Patent Application
20070130885
The present invention relates to plastic bag dispensers for dispensing individual plastic bags from a roll of plastic bags, and more specifically, to an apparatus or device that enables the bag to be dispensed and filled prior to separating the bag from the remainder of the roll.
When shopping at a store, often times the items that are purchased by an individual are not packaged when purchased, such as items of produce. Thus, these items are usually selected by the individual and placed within a plastic bag for holding the unpackaged items until it is desired to remove the items from the bag, such as when the individual reaches the their home. The bags are supplied from a roll of the bags which are wound on a tubular core. The bags are integrally formed from a strip or tube of a plastic material that is sealed to form separate bags along the length of the tube. Successive bags are wound around the core and are separated from one another by perforation lines formed between successive bags that allow the bags to be torn off the roll when a sufficient tearing force is applied.
In order to provide and dispense these bags within the stores, a number of different types of devices and mechanisms have been developed. One type of device designed for this purpose supports a roll of plastic bags in a manner such that the bags can be individually removed from the roll for use in holding and transporting items that are placed therein. Some examples of devices of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,556,019; 5,573,168; 5,813,5851; 6,488,222; and 6,685,075. These mechanisms allow a shaft or core supporting a roll of separable plastic bags to be rotatably mounted to the device in a removable manner. As each bag is pulled off of the roll, the bag is engaged with a separation tongue that operates to engage the perforation line between the bags and disengage the bag from the remainder of the roll, such that the bag can be utilized to hold selected items.
One significant shortcoming with each of these prior art bag dispensing devices is that the devices do not enable the bag to be held in an open position for filling by an individual utilizing the bag. Thus, even though the bags are easily dispensed from these prior art devices, due to the properties of the plastic material holding the bags, namely the tendency of the plastic material to attract and stick to itself, preventing easy opening of the bags, it is desirable to develop a device that not only dispenses the plastic bags from a roll for use by an individual, but also assists in the opening and filling of the bags. It is also desirable that the device be capable of being utilized with the existing rolls of plastic bags used with other devices, such that the bag rolls utilized in those prior art devices and mechanism can also be utilized in this device.
According to a primary aspect of the present invention, a bagging station is provided that enables plastic bags on a conventional roll to be drawn off of the roll, opened utilizing the bagging station, and filled and separated from the remainder of the roll. The bagging station includes a bag roll mounting portion on which a conventional roll of plastic bags can be rotatably mounted. A bag filling portion is mounted to the bag roll mounting portion and is utilized to enable plastic bags being dispensed from the roll to be held in a generally open configuration to allow placement of selected items therein. The filling portion includes an opening at a lower end through which the bags from the bag roll can be drawn upwardly from the bag roll mounting portion into the filling portion and placed in the open configuration. After the bag has been filled with the desired type and number of items, the bag can be closed utilizing any suitable mechanism, such as a heat scaling device or a clip disposed on the bagging station, and subsequently pulled upwardly out of the filling portion. As the filled bag is moved out of the filling portion, a bag separating member engaged with the subsequent bag being drawn off of the roll, separates the filled bag from the subsequent bag. After separation, the subsequent bag is left in a position partially within the bag filling portion to enable the subsequent bag to be readily grasped and utilized in the same manner as the previously filled bag.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the bagging station can be secured to any desired support in order to hold the bag mounting portion and filling portion of the device at a level that is easily utilizable by an individual. The bag mounting portion can be attached to a bracket that can be attached to a wall or to a vertical stand that can support the bagging station above a horizontal surface.
Numerous other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures.
The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated as practicing the present invention.
In the drawings:
With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a bagging station constructed according the present invention is illustrated generally at 10 in
The bag mounting portion 12 is formed of any suitably rigid material, such as a metal or plastic material, and can have any suitable shape of a sufficient size to accommodate a conventional roll of plastic bags 24. The roll 24 includes a central hollow core 26 around which are wound a number of folded plastic bags 28 secured together in an elongated strip and separated along the length of the strip by perforation lines 29.
In the preferred embodiment shown in
Bags 28 from the roll 24 are drawn vertically through an opening or slot (not shown) in the top wall of the roll mounting member 12 into an aperture 40 formed in a narrow, bottom end 42 of the bag filling portion 14. The bag filling portion 14 can be formed from a suitably rigid material similarly to the bag roll mounting portion 12 and can be formed integrally or separately from the bag roll mounting portion 12. The filling portion 14 can have any desired shape, but in the preferred embodiment in
When in use, the bag 28, while still connected to the remainder of the bag roll 24 through the aperture 40, has the open end (not shown) of the bag 28 positioned around and optionally releasably secured to the periphery 43 of a wide, top end 44 of the bag filling portion 14 in order to place the bag 28 in opened configuration. The items to be positioned within the bag 28 can then be placed within the bag 28 on top of the bag filling portion 14, which maintains the items in the bag 28 within the bag filling portion 14. Once the desired number and type of items have been positioned within the bag 28, the bag 28 can be drawn closed around the items and secured utilizing any suitable means. In one preferred embodiment, the bag 28 is secured in a closed position by a plastic clip 45, shown in
Alternatively, in another preferred embodiment, a bag sealing device 100 can be provided on the station 10 to seal, such as by heat sealing, the open end of the bag 28. The sealing device 100 forms a slot 102 extending through the device 100 with a pair of sealing rollers 104 disposed on each side of the slot 102. To seal a bag 28, the rollers 104 can be rotated and heated using power from a supply (not shown) to which a cord 106 is connected, to consequently melt and seal the material forming the bag that passes between the preheated rollers 104. Further, the device 100 can include a suitable detector, such as an infrared detector, located at the entrance to the slot 102. The detector, when sensing the presence of a bag 28 in the slot 102, operates to rotate the rollers 104 and allow the bag 28 to be sealed using the roller 102. When the bag 28 moves out of the slot 102, the detector operates to cease rotation of the rollers 104 until another bag 28 is sensed by the detector.
After the bag 28 has been filled and closed, the filled bag 28 is drawn upwardly out of the bag filling portion 14. Due to the attachment of the closed end of the bag 28 to the remainder of the bag roll 24 by the perforation lines 29, the movement of the bag 28 out of the bag filling portion 14 consequently draws a subsequent bag 28 off of the roll 24 and partially upwardly through the central aperture 40 in the bag filling portion 14. To assist in detaching the filled bag 28 from the remainder of the roll 24, the central aperture 40 includes a bag separating member 50. The bag separating member 50 is positioned within the aperture 40 and operates to allow the bags 28 to move sequentially off of the roll 24 from the bag roll mounting portion 12 into the bag filling portion 14, but also operates to separate a filled bag 28 from the remainder of the bags 28 secured to the bag roll 24 along the perforation lines 29. In a preferred embodiment shown in
Referring again to
Various other features and embodiments of the present invention are considered to be within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.
