Georgia-pacific Corporation

Electronic Retailing Systems International

Raymond F DeLuca

Paul W Jespersen

Holger Rasmussen

George T Briechle

Marvin Ackerman

David H Lubowe

Eric S Seger

Alfred D Dobras

Gene Schwemm

John S Forman

An improved electronic price display system has rails into which are installed price display labels. Ridges along the top and bottom of the rails are shaped to receive a label readily. A removal tool may be engaged to release the pawls of the label to extract the label. Ridges at the rear of the rails, together with a resilient insert, permit quick mounting to a shelf with a minimal number of fasteners. A hemicylindrical feature at the back of the rails permits generous area of contact with a mounting screw having a hemispherical head. Opposed groove features permit the concealment of the screw heads and provide a visual design element. Angled ridges on the rear face of the label engage with knurls on the rails providing contact wiping, enhancing electrical integrity of the label-to-rail connection, and also fix the label in place. A feature along an edge of the rail provides a cylindrical concavity. An optional clear plastic cover mounted with a cylindrical edge bead in the concavity provides a hinged connection therebetween. A protruding button on the face of the label is actuated by the pressing of the cover in the vicinity of the button. A subassembly of the label provides a robust carrier for springy contacts providing electrical connection long conductors on the rails.

Information display rail system

A stop mechanism for a feed roller associated with a cutter in a dispenser for flexible rolled web material has a stop lever which provides a substantial mechanical advantage. The increased mechanical advantage permits the vacuum cups of a vacuum cup timer to be effortlessly and reliably set. The stop lever has a long actuating arm which pivots about a pivot point. The long actuating arm creates a substantial mechanical advantage for setting the vacuum cups in vacuum-gripping engagement. The mechanism advantage greatly enhances the low pull force requirement and smooth operation of the dispenser.

Low operating force stop mechanism and dispensing method for rolled web

A feed mechanism for feeding a web of rolled flexible sheet material, such as soft paper towels, out of a dispenser. The mechanism includes a feed roller within the dispenser and a web cutting blade in the feed roller and projectable and retractable therewith as the feed roller rotates. A contoured cam is attached to an end of the feed roller, and a spring-loaded cam follower presses against the contoured cam. The cam follower, through the cam, controllably assists in the rotation of the feed roller during the feed roller cycle when the blade cuts the web and thereafter to feed a free end of the material to an accessible position outside of the dispenser. The needed maximum pull forces by the user on the material to cut and withdraw the material from the dispenser are thereby significantly minimized, and the likelihood of the soft towel material tearing off in the user's wet hands is accordingly reduced.

Feed mechanism for flexible sheet material dispensers

Air freshener dispenser casing

A cylinder including an opening and inlet and outlet ports. A biasing member, within the cylinder, includes a first end fixed relative to the cylinder and a second end closer to the opening. A rotatable slidable member includes an angled first surface on which the biasing member second end is disposed, an opposite second surface closer to the opening and a variable width surface for closing the inlet port. A piston has arotatable rod and a flange surface which faces the second surface of the slidable member. On the piston rod is at least one hinging member. A protrusion fixed relative to the cylinder pushes the hinging member when the piston is moved so that this hinging member can close the outlet port. A plurality of these hinging members define an umbrella-shaped seal for losing the port at various rotational positions of the rod. An O-ring seal is disposed between both the piston flange surface and the slidable member second surface. This seal continuously engages a circumferential segment of the cylinder interior surface when the piston is prevented from movement, the slidable member second surface is exerting a force on the seal and a piston flange surface is exerting an opposing force on the seal and continuously engages a circumferential segment of the cylinder interior surface when the piston is moved, a piston flange surface is exerting a force on the seal and the slidable member second surface is exerting an opposing force on the seal.

Dispenser having an improved metering chamber

A dispenser and dispensing method for flexible web material that is wound into a roll on a readily deformable hollow core has a housing carrying opposed parallel guide tracks to guidingly receive roll core supports projecting from the roll ends and a spring biased lever pivoted on such housing, the lever applying an axial force to the hollow core at one roll end and being maintained in a roll retaining condition by the presence, in a roll dispensing position, of a hollow roll core that is held against downward displacement from such position. An axial force is applied against the other end of the hollow core. The lever serves to retain a reserve roll in a reserve roll position remote from the roll dispensing position with the lever being released from such retaining condition when the web material is exhausted and the hollow core is deformed downwardly, assisted by the axial forces applied to the hollow core ends, to enable removal of this core from the roll dispensing position whereupon such reserve roll moves to the dispensing position.

Core-buckling tissue dispenser and dispensing method

A dispenser for multiple rolls of web material such as paper toweling that is provided with dispensing mechanism to lead a web of material out of the dispenser to the user has supports for rotatably supporting rolls in primary and reserve positions, respectively, with transfer mechanism interactive with such roll supports and the dispensing mechanism to automatically transfer web feed from one roll to the other under predetermined sensed conditions. The transfer mechanism includes a pivotally mounted transfer frame swingable to be out of the way to facilitate dispenser loading with the dispenser cabinet cover open, the transfer frame being releasibly retained out of the way in conjunction with dispenser loading, and movable to a sensing location upon closure of the cabinet cover whereat depletion of web material supplied from the roll in the primary position is sensed whereafter the frame again shifts for tucking fingers on the transfer frame to press a web end portion of the reserve roll web material into the dispensing mechanism to thereafter feed web material from such reserve roll. A keeper bracket loosely receives this web end portion incident dispenser loading with the action of cabinet cover closing causing the bracket to firmly grip such portion until the transfer mechanism coacts with the dispensing mechanism to thereafter feed web material supplied from the reserve roll.

Roll transfer mechanism for web material dispenser

Mechanism for cutting a web of rolled flexible sheet material in a dispenser having a feed roller and pinch roller between which the web passes is provided with a knife mounted in the feed roller to be projected outwardly beyond the periphery of the feed roller during a web severing cycle wherein engagement of the pinch roller with the web immediately before the knife penetrates it acts to maintain tension in the web ahead of the knife and a high friction surface portion of the feed roller periphery which is in contact with the roll of material maintains tension in the web behind the knife as the web severing cycle proceeds while peripheral protrusions on the feed roller momentarily bump the roll out of contact with the feed roller during feed roller rotation to permit periphery which is in contact with the roll of material maintains tension in the web behind the knife as the web severing cycle proceeds while peripheral protrusions on the feed roller momentarily bump the roll out of contact with the feed roller during feed roller rotation to permit any loose loop of web behind the feed roller to slip along a low friction feed roller surface portion and jar the roll into parallelism with the feed roller to minimize potential build up of loose roll loops within the dispenser.

Cut web material dispenser with web centering and tension control

A dispenser for rolled flexible sheet material, wherein several plies of material fed from multiple source rolls are jointly cut while passing over a feed roller associated with a cutter, has a retarding force applied to the exterior of one source roll at a point remote from the point where such roll rests on the feed roller of the dispenser such that the interengagement between the web plies is enhanced to enable their being jointly cut by the cutter without undue slippage between the web plies.

Severing web plies in multiple roll material dispensers

A mechanism for cutting a web of flexible sheet material which is adapted to be used in a dispenser having a feed roller and a pinch roller between which rollers the web passes. A knife is pivotally mounted in the feed roller to swing about an axis laterally displaced from the plane of a radially outward portion of the knife defining a cutting edge which edge is projected outwardly beyond the periphery of the feed roller to cut the web as it passes over the feed roller and cam followers ar carried by the ends of the knife extending beyond the ends of the feed roller with the followers displaced from the pivot mounting axis of the knife. Stationary cams are mounted adjacent the ends of the feed roller with which the cam followers on the knife engage to positively project the knife cutting edge beyond the feed roller periphery and retract the cutting edge upon rotation of the feed roller.

Method for web cutting in rolled sheet material dispensers

An evaporative dispenser is disclosed for emitting a vaporized material into the ambient. A battery powered, motor-driven fan forces air through the dispenser housing and across a material reservoir to evaporate and entrain material therein prior to being discharged from the housing. A supply container is supported directly on a reservoir lid and comprises structure which cooperates with the housing to direct the air flow across the reservoir. The supply container also comprises a battery nesting recess which affords compact packaging of the components within the housing. A transparent viewing window is provided for easy viewing of the level of material in the reservoir.

Evaporative dispenser

Towel dispenser

A dispenser to accommodate source and reserve rolls of flexible sheet material has a housing provided with inwardly facing tracks on the opposite inner side walls thereof and guide means associated with each track adjacent the lower end thereof to drivingly assist the source roll dispensing action with a reserve roll segregating device cooperating between the guide means and the reserve roll to both hold the reserve roll away from the dispensing position of the source roll and urge the guide means to brake against over-spin of the source roll incident withdrawal of sheet material therefrom.

Dispenser for rolled flexible sheet material

A dispenser for flexible sheet material having a reserve roll that automatically moves in the dispensing position when the dispensing roll is almost exhausted. The sides of reserve roll guide tracks are angled inwardly to engage the reserve roll spool at an off center point, so the spool is pushed downwardly into contact with a driving roller during rotation. The leading edge of the reserve roll towel engages the remaining portion of the almost exhausted dispensing roll and is moved therewith to be threaded through the dispensing mechanism. The perforating mechanism is assisted through the perforating stroke by a spring mechanism. The sensing roll is halted by a roll stop mechanism including a pivoted stop link and an anti-reverse pawl.

Method of dispersing flexible sheet material

A dispenser for wound rolls of flexible sheet material, such as, paper towels, toilet tissue or the like has inwardly facing tracks on the opposite inner side walls of the dispenser housing to receive therein outwardly projecting spindles carried by wound rolls to be dispensed for the rolls to move in succession downwardly relative to the tracks with a section of the lower end of each track slanting away from a feed roller mounted adjacent the lower end of the dispenser housing and each track having at such lower end section a pivotally mounted roll rotation driving guide biased toward the track center to form the lower side of each track section slanting away from the feed roller. A pressure roller is biased into rotating engagement with the feed roller for flexible sheet material to drivingly pass therebetween with the pressure roller having at least one resiliently deformable segment that is eccentric to the pressure roller axis to pick up the leading free end of sheet material on a full roll and lead it into the nip between the feed roller and pressure roller, this pressure roller also has axially spaced conical resilient portions along the length thereof with the conical portions facing from the opposite ends of the pressure roll inwardly toward the mid-point of the pressure roll to promote spreading out the sheet material passing between the feed roller and the pressure roller. A serrated cutting knife is pivotally mounted within the feed roller to sever the sheet material, the serrations on the knife being spaced to accommodate therebetween the deformable eccentric segment and the conical portions on the pressure roller during initial projection of the knife from within the feed roller in severing the sheet material.

Growing community of inventors

Stamford, CT, United States of America

Raymond F DeLuca