US1678220A - Sanitary roll-towel cabinet - Google Patents

Description

July 24, 1928.

Filed Oct. 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f 119- Z ,Z 171,3. 1

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July 24, 1928.

E. T. HAILS SANITARY ROLL TOWEL CABINET Filed Oct. 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet Uw r V w am@ d W 3l 4 8 M f.. 2 3 2 o ./M d w m m M n/.U\ u @w m M m Fm M m u M a 6 M fb? Z 2 d Patented July 24,1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES EDWARD TROY HAILS, 0F MONTGOMERY,

ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR TO STEINEB SALES lCOMIIPANY, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORATION 0F UTAH.

SANITARY :ROLL-TOWEL CABINET.

Application illed October 18, 1923. Serial No. 669,333.

My invention relates to 'certain new and useful improvements in sanitary roll towel cabinets of the class in which a clean towel roll and a soiled towel take-up roll are so mounted and controlled in the cabinet as to maintain the desired service loop of towel exposed. l

There are certain considerations which are of prime importance in the roduction of a roll towel cabinet which will meet the requirements of the public as well as of those furnishing the cabinets. These considerations briefly stated are lst: The cabinet should prevent the unlimited withdrawal of clean towel by an individual user.

2nd: The soiled towel should be automati- 'cally rewound after use so that it will not remain visible and hence the next user will not need to touch or to grasp it to change the towel, nor will he have any need to attempt to pull out clean towel but only to use that already exposed.

3rd: The most satisfactor conditions will obtain if mechanism, whic is very simple and inexpensive in its nature, can be provided which will rewind into the cabinet the soiled towel in the service loop automatically as soon as a user leav s the cabinet.

4th: It must be ve y simple and easy to load the cabinet.

In accomplishin the-objects above in the manner preferred utilize automatic mechanism preferably set by the Weight of the towel user and adapted when released to rewind the used or soiled towel out of position to be grasped or seen by the next user. This automatic operation of the rewind may bring the soiled towel to the rear of the clean towel, but preferably the soiled towel is rewound into the front portion of the cabinet, thus not leaving any soiled towel in the service loop. The preferred means for accomplishing the automatic disposition of the soiled towel is similar to that described in my pending application, Serial No. 644,554, filed June 11th, 1923, but here I provide a weight operated spring retracted one way ratchet drive which acts only upon its release from the control of a users weight and responsive to its spring retraetor to effect the rewind of the soiled towel after the user has stepped away from the cabinet.

For the purpose of simplifying the cabinet mechanism the rolls are so arranged that they are inserted and removed through the front of the cabinet, the clean towel roll being mounted preferably in a hinged frame which can be swung out in front of the cabinet to hold the clean towel roll while threading the towel in its uides. Further by passing the soiled towe up behind the door, I can provide a partition between which and the closed door the soiled towel will be mped fiat as it is drawn up to the rewind ro Another distinctive feature of my invention lies in the provision of a hinged apron, or board, dependent from the front of the cabinet, which in addition to carrying a notice for the user to stand on a depressible platform, serves the added purpose of enabling a greater amount of towel to be used in the service loop without all being exposed to view. In other words, I can provide in the service loop 18 to 24 inches of towel with only about 12 inches exposed below the apron, but the guard being hinged can be drawn up with the towel, thus making the full length of the loop available for drying both face and hands while reducing to a minimum the amount of fresh towelling exposed for each service use.

My invention also comprises the novel detalls of construction and arrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiment only are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which Fig, 1 is a front elevation of my improved roll towel cabinet with its stand and depressible platform.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. l taken on the line 2-2 and showing the outer end wall of the cabinet removed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section enlarged through the cabinet, the dotted lines showing the clean towel roll hanger swung out in dotted lines in position to hold the roll while loading the cabinet. y

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse cross-section broken away and showing in front elevation the towel rolls and their driving mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the one way ratchet sprocket.

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing a springpressed friction roll co-acting with the clean towel feed roll.

. mounted in operating position. The stand,

as shown, comprises two vertical back legs 1 which are suitably attached to or built into the back wall of the towel cabinet 2 and each at its bottom end is connected to -a forwardly extending base bar 3, a brace 4 bein provided from each leg to its respec tive ar. The forward ends of the bars 3 receive pivots 5 for hingedly mounting between them a platform 6, which is of such size and so disposed that one seeking to use the towel will have to stand thereon and depress it by his or her weight. The plat-v form at its rear end has a rod or bar 8 which projects behind the left hand leg 1 and is there connected to a cord, chain, or a suitable iexible connection 9 which works in a channel or groove 10 cut in the back face `of said leg and preferably enclosed by a cover or plate 11. This cord 9 at its up er end enters a compartment 12 formed' etween the left hand end wall 13 of the cab` inet and a parallel vertical inside partition 14 extending from front to rear of the cabinet. Between the partition 14 and theother end wall 15 of the cabinet is formed the main compartment for the reception of the towel rolls.- Access to this main compartment is had through a front door'l, the narrow compartment 12 bein closed in front by a wall 17. The partition 14 is cut away to receive Hush therewith a metallic bearing plate 18 which is suitably connected through spacer elements to the end wall 13, and a similar bearing plate 18 is attached directly t0 the outer end wall 15. These bearing plates are provided with opposite aligning top slots 19 opening through the upper ends of the plates and extending down vertically to a point near their middle portions where the plates are provided with aligning holes to receive the axis 20 of the upper feed roll 21. This axis projects at one end into the compartment 12 and has fast thereon a gear 22 and the driven member 23 of a one waysprocket clutch 24. This sprocket clutch is conventionally illustrated and may be of any suitable type of one way clutch. As shown, the inner member is formed as a ratchet wheel which is engaged by the spring-pressed pawl 25 carried by the sprocket 23 which turns freely on the roll axis. A sprocket chain 26 is mounted over the sprocket wheel, its forward end being connected to a coil spring 27 attached to the cabinet at or near the bottom of the compartment 12, and its rear end being connected to the upper end of the ull cord of chain 9 so that itwill act bot to retract the ratchet pawl and raise the platform when released of a user-s weight'. A lower feed roll 28 is also mounted in the bearing plates.18 adjacent to the roll 21 and its axis at one end projects into the compartment 12 and has fast thereon a gear 29 similar to and meshing the gear 22 on the axis of the roll 21'. I pivotally mount on the lower end of each bearing plate 18 afriction roll carrying arm 30, which arms havenjournaled in their free ends a cross shaft 31 which carries a friction -roll 32 of rubber or like friction material.

A coil spring 33 connected at one end to its respective bearing plate and at the other end to its respective friction roll arm 30, serves to press the friction roll against the lower feed roll 28. The bearing plates at their centers midway between the feed rolls are widened from front to rear and provided with spaced lugs 34 forming guides to receive a slide 35 carrying at its forward end a depending towel pressing apron 36 which in operating position will stand parallel with and in close juxtaposition to the insideface of the closedv door 16, a stop 37 behind the apron holding it in position to leave just enough space between apron and door for the soiled towel, as it is drawn up between the two, to be ironed or straightened out between them. The feed rolls 21 and 28 may have any desired `friction surface.

A soiled towel roll 38 is adapted to be mounted in the slots 19 in the top of the bearing plates 18 and is thus disposed in the upper portion of the cabinet above lthe slide 35. Ample clearance is left for the roll to be inserted from the front and dropped into the slots. A clean towel roll 39 is adapted to be mounted in the lower ortion of the cabinet. Preferably I use bail-like hangers 40 pivotally attached to the bottom 41 of the cabinet and adapted to be swung outwardly in front of the cabinet when the door is open so that the ends of the axis of the clean towel roll can be readily mounted in the loops or eyes 42 at the free ends of the bail hanger by swinging the latter slightly apart and thus supported while the towel is being threaded in place, after' which the hanger is swung over and the clean towel roll falls inwardly and rests freely on the bottom of the cabinet. The bottom of the cabinet has a rear transverse slot 43 through which the .clean towel is fed out of the service loop and a front slot 44 through which the soiled towel while the hanger is projecting from the cabinet the free end of the towel is passed upwardly between the friction roll 32 and the lower feed roll 28 and then over and down through the rear slot 43 in the cabinet bottom. The amount of clean towel desired to be exposed is left in the service loop 45 and to com lete threading it in position is drawn olf t e clean towel roll which is then swung into position in the bottom of the cabinet, the end of the towel being threaded up through the front slot 44 and passed up-V wardly over the apron 36 and connected to the soiled towel roll 38. This roll is then dropped into the slots 19 of the bearing plates and the front door is closed forming the outer pressing member which co-acts with the apron 36 to press and straighten out the soiled towel.

A board or apron 46 is pivotally connected to the front edge of the bottom of the cabinet so as to hang down and cover about 6 inches of the towel service loop. This apron will bear suitable notice printed or otherwise displayed thereon to inform the user that he must stand upon the platform 6 when using-the towel. This apron is free to swing up as the towel loop is drawn upwardly in wiping the face but will drop down and cover any portion of the soiled towel that is not fully withdrawn into the cabinet after the rewind operation. It is to be noted that the towel is so mounted that a pull on the front of the service loop will not draw oit' any towel from the soiled roll as the latter is prevented from any reverse rotation by the ratchet clutch.. This makes it impossible for the user to pull out any towel or change the length of the service loop.

In the use of the cabinet, the operation is as follows. The user steps on the platform 6, his weight depressing the latter and causing the cord 9 to be drawn downwardly and the sprocket chain to be drawn rearwardly, bringing the coil spring 27 under tension. The ratchet sprocket moves free of the feed roll 21 as it rotates in this direction only and hence the towel is not moved. So long as the user remains on the platform the coil spring 27 is held under tension and the clutch holds the upper feed roll 21 so that the towel cannot be pulled down or changed at all. The moment the user steps olf of the platform, the coil spring 27 retracts the sprocket chain and as the resulting rotation of the sprocket will clutch it to the shaft of the feed roll 21, the latter is rotated and by means of the meshing gears 22 and 29 both feed rolls are rotated in reverse directions. This acts positively to draw up, by the co-action of the feed roll 21 and the soiled towel roll 38 and rewind on the latter, the desired amount of soiled towel, say 12 inches, and at the same time the co-action of the lower feed roll 28 and its respective friction roll 32 will draw 'off from the loose clean towel roll the same amount of clean towel which will pass down to .the service loop at the rear. It thus follows that when the next user approaches only clean towel is exposed and there is no soiled towel in the service loop at all. This avoids any conditionsunder which it is necessa for the user to touch the soiled towel, ma es it impossible for'the user to draw all by a pull on the towel any amount from the towel rolls in the cabinet, and makes the change of the towel automatic and immediate after each use of the towel.

Obviously the weight depressed platform 6 is typical of any means which will respond automatically to the departure of a user to effect the rewind of the soiled towel.

Though I have described with great particularity the 'details of the embodiment of the invention herein shown, it is not to be construed that I' am limited thereto, as changes in arrangement and substitution of equivalents maybe made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A. roll towel cabinet having a clean towel roll in its bottom portion, a soiled towel roll in its upper portion, feed rolls connected together for simultaneous movement, one of said feed rolls being in frictional engagement with the towel of the soiled towel roll, the toweling from the clean towel roll passing to the rear of the clean towel roll, thence downwardly and upwardly in front of the clean towel roll to the soiled towel roll, an apron in front of the clean towel roll having a groove therein and a door outside the apron, the construction being such that the clean towel roll may be first inserted in the cabinet, the towel threaded over a roller and thence downwardly through the loop and said groove, thence upwardly in front of the clean towel roll and around the other roll onto the soiled towel roll.

2. A towel cabinet having means to hold a clean towel supply therein, a soiled towel roll on which the soiled towel is taken up. friction feed rolls over one of which feed rolls the clean towel extends and on the other of which the soiled towel roll rests for frictional rotation, said friction feed rolls hav` ing the same circumferential movement whereby one always feeds out the same amount of toweling that the other takes up, gearing between the friction rolls, energy storing means connected to said gearing wherein the energy may be stored and automatically released as the user leaves the cabinet and when released operates the friction roll on which the soiled towel roll reststo operate the same to draw into the cabinet the soiled portion of the towel that has been fed out by the other friction roll.

3. A towel cabinet having a lower portion adapted to hold a clean towel supply andan upper port-ion into which the soiled toweling is ed, a soiled towel roll in the upper comartment and a friction feed roll on which 1t rests as the soiled toweling is wound-on the soiled towel roll, said cabinet also having in its lower portion a friction feed roll for feeding out the clean toweling, gearing between the friction feed rolls and energy storing mechanism operable by the user as he reaches the cabinet and automatically releasable as he leaves the cabinet, said energy storing mechanism being connected with said friction feed rolls and operable when released to store the soiled toweling on the soiled towel feed roll.

4. A towel cabinet having a slot in its side and adapted to hold a clean towel su ply and a soiled towel roll journaled in t 1e slot in the side of the cabinet a soiled towel friction feed roll on which the soiled towel roll rests, a clean towel feed roll with gearing between the soiled towel feed roll and the clean towel feed roll, an energy storing device operable b the user and automatically. released as t e user leaves the cabinet to rotate the soiled towel feed roll on which the soiled towel roll rests to take up the soiled portion of the toweling that has been fed out by the. feed roll intergeared therewith.

5. A towel cabinet comprising means for holding aclean towel supply and a, soiled towel roll, clean and soiled towel feed rolls mounted in said cabinet between the clean towel supply and said soiled towel roll, the soiled towel roll being supported by one of said feed rolls which .are in frictional conl tact respectively with the clean and soiled web, energy storing means operable by the user as he reaches the cabinet and released as he leaves the cabinet to operate the soiled towel feed roll and wind a length of soiled web thereon, said feed rolls being intergeared and one roll being rotated clockwise and the other counter clock-wise to feed the clean web from the towel supply and Wind up the soiled web on the towel roll.

In testimon whereof I aiiix my sifrnature.

DWARD TROY HILS.

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