Abstract:
A bracket designed for mounting (hanging) over kitchen cabinet doors or to be held by hand while suspending open a plastic shopping/grocery bag. The bracket comprises of a handle sized to receive the top of most commercially available kitchen cabinet doors and a base with two extensions protruding horizontally away from the base, each fitted with two slots to hold a plastic shopping/grocery bag suspended open by its handles.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates generally to the field of bag holders, and more specifically to the cabinet door mounted holders.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Cabinet mounted trash bag holding devices or other similar holders have been proposed in various United States patents. Illustrative arrangements are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,652, Malik, February 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,689, Jones, June 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,478, April 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,695, Greenhouse, June 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,385, Breitenstein, February, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,219, Navarro, August 1992; U.S. Pat. No 5,154,378, Plum, October 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,645, Caruso, November 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,553, Bergaila, November 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,212, Monahan, October, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,716, Chan, May 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,717, Stanfield, August 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,241, Kyte, December 2002; D326752, Griggs, June 1992; and D510166, Kitchens, April 2001.  
         [0005]     The arrangements in the above-referenced documents are designed to hold open trash bags for trash collection. However, they target the use of trash bags and fail to efficiently utilize plastic shopping/grocery bags with integral handles dispensed freely to the consumer when buying groceries or shopping at discount stores and other shopping outlets. In addition, many utilize hardware attachments to mount the device on the inside of cabinet doors.  
         [0006]     As consumers continue to acquire plastic shopping bags, provided freely with other item purchases from discount or grocery stores, there arises a need to usefully utilize these bags by the consumers.  
         [0007]     This bag holder allows the consumer to utilize unused plastic shopping/grocery bags for depositing and collection household trash before disposing into large trash containers. The advantage this invention provides is the simplicity of use while providing savings to the consumer by reducing the need for store purchased trash bags.  
         [0008]     This invention has advantages over referenced patents in that it can be freely mounted to the outside of the cabinet door, to the inside of the cabinet door, or can be carried by hand while supporting open plastic shopping/grocery bags looped through the handles and used for household trash collections, or for outdoor collections of objectionable matter such as animal feces.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The present invention provides a bag holder that can be freely hung over the top of a kitchen-under-counter-cabinet door to keep a plastic shopping/grocery bag provided with integral looped handles open for depositing trash produced in the kitchen, or can be held by hand and used for depositing animal feces collected from yards by pet owners.  
         [0010]     The bag holder of the present invention comprises a base with a handle for hanging on top of cabinet doors, two mirror image extensions or arms designed with holding slots and spaced a suitable distance to allow the mouth of the attached plastic shopping/grocery bag to remain open providing a sufficient opening for users to deposit household produced trash into the bag. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     The drawings constitute a part of the specification for this invention and will become more fully apparent as this description proceeds with greater detail as referenced in the accompanying embodiments.  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a bag holder according to the invention, the bag holder including a handle, a base and two extensions with holding slots.  
         [0013]      FIGS. 2A, 2B , and  2 C, respectively, are a front elevation, a top plan view looking down, and a side elevation view of the bag holder shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIGS. 3 and 4  are perspective views of the bag holder hanging on the front and the inside of a cabinet door respectively.  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the holder with the opposed handles of a plastic shopping/grocery bag looped through the holding slots in the extension arms of the bag holder.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the holder being held for the purpose of collecting animal feces or outdoor trash.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     Referring now to the drawings,  FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a bag holder according to this invention, generally indicated by the reference number  10 . The bag holder  10  is intended to hang a conventional plastic bag (see  FIGS. 5 and 6 ), generally indicated by the reference numeral  12 , atop a standard door, generally indicated by the reference numeral  14 . As contemplated, the bag  12  is the type of shopping and/or grocery bag conventionally used by stores to enable shoppers to carry purchased items. Such plastic bags are limp, lightweight but strong, and easily openable.  
         [0018]     As shown best in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the plastic bag  12  has an upper edge  12   a  provided with two looped handles  18  and  20 . The bag is upwardly openable to form an opening  12   b  leading to a receptacle  16 .  
         [0019]     The bag holder  10  is comprised of a one-piece design including a base  22  having two extensions or beams  24  and  26  and a hanging handle  28  formed onto the base and perpendicular to the two extensions. The base  22  and extensions  24  and  26  are generally coplanar with one another with the extensions  22  and  24  being laterally separated (i.e., spaced apart) a distance sufficient to form with the base  22  a U-shaped space  29  for positioning and supporting the openable end portion of the bag in an upwardly open position.  
         [0020]     Each bag support arm or extension  24  and  26  has, respectively, a lateral side  30  and  32 , a rearward slot or hook  34  and  36  formed in the lateral side  30  and  32  proximate to the handle  28 , and a forward slot or hook  38  and  40  formed in a distal end  42  and  44 . The rearward slots  34  and  36  form an L-shaped hook. The forward slots  38  and  40  form a keyhole shape. The handles or loops  18  and  20  are received in the respective sets of slots or hooks, whereupon the extensions  24  and  26  hold the upper end of the bag in an open position and the lower end of the bag hangs vertically downwardly.  
         [0021]     The attachment of the bag  12  to the bag holder  10  is illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , wherein the looped handle  18  is received in the rearward and forward slots  34  and  38  of the bag support arm or extension  24 , and the looped handle  20  is received in the rearward and forward slots  36  and  40  of the bag support arm or extension  26 . The slots in the extension are designed for easy insertion and removal of the integral looped handles  18  and  20  supplied with the plastic shopping/grocery bags.  
         [0022]     The keyhole shaped slots or hooks  38  and  40  have a narrowed inlet at the forward or distal end  42  and  44  of the respective extension  24  and  26  to permit easy axial insertion of the bag handle  18  and  20  into an enlarged rearward chamber of the slot, and captivation therein.  
         [0023]     The L-shaped slots or hooks  34  and  36  open on the oppositely facing lateral sides  30  and  32  of the extensions  24  and  26 . These L-shaped slots are at the rearward end of the extension, proximate to the base member  22 , and include a first portion that is transverse to the keyhole slot at the forward end of the extension, and a second portion that extends forwardly. The L-shaped slots or hooks  34  and  36  allow easy installation and inhibit unwanted withdrawal of the bag handles therefrom.  
         [0024]     The hanging handle  28  comprises an inverted squared U-shaped cradle formed by a generally planar first plate  48 , attached to and disposed at a right angle to the base  22  and associated bag supports or extensions  24  and  26 , a second plate  50 , parallel and spaced from the plate  48 , and an intermediate plate  52  The handle  28  is adapted to sit atop the top lateral surface  15  of the door  14  in a manner that the plates  48  and  50  are juxtaposed with the interior and exterior surfaces  14   a  and  14   b  of the door  14  and the intermediate plate  52  seats atop the door.  
         [0025]      FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate the dual hanging capability of the bag holder  10 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the handle or bracket  12  of the bag holder  10  is shown freely hanging from the top of an under-kitchen-counter-cabinet door with the bag facing the outer side  14   a  of the cabinet door.  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the cradle positions the bag  12  to face the inside surface  14   b  of the cabinet door. When the cabinet door  14  is closed, the bag holder  10  and the bag  12  suspended therefrom are hidden and out of view.  
         [0027]     When the bag holder  10  is mounted atop the door  14 , the base and associated bag supports  24  and  26  are substantially perpendicular to the vertical surfaces  14   a  and  14   b  of the door and disposed in a horizontal plane. In this regard, the plate  48  is supported against a vertical surface of the door, depending on whether the holder is intended for interior or exterior placement relative to the under the cabinet door.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a preferred embodiment of the manner and use of the present invention bag holder  10  is illustrated. A person will attach the handles  18  and  20  of the grocery/shopping bag onto the extension arms  24  and  26  without the use of a tie or other holding aids by inserting the handle  18  into the rearward and forward slots  34  and  38  of the bag support arm or extension  24  and the handle  20  into the slots  36  and  40  of the bag support arm or extension  26 . The extension arms  24  and  26  will provide sufficient tension to keep the mouth of the bag open for trash deposits.  
         [0029]      FIG. 6  illustrates the manner in which this invention can be used for picking up animal feces. A person will loop the plastic shopping/grocery bag handles through the slots in the extension arms and use the handle to carry the holder and the open bag.  
         [0030]     The open position of the mouth of the bag provides an opportunity for a person to pick up pet feces in one hand and deposit into the bag for later disposal.  
         [0031]     While the invention has been described in detail on ways of using the bag holder, the use of the bag holder is not limited to these actions as described by the inventor.  
         [0032]     Accordingly, various other uses can be embodied by the user as deemed appropriate and still lie within the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the claims.  
         [0033]     This invention has advantages over referenced patents in that it can be freely mounted to the outside of the cabinet door, to the inside of the cabinet door, or can be carried by hand while supporting open a plastic shopping/grocery bag looped through the handles and used for household trash collections, or for outdoor collections of animal feces.