Patent ID: 7080863
Filing Date: 2006-07-25
Classification: E01H

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for picking up an object on a floor surface, the apparatus comprising: an elongated handle having an upper end and a lower end; a downwardly open bell at the lower handle end and having a lower edge; a tubular body inside the bell and having a downwardly and inwardly tapered lower edge, the body being shiftable inside the bell between a lower position with the lower body edge projecting downward past the lower bell edge and an upper position with the lower body edge above the lower bell edge; means urging the tubular body into the lower position; a downwardly open bag having a closed upper end inside the tubular body and an open end lying against an outer surface of the lower body edge; means for releasably retaining the closed upper bag end in the bell; and an elastic annular element engaged around the body and the bag immediately above the tapered lower body edge and holding the bag against the outer surface of the lower end of the tubular body, the tubular body fitting in the bell such that upward displacement of the tubular body into the upper position causes the lower bell edge to downwardly engage and push the elastic annular element downward off the tubular body so that the elastic annular element contracts elastically and closes the bag, whereby, when the lower body edge is pressed against the floor surface around an object to be picked up, the tubular body moves upward in the bell and the elastic element is pushed by the bell down off the tubular body and closes the bag while simultaneously sweeping the object into and enclosing it in the bag.