Dispenser for multiple rolls of sheet material

Abstract

A dispenser for dispensing rolled sheet material has a housing which holds at least one roll of sheet material. The housing has an outer surface positioned against a support surface and the housing also has an opening defined by a perimeter. A first end of a hub is positioned to extend through at least a portion of the opening in the housing. The hub is movably retained within the perimeter and it is configured to hold a roll of sheet material. An arm is coupled to a second end of the hub. The arm supports the hub for movement within the perimeter. The arm has a perimeter which is larger than the perimeter of the opening and the arm is movably supported against the outer surface of the housing. The arm is also configured to be releasably locked into one of a plurality of selected positions.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A dispenser for storing and dispensing rolled sheet material, comprising: 
 a housing configured to hold at least one roll of sheet material therein and formed to include an exit port, the housing having an outer surface positioned against a support surface and including an opening therein defined by a perimeter;    a hub having a first end and a second end, the first end positioned to extend through at least a portion of the opening in the housing, the hub being movably retained within the perimeter and configured to hold a roll of sheet material; and    an arm coupled to the second end of the hub and configured to support the hub for movement within the perimeter, the arm having a perimeter which is larger than the perimeter of the opening and being movably supported against the outer surface of the housing, the arm configured to be releasably locked into one of a plurality of selected positions.    
     
     
         2 . The dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a cover and a back plate, the back plate providing the outer surface which is positioned against the support surface.  
     
     
         3 . The dispenser of  claim 2 , wherein the opening and the perimeter thereof is provided in the back plate.  
     
     
         4 . The dispenser of  claim 3 , wherein the arm is moveably positioned on the outer surface of the back plate.  
     
     
         5 . The dispenser of  claim 4 , wherein the arm is releasably locked to the back plate via a tab provided by the arm which is configured to be positioned to extend into one of a plurality of apertures provided in the back plate to lock the arm and hub thereon into a selected position.  
     
     
         6 . The dispenser of  claim 5 , wherein the tab is provided on a hinge supported by the arm.  
     
     
         7 . The dispenser of  claim 4 , wherein the arm is moveable within an area defined by a retaining rib positioned on the outer surface of the back plate.  
     
     
         8 . The dispenser of  claim 4 , wherein when the arm is locked, the hub is locked into a position to prevent movement thereof.  
     
     
         9 . The dispenser of  claim 2 , wherein a retaining rib is provided on the outer surface of the back plate, and the arm is moveable within an area defined by the retaining rib.  
     
     
         10 . The dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the arm has a perimeter larger than the perimeter of the opening but smaller than a perimeter of a retaining rib positioned adjacent the arm on the outer surface of the housing.  
     
     
         11 . The dispenser of  claim 2 , wherein the hub is configured to be positioned in a perpendicular position relative to the back plate, and wherein the first end of the hub is not coupled to the housing.  
     
     
         12 . The dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the hub is positioned by the arm within the housing to hold one of a jumbo roll, a mid-sized roll, and a stub roll.  
     
     
         13 . A dispenser for storing and dispensing rolled sheet material, the dispenser comprising: 
 a housing configured to hold at least two rolls of sheet material therein and formed to include an exit port, the housing having an outer surface positioned adjacent a support surface, the outer surface including a pair of spaced-apart openings therein, each opening defined by a perimeter;    a pair of hubs, each hub having a first end and a second end, the first end of one of each of the hubs positioned to extend through at least a portion of one of each of the openings in the housing, each hub being movably retained within its respective perimeter and each hub configured to hold a roll of sheet material; and    a pair of arms, one of each of the arms coupled to the second end of one of each of the hubs and each arm configured to support its respective hub for movement within the perimeter, each arm having a perimeter larger than the perimeter of each opening and being movably supported against the outer surface of the housing, each arm configured to be releasably locked into one of a plurality of selected positions.    
     
     
         14 . The dispenser of  claim 13 , wherein the housing includes a cover and a back plate, the back plate providing the outer surface which is positioned against the support surface.  
     
     
         15 . The dispenser of  claim 14 , wherein each opening and perimeter formed thereby is provided in the back plate.  
     
     
         16 . The dispenser of  claim 14 , wherein each arm is movably positioned on the outer surface of the back plate.  
     
     
         17 . The dispenser of  claim 16 , wherein each arm is releasably locked to the back plate via a tab provided by each arm which is configured to be positioned in one of a plurality of apertures provided in the back plate to lock each arm and hub thereon into a selected position.  
     
     
         18 . The dispenser of  claim 17 , wherein the tab is provided on a hinge supported by each arm.  
     
     
         19 . The dispenser of  claim 16 , wherein each arm is releasably locked to the back plate via a tab provided on the backplate positioned adjacent the perimeter of each opening, the tab configured to be positioned in one of a plurality of apertures provided in each arm to lock the arm and hub thereon into a selected position.  
     
     
         20 . The dispenser of  claim 19 , wherein the tab is provided on a hinge which is formed adjacent at least a portion of each perimeter.  
     
     
         21 . The dispenser of  claim 16 , wherein each arm is moveable within an area defined by a retaining rib positioned on the outer surface of the back plate.  
     
     
         22 . The dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein each arm has a perimeter larger than the perimeter of the opening but smaller than a perimeter of a retaining rib positioned adjacent the arm on the outer surface of the housing.  
     
     
         23 . The dispenser of  claim 14 , wherein each hub is configured to be positioned in a perpendicular position relative to the back plate, and wherein the first end of each hub is not coupled to the housing.  
     
     
         24 . The dispenser of  claim 13 , wherein each hub is movable to hold one of a jumbo roll, a stub roll, and a mid-sized roll.  
     
     
         25 . The dispenser of  claim 13 , wherein the hubs together cooperate to hold a combination of one of rolls having substantially different diameters and rolls having substantially similar diameters.  
     
     
         26 . The dispenser of  claim 25 , wherein the rolls having substantially different diameters are defined as a jumbo roll and a stub roll, and the rolls having substantially similar diameters are defined as two mid-sized rolls.  
     
     
         27 . A dispenser for storing and dispensing rolled sheet material, comprising: 
 a housing configured to hold at least one roll of sheet material therein and formed to include an exit port, the housing having an outer surface positioned against a support surface and including at least one opening therein defined by a perimeter;    at least one hub, the hub having a first end and a second end, the first end positioned to extend through at least a portion of the opening in the housing, the hub being movably retained within the perimeter and configured to hold a roll of sheet material; and    movement/locking means including an arm for moving the hub within the perimeter and releasably locking the hub into one of a plurality of selected positions, at least a portion of the movement/locking means being movably supported against the outer surface of the housing.    
     
     
         28 . The dispenser of  claim 27 , wherein the housing includes a cover and a back plate, the back plate providing the outer surface which is positioned against the support surface.  
     
     
         29 . The dispenser of  claim 28 , wherein the opening and the perimeter thereof is provided in the back plate.  
     
     
         30 . The dispenser of  claim 29 , wherein the movement/locking means includes an arm is moveably positioned on the outer surface of the back plate.  
     
     
         31 . The dispenser of  claim 30 , wherein the arm is releasably locked to the back plate via a tab provided by the arm which is configured to be positioned to extend into one of a plurality of apertures provided in the back plate to lock the arm and hub thereon into a selected position.  
     
     
         32 . The dispenser of  claim 31 , wherein the tab is provided on a hinge supported by the arm.  
     
     
         33 . The dispenser of  claim 30 , wherein the arm is moveable within an area defined by a retaining rib positioned on the outer surface of the back plate.  
     
     
         34 . The dispenser of  claim 30 , wherein when the arm is locked, the hub is locked into a position to prevent movement thereof.  
     
     
         35 . The dispenser of  claim 27 , wherein at least a portion of the movement/locking means has a perimeter larger than the perimeter of the opening but smaller than a perimeter of a retaining rib positioned on the outer surface of the housing adjacent the portion of the movement/locking means.  
     
     
         36 . The dispenser of  claim 28 , wherein the hub is configured to be positioned in a perpendicular position relative to the back plate, and wherein the first end of the hub is not coupled to the housing.  
     
     
         37 . The dispenser of  claim 27 , wherein the hub is positioned by the movement/locking means within the housing to hold one of a jumbo roll, a mid-sized roll, and an escort roll.  
     
     
         38 . A method of positioning hubs in a dispenser adapted to hold at least two rolls of sheet material, the method comprising: 
 providing a dispenser according to  claim 13;     selecting a position for each hub such that the hubs are positioned to cooperate to hold one of rolls of substantially different diameters and rolls of substantially identical diameters;    unlocking each arm and moving the hub thereon to the selected position;    locking each arm into the selected position thereby retaining each hub in the selected position; and    disposing a roll of sheet material of a selected diameter on the hub.    
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein in the step of selecting a position for each hub, the step further includes selecting a position for a combination of one of a jumbo roll and a stub roll, and two mid-sized rolls.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein in the step of unlocking each arm and moving the hub thereon to the selected position, the step further includes moving a tab provided on each arm out of one aperture and moving each arm such that the tab is in alignment with and positioned in another aperture.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein in the step of unlocking each arm and moving the hub thereon to the selected position, the step further includes moving a tab provided in the housing and positioned adjacent the perimeter out of one aperture provided on each arm and moving the arm such that another opening in the arm is in alignment with the tab and the tab is positioned in the other aperture.