Dispensing Nozzle Structure to Prevent Rolled Paper Sheet Fallback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing paper product dispensers often lead to excessive use and maintenance issues due to the small dispensing opening, causing sheets to fall back inside the dispenser if they are perforated or torn prematurely, rendering the dispenser inoperable and requiring unnecessary service visits.
Innovation Solution
A dispenser with a dispensing nozzle featuring an inner portion with a cone-shaped pathway defined by floating finger ends and an outer portion with an overlapping opening, which applies sufficient force to tear sheets apart and resist their reversal, ensuring single-sheet dispensing and preventing sheets from falling back inside.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a small dispensing opening is used in the front cover, then the dispenser can control paper product dispensing, but sheets may fall back inside the dispenser if perforated or torn prematurely, rendering the dispenser inoperable
Solution Approach 1:
The dispensing nozzle is divided into an inner portion and an outer portion, with the inner portion containing multiple fingers that define a pathway. This segmentation allows the sheet to be guided through a controlled path while preventing backward movement, resolving the contradiction between maintaining a small opening for control and preventing sheet fallback.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner portion of the dispensing nozzle acts as an intermediary structure between the paper roll and the external environment. The fingers and pathway defined by these fingers serve as a mediator that allows forward movement of sheets while blocking backward movement, thus preventing sheets from falling back inside the dispenser.
2Quantity of substance
If a small dispensing opening is used, then portion control is achieved, but excessive use of paper products cannot be effectively prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The fingers in the inner portion are designed to be flexible or movable, allowing them to dynamically adjust as sheets pass through. This dynamic structure enables single-sheet dispensing while maintaining smooth operation, preventing excessive use without compromising dispensing efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If the dispensing opening is made larger to allow easy retrieval, then user frustration is reduced, but portion control and single-sheet dispensing are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The dispensing nozzle has different structural characteristics in its inner and outer portions. The inner portion has a constrained pathway defined by fingers for controlled single-sheet dispensing, while the outer portion provides an opening that allows user access. This local differentiation of structure allows both portion control and ease of operation to be achieved in different zones of the same component.
Data Source
AI summary
A rolled paper product dispenser having a dispensing nozzle with inner and outer portions that cooperate to enable single sheet dispensing and resist sheet product falling back into the dispenser and out of reach of a user.