JPH0359683B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a towel dispenser, and more particularly, to a towel dispenser incorporating a roll of continuous towel, i.e., a long strip of towel, and disposing the unused portion of the towel in a position for use by a user. This relates to a type of towel dispenser that sends out a towel and winds up the used portion inside.

A conventional continuous towel dispenser is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In each figure, this towel dispenser, which is designated as a whole by the reference numeral 1, has a rectangular casing consisting of a flat rear wall 2 and a pair of side walls 3 and 4 extending perpendicularly from both ends of the rear wall 2. have

In use, the towel dispenser 1 is mounted so that the rear wall 2 is flush with the mounting wall and the side walls 3, 4 are vertical.

A towel feed roller 5 is provided horizontally in the middle of the side walls 3 and 4, and a towel take-up roller 6 having the same diameter is provided slightly behind the roller. These rollers 5, 6 can rotate around their axes,
These shafts pass through one side wall 3 and are fixed to sprockets 7, 8 on the outside of the side wall 3. A chain 9 is connected to the sprockets 7 and 8, so that the towel delivery roller 5 and the towel take-up roller 6 are interlocked.

Usually, a roller rotation stop device (not shown) is attached to the towel delivery roller 5, so that the rotation of the roller 5 is stopped after rotation at a predetermined number of rotations.

Above the towel delivery roller 5 and the towel take-up roller 6, irregularly shaped holes 10 and oblique notches 11 are cut out in the side walls 3, 4, respectively.

A scissor roller 12 is passed through the irregular hole 10, and a used towel shaft 13 is passed through the diagonal cutout 11 in parallel with the towel delivery roller 5 and the towel take-up roller 6, respectively. The scissor roller 12 and the used towel shaft 13 have short shafts protruding from both ends thereof into holes 10 and cutouts 11, respectively.
Since it is only inserted into the hole 1
0. You can move freely inside the cutout 11. When the scissor roller 12 and the used towel shaft 13 are in contact with the bottom of the hole 10 and the cutout 11, respectively, they come into close contact with the towel delivery roller 5 and the towel take-up roller 6, respectively, due to their own weight.

The above-mentioned towel delivery roller 5 and towel take-up roller 6 have their surfaces covered with a friction coating 14, and are adapted to frictionally engage the towel as described below.

An arcuately curved towel bed 15 is attached to the lowest parts of the side walls 3, 4 and forms the bottom surface of the towel dispenser 1. In addition, towel dispenser 1
The upper surface, front surface and both side surfaces are covered by a front cover (not shown) attached to the upper part of the side walls 3 and 4.

Next, the operation of the conventional towel dispenser 1 configured as described above will be explained using FIG. 2.

In the figure, a roll of unused towels designated by reference numeral 16 is set on the curved bottom of the towel bed 15. The starting end of the unused towel passes from this towel roll 16 between the towel delivery roller 5 and the scissors roller 12, and then passes between the towel feed roller 5 and the scissors roller 12.
The towel is pulled out from between the scissor roller 12 and the protection plate 19 to the towel exposure position 17 so as to wrap around the towel. The protection plate designated by 19 is attached to the side walls 3 and 4 by shafts designated by 20, and shaft 2
It can be rotated around 0. Therefore, it does not get in the way when pulling out the starting end of the towel. At the towel exposed position 17, the starting end of the towel should be placed in the towel bed 1 with an appropriate amount of slack.
5 and the inclined towel blocking plate 21 and is fixed to the used towel shaft 13.

In the towel dispenser 1 set in this manner, when the user pulls the towel at the towel exposed position 17 in the direction of arrow A, the scissor roller 12 is pressed against the towel delivery roller 5; is covered with a friction coating 14 so that it rotates without slipping as the towel is withdrawn. The rotation of the towel delivery roller 5 is transmitted to the towel take-up roller 6 by the chain 9, and since this roller 6 is also covered with a friction coating 14, the towel that is in close contact with the roller 6 due to its own weight is not wound. used towel shaft 1
3 also rotates without slipping. Used towel shaft 1
3, the used towel at the towel exposure position 17 is drawn into the towel dispenser, flattened by the inclined towel blocking plate 21, and wound around the used towel shaft 13. At this time, the towel delivery roller 5 and the towel take-in roller 6 have the same diameter, and the sprocket 7 connected to them
Since and 8 have the same number of teeth, the length of the sent out towel is equal to the length of the rolled up towel, and the slack of the towel at the towel exposed position 17 is kept constant.

However, since this consistency changes due to slippage of the towel, etc., various measures may be taken, such as making the numbers of teeth of the sprockets 7 and 8 different.

As explained above, the conventional towel dispenser 1
In this method, the user uses the motion of pulling out an unused towel to roll up a used towel.
As a result, once the end of the towel is pulled out, the towel can no longer be rolled up, and the end of the towel remains hanging outside the towel dispenser. Moreover, the ends of the towels that are left hanging are not only unsightly, but also because there are no unused towels, the ends of the towels are often used over and over again, and dirt accumulates, creating an extremely filthy condition. Furthermore, the hanging towels also come into contact with the wall surface on which the towel dispenser 1 is mounted, which further adds to the filth.

Furthermore, extreme stains on the ends are difficult to remove with a single wash, and the entire towel often has to be rewashed just for the stains on the ends.
This has led to increased towel cleaning costs and decreased towel life.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a towel dispenser that can automatically wind up the end of a towel.

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 3 to 9 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts in the figures as in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

First, the outline of the present invention will be explained using FIGS. 3 and 4.

In the figure, what is generally designated by the reference numeral 22 is a sensor that detects the end of the towel. In the sensor 22, the reference numeral 23 is a sensor board, a sensor arm 24 is attached to this sensor board 23 with a support shaft 26, and a spring 27 is attached to the sensor board 23.
It is pressed against the sensor substrate 23 due to its elasticity. A sensor roller 25 is attached to the tip of the sensor arm 24, and a rectangular hole 23a is cut out in the portion of the sensor board 23 that the sensor roller 25 contacts.

The sensor 22 is mounted horizontally below the scissors roller 12, and when in use, the towel is sandwiched between the sensor substrate 23 of the sensor 22 and the sensor roller 25 at an intermediate position between the scissors roller 12 and the towel exposed position 17. Make it. That is, the sensor 22 prevents the sensor roller 25 from being pushed into the rectangular hole 23a of the sensor substrate 23 by the towel while an unused towel remains, but when the end of the towel is pulled out. When put away, the sensor roller 25 is connected to the sensor board 23.
is pushed into the rectangular hole 23a, the sensor arm 24 moves around the fulcrum 26, and this movement is used to activate the spring described later. With this mechanism, the sensor 22 detects the end of the towel.

In the figure, the gearbox, designated as a whole by reference numeral 28, houses a spring activated by a sensor and a mechanical part for transmitting the unwinding force of the spring to the towel winding roller 6. The reference numeral 29 is a knob for winding the mainspring.

Next, details of the gearbox 28 will be explained using FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the figure, the symbol 30 is a mainspring. A ratchet wheel 31 and a knob 29 are fixed to a rotating shaft 30a to which the inner end of the mainspring 30 is fixed, and a gear 32 is also attached to the shaft 30a, although it is not fixed. . The gear 32 is provided with a tooth stop 33 and a spring 34, and the tooth stop 33 is pressed against the teeth of the ratchet wheel 31 by the spring 34.

Therefore, when the ratchet wheel 31 is rotated in the direction to wind up the mainspring, the pawl 33 does not catch on the teeth of the wheel 31, but when the ratchet wheel 31 is rotated in the opposite direction, it does. By this, when winding up the mainspring 30, the rotation of the ratchet wheel 31 is controlled by the gear 3.
The rotation of the ratchet wheel 31 is transmitted to the gear 32 when the mainspring 30 is unrotated.

Gears 35 and 36, gears 37 and 38, and gears 39 and 40 are pairs of gears with a small number of teeth and gears with a large number of teeth, and are fixed on the same axis, and gear 41 is a gear with a small number of teeth. It is fixed coaxially with the final wheel 42. These gears are gear 32 and
A gear 35, a gear 36 and a gear 37, a gear 38 and a gear 39, and a gear 40 and a gear 41 are engaged with each other, and have the function of increasing the rotation speed of the gear 32 due to the unrotation of the mainspring 30. For example, for simplicity,
Assuming that the ratio of the number of teeth of the four pairs of gears, gear 32 and gear 35, gear 36 and gear 37, gear 38 and gear 39, and gear 40 and gear 41, are all equal and 5:1, gear 32 rotates once. Between gear 35 and gear 3
6 rotates 5 times, gears 37 and 38 make 25 turns, gears 39 and 40 make 125 turns, and gear 41 and the final wheel 42 make 625 turns. Conversely, this means that the rotation of the final wheel 42 due to the unwinding force of the mainspring 30 can be stopped with an extremely small force. If the final wheel 42 cannot rotate, the mainspring 30 cannot be unwound either. Therefore, the rotation of the final wheel 42 is controlled by the stopper 43.
This prevents the mainspring from unwinding. This stopper 43 is attached to one end of the sensor arm 24, and when the sensor 22 senses that the end of the towel has passed, the sensor arm 24 moves in the direction of arrow B.The stopper 43 is removed from the final wheel 42, and the mainspring 30
begins to unravel. That is, the sensor 22 activates the mainspring 30 by such a machine.

A gear indicated by reference numeral 44 in the figure meshes with the gear 36 and is fixed to a gear shaft 45. gear shaft 4
5 is connected to the sprocket 47 via a one-way clutch portion 48 formed on the sprocket 47. Details of the one-way clutch portion 48 will be described later, but here, the rotation of the gear shaft 45 is caused by the sprocket 4.
7, but the rotation of the sprocket 47 is not transmitted to the gear shaft 45.
A chain 9 is attached to the sprocket 47, so that the sprocket 47 interlocks with the sprockets 7 and 8. That is, when the stopper 43 is removed by the sensor 22 and activated by the mainspring 30, the unlocking force is applied to the ratchet wheel 31, gear 32, gear 35, gear 36, gear 44, and gear shaft 4.
5. It is transmitted to the sprocket 47, chain 9, and sprocket 8 one after another, and rotates the towel take-up roller 6.

Here, the necessity and mechanism of the one-way clutch section 48 will be explained. The purpose of the present invention is to wind up the end of the towel, and for this purpose, in this embodiment, a third sprocket 47 is provided in the chain 9 that transmits the rotation of the towel delivery roller 5 to the towel take-up roller 6. The unrotating force of the mainspring 30 is transmitted to this sprocket 47. Incidentally, the sprocket 47 must be able to rotate freely except when winding up the end of the towel. Because if sprocket 47
If the chain 9 were not free, the chain 9 would not be able to rotate, and regular towel feeding and towel winding would become impossible. Therefore, in the present invention, a one-way clutch is used in which the rotation of the gear shaft 45 is transmitted to the sprocket 47, but the rotation of the sprocket 47 is not transmitted to the gear shaft 45.

Various types of one-way clutches are conceivable, such as a ratchet type and a coil spring type, which are used to connect the ratchet wheel 31 and gear 32, but in this embodiment, a pin roller type one-way clutch is used. ing. The explanation will be given below using FIG. 7.

In the figure, reference numeral 48 indicates the one-way clutch portion of the sprocket 47. A hole having the shape shown in the figure is cut out in the center of the one-way clutch portion 48, so that when the gear shaft 45 is inserted, several wedge-shaped gaps 53 remain. A cylindrical clutch roller pin 49 is inserted into each of the wedge-shaped gaps 53, and the clutch roller pins 49 have a diameter that is large enough to allow some movement within the wedge-shaped gap 53. In the one-way clutch configured as described above, when the one-way clutch portion 48 is rotated in the direction of arrow C as shown in FIG. Got hit,
The gear shaft 45 is only in contact with the one-way clutch portion 48 and no rotation is transmitted thereto. However, as shown in FIG. 7b, the gear shaft 4 moves in the direction of arrow D.
If 5 is rotated, clutch roller pin 4
9 is pushed into the narrowest part of the wedge-shaped gap 53 and is wedged there, so that the gear shaft 45, clutch roller pin 49, and one-way clutch portion 48 rotate as one.

The parts indicated by the reference numerals 30 to 50 described above are housed in chassis 51 and 52 which also serve as bearings, and form the gearbox 28.

Next, the operation of the present invention configured as above will be explained using FIG. 8 and FIG. 9.

The loading of the towel is conventional except that the towel is passed between the scissor roller 12 and the towel exposed position 17 and between the sensor substrate 23 of the sensor 22 and the sensor roller 25. After loading the towel, confirm that the stopper 43 is on the final wheel 42, and wind the mainspring 30, and the machine is ready for use.

FIG. 8 explains the operation when an unused towel remains in the present invention. In this state, the sensor roller 25 is attached to the sensor substrate 2.
Since the stopper 43 remains on the final wheel 42 without being pushed into the hole 3, the mainspring 30 does not operate. Therefore, the operation of the present invention at this time is exactly the same as before, except that the chain 9 is provided with a sprocket 47 that can freely rotate by the action of the one-way clutch, so a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 explains the operation when the end of the towel is pulled out in the present invention. At the moment when the end of the towel is pulled out, the sensor roller 25 of the sensor 22 is pushed into the hole 23a of the sensor substrate 23, and the sensor arm 24 rotates around the fulcrum 26. Then, the stopper 43 comes off the final wheel 42, and the mainspring 30 begins to unwind. The unwinding force of the mainspring 30 is transmitted to the towel take-up roller 6 through the above-mentioned path, and
By the time the towel is completely loosened and unraveling has stopped, the entire hanging end of the towel has been wound up.

Through the series of operations described above, when the end of the towel is pulled out, the end can be automatically rolled up.

As is clear from the above description, the towel dispenser of the present invention includes a sensor that detects the end of the towel, a spring activated by the sensor, and a unit that transmits the unwinding force of the spring to the towel take-up roller. Since the towel end winding mechanism includes a mechanical section using a directional clutch, the end of the towel can be automatically wound into the towel dispenser. In addition, this not only protects the end of the towel from excessive dirt and keeps the towel dispenser clean, but also lowers towel cleaning costs, extends towel life, and has a power spring. Since it uses , running costs such as electricity costs are significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional towel dispenser, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line a-a in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line bb--b, and FIGS. 5 a to 5 c illustrate the mechanism of the present invention. FIG. 5 a is a perspective view, FIG. 5 b is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 5 c is a perspective view. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the sensor arm, FIG. 6 is a side view of the mechanism, FIGS. It is an explanatory diagram to explain. 1... Towel dispenser, 5... Towel delivery roller, 6... Towel winding roller, 7, 8
... Sprocket, 9 ... Chain, 12 ... Scissor roller, 13 ... Used towel shaft, 15 ...
...Towel bed, 16...Unused towel roll,
17... Towel exposed position, 18... Used towel roll, 22... Sensor, 23... Sensor board, 24... Sensor arm, 25... Sensor roller, 26... Fulcrum, 27... Spring,
28...Gearbox, 29...Knob, 30
... Mainspring, 31 ... Ratchet wheel, 3
2...gear, 33...tooth stop, 34...spring, 3
5-41...Gear, 42...Final wheel, 43
... Stopper, 44 ... Gear, 45 ... Gear shaft, 46 ... Spacer, 47 ... Sprocket, 48 ... One-way clutch portion, 49 ... Clutch roller pin, 50 ... Spacer, 51,5
2...Siyashi.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A towel dispenser that incorporates a long strip-shaped towel roll, sends out an unused portion of the towel to an exposed position where it can be used by a user, and winds up the used portion inside, A sensor that detects the end of the towel, a spring activated by the sensor,
A towel dispensing device characterized by having a towel end winding mechanism comprising a mechanical part that transmits the unwinding force of a mainspring to a towel winding roller. 2. The towel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that a one-way clutch is used to transmit the unwinding force of the mainspring.