Tabletop napkin dispenser

Abstract

A tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins includes a housing with a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall for dispensing a stack of inter-folded napkins each of which napkins has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins.

1 . A tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins comprising a housing with a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall for dispensing a stack of inter-folded napkins each of which napkins has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins.  
     
     
         2 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein the back panel of the dispenser has a second elongate dispensing aperture corresponding in size and orientation to the elongate dispensing aperture of the front panel.  
     
     
         3 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 2 , wherein the elongate dispensing apertures on the front and rear panels of the dispenser are vertically oriented.  
     
     
         4 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein the elongate dispensing aperture on the front panel of the dispenser is vertically oriented.  
     
     
         5 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 4 , consisting essentially of the apertured housing, wherein the distance between sidewalls of the housing corresponds to the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the folded napkins and the distance between the top and bottom wall of the housing corresponds to the width, W, of the napkins of the inter-folded napkin stack.  
     
     
         6 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the top wall, bottom wall, sidewalls, front panel or back panels is hinged to the housing by way of hinge means such that it pivots between a closed position for dispensing napkins and an open position for reloading.  
     
     
         7 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 6 , further including locking means adapted to require movement of the hinged wall or panel along a plane defined thereby in a closed and locked position prior to pivotal motion to its open position.  
     
     
         8 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 7 , wherein the hinge means includes two elongate slots and the locking means include two L-shaped slots.  
     
     
         9 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein the sidewalls each include an elongate hinge slot and an L-shaped locking slot and the front panel includes two hinge posts for mounting in the elongate hinge slots and two locking posts for engaging with the locking slots, the posts and slots being configured such that the front panel is hinged to the housing when the hinge posts of the front panel are mounted in the elongate hinge slots and is thereby pivotable between a closed position for dispensing inter-folded napkins and an open position for reloading, the locking posts of the front panel and the L-shaped locking slots of the sidewalls being configured such that when the front wall is in a closed and locked position, the locking posts and L-shaped locking slots cooperate to prevent pivotal motion of the front panel and wherein the front panel is movable between a closed and locked position and an unlocked position by movement of the front panel in a plane defined thereby in its closed and locked position, the front panel being movable to the open position from the unlocked position.  
     
     
         10 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein the front panel has a pair of opposed edge sections generally orthogonal to its front surface adapted to reside in a pair of corresponding recesses in the sidewalls of the dispenser when the dispenser is in a closed position, such that the edge sections are generally flush with the sidewalls of the dispenser.  
     
     
         11 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 10 , wherein the edge sections are provided with hinge posts adapted to fit with corresponding slots in the sidewalls of the dispenser so as to mount the front panel for pivotal motion with respect to the sidewalls, and wherein the recesses in the sidewalls have arcuate portions configured to accommodate pivotal motion of the front panel with respect to the sidewalls of the dispenser.  
     
     
         12 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall has a plurality of retaining surfaces projecting upwardly therefrom, the retaining surfaces being transverse to a dispensing direction.  
     
     
         13 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 12 , wherein the retaining surfaces are defined by a plurality of assembly posts.  
     
     
         14 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 13 , wherein the assembly posts project upwardly a distance of from about 1/16″ to about ¼″ from an interior surface of the bottom wall.  
     
     
         15 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a unitary, injection-molded structure comprising at least four walls selected from the front panel, the back panel, the top wall, the bottom wall and the two sidewalls.  
     
     
         16 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 15 , formed of a polymeric composition comprising a resin selected from ABS resins and polycarbonate resins.  
     
     
         17 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 15 , formed of a polymeric composition including an ABS resin.  
     
     
         18 . The tabletop dispenser according to  claim 15 , formed from an ABS resin injection molding composition.  
     
     
         19 . An improved method for dispensing inter-folded napkins, each of which has a width, W, and a folded length, L′, of its lead panel, comprising: 
 (a) disposing a stack of the inter-folded napkins in a dispenser comprising a front panel, a back panel, a pair of sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall, 
 the dispenser having an elongate dispensing aperture on its front panel and further characterized in that the distance between the front and back panels of the dispenser is equal to or less than about the folded length, L′, of the lead panels of the inter-folded napkins; and  
   (b) withdrawing inter-folded napkins through the dispensing aperture.    
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the stack of inter-folded napkins is a stack of single-fold inter-folded napkins.  
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the napkins have a folded length, L′, of about 5 inches and a width, W, of about 6.5 inches.  
     
     
         22 . In a tabletop napkin dispenser for dispensing inter-folded napkins having a folded length, L′, of their lead panels and a width, W, the improvement comprising a generally rectangular dispenser consisting essentially of a front wall, a back wall, two sidewalls, a top wall and a bottom wall, at least a front wall having an elongate dispensing aperture, wherein the distance between the front and back walls is equal to or less than about folded length, L′, of the lead panel of the inter-folded napkins.  
     
     
         23 . The improvement according to  claim 22 , wherein the back wall has a second elongate dispensing aperture corresponding in shape and orientation to the dispensing aperture of the front wall.  
     
     
         24 . The improvement according to  claim 23 , wherein the front and rear elongate dispensing apertures are vertically oriented.  
     
     
         25 . The improvement according to  claim 22 , wherein the inter-folded napkins are single-fold napkins.