GB2370011A

GB2370011A - A dispenser for foil or film

Info

Publication number: GB2370011A
Application number: GB0030703A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham James New
Original assignee: Wrapex Ltd
Current assignee: Wrapex Ltd
Priority date: 2000-12-15
Filing date: 2000-12-15
Publication date: 2002-06-19
Also published as: GB0030703D0

Abstract

A dispenser for foil or film, such as plastics wrap film, comprises a container for receiving a roll of the film. The container has a flange 22 over which film can be drawn from the roll. The flange 22 includes a channel 28 serving as a guide track for a cutter device 42. The cutter device can be moved along the track to sever a length of film drawn from the roll. The cutter device comprises a guide shoe 68 which runs in the channel 28, and retaining means 60 which includes a foot 64 for retaining the cutter device on the flange 22.

Description

A Dispenser for Foil or Film This invention relates to a dispenser for foil or film.

GB-A-2204521 discloses a dispenser box for plastic wrap film. One side wall of the box has a slot which extends lengthwise of the box for receiving a cutter device which-can be moved along the slot in order to sever a length of film drawn from a roll contained within the box.

The slot in the side wall of the box substantially weakens the box which, being made of cardboard, lacks durability. Furthermore, after a length of film has been severed from the roll, the resulting free edge of film on the roll is not easily grasped by the user to draw a further length of film from the roll.

According to the present invention there is provided a dispenser for foil or film, comprising an elongate container for accommodating a roll of the foil or film, the container having a free edge which extends lengthwise of the container and over which, in use, foil or film passes as it is drawn from the roll, a guide track being formed in the material of the container adjacent and parallel to the free edge, the guide track cooperating with a cutter device having retaining means which extends around the free edge of the container to engage the material of the container on both sides, thereby to retain the cutter device on the container while permitting travel of the cutter device along the guide track to sever a length of foil or film drawn from the roll.

Preferably, the guide track is in the form of a channel over which the foil or film is drawn when it is to be dispensed. The cutter device may have a guide shoe situated within the channel. The retaining means of the cutter device may comprise a foot which engages

the underside of the channel, and may also include a slot into which the free edge of the container extends.

The cutter device is preferably operable by hand, and consequently has an operating element which can be operated by the user to move the cutter device along the guide track.

In a preferred embodiment, the cutter device comprises a blade which extends between che operating element and the guide shoe. The blade may be a single blade having two oppositely directed cutting edges so that the cutter device can cut the foil or film by travelling in either direction along the guide track.

Alternatively, the cutter device may include two oppositely directed blades.

The cutter device may be formed in two parts which are interconnected to fit the cutter device to the container. In a preferred embodiment, the operating element is formed in two parts, one of which carries the blade and the guide shoe, and the other of which carries the retaining means including the foot. The two parts of the operating element may be releasably interconnected by means of a press fit.

The container may be formed from plastics material, for example thermo-formed plastics material.

The container may comprise a body and a lid which are interconnected by an integral hinge. When closed, the container may have a generally cylindrical form, and it may include bearing portions at each end for supporting a core on which the roll of film or foil is wound. The body may thus have a semi-cylindrical recess for receiving the roll, and it may have a pair of spaced projections disposed between the recess and the guide track for supporting a free edge region of the foil or film on the roll. The lid may have a cut-out region within which the projections are situated when the lid is closed.

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an opened container for plastic wrap film ; Figure 2 is a front view of the container of Figure 1, in-the closed condition ; Figure 3 is a top view of the container of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an end view of the container of Figures 2 and 3; Figure 5 is a view on an enlarged scale of part of a cutter device of the container of Figures 1 to 4 ; Figure 6 is a front view of the component Figure 5; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a second component of the cutter device ; Figure 8 is a front view of the second component of Figure 7 ; Figure 9 is a partly sectioned view of the cutter device fitted to the container.

The container showed in Figure 1 comprises a body 2 and a lid 4, interconnected by an integral hinge 6.

The body 2, lid 4 and the hinge 6 are thermo-formed in a single piece from plastics material.

The body 2 and lid 4 are generally semicylindrical in shape each having a recess 8, 10 for accommodating i roll of plastics wrap film (or tinfoil). The cylindrical shape of the recess 8 of the body 2 is interrupted by formations 12 which provide legs for supporting the container, and by journal formations 14. The lid 4 has complementary journal formations 16 as well as strengthening ribs 18.

The recess 8 has flanges 20 at its ends and a flange 22 on the side away from the hinge 6. The

flange 22 has an inner region'24 and an outer region 26, which are separated from each other by a channel 28. The inner region 24 is interrupted by a pair of spaced projections 30. Also, the inner region 24 has, at each end, a peg 32.

The lid 4 also has edge flanges 34 which correspond to the flanges 20 of the body 2. The end flanges 24 extend for a short distance along the side of the lid 4 away from the hinge 6, where they are provided with indentations 36 which, in use, cooperate with the pegs 32 to retain the lid closed on the body 2. The lid 4 also has an oblique flange 38 having a central cut-out 40.

A cutter device 42 is fitted to the outer region 26 of the flange 22 and engages the channel 28. The cutter device 42 will be described in more detail with reference to Figures 5 to 9. It is slidable along the guide track 28 and includes a cutter blade 44 (Figure 7 to 9) for severing a length of film drawn from a roll situated in the container.

As shown in Figure 2, the cut-out 40 in the oblique flange 38 of the lid 4 leaves an opening, when the lid is closed over the body 2, between the projections 30 of the body 2. Furthermore, because the oblique flange 38 is offset from the plane of the end flanges 34 a gap 46 is left between the flanges 22 and 38 when the lid 4 is closed, to allow free movement of the film from the interior of the container.

The cutter device 42 comprises two components 48, 50 shown, respectively, in Figures 5 and 6, and in Figures 7 and 8. The component 48 comprises a slider knob part 52 having a pin 54 projecting from one side face. The component 50 has a complementary slider knob part 56 having an aperture 58 for receiving the pin 54.

The component 52 also has retaining means 60 which comprises a depending portion 62 terminating at a foot

64. The depending part 62 has a slot 66 which, as shown in Figure 9, receives the outer region 26 of the flange 22.

The component 50 has a guide shoe 68 which is connected to the slider knob part 56 by a stem 70. The blade 44 is moulded into the component 50 so that it is situated within the respective widths of the slider knob part 56, the stem 70 and the guide shoe 68. The blade 44 has oppositely directed inclined cutting edges 72.

As shown in Figure 9, the slider knob parts 52,56 are interconnected as a push fit between the pin 54 and aperture 58. In order to assemble the cutter device 42 on the container, the component 50 is positioned with the guide shoe 68 within the channel 28, following which the component 48 is presented to the component 50 and the two parts are pressed together to engage the pin 54 with the aperture 58, with the slot 66 receiving the outer region 26 of the flange 22. This positions the foot 64 beneath the channel 28, so that the cutter device 42 is retained on the container while being able to slide along the length of the channel 28.

It will be appreciated that the channel 28 extends beyond the cylindrical part of the container, i. e. , the part of the container disposed between the journals defined between the formations 14 and 16. Rolls of plastics wrap film are commonly wound on a core, for example of cardboard, with the ends of the core extending beyond the edge of the film. These core ends are supported by the cooperating formations 14 and 16 so that film can be unwound easily from the roll. The film is drawn through the slot 46 between the body 2 and the lid 4, and passes over the projections 30 and the flange 22. While film is drawn from the roll, the cutter device 42 is positioned at one extreme end of the guide track 28 so that it is out of the path of the

film where advancing through the slot 46. When the required length of film has been drawn off, it is laid against the outer region 26 of the flange 22 and the cutter device 42 is moved by the user's fingers along the track 28. The leading cutting edge 72 of the blade 44 thus comes into contact with the film to sever the drawn off piece from the remainder of the roll. At the end of a cutting stroke, the cutter device 42 is left at the end of the track 28, ready for the next cutting operation.

The leading edge of the film remaining on the roll extends over the projections 30 and is thus held above the central part of the flange 22. To draw off another length of film, the user can easily grasp the free edge of the film between the projections 30, since this free edge is accessible through the cut-out 40 in the lid 4.

Because the cutter device is formed in two pieces 48,50 which are connected together by a simple press fit between the pin 54 and the aperture 58, the cutter device can easily be removed from the container, for example when all of the film on the roll has been used, and can be fitted instead to a new container carrying a full roll. Thus, the cutter device 42 could be supplied separately from the containers, or supplied with some containers at an additional price over the price of containers supplied without the cutter device.

Alternatively, all containers could be supplied with the cutter device. Similarly, the container could be made sufficiently robust for it to be used successively with several replacement rolls of film. Alternatively, the container could serve as the retail packaging for the rolls of film, in which case each container would need to be sufficiently robust only to last until the roll of film it contains has been used up.

Claims

Claims : 1. A dispenser for foil or film, comprising an elongate container for accommodating a roll of the foil or film, the container having a free edge which extends lengthwise of the container and over which, in use, foil or film passes as it is drawn from the roll, a guide track being formed in the material of the container adjacent and parallel to the free edge, the guide track cooperating with a cutter device having retaining means which extends around the free edge of the container to engage the material of the container on both sides, thereby to retain the cutter device on the container while permitting travel of the cutter device along the guide track to sever a length of foil or film drawn from the roll.
2. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide track comprises a channel over which the foil or film is drawn.
3. A dispenser as claimed in claim 2, in which the cutter device has a guide shoe which is situated within the channel.
4. A dispenser as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which the retaining means comprises a foot which engages the underside of the channel.
5. A dispenser as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the retaining means comprises a slot in which the free edge of the container extends.
6. A dispenser as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the cutter device has an operating element for manual displacement of the cutter element along the guide track.
7. A dispenser as claimed in claim 6 when appendant to claim 3, in which the cutter device has a cutter blade which is disposed between the operating

element and the guide shoe.
8. A dispenser as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the cutter device is formed from two interconnectable components.
9. A dispenser as claimed in claim 8 when appendant to claim 6 and to claims 3 and 4, in which each component of the cutter device comprises a part of the operating element, one part of the operating element being attached to the foot of the retaining means, and the other part of the operating element being attached to the guide shoe.
10. A dispenser as claimed in claim 8 or 9, in which the two components are releasably connected by a press fit.
11. A dispenser as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, in which the container comprises thermo-formed plastics material.
12. A dispenser as claimed in claim 11, in which the container comprises a body and a lid which are interconnected by an integral hinge.
13. A container as claimed in claim 12, in which the body comprises a recess for accommodating the roll of foil or film, and includes a pair of spaced projections situated between the recess and the guide track for supporting a free edge of film or foil for manual engagement.
14. A dispenser as claimed in claim 13, in which the lid has a cut-out region in which the projections are situated when the lid is closed.
15. A dispenser for fcil or film, substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, accompanying drawings.
16. A cutter element for use in a dispenser in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.
17. A cutter element substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1, and 5 to 9 of the accompanying drawings.