Tissue paper systems

Abstract

A container for containing a stack of interfolded tissue paper sheets, wherein the container includes a dispensing opening and lips so that a sheet passes through the dispensing opening when being withdrawn from the stack and dispensed from the sheet, wherein the lips are in an overlapping state in a direction of withdrawal of the sheets, wherein the lips are configured to be opened into a less overlapping or non-overlapping state by the sheet as the sheet moves therethrough and are configured to return to the overlapping state after withdrawal of the sheet.

1 . A container for containing a stack of interfolded tissue paper sheets, wherein the container comprises a dispensing opening and lips so that a sheet passes through the dispensing opening when being withdrawn from the stack and dispensed from the sheet, wherein the lips are in an overlapping state in a direction of withdrawal of the sheets, wherein the lips are configured to be opened into a less overlapping or non-overlapping state by the sheet as the sheet moves therethrough and are configured to return to the overlapping state after withdrawal of the sheet,
 wherein one of the lips is more forward than the other in the sheet withdrawal direction and the lips are configured such that they alternate as to which of the lips is the more forward lip with each sheet that is dispensed.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the overlapping lips are shaped so that they are partially non-overlapping to provide a lip opening through which a sheet adjacent the dispensing opening can be grasped. 
     
     
         4 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the lips are configured to contact opposing faces of the sheet as it is pulled therethrough. 
     
     
         5 . The container of  claim 4 , wherein the lips are configured to contact opposing faces of the sheet as it is pulled therethrough at opposing side portions of the dispensing opening in a direction perpendicular to the sheet withdrawal direction along a face of the tissue. 
     
     
         6 . The container of  claim 5 , wherein the overlapping lips are configured such that the sheet is able to be drawn therethrough substantially free from contact from the overlapping lips on opposing faces of the sheet at a central portion of the dispensing opening between the opposing side portions. 
     
     
         7 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the container defines an elongate cavity for receiving an elongate stack of absorbent tissue paper sheets, and wherein the dispensing opening extends laterally across the cavity so as to extend laterally across a face of a sheet most proximal to the dispensing opening. 
     
     
         8 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein a first one of the overlapping lips is a separate part to a second one of the overlapping lips, which are attached on opposed sides of the dispensing opening and are able to deform and/or move independently of one another. 
     
     
         9 . A container for containing a stack of interfolded tissue paper sheets, wherein the container comprises a dispensing opening and lips so that a sheet passes through the dispensing opening when being withdrawn from the stack and dispensed from the sheet, wherein the lips are in an overlapping state in a direction of withdrawal of the sheets, wherein the lips are configured to be opened into a less overlapping or non-overlapping state by the sheet as the sheet moves therethrough and are configured to return to the overlapping state after withdrawal of the sheet,
 the container openable to open the dispensing opening by moving first and second parts of the container apart from one another about a hinge portion of the container, thereby providing an opened configuration of the container, wherein a first of the overlapping lips moves with the first of the parts and a second of the overlapping lips moves with a second of the parts when the container is being opened so as to move from a more overlapping to a less overlapping state, which is the previously defined overlapping state, when the container is in the opened configuration.   
     
     
         10 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein lips are attached on an inside of the container. 
     
     
         11 . The container of  claim 1 , the overlapping lips and the dispensing opening being sized and configured such that as a sheet is pulled out from the stack through the dispensing opening and through the overlapping lips, opposing sides edges, in the width direction, of the sheet are able to maintain their lateral spacing. 
     
     
         12 . The container of  claim 1 , the container comprising the stack of tissue paper sheets, which are interfolded, wherein the interfolding pattern is such that the sheets are dispensed in an alternating manner between first and second sheet withdrawal configurations, wherein in the first sheet withdrawal configuration, a succeeding sheet to a preceding sheet is located adjacent a first one of the overlapping lips as compared to the preceding sheet that is pulled through the lips with the succeeding sheet, as a result of sheet face to tissue face contact between the succeeding and preceding sheets, and the second sheet is located adjacent a second one of the lips, and wherein in the second sheet withdrawal configuration, the succeeding sheet is located adjacent the second lip and the preceding sheet is located adjacent the first lip, wherein the alternation between the sheet withdrawal configurations between each successively withdrawn sheet results in the overlapping lips alternating between first and second lip configurations, wherein the first lip configuration has the first lip more forward in the sheet withdrawal direction than the second lip and occurs as a result of a sheet being withdrawn under the second sheet withdrawal configuration and the second lip configuration has the second lip more forward in the sheet withdrawal direction than the first lip and occurs as a result of a sheet being withdrawn under the first sheet withdrawal configuration. 
     
     
         13 . The container of  claim 1 , the container comprising the stack of tissue paper sheets, which are interfolded, wherein the interfolding pattern is such that each sheet is folded at least to provide leading and trailing panels with respect to a sheet withdrawal direction of the stack, the interfolding pattern is such that for any given sheet in the stack, a trailing panel of an adjacent sheet preceding in the stack in a sheet withdrawal sequence is in face to face, overlapping relation with a leading panel of the given sheet and a leading panel of an adjacent sheet subsequent in the stack in the sheet withdrawal sequence is in face to face, overlapping relation with the trailing panel of the given sheet, such that the trailing panel of the preceding sheet and the leading panel of the subsequent sheet are disposed between panels of the given sheet, wherein the overlap of the given sheet with the trailing panel of the preceding sheet and the leading panel of the subsequent sheet is a partial overlap to provide an overlapping region of the given sheet where the leading and trailing panels of the of the given sheet overlap with the leading panel of the subsequent sheet and the trailing panel of the preceding sheet and a non-overlapping region of the given sheet wherein the leading and trailing panels of the sheet extend beyond the overlapping faces to a fold portion, thereby to define a stack comprising an overlapping region where adjacent sheets in the stack overlap and non-overlapping regions of the stack on opposed sides of the overlapping region where adjacent sheet of the stack do not overlap. 
     
     
         14 . The container of  claim 9 , wherein one of the lips is more forward than the other in the sheet withdrawal direction and the lips are configured such that they alternate as to which of the lips is the more forward lip with each sheet that is dispensed.