Patent ID: 6932126
Filing Date: 2005-08-23
Classification: B65B,B65F

Abstract:
1. A sandbag filling system for supporting a sandbag in an upright position to enable a single person to rapidly and efficiently fill sandbags during emergency situations, the sandbag filling system being converted between an operative orientation for use and an inoperative orientation for storage and comprising, in combination: an open frame having a U-shaped base with parallel horizontal legs, the horizontal parallel legs having first free ends and second ends with an integral horizontal connecting leg there between, the open frame also having a pivotable support with parallel angled legs, the parallel angled legs having lower ends and upper ends with a connecting plate there between, the connecting plate having an L-shaped cross sectional configuration with a primary section above the frame with a slot and a downwardly extending vertical section, the legs being formed of rigid structural material such as tubular steel, the open frame also having a pair of pivot brackets, each pivot bracket having a lower pin pivotably extending through the first end of a horizontal leg and an upper pin pivotably extending through the lower end of an angled leg; a pair of support assemblies, each support assembly having a support bracket and an upper arm and a lower arm, each upper arm having an upper end with a pin extending there through and through an angled leg adjacent to its upper end, each upper arm having a lower end with a pin extending there through and through a support bracket, each lower arm having a lower end with a pin extending there through and through a horizontal leg adjacent to its second end, each lower arm having an upper end with a pin extending there through and through a support bracket, the open frame adapted to be held in an operative orientation with the arms in alignment and the legs at an angle, the frame adapted to be held in an inoperative orientation with the arms in closely spaced parallelism and the legs also in closely spaced parallelism; a lower hoop formed of rigid structural material such as steel band with an intermediate plate, the intermediate plate being formed with a central section, and with two fingers extending rearwardly at the bottom of the central section, and with an upper section positionable extending rearwardly at the top of the central section, the lower hoop having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the mouth of a sandbag wherein the sandbag may be inserted and slightly overlapped such as to hold the sandbag in an upright open position for being filled, the lower hoop is welded and coupled to the lower loop to the center of the central section of the intermediate plate such that the lower loop is fixedly centered between the legs and above the centers of the legs; an upper hoop formed of the same material as the lower hoop, the upper hoop having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the mouth of the lower hoop, the upper hoop having an operative position such that it is centered over the lower hoop to allow a sandbag inserted onto the lower hoop and removably clamped between the lower and upper hoops, the upper hoop also having two pivoting bars secured thereto whereby the upper hoop may be pivoted upwardly from the lower hoop for removing a filled sand bag and for positioning an empty sandbag onto the system for filling; and a securement assembly for allowing locking and unlocking of the intermediate plate with respect to the connecting plate, the securement assembly including an aperture through the intermediate plate with a rod extending through the aperture and through the slot, the rod having a finger below the aperture and a handle above the aperture whereby the rotation of the handle and finger in one direction will lock the intermediate plate with respect to the connecting plate and the rotation of the handle and finger in the opposite direction will unlock the intermediate plate with respect to the connecting plate.