Many dispenser systems are known in the prior art for dispensing paper toweling from rolls thereof. In some cases the paper toweling is comprised of individual paper towel segments separated by perforated tear lines, and in others the toweling has no perforated tear lines formed therein, the user severing or cutting individual sheets from the toweling by some suitable means incorporated in the dispenser.
The dispenser system disclosed and claimed herein is of the latter type.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,880, issued Sep. 20, 1983, discloses a mechanism for cutting a web of flexible sheet material, such as paper toweling, which is adapted to be used in a dispenser having a feed roller and a pinch roller, between which rollers the web passes. A knife is pivotally mounted in the feed roller to swing about an axis laterally displaced from the plane of a radially outward portion of the knife defining a cutting edge which edge is projected outwardly beyond the periphery of the feed roller to cut the web as it passes over the feed roller. Cam followers are carried by the ends of the knife extending beyond the ends of the feed roller with the followers displaced from the pivot mounting axis of the knife. Stationary cams are mounted adjacent the ends of the feed roller which the cam followers on the knife engage to positively project the knife cutting edge beyond the feed roller periphery and retract the cutting edge upon rotation of the feed roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,386, issued Sep. 17, 1991, discloses a feed mechanism for feeding a web of rolled flexible sheet material, such as soft paper towels, out of a dispenser. The mechanism includes a feed roller within the dispenser and a web cutting blade in the feed roller and projectable and retractable therewith as the feed roller rotates. A contoured cam is attached to an end of the feed roller, and a spring-loaded cam follower presses against the contoured cam. The cam follower, through the cam, controllably assists in the rotation of the feed roller during the feed roller cycle when the blade cuts the web and thereafter to feed a free end of the material to an accessible position outside of the dispenser. The needed maximum pull forces by the user on the material to cut and withdraw the material from the dispenser are thereby significantly minimized, and the likelihood of the soft towel material tearing off in the user's wet hands is reduced.
The patents discussed above in the preceding two paragraphs are but two of many patents directed to dispensers which employ cutter blades associated with a paper towel support roller to cut paper toweling supported thereby. Other known patents utilizing this feature are: U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,189, issued Aug. 15, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,386, issued Sep. 17, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,461, issued Dec. 15, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,392, issued Apr. 10, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,033, issued Jan. 7, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,830, issued Sep. 15, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,279, issued Sep. 15, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,291, issued May 7, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,147, issued Aug. 4, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,361, issued Jul. 4, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,035, issued Jul. 11, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,711, issued Nov. 2, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,357, issued Apr. 28, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,837, issued Jan. 13, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,755, issued Nov. 11, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,261, issued Feb. 21, 1984, U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,738, issued Oct. 31, 1978, U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,844, issued Feb. 19, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,363, issued Jul. 22, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,639, issued Dec. 29, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 1,543,299, issued Jun. 23, 1925, U.S. Pat. No. 2,560,061, issued Jul. 10, 1951, U.S. Pat. No. 2,051,242, issued Aug. 18, 1936, U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,328, issued Apr. 20, 1971, U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,965, issued Jun. 19, 1973, U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,633, issued Feb. 5, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,797, issued Jul. 7, 1981, RE.28,911, reissued Jul. 20, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,120, issued Dec. 21, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,691, issued Jul. 29, 1975.