Self-securing roll holder and method
View Patent ↗A self-securing roll holder for easily exchanging rolls of sheet material. The holder comprises a mounting bracket, an mounting stanchion, a support, and a cap. The cap is pivotally connected to the support with a resilient retaining assembly. The cap has dimensions that allow the cap to act as a retainer in one position and, when moved to a second position, allow rolls of sheet material to be mounted and dismounted from the support. The retaining assembly further comprises a piston, a piston guide, a spring, and a pivot pin all of which are located inside the support. The cap is pivotally connected to the retaining assembly thereby maintaining forcible contact with the support and retaining rolls of sheet material on the support in one position until moved to a second position to exchange rolls.
1. A holder for retaining and releasing a paper roll comprising:
a mounting bracket;
a mounting stanchion fixedly attached to the mounting bracket;
a support attached to the mounting stanchion;
a sliding member guide attached to the support;
a cap pivotally connected to a sliding member;
a flange integrally formed with the sliding member;
the sliding member slidingly engaged with the sliding member guide;
a spring, adjacent to and biasing the sliding member guide and the flange;
whereby the cap may be moved between a first position retaining the paper roll and a second position releasing the paper roll.
2. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the length of the mounting stanchion is sufficient to position the support at a distance from the mounting bracket thereby enabling the paper roll to freely rotate about the support.
3. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the support has a longitudinal axis, the holder further comprising:
a collar, rigidly attached to the mounting stanchion, and releasably positioning the support about the longitudinal axis.
4. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the cap engages a receiving slot in the support when in the second position.
5. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the paper roll includes a core having a diameter and the cap is pivotally connected to the sliding member by a pivot pin, the cap further comprising:
a first dimension generally perpendicular to the pivot pin;
the first dimension greater than the diameter;
a second dimension generally parallel to the pivot pin; and
the second dimension less than the diameter.
6. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the cap further comprises:
a facing support extending generally perpendicularly from a facing;
the facing support having a first width and a second width; and,
an angular reduction between the first width and the second width.
7. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the cap rotates through an angle α between the first position and the second position.
8. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the angle α is between about 80° and about 100°.
9. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the spring is one of the group of helical spring, compression spring, tension spring, resilient annular ring and magnetic spring.
10. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the spring has a spring constant of between about 0.5 lb/inch and about 10 lbs/inch.
11. A holder for retaining and releasing a paper roll comprising:
a mounting bracket;
a mounting stanchion fixedly attached to the mounting bracket;
a support attached to the mounting stanchion;
a cap, having a facing support extending from a facing;
a retainer guide attached to the support;
a retainer slidingly engaged with the retainer guide and pivotally connected to the facing support;
a biasing member positioned to bias the retainer with respect to the support;
a first cap position where the facing is generally perpendicular to the support;
a second cap position where the facing is generally parallel to the support; and,
wherein the retainer includes a flange and the biasing member is in contact with the flange and the retainer guide and provides a compression bias between the flange and the retainer guide.
12. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the retainer has a longitudinal axis and the retainer guide prevents rotation of the retainer about the longitudinal axis.
13. The holder of claim 12 , where the support includes a slot adjacent to the facing support, further comprising:
the facing support is resident in the slot in the second cap position; and
the cap is held in contact with the support by the biasing member in the first cap position.
14. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the mounting stanchion further comprises:
an annular collar, surrounding the support, and variably fixing the support to the mounting stanchion.
15. The holder of claim 14 , wherein the annular collar fixes the support in one of the group of a left-hand orientation and a right-hand orientation.
16. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the support further comprises:
an end cover adjacent to the annular collar.
17. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the paper roll has a loading hole with a diameter and the retainer is pivotally connected to the facing support by a pivot pin;
the facing has a first dimension greater than the diameter and a second dimension lesser than the diameter;
the first dimension is generally perpendicular to the pivot pin; and
the second dimension is generally parallel to the pivot pin.
18. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the facing further comprises:
a long axis, retaining the paper roll on the support in the first cap position; and
a short axis, releasing the paper roll from the support in the second cap position.
19. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the facing support extends generally perpendicularly from the facing, having a first width less than the diameter of the support, a second width, and an angular reduction between the first width and the second width.
20. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the retainer guide is attached to an inside surface of the support.
21. The holder of claim 11 further comprising:
a retainer base, fixed to the support;
the biasing member connected between the retainer and the retainer base; and
whereby the biasing member provides a force tending to move the cap from the second cap position to the first cap position.
22. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the biasing member is attached to the retainer guide and the retainer, and provides a compression bias between the retainer guide and the retainer.
23. The holder of claim 11 , wherein the biasing member is one of the group of helical spring, elastomeric spring, and magnetic spring.