Abstract:
Produce bags are delivered with less waste and in more sanitary condition through a container holding a roll of bags having overlapping but separate ends. Adhesion between the bags and ultimate separation of the bags may be flexibly controlled with an interfolding of the bags and control of an orifice which applies drag to the bags and compression as they are removed.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application 60/467,308 filed May 2, 2003 hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    --  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention relates to plastic bags suitable for use by a consumer for packaging produce, including, for example, vegetables and fruit, and in particular the invention relates to an improved produce bag dispensing system.  
           [0004]    Produce bags are typically dispensed from rolls positioned in the produce area of a supermarket. Consumers remove the produce bags from the rolls to package produce items they have selected, protecting the produce from dirt and retaining the produce together in the cart. The material of the produce bag is light enough to allow the produce to be weighed in the produce bag at checkout.  
           [0005]    Typically, plastic bags for produce are smaller than other plastic bags and made of lighter material. The produce bags are manufactured from an extruded tube of plastic, such as polyethylene, that is heat-sealed and perforated at spaced intervals along the length of the tube. The tube is then rolled into a cardboard form that is suspended on an axle near the produce. Each bag is individually unrolled from the roll, then removed from the other bags of the roll by tearing the bag away along the perforations.  
           [0006]    Such a dispensing system is not always satisfactory. A consumer who is holding produce, may need to put the produce down to have both hands free to separate the bag at the perforation, one hand being used to stabilize the roll and the other hand to pull on the bag to be removed. Attempts to separate the produce bags using one hand by a rapid jerk will often fail to fully separate the perforation causing an unrolling of the roll onto the floor, wasting or dirtying of the produce bags.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention provides an improved dispensing system for produce bags in which the bags are separated from each other during manufacturing, then rolled in overlapping configuration to ensure that the removal of one bag from a container holding the rolls, pulls the next bag partway out of the container, ensuring that the consumer removes only a single bag at a time while allowing the consumer to remove produce bags with a single hand. By using the interleaving technique for smaller produce bags, bag waste is reduced, removal of the bags is made more convenient, and the bags are retained in sanitary condition inside a container before use.  
           [0008]    Specifically, the present invention provides a produce bag dispensing system providing a roll of plastic produce bags, each bag having substantially less than 500 square inches of plastic material and the plastic material being substantially less than 15 micron thickness. In the roll, the bags are severed from each other with an end of each bag interleaved with the end of at least one adjacent bag. A container sized to hold the roll provides a constricted opening through which the bags may be dispensed, with edges of the opening dragging on the bags as dispensed. Friction between overlapped portions of each bag is controlled to draw a subsequent bag in the roll partway through the constricted opening upon extraction of a previous bag through the opening by a user and to ensure that the previous bag separates from the subsequent bag before the subsequent bag is fully extracted through the constricted opening.  
           [0009]    Thus, it is one object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a system of individually dispensing lightweight produce bags.  
           [0010]    Each bag may be folded and the region of overlap may interlock the folds of previous bags with the folds of a subsequent bag.  
           [0011]    Thus, it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a way of increasing frictional contact between lightweight produce bags as may assist individual dispensing.  
           [0012]    The fold of one bag may fully envelop the fold of another bag, and the fold of a previous bag may fully cover the fold of a subsequent bag.  
           [0013]    It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to shield the later bag from contact with the restricted opening upon initial removal of a prior bag.  
           [0014]    The fold may be a longitudinal V-fold.  
           [0015]    It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide an interlocking fold that may be simply integrated into automatic bag-making equipment.  
           [0016]    The roll may provide that an open end of each bag precede a closed end of the bag through the opening.  
           [0017]    Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to make it easier for the consumer to open the bag, especially in a one-handed situation.  
           [0018]    The container may be a cardboard box. The constricted opening may be cut in the container.  
           [0019]    Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a disposable container that may also serve to hold and protect during both shipping and use.  
           [0020]    The opening may include a slot cut in a flexible plastic material.  
           [0021]    It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a method of controlling the drag enforced by the constricted opening independent of the material of the container.  
           [0022]    The container may have a window.  
           [0023]    It is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a way for a store employee to determine when the roll needs replacing.  
           [0024]    The container window may be covered by transparent material.  
           [0025]    It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a window that nevertheless protects the bags from being soiled.  
           [0026]    The system may include a stand retaining the container against movement with removal of the bags.  
           [0027]    It is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a system for supporting container in a convenient location for one-handed use.  
           [0028]    These particular objects and advantages may apply to only some embodiments falling within the claims and thus do not define the scope of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stand supporting a container holding an interleaved coreless roll of produce bags per the present invention;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two of the bags in the roll, showing their overlap of a V-fold to increasing frictional contact between the bags;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 3 is a cross-section along line  3 - 3  of FIG. 1, showing one bag in the process of removal as protects a subsequent bag from contact with a constricted opening of the container of FIG. 1; and  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the opening of the container of FIG. 1 showing the attachment of the first bag of the roll to a removable panel, exposing the opening of the container and drawing the first bag therethrough. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0033]    Referring now to FIG. 1, a produce bag dispensing system  10  provides a stand  12  supporting a container  14  in the vicinity of a produce display. The stand  12  is preferably of welded wire construction with a rear L-bracket  17  allowing the stand  12  to be alternately supported by a vertical pipe  15  attached to a base (not shown) and received by a bottom of the L-bracket  17  or attached to a vertical wall  19  of the store at a rear of the L-bracket  17 .  
         [0034]    The container  14  is preferably a disposable box constructed of corrugated cardboard or the like. An upper surface of the container  14  includes a window opening  16  covered by a transparent poly film  18  allowing light to enter and exit the container  14  and visual inspection of a contained roll  20  contained therein. A front surface of the container  14  above the wire of the stand  12  displays a promotional message  22  and provides an opening  24  through which bags  26  may be dispensed.  
         [0035]    During normal use, a portion of a preceding bag  26   a  will extend from the opening  24  so that it may be grasped by the consumer and the remainder of the preceding bag  26   a  pulled through the opening  24  for use by the consumer. This action draws a succeeding bag  26   b  (not shown) part way out of the container  14 , this succeeding bag  26   b  then becoming a preceding bag  26   a  with respect to another succeeding bag  26   b  still in the container  14 . It will be understood from this description that as each preceding bag  26   a  is removed, a succeeding bag  26   b  will be partially exposed through the opening  24  in a sequential fashion to be gripped by the user.  
         [0036]    Referring now to FIG. 2, produce bags  26  are typically smaller and of thinner plastic material than other plastic bags having typical bag dimensions of, for example, 12 inches by 20 inches and 10 inches by 15 inches, with 11 micron thickness. Generally, the material of a produce bag  26  will be less than 15 microns, and the total area of material of the produce bag  26  will be less than 500 square inches. This lightweight and slippery material and the small size of the rolls of produce bags can make it difficult to obtain sufficient adhesion between the produce bags  26  so that preceding bag  26   a  carries succeeding bag  26   b  with it through the opening  24  while fully separating after the overlap between the bags  26   a  and  26   b  is through the opening  24 .  
         [0037]    Accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention, the preceding bag  26   a  and succeeding bag  26   b , each may have a longitudinal V-fold along a fold line  28  extending from an open end  30  of the bags  26  to a closed end  32  of the bags  26  along the bag&#39;s midline. The subsequent bag  26   b  may be inserted in an overlap region  33  into the closed end of the preceding bag  26   a  so that the V-fold of bag  26   b  is fully enclosed by the V-fold of bag  26   a . In this way, the contact between the bags  26   a  and  26   b  is enhanced and bag  26   a  shields bag  26   b  in part from the effects of being drawn through the opening  24 .  
         [0038]    Referring now to FIG. 3, the opening  24  of the container  14  through which bags  26  are removed may be constricted to impose a drag on the bags  26  as they are withdrawn from the container  14 . In the preferred embodiment, this constriction is provided by a flexible plastic seal  34 , being a thin membrane adhered over the opening  24  inside the container  14  and having a slit  36  cut within it so that the bags  26  pass a wiper formed by the lip of the seal  34  at the slit  36 . As preceding bag  26   a  is removed the container  14 , the lips of the seal  34  rub against only the outsides of the preceding bag  26   a  whereas succeeding bag  26   b  held within bag  26   a  wholly enclosed by its fold is shielded from this drag. The lips of the seal  34  further serve to compress bag  26   a  about subsequent bag  26   b  increasing their frictional contact.  
         [0039]    Referring now to FIG. 4, the opening  24  may be initially covered by a panel  37  being a perforated portion of the front of the container  14 . A first bag  26   c  may be attached by glue  38  or mechanically, for example with a staple, to the panel  37  so that when the panel  37  is removed from the container  14 , a first bag  26   c  is drawn through the poly seal  34 . This first bag  26   c  may then be discarded.  
         [0040]    It is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein, but include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims.