Dispenser assembly for selectively dispensing sheet material

Abstract

A dispenser assembly facilitating selective dispensing of sheet material from a plurality of supplies of sheet material having a plurality of driven rollers each configured to move sheet material from a respective supply of sheet material. The dispensing assembly including an activation system that can include an opposing beam dispenser activation assembly for triggering a dispensing operation and/or a visible light indicator for guiding a user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sheet material dispenser, comprising:
 a dispenser housing defining at least one chamber;   a plurality of support assemblies rotatably supporting a plurality of supplies of rolled sheet material within the at least one chamber of the dispenser housing;   wherein each support assembly comprises:
 a bracket that is hingeably mounted to a portion of the dispenser housing; 
 a support structure mounted to a central portion of the dispenser housing; and 
 a spindle that is connected to the bracket and extends inwardly into the at least one chamber; wherein an inner end of the spindle is configured to be detachably supported by the support structure in a stored position; 
   wherein, to facilitate resupply, one or more of the support assemblies can be pivoted to move the respective inner end of the spindle upwardly and away from the support structure so that the respective inner end of the spindle is spaced away from the support structure in a load position that allows for the loading of a respective supply of rolled sheet material to be loaded onto the respective spindle;   a plurality of roller assemblies mounted within the dispenser housing, each roller assembly having a driven roller configured to drive sheet material from a respective supply of rolled sheet material; and   a drive mechanism operably coupled to a select one of the driven rollers to selectively drive rotation of the select one driven roller.   
     
     
         2 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of roller assemblies comprises a first driven roller configured to drive sheet material from respective first supply of rolled sheet material and a second driven roller configured to drive sheet material from a respective second supply of rolled sheet material. 
     
     
         3 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 2 , wherein the drive mechanism is operably coupled to a select one of the first or second driven roller to selectively drive rotation of the select one of the first or the second driven roller. 
     
     
         4 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 3 , wherein the drive mechanism comprises:
 a transmission assembly configured to selectively drive rotation of select one of the first or the second driven roller; and   a motor configured to drive in a first rotation direction to cause the transmission assembly to engage and rotate the first driven roller to affect the movement of the sheet material from the first supply of sheet material along a first discharge path toward and out from a discharge defined in the dispenser housing and further configured to drive in a second rotation direction, opposite to the first rotation direction, to cause the transmission assembly to disengage with the first driven roller and to engage and rotate the second driven roller to affect the movement of sheet material from the second supply of sheet material along a second discharge path toward and out from the discharge of the dispenser housing.   
     
     
         5 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 4 , further comprising a control circuitry in communication with the drive mechanism that is programmed to selectively actuate the motor in the first or second rotative direction to feed the sheet material from the selected supply of sheet material through the discharge defined in the dispenser housing. 
     
     
         6 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of support assemblies comprises:
 a first support assembly configured to support the first supply of rolled sheet material; and   a second support assembly configured to support the second supply of rolled sheet material.   
     
     
         7 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 5 , wherein, when the spindles of the respective first and second support assemblies are positioned in the stored position, a longitudinal axis of each of the respective spindles are co-axial. 
     
     
         8 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 5 , wherein, when the spindle of one of the respective first and second support assemblies is positioned in the load position, the longitudinal axis of the respective spindle is the load position is positioned at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the respective spindle that is in the stored position. 
     
     
         9 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more material detection modules mounted within the dispenser housing adjacent a respective intake opening of each of the roller assemblies; each material detection modules being configured to determine whether sheet material from the respective supply of rolled sheet material is being fed through the respective intake opening in a respective sensor area along a sheet path the sheet material follows between the respective intake opening and the respective roller assembly. 
     
     
         10 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 9 , wherein each material detection module comprises an infrared (IR) launch tube and an infrared receiver tube; each material detection module being oriented so that IR rays emitted from the IR launch tube are directed toward the sensor area between the respective intake opening and the respective roller assembly. 
     
     
         11 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 10 , wherein, when the sheet material is not present in the sensor area, the IR rays emitted by the IR launch tube are not reflected back to the IR receiver tube. 
     
     
         12 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 10 , wherein each material detection module is in electronic communication with a control unit, which is operable to selectively supply power to the one or more material detection modules, wherein the control unit is programmed to send a command to determine if sheet material is present in the sensor area and to receive a signal from the material detection module regarding whether the IR receiver tube detected IR rays reflected from the sheet material. 
     
     
         13 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 9 , wherein each material detection module comprises an IR launch tube and an opposed IR receiver tube; the IR launch tube and opposed IR receiver tube being positioned and oriented in along a common axis such that an IR beam projecting between the respective IR launch tube and opposed IR receiver tube, wherein the formed IR beam extends substantially transverse to a longitudinal axes of a respective roller assembly. 
     
     
         14 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 13 , wherein, when the sheet material is present in the sensor area, the IR rays emitted by the IR launch tube are not received by the IR receiver tube. 
     
     
         15 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 13 , wherein each material detection module is in electronic communication with a control unit, which is operable to selectively supply power to the one or more material detection modules, wherein the control unit is programmed to send a command to determine if sheet material is present in the sensor area and to receive a signal from the material detection module regarding whether the IR receiver tube detected IR rays, which is an indication that the supply of material is not present in the sheet path. 
     
     
         16 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , further comprising an activation system configured for sensing proximity of a user and sensing activation gestures for initiating a dispensing operation of the sheet material. 
     
     
         17 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 16 , wherein the activation system comprises a dispenser activation sensor assembly at least partially recessed with a front recess defined in a front portion of the dispenser housing, the dispenser activation sensor assembly comprising an IR launching tube and an opposing IR receiving tube, and wherein the IR launching tube is configured to emit IR rays directly toward the IR receiving tube so that the IR receiving tube will detect the IR rays from the IR launching tube unless the IR beam is broken, such as by an operator's hand. 
     
     
         18 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 17 , wherein the activation system further comprises a visible light indicator that comprises a LED module configured to selectively emit one or more colors of visible light, and wherein the LED module is mounted in a portion of the front recess. 
     
     
         19 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 18 , wherein the LED module is configured to emit visible light in differing colors of visible light to the operator to indicate different operational states of the dispenser assembly. 
     
     
         20 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 19 , wherein the activation system further comprises a front sensor assembly that comprises an IR launching tube and an IR receiving tube mounted adjacent the recess and oriented at an angle directed outwardly from the recess to form a forward sensing area. 
     
     
         21 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 20 , wherein the visible light indicator and the dispenser activation sensor assembly are deactivated until they are activated by a control unit receiving a signal from the front sensor assembly that indicates that an operator has moved into the forward sensing area. 
     
     
         22 . A sheet material dispenser, comprising:
 a dispenser housing defining at least one chamber;   a plurality of support assemblies rotatably supporting a plurality of supplies of rolled sheet material within the at least one chamber of the dispenser housing;   a plurality of roller assemblies mounted within the dispenser housing, each roller assembly having a driven roller configured to drive sheet material from a respective supply of rolled sheet material;   a drive mechanism operably coupled to a select one of the driven rollers to selectively drive rotation of the select one driven roller;   one or more material detection modules mounted within the dispenser housing adjacent a respective intake opening of each of the roller assemblies; each material detection modules being configured to determine whether sheet material from the respective supply of rolled sheet material is being fed through the respective intake opening in a respective sensor area along a sheet path the sheet material follows between the respective intake opening and the respective roller assembly; and   an activation system configured for sensing proximity of a user and sensing activation gestures for initiating a dispensing operation of the sheet material.   
     
     
         23 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 22 , wherein each support assembly comprises:
 a bracket that is hingeably mounted to a portion of the dispenser housing;   a support structure mounted to a central portion of the dispenser housing; and   a spindle that is connected to the bracket and extends inwardly into the at least one chamber; wherein an inner end of the spindle is configured to be detachably supported by the support structure in a stored position;   wherein, to facilitate resupply, one or more of the support assemblies can be pivoted to move the respective inner end of the spindle upwardly and away from the support structure so that the respective inner end of the spindle is spaced away from the support structure in a load position that allows for the loading of a respective supply of rolled sheet material to be loaded onto the respective spindle.   
     
     
         24 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 22 , wherein the activation system comprises a dispenser activation sensor assembly at least partially recessed with a front recess defined in a front portion of the dispenser housing, the dispenser activation sensor assembly comprising an IR launching tube and an opposing IR receiving tube, and wherein the IR launching tube is configured to emit IR rays directly toward the IR receiving tube so that the IR receiving tube will detect the IR rays from the IR launching tube unless the IR beam is broken, such as by an operator's hand. 
     
     
         25 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 24 , wherein the activation system further comprises a visible light indicator that comprises a LED module configured to selectively emit one or more colors of visible light, and wherein the LED module is mounted in a portion of the front recess. 
     
     
         26 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 25 ; wherein the LED module is configured to emit visible light in differing colors of visible light to the operator to indicate different operational states of the dispenser assembly. 
     
     
         27 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 26 , wherein the activation system further comprises a front sensor assembly that comprises an IR launching tube and an IR receiving tube mounted adjacent the recess and oriented at an angle directed outwardly from the recess to form a forward sensing area. 
     
     
         28 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 27 , wherein the visible light indicator and the dispenser activation sensor assembly are deactivated until they are activated by a control unit receiving a signal from the front sensor assembly that indicates that an operator has moved into the forward sensing area.