Covered dispenser for sheet material

Description

This application is a Continuation-In-Part (C-I-P) of the Provisional application No. 61/640,562 filed on Apr. 30, 2012

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

There are many dispensers such as paper towel dispensers or toilet tissue dispensers. That are upstanding or horizontally mounted. In case of paper towels, the dispenser usually consists of an upstanding post which is vertically mounted on a base and the individual sheets are manually unwound and torn off as desired. The dispenser normally placed on a kitchen counter and is open to their environment, that is, any moisture or other contaminants can easily soil the top of the wound up sheets by dust or fluids. It is therefore desirable to place a top cover on top of the coils of the wound up material. A cover for a paper towel dispenser is known. It consists of a base plate that has an upstanding plate support mounted at the periphery of the base plate and then has a hinged plate attached thereto that will cover the wound-up coils of the paper towels when hinged downwardly over the paper towel package placed over the base plate. The design will limit the usefulness of the dispenser because it can only be used for would-up paper towels. The shorter bathroom tissues rolls cannot be placed therein because they could not be manually unwound.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The inventive concept follows the known concept where a roll of paper towels is placed over the center post and can then be manually dispensed therefrom. The difference is that the center post is a round or circular pole that is fastened to the base plate. At just about the height of the wound-up paper package, a circular stop is placed which will serve as a stop for round cover that is placed over the pole. The cover acts as a sanitary cover and prevents contaminants and bacteria from being deposited on top of the wound-up coil of the material. A cap is placed over the pole to arrest the round cover and in its position. This prevents the plate from accidently falling off in the event when the whole dispenser should tip over or even fall to the ground. This inventive arrangement is extremely useful in an outdoor setting, such as in a picnic area. It keeps the dispenser and the wound-up sheet material in a sanitary condition. The top of the coiled paper towel package is protected from the environment, especially if forgotten and rain should occur. The package is still protected. Additionally, a chain may be draped downwardly over the package to avoid an accidently unwinding in case of disturbing air currents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates a paper towel dispenser having a cover thereon. The fig. shows a base plate (6) having a circular pole (3) embedded therein in an upstanding or vertical manner. A circular cover (2) is placed over the pole (3) by way of its matching center and circular bore. On the pole (3) there is placed a circular ring (4) which functions in two ways. One, it forms a stop for the cover (2) and two, it is dimensioned to the inside diameter of the core onto which the paper towels haven been wound to give the paper towel package a stable support. The same function is attributed to the lower ring (5) which is also dimensioned to match the inside diameter of the core. This arrangement enhances a smooth unwinding of any of the sheets from the roll. Once the top (2) has been placed over the pole (3), the core of the paper towel package will slide over both rings (4 &5) and will stabilize the package. It should be noted that the upper ring has a friction fit on the pole (3). This is extremely helpful because it is contemplated that at least two bathroom tissue could be placed over pole (3). Two stacked bathroom tissue rolls stacked one upon the other is somewhat shorter than the height of the paper towel package. This way the friction fit upper ring can be moved to accommodate the shorter height of the tissue paper rolls.

As mentioned above, the paper towel dispenser could be used in an outdoor environment such as in a picnic area. The prevailing gusts of wind could automatically unwind the individual sheets. To prevent this from happening, the chain (7) could be attached to the replaceable cover (2) as is shown in the figure. This chain (7) will hug the outer circumference of the wound-up paper towel and prevent it from unraveling. In the figure there is shown the cap (1) which will be placed over the pole (3) once the paper towel is placed in its position. It is contemplated that the cap (1) be friction-fit to the top of the pole (3) either by a threading arrangement or by friction or press fitting. This way, if the dispenser is accidentally tilted over or falls, the cover (2) will stay in place and maintain its integrity. The choice of material is dictated by the cost of any material and, of course, the method of manufacture. The overall aim is to keep the device at a low costs.