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  Tabletop napkin dispenser with display window for promotional materialRelated Patent Categories: Article Dispensing, Concurrent Separation And Distortion Of Flexible Article (e.g., Napkin Holders)The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060273100. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CLAIM FOR PRIORITY [0001] This non-provisional application is a continuation-in-part of United States Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/253,476 filed Oct. 19, 2005 entitled "Tabletop Napkin Dispenser", which application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/621,915 of the same title, filed Oct. 25, 2004. The priorities of the foregoing applications are hereby claimed and their disclosures, in their entirety, are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to dispensers for inter-folded napkins. There is disclosed in a preferred embodiment a napkin dispenser having a depth which is shorter than the folded length, L', of the lead panels of the folded napkins. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0003] Inter-folded napkin dispensers are well known in the art. There is shown, for example, a gravity feed dispenser and method of dispensing inter-folded napkins in the United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0062375 of Christensen et al. which shows a high capacity gravity feed dispenser. Such dispensers are particularly useful where a large number of napkins need to be made available at a single location. Likewise, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,129 to Moody et al. a napkin dispenser for inter-folded napkins, a plurality of which dispensers may be placed on tabletops giving consumers multiple access points in a given eating establishment. Napkin dispensers for commercial use have been designed to limit the number of inter-folded napkins dispensed in order to eliminate waste which occurs when more napkins than necessary are withdrawn from the dispenser. The '129 patent, for example, teaches to add a baffle to the dispensing aperture in order to limit digital access to the napkin stack. [0004] Spring-loaded dispenser which are often used in restaurants are somewhat prone to being over-filled such that they do not operate properly and are relatively expensive. These dispensers also may cause unwanted curl to be imparted to the napkins. See United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0019880 of Timmers et al. Further features and general background may be found in the following patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,466 to Petterson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 to Salzmann et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,703 to De Luca; U.S. Pat. No. 2,852,158 to Jones et al., as well as U.S. Pat. No. 2,426,136 to Agamaite, Jr. [0005] Despite advances in the art, there exists a need for relatively inexpensive dispensers designed to reliably supply inter-folded napkins in a commercial setting. It has been found in accordance with the present invention that an injection-molded dispenser, with a suitably dimensioned internal cavity, and without moving parts, alleviates drawbacks of existing dispensers. SUMMARY OF INVENTION [0006] There is provided in one aspect of the invention a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including 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, wherein at least one of the sidewalls or back panel is provided with a display window made of a substantially optically clear material suitable for displaying removably mounted promotional material. The display window is suitably made from a thermoplastic resin composition, such as one which consists essentially of a thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of: polyacrylic resins; polycarbonate resins; polystyrene resins; and styrene-acrylic copolymer resins. Suitable specific resins include: poly(methylmethacrylate); bisphenol A containing polycarbonate; polystyrene; and styrene-methyl methacrylate copolymer. [0007] There may be one display window mounted on a sidewall of the dispenser or a display window is mounted on each sidewall of the dispenser. In some cases, the sidewalls of the dispenser are injection-molded from a substantially optically clear material, thereby providing a pair of display windows. [0008] In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including 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, wherein at least one of the sidewalls or back panel is provided with a unitary display holder having at least one U-shaped edge formed from a substantially optically clear material. The unitary display holder is made from a thermoplastic resin composition in most embodiments. Here again, the thermoplastic resin composition may consist essentially of a thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of: polyacrylic resins; polycarbonate resins; polystyrene resins; and styrene-acrylic copolymer resins. In some embodiments, the unitary display holder is mounted on each sidewall of the dispenser. One method of construction is wherein the unitary, display holders are thermoformed from a generally planar, substantially optically clear polymeric sheet. The unitary display holder may be made in an overall U-shape or with U-shaped edges at opposed sides of the display window. When U-shaped edges are used, the terminal ends of the "U" preferably extend vertically or laterally less than 30% of the height or width of the holder. [0009] In still yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a tabletop dispenser for inter-folded napkins including 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, wherein the housing includes a unitary, injection-molded structure made from a substantially optically clear polymeric material comprising at least four walls selected from the front panel, the back panel, the top wall, the bottom wall and the two sidewalls, and wherein further at least two of the four walls of the unitary injection-molded structure are suitable for removably mounting promotional material for display. One construction is wherein the unitary injection-molded structure comprises the two sidewalls of the dispenser. The injection-molded unitary structure is made from a thermoplastic resin composition as noted above, that is, such as one having a styrene-containing resin, a methyl methacrylate containing resin, or a bisphenol containing resin. [0010] Still further aspects of the invention will become apparent from the discussion which follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0011] The invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts and wherein: [0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a napkin dispenser with a pair of display holders of the present invention; [0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the dispenser of FIG. 1; [0014] FIG. 3 is a partial view in perspective of the inventive dispenser of FIG. 1, wherein the front panel is in an open position; [0015] FIG. 4 is a side view showing a side panel of the dispenser of FIG. 1; [0016] FIG. 5 is a view in section along line 5-5 of FIG. 1 showing the geometry of a top panel of the inventive dispenser as well as the geometry of an assembly post; [0017] FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a stack of single-fold inter-folded napkins from the side of a stack; [0018] FIG. 7 is a top view in perspective of a stack of inter-folded napkins such as the single-fold napkins shown in FIG. 6; [0019] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating the geometry of a stack of two-fold inter-folded napkins; Continue reading... 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