US3090572A - Toilet tissue holding and dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

May 21, 1963 w. w. METCALF TOILET TISSUE HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1, 1960 INVENTOR- Vl a/fer VIZ/1920f BY ATTORNEYS y 1, 1963 w. w. METCALF 3,090,572

TOILET TISSUE HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed March 1, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

M/a/fer 14 Ne/ca/f BY M M TOILET TISSUE HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed March 1, 1960 May 21, 1963 w. w. METCALF 4 SheetsSheet 3 11/114 25 mm A m May 21, 1963 w. w. METCALF TOILET TISSUE HOLDING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed March 1, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 f2? Mentor l l/nller 14 Me/m/f i WWW %//".'s flzfzf'orv'veys United States Patent ()fiice 3',957Z Patented May 21, 1963 3,l 9,572 TOILET TISSUE HQLDHNG AND DlShENSlhlG DEVE'CE Walter W. Metcalf, deceased, late of Greenwich, NSL, by

Helen S. Metcalf, administratrix, Greenwich, N.Z., assignor to Stevens 8; Thompson laper ornpany, Greern wish, FLY a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 1, 1969, Ser. No. 12,036 6 Claims. (Cl. 242--55.3)

This invention relates generally to holding and dispensing devices, and more particularly to devices for holding and dispensing toilet tissue.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application for United States Letters Patent filed in the name of Walter W. Metcalf, entitled Toilet Tissue Cabinet, filed on January 15, 1954, bearing Serial No. 404,215, and now abandoned. Application for United States Letters Patent filed in the name of Walter W. Metcalf entitled Toilet Tissue Holding and Dispensing Device, filed on March 31, 1958, and bearing Serial No. 725,400 which is co-pending with the aforesaid application, Serial No. 404,215, is also co-pending with this application, and is now abandoned.

The invention is primarily concerned with a device and cabinet for holding toilet tissue in the form of rolls, and is particularly adapted for use in manufacturing plants, ofiice buildings and other places where large numbers of people use the facilities of a common lavatory.

In lavatories where a supply of toilet paper must always be maintained, it is the usual practice for janitors or other assigned employees to make frequent inspections of the supply of paper available. In order to avoid a situation where there is no toilet paper available, the janitor or employee will often leave a new roll of paper when the roll which is presently within the facility has been used to a point where there is a very little toilet paper left there- If the toilet paper dispenser is of the ordinary type and designed to hold only a single roll, and the individual who is inspecting the supply finds that only a small supply of paper remains on the roll, he either leaves a full roll in the area, or he removes the old roll and replaces it with a completely new roll. If he does this and throws the old roll away, there is over a period of time a substantial loss in money, If, however, he does not throw the old roll away but leaves it within the lavatory facility, it is not unusual for the roll of toilet paper to become unraveled on the floor, and as a result the lavatory becomes unsanitary, or if the person who cleans up is conscientious, he must do an additional amount of work. In addition to the situation of replacement of rolls, it is not uncommon for unscrupulous persons to remove toilet paper rolls from lavatory facilities, thus rendering the facility without toilet paper and wasting a substantial quantity of paper over a period of time.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a device and cabinet for holding toilet tissue which will result in a substantial saving in the amount of toilet paper used, aid in keeping the lavatory neat, and lessen the work of the person who must change the paper, and at all times allow for paper to be present.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toilet tissue holding and dispensing device which is provided wth means for holding a complete roll of toilet tissue and also with means for holding part of a roll, so that when it becomes necessary to insert a fresh roll of paper, that portion of the replaced roll which still remains may be positioned in the device so that it may be used instead of wasted.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of this character which is adapted to hold either coreless rolls of paper or rolls which have the usual cylindrical cardboard core.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of this character which is provided with braking means adapted to cooperate with the rolls by applying friction to the end thereof so that they cannot rotate freely.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a device in which the rolls of toilet tissue are locked in place to prevent bodily removal thereof from the cabinet.

Toilet tissue holding and dispensing devices embodying the invention, and the manner of using the same are described herein with references to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a toilet tissue holding and dispensing device constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention with portions in section and portions broken away;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 1 with a sheet of toilet tissue shown thereon in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 1 showing in phantom the cover of the device in open position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view with portions broken away showing the cover of the device in closed, locked position;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, perspective view similar to the view in FIG. 5 with portions broken away to show the cover of the device in opened position;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 88 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional sectional view taken along the line 9-9 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 7 with portions thereof broken away;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10-40 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view in the plane 99 of FIG. 7 with portions broken away;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11 but showing the device unlocked;

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective View of the parts shown in FIGS. 11 and 12; and

FIG. 14 is an elevational view of the key used for unlocking the device shown in FIG. 7.

Referring first to the FIGS. 1 through 4, the device shown therein contains a back plate Ztl which is adapted to be secured to a wall by means of screws or other fastening means extending through slots 21. (See FIGS. 5 and 6.) Spindles 2.2 and 23 are rigidly secured to the back plate and adapted, respectively, to hold a full roll of toilet tissue 24 and a partially used roll of toilet tissue 25. The back plate has a struck in portion 26 to provide space for the ends of the spindles which project through the back plate. At the left hand end as viewed in FIGS; 5 and 6, a portion 27 of back plate 26 is bent forwardly at right angles and has a fiat cover looking spring 23 secured thereto. The front ends of the spindles 2.2 and 23 are free.

The spindles project perpendicularly from the back plate and are parallel with one another lying in a horizontal plane with their center lines spaced apart a distance less than the diameter, but greater than the radius of a full roll of toilet paper.

The cabinet is open at the bottom, but is normally closed at the top, front and sides by a cover indicated generally by the numeral 29 in the drawings. Cover 29 contains a top portion 39 having down turned side portions 31 and 32, and a down turned front portion 33. Secured to the top portion of the cover by means of rivets 34, or otherwise, is a generally U-shaped portion forming the sides 35 and 36 and the front 37 of the cabinet when the cover is closed.

The cover is hinged to back plate 20 at 38 as shown and in order to lock it in closed position, side 35 near the rear thereof is provided with a struck in portion 39 (see FIGS. 3 and which snaps behind spring 28 when the cover is closed. In order to release the lock to open the cover, the end portion 35 is provided with a slot 40 through which a flat key may be inserted to press spring 28 inwardly past the struck-in portion 3% of the cover so that the cover is released.

The spindles 22 and 23 are mounted with respect to the cover so that at least one of them is spaced from the cover in closed position a distance greater than the radius of a roll of toilet paper.

[In order to hold the cover in opened position during the removal and replacement of a toilet tissue roll, there is pivotally secured to the side 35 of the cover a pendulous element 41 having an inturned portion 42 at the bottom thereof. When the cover is closed, the element 41 is in the position shown in FIG. 5, but when the cover is fully raised the element 41 swings into the notch 43 in the back plate and holds the cover, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. In order to lower the cover it is only necessary to swing the element 41 forwardly out of the notch 43 by means of the finger.

In order to prevent the rolls of paper from turning too freely on spindles 22 and 23 there is secured to the inner side of the front of the cover two fiat springs 44 and 45. The spring 44 is provided with a cylindrical disc 46 which bears against the end of the roll of paper on spindle 22 when the cover is closed and the spring 45 bears against the end of the roll of paper on spindle 23.

' Both of these spindles are provided at their rear ends with cylindrical discs 47 on spindle 22 and 48 on spindle 23. r

The paper forming the coreless rolls is somewhat narrower than the paper used in the ordinary cored rolls and in order to accommodate cored rolls as well as coreless rolls on spindle 22, the cylindrical discs 46 and 47 are of a diameter adapting them to be inserted in the ends of the core of a cored roll.

A second embodiment of this invention is shown in the drawings in FIGS. 7 through 14. The second embodiment of the toilet tissue holding and dispensing device, which is the subject of this invention, contains the features illustrated in the first embodiment, however, this embodiment of the invention is in the form of a device which is somewhat simpler to construct and therefore more economical.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 through 14 of the drawings, the second embodiment of the invention comprises a rectangular frame indicated generally by the numeral 49. The frame is formed of two separate sections which are hinged together at one end as shown at 50. One side 51 of the frame is provided with spaced struck-out portions 52 and 53 having openings 54 and 55 therein for the passage of means for securing the frame to a wall. Secured to the side of the frame which is adapted to be secured to a wall are longitudinally spaced spindles 56 and 57 which extend toward the other side of the frame and which are pointed to facilitate thrusting coreless rolls of toilet tissue thereon. Secured to the same side of the frame and coaxial with the spindles 56 and 57 are shallow discs 58 and 59 of a diameter adapted to be thrust into the end of a cored roll of toilet tissue. Secured to the opposite side of the frame is a resilient element 60 having at one end thereof a shallow disc 61 which is adapted to be received within the core 62 of a cored roll of toilet tissue and frictionally to cooperate therewith to prevent free rotation of the roll. It is also designed to cooperate frictionally with the end of a coreless type of roll when positioned on the spindle 57. At the other end of the resilient element 60 is not shown any disc but one could be placed thereon if desired. Otherwise this end of the resilient element 69 is adapted to cooperate with the edge of the core 62 of a cored type of roll or of a coreless roll positioned on the spindle 56.

As the end of the frame opposite the hinged end is a lock which functions automatically when the frame is closed to lock the sections together in closed position. The details of this lock are best shown in FIGS. ll, 12 and 13. Secured to that portion of the end opposite the hinged portion which is connected to the side 51 is aplate 63 which has an olfset portion 64 adapted to extend over that portion of the end which is connected to the front side 65 of the frame. The offset portion 64 of the plate 63 lies Within the vertically spaced angles 66 and 67 which are secured to the opposite portion of the end. Secured to the oifset portion 64 of the plate 63 by means of rivets 68 is a bifurcated spring 69, the free ends of which lie in contact with the struck-in portion 70 of the frame, thus locking the sections of the frame together at this end when the frame is closed.

In order to unlock the frame a key 71 such as shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 is slipped downwardly through the notched end 72 of the angle 66. The end of the key '71 is bevelled as shown at 73 so that when inserted in the frame it passes between the spring 69 and the end of the frame thus pushing the ends of the spring inwardly beyond the struck in portion 7t! of the frame so that the sections of the frame may then be swung apart on hinge 50.

It is apparent that in the second form of the invention, that embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 through 14, the constructionof the device is simpler than that shown in the first embodiment. *In the second embodiment, the frame is open at both the top and the bottom so that the individual who is charged with refilling the tissue holders does not have to open the device to see how much paper is left on either of the roll holders. If it is necessary for him to insert a new roll on spindle 57 or disc 59 he removes the roll therefrom and places it on the spindle 56 or the disc 58, and puts the new roll on the spindle 57 or disc 59, depending upon whether it is coreless or cored.

Both of the embodiments shown herein however accomplish the objects set forth in the beginning of this application. The principal advantage of utilizing this inyention is the saving in the quantities of toilet tissue used, the ease of the burden of maintenance upon the one charged with the duty and the resulting cleaner and more sanitary lavatory.

Thus, among others, the several objects in the invention as specifically aforenoted, are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A toilet accessory for disposition within the reach of a person utilizing a toilet adjacent a surface including in combination a cabinet, a back of said cabinet adapted to be secured to said surface, a cover of said cabinet hingedly connected to said back, an elongated spindle mounted on said back in cantilever manner and perpendicular thereto, a full roll of toilet tissue of predetermined radius supported by said spindle on the central axis thereof, a second elongated spindle identical to said first spindle and fixedly mounted on said back in cantilever manner in spaced relation with said first spindle and parallel thereto, a frame attached to said back, a side of said frame parallel to said second spindle and spaced therefrom a distance less than the radius of said full roll of toilet tissue, the spacing between said first and second spindles being less than the diameter of said full roll of toilet tissue so that a second full roll of toilet tissue identical to said first roll cannot be supported by said second spindle on the central axis thereof due to the interfering presence of said first roll and said side, and means on said cover adapted frictionally to co-operate with said first roll when said cover is closed to impede rotation of said first roll on said first spindle.

2. A toilet accessory for disposition within the reach of a person utilizing a toilet adjacent a surface comprising an open elongated rectangular frame formed of two longer and two shorter sides divided into two separate sections; a hinge in one end of said frame securing said sections together, and means at the other end of said frame for locking said sections together when said frame is closed, a first of the longer sides of said frame being adapted to be secured to said surface, an elongated spindle mounted on said first longer side in cantilever manner and perpendicular thereto, a full roll of toilet tissue of predetermined radius supported by said spindle on the central axis thereof, a second elongated spindle identical to said first spindle and fixedly mounted on said first longer side in cantilever manner in spaced relation with said first spindle and parallel thereto, a side of said frame parallel to said second spindle and spaced therefrom a distance less than the radius of said full roll of toilet tissue, the spacing between said first and second spindles being less than the diameter of said full roll of toilet tissue so that a second full roll of toilet tissue identical to said first roll cannot be supported by said second spindle on the central axis thereof due to the interfering presence of said first full roll and said side, and means on said frame adapted frictionally to co-operate with said first roll, when said frame is closed, to impede rotation of said first roll on said first spindle.

3. A toilet accessory in accordance with claim 1 in which means are provided to be automatically actuated when the cover is substantially fully opened for holding it in open position and second means are provided to be automatically actuated when said cover is fully closed for locking it in closed position. i

4. A toilet accessory in accordance with claim 2 in which said locking means include means for automatic-ally locking the sections together when the frame is closed.

5. A toilet accessory for disposition the reach of a person utilizing a toilet adjacent a surface including in combination a mounting plate for supporting said accessory on said surface, an elongated spindle mounted on said mounting plate in cantilever manner and perpendicu-lar thereto, a full roll of toilet tissue of predetermined radius supported by said spindle on the central axis thereof, a second elongated spindle identical to said first spindle and fixedly mounted on said mounting plate in cantilever manner in spaced relation with said first spindle and parallel thereto, a frame attached to said mounting plate, a side of said frame parallel to said second spindle and spaced therefrom a distance less than the radius of said full roll of toilet tissue, and the spacing between said first and second spindles being less than the diameter of said cfull roll of toilet tissue so that a second full roll of toilet tissue identical to the first roll cannot be supported by said second spindle on the central axis thereof due to the interfering presence of said first roll and said side.

6. A toilet accessory in accordance with claim 5 in which the frame is U-shaped with one side thereof hingedly attached at its end to said mounting plate, the remaining side thereof is provided with rneans for releasably locking said frame in closed position with the center portion thereof perpendicular to said spindles whereby said frame encloses said spindles and toilet tissue rolls supported thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 697,942 Hilton Apr. 15, 1902 733,934 Barker July 21, 1903 844,370 Krauth Feb. 19, 1907 1,354,434 Fassoulis Sept. 28, 1920 1,614,112 Fisher Jan. 11, 1927 1,981,673 Smith Nov. 20, 1934 2,450,496 Whiteley Oct. 5, 1948 2,526,440 Toombs Oct. 17, 1950 2,555,531 Boord June 5, 1 2,565,994 Sevenich Aug. 28, 1951 2,697,562 Langer Dec. 21, 1954

Claims (1)

1. 5. A TOILET ACCESSORY FOR DISPOSITION WITHIN THE REACH OF A PERSON UTILIZING A TOILET ADJACENT A SURFACE INCLUDING IN COMBINATION A MOUNTING PLATE FOR SUPPORTING SAID ACCESSORY ON SAID SURFACE, AN ELONGATED SPINDLE MOUNTED ON SAID MOUNTING PLATE IN CANTILEVER MANNER AND PERPENDICULAR THEREOT, A FULL ROLL OF TOILET TISSUE OF PREDETERMINED RADIUS SUPPORTED BY SAID SPINDLE ON THE CENTRAL AXIS THEREOF, A SECOND ELONGATED SPINDLE IDENTICAL TO SAID FIRST SPINDLE AND FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID MOUNTING PLATE IN CANTILEVER MANNER IN SPACED RELATION WITH SAID FIRST SPINDLE AND PARALLEL THERETO, A FRAME ATTACHED TO SAID MOUNT-

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