Space saving system for coreless rolled wipers

United States Patent U9]

Blythe

[54] SPACE SAVING SYSTEM FOR CORELESS ROLLED WIPERS

[75] Inventor: David A. Blythe, Philadelphia, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Scott Paper Company, Delaware
County, Pa.

[21] Appl. No.: 287,553
[22] Filed: Aug. 8,1994

[51] Int. CI.6 B65H 1/00

[52] U.S. CI 221/63; 221/45; 206/389

[58] Field of Search 221/63, 33, 45;

206/389, 410, 398, 812; 242/613, 600,

601

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

325,410 9/1885 Hicks 242/565

1,819,895 8/1931 Hunt: 242/1

3,704,776 12/1972 Collins 206/389

4,762,061 8/1988 Watanabe et al 100/35

4,886,167 12/1989 Dearwester 206/389

4,909,388 3/1990 Watanabe 206/410

5,027,582 7/1991 Dearwester 53/399

5,090,566 2/1992 Yount 206/389

5,186,099 2/1993 Qing et al 100/35

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

US005480060A [ii] Patent Number: 5,480,060 [45] Date of Patent: Jan. 2, 1996

5,195,300 3/1993 Kovacs 53/438

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

2244472 4/1991 United Kingdom.

Primary Examiner—Kenneth Noland

Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Woodcock Washburn Kurtz

Mackiewicz & Norris

[57] ABSTRACT

A centerflow rolled wiper system for a coreless rolled web which obviated dispensing problems caused by roping of the web during dispensing while simultaneously achieving significant space saving advantages. The coreless rolled web includes a plurality of wipers defined by lines of perforation across the width of the web, each of said wipers having a length L. The initial center hole of the roll has a crosssectional perimetric dimension which is less than two times L, the roll having been bi-directionally compressed to a generally rectangular cross section. There is a dispenser carton in which the bi-directionally compressed roll resides, the dispenser carton sized to maintain said generally rectangular cross section of the bi-directionally compressed rolled web. A dispensing port through at least one end of the dispenser carton allows a user to withdraw the wipers from the center of the coreless roll.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets

SPACE SAVING SYSTEM FOR CORELESS ROLLED WIPERS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to coreless rolled wipers and, more particularly, to individually packaged coreless rolled wiper dispenser systems.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

Numerous coreless rolled wiper products are known in the prior art. Generally, such prior art coreless rolled wiper products may be described as being either large roll diameter products or small roll diameter products. Small diameter rolls have an outside diameter in the range of from about 4 inches to about 6 inches, and large diameter rolls have an outside diameter of from about 8 inches to about 12 inches. Small diameter coreless rolls typically have an initial inside diameter of about 1.5 inches, while large diameter coreless rolls typically have an initial inside diameter of about 3.0 inches.

There are a variety of compressed rolled sanitary paper products known in the prior art. Most of the references teaching such products are directed, primarily, to methods in/or apparatus for compressing the rolls. Generally speaking, such rolls are reshaped in a generally round configuration by the end user. Examples of such references include U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,167 to Dearwester, U.S. Pat. No. 4,909, 388 to Watanabe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,061 to Watanabe, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,582 to Dearwester, U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,099 to Qing, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,300 to Kovacs, et al.

U.K. Patent Application No. GB2244472A teaches a tissue dispenser for coreless rolls of tissue wherein the roll may be unidirectionally compressed within the dispenser. The tissue is dispensed in its compressed configuration.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 325,410 to Hicks and 1,819,895 to Hunt each teach flattened rolls of toilet tissue wherein the paper is removed from the outside of the roll when the roll is in its flattened condition.

Although some of the above cited prior art teaches a space saving feature, that space saving feature is directed to the shipping and storage of the products. That advantage, therefore, is no longer present for the end user during actual dispensing. Further, the centerflow rolled wipers generally have a roping problem associated therewith at least during the initial stages of dispensing when the diameter of the hole in the center of the roll is relatively small. Roping occurs when the sheet twists as it is being extracted from the center of the roll which can cause premature tearing of the perforations and dispensing failure. In addition, the twisting or roping of the wiper during dispensing may interfere with the tearing of individual sheets along the lines of perforation. The roping or twisting problem has been eliminated with larger diameter rolls by creating a correspondingly larger initial inside diameter. Of course, the larger inside diameter results in a larger outside diameter as well which means that the final product will occupy more space than it would have if the center hole was maintained at its smaller diameter. The present invention obviates the roping or twisting problem while simultaneously yielding a package which displaces less volume than a conventional centerflow roll of equal total length having the smaller diameter initial center hole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a space saving system for coreless rolled wipers wherein premature rupture of lines of perforation due to roping or twisting of the product during initial dispensing is substantially eliminated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a space saving system for coreless rolled wipers wherein roping of the product during initial dispensing is reduced.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a space saving system for coreless rolled wipers wherein the total volume displacement of the roll is substantially reduced even during dispensing.

Briefly stated, the foregoing and numerous other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon reading of the detailed description, claims and drawings set forth herein. These objects, features and advantages are accomplished through forming a coreless rolled wiper product having an enlarged inside diameter and subsequently compressing that roll bi-directionally to preferably form a generally square or rectangular shape wherein the center hole is deformed such that it is partially collapsed. The center hole however is not deformed to the point where the sides thereof are in contact with one another. The compressed product is then placed into a centerflow dispensing container which is preferably disposable. That container is preferably formed of corrugated cardboard and maintains the outside shape of the bi-directionally compressed roll in its generally rectangular or square shape. The coreless rolled wiper product will generally have a basis weight of from about 20 to about 60 pounds per 2880 ft.2.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical prior art roll of coreless wipers in a dispenser carton.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 2—2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the roll of the present invention prior to being bi-directionally compressed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the space saving system for coreless rolled wipers of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5—5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6—6 of FIG. 4 assuming the dispenser carton of FIG. 4 was square in cross section.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the roll of the present invention prior to being bi-directionally compressed with a number of sheets unwound from the outside surface thereof.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a case of bi-directionally compressed rolled wipers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning first to FIG. 1 there is shown a perspective view of a typical prior art dispenser carton 10 for a small diameter roll of coreless wipers. The carton 10 includes a dispensing orifice 12 on one end thereof through which the wipers 14 are dispensed. The dispenser carton 10 is preferably made from corrugated cardboard and has a coreless roll of wipers 16 residing therein. Such coreless roll of wipers 16 includes an inside or centerflow hole 18 which would typically have