Dispenser Assembly For Selectively Dispensing Sheet Material

Abstract

A dispenser assembly facilitating selective manual dispensing of sheet material from a plurality of supplies of sheet material can be provided. The dispenser assembly can be configured with a side-by-side arrangement of supplies of sheet material and can include a manual drive system to facilitate dispensing of the sheet material from the dispenser. The dispensing system can include a plurality of driven rollers each configured to move sheet material from a respective supply of sheet material, and a manual drive mechanism selectively driving driven rollers of the plurality of driven rollers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sheet material dispenser, comprising:
 a dispenser housing;   a first support assembly and a second support assembly, each support assembly rotatably supporting a respective supply of rolled sheet material within the dispenser housing;   a first roller assembly and a second roller assembly mounted within an enclosure of the dispenser housing, wherein the first roller assembly has a driven roller configured to drive sheet material from the supply of rolled sheet material supported by the first support assembly and the second roller assembly has a driven roller configured to drive sheet material from the supply of rolled sheet material supported by the second support assembly;   a first drive mechanism operably coupled to the first roller assembly to selectively drive rotation of the select driven roller, wherein the first drive mechanism comprises a first push button assembly that is in geared cooperation with the select driven roller of the first roller assembly; and   a second drive mechanism operably coupled to the second roller assembly to selectively drive rotation of the select driven roller, wherein the second drive mechanism comprises a second push button assembly that is in geared cooperation with the select driven roller of the second roller assembly,   wherein a respective driven roller from an actuated drive mechanism is configured to rotate a selected number of rotations to dispense a select amount of sheet material upon actuation of the actuated drive mechanism.   
     
     
         2 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein each push button assembly comprises:
 a button member configured to be moved axially relative to the enclosure by manual actuation by an operator;   a spring mounted within the enclosure and positioned in contact with a back side of the button member to exert an opposing bias force against the axial movement of the button member, and   a gear rack configured to extend distally away from the backside of the button member along an axis that is parallel to the axis of movement of the button member,   wherein the gear rack is in operative geared cooperation with the select driven roller of the roller assembly associated with the respective push button assembly.   
     
     
         3 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 2 , wherein each push button assembly further comprises:
 a first driven gear in geared communication with the gear rack, the first driven gear having a first diameter;   a second driven gear coupled to the first driven gear, the second driven gear having a diameter that is greater than the first diameter of the first driven gear;   a third driven gear in geared communication with the second driven gear; and   a fourth driven gear operatively coupled to the third driven gear such that the third driven gear and the fourth driven gear such that the third driven gear and the fourth driven gear rotate in like directions.   
     
     
         4 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 3 , wherein the driven roller for each first and second roller assembly comprises a drive roller and a main drive roller in geared cooperation. 
     
     
         5 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 4 , wherein the third driven gear is coupled to the main drive roller of the respective roller assembly, and wherein the fourth driven gear is coupled to the drive roller of the respective roller assembly. 
     
     
         6 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 3 , wherein the fourth driven gear operatively coupled to the third driven gear by a belt connection to provide for synchronous rotation of the third and fourth driven gears. 
     
     
         7 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 3 , wherein the first driven gear is rotatable about a gear clutch such that the first driven gear is permitted to rotate in a single direction. 
     
     
         8 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the driven roller for each first and second roller assembly comprises a drive roller and a main roller in geared cooperation, wherein the first drive mechanism is operably coupled to the drive roller and the main roller of the first roller assembly to selectively drive rotation of the first roller assembly, and wherein the second drive mechanism is operably coupled to the drive roller and the main roller of the second roller assembly to selectively drive rotation of the second roller assembly. 
     
     
         9 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the driven roller for each first and second roller assembly is coupled to a clutch mechanism that is configured to allow the driven roller to rotate when rotated in one direction and to disengage from the driven roller when driven in the opposite direction. 
     
     
         10 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein each first and second roller assembly is configured to allow the user to manually retrieve additional sheet material by pulling the dispensed sheet material manually after the initial sheet material is dispensed via activation of a selected first or second drive mechanism. 
     
     
         11 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , further comprising a brake assembly for each roller assembly, each brake assembly having an elongate brake member being configured to pivot from an at rest position with respect to the housing for select braking contact with an upper guide roller of the roller assembly to cause the sheet material to cease feeding between a main roller and the upper guide roller such that the user can tear off the feed length of sheet material after which the brake assembly is configured to operatively bias back toward the at rest position. 
     
     
         12 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 11 , wherein, in the rest position, a proximal end of the brake member is spaced from the surface of the upper guide roller, and wherein the brake assembly is rotatably mounted relative to the enclosure of the dispenser housing. 
     
     
         13 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 11 , wherein the brake assembly further comprise a bias member configured to urge the elongate brake member of the brake assembly toward the at rest position. 
     
     
         14 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein each support assembly comprises a pair of opposing support members that are spaced apart such that a roll of sheet material can be mounted therebetween on a paper mandrel, wherein each of the support members has a first arm that has a proximal end that is configured to be rotatably mounted to an upper surface of the enclosure and a second arm that has a distal end that defines a slot for operative receipt of a respective end of a paper mandrel. 
     
     
         15 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 14 , wherein the pair of opposing support members are configured to move between a first position, in which the roll of sheet material mounted on the paper mandrel is at full size and the angled relationship of the respective first and second arms allows for the center of gravity of the full roll of paper material and paper mandrel to be positioned at a maximal distance from the driven roller to offset the weight of the full roll of sheet material and paper mandrel and wherein, as the operative diameter of roll of sheet material is reduced, the spacing of the center of gravity of the roll of paper material and paper mandrel relative to the driven roller is complementarily reduced to ensure that paper material is fed consistently to the driven roller. 
     
     
         16 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 14 , wherein the first and second arms are integral to each other and are positioned in a common plane at an acute angle with respect to each other. 
     
     
         17 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 14 , wherein, as the sheet material roll of paper mat is used up and the operable radius of the roll of sheet material is reduced, the paper drum mandrel is maintained at a desired distance from the upper surface of the enclosure of the dispensing system. 
     
     
         18 . A sheet material dispenser, comprising:
 a dispenser housing having a back portion and a front cover that is selectively rotatable relative to the back portion;   a first drive mechanism operably coupled to a first roller assembly to selectively drive rotation of a select driven roller, wherein the first drive mechanism comprises a first push button assembly that is in geared cooperation with the select driven roller of the first roller assembly;   a second drive mechanism operably coupled to a second roller assembly to selectively drive rotation of a select driven roller, wherein the second drive mechanism comprises a second push button assembly that is in geared cooperation with the select driven roller of the second roller assembly,   a first support assembly and a second support assembly, each support assembly rotatably supporting a respective supply of rolled sheet material within the dispenser housing, wherein each support assembly comprises a pair of opposing support members that are spaced apart such that a roll of sheet material can be mounted therebetween on a paper mandrel, wherein the pair of opposing support members are configured to move from a first position, in which the roll of sheet material mounted on the paper mandrel is at full size to an in-use position in which the paper material is fed consistently to the select driven roller as the diameter of the in-use roll of sheet material is reduced; and   a selection mechanism slidably mounted between the first push button assembly and the second push button assembly, the selection mechanism configured to allow for operator selection of the desired supply of rolled sheet material within the dispenser housing.   
     
     
         19 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 18 , wherein each of the pair of opposing support members has a first arm that has a proximal end that is configured to be rotatably mounted to an upper surface of the housing and a second arm that has a distal end that defines a slot for operative receipt of a respective end of the paper mandrel, wherein, in the first position, the angled relationship of the respective first and second arms allows for the center of gravity of the full roll of paper material and paper mandrel to be positioned at a maximal distance from the select driven roller to offset the weight of the full roll of sheet material and paper mandrel, and wherein, as the operative diameter of roll of sheet material is reduced, the spacing of the center of gravity of the roll of paper material and paper mandrel relative to the driven roller is complementarily reduced to ensure that paper material is fed consistently to the select driven roller. 
     
     
         20 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 19 , wherein each support member comprises a blocking assembly that extends outwardly from the first arm proximate a proximal end of the first arm, wherein the blocking assembly has a first edge and a second edge, and wherein the blocking assembly defines a slot extending inwardly from the second edge of the blocking assembly such that the slot is spaced from the first arm and is positioned substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first arm. 
     
     
         21 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 20 , wherein the first edge the blocking assembly is positioned at an angle α with respect to a longitudinal axis of the first arm, and wherein the second edge has an arcuate shape that extends distally away from the proximal end of the first arm until merging with an elongate body of the first arm. 
     
     
         22 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 20 , wherein selection mechanism has a selection knob that is configured to slide axially along a pair of spaced and opposed slots that are defined in the housing between the respective first and second push button actuation assemblies, wherein the selection knob has an upper surface that is coupled to an elongated support member that is configured to slide axially within a trough that is defined in the upper surface of the enclosure as the coupled selection knob is concurrently moved axially between the respective first and second push button actuation assemblies. 
     
     
         23 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 22 , wherein the selection mechanism further comprises a first bias able tab rotatably positioned at a proximal end of the elongated support member and a second bias able tab rotatably positioned at a distal end of the elongated support member. 
     
     
         24 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 22 , wherein each of the respective first and second tabs has a longitudinal axis and a coupled spring that is configured to bias the spring to a first position in which the tab is biased into contact with a defined shoulder on the support member that is spaced from the respective distal or proximal end of the elongated support member and in which the longitudinal axis of the tab is substantially normal to the elongate axis of the elongated support member, and wherein, in operation, the respective first and second tabs are configured to move away from the first position to a biased extended position in which the respective first and second tabs extend outwardly from the end edge of the support member such that the longitudinal axis of the tab can be selectively positioned at an acute angle with respect to the elongate axis of the support member. 
     
     
         25 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 24 , wherein, in the first position, a distal end of the tab extends at a maximal distance beyond and relative to the side edge of the support member, and wherein in the biased extended position, the distance that the distal end of the tab extends beyond and relative to the side edge of the support member is reduced when compared to the first position. 
     
     
         26 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 24 , wherein, when the selection knob is positioned adjacent the second push button actuation assembly, the first bias able tab of the selection mechanism is positioned between the blocking assembly extending from a second support member of a first support assembly and the blocking assembly extending from a first support member of a second support assembly, and wherein, in this position, the second bias able tab of the selection mechanism is positioned between the blocking assembly extending from a second support member of the second support assembly and a shoulder defined in the housing. 
     
     
         27 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 26 , wherein, when the sheet material of the first supply of sheet material is used up, the first arms of the respective first and second support members of the first support assembly are positioned in a fully deployed position in which the first arms of the respective first and second support members of the first support assembly are pivoted at a maximal amount relative to the upper surface of the housing, and wherein, in the fully deployed position, the juncture of the first and second edge of the respective blocking assemblies of the first support assembly are spaced from the upper surface of the housing at a distance that defines a gap sized and shaped for passage of a bias able tab therethrough. 
     
     
         28 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 23 , wherein the respective support assemblies are configured to be rotated toward a front side of the housing to a load position so that the rolls of sheet material can be mounted therein the respective support assemblies. 
     
     
         29 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 28 , wherein, with both support assemblies positioned in the load position, the slots of the blocking assemblies of the respective support assemblies are positioned in a common plane. 
     
     
         30 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 28 , wherein, with both support assemblies positioned in the load position, the common plane of the blocking assemblies is common to the plane of the first and second bias able tabs that are positioned at the opposing proximal and distal ends of the support member thereby allowing the selection knob to be moved axially back to an initial operation position, proximate the second push button assembly, before the respective support assemblies are rotated out to the respective load position to an operative position. 
     
     
         31 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 30 , wherein each pair of opposing support members comprises an elongate bumper member that is connected to an outside edge portion of a juncture of the first arm and the second arm for each of the support members such that the pair of opposing support members are maintained in spaced relationship in parallel planes. 
     
     
         32 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 31 , wherein, upon closure of the front cover to the back portion, the elongate bumper member of the support assemblies is configured to engage the inner surface of the front cover, which effects a rotational movement of the support assemblies away from the load position to the operative position in which sheet material is in contact with the driven roller of each of the first and second drive mechanisms. 
     
     
         33 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 31 , wherein, in the operative position, the plane of the slots of the respective blocking assemblies of the respective support assemblies are positioned out of plane with respect to the common plane of the first and second bias able tabs that are positioned at opposing proximal and distal ends of the support member. 
     
     
         34 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 18 , further comprising a first roller assembly and a second roller assembly mounted within an enclosure of the dispenser housing, wherein the first roller assembly has a driven roller configured to drive sheet material from the supply of rolled sheet material supported by the first support assembly and the second roller assembly has a driven roller configured to drive sheet material from the supply of rolled sheet material supported by the second support assembly. 
     
     
         35 . The sheet material dispenser of  claim 34 , wherein a respective driven roller from an actuated drive mechanism is configured to rotate a selected number of rotations to dispense a select amount of sheet material upon actuation of the actuated drive mechanism.