Patent Application
20220380079
The subject invention relates to the field of bag loading devices utilized in grocery stores, delicatessens and the like to load food or other items into a bag.
It has long been known to utilize bags to carry out various types of food items from grocery stores, delicatessens, restaurants and the like. Typically the individuals loading the food items into the bag have had to hold the bag open with one hand while at the same time place the food items into the bag with the other hand. Depending upon the food item in question, at times this proved problematic due to the fact that the individual was essentially loading the food into bag with one hand. To facilitate the efficiency of loading food or other items into the bags, different bag holders or stands have been developed. However, these still suffer from the same shortcoming, namely, they still require the individual loading the bag to use one hand to keep the bag open.
What is needed is a device that holds open the mouth of a bag and allows the person placing items into the bag to utilize both hands.
The subject invention provides a hands free bag loading apparatus which allows the user to use both hands to load the food items into the bag thereby avoiding the necessity of using one hand to hold the bag open.
A food loading chute is mounted atop a pedestal which in turn is mounted on a base unit. The food loading chute has a bottom center section or floor. Wings extend outwardly and upward from the bottom center section. At the front end of each wing flanges are provided which extend upwardly and inwardly from the wing. The loading chute is positioned at a slight downward angle from the back to front atop the pedestal.
In use a food to-go bag is opened up and slide over the front end of the loading chute. The wing flanges serve to hold open the mouth of the bag thereby freeing the hands of the user. The food items are then placed on the rear of the loading chute and guided down the chute and into the bag. Whereupon the bag can be removed from the chute and sealed.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention the base unit may include a cutting board. The cutting board allows the user to slice or cut the food items prior to loading them into the bag.
In yet another embodiment of the invention a support member is provided at the rear of the loading chute to support a rotisserie spit used to roast item such as chickens.
In today's busy society more and more people are choosing to shop for prepared food items for convenience and time saving. A popular prepared food item is roasted chickens. The consumer purchases a whole, ready-to-eat, roasted chicken and takes it home to be consumed. Typically, the chickens are roasted in a large oven with multiple chickens being mounted on a rotating spit. Once the chickens are cooked they must be removed from the spit and placed into bags to be ready to take home. The subject invention provides an apparatus to improve the efficiency of placing the roasted chickens into the bag.
An embodiment of the subject invention is shown in
A bag support plate 20 is provided at the front end of base plate 16 and is positioned at the front end of loading chute 12. As shown in
The bag support plate 20 is held in place at the front of the base plate 16 by plate or bracket 23 which is removably mounted in slot 24 provided in the base plate 16. The bag support plate 20 includes a slot 26 in the upper portion of the plate. Bracket 23 is inserted through slot 26 in the bag support plate 20 and into slot 24 in base plate 16. A plurality of bags 22 is placed atop the bag support plate 20 with the handle openings in the bags being inserted over plate or bracket 23. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The configuration of loading chute 12 is shown in
The loading chute 12 is shown in more detail in
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the dimensions of the loading chute may vary from those described herein. The loading chute simply must be of sufficient size to accommodate the roasted chickens or other types of food items intended to be loaded into the bag.
Although the subject invention has been described in connection with the loading of roasted chickens in a bag it is understood by those skilled in the art that the bag loader could be used for other applications. An example of this is shown in
Another embodiment of the subject invention is shown in
Additionally, the rear support bracket 28 is omitted. The remainder of the bag loader assembly remains the same. Loading chute 12 is removably mounted atop pedestal 14. Loading chute 12 has the same configuration as discussed in connection with
Although the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art undoubtedly will find alternative embodiments obvious from reading this disclosure. With this in mind, the following claims are intended to define the scope of the invention and art not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein but rather are to be constructed to cover equivalent constructions which would be known to those skilled in the art.
