Paper towel dispenser and transfer mechanism

Claim 2

A towel dispenser for sequentially dispensing toweling from rolls supported within the dispenser, comprising: a first roll station for rotatably supporting a first towel roll, a second roll station for rotatably supporting a second towel roll, spaced from said first station, a feed mechanism spaced from said roll stations receiving the web from either of the towel rolls and dispensing the toweling, tensioning means longitudinally tensioning an unsupported free travel portion of the first towel web between said first towel station and said feed mechanism when feeding said first towel roll, and a transfer means for transferring the web of the towel roll in the second station to said feed mechanism when the tension in the web of the towel roll in said first station is broken, and a sensing means biased against said longitudinally tensioned free travel portion of the first towel web for sensing the longitudinal tension therein and responsive to a loss in the longitudinal tension in said free travel portion in the first towel web to actuate said transfer means and deliver the web of the second towel roll to said feed mechanism and thereby initiate dispensing of said second towel roll.

Claim 3

The towel dIspenser defined in claim 1 characterized in that said tensioning means rotatably supports the opposed ends of a towel roll within said first towel station and is resiliently tensioned inwardly to restrict the free rotation of the towel roll and tension the web between the roll and said feed mechanism.

Claim 4

The towel dispenser defined in claim 1, characterized in that said feed mechanism includes a pair of parallel, engaging feed rollers, at least one of which is rotatably driven to feed a toweling web from the dispenser and said transfer means including a transfer roller normally spaced from said feed rollers when the rollers are dispensing the web of the first towel roll and receiving the web of the second towel roll between said transfer roller and said feed roller, said transfer roller then biased between the feed rollers by said sensing means to begin feeding the second towel roll web.

Claim 5

The towel dispenser defined in claim 3, characterized in that said transfer roller is loosely received on a shaft parallel to the axis of rotation of said feed rollers to permit internal adjustment and alignment of said transfer roller between said feed rollers, providing equal pressure against said feed rollers.

Claim 8

A device as defined in claim 5 in which the cabinet is provided with a substantially unobstructed passage through which a roll may be moved from the reserve station to the primary station without disengaging the paper web from the feed means.

Claim 9

A device as defined in claim 5 and further including means for applying drag on the primary web and thereby maintain tension therein until the primary roll is exhausted.

Claim 12

A towel dispenser for sequentially dispensing toweling from a primary towel roll located at a first roll station and a secondary towel roll located at a second roll station spaced from said first station, comprising a feed means spaced from both said towel roll stations and adapted to feed toweling from said dispenser, the towel web of the primary roll being longitudinally tensioned in an unsupported free travel portion between said primary roll and said feed means when a toweling web is being dispensed from said primary roll, sensing means contacting said free travel portion of said primary towel web to sense the longitudinal tension therein, a transfer roller normally spaced from said feed means by said sensing means, the web of said secondary roll being interposed between said transfer roller and said feed means, and means interconnecting said sensing means and said transfer roller adapted to displace the transfer roller to the feed means, delivering the interposed web of said secondary roll into feeding relation with said feed means thereby dispensing the web of said secondary towel roll by said feed means when the longitudinal tension in said free travel portion of said primary roll web is lost by virtue of either (1) exhaustion of the primary roll web or (2) breakage of the primary roll web.

Claim 13

A towel dispenser for sequentially dispensing toweling from a primary towel roll located at a first roll station and a secondary towel roll located at a second roll station spaced from said first station, comprising a feed means spaced from both said towel roll stations and adapted to feed toweling from said dispenser, the towel web of the primary roll being longitudinally tensioned in an unsupported free travel portion between said primary roll and said feed means when a toweling web is being dispensed from said primary roll, sensing means contacting said free travel portion of said primary towel web to sense the longitudinal tension therein, a transfer roller normally spaced from said feed means by said sensing means, the web of said secondary roll being interposed between said transfer roller and said feed means, and means interconnecting said sensing means and said transfer roller adapted to displace the transfer roller to the feed means, delivering the interposed web of said secondary roll into feeding relation with said feed means thereby dispensing the web of said secondary towel roll by said feed means when the longitudinal tension in said free travel portion of said primary roll web is lost by virtue of either (1) exhaustion of the primary roll web or (2) breakage of the primary roll web.