Single Hand Horizontal Paper Towel Dispenser

Abstract

A single hand, horizontal, paper towel dispenser for paper towel rolls designed to assist in creating a tear of a selected number of sheets by providing friction from a static tear bale. The single hand dispensing device can optionally employ friction surfaces and various additional structures to allow a user to grasp paper towel segments and tear off a desired length of paper towel segments with one hand.

1 . A paper towel dispenser comprising:
 a base operable to be position upon a horizontal surface, said base having dispensing region in front and a roll holder region in the rear,   said dispensing region comprising a vertical frame with a rectangular slit, said slit having a horizontal opening width sufficiently greater that the width of a paper towel sheet to allow paper towel sheets to pass through the dispensing without folding and defining an orientation plane and said slit having a vertical opening height sufficiently large to allow a paper towel sheet to pass through free of friction, and   said roll holder region having an arcuate upper surface configured to contact and support a roll of paper towels,   said dispensing region being further configured with a loading structure that allows an unreeled portion of the paper towel sheet to be loaded into said dispensing slot without threading the sheet through the slot and,   said dispensing region configured such that when a user pulls in an upward direction by a sheet passing through said dispensing slit and which creates friction allowing the user to tear a paper towel segment from the roll with one hand.   
     
     
         2 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein:
 said loading structure comprising an opening in the upper leg of said frame. 
 
     
     
         3 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 2  wherein;
 said opening comprising an oblique slot cut into the upper leg of said frame. 
 
     
     
         4 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein;
 said loading structure is a hinge that allows a leg of said frame to be opened so that the paper towel sheet can be loaded into said dispensing slot. 
 
     
     
         5 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein;
 said roll holder region is further comprises a holding bail said holding bail having an L-shape with a short and long arm, wherein said short arm is mounted to and extends generally perpendicularly from the rear side of said dispensing frame and extends along a side surface of a paper towel roll and said long arm is configured to rest on the rear outer surface of a paper towel roll. 
 
     
     
         6 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein;
 said roll holder region concave upper surface extends a length sufficient to hold a paper towel roll in place. 
 
     
     
         7 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein;
 an inner surface of said slot has a frictional surface configured to allow dispensing of individual paper towel segments from a paper towel sheet by pulling the end of the sheet at an angle such that the sheet contacts the frictional surface. 
 
     
     
         8 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 7  wherein:
 said frictional surface is a lower inner surface. 
 
     
     
         9 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 7  wherein:
 said frictional surface is an upper inner surface. 
 
     
     
         10 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein:
 a front portion of said dispensing region further comprises a hand to relief region configured to allow a user's hand to grasp the unreeled portion of a roll of paper towels closer to the point where the sheet unreels from the roll. 
 
     
     
         11 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 10  wherein:
 said hand relief region further comprises a concave shape in the center of the front portion of said dispensing region. 
 
     
     
         12 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein:
 the dispensing region has a surface sloped toward the front of the holder. 
 
     
     
         13 . The paper towel holder as defined in  claim 1  wherein:
 the rear of the holder contains a hand hold. 
 
     
     
         14 . A single hand, horizontal, paper towel dispenser comprising:
 a base having a dispensing region in front and a paper towel roll holder region aligned with said dispensing region;   said dispensing region comprising a vertical frame with a rectangular slit, said slit having a horizontal opening width sufficiently greater that the width of a paper towel sheet to allow paper towel sheets to pass through the dispensing slot without folding and having a vertical opening height sufficiently large to allow a paper towel sheet to pass through said opening and permit upward single hand tearing of said paper tower against and upper portion of said rectangular slit;   said roll holder region comprising a plurality of horizontal bars configured to contact and support a roll of paper towels,   said dispensing region being further configured so that the unreeled portion of the paper towel sheet is loaded into said dispensing slot from beneath the paper towel dispenser.   
     
     
         15 . A single hand paper towel roll dispenser operable to be positioned upon a horizontal surface, said paper towel dispenser comprising:
 a base having a planar bottom surface and being operable to be positioned upon a horizontal surface and an arcuate upper surface operable to receive a toll of paper towel segments serially connected along score line junctions;   at least one member connected to said base and being operable to permit a paper towel roll to be positioned within said arcuate upper surface of said base and be retained for rotation within said arcuate portion of said base;   a tear bale connected to said base and extending in a generally parallel posture with respect to a central axis of a roll of paper towels positioned within said arcuate upper surface of said base and transverse with respect to a free end of a roll of paper towel segments operable to be positioned within said arcuate upper surface of said base,   said tear bale having an outer tear edge operable to be engaged by a paper towel panel upon an upward pull of a paper towel panel against said tear bale.   
     
     
         16 . A single hand paper towel roll dispenser operable to be positioned upon a horizontal surface as defined in  claim 15  wherein said tear bale having:
 an arcuate concave central location of said tear bale. 
 
     
     
         17 . A single hand paper towel roll dispenser operable to be positioned upon a horizontal surface as defined in  claim 16 , said tear bale further comprising:
 a central zone of separation of said tear bale located within said concave contour of said tear bale.   
     
     
         18 . A single hand paper towel roll dispenser operable to be positioned upon a horizontal surface as defined in  claim 15  said tear bale comprising:
 an arcuate friction surface positioned upon an underside of said tear bale to facilitate single hand tearing of one or more paper towel segments from a paper towel roll.