Patent Application
20250206484
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to funnels and more particularly pertains to a new funnel for facilitating pouring substances into pliable bags.
Funnels are commonly used to direct a flow of various substances into containers and many various funnels are readily available. Some funnels include clips or other attachment means to support a pliable bag under the funnel. However, the prior art fails to describe such an apparatus which also makes use of a handle at a top end of the funnel to facilitate orienting the funnel with a hand while the bag is attached to the funnel.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a tubular wall with a top end and a bottom end. The tubular wall defines a channel therein with a top opening at the top end and a bottom opening at the bottom end. The tubular wall converges inwardly from the top end to the bottom end such that the channel decreases in width from the top opening to the bottom opening. A clip is mounted to an exterior surface of the tubular wall. The clip is positionable in an open configuration in which two jaws of the clip are spaced from each other and in a closed configuration in which the jaws abut each other. The clip is configured to grasp a bag via the jaws and position a rim of the bag around the tubular wall between the bottom end and the top end thereof. A grip is mounted to and extends away from the exterior surface of the tubular wall. The grip is positioned adjacent to the top end of the tubular wall.
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 clip 26 is mounted to an exterior surface 24 of the tubular wall 12. The clip 26 is positionable in an open configuration 32 in which a two jaws 28 of the clip 26 are spaced from each other and in a closed configuration 34 in which the jaws 28 abut each other. The clip 26 is configured to grasp a bag 44 via the jaws 28 and position a rim 46 of the bag 44 around the tubular wall 12 between the bottom end 16 and the top end 14 thereof. The jaws 28 of the clip 26 are positioned adjacent to the bottom end 16 of the tubular wall 12 such that the clip 26 is configured to position the rim 46 adjacent to the bottom end 16. The clip 26 comprises a biasing member 30 configured to bias the clip 26 toward the closed configuration 34. The biasing member 30 comprises a spring such as a U-shaped flat spring, a torsion spring, a tension spring, or the like. Any suitable biasing member 30 may be used.
The clip 26 may be mounted to the tubular wall 12 via various means. For example, one of the jaws 28 may be integrally formed with the tubular wall 12 while another one of the jaws 28 is movably coupled to the one jaw 28 such that it moves alternately toward and away from the tubular wall 12. The clip 26 also may be adhered to the tubular wall 12 or fastened via threaded fasteners, weldments, or the like. In some cases, the jaws 28 and biasing member 30 of the clip 26 may be integrally formed with the tubular wall 12.
A grip 36 is mounted to and extends away from the exterior surface 24 of the tubular wall 12. The grip 36 is positioned adjacent to the top end 14 of the tubular wall 12. A top surface 38 of the grip 36 is planar and lies on a common plane with the top end 14 of the tubular wall 12. A thickness between the top surface 38 and a bottom surface 40 of the grip 36 is uniform. The grip 36 is sized and configured to be grasped by a hand 42. The grip 36 is positioned diametrically opposite to the clip 26 across the tubular wall 12. The grip 36 may be integrally formed with the tubular wall 12.
In use, a portion of the bag 44 is inserted between the jaws 28 of the clip 26, which are released such that the biasing member 30 closes the jaws 28 around the portion of the bag 44. During this process, the rim 46 of the bag 44 may be positioned adjacent to the bottom end 16 of the tubular wall 12 and between the bottom end 16 and the top end 14 of the tubular wall 12. By positioning the rim 46 between the bottom end 16 and the top end 14, the risk of spilling a substance 48 from the funnel apparatus 10 rather than successfully placing the substance 48 into the bag 44 is decreased. By positioning the rim 46 adjacent to the bottom end 16, the tubular wall 12 does not extend substantially into the bag 44, thereby taking up space within the bag 44 and obstructing the substance 48 from filling that space. The grip 36 is grasped by the hand 42, and the hand 42 may move the funnel apparatus 10 via the grip 36 to facilitate successfully funneling the substance 48 into the bag 44. The substance 48 is poured into the bag 44 by pouring it through the channel 18 defined by the tubular wall 12, in the top opening 20 and out the bottom opening 22 to an interior of the bag 44. The bottom of the bag 44 may also be supported to facilitate positioning of the funnel apparatus 10 with respect to the bag 44 in a desirable manner.
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.
