JPH0686737A - Dispenser for towel or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To ensure dispensing of stocked supplies, by providing an actuating means to change stocked supplies to a dispensing condition in response to a specific signal from a transmitter and a receiver. CONSTITUTION: This towel dispenser 10 has a housing room 11 provided with facing sidewalls 12 combined with a pivoted cover 13. The closed pivoted cover 13 can be turned open for exchange of a dirty towel with a new clean one. At the bottom of the housing room 11, there is a flexible shield 15 with a paired holes 16 at the free end. A transmitter 30 sends out a signal from an antenna 32 when a clean towel is run out, and the signal is received by an antenna 37 of a receiver 35 in the housing room. The receiver activates a pin or piston 41 of a solenoid 40 to move backward, and the shield 15 is moved to such a position that the towel 26 can be used.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dispenser for a towel or the like, that is, a supply system in which a selected one of a plurality of supply bodies can be automatically operated in a predetermined circulation (sequence). . INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be utilized in a wide range of fields such as soap, cloth for making sweets, and paper towels, but is particularly effective for a cloth towel dispenser found in a washroom, a factory, or other commercial areas. .

[0002]

[Prior art and its problems] 1 in commercial places such as stores
It is common to have more than one dispenser, and since these dispensers are only replaced periodically, some may be emptied or emptied due to irregular or uneven use. It is also being experienced that is used about half and nothing else is used at all.

In order to alleviate such uneven use, it is preferable that one or more dispensers be made available and no other dispenser be made available. When the dispenser has no content or is in a state close to it, another kind of inducing means enables the other dispenser.
With such a structure, it can be made more regular and efficient than conventional ones, regardless of the contents to be supplied (cloth towel, soap, confectionery, etc.). Soap and towels are easy to maintain and can be used up to the end, but when used for confectionery, etc., the contents will not be retained for a long time and will not be fresh, so keep them fresh at all times. It is possible.

The main object of the present invention is to enable the stored supply contents to be automatically and sequentially utilized in the case of occurrence of some specific situation such as a lack of remaining amount, and to activate a mechanism to perform a predetermined operation. It is intended to provide a configuration in which a number of dispensers can convert the supply of contents from unavailable to available.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic supply dispenser in which a predetermined one of a plurality of supply members is operated in a predetermined circulation, and stores a predetermined amount of the object to be fed out. And a mechanism for feeding out a predetermined amount of the object to be fed, each of the supply members has a storage state that cannot be used and a supply state that can be used as necessary,
A transmitter that cooperates with at least one supplier to emit a predetermined signal, and cooperates with each supplier,
It has another transmitting device which senses a situation such as a lack of remaining amount and operates the transmitting device in response to the situation, and cooperates with at least one supplier to receive a predetermined signal from the transmitting device. And a receiver for operably coupling the receiver to change the supply from the storage state to the supply state in response to a predetermined signal from the transmission device. It is a dispenser for towels and other items that can be fed out for use.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5, a dispenser 10 for a cloth towel is shown as an example of a typical portable dispenser. However, the present invention is not limited to such a towel dispenser, but can be applied to various types of dispensers. The towel dispenser 10 has a chamber 11 having a pair of opposite side walls 12 joined by a pivot cover 13.
In the figure, the cover 13 is in a closed state, but it is opened by rotating so that a dirty towel and a new clean towel can be exchanged. As a towel dispenser, it is often experienced that there are no towels or lack of tension, and in order to deal with such a situation, a device such as a spring is activated to put the last part of the towel in the chamber. Those which are designed to be incorporated are known (for example, US Pat. Nos. 3,502,383 and 3,323,84).
No. 8 and No. 3,437,388). At the bottom of the chamber, which is a cabinet, there is a flexible shield 15 having a pair of holes 16 spaced from each other at its free ends.
The flexible shield 15 is fixed to the rear of the chamber 11, is elastically wound around the bottom of the chamber 11, and is detachably connected to the inside of the cover 13.

Further, the towel dispenser 10 has a winding mechanism 20, which has a well-known structure and has a shaft 21 which is driven electrically or by mechanical means such as a spring. . A used towel 22 is wrapped around the shaft 21, while a clean new roll of towel 25 is housed in the chamber 11 to form a loop, which loop extends downward in use. It will be extended to the bottom of the chamber for use.

Further, there is a transmitter 30, which is connected to the towel winding mechanism 20 via a lead wire 31.
Reference numeral 32 is an antenna. The receiver 35 is connected to a pair of solenoids 40 using any desired means 36, each solenoid 40 having a retractable pin or piston 41. The pin or piston is sized to fit snugly through the aligned or aligned hole 16 near the end of the shield 15.

Towel dispenser 12 shown in FIG.
Indicates that a new clean towel cannot be used, the cover 13 is closed and the shield 15
Is properly wound around the outer loop 26 to form a loop with the bottom of the chamber 11. Also, the solenoid 40
Pin or piston 41 is associated with hole 1 in shield 40
6 is projected to hold the shield in place. Furthermore,
In the state shown in FIG. 1 in which the cover is in the predetermined position, the piston 41 is protected by the cover 13 and is thus held so as not to move such as rattling. This means that the towel dispenser 10 is
Unauthorized towel removal can be prevented from this, and it can be confirmed that the towel dispensing work has been done properly and properly, and one container can be used before another container can be used. The towel drawer in the room can be used up to the end.
Typical sequences used in the dispenser of the present invention are towels, soaps, or confectionery items, regardless of their contents, as shown in FIG. Type 8 dispensers
It can be configured to be a sequence or two pairs of four. This illustrated example is a typical example, and various other configurations are possible.

In the daisy chain configuration, the dispenser numbered 1 in the figure has a clean towel roll 25 that has been used up and operates the oscillator 30 by a well known mechanism (not shown). The transmitter 30 is set to emit a signal via the antenna 32 in the event that the cleaning towel 25 runs out. This signal from the transmitter 30 is then received by the antenna 37 of the receiver 35 in the chamber 32.
This coding is known as a garage door opening / closing technique, and is disclosed in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,377,006 and 4037.
No. 201, No. 3445848 and the like. Therefore, the description is omitted here. These US patents include
Send a digital code signal to a pair of transmitter-receiver,
These transmitter-receivers are ultrasonic, infrared, or R
Although the use of the F signal is disclosed, each receiver emits a code signal which is set to be received by only the designated receiver. in this way,
In the event that the transmitter 30 emits a signal via the antenna 32, one or more predetermined receivers 35 are activated, followed by the associated solenoids 40 as described above.
The pins or pistons 41 of the towel 2 are moved backward to move the flexible shield 15 from the position shown in FIG.
6 is moved to the position shown in FIG. The shield 15 is made of synthetic resin or other flexible and highly flexible material so that it can withstand cracking and repeated use. A simple polyethylene shield is preferred for this invention, but may be constructed of any suitable material if desired. In addition to this structure, it is also possible to adopt a simple structure in the form of a segment, or to make it rigid and made of plastic.

Although only the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a towel chamber (cabinet) according to the present invention with a clean towel in use.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the main part of the towel chamber with the case removed from the state of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a position of the towel chamber at a transition stage from a state in which the towel cannot be used to a state in which it can be used.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the position of the towel chamber at the transition stage from the state where the towel is not usable to the state where the towel is usable, similarly to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the position of the towel chamber at the transition stage from the disabled state to the usable state of the towel, as in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a typical operation sequence by a plurality of dispensers.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 dispenser 11 chamber 12 side wall 13 cover 14 flexible shield 20 hoisting mechanism 21 axis 25 towel 26 loop 30 transmitter 31 lead wire 32 antenna 35 receiver 37 antenna 40 solenoid 41 piston

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An automatic supply dispenser in which a predetermined one of a plurality of supply members is operated in a predetermined circulation to store a predetermined amount of an object to be delivered and a predetermined amount of the object to be delivered. A supply device having a feeding mechanism, each supply body having a storage state that cannot be used and a supply state that can be used when necessary, and a transmitting device that cooperates with at least one supply body to emit a predetermined signal; The transmitter further includes another transmitter that cooperates with the supply device and senses a situation such as when there is no remaining storage capacity to operate the transmitter, and cooperates with at least one supply body. A receiver for receiving a predetermined signal from the transmitter, and further operatively coupled to the receiver for changing the supplier from the storage state to the supply state in response to a predetermined signal from the transmitter. The a, dispenser towels or the like so as to feed can be for use reservoir of the donor. 2. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein two supply bodies are installed. 3. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein there are two or more supply bodies, and at least one supply body has the transmitter and the receiver. 4. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the transmitter sends a signal to activate only one receiver. 5. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the transmitter sends an ultrasonic signal. 6. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the transmitter sends an infrared signal. 7. The transmitter transmits an RF signal.
Dispenser. 8. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the sensed situation is information indicating a deficiency state of the dispensed contents. 9. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the stored contents are towels. 10. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein each said transmitting device emits a different signal and only one receiving device receives said signal. 11. A dispenser that circulates towels from a chamber in a circulating manner, wherein a plurality of chambers (11) can supply clean towels (25) and a loop (26) outside the chamber has a predetermined length. Means (20) for sending out the clean towel part of the above, and a flexible shield part (1) whose one end is engaged with the rear part of the chamber.
5), latching means (40, 41) for removably connecting the other end of the shielding part to the chamber to hold the outer loop of the clean towel, and the clean towel is lost. In this case, the transmitting device (30) which emits a predetermined signal in response to it, the device for detecting the running out of the clean towel and operating the transmitting device, and the latching device are combined with the transmitting device. Receiving means (35) for opening the outer loop of the clean towel to a usable state in response to a signal from each of said receiving means, each receiving means receiving only from a selected one of said transmitting means (30). A dispenser capable of producing a clean towel by activating only the selected latch means by the signal from one transmitting means. 12. The latch means comprises a solenoid having a pin (41) that engages the flexible shield, the pin holding the shield in place to secure the outer loop of the towel to the chamber. 12. The dispenser according to claim 11, wherein the dispenser is located between the shield and the shield, and the solenoid is actuated to retract the pin to open the shield. 13. The shield has a pair of holes (16) near its other end, the latching means has a pair of solenoids, each solenoid being coupled to one of the holes in an extended state, and A pivotable chamber cover (13) for covering the end of the shield with the hole so that the chamber cannot be opened to keep the clean towel unusable. 13. The dispenser of claim 12, wherein