HK1187874A - Tissue paper systems - Google Patents

Description

Tissue paper system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to tissue dispensing systems, packages for tissue sheets, and interfolding configurations for tissue sheets. The present invention relates to various absorbent tissue paper sheets, including toilet tissue paper sheets/hygiene paper sheets/nonwoven absorbent sheets, facial tissue paper sheets, kitchen tissue type tissue paper sheets, hand tissue type paper sheets, napkins, moist wipes and the like.

Background

Various types of tissue paper packages are known in the art. There are toilet tissue paper, which is typically provided as a roll of tissue paper. The toilet tissue paper is in the form of a continuous web of tissue paper divided into sheets by lines of perforations across the web, each sheet having a length of about the length of a palm (although smaller and larger sheets are also known). The web of toilet tissue paper is wound on a tubular core. Kitchen tissue paper for use in wiping kitchen spills is also commonly provided in the form of a roll of tissue paper. Toilet tissue paper provided as stacks rather than rolls is also known. The sheets of toilet paper are interfolded such that as one sheet is withdrawn the next sheet partially protrudes with the previous sheet through the dispensing opening of the wall-mounted dispenser holding the stack. The stack may be wrapped in a thin paper that must be removed before the dispenser is assembled. Also known are coreless toilet paper stacks, which will be discussed below.

Also known are facial tissues provided as a stack of interfolded tissue paper sheets. The box containing the tissue paper stack has a dispensing opening through which the tissue paper sheets can be withdrawn one by one. Interfolding the tissue paper sheets allows withdrawal of a subsequent sheet to partially pull out the previous sheet. The partially pulled out sheet thus protrudes from the dispensing opening for easy gripping and extraction. The box is disposable in that it is made of a biodegradable material, such as cardboard.

The present inventors have noted deficiencies in the design of tissue rolls in terms of hygiene. It is often necessary to grasp the tissue roll with both hands to separate one or more sheets from the roll. This means that the previous user has already grasped the tissue paper to be used by the next user. From a hygienic point of view, this is suboptimal, especially in the case of toilet tissue paper. A further problem is that several rolls of tissue paper cannot be transported and stored in an ideal stack. That is, the tubular core of the roll and the insufficiently nested roll mean that space that would otherwise be occupied by tissue paper is wasted.

Facial tissue cartons and toilet paper stacks are in some respects a more hygienic option than tissue paper rolls. The box provides a relatively closed configuration whereby only the uppermost sheet in the stack in the box, i.e. the sheet used by the user himself, is accessible. However, current tissue paper packaging has room for modification. They are usually designed so that the cut made by the perforation is torn away to expose the dispensing opening. A more intuitive method of opening tissue paper packages that does not require high precision is desirable. In addition, dispensing tissue from conventional tissue boxes is typically a two-handed process. One hand presses the box and the other hand withdraws the tissue paper sheet. One-handed tissue dispensing is preferred.

A stack of toilet tissue paper sheets may be provided for dispensing from a permanent dispenser. Refill packs of toilet tissue paper sheets are provided to fill the dispenser. Paper towel dispensers are also known in the art. Such paper towels can be designed for use in drying hands or face. These can be provided in the form of a wall-mounted container filled with a stack of paper towels or toilet tissue sheets. For filling, the paper towel or toilet tissue paper sheet is removed from the packaging material, which may be plastic or paper, and filled into the container. One design of a container for tissues has a slit at the bottom end aligned with the longitudinal axis of the tissues so that the tissues can be withdrawn from the container one at a time. The container and tissue stack are typically configured such that the tissue is pulled in a direction along the transverse axis of the tissue to pull it out of the container. The inventors have noted that: the short axis of the towel is thus presented to the user, which is often then rotated so that the long axis of the towel is aligned with the long axis of the surface. One design of the toilet paper dispenser and toilet tissue paper stack has interfolded tabs such that when one tab is withdrawn from the dispenser, it partially pulls the next tab to be dispensed therewith through a slit to facilitate grasping of the next tab. The interfolded toilet paper dispenser does not break away from the housekeeping background, despite its use in a commercial or home-remote environment. One reason for this may be because the bulk of the toilet paper dispenser makes it unsuitable for home use. Another reason for this may be that such dispensers are not easily filled. Yet another reason for this may be that the present design of the dispenser does not meet the desire or need of people in a home environment.

With the above-described stack style toilet tissue paper dispenser, it is apparent that modifications can be made to make the filling and use of the container or dispenser closer to a single step operation. As such, the tissue filling and dispensing process may be more ergonomic.

It is therefore an object of the present invention in its various aspects and preferred embodiments to address the above problems and to provide a modified tissue paper system.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, wherein the package comprises at least one line of weakness having an unbroken configuration and a broken configuration, and wherein the package is configured to be able to be flexed to pull apart the line of weakness when the line of weakness is in the broken configuration to open the package so as to allow a sheet within the stack to be withdrawn through the open package.

Preferably, the stack of tissues is elongate and the open package exposes a longitudinal central region of the stack of tissues, while longitudinal ends of the stack remain covered by the package. Preferably, the package and the line of weakness are configured such that the line of weakness is broken by bending the package.

A package so designed provides an intuitive and even satisfactory way of opening the package to access the sheets. For a package so constructed, it needs to be able to be bent without burden for most adults, including the elderly and young adults. Violence in this way opens the package without any sense of satisfaction.

In an alternative embodiment, the line of weakness defines, at least in part, a tear strip configured to be pulled in the direction of elongation of the line of weakness to break the line of weakness. Tearing of the strip is effected by means of a pair of spaced lines of weakness with an extendable tab at one end of the tear strip, whereby the tab can be pulled in the direction of elongation of the pair of lines of weakness to break at least one line of weakness to open the package.

Preferably, the package is dimensioned to be grasped by the entire hand of the user to complete the bending. That is, the package is dimensioned such that the palm (at least partially), thumb and fingers of one hand fit around the package on one side of the line of weakness (so that the package fills the hand), and the palm, thumb and fingers of the other hand fit around the package on the other side of the line of weakness (so that the package fills the hand). Manipulating the hand to bend the package and thereby break the line of weakness. The package is dimensioned to be opened in this manner. In fact, the user may prefer to apply the reversing force with one hand at one side of the line of weakness and with the work surface, for example as a counter-resistance. One skilled in the art can envision other one-handed methods of breaking the line of weakness.

Preferably, the package is elongate. At least one line of weakness may be located in the central region and extend across a warp line of the package. The at least one line of weakness may in fact be at least one transverse line located relative to the longitudinal centre of the package. The opposite longitudinal end region of the package may thus be gripped and a user may apply a turning force about the pivot point provided by the weakening line. In this way, the weakening line is arranged at an optimal pivot axis about which the package is bent to reduce the force required to open the package. If the line of weakness extends longitudinally, it is necessary to grasp the opposite lateral side of the line of weakness, which makes it more difficult to produce the desired bend due to the increased rotational force.

Preferably, the package is configured to be bent around a hinge portion of the package for holding the package together when the line of weakness has been broken. That is, the line of weakness may extend around the package so that a hinge portion of the package remains when the line of weakness is broken. The line of weakness may surround three of the four sides of the package (except for the end faces of the package) with at least a portion of the fourth side serving as a hinge portion of the package. Said differently, the line of weakness extends around a majority of the transverse periphery of the elongate package such that a small portion of the package not surrounded by the line of weakness acts as a hinge portion which holds together opposing portions of the package and allows the package to be opened about the hinge portion.

The package is preferably openable about a hinge portion on one face of the package to provide a dispensing opening on the opposite face of the package.

Preferably, the package is configured to bend from a closed and sealed configuration to an open configuration upon breaking of the line of weakness. Preferably, the package can be manipulated back to its closed configuration whereby the opposite sides of the broken line of weakness are in contact. This is preferably done by rotating the package about the hinge portion.

The package is preferably stiff enough to maintain the open configuration even when the package is oriented with the weight of the tissue paper pressing on the hinge portion. Such an embodiment enables the package to be used as a counter-top tissue dispenser. Stated another way, the package is sufficiently rigid that it at least substantially maintains its full shape when empty. The package may be made of cardboard, paper or plastic. Preferably, the package is made of a biodegradable material.

In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, wherein the package is openable from a closed configuration in which the tissues are concealed by moving one portion of the package relative to another portion of the package, and wherein a lid is movable one portion relative to another portion so as to cover a portion of the sheets but leave an uncovered portion of the sheets thereby allowing the sheets to be withdrawn from the package.

Preferably, the first and second aspects of the invention are combined, whereby the package is configured such that, when the line of weakness is broken, the portions of the package are separated from each other and the package is opened, and a lid is provided to move together with one another relative to one portion to cover a portion of the sheet and leave a portion of the sheet uncovered when the package is in the open configuration to allow access to the tissue paper to withdraw the sheet from the package.

A laminate may be described as having a top sheet providing the top of the stack, a bottom sheet providing the bottom of the stack, and a number of sheets stacked between the top and bottom sheets and providing the sides of the stack connecting the top and bottom of the stack. The lid is preferably configured to cover the sides of the stack of sheets when the package is in the open configuration.

Preferably, the cover is sufficiently transparent to show when the number of sheets remaining in the stack has reached a depleted state. That is, once less than a predetermined number of sheets remain in the stack, the user can see the depletion state through the lid by looking at the position of the last sheet in the stack.

Preferably, the lid is combined with the above embodiments, whereby the package has a hinge portion and the package is openable and closable by rotating around the hinge portion. Rotation of the package about the hinge provides a dispensing opening in the package through which a first sheet (closest to the dispensing opening in the order of sheet withdrawal of the stack) in the stack is exposed and can be withdrawn, with the top sheet being on the opposite side of the stack from the hinge, and a side opening through which the stack is exposed in the thickness direction (or stacking direction). The side opening becomes more open from the hinge end to the dispensing orifice end. Preferably, the cover is configured to cover the side opening. Preferably, the lid is substantially shaped against the side opening. More preferably, however, the side opening is triangular in shape with its apex extending to the hinge portion. The triangular base of the dispensing opening may be curved or straight.

Preferably, in the closed configuration, preferably when the line of weakness has not been broken, the lid is located inside the package. Preferably, the lid is attached to one side of the line of weakness, preferably the inner surface of the wall of the package on one side of the line of weakness, and extends in cantilever fashion to the other side of the line of weakness.

Preferably, the lid is attached to one part of the package and is configured to slide relative to another part of the package as the parts move relative to each other when opening the package. That is, in the closed configuration of the package, the lid overlaps another portion of the package and enters a state of reduced or no overlap when the package is opened.

In a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a container for containing a stack of interfolded absorbent tissue paper sheets, the container comprising a dispensing opening for withdrawing one sheet of the stack through the dispensing opening, wherein the dispensing opening has overlapping lips in a sheet withdrawal direction, the lips being configured to open to a state of reduced or non-overlapping overlap as the sheet is moved therethrough and to return to the overlapping state after withdrawal of the sheet.

The container may comprise a stack of the sheets. The container may be a package comprising a laminate, preferably a package comprising a laminate as defined above. The container prevents the tissue paper from undesirably falling out of the dispensing opening when the tissue paper is not withdrawn. In particular, the container may be mounted such that the weight of the stack is directed towards the dispensing opening. The lip prevents the sheet from sliding out of the dispensing opening despite the weight pressing on the opening. This is because the lip must deflect quite sufficiently from the overlapping condition to allow any tissue to pass. This is in contrast to known dispensing openings in tissue boxes, where the film is stretched across the dispensing opening and the film has a slit therein. Although the slit tends to prevent the tablet from accidentally sliding out of the dispensing opening, it does not need to deflect as much as the overlapping lips in the third aspect of the invention.

One of the lips is more forward than the other in the tissue withdrawal direction. Preferably, the lips are configured such that they alternate to be the more forward lip for each sheet being dispensed.

Preferably, the overlapping lips are shaped to provide an opening through which a sheet adjacent to the dispensing opening can be grasped without moving the lips. That is, the opening provides direct access to the sheet by the user's fingers, which is useful when first loading the sheet to pull the first sheet through the lip and dispensing opening. Preferably, the dispensing opening is elongate and the opening is centrally located between opposite longitudinal ends of the dispensing opening. Preferably, the lips are shaped to provide the opening through which the sheet can be withdrawn without contacting the overlapping lips on opposite sides of the tissue, and whereby on opposite sides of the opening along a face of the tissue in a direction perpendicular to the sheet withdrawal direction, the overlapping lips contact opposite faces of the sheet as the sheet is withdrawn. Preferably, the dispensing opening is elongate and the overlapping lips are configured to contact opposite faces of the tissue when the tissue is withdrawn past the overlapping lips and the overlapping lips are located at opposite longitudinal ends of the dispensing opening with the centre of the opening defined by the overlapping lips located between the opposite longitudinal ends.

The sheet extracting direction is frequently used in this specification. Which is the direction perpendicular to the plane of the sheets in the stack. Centrally through the dispensing opening of the package, container or dispenser. The dispensing opening is defined by terminating walls around their periphery. The plane in which the walls terminate provides a further plane to which the tissue withdrawal direction extends perpendicularly.

Where the package comprises a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, the sheets within the stack are interfolded and the package comprises a dispensing opening such that when a next sheet is withdrawn from the package through the dispensing opening, a preceding sheet is partially withdrawn with the next sheet and is thus separated from the preceding sheet once the next sheet is completely withdrawn through the dispensing opening, the preceding sheet protruding from the dispensing opening but still being the leading sheet in the stack.

Preferably, the sheets are interfolded in an interfolded manner, whereby each sheet is folded at least once to include a leading panel and a trailing panel, and whereby for any given sheet in the stack, the leading and trailing panels cause the trailing panel of a next sheet and the leading panel of a preceding sheet to be disposed in face-to-face relationship between the panels of the given tissue.

Preferably the interfolding pattern of the stack of sheets and the overlapping lips are configured such that when a head panel block of a sheet closest to the dispensing opening is pulled to extract a sheet, the head panel block moves past the dispensing opening and the overlapping lips thereby deforming the lips in the direction of extraction, further wherein when the head panel block is pulled, the tail panel block is in face-to-face relationship with the head panel block of a preceding adjacent sheet in the stack so that it passes the overlapping lips and the dispensing opening therewith pulling the head panel block of the preceding sheet, and wherein once a trailing edge of a tail panel block of a next sheet is released by the overlapping lips and thereby exits the dispensing opening, the next sheet is released and the head panel block of the preceding sheet projects beyond the overlapping lips for pulling to extract the next sheet through the dispensing opening.

The interfolded pattern of the overlapping lip and the stack of tissue paper sheets is preferably configured such that the first lip is further from the stack of sheets than the second lip, and so that when the tab is drawn through the dispensing opening and through the overlapping lip, the overlapping lip deforms in the withdrawal direction and the first sheet is in partial face-to-face relationship with a preceding sheet in the stack so that it draws the preceding sheet therewith, and wherein the preceding sheet comes out adjacent the second lip with a next sheet disposed between the preceding sheet and the first lip, and so that when the trailing edge of the next sheet is drawn beyond the overlapping lip, the next sheet is released from the container and the first lip resiliently recedes in the withdrawal direction so as to fall behind the second lip.

Thus, the interfolded pattern causes the tissue to be dispensed in an alternating manner between first and second sheet withdrawal configurations. In the first sheet withdrawal configuration, because the tissue and tissue faces located adjacent the second lip (in the direction of sheet withdrawal) are in contact, the next sheet is located adjacent the first overlapping lip as compared to the previous sheet drawn with the next sheet through the lips. In the second sheet extraction configuration, the next sheet is located adjacent the second lip and the previous sheet is located adjacent the first lip. The alternation between each successive extracted sheet between the sheet extraction configurations causes the overlapping lips to alternate between the first and second lip configurations. The first lip configuration has a first lip that is more forward in the sheet withdrawal direction than a second lip and occurs as a result of a sheet being withdrawn in the second sheet withdrawal configuration. The second lip arrangement has a second lip that is more forward in the sheet withdrawal direction than the first lip and occurs as a result of a sheet being withdrawn in the first sheet withdrawal arrangement.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a dispenser for holding a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets or a package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, wherein the dispenser defines a dispensing opening and a cavity for receiving the stack or the package, wherein the dispenser defines the cavity to follow a path comprising a v-shape, whereby an outer edge of an apex of the v-shape extends into the dispensing opening, such that when the stack or package is inserted into the cavity and the stack or package is dimensioned to fill the cavity, the stack or package must be deformed to have a v or u-shape which fits within the cavity.

The fourth aspect of the invention faces the stack towards the dispensing opening and requires the stack to be deformed into a curved v-shape. This provides a bias so that the sheet protrudes from the dispensing opening to facilitate tissue sheet withdrawal. The outer edge of the V-shape is to be understood as the case of the legs of the V-shape defining a relatively narrow angle on the inner side between the legs and a relatively large angle on the outer side between the legs. The v-shape may be curved at its apex rather than pointed.

Viewed another way, a fourth aspect of the present invention provides a dispenser for holding a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets or for holding a package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, wherein the dispenser comprises first and second walls, the first wall being at least partially composed of first and second wall portions angled to each other to define a point of intersection, and the second wall is at least partly composed of first and second wall portions, said first and second wall portions of the second wall being angled to each other in the same way as the portions of said first wall except that a dispensing opening is defined therebetween at the location of said intersection in the portions of the first wall, the dispensing opening allowing a sheet to be withdrawn from the stack, the first and second walls being spaced apart to provide a cavity therebetween for receiving the stack, wherein a line bisecting the angle between the first and second wall portions of the first and second walls passes through the intersection of the first wall and the dispensing opening of the second wall.

Preferably, a first line bisecting the angle between the first and second portions of the first and second walls extends through the intersection of the first wall and the dispensing opening defined by the second wall. Preferably, a line perpendicular to said first line will pass through a first point on the second wall and a second point on the second wall (preferably equidistant from said dispensing opening). The intersection point and the first and second points thus provide a three point load tending to fold or bend the stack towards the dispensing opening.

Preferably, the first and second walls are shaped and spaced apart to define a v-shaped cavity therebetween, such that when the stack or at least one package is inserted into the cavity it is positively shaped to have the v-shape to fit within the cavity.

It is envisaged that the package and cavity of the tissue sheet may be dimensioned such that the package fills the cavity. It is also envisaged that the cavity may be sized too large to allow a partially consumed and full package to fill the cavity or that a plurality of, for example two, packages may be required to fill the cavity. In this way, the dispenser can be snapped up without first removing the current package for dispensing.

Preferably, the dispenser comprises opposing top and bottom walls defining a thickness of the v-shaped cavity therebetween, wherein one wall defines an inner edge of the v-shape and provides an inner apex of the v-shape and the other of the opposing walls defines an outer edge of the v-shaped cavity and defines a dispensing opening at a location where the outer edge of the apex of the v-shape is to be located. The thickness of the V-shaped cavity determines the number of tissues that can be accommodated in the stack.

Preferably, the dispenser includes opposed side walls extending between the top and bottom walls to collectively define a periphery of the cavity.

Preferably, the dispenser defines the legs of the v-shaped cavity to have an angle of between 170 ° and 100 °, 160 ° and 110 ° or 120 ° or 130 ° or 140 °, and preferably about 150 °. It has been found that angles such as these are optimal for providing a bias for the sheet to project through the dispensing opening that is not too steep to cause the tissue paper to accidentally fall through the dispensing opening under the force of gravity (especially when the stack of tissue papers becomes depleted).

Preferably, the dispenser defines the cavity as elongated to accommodate an elongated stack of tissue paper sheets or an elongated package comprising a stack of tissue paper sheets, having a thickness direction aligned with a stacking direction of the stack of tissue paper sheets and a transverse direction through a stacking face of the tissue paper sheets. The dispenser defines an apex of a v-shaped cavity at a central location between opposite longitudinal ends of the cavity, thereby requiring the stack of sheets to have a bend line across the stack face in a transverse direction and centrally located between the opposite longitudinal ends of the stack when the stack of sheets is sized to fill the cavity in the sheet stacking direction.

Preferably, the dispenser defines an elongate cavity for receiving an elongate stack of sheets or an elongate package comprising a stack of tissue paper sheets, wherein the dispenser is open at the front so as to fill the stack or package through it into the cavity, wherein the dispensing opening and the cavity are oriented with a sheet withdrawal direction and a longitudinal direction of the cavity perpendicular to each other, and the front-to-back direction is perpendicular to both directions.

Preferably, the dispenser includes first and second walls defining top and bottom surfaces of the cavity along a sheet withdrawal direction, which is also the direction of a first line bisecting the angle between the first and second portions of the first and second walls. The dispenser comprises an end wall defining a cavity end face in the longitudinal direction of the cavity, i.e. a straight line extending through a corresponding point on the end wall in the sheet withdrawal direction. In a front-to-rear direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the tissue withdrawal direction, has a rear wall defining a rear face of the dispenser and an open front face of the cavity for filling purposes.

Preferably, the dispenser comprises an opening or recess for mounting the dispenser to a wall by means of a wall fastener. Preferably, the dispenser comprises a removable wall fastener for fastening to a wall of a room and a recess for receiving the wall fastener, wherein an edge of the wall fastener and the recess cooperate to attach the dispenser to its wall fastener, and wherein the edge is bifurcated such that another edge can be slidably received in the bifurcation.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, a system is provided consisting of a dispenser and the package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets according to the first to fourth aspects of the invention described above. The dispenser has a housing defining a cavity for receiving the package and a dispensing opening, wherein the housing defines the cavity to hold the package in an open configuration with the package in its curved form and the dispensing opening of the package aligned with the dispensing opening of the dispenser to enable a user to extract sheets from the stack through the dispensing opening.

Preferably, the dispensing opening of the package is opened about a hinge portion of the package and the dispenser holds the package in an open configuration such that the dispensing opening traverses 10 ° -80 °, 15 ° -70 °, 20 ° -60 °, 25 ° -50 °, or 40 °, 25 ° -35 ° and preferably about 30 ° about the hinge portion. The package opens 0 ° around the hinge portion when the dispensing opening of the package is in the closed configuration. If the opening angle is too large, the interfolded sheets in the stack may unravel.

Preferably, the package has a hinge portion as described above and the dispenser housing defines a cavity path comprising a v-shape such that the hinge portion of the package is located at the apex of the inner edge of the v-shaped cavity. Preferably, the dispensing opening of the dispenser is located at a position where an outer edge of an apex of the v-shaped cavity is located. Preferably, the dispenser according to the fifth aspect of the invention is as described above. The package of the sheet is preferably a refill package of the sheet and the cavity is for being filled by the refill package.

In a sixth aspect of the invention, a stack of interfolded absorbent tissue sheets is provided. The interfolded pattern is such that each sheet is folded at least once to provide leading and trailing panels in the stacking direction relative to the tissue withdrawal direction. The interfolding pattern being such that for any given tissue in the stack, a trailing panel of a next adjacent tissue in the stack in the tissue withdrawal direction is in face-to-face overlapping relationship with a leading panel of the given sheet and a leading panel of a preceding adjacent sheet in the stack in the sheet withdrawal direction is in face-to-face overlapping relationship with the trailing panel of the given sheet, whereby the trailing panel of the next sheet and the leading panel of the preceding sheet are disposed between the panels of the given sheet, wherein the overlap of the given sheet with the trailing panel of the next sheet and the leading panel of the preceding sheet is partial overlap to provide an overlapping region of the given sheet and a non-overlapping region of the given sheet, the leading panel and the trailing panel of the given sheet in the overlapping region of the given sheet overlapping with the leading panel of the preceding sheet and the trailing panel of the succeeding sheet, and the leading panel and the trailing panel of the sheet in the non-overlapping region of the given sheet extending beyond the overlapping faces to a fold portion, thereby defining a stack comprising an overlapping region in which adjacent sheets in the stack overlap and a non-overlapping region on the opposite side of the overlapping region in which adjacent sheets in the stack do not overlap.

The overlapping and non-overlapping regions of the stack elongate the stack in a first direction from the non-overlapping region to the overlapping region and to the non-overlapping region, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the sheet extraction direction. This extension is satisfactory in certain stacking applications and is achieved by the described interfolding arrangement. Furthermore, the weight of the stack is offset within the overlap region, which may provide an improved dispensing process when the overlap region is aligned with the dispensing opening of a dispenser or stack package.

The sheet may include n-folds such that the frontmost panel and the rearmost panel of the sheet in the sheet withdrawal direction are the leading panel and the trailing panel, respectively. But preferably the sheet is a single folded sheet of double panels.

Preferably, the ratio of the length of the overlapping area of the stack in the first direction to the length of the stack in the first direction (the inverse ratio of the length of the non-overlapping area to the length of the stack) is in the range of 0.10-0.90, 0.15-0.75, 0.2-0.6 and most preferably in the range of 0.25-0.50. These ranges provide for a sheet withdrawal overlap sufficient to pull a previous tissue sheet from the stack by means of a face-to-face interaction of the sheets, without the overlap being so great as to counteract the lengthening and weight concentration effects. The greater the degree of overlap, the less air within the package will be contained primarily within the non-overlapping portion.

Preferably, the sheet is elongate and the overlapping region extends transversely across the sheet from one transverse side to the other transverse side of the sheet. Preferably, the head panel and the tail panel are connected by a fold line. Preferably, the tissue is elongate and the fold line extends transversely across the tissue.

Panels of any given sheet within the stack may be connected by fold lines. The panels may also be connected by perforated lines or other lines of weakness to allow one panel to be torn away from its adjacent panel. The sheet may be folded at the line of weakness such that the fold line constitutes the line of weakness.

In a preferred embodiment, the stack of sheets is provided as a package of sheets as defined above according to the first to sixth aspects of the invention. The stack of sheets may also be provided in a container or dispenser as described above in accordance with the third and fourth aspects of the invention.

The combination of the stack of sheets as defined according to the sixth aspect of the invention and the package according to the third aspect of the invention comprising a stack of sheets and an overlapping lip for a dispensing opening provides a particularly useful functional complex. The overlap region, if oriented such that gravity is aligned with the tissue withdrawal direction, tends to add weight to the dispensing opening of the package. The overlapping lip is therefore particularly important to avoid the tissue paper falling out through the dispensing opening.

In a commonly used feature, the package or dispenser preferably has a dispensing opening having a width, with respect to a direction along the face of the sheet and perpendicular to the direction of extraction, substantially equal to or greater than the width of the sheet, so that when sheets are extracted from the stack through the dispensing opening and optionally also through the overlapping lips, the opposite side edges of the sheets in the width direction are able to maintain their lateral spacing. In the prior art, the dispensing opening, particularly the lip for holding the tissue in a condition protruding from the tissue box, tends to crumple the tissue in the width direction to a more serpentine configuration. The overlapping lips are configured such that the passageway therebetween is sized to be laterally contractible to pass through the passageway. An advantage of a roll of tissue paper is that such crumpling is not necessarily required to dispense it. The package or dispenser of the present invention is capable of providing a stack of sheets that does not wrinkle upon dispensing.

In a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moist sheet or tissue sheet dispenser comprising a container housing for receiving a stack of moist sheets, the container housing comprising a dispensing opening through which a sheet is withdrawn from the stack, the container housing being configured to maintain the wetness of the sheet, the dispenser comprising a cover having an open position providing access to the dispensing opening for withdrawing a sheet from the stack through the dispensing opening and a closed position covering the dispensing opening, wherein the cover defines a periphery and the container defines a periphery, and the periphery of the cover and the periphery of the container are in contact when the cover is in the closed position.

The wet sheet preferably comprises a nonwoven sheet. They may be made from nonwoven fibers such as papermaking fibers including large range polymer fibers. The wet sheet may be a combination of nonwoven and woven sheets. Hereinafter, the wet sheet will be often referred to as a nonwoven sheet, but this should not be construed as a limitation.

In prior art wet sheet dispensers, the container has a lid and the container lid includes a dispensing opening and a lid for the dispensing opening. The lid for the dispensing opening is arranged in the middle of the container closure and is pivotably mounted on the container closure. The two-part construction of the container lid results in the joint between the two parts tending to accumulate dust and other such debris. Cleaning the joint area after continued use has proven difficult. The single-part construction also allows the dispensing flap to be relatively large, which makes it easy for a user who is not dexterous to open the flap.

The present invention provides a cover for the container and a lid for the dispensing opening as a single part and thus avoids the presence of debris that accumulates at the joint. Preferably, the top surface of the cap (the surface opposite the dispensing opening side bottom surface) is continuous to facilitate wipe cleaning, as compared to the discontinuous top surface of the prior art having a two-part construction.

To allow for refilling of the wet sheet for filling the container, the container is configured to be bottom-side fillable. The bottom side is the face of the dispenser opposite the cover in the closed configuration. Preferably, the dispenser includes a bottom portion that is removable to fill the container with wet sheets. The base has an upstanding sidewall that frictionally engages a sidewall of the outer shell to secure the removable base to the container outer shell. The bottom side loading configuration is a feature of a stand-alone application of the invention, as outlined in the eighth aspect of the invention below.

Bottom side filling of the dispenser means that the cover cap is not required to perform the dual function of filling the container and covering the dispensing opening. Thus, the cover may be manufactured as a single component device as provided in the seventh aspect of the invention. The removable structure of the base and the friction fit mechanism for securing it to the container are advantageous in terms of manufacturing compared to a hinge arrangement and in terms of facilitating the filling process of the sheets. In prior art moist sheet dispensers as described above, the cover is pivoted away from the container by a hinge to fill the moist sheet stack, and the lid must be pivoted away from the cover about another hinge to pass a sheet of tissue paper through the dispensing opening and then both covers are closed. This is a relatively dexterous operation that is difficult to accomplish, especially for elderly users. In the bottom-side loading configuration of the present invention, a hinge is not necessary as the bottom can be removed and installed by a friction fit. Furthermore, bottom-side priming enables the passage of the sheet from the dispensing opening and the movement of the stack into the container to be done in the same direction.

Preferably, the side walls of the base are part of an upstanding platform on which the stack of wet sheets will rest. The platform surface on which the stack is to be placed defines the bottom of the container. The base may define a non-planar face on which the dispenser stands, wherein the non-planar face is to be understood with respect to a planar upper surface of the upright platform and a surface of the cover that is parallel to the upper surface of the platform when in the closed configuration. Thus, in one embodiment, the base defines a v-shaped bottom surface for standing the dispenser, which v-shaped bottom surface is capable of cooperating with the v-shaped upper surface of the tissue dispenser according to the fourth and fifth aspects of the invention. Alternatively, the base may define an arc to stand on a circular toilet paper roll dispenser. In both cases, it is critical that an interfitting system of dry tissue and moist sheets be provided whereby room surfaces for the moist sheet dispenser are not required thereby saving space.

In a further preferred embodiment, the centre of gravity of the dispenser is located within the bottom. This feature provides stability to the wet nonwoven sheet dispenser and a long-lasting feel that is not present in prior art dispensers.

Preferably, the base is made of rubber or a rubber-like material. The rubber material provides good resilience for friction fit with the container and also stabilizes the dispenser relative to the surface on which it stands.

Preferably, the container housing comprises a platform having a dispensing opening located therein, preferably centrally located therein. The platform has a depending sidewall defining a periphery of the container, with the platform defining a top of the container.

Preferably, the periphery of the container has an upstanding flange for mating engagement with a depending flange on the periphery of the closure. Preferably, the flanges are sealed to each other such that there is a moisture tight seal between the lid and the container. Preferably, the upstanding flange is formed around the periphery of the platform.

Preferably there is a moisture tight seal between the lid and the container when the lid is in the closed position.

Preferably, the dispensing opening is provided with a deformable member defining a relatively constricted path for the tissue paper compared to the dispensing opening. The deformable member has an opening to define a path for the tissue through the dispensing opening while pressing the tissue as it passes through.

In an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a moist sheet dispenser comprising a container housing for receiving a stack of moist sheets, the container housing comprising a dispensing opening through which sheets are withdrawn from the stack, the dispenser comprising a top cover having an open position in which access to the dispensing opening is provided to enable sheets to be withdrawn from the stack through the dispensing opening and a closed position covering the dispensing opening, wherein the dispenser comprises a bottom which can be removed to fill the container with moist sheets from the bottom side, and wherein the bottom has upstanding side walls which frictionally fit with the side walls of the housing to secure the removable bottom to the container housing.

The base of the eighth aspect of the invention may include the preferred features described above in relation to the base according to the seventh aspect of the invention.

Preferably, said seventh and eighth aspects of the present invention provide a wet sheet dispenser comprising a stack of wet sheets located within said container.

In a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a system comprising a dry tissue dispenser and a moist sheet dispenser, wherein the dry tissue dispenser has a dispensing opening through which dry tissue sheets can be withdrawn, the moist sheet dispenser comprises a dispensing opening through which moist sheets can be withdrawn, wherein one of the dry tissue paper dispenser and the moist sheet dispenser is configured to sit on top of the other, such that the dispensing openings face in opposite directions in the combined configuration, thereby defining opposing wet and dry withdrawal directions, and wherein the dry and wet sheet dispensers have cooperating interfaces when in a combined configuration, which prevents lateral movement of the moist sheet dispenser relative to the dry tissue dispenser in a sheet withdrawal direction perpendicular to the dry tissue dispenser and the moist sheet dispenser, while allowing the dispenser positioned on top of another dispenser to move in a direction from the dispensing opening of the other dispenser to the dispensing opening of itself.

The cooperating interface surfaces are preferably in the form of convex and concave cooperating surfaces. The surface preferably defines substantially the entire bottom or top surface of each dispenser.

Preferably, the dry tissue dispenser comprises a recess or aperture for receiving a wall fastener therein to secure the dry tissue dispenser to a room wall. The transverse direction is perpendicular to a line normal to the room wall and perpendicular to a sheet extraction direction for the dry and wet sheet dispensers.

This provides a binary system of wet and dry sheet dispensing. The system has one dispenser mounted on top of another, which saves space and material and is also convenient in accessing both types of tissue. In the prior art, no designated space for a wet nonwoven sheet dispenser is provided, for example, in comparison with conventional toilet paper roll holders.

The cooperating interfacing surfaces are preferably in the form of a bottom surface of the moist sheet dispenser that mates with a top surface of the dry tissue dispenser. Preferably, the cooperating interface surface is in the form of a floor surface: the bottom surface defines a downwardly depending V-shape spanning substantially the entire extent from one side of the bottom portion of the moist sheet dispenser to the opposite side thereof, wherein the dry tissue dispenser has a top surface defining a mating V-shaped recess.

Preferably, the cooperating interfacing surfaces extend at an angle or parallel to the tissue withdrawal direction of the wet and dry tissue dispensers so as to prevent relative movement between the dispensers in the first direction, but the cooperating interfacing surfaces do not prevent a dispenser on top of another dispenser from being withdrawn in its tissue withdrawal direction.

Preferably, the cooperating interfacing surfaces inhibit movement of the moist sheet dispenser relative to the dry tissue dispenser in first and second perpendicular directions in a transverse plane extending perpendicular to the tissue withdrawal direction.

The dry tissue and moist non-woven sheet dispenser of the eighth aspect of the invention may be a dry tissue and moist non-woven sheet dispenser according to the aforementioned first to seventh aspects of the invention.

Drawings

Various aspects of the tissue system of the present invention will be briefly summarized below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows various views of a package comprising a stack of tissues according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows various views of a dispenser for holding a tissue package and comprising a dispensing opening through which tissues are withdrawn from the package. Fig. 2c and 2d show a dispenser with a package that is partially and fully inserted into the dispenser, respectively.

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a wall mount for mounting the dispenser of figure 2 on a wall of a room.

Fig. 4 shows various views of a package comprising a stack of tissues. The closed configuration of the package is shown in figure 4 a. The open configuration of the package is shown in figure 4 b. A bottom end view showing the overlapping lips of the package in plan view is shown in figure 4 c.

Fig. 5 shows a package comprising a stack of tissues having a cover for covering a portion of the stack of tissues that would otherwise be revealed by a front face of the package leading to a dispensing opening of the package.

Fig. 6 discloses a package comprising a stack of interfolded tissues, wherein the interfolding is such that the stack of tissues is elongated and each tissue in the stack is elongated and aligned such that the longitudinal axes of the tissues and the stack are aligned, and such that a longitudinal end of any given tissue overlaps a longitudinal end of an adjacent front and back tissue in the stack.

Fig. 7 discloses a wet non-woven dispenser. The wet non-woven dispenser is in an open configuration in fig. 7a and in a closed configuration in fig. 7 b. Figure 7c shows the detachable bottom of the separate moist non-woven sheet dispenser.

In fig. 8, a dry-moist tissue dispensing system is disclosed, comprising a moist non-woven sheet dispensing portion resting on a dry tissue dispensing portion.

Detailed Description

Modified absorbent tissue paper systems are provided by various aspects of the present invention.

A tissue paper package is provided which can be broken by grasping opposite longitudinal ends of the package and applying a relative force to the rear side of a perforation line centrally positioned between the longitudinal ends and extending transversely. The perforation lines extend around at least three sides of the package such that at least a portion of the fourth side provides a hinge portion that connects the longitudinal halves of the package together and also allows the broken perforation lines to be brought together to close the package and separate to open the package in a rotational movement around the hinge. In the closed configuration, the package is block-shaped. In the open configuration, the package is bent into a V-shape in side view, wherein the opposite longitudinal half and the hinge portion provide an inner edge of the V-shape, and the bottom surface of the opposite longitudinal half together with a portion of the package opposite the hinge provide an outer edge of the V-shape, which portion has been separated by opening the opposing lips of the perforation line. The opened perforation line exposes a stack of tissues included in the package. Tissue paper can be withdrawn from the stack and package through a dispensing opening provided by an open perforation line on the side opposite the hinge portion.

In the open configuration of the package, a bottom side of the perforation line extends between opposite sides of the perforation line. Opposite sides of the perforation line respectively connect opposite ends of the bottom side of the perforation line to the hinge portion. In the open configuration, both sides of the perforation line become more open towards the perforation line bottom side. A stack of tissues is disposed within the package such that a tab portion of the tissue closest to the bottom side of the perforation line extends through the bottom side of the perforation line. The bottom side of the perforation line thus provides a dispensing opening through which tissues in the stack can be withdrawn.

The dispensing opening has opposed first and second lip members disposed on each side of the dispensing opening, the lip members overlapping each other to entirely cover tissue facing the dispensing opening except through a central opening of the overlapping lip members through which a pull tab portion of tissue in the stack closest to the dispensing opening can be grasped by a user. The first and second overlapping lip members are movable relative to each other. Which are attached to opposite halves of the package, respectively, such that the overlapping lip members move with them and with respect to each other when one half of the package is moved about the hinge portion relative to the other half of the package. The lips overlap in the open and closed configurations of the package. When tissue is withdrawn from the stack through the dispensing opening, the overlapping lip members deform into a less overlapping configuration to facilitate passage of tissue between the lip members in the tissue withdrawal direction.

The package comprises at least one cover member for covering the tissue paper exposed by the package when at least one side perforation is open. The dispensing opening exposes a face of the stack of tissues when in the open configuration, and the side perforations expose the layers of tissues in the stacking direction when in the open configuration. The cover is transparent to allow the height of the tissue within the package to be visible so that the user knows how close the package is to empty.

The tissues in the stack within the package are interfolded such that each tissue within the stack partially overlaps a preceding tissue in the stack so as to partially draw the preceding tissue through the dispensing opening and the overlapping lip, as each tissue overlaps a face-to-face portion of the preceding tissue. The portion of the preceding tissue in overlapping relationship with the tissue that has been withdrawn from the stack through the dispensing opening and the overlapping lip thus projects through the overlapping lip as the tissue to be subsequently grasped by a user. The interfolded pattern is such that when a first tissue is withdrawn through the overlapping lip, the next, second tissue will be located, for example, on the left hand side of the first tissue and a subsequent third tissue will emerge, for example, from the right hand side of the second tissue. This alternation in relation to the sides of the tissue being withdrawn, where the overlap occurs, causes the first and second lip members to alternate with respect to the one of the first and second lip members that is further forward in the tissue withdrawal direction.

The tissue paper package is self-supporting in that it maintains an open configuration even under the weight of the hinge portion. This allows the dispensing opening to be filled and thus positioned on a countertop for drawing tissue from the countertop in the usual manner for drawing tissue from a conventional tissue carton. The package may also be used in an inverted configuration with the dispensing opening facing downward. In the latter configuration, the invention contemplates a wall-mounted dispenser having a cavity for holding the package in an open configuration. When the open configuration of the package is V-shaped as previously described, the cavity of the dispenser is correspondingly V-shaped, whereby the walls defining the cavity are dimensioned to properly accommodate the package in the open configuration. The shape of the cavity defined by the dispenser prevents the package from moving back to the block-like closed configuration and thereby retains the package in the open configuration. The dispenser has a dispensing opening on a bottom surface thereof for alignment with the dispensing opening of the package such that tissue paper can be withdrawn through the dispensing opening and the overlapping lip of the package and through the dispensing opening of the dispenser. The dispenser may be of relatively low complexity construction in that it comprises a rear wall for mounting on a wall of a room and side walls extending therefrom in a continuous manner around the cavity from one side of the dispensing opening, around each side of the cavity defining a V-shape, to the other side of the dispensing opening.

The dispenser has a V-shaped groove defined by a top surface of the sidewall, wherein the top surface is opposite a bottom surface of the sidewall that includes the dispensing opening centrally positioned between opposite longitudinal ends of the cavity defined by the sidewall. The V-shaped groove is shaped as a hanging V that receives the bottom of the wet non-woven dispenser. Thus, the top face of the dry tissue paper dispenser provides a specially designed space for a moist non-woven sheet dispenser.

The moist non-woven dispenser has a bottom portion defining a depending V-shaped bottom surface for cooperating with and interfacing with the V-shaped top surface of the dry tissue dispenser. The wet non-woven fabric sheet dispenser includes a container for containing a package of wet non-woven fabric sheets or a package of a stack of wet non-woven fabric sheets and a cover mounted to the container housing by a hinge. The hinge allows the lid to open to expose a dispensing opening of the container shell through which the wet nonwoven sheet is dispensed. The hinge also allows the cover to close to seal the container housing to prevent moisture of the tissue from escaping from the moist non-woven sheet dispenser. The periphery of the lid fits together with the periphery of the container housing so as to reveal a continuous top surface of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser that is easy to wipe. The bottom of the wet non-woven sheet dispenser comprising the drooping V-shape may be removed and friction-fittingly remounted to the container housing. The base includes an upstanding platform that engages the side walls of the housing in a friction fit and also provides a smooth surface on which the wet non-woven sheet stack or package is located. Thus, the platform provides a bottom surface of the container housing that removably mates with the side walls of the housing. The container housing also includes a top surface having a dispensing opening centrally located thereon. The side walls of the container housing define a periphery of the container housing that sealingly engages the hinge cover periphery.

The various components of the modified tissue paper system summarized above will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a package comprising a stack of tissues according to an embodiment of the present invention. The package 1 has an open configuration as shown in fig. 1a and 1c and a closed configuration as shown in fig. 1 b. In the closed configuration, the package 1 is substantially block-shaped. The package 1 has first and second major faces provided by respective top and bottom walls 2, 3 of the package. At the opposite longitudinal ends of the package 1 there are end walls 4, 5 as minor faces of the package 1. The package 1 further comprises rear and front walls 6, 7, the rear and front walls 6, 7 having an area dimension between the major top and bottom faces 2, 3 and the minor end faces 4, 5.

The package 1 comprises a perforation line 8 extending through the rear and front walls 6, 7 and the bottom wall 3 of the package 1. The perforation line 8 is centrally positioned between the opposite ends 4, 5 of the package 1 and extends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the package 1. The top wall 2 of the package 1 comprises a hinge 9 connecting the end of the perforation line at the front wall 7 of the package 1 and the other end of the perforation line 8 at the rear wall 6.

The package 1 is filled with a stack 10 of interfolded tissues. In the closed configuration of the package 1, the stack of interfolded tissues 10 is entirely covered by the package 1.

In the open configuration of the packet 1, the perforation line 8 is broken and the opposite halves of the packet 1 in the longitudinal direction are connected by the hinge 9 and are rotatable about the hinge 9. The open configuration of the package 1 is shown in fig. 1a and 1c, while the closed configuration of the package 1 is shown in fig. 1 b. In the open configuration, a gap between opposite portions of the bottom wall 3 separated by the broken through perforation line 8 provides a dispensing opening 11 through which tissues are withdrawn from the stack 10. In the open configuration of the packet 1, the rear and front walls 6, 7 of the packet 1 also have portions spaced from each other about a hinge 9. The gap between the rear and front parts disappears at the hinge 9 at the top edges of the rear and front walls 6, 7 and is widest at the bottom edges of the rear and front walls 6, 7 in the open configuration of the package 1.

The rear and front walls 6, 7 and the end walls 4, 5 define the thickness of the package 1 connecting the top face 2 and the bottom face 3. The number of tissues that can be stacked and fitted in the package 1 is determined by the thickness of the package 1, i.e. the thickness defines the sheet stacking direction of the absorbent tissues. The tissues within the stack 10 and the stack 10 themselves are elongate and the tissues and the stack 10 are longitudinally aligned with the longitudinal direction of the package 1 when the package is in the closed configuration. The distance between the end walls 4 and 5 defined by the rear and front walls 6, 7 and the top and bottom walls 2, 3 determines the longitudinal extension of the stack 10. The interfolded pattern of tissues in the stack 10 is such that a tissue withdrawal end, which is a laterally extending edge of the tissues, is located at the dispensing opening 11 of the package 1. The thickness direction of the package 1 is dimensioned to facilitate gripping in the hands of a user at opposite longitudinal ends of the package 1. A typical dimension in the thickness direction of the package 1 is 5-10cm, preferably about 7 cm.

To use the package, the user grasps the opposite longitudinal ends of the package 1 so that the fingers and thumb are positioned in contact with the top and bottom walls 2, 3 of the package 1 and a portion of the palm contacts the respective end walls 4, 5. With the package 1 so grasped, the user bends the package so as to provide a rotational force about the hinge 9 tending to pull the perforation lines 8 apart. The perforation line 8 is thus broken, exposing the stack of tissues 10 in the stacking direction through the gap formed by the broken perforation line 8 in the front and rear walls 6, 7 and exposing the plane of the front most tissue surface when passing through the gap between the opposite parts of the bottom surface 3 providing the dispensing opening 11. Tissue paper can be withdrawn from the stack 10 through a dispensing opening 11.

When the package 1 is opened for the first time, the front most tissue in the stack 10 relative to the dispensing opening 11 is designed to have a marginal portion protruding through the dispensing opening 11. This marginal portion of the tissue paper can be pulled upwardly to withdraw tissue paper from the stack 10 through the dispensing opening 11. The interfolded pattern of tissues of the stack 10 is such that when one tissue is pulled through the dispensing opening 11, the latter tissue is partially pulled through the dispensing opening 11 to protrude through the dispensing opening 11 to provide a next terminal edge for tissues withdrawn from the stack 10.

The package 1 can be re-closed by rotating the partially separated parts (connected only by the hinge 9) about the hinge 9 to bring the weakening lines 8 back together. To dispense further tissues from the stack 10, the package 1 is reopened by rotation about the hinge 9.

Various modifications to the particular embodiment of the package 1 shown in fig. 1 may be contemplated by those skilled in the art.

For example, various modifications may be made to the exact shape of the package 1 shown in fig. 1. For functional reasons it is preferred that the package 1 is elongated and that the perforation line 8 and the hinge 9 are arranged in a central position between the longitudinal ends of the package 1. In this way, the perforation line 8 can be easily broken by a turning moment about the hinge 9. It is also desirable that the longitudinal ends of the package 1 can be conveniently gripped by the user to apply a breaking force to the perforation lines 8. Thus, the thickness of the opposite longitudinal ends of the package 1 in the direction of the hinge 9 to the dispensing opening 11 should be easily graspable, and therefore a size order of the gap can be created by an average adult between each finger and the opposite thumb.

In fig. 1, the weakening lines are provided in the form of perforation lines 8. The person skilled in the art can anticipate alternatives such as a weakening line in the form of a cut which only partially penetrates the thickness of the package wall and thus does not reach the inside of the package 1. That is, the line of weakness may be a score line. The perforation lines 8 may be formed in several ways. The perforation lines 8 may extend continuously by alternating cuts and tab portions through the front 7, bottom 5 and rear 6 faces. Alternatively, the front 7, bottom 3 and rear 6 faces may be separated by a cut line extending around the majority of the way of the front 7, bottom 3 and rear 6 faces, except for some small connecting tab portions which are broken by the bending of the package 1.

The tissues in the stack 10 of the package 1 are disclosed as being interfolded. The stack 10 may be made from a continuous web of tissue paper folded into a stacked arrangement filling the package 1 and in which adjacent sheets are connected by a line of weakness, rather than an overlapping face-to-face interfolded arrangement. It is important that the tissue paper is stacked rather than wound around a central core.

The package 1 has been described as having top and bottom walls 2, 3, meaning that in use the dispensing opening 11 faces downwards. This is true in one envisaged use. But the package 1 is also configured to be turned upwards so that the dispensing opening 11 faces upwards. The package 1 is configured to work: the hinge 9 does not collapse under the weight of the stack 10 when the dispensing opening 11 is facing upwards. That is, regardless of the orientation in which the package 1 is placed, the package 1 is stiff enough to maintain the open configuration. The user closes the package 1 by rotating about the hinge 9 to cause the package 1 to close.

The hinge 9 of the package 1 forms a fold line connecting the opposite ends of the weakening line or perforation line 8. The package 1 is designed to rotate about the hinge 9 when opening and closing the package 1 as described above. The hinge 9 may define a fold line for first use, or the fold line may be pre-formed in the package 1 by, for example, embossing techniques or the like.

The package 1 may have a tear strip defined by a pair of spaced lines of weakness. When the tab of the tear strip is pulled upwardly, the line of weakness is torn away to provide a torn strip. When the tear strip is completely torn off, the line of weakness breaks and the package can be transformed from a relatively closed configuration to a relatively open configuration by rotation about the hinge. The pair of lines of weakness defining opposite sides of the tear-off strip therefore preferably extend around a majority of the lateral periphery of the package in the same manner as the break-away lines of weakness described above.

Fig. 2 shows various views of a dispenser for holding a pack of tissue paper. The dispenser 20 is wall mountable and will be discussed below with reference to fig. 3. The dispenser 20 has a peripheral wall 21 extending in a direction perpendicular to a rear wall 22. The peripheral wall 21 and the rear wall 22 together define a cavity 23 for receiving a package 1 of tissues therein, wherein the package 1 is as described above. The front of the dispenser 20 is open so as to allow the package 1 to be loaded into the cavity 23. The rear face 22 is intended to be mounted to a wall of a room, as will be described in further detail below with reference to fig. 3.

The peripheral wall 21 extends continuously around the cavity 23 and around the periphery of the rear wall 22, except that a gap is defined in the peripheral wall 21 which provides a dispensing opening 24 through which tissue paper can be withdrawn from the package 1 from the package dispensing opening. The peripheral wall 21 of the dispenser defines a V-shape in that the top wall portion 25 and the bottom wall portion 26 of the peripheral wall 21 each follow a V-shaped path. The V-shape of the bottom wall portion 26 of the peripheral wall 21 is configured by imagine that the bottom wall portion 26 does not define the dispensing opening 24 but continues to extend so as to intersect. The V-shaped bottom wall portion 26 and the V-shaped top wall portion 25 of the peripheral wall 21 are separated by end wall portions 27, 28 of the peripheral wall 21, which define a thickness dimension for the V-shape of the cavity 23.

The peripheral wall 21 of the dispenser 20 may be designed to fittingly engage the respective top and bottom walls 2, 3 and end walls 4, 5 of the package 1 when the package 1 is in the open configuration. Furthermore, in the depth direction of the dispenser 20 from the rear wall 23 to the open end face, the dispenser is designed to match the corresponding depth of the package 1, so that the front face 7 of the package 1 is flush with the front end of the peripheral wall 21 when the package 1 is inserted into the dispenser 20.

The angle a between the legs of the V-shape of the cavity 23 is preferably in the range 130-160 and preferably about 150. The angle β is defined as shown in fig. 1(c), which is the angle traversed by the dispensing opening 11 compared to a 0 ° closed configuration of the dispensing opening 11. The angle beta of said dispensing opening 11 about the hinge 9 is preferably in the range of 20 deg. -50 deg.. By keeping the package 1 open at the angle β in the open configuration, the configuration of the dispenser 20 determines the opening angle of the package 1.

The package 1 is designed to be flexible so that it can be bent by a user to break the perforation line 8 and thereby open the package 1. The dispenser 20 is a more rigid, relatively inflexible, flexible structure that is better able to maintain the open configuration of the package 1 and that is able to be mounted on a room wall at the rear wall 22 of the dispenser 20 and withstand the load of the package 1 therein without deforming under load. The dispenser 20 may be made of relatively thick molded plastic or metal. The package may be made of plastic film, cardboard or paper.

For use, the package 1 may first be broken as described above to bring it into an open configuration. The opened package may then be inserted into the dispenser through the open front. Alternatively, the introduction of the package into the cavity 23 will tend to pull the perforation lines 8 apart to open the package 1. The apex of the V-shape of the top wall portion 25 of the peripheral wall 21 provides a first pressure point against the hinge 9 of the package 1 when the package is pushed into the cavity 22 of the dispenser 20. The bottom wall portion 16 of the peripheral wall 21 provides second and third pressure points against the bottom wall 3 on each side of the dispensing opening 24 of the dispenser 20. Thus, three point loads are applied to the package 1, which will break the perforation line 8 and thereby open the package 1. The package 1 can be pushed completely into the dispenser 20 as shown in fig. 2c and 2d so that the peripheral wall 21 is in sliding relationship with the top and bottom faces 2, 3 and the end faces 4, 5 of the package 1. The package 1 can be slid backwards until the rear wall 22 of the dispenser 20 abuts flush contact with the rear wall 9 of the package 1.

The package 1 is held in an open configuration by the dispenser 20 as shown in fig. 2 d. The dispensing opening 11 of the package 1 is aligned with the dispensing opening 24 of the dispenser 20 such that when tissue is withdrawn from the stack 10 of tissues in the package 1, the tissue passes through the dispensing opening 11 of the package 1 and through the dispensing opening 24 of the dispenser 20. The angle defined by the cavity 23 defines the angle of the open configuration of the package 1, due to the closure consistency between the top and bottom walls 2, 3 and the end walls 4, 5 of the package 1 and the peripheral wall 21 of the dispenser 20. In the V-shaped open configuration of the package 1, the angle between the legs is the range given above, which provides a sufficient size of the dispensing opening 11 of the package 1, but not so large that the weight of the tissues in the stack 10 tends to pull the stack through the dispensing opening 11 without the user pulling the stack.

Various modifications may be made to the dispenser 20 according to the above description. For example, the dispenser 20 may be filled with a stack of tissues that is not provided in a packaged fashion. Such a stack of tissues may be interfolded or folded such that the withdrawal end of each tissue emerges at the location of the longitudinal central dispensing opening 24. In case the dispenser 20 itself forms a package for a stack of tissues, the dispensing opening 24 is more constricted than shown in fig. 2a to avoid that the stack of tissues unintentionally falls through the dispensing opening 24.

Figure 3 shows a wall mounted arrangement for mounting the dispenser as described above with respect to figure 2 to a wall of a room. In the drawings, a tile room wall is shown for illustrative purposes. The dispenser 20 has a recess 30 disposed in the rear wall 22 of the dispenser 20. The recess 30 in the rear wall is a continuation of the dispensing opening 24 provided in the peripheral wall 21 and extending in a direction perpendicular to the rear wall 22. The recess 30 is open at the bottom edge so that the dispenser 20 can be moved relative to a fastener 31 that has been fastened to the wall of a room to accommodate the fastener 31 within the recess 30.

The fastener 31 is plate-shaped and has a periphery defining a thickness direction of the plate bifurcated so as to provide opposed lips 33, 34 with a groove between the opposed lips 33, 34. The opposing lips 33, 34 are dimensioned such that when the fastener 31 is received in the recess 30 of the dispenser 20, the opposing lips 33, 34 engage on opposing faces of the rear wall 22 of the dispenser 20. That is, when the dispenser 20 is mounted to the fastener 31, the recess 32 of the fastener 31 receives the edge of the recess 30 of the rear wall 22. The fasteners 31 may be attached to the room wall using an adhesive or other means, such as screws.

To mount the dispenser 20 to a wall of a room, the fastener 31 is adhered to the wall of the room. The dispenser 20 is positioned over the fastener 31 and slid downwardly so that the edges along the thickness of the recess 30 of the dispenser 20 are received within the recess 32 of the fastener 31 so that the lips 33, 34 contact opposite faces of the rear wall 22 of the dispenser 20. The recess 32 of the fastener 31 extends around three sides of the fastener 31 including a top portion and sides extending from the top portion in a downwardly depending manner, thereby respectively receiving the top and sides of the edge of the recess 30 of the dispenser 20 within the recess 32 of the fastener 31. In this way, the dispenser 20 is fixed to the fastening member 31 and thus to the room wall in a direction perpendicular to the room wall and to the left and right (when viewed facing the room wall and the dispenser 20). The dispenser 20 can only be removed from the fastener 31 and thus the room wall by moving the dispenser 20 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the dispenser 20 slides onto the fastener 31 during installation. That is, to remove the dispenser 20 from the room wall and the fastener 31, the dispenser 20 must be moved in an upward direction until the edges of the recess 30 are out of contact and no longer between the first and second lips 33, 34 of the fastener 31. Thus, the fastener 31 enables the dispenser 20 to be moved into a release configuration to be out of contact with the fastener 31, which may prove useful for tissue filling and cleaning purposes.

The particular embodiment shown in fig. 3 may be modified to enable the fastener 20 to be mounted to a room wall. For example, the fastener 31 or indeed the dispenser 20 may have a suction cup to secure it to a wall of a room. Alternatively, the dispenser and a fastener mounted to the wall of the room may have a magnetic interaction for holding them together. In another example, the dispenser 20 may be secured directly to the room wall by screw receiving holes through which screws are drilled into the room wall to clamp the dispenser 20 to the room wall. In another possibility, the distributor 20 may define at least one passage having a flare through the rear wall 22 of the distributor 20. The flare in the passage is sized to allow an enlarged head of a fastener protruding from the room wall to enter the flare. The dispenser 20 may then be moved relative to the fastener 31 so that the enlarged head of the fastener slides within the channel to a position where the fastener 31 cannot exit from the channel in a direction perpendicular to the room wall and preferably cannot exit from the channel in a left-right direction when a user is facing the dispenser 20 and the room wall. To remove the dispenser 20 from the fastener 31 in this configuration, the enlarged head must be moved through the passageway until it reaches the flare, at which point the dispenser 20 may then be moved in a direction perpendicular to the room wall to separate it from the room wall and the fastener 31.

But preferably the fastener 31 and the dispenser 20 are mounted to each other by sliding the dispenser 20 from a position removed from the fastener 31 to a position covering the fastener 31, wherein the fastener 31 and the dispenser 20 at the position covering the fastener 31 cooperate to prevent movement of the dispenser 20 relative to the fastener 31 in a direction perpendicular to the room wall/fastener plane and/or wherein relative movement only in a direction opposite to the starting direction is possible to slidably mount the dispenser 20 on the fastener 31.

Fig. 4a, 4b and 4c show various views of a package comprising a stack of tissues according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The package 1 is in fact as described above with reference to fig. 1, because the package is openable and closable by breaking the perforation line 8 when the package 1 is bent in the direction of rotation about the perforation line 8. The package 1 of fig. 4a-4c further comprises lip members 40, 41 which overlap when the package 1 is in the open configuration as shown in fig. 4b and 4 c. The overlap is in the tissue withdrawal direction, as the tissue withdrawal direction line 42 passes through the first and second lips. The tissue paper withdrawal direction line is a line passing through the centre of the dispensing opening, wherein centre is to be understood as the centre between opposite parts of the package 1 in the following direction: in this direction, the opposite part is moved away during the passage from the closed configuration to the open configuration of the packet 1. Viewed another way, the major face of the first lip member 40 is in a face-to-face relationship with the major face of the second lip member 41 at the overlapping portion of the first and second lip members 40, 41.

The first and second lip members 40, 41 are flexible in that they are capable of deflecting downwardly in the tissue withdrawal direction 42, and the first and second lip members 40, 41 separate into a non-overlapping relationship (not shown) as they deflect downwardly. In fig. 4b, the first lip member 40 is shown arranged more forwardly in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 than the second lip member 41. The first and second lip members 40, 41 are sufficiently flexible to be movable to an opposite configuration, whereby the second lip member 41 is arranged more forwardly in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 than the first lip member 40. Furthermore, the first and second lip members 40, 41 are resilient in that they resiliently return to the overlapping condition after being deformed in the tissue withdrawal direction and into the non-overlapping condition.

Referring to fig. 4C, the overlapping lips 40, 41 are visible in a plan view of the bottom surface 3 of the package 1. The overlapping lips 40, 41 are shown without tissue paper of the package 1 so that both lips 40, 41 are visible. If there are tissues in the package 1, the lip 41 will be covered by the tab portion of the bottommost tissue closest to the dispensing opening 11 projecting through the dispensing opening 11 and the lips 40, 41. Said overlapping lips extend across said dispensing opening 11 of said package 1 when said package 1 is in an open configuration in the longitudinal direction of said package 1. The dispensing opening 11 is provided in the bottom side 3 of the package and extends between the front and rear sides 7, 6 of the package 1 to provide a dispensing opening 11, which dispensing opening 11 is open along the full width of an elongated tissue of a stack 10 of tissues in the package 1 to avoid wrinkling of the tissues in the tissue width direction during dispensing. The overlapping lips 40, 41 extend practically also along the entire length of the dispensing opening 11, i.e. from the front wall 7 to the rear wall 6 of the bottom 3 of the package 1. The lips 40, 41 overlap at opposite ends along the length of the elongated dispensing opening 11, wherein overlapping is understood to be the case when the lips 40, 41 are deformed into a non-overlapping state in the tissue withdrawal direction 42. Thus, overlapping portions 43 of the overlapping lips 40, 41 and a central non-overlapping portion 44 longitudinally arranged between the opposing overlapping portions 43 are provided at the opposing longitudinal ends of the dispensing opening 11. The overlapping portion 43 covers the tissues in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 and the non-overlapping portion 44 leaves the tissues in the package 1 uncovered in the tissue withdrawal direction 42. The non-overlapping portion 44 allows a user to grasp the tissue closest to the dispensing opening 11 through the lips 40, 41 to pull a tab portion of the tissue through the dispensing opening 11 and through the overlapping lips 40, 41 for subsequent dispensing.

In use, the closed package 1 shown in fig. 4a is taken and the perforation line 8 is broken by rotating opposite longitudinal portions of the bottom surface 3 on both sides of the perforation line 8 about the hinge 9 in the following directions: in which direction the opposite parts of the bottom surface 3 are separated and thereby break the perforation lines 8. In the closed configuration 1, the overlapping lips 40, 41 are arranged in a most overlapping condition with the tissue 45 positioned between the more forward lip 40 in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 and the less forward lip 41 in the tissue withdrawal direction 42. In the closed configuration shown in fig. 4a, the overlapping lips 40, 41 are confined within the walls of the package 1 before the perforation line 8 is broken. When opening the package 1 as described above, the lips 40, 41 are separated because they are attached at one end to opposite portions of the bottom wall 3 on both sides of the perforation line 8. The lips 40, 41 thus move from a most overlapping configuration of package closure to a configuration of reduced overlap but still overlapping, as shown in figure 4 b.

Referring to fig. 4b of the package 1 in the open configuration, the tissue 45 closest to the dispensing opening 11 has a portion projecting through the dispensing opening 11 and (in the tissue withdrawal direction 42) from between the overlapping lips 40, 41 to provide a tab portion of the tissue 45 to be grasped by a user for dispensing the tissue 45. The overlapping lips 40, 41 contact opposite faces of tissue paper 45 projecting through the lips 40, 41.

When a user pulls the tissue 45 in the tissue withdrawal direction 42, the more forwardly disposed lip 40 deforms in the tissue withdrawal direction 42, which also places the lips 40, 41 in a non-overlapping configuration. The next tissue in the stack adjacent to the tissue 45 being withdrawn through the dispensing opening 11 and the lips 40, 41 is withdrawn in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 together with the tissue 45 as the next tissue 46 is in face-to-face contact with the tissue 45 being dispensed. The next tissue 46 is exposed through the lips 40, 41 such that the tissue 45 contacts the more forwardly disposed lip in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 and the next tissue 46 contacts the less forwardly disposed lip 41 in the tissue withdrawal direction 42. When the first tissue 45 in the tissue withdrawal sequence of the tissue stack 10 is withdrawn through the dispensing opening 11 to the extent that the next tissue 46 in the tissue withdrawal sequence of the tissue stack 10 is in contact with the lip 41, the lip 41 is further deformed in the tissue withdrawal direction 42 to allow the next tissue 46 to be withdrawn through the first and second lips 40, 41. Once the first tissue 45 is fully pulled through the dispensing opening 1 and lips 40, 41 such that the tissue 45 no longer contacts either of the lips 40, 41, the tissue 45 has been dispensed. At this point, the lip 41 returns to its original, undeformed state at a slower rate than the lip 40 due to the contact of the next tissue 46 with the lip 41. Thus, the aforementioned more forwardly disposed lip 40 recedes so as to be located behind the aforementioned more rearwardly disposed lip 41 in the tissue-drawing direction 42. Thus, when dispensing each tissue, the lips 40, 41 alternately become the more forwardly disposed lips.

The tissue 46 is now the first tissue in the tissue draw sequence of the stack 10 and projects through the lips 40, 41 to provide a tab portion for grasping by a user to dispense the tissue 46. This sequence of steps is repeated for each subsequent withdrawn tissue as the overlapping lips alternate with the more forwardly disposed lips.

When the tissue is withdrawn in the longitudinal direction of the tissue, the overlapping portions 43 of the overlapping lips 40, 41 contact opposite faces of the tissue being withdrawn through the dispensing opening 11 at opposite transverse portions of the elongated tissue. The contact of the opposite faces of the tissue being withdrawn through the overlapping portions 43 of the overlapping lips 40, 41 is a pressing (pinching) type contact on the opposite faces of the tissue. In the non-overlapping portion 44 of the lips 40, 41, the tissue being withdrawn may be in contact with one of the lips 40, 41, but the contact does not compress the tissue as it is withdrawn. In the case where a central transverse portion between the opposed transverse portions of the tissue is not compressed, the compression of the opposed transverse portions of the elongate tissue when withdrawn tends to avoid wrinkling of the tissue in the transverse direction during dispensing.

The above description of the overlapping lips 40, 41 has been given in the case of the package 1 according to the embodiment of fig. 1 and 2 as described previously. Such a package 1 is disposable and is therefore made of a material with reduced wear resistance, such as a thin polymer bag, paper or cardboard. In an alternative embodiment, overlapping lips may be applied on both sides of a more wear resistant container for a stack of tissues. Such containers are wall mountable and made of a suitable rigid polymer or metal. The overlapping lips 40, 41 will be provided on opposite lateral sides of an elongate dispensing opening for such a container. The lips will be attached to the container on both sides of the dispensing opening and extend across the dispensing opening in a cantilever fashion so as to partially overlap such that a line perpendicular to the plane of the dispensing opening will pass through each lip at the overlap of the lips. The lip will be shaped and function as described previously with respect to fig. 4a-4 c. For containers with fixed dispensing openings, the description of the overlapping lips 40, 41 in relation to the closed configuration of the package 1 may not apply. With a fixed dispensing opening 11, i.e. a dispensing opening 11 which is not formed by opposing parts of the container or package which are moved away from each other, the overlapping lips do not move from the more overlapping configuration shown in fig. 4a to the less overlapping but still overlapping configuration shown in fig. 4 b.

In one aspect of the invention, the package 1 comprising the stack of tissues 10 further comprises a cover 50 for covering the stack of tissues 10 in the thickness or stacking direction of the stack of tissues 10 when the package 1 is in the open configuration, as shown in fig. 5. The stack of tissues 10 has opposed major faces provided at least in part by the first and last tissues in the stacking sequence. The package 1 is opened at a dispensing opening 11 such that a major face of the stack 10 of tissues corresponding to a first tissue in the stack 10 is exposed. The hinge 9 of the package 1 spans in a transverse direction of the opposite major face of the stack of tissues 10 such that the package 1 opens about the hinge 9 to provide a dispensing opening 11. Opposite front and rear walls 6, 7 of the package 1 connect the hinge 9 and the dispensing opening 11, the front and rear walls 6, 7 also opening about the hinge 9 to expose the stack 10 of tissues in the thickness direction of the stack 10 of tissues.

The opening in the rear and front walls 6, 7 of the package 1 is larger in extension from the hinge 9 towards the dispensing opening when the package 9 is in the open configuration. When the package 1 is in the open configuration, the opening is located between opposite parts of the front and rear walls 6, 7 or between the halves 51, 52 of the front and rear walls 6, 7 in the embodiment shown. The cover 50 is attached to one of the portions 51, 52 on the front face 7 of the package 1 and extends across the opening between the opposite portions 51, 52 of the front face 7 to the other portion 51, 52 in order to protect the stack of tissues 10 from contamination by e.g. dust. When the package 1 is in the open configuration, the lid 50 is attached to one of the portions 51, 52 but not to the other portion 51, 52 of the front face 7 so that it moves with one of the portions 51, 52 and is slidable with respect to the other portion 51, 52. The lid 50 is attached to one of the parts on the inside of the package 1. In the closed configuration of the package 1, before the perforation line 8 is broken, the lid 50 is covered by the package 1 such that the lid 50 is located inside the package 1.

The lid 50 is triangular in shape so that the apex of the triangle is positioned at the side of the hinge 9 opening between the opposite portions 51, 52 of the front face 7 when the package 1 is in the open configuration, and the base of the triangle defined by the lid 50 is disposed at the side of the dispensing opening 11 of the front face 7. In this way, the shape of the lid 50 conforms to the shape of the opening between the opposite portions 51, 52 of the package 1 when the package 1 is in the open configuration. The cover 50 thus provides an effective dust cover for the entire area of the tissue stack 10 that would otherwise be exposed in the stacking direction when the package 1 is in the open configuration.

In use, the package 1 is grasped at its opposite longitudinal ends by the hands 54 as shown in fig. 5, with the other fingers on the bottom wall 3 of the package 1, the thumb on the top wall 2 of the package 1 and the palm contacting the opposite longitudinal end walls 4, 5 of the package 1. The thumb pushes into the top surface of the package 1 and the other fingers of the hand 54 are separated so that the perforation line 8 is broken to provide the dispensing opening 11 in the bottom wall 3 of the package 1, the hinge 9 in the top wall 2 of the package 1 and the front and rear openings connecting the hinge 9 and the dispensing opening 11 in the package 1. When opening the package 1 about the hinge 9, the portions 51, 52 of the package 1 are separated from each other. The lid 50 moves together with the parts 51, 52 of the package 1 to which it is attached and slides relative to the other parts 51, 52. The cover 50 provides a dust cover for covering the stack of tissues 10 in the stacking direction of the tissues when the package 1 is in the open configuration.

The cover 50 is preferably transparent to enable a user to view therethrough to determine the level of depletion, which can be determined by the number of tissues remaining in the stack 10 within the package 1. The cover 50 may be made of a polymer film.

In a modification of the package 1 shown in fig. 5, the cover 50 may be provided on opposite sides of the package 1, wherein these sides extend in the stacking direction of the stack of tissues 10. Thus, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, a lid 50 covering the opening between the opposite portions 51, 52 of the package 1 on the rear wall 6 and the front wall 7 of said package 1 may be provided.

In a further modification of the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the lid 50 may be attached to the outside of the package 1. Aesthetically, this modification is not as pleasing as that shown in fig. 5, where the lid 50 is not visible until the package 1 is opened.

The package 1 of fig. 5 has been described above with reference to the top, bottom, rear and front walls 2, 3, 6, 7 of the package 1. The lid 50 may be provided on other types of packages 1 than those shown in fig. 5. Thus, any package that is opened on three sides about a hinge provided on the fourth surface of the package 1 such that the tissues are exposed on three sides preferably comprises a lid for one, two or three sides to provide a dust cover for the tissues of the package. Such a lid is attached to a portion of the package 1 on one side of the opening and is slidable relative to a portion of the package on the other side of the opening, and is preferably attached to the inside of the package such that the package covers the lid when the package is in the closed configuration. Preferably, the dispensing opening exposed by the packaging face opposite the hinge face is not covered or only partially covered by the lid so as not to impede a user from grasping an underlying tissue through the dispensing opening. More preferably, the lid is arranged to cover one or both faces of the stack extending between the hinge face of the package and the dispensing opening, preferably only.

Referring to fig. 6, the interfolding pattern for the stack of tissues 10 in the package 1 can be seen. The tissue stack 10 includes a first tissue 45, a second tissue 46, and a series of other tissues through a last tissue 47 interfolded to form the tissue stack 10. For any given tissue within the stack 10 (except for the first and last tissue 45, 47 in the tissue withdrawal order of the stack 10), the given tissue 46 is folded to provide a leading panel 46 'and a trailing panel 46 "connected by a fold 46"'. The given tissue 46 is elongated and the fold 46 "' extends transversely across the given tissue 46. The leading panel 46' is in partial face-to-face relationship with the trailing panel of a preceding tissue 45 along the tissue withdrawal sequence of the stack 10 (along a partial longitudinal extension of the leading panel in the longitudinal direction of the tissue 46). Further, the trailing panel of the given tissue 46 is in a partially overlapping face-to-face relationship with the leading panel of the next tissue in the tissue withdrawal direction. Thus, when a preceding tissue 45 of the given tissue 46 is withdrawn, the tissue 46 moves with the preceding tissue 45 in the tissue withdrawal direction due to the trailing panel of the preceding tissue 45 being in face-to-face overlapping relationship with the leading panel of the given tissue 46. Similarly, when the given tissue 46 is withdrawn, the next tissue 48 moves with the given tissue 46 due to the leading panel of the next tissue being in face-to-face overlapping relationship with the trailing panel of the given tissue 46.

Referring to fig. 6, the leading panel 46' of the given tissue 46 overlaps the trailing panel of the preceding tissue 45 in the tissue withdrawal sequence along the longitudinal axis of the given tissue 46. Similarly, a trailing panel 46 ″ of the given tissue 46 partially overlaps a leading panel of a next tissue 48 of the tissue withdrawal sequence along a longitudinal axis of the given tissue 46. There is thus provided an elongate stack 10 having a central portion 60 between opposite longitudinal end portions 61, wherein leading and trailing panels of tissue overlap one another in face-to-face relationship within the stack 10. At opposite longitudinal ends 61 of the stack 10, adjacent tissues within the stack 10 do not overlap one another. Thus, for the given tissue 46, the head panel block 46 'overlaps the tail panel block of the preceding tissue 45 in the tissue draw sequence along a first portion of the head panel block 46'. Similarly, the tail panel block 46 "overlaps in a face-to-face relationship with a head panel block of a next tissue 48 in the tissue withdrawal order of the stack 10 along a second local extent of the tail panel block 46" in the longitudinal direction of the tissues 46. The first and second longitudinal portions of the given tissue 46 are thus separated by a fold 46 "' that does not overlap with an adjacent tissue in the tissue withdrawal sequence. The overlapping portions of the tissues in the stack 10 correspond to the overlapping portions 60 of the stack, while the non-overlapping portions of the tissues in the stack 10 correspond to the non-overlapping portions of the stack 10 at opposite longitudinal ends 61 of the stack 10.

The ratio of the longitudinal extension of the overlapping portion 60 to the longitudinal extension of the stack 10 in the longitudinal direction of the elongated stack 10 is about 30%.

The overlapping region 60 of the stack 10 is a central region between opposing longitudinal portions 61 of the elongated stack 10. The package 1 is configured such that a dispensing opening 11 and a perforation line 8 that has to be broken to form the dispensing opening are provided in a middle region of the stack 10. The weight of the stack 10 is therefore offset centrally within the overlap region 61 such that the overlap region 60 weighs more than either of the opposing non-overlapping longitudinal ends 61 of the stack 10 when the longitudinal axis of the stack 10 is arranged horizontally.

In use, for any given tissue 46 in the stack 10, when a preceding tissue 45 in the tissue stack sequence is withdrawn through the dispensing opening 11 of the package 1 (as described above), the slack provided by the longitudinally extending section of the following tissue 45 that does not overlap the second tissue 46 is taken up. Once slack is taken up and the next tissue 45 is withdrawn through the dispensing opening 11 over the major longitudinal extent of the tissue 45, the tension of the next tissue 45 in the tissue withdrawal direction is transferred to the given tissue 46 by a face-to-face interaction between a portion of the trailing panel of the next tissue 45 and a portion of the leading panel 46' of the given tissue 46. Once a tissue 45 is withdrawn through the dispensing opening such that the full longitudinal extension of the overlapping portion of the head panel of the given tissue 46 protrudes through the dispensing opening 11, the next tissue 45 is released from the given tissue 46 and dispensed from the stack 10 and package 1. The given tissue paper 46 protruding through the dispensing opening 11 can then be grasped by a user for dispensing. Slack in the given tissue 46 that is not in an overlapping face-to-face relationship with the next tissue 48 in the tissue withdrawal sequence may be taken up until it reaches the overlapping portion between the face of the tail panel 46' and the face of a portion of the head panel of the next tissue 48. At this point, the withdrawal acting on the given tissue 46 causes the next tissue 48 to move therewith due to the face-to-face interaction at the overlapping portion between the given tissue and the next tissue 48. This step is repeated to dispense any given tissue within the stack 10.

The stack of tissues 10 may be a separate aspect of the present invention. Thus, the stack 10 may be provided in an alternative type of container to the primary package 1, for example a container made of a more wear resistant material such as metal or rigid plastic as in a wall-mountable container. In such wall-mountable containers, the container is preferably elongate such that its longitudinal axis coincides with the longitudinal axis of the stack 10. Furthermore, the dispensing opening of the container is preferably longitudinally centrally located in the container and extends transversely across the container as in the package 1 in fig. 6. The dispensing opening preferably extends laterally across the container from one face to the opposite face to present a container dispensing opening that is at least as large in the lateral direction as the lateral extent of the stack 10 (if not larger than the lateral extent of the stack 10). This arrangement means that the stack 10 tends to project into the dispensing opening in the tissue withdrawal direction when the tissue withdrawal direction is aligned with gravity (i.e. the longitudinal axes of the stack 10 and container are aligned with the horizontal).

The stack may be made up of multiple folded sheets rather than the single folded sheet shown. In this case, any given sheet will overlap with adjacent sheets along part of its extension of the head and tail panels. There is also at least one intermediate panel between the head and tail portions. Further, the stacked sheets may include perforation lines connecting adjacent panels of the sheet, such that the sheets may be separated into at least two sections at one or more perforation lines connecting the panels.

The ratio of the longitudinal extension of the overlap region 60 of the stack 10 to the longitudinal extension of the stack 10 as a whole has been described above to be about 0.3. Said ratio is preferably as described in the summary of the invention section above, preferably between 0.25 and 0.5.

Fig. 7 discloses a preferred embodiment of a wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70. The wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70 is in an open configuration in fig. 7a and in a closed configuration in fig. 7 b. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser has a receptacle 71 for accommodating a stack of moist non-woven sheets. The container has opposing first and second major faces, opposing first and second minor faces, and opposing first and second intermediate-sized faces. The major faces are provided by top and bottom walls 72, 73, the minor faces are provided by opposed end walls 74, 75 and the intermediate dimension faces are provided by opposed front and rear faces 76, 77. The top wall 72 is characterized by a dispensing opening 78 in a central region thereof. The front face 76 features a recess and bayonet 79 formed in its interior for receiving a tab 80 of a cover 81 therein to secure the cover in the closed configuration of figure 7 b. The rear wall 77 is characterized by a hinge member 82 extending from the rear wall 77 to allow hinging of a lid 81 to the container 71. The opposing end walls 74, 75 and the opposing front and rear walls 76, 77 depend from the top wall 72 and partially define a cavity of the container 77 that contains the moist non-woven sheets. The bottom surface of the receptacle 77 defined by the end walls 74, 75 and the front and rear walls 76, 77 is open so that tissue paper can be inserted into the receptacle 77 through its open bottom surface 73.

The moist non-woven sheet dispenser has a bottom 83 which is removably fittable onto the open bottom surface of the receptacle 71. The bottom 83 is shown removed from the receptacle 71 in fig. 7c and attached to the receptacle 71 in fig. 7a and 7 b. The base 83 provides an upstanding platform 84 surrounded by a peripheral flange 85. The platform 84 is dimensioned to be fittingly received by the inner sides of the opposed end walls 74, 75 and the front and rear walls 76, 77. The top surface 86 of the platform 84 provides a base for the receptacle 71 on which a stack of wet non-woven sheets may be placed. Depending from the platform 84 of the bottom 83 is a triangular prism-shaped portion 87, which triangular prism-shaped portion 87 defines an upright surface for the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70.

The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 further comprises a lid 81 hinged to the container 71 by the hinge member 72. The cover 81 is movable by pivoting about the hinge member 82 between open and closed configurations. The lid 81 defines a depending flange about its periphery that fits over and outside of an upstanding flange 89 extending about the periphery of the top surface 72 of the container 77. With the depending flange 88 of the lid 81 positioned outside the periphery of the upstanding flange 89 of the container 71, the depending flange 88 of the lid 81 and the upstanding flange 89 extending around the periphery of the top surface 72 of the container 71 sealingly engage one another. Referring to fig. 7b, the top surface 90 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser is smooth and continuous for ease of wiping.

The dispensing opening 78 of the top surface 72 of the container 71 is partially closed by an insert 91 extending around the dispensing opening and having inwardly projecting tabs 92 separated by slits 93. The tabs are circumferentially distributed around a central aperture through which the tissue paper exiting the dispensing opening 78 and the insert 91 passes.

For use, the lid 81 is grasped by a thumb inserted into the recess of the bayonet and recess 79 when the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is in the closed configuration. The thumb thus pulls the cover 81 to rotate about the hinge member 82 which causes the tab 80 to deform away from the bayonet at the apex of the bayonet and recess 79 thereby releasing the cover 81 to move to the open configuration shown in figure 7 a. Opening the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 exposes the top surface 72 and the dispensing opening 78. The wet nonwoven sheet can be extracted from the receptacle 77 through the dispensing opening 78 in the top surface 72 of the receptacle 71 and through the insert 91 that partially closes the dispensing opening 78. When the tissue is drawn through the insert 91, the flap 92 deforms in the tissue withdrawal direction, which serves to tighten the moist non-woven sheet as it is withdrawn, which may allow any excess moisture on the tissue to be squeezed out and retained within the receptacle 71. After tissue withdrawal, the cover 81 may be closed again so that the tab 80 is deformed outwardly to pass it through the bayonet and then resiliently straightened inwardly to be received in the recess of the bayonet and recess 79. In the closed configuration, the depending peripheral flange 88 of the lid 81 sealingly engages with the upstanding peripheral flange 89 of the container 71. These flanges may be formed at least in part of a resilient or rubber-like material to enhance sealing capability. Similarly, the insert 91 may be made of a rubber-like material to resiliently straighten the flap 92 and also to seal the dispensing opening 78.

When a replacement stack of wet nonwoven sheets is to be inserted into the container of the wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70, the bottom 83 is removed to disengage the platform 84 from the front, rear and end walls 76, 77, 74 and 75 of the container 71. The receptacle 71 may then be inverted so that the cavity defined by the walls of the receptacle 71 faces upward. The stack of wet non-woven sheets is then inserted into the cavity defined by the receptacle 71 and the base 83 may be inserted so that it sealingly engages the front, rear and end walls 76, 77, 74 and 75 of the receptacle 71. The top surface 86 of the platform 84 is thus in face-to-face relationship with the bottom tissue of the stack of moist non-woven sheets inserted into the receptacle 71. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 can then be turned back so that the lid 81 and the dispensing opening 78 face upwards. Upon insertion of the bottom 83, the platform 84 may be slightly pressed by the walls of the receptacle 71 when inserted, thereby ensuring a snap engagement, also a sealing engagement, between the bottom 83 and the walls of the receptacle 71. Thus, the bottom 83 may be made of an elastic material. The bottom 83 may be made of rubber or a rubber-like material.

In the closed configuration shown in fig. 7b, the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is in fact sealed and thus prevents moisture from escaping from the dispenser 70. The sealing abutment flanges 88, 89 of the lid 81 and receptacle 71, respectively, prevent any moisture from escaping along the path of the dispensing opening 78 along the gap between the lid 81 and the receptacle and top surface 72 of the receptacle 71 and thus out of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70. In addition, the sealing engagement between the bottom 83 and the depending walls 74, 75, 76, 77 of the container 71 prevents any moisture from escaping from the open bottom surface of the container 71.

In the illustrated embodiment, the bottom 83 provides an uneven upstanding surface of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 relative to the lid 90. Instead, it defines a downwardly depending ramp that meets at a central point. The function of such a bottom surface will become clear below. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 may be manufactured to have a flat bottom surface to allow it to stand on a table top, so that the plane of the top surface 72 and the plane of the cover 90 present in effect a flat surface facing upwardly towards the user (opposite the table top).

The insert 91 is provided in the form of a flap 92 and a slit 93, wherein the flap defines the circumference of a central opening through which the wet nonwoven sheet is withdrawn. Other types of resilient inserts 91 are known in the art. The insert 91 may be modified to define only one straight or undulating slit. Similarly, the closure mechanism, in the illustrated embodiment the tabs 80 and the bayonet and groove arrangement, may be any known type of closure mechanism. For example, the receptacle 71 may define a convex tab on the front face 76 and the lid 81 may have a mating lip that is capable of resiliently deforming outwardly to pass over the tab and resiliently straightening to snap the lip over the tab when released thereby securing the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 in a closed configuration.

Fig. 8 discloses a wet and dry tissue dispensing system 90 comprising a dry tissue dispenser 20 and a moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70. The dry tissue dispenser is as described above with reference to fig. 2. The wet non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is as described above with reference to figure 7. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 carries the stack of moist non-woven sheets in its receptacle 71. The dry tissue dispenser 20 carries a package 1 comprising a stack 10 of dry tissues. The dry tissue dispenser 20 is adapted to be mounted to a wall of a room by a back plate 22. The peripheral wall extending from the rear plate 22 in a direction perpendicular to the plane defined by the rear plate 22 has a bottom surface portion 26 and a top surface portion 25. The bottom portion 26 features a dispensing opening 24 through which the dispensing opening 11 of the package 1 is accessible so that dry tissue paper within the package 1 can be removed. The top surface portion 25 of the dry tissue dispenser 20 defines a depending V-shape in its outer surface. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 has a bottom 83 which also defines a V-shaped groove as the outer surface of the bottom. The V-shape of the bottom portion 83 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 and the top portion 75 of the dry tissue dispenser 20 actually cooperate with each other such that the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is securely received by the dry tissue dispenser 20. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is located on top of the dry tissue dispenser 20 and they have cooperating interfacing surfaces, which prevents relative movement of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 along an axis extending between the opposite end walls 27, 28 of the dry tissue dispenser and the end walls 74, 75 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser.

In use, the dry tissue dispenser is mounted on a room wall such that the back panel is mounted against the room wall. The direction perpendicular to the room walls and the rear plate 22 may be defined as the Z direction. The moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is then placed on top of the dry tissue dispenser 20 to provide a moist and dry tissue dispensing system 90. As previously described with reference to fig. 2, a dry tissue package 1 is inserted through the open front of the dry tissue dispenser 20. The lid 81 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 can be opened as shown in fig. 7a to expose the dispensing opening 78. A user can withdraw moist tissue from within the dispensing opening 78 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 and can withdraw dry tissue as desired through the dispensing opening 11 of the package 1 and the dispensing opening 24 of the dry tissue dispenser 20. The wet and dry tissues are dispensed in opposite tissue withdrawal directions that can be considered to extend along a Y-axis perpendicular to the Z-axis. The X-axis may also be defined as extending perpendicular to the Y-axis and Z-axis and in a direction between the opposite end walls 27, 28 of the dry tissue dispenser 20 and between the opposite end walls 74, 75 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70. The depending ramp at the bottom of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser and the depending ramp of the top face of the dry tissue dispenser 20 cooperatively interact such that the ramps of the dry tissue dispenser 20 impede movement of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 in the X-direction.

The dry tissue dispenser 20 can be easily refilled by replacing the package 1 therein with a new package through the open front of the dry tissue dispenser 20. Refilling the moist non-woven sheet dispenser is made easy by tilting and removing the bottom 83 from the container 71 and inserting a new stack of moist non-woven sheets in the open face presented by turning the container 71 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 upwards. The bottom portion 83 is then replaced and the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 is repositioned back onto the top of the dry tissue dispenser 20. The drooping nature of the bottom portion 83 means that the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 has a position of center of gravity located within the bottom portion 83, preferably also within the X-direction line connecting the opposing slopes of the top portion 25 of the dry tissue dispenser 20. This provides a particularly stable configuration for the wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70, which preferably allows a user to extract wet nonwoven sheets from the wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70 with only one hand. That is, the wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70 does not need to be stabilized with one hand so that the wet nonwoven sheet can be withdrawn from the wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70 with the other hand.

In a modification of the dry tissue dispenser 20 shown in fig. 8a and 8b, front and rear upstanding flanges contacting the front and rear faces 76, 77 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 may also be provided so as to impede movement of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 in the Z-direction when tissue is withdrawn from the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70. Likewise, upstanding flanges may be positioned at opposite end panels 27, 28 of the dry tissue dispenser so as to contact end faces 74, 75 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser. Preferably, upstanding flanges extend around the periphery of the top face portion 25 of the dry tissue dispenser 20, so that when tissue is dispensed from the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70, the upstanding flanges will surround the front, rear and end walls 76, 77, 74 and 75 of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser to hold the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 in position in the X and Z directions. As with the cooperating interface shown in fig. 8a and 8b, such upstanding flanges do not hinder movement of the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 in the Y-direction when the moist non-woven sheet dispenser 70 has to be refilled.

The wet nonwoven sheet dispenser 70 may have a bottom surface that does not define a hanging V-shape, such as a flat surface. It may be provided with means for fixing it to a surface of a room, such as a table. For example, the device may be a suction cup device. In this case, the cooperating interface between the wet and dry dispensers 20, 70 is not necessarily required, although they are preferred. Alternatively, the wet and dry dispensers 20, 70 may be held together with magnetic interaction. These alternative fixtures (magnetic/suction cup/other) do not have the aesthetic advantage of the male/female interfitting bottom and top surfaces of the wet and dry sheet dispensers 20, 70 of the system 90 of fig. 8.

In all aspects of the invention, the dry tissue paper is preferably toilet paper, which is only characteristic of other kinds of hygiene tissue paper, such as facial tissue, as is well known to the person skilled in the art. It may be embossed and may be single or multi-ply. One characteristic feature of decorated paper, as compared to other types of sanitary or absorbent paper, is its solubility. Toilet paper has the characteristic of being quickly flushed. Other types of tissue paper include wet strength agents to reduce their water solubility.

In a preferred embodiment, the features described above in connection with the frangible package of fig. 1, the dispenser of fig. 1, the overlapping lips of the package of fig. 5, the interfolded structure of fig. 6, and the moist non-woven sheet dispenser of fig. 7 are combined in a system as shown in fig. 8.

The scope of the absorbent tissue paper system of the present invention is defined by the following claims.

Claims (28)

1. A package comprising a stack of tissue paper sheets, wherein the package comprises at least one line of weakness having an unbroken configuration and a broken configuration, and wherein the package is configured to be able to be flexed to pull apart the line of weakness when the line of weakness is in the broken configuration to open the package so as to allow a tissue paper sheet in the stack to be withdrawn through the open package.

2. The package of claim 1, wherein the package is configured such that the bending is capable of breaking the line of weakness when the line of weakness is in the unbroken configuration.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2, dimensioned such that at least part of the palm, thumb and fingers of one hand fit around the pack on one side of the line of weakness and the palm, thumb and fingers of the other hand fit around the pack on the other side of the line of weakness, whereby both hands can be manipulated to bend the package and thereby break the line of weakness.

4. A package according to claim 3 wherein the package is elongate and opposite longitudinal end regions of the package are graspable by respective hands of a user.

5. A package according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein the package is elongate, the at least one line of weakness is located in a central region and the line of weakness extends transversely relative to the package.

6. The package of any of the preceding claims, wherein the package is configured to be bent about a hinge portion of the package for holding together first and second portions of the package when the at least one line of weakness has been broken, the first and second portions of the package being separated by the line of weakness and the hinge portion.

7. A package according to any preceding claim wherein the package is elongate having longitudinal end faces and four side faces extending longitudinally between the end faces, wherein the line of weakness extends around three of the four side faces of the package so as to retain a hinge portion of the package when the line of weakness is broken, and so that at least a portion of the fourth side serves as a hinge portion of the package about which the package is opened.

8. The package of claim 6 or 7, wherein the package is sufficiently rigid to maintain an open configuration even when the package is oriented such that the weight of the stack of tissue paper sheets presses down on the hinge portion.

9. The package of any of the preceding claims, wherein the package is in a closed and sealed configuration when the line of weakness is in the unbroken configuration and is configured to bend from a closed configuration to an open configuration when the at least one line of weakness is in the broken configuration, and wherein the package can be manipulated back to its closed configuration whereby opposing sides of the broken line of weakness are in contact.

10. The package of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the package is configured such that portions of the package can be moved away from each other when the line of weakness is in a broken configuration, thereby being placed in an open configuration which exposes a first portion of the stack of tissue paper sheets through the package, and a lid is provided to move with one of the portions relative to the other portion to cover the first portion of the stack of tissue paper sheets when the package is in the open configuration, whereby the lid can slide relative to the other portion of the package when the portions of the package are moved relative to each other.

11. A package comprising a stack of tissue paper sheets, wherein the package is openable by moving one portion of the package relative to another portion of the package such that a first portion of the stack of tissue paper sheets is exposed by the package, and wherein a cover is movable with one of the portions relative to the other portion to cover the first portion of the stack, and wherein the cover is configured to move in a sliding manner relative to the other portion of the package as the package is opened.

12. The package of claim 10 or 11, wherein the stack of sheets comprises a top sheet providing the top of the stack, a bottom sheet providing the bottom of the stack, and a plurality of sheets stacked between the top sheet and the bottom sheet and providing sides of the stack connecting the top and bottom of the stack, and wherein the cover is configured to cover one side of the stack of tissues when the package is in the open configuration.

13. The package of claim 10, 11 or 12, wherein the cover is sufficiently transparent and positioned so that a user can view the position of the last sheet in the stack as the package approaches an empty condition.

14. The package of claim 10, 11, 12 or 13, wherein the package has a hinge portion and the package is openable and closable by rotating about the hinge portion, and wherein rotation of the package about the hinge portion provides a dispensing opening in the package through which a bottom sheet in the stack can be withdrawn, wherein the bottom sheet is located on an opposite side of the stack from the hinge, and further such that a side opening is provided in a stacking direction of the package through which the stack is exposed by the package, wherein the side opening becomes more separated from the hinge end to the dispensing opening end, and wherein the cover is configured to cover the side opening.

15. The package of claim 14 wherein said lid is shaped to substantially correspond to said side opening.

16. The package of claim 10, wherein the lid is disposed inside the package when the package is in the closed configuration of the package with the line of weakness still unbroken.

17. A dispenser for holding a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets or for holding a package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, wherein the dispenser comprises first and second walls, the first wall being at least partially composed of first and second wall portions angled to each other to define a point of intersection, and the second wall is at least partly composed of first and second wall portions, the first and second portions of the second wall being angled with respect to each other in the same way as the portions of the first wall, except that a dispensing opening is defined therebetween at the location where the intersection point is located in the portions of the first wall, the dispensing opening allowing a sheet to be withdrawn from the stack, the first and second walls being spaced apart to provide a cavity therebetween for receiving the stack, wherein a line bisecting the angle between the first and second wall portions of the first and second walls passes through the intersection of the first wall and the dispensing opening of the second wall.

18. The dispenser of claim 17, wherein the first and second walls are shaped and spaced apart to define a v-shaped cavity therebetween such that when a stack or at least one package is inserted into the cavity it must be shaped to have the v-shape to fit within the cavity, wherein the thickness of the stack or package in the stacking direction is sized to fill the cavity between the first and second walls.

19. The dispenser of claim 17 or 18 which can be oriented such that the first wall is an upwardly facing top wall and the second wall is a downwardly facing bottom wall, and such that the dispenser comprises opposed side walls extending between the top and bottom walls to together define a periphery of the cavity.

20. The dispenser of claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein the angle between the first and second wall portions of the first and second walls is between 170 ° and 110 °, preferably between 165 ° and 130 °, more preferably between 160 ° and 140 °, and still more preferably the angle is about 150 °.

21. A dispenser according to any of claims 17-20, wherein the dispenser defines a cavity for receiving an elongate stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets or an elongate package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, to have a thickness direction with which the stacking direction of the stack is aligned and a transverse direction across a face of the stack of tissues, and wherein the dispenser defines the point of intersection of the first walls to be located at a central position between opposite longitudinal ends of the cavity, thereby requiring the stack of tissues to have a bend line across a face of the stack in the transverse direction and centrally located between the opposite longitudinal ends of the stack.

22. The dispenser of any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the dispenser is open at a front for loading the stack or package through the opening into the cavity.

23. The dispenser of claim 22, wherein the dispenser has a wall defining a closed back face opposite the front face.

24. The dispenser of any one of claims 17-23, configured to be mounted to a wall through an opening or recess in a rear wall thereof.

25. A system of a dispenser and a package comprising a stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets as defined in any of claims 1-16, wherein the dispenser has a housing defining a cavity for receiving the package and a dispensing opening through which tissue paper is passed to be withdrawn, wherein the housing defines the cavity such that it holds the package in an open configuration in which the package is in its curved form and the dispensing opening of the package provided by the open configuration of the package is aligned with the dispensing opening of the dispenser such that a user can withdraw tissue paper from the stack through the dispensing opening of the package and the dispensing opening of the dispenser.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the package has a hinge portion about which the first and second portions of the package move away from each other to open the package and provide the dispensing opening of the package in a face of the package opposite the face including the hinge portion.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the dispenser is as defined in any one of claims 17-24, wherein the intersection of the first wall of the dispenser is joined with a hinge portion of the package.

28. The system of any one of claims 25-27, wherein the package is a refill package and the cavity is for being loaded with the refill package.