 Feb. 11, 1975 [54] TOILET PAPER ROLL HOLDING DEVICE 2,806,529 9/1957 Bulman 312/39 X Inventor: Tadasu Okamum 26] 3,770,222 11/1973 .lespersen 312/39 X g z q gf g 4 Chome Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell Una as I apan Attorney, Agent. or FirmHammond & Littell [22] Filed: Sept. 13, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 396,749 [57]. AB.STRAC.T

A tollet paper roll holding device comprising a housu ing receiving a plurality of toilet paper rolls one upon Foreign pp Priority Data another with their axes lying in parallel to each other Dec. 29. 1972 Japan 47-3587 and including a pair of spaced side walls provided with paper roll core guide grooves; a rockable paper roll [52] US. Cl 225/47, 225/53, 225/77, receiving and core discharge member pivoted to said 242/553, 312/39 side walls and including a pair of spaced arms extend- [51] Int. Cl B65h 19/00 ing uprightly; a pair of arcuate tracks formed on said [58] Field of Search 312/39, 42; 242/553 side walls on which said arms are guided as said rockable member is pivoted; and operation means for said [56] References Cited rockable member provided on one of said arms and UNITED STATES P T T one of said side walls adjacent to said one arm. 1,057,973 4/1913 Merritt 242/553 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB FEB] 1 I975 SHEET 1 BF 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a novel and improved toilet paper roll holding device and more particularly, to a novel and improved toiletpaper roll holding device which holds a plurality of toilet paper rolls therein in such a manner that each time a toilet roll paper in the paying-out or dispensing position has been exhausted, the empty core is immediately discharged out of the paying-out position and at the same time a next or spare full paper roll is moved into the now vacant paying-out position.

There have been proposed and practically employed a variety of toilet paper roll holding devices and in one of the prior art toilet paper roll holding devices, in order to discharge the empty core the paper roll on which has been exhausted out of the paying-out or dispensing position and to move a new or spare toilet paper roll into the now vacant paying-out position, a relatively complicated and expensive transfer mechanism is required. Although a relatively simpler transfer mechanism for the above purpose has been proposed, by the use of such a transfer mechanism, the discharge of the empty core out of the paying-out position and the placement of a new or spare toilet paper roll into the now vacant paying-out position have to be effected in two separate steps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, one principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved toilet paper roll holding device for holding a plurality of toilet paper rolls in such a manner that whenever a toilet paper roll in the paying-out position has been exhausted, the empty core which remains after the paper roll has been exhausted is discharged out of the paying-out position and at the same time, a new or spare toilet paper roll is placed into the now vacant paying-out position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simpler transfer mechanism which can perform the discharge of the empty core out of the payingout position and the placement of the spare toilet paper into the paying-out position left vacant after the discharge of the empty core in a single step.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the invention for illustration purpose only, but not for limiting the scope of the same in any way.

i BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of one preferred embodiment of toilet paper roll holding device according to the present invention with a portion thereof broken away in' order to show the inner construction of FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lower portion of said housing of the toilet paper roll holding device of FIG. I; and

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG 4, but shows a modified form of said roll receiving and core 'discharge'member for the toilet paper roll holding device of the invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be now described referring to the accompanying drawings and more particularly, to FIGS. 1 through 4 inclusive thereof which show a preferred embodiment of toilet paper roll holding device of the invention. The toilet paper roll holding device is generally shown by reference numeral I and generally comprises a substantially rectangular vertically extending integral housing 2 of rectangular crosssection as seen in the horizon. The housing 2 is open at the top and bottom and includes a pair of

opposite side walls

3, 3, a rear wall 4 and a front wall 5 which is shorter than the rear wall and has the upper and lower ends which terminate short of the corresponding ends of the rear wall 4, respectively. The open top of the housing I is normally closed by an upper cover 6 which has a substantially arcuate cross-section and is pivoted at the rear end to the upper end of the housing 1 by means of a transverse pivot pin 7 which is in turn suitably supported at the opposite ends in the pair of housing side walls 3. The bottom endof the housing 1 is also normally closed by a lower cover 8 which also has a substantially arcuate cross-section and is pivoted at the rear end to the lower end of the housing 1 by means of a transverse pivot pin 9 which is in turn suitably supported at the opposite ends in the housing side walls 3. When the upper and lower covers 6 and 8 are in their closed position, the front ends of the covers sealingly engage the upper and lower ends of the housing front wall 5. For the purpose, the free or front ends of both the covers are offset and the upper and lower ends of the housing front wall 5 are also correspondingly offset. As will appear, the upper cover 6 is pivoted to the open position when one or more toilet paper rolls R are desired to be received into the housing 1. The lower cover 8 is pivoted to the open position when the empty cores C of the toilet paper rolls, which have been exhausted or almost exhausted, are desired to be taken out of the holding device. In FIGS. 1 and 2, three toilet paper rolls are disposed within the housing 1 one upon another with their axes extending horizontally and in parallel to each other. These paper rolls are shown by reference numerals R, R and R", respectively with the lowest roll R positioned in the dispensing or paying-out position and the remaining rolls R, R" positioned in the stand-by position. The front wall 5 of thehousing 1 is provided with an access or dispensing opening or window It) in a position adjacent and opposite to the paper roll R in the lowest or paying-out position so that the user can grip and pull out the leading end of the paper roll R with his fingers. A cutting blade 11 extends across a position adjacent to or slightly above the lower edge of the access in a slightly spaced relationship to the lower edge of the window 10 and has a saw toothshaped cutting edge 12 along the lower edge of the blade against which the paid-out leading end of the paper roll R can be sheared off from the remaining portion of the same paper roll. To describe in more detail, the user grips and pulls out the leading end of the roll by a desired or necessary length and then pushes the leading paper end upwardly against and along the cutting edge 12.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 more particularly, the inner surface of each of the pair of

housing side walls

3, 3 is provided with a first or longer land 13 which extends vertically from the upper end of the associated side wall 3 to a substantially mid-point of the height of the side wall and laterally from the rear wall 4 of the housing to a position short of the center of the width of the same side wall. The inner surface of each of the pair of

housing side walls

3, 3 is also provided with a second or shorter land 13' which extends vertically from the upper end of the associated side wall and laterally from the front wall 5 of the housing to a portion spaced from the first land 13 so as to define a paper roll core receiving and guide groove 14 between the opposite inner side edges of the first and

second lands

13, 13. The width of the thus defined groove 14 is slightly greater than the diameter of the core of a standard toilet paper roll so that the core can be freely received and guided along the

grooves

14, 14. The lower end of the second or shorter land 13 lies in a plane above the plane of the lower end of the first or longer land 13 for the purpose to be described hereinafter. Thus, it will be noted that each of the core receiving'and

guide grooves

14, 14 has two different length sides. A rockable integral paper roll receiving and core discharge member is provided within the housing 1 below the core receiving and guide

grooves

14, 14 and is pivotably supported by the opposite

housing side walls

3, 3. For the purpose, the roll receiving and core discharge member 20 has a pair of similar spaced parallel

upright arms

21, 21 extending upwardly from the opposite ends.'As more clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the

arms

21, 21 are in the form of a pawl each of which arms has a substantially horizontal paper roll core engaging upper end 22 adapted to normally engage the underside of one end of the core of one paper roll. This is the lower roll R of the two paper rolls in the stand-by position withinthe housing of the illustrated paper roll holding device. Thus the particular paper roll R is prevented from inadvertently falling into the dispensing or paying-out position within the housing 1 while the paper roll R is still in the paying-out position or has not yet been exhausted. The lower portions of the

arms

21, 21 bulge rearwardly and are integrally connected together by a transverse connection part 23 which is integral with the

arms

21, 21 and extends across the front edges of the lower portions of the arms. The

arms

21,21 have aligned

holes

21, 21 adjacent to their upper ends for receiving

pivot pins

15, 15 extending inwardly from the

opposite side walls

3, 3 of the housing 1 so that the paper roll receiving and core discharge member 20 can be pivoted about the

pins

15, 15. An arcuate guide track 16 is integrally formed with the inner surface of each of the

housing side walls

3, 3

for slidably supporting and guiding the upwardly curved underside of the respectively associated arm 21 of the rockable paper roll receiving and core discharge member 20. The arcuate guide tracks 16, 16 extend from the housing front wall 5 towards the housing rear' wall 4 with their concaved surfaces on the top and terminate short of the rear wall by a distance slightly larger than the diameter of one paper roll core for the purpose to be described hereinbelow. The rear edge of I each of the

arms

21, 21 has an upper or larger arcuate recess 21a and a lower or smaller arcuate recess 21b separated from each other by an intermediate projection 21c. The

recesses

21a, 21a serve as guide means for the core of the lower standing-by paper roll R as the particular paper roll is allowed to move down the stand-by position to the payingout position and the recesses 21b, 21b serve as holding means for the core of the paper roll in the paying-out position. For the purpose, the recesses, 21b, 21b have a radius of curvature substantially corresponding to the contour of the paper roll core. The mass of the member 20 and position of the

holes

21, 21 in the

arms

21, 21 of the member are so selected that the center of gravity of the member is positioned below the center of its height and thus. the member 20 is urged in the clockwise direction to the full line position as shown in FIG. 2 by the weight of a full paper roll which is supported on the

guide tracks

16, 16 and pivots to the chain and dot line as the paper roll is consumed. in the full line position of the rockable paper roll receiving and core discharge member 20, the

upper ends

22, 22 of the

arms

21, 21 of the member 20 enter the

core guide grooves

14, 14 and engage the underside of the opposite ends of the core C of the lower paper roll R in the stand-by position to prevent the roll R from falling down from the stand-by position. When the roll R in the paying-out position has been exhausted, the paper roll receiving and core discharge member 20 is pivoted in the counter-clockwise direction to the chain and dot line position as shown in FIG. 2 so as to discharge the now empty core C from the tracks l6, 16 through the space or passage defined by the rear ends of the

tracks

16, 16 and the rear wall 4 of the housing 1 into the empty core accumulation space below the tracks 16 which are defined by the tracks, the lower cover 8 and the rear wall 4 of the housing 1. For positively pivoting the rockable roll receiving and core discharge member 20 from the full line position to the chain and dot line position, an operation knob 24,is provided on the outer surface of one of the arms 21, 21 (the right-hand arm as seen in FIG.

3). Operation knob 24 projects out of a slot 17 formed in the adjacent housing side wall 3 for manual operation (see FIG. 4). As will be easily understood, when it is desired to discharge the empty core C, the paper roll of which has been exhausted, the user grips and pulls the knob 24 rearwards along the slot 17 until the rockable roll receiving and core discharge member 20 reaches the chain and dot line position as seen in FIG. 2. The now empty core C is discharged from the

guide tracks

16, 16 through the core discharge passage into the empty core accumulation space. At the same time, the

upper ends

22, 22 of the

arms

21, 21 clear the

grooves

14, 14 and become disengaged from the underside of the opposite ends of the core C of the lower paper roll R in the stand-by position. This allows the roll R to fall into the paying-out position in which the opposite ends of the core C of the roll R are sup ported on the guide tracks '16, 16.

Assuming that the toilet paper roll holding device of the invention is in its initial position for use with three full toilet paper rolls R, R and R positioned in the positions as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, that is, the roll R is in thedispensing or paying-out position and the remaining two rolls R and R are in the stand-by position one upon another with their cores C and C retained in the

grooves

14, 14, the opposite ends of the core C of the roll R in the paying-out position are supported on the

tracks

16, 16 and prevented from inadvertently moving out of the tracks by the second recesses 21b, 21b of the

arms

21, 21 while the two rolls R and R in the stand-by position are prevented from inadvertently falling down out of the stand-by position because the horizontal

upper ends

22, 22 of the

arms

21, 21 of the rockable member 20 engage the underside of the core of the lower paper roll R in the standby position. When a full toilet paper roll is in the paying-out or dispensing position with its core resting on the tracks l6, 16, the rockable roll receiving and core discharge member 20 is urged in the clockwise direction (FIG. 2) to abut against the front wall 5 of the housing by the gravity of the paper roll. For the purpose, the distance D from the bottom of the recess 21b to the front edge of each arm 21 is selected as being substantially equal to the thickness of paper layers in a full standard toilet paper roll. However, as the diameter of the paper roll decreases gradually while the paper is dispensed, the member 20 is gradually urged to pivot in the counterclockwise direction about the pivot pins l5, (FIG. 2) and slide rearwardly along the tracks l6, 16 by the gravity of the lower portions of the rockable roll receiving and core discharge member 20 to push the core C along the

tracks

16, 16 towards the core discharge passage. When the paper roll in the paying-out position has been consumed or substantially consumed, the center of gravity of the

arms

21, 21 of the member 20 come to lie in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the pivot pins l5, l5 whereupon the pivotal movement of the member 20 in the counter-clockwise direction ceases and cannot further push the core rearwardly. Then, the user grips the knob 24 and pushes the knob rearwardly along the slot 17 to further pivot the member 20 about the

pins

15, 15 in the counterclockwise direction and to slide the member 20 further rearwards along the

tracks

16, 16 thereby to discharge the empty core beyond the rear edges of the tracks l6, l6 into the empty core accumulation space. Since the upper ends 22, 22 of the

arms

21, 21 of the roll receiving and core discharge member 20 retract from the

grooves

14, 14 in the

housing side walls

3, 3 and disengage from the core C of the roll R as the member 20 is pivoted to its limit in the counter-clockwise direction, the lower toilet paper roll R in the stand-by position is allowed to fall into the paying-out or dispensing position and the new paper roll in the paying-out posi- I tion urges the member 20 to pivot back about the pins l5, 15 in the clockwise direction to advance the upper ends 22, 22 of the

arms

21, 21 into the

grooves

14, 14 so that the opposite ends of the core C of the remaining paper roll R" in the stand-by position may rest on the arm upper ends 22, 22. The entry of the paper roll R into the paying-out or dispensing position is accelerated by the above-mentioned particular configuration of the rear edges of the

arms

21, 21 and of the guide tracks l6, l6 and the particular roll can be effectively prevented from bouncing off the tracks l6, 16 as the roll falls down into the paying-out position. It may be the possibility of bouncing of the paper roll when the roll hits against the

projections

21c, 21c ofthe arms 21, 2l as the roll falls from the stand-by position along the rear edges of the arms into the paying-out position, but since the core is loosely inserted in the bobbin on which the paper roll is wound so that the core may be allowed to radially displace relative to the bobbin, the inertia of such bouncing can be absorbed by such radial displacement of the core relative to the bobbin.

Referring to FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings which shows a modification of the connection part which connects the

arms

21, 21 of the rockable roll receiving and core discharge member 20 together and the modified connection part is shown by reference numeral 23a. Portion of the modified connection part 23a is exposed in the window 10 for access. Thus. in the construction of FIG. 5, the knob 24 and slot 17 in the construction of FIGS. 2 through 4 are eliminated. In order to discharge the empty core. the user pushes the connection part 23a rearwardly to cause the rockable roll receiving and core discharge member 20 to pivot in the counterclockwise direction and slide along the

tracks

16, 16 thereby to discharge the empty core into the empty core accumulation space and at the same time to allow the next or spare paper roll to fall into the now vacant paying-out position.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, when the paper roll in the paying-out position has not been yet completely exhausted, the core of such a roll cannot be aligned in the core discharge passage defined between the tracks and the rear wall of the housing and accordingly, such a paper roll cannot be taken out of the device even if the rockable paper roll receiving and core discharge member is pushed rearwardly thereby to protect the paper roll against possible pillage.

From the above description of the invention, it will be understood that the discharge of an empty core from the paying-out position and the placement of a new paper roll from the stand-by position into the payingout position can be effected by a simple common mechanism and that since rockable paper roll receiving and core discharge member automatically pivots and slidably moves as the paper roll in the paying-out position is exhausted, the empty core discharge from the tracks and the entry of a new paper roll into the paying- -out position are quite simple requiring only a slight amount of manual effort.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail it will be understood that the same is for illustration purpose only and not to be taken as a definition of the invention, refer ence being bad for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A toilet paper roll holding device comprising an elongated vertically extending housing opening at the top and bottom ends for receiving a plurality of toilet paper rolls one upon another and including a front wall provided with a paper dispensing window, a rear wall spaced from and parallel to said front wall and a pair of spaced and parallel side walls; a top cover pivoted to said open top end of the housing; a bottom cover pivoted to said open bottom end of the housing; and a paper shearing blade provided on said front wall adjacent to said dispensing window, a rockable paper roll receiving and core discharge member pivoted adjacent to the top end to said side walls and including a pair of opposite and spaced parallel upright arms integrally connected at their front edges by a transverse connection part, each of said upright arms bulging rearwardly and downwardly to position the center of gravity thereof at a point below the mid-point of the height to be urged forwardly by the weight of a paper roll in the dispensing position adjacent to said window and pivots backwardly as the paper roll is consumed and having a core engaging bent upper end for moving to engage and disengage from the underside of the lowest one of said paper roll cores, the rear edge provided with an upper larger arcuate recess and a lower smaller arcuate recess separated from said upper recess by an intermediate projection and the upwardly arcuated lower edge; a pair of upwardly arcuated guide tracks formed with the inner surfaces of said side walls in a position to slidably engage said arcuated lower edges of the arms so as to hold said paper roll in the dispensing position in cooperation with said lower smaller recesses in the rear edges of the arms and to slidably guide said rockable member and the core of said paper roll in the dispensing position as the paper roll is consumed and the rockable member pivots rearwardly accordingly to move the empty core to the discharge position; and operation means for said rockable member to positively pivot the rockable member and slide the member on said tracks rearwardly.

2. The toilet paper roll holding device as set forth in claim 1, in which said tracks extend from said front wall of the housing and terminate short of said rear wall of the housing to define an empty core discharge passage therebetween.

3. The toilet paper roll holding device as set forth in claim 1, in which said operation means comprises a knob extending laterally from one of said arms out of one of said side walls of the housing and an elongated slot formed in the one side wall for receiving said knob.

4. The toilet paper roll holding device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising vertical paper roll core receiving and guiding grooves each defined by opposite and spaced parallel lands on the inner surface of each of said side walls for holding the core or cores of one or more paper rolls therein, said lands having different lengths with the lower end of one land lying in a plane above the plane of the lower end of the other land.