Patent Application
20240067489
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The disclosure relates to bag dispensers and more particularly pertains to a new bag dispenser for dispensing bags one at a time.
The prior art relates to bag dispensers in which a length of end-to-end attached bags are fed under tension through a narrow space for dispensing a single bag at a time. Many of these devices have mechanisms for separating the bags as they are pulled from the dispenser. However, simpler construction is often more desirable, because, for example, it can result in less expensive construction, and less expensive and less frequent maintenance. U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,170 B2 discloses a pet waste bag dispenser which feeds rolled up bags through a slot in the dispenser. But this device utilizes an upward facing aperture with a slot in a wall of the dispenser that does not move relative to the rest of the dispenser. This and the rest of the prior art do not disclose a bag dispenser with a slot extending through a pivotable door positioned on the front of the device, wherein the door is mounted at a bottom edge along a front wall. Particular advantages to such a design include easier insertion of bags when mounting the dispenser in a location above the head of a user, use of the device in such a position with the door hanging down, and convenient removal of the bags from the slot while simultaneously opening the door.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a plurality of bags detachably coupled end-to-end. A box defines a chamber which contains the plurality of bags. A front wall of the box extends between a pair of side walls of the box and upwardly from a bottom wall. An upper edge of the top wall is positioned spaced from the top wall, defining an aperture. The aperture has a width and a height greater than a width and a height respectively of the plurality of the bags so that the plurality of bags is insertable into the chamber through the aperture. A door is movably coupled to the front wall between an open position, thereby opening and closing the aperture respectively. A bag slot extends the door which receives an end bag of the plurality of bags therethrough.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A door 40 is pivotably coupled to the front wall 30 which is movable between an open position 42 and a closed position 44 such that the aperture 34 is open or closed respectively. The door 40 has a proximal end 46 relative to the front wall 30 and a distal end 48 relative to the front wall 20. The door 40 also has an exterior surface 50 facing away from the chamber 22 when the door 40 is in the closed position 44. The door 40 has a height greater than twice a height of said front wall 30. A latch 52 comprises a hasp 54 and a staple 56, wherein the hasp 54 is pivotably coupled to the exterior surface 50 proximate the distal end 48 of the door 40 and the staple 56 is coupled to and protrudes from the top side 36 of the top wall 26 proximate the aperture 34. The hasp 54 is movable to receive the staple 56 through a slot 58 of the hasp 54 when the door 40 is in the closed position 44 such that the door 40 is secured in the closed position 44.
A bag slot 60 extends through the door 40 and is elongated between opposing ends 62. The bag slot 60 has parallel longitudinal edges 64 and a longitudinal axis parallel to the top side 36 of the box 20. The bag slot 60 receives the outer end bag 18 therethrough. The bag slot 60 is centered between said proximal end 46 of said door 40 and said distal end 48 of said door 40. And the bag slot 60 is positioned closer to the top wall 26 than the bottom wall 24 when the door 40 is in the closed position 44. Each of a pair of hinges 66 has a first portion 68 and a second portion 70 pivotably coupled to the first portion 68. The first portion 68 of each hinge 66 is coupled to the front side 38 of the front wall 30 proximate the aperture 34, and the second portion 70 of each hinge 66 is coupled to the exterior surface 50 of the door 40.
In use, the plurality of bags 12 in the rolled configuration 14 is inserted through the aperture 34 into the chamber 22 such that the curved surface 16 abuts a bottom wall 24 of the box 20. The outer end bag 18 is inserted through the bag slot 60. Then the door is moved to and securely latched in the closed position 44. When a bag 12 is needed, the outer end bag 18 is pulled, pulling another bag 12 of said plurality of bags 12 through the bag slot 60 and rotating the plurality of bags 12 within the chamber 22. Then the outer end bag 18 is detached from the other bag 12, redefining the other bag 12 as a new outer end bag 18.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
