Bag holder

A hand held bag holder (10) for maintaining the mouth of a bag in an open position typically for use in collecting garden debris. The bag holder (10) comprises a circular frame (12) and a plurality of clips (16) which are generally U-shaped and secured on the frame (12) in a snap fit arrangement. In use, the upper edge of a bag is folded over the circular frame (12) and held in position by the clips (16).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a bag holder and, in particular, to a hand held 
holder for supporting a mouth of a bag in an open position. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Hand held bag holders are well-known and find typical application for 
collecting garden debris. The bag holder supports a mouth of a bag in an 
open position and can be held single handed whilst the other hand is used 
to, for example, brush debris into the open bag. 
Typical examples of the construction of such prior art bag holders are 
described in GB 2210847A (Steed), U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,832 (Haas), U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,193,770 (Kildare) and the applicant's co-pending application 
No. GB 2308346A. GB 2210847A (Steed) describes a hand held bag or sack 
holder comprising a hoop having a radially outwardly extending flange and 
a resilient ring which extends around the hoop and, in use, clamps a 
portion of a mouth of a bag folded over the hoop against an outwardly 
facing surface of the hoop at a position below the flange. U.S. Pat. No. 
3,942,832 (Haas) discloses a bag holder comprising a rim in the form of a 
loop having an outwardly facing circumferential groove formed therein. In 
use, an open end of a bag is folded over the rim and an elastic cord is 
wrapped around the loop and positioned in said groove thereby retaining 
the bag. U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,770 (Kildare) describes a bag holder 
comprising an annular frame with an outer peripheral groove therein for 
receiving a split ring having a handle formed at each of its free ends. In 
use, an open end of a bag is folded over the frame and retained in said 
groove by the split ring with its handles being brought and locked 
together. GB 2308341A describes a bag support comprising a circular band 
and a member for clamping an upper portion of the body to an outer face of 
the band. 
Hence, the above documents describe hand held bag holders which are of 
similar construction ie a frame, usually in the form of a circular band, 
and a single clamping member which extends circumferentially around an 
outer face of the frame. 
The bag holders of the above prior art documents are of relatively 
complicated construction and therefore relatively expensive to 
manufacture. 
An aim of the present invention is to provide a hand held bag holder of 
relatively simple construction. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a hand held bag 
holder comprising a member forming a frame defining a mouth and at least 
one clip comprising two or more spaced locating limbs which, in use, at 
least partially envelops the circumference of a cross section of the 
member for securing an open end of a bag to the frame such that a mouth of 
the bag is supported in an open position. 
Preferably, in use, an upper part of a bag is folded over a top side of the 
frame and the clip installed such that a portion of the bag is held, 
clamped or gripped at least partially around said circumference. 
It is preferred that the clip comprises a base and two spaced apart limbs 
which are preferably in the form of legs, extending away from said base 
and defining an open mouth therebetween. The clip may be provided by a 
generally U-shaped channel. In use, the legs straddle the frame member and 
clamp portions of a bag against sides of said circumference which may be 
directly opposing. The legs may, in use, substantially envelop the 
circumference of a cross section of the member. Hence, a clip may, in use, 
clamp a portion of a bag around a substantial portion of said 
circumference and consequently may provide a greater securement of a bag 
to a frame than is provided by the above described prior art bag holders 
which only clamp a bag to a single face of a frame. 
The frame is preferably annular and, more preferably, the mouth defined 
thereby is circular. 
The clip may be installed on said frame member in any direction. The frame 
lies in a plane and the direction of installation of the clip may be in a 
direction which is in said plane or in a plane parallel thereto. For 
example, in the embodiment wherein the mouth defined by the frame is 
circular, the clip may be installed in a radial direction and preferably 
in an inwardly directed radial direction. The direction of installation 
may be substantially perpendicular to the plane of said frame and, more 
preferably, in a direction from said top side of the frame member to the 
opposing side. 
The clip may be adapted for snap fit engagement with the frame. For 
example, the frame may be provided with a circumferential groove and at 
least one of said legs of the clip may engage therewith. A circumferential 
groove may be provided in an inner and outer face of the frame and said 
legs may engage therewith to provide said snap fit engagement. 
The width of the open mouth of a clip may be narrower than the maximum 
diameter of a cross section of said member. A clip may be resilient and 
allow for distortion thereof to enable the fitment around the maximum 
diameter of said cross section thereby providing said snap fit 
arrangement. 
There may be provided a single clip for securing a bag to the frame and 
said clip may be of substantially the same circumferential length as the 
circumference of the frame. Hence, the clip secures a bag to the frame 
around substantially the whole of the circumference of the frame. 
An elongate clip may be curved along its longitudinal length and have a 
curved longitudinal axis. The curvature of the open mouth of the clip may 
match the curvature of said axis and the legs of said clip may be curved 
so as to match the circumferential curvature of the frame. Alternatively, 
the legs of the clip may lie in substantially parallel planes with the 
base of the clip preferably curved so as to match the circumferential 
curvature of the frame. 
With the clip curved such that the longitudinal axis and the mouth are 
correspondingly curved, the clip is installed in a direction which is 
perpendicular to the plane of the mouth defined by the frame ie the 
installation of the clip is in a direction which is substantially 
perpendicular to a single plane in which said axis lies in. In the case of 
the clip having its legs lying substantially in parallel planes, the clip 
is installed in a direction which is in the plane of the frame or in a 
plane parallel thereto eg. radially inward, ie the installation of the 
clip is in a direction which is in the plane in which the longitudinal 
axis lies in or in a plane parallel thereto. 
The frame member may be of any convenient shape in cross section. 
rectangular, square or hexagonal, but is preferably circular. 
It is preferred that a plurality of clips are provided and that, in use, 
they secure a bag to the frame at spaced apart positions around the 
circumference thereof. Said positions may be uniformly spaced apart. 
The frame may have predefined spaced apart locations at which said clips 
co-operate with the frame. The predefined locations may be provided by 
sections of the frame having reduced cross-sectional areas. Said sections 
may be of equal circumferential length and are preferably spaced apart at 
equidistant intervals around the circumference of the frame. In this 
manner such sections serve as locators for the clips and hence simplify 
the operation of fitting the clips in the optimum positions ie. uniformly 
spaced apart. The distance of separation between adjacent sections is 
preferably greater than the length of one of said sections. Preferably, 
the length of said clips is substantially the same but less than the 
length of said sections. 
A clip may be substantially circular in cross section and may be in the 
shape of a split ring. The free ends of a clip may extend outwards to 
provide finger purchase to ease removal of the clip from the section. 
The frame and handle may be formed separately and secured together by 
suitable means. Alternatively, and in a preferred embodiment, the frame 
and handle are formed in one piece. The frame, handle and clips may be 
formed of a plastics material. 
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of 
example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to the accompanying drawings, a hand held bag holder is 
illustrated and indicated generally by numeral 10. The bag holder 10 
comprises a ring 12 having a handle 14 extending therefrom and six 
identical clips 16 although only one is illustrated. The ring and handle 
are formed in one piece in a plastics material. Also, the clips are formed 
in a plastics material and are resiliently deformable. 
Ring 12 defines a circular mouth 18 and is itself circular in 
cross-section. The ring has six uniformly spaced apart sections 20 of 
reduced diameter. The sections are of equal length which is approximately 
half the length of an intervening portion of the ring between adjacent 
sections. Handle 14 extends radially outwardly from a portion of the ring 
between two adjacent sections. 
A curved elongate clip 16 comprises a base 22 and spaced apart legs 24,26 
extending therefrom. In cross section, the clip is in the form of a split 
ring defining a mouth 28 and which lies in a single plane between the ends 
of the legs. The free ends of the split ring ie. ends of legs 24,26, curve 
outwardly from said mouth and width of said mouth 28 is less than the 
diameter of the ring at said sections. 
The clip has a curved longitudinal axis 29 and said mouth is 
correspondingly curved. The length of the clip is substantially the same 
although slightly less than the length of a section 20. The legs are 
curved longitudinally to match the curvature of the sections. The clip 
defines a ring receiving part 30 which is substantially in the form of a 
cylindrical hollow, the diameter of which is substantially the same 
diameter as that of the ring at said sections. 
The operation of the hand held bag holder will now be described. Initially, 
an upper portion of a bag is fed through mouth 18 of the ring and folded 
over the ring. An elongate clip 16 is then located over one of said six 
sections and forced downwards ie. in a direction perpendicular to a plane 
in which said ring lies in and in the direction indicated by arrow `A`, 
over the section such that legs 24,26 straddle the ring. Hence, the 
installation of the clip is in a direction which is perpendicular to the 
plane in which said longitudinal axis 29 lies in. As the clip moves 
downwards, the free ends thereof are forced outwards by their contact with 
the ring and the legs flex sufficiently to enable the clip to fit around 
the circular section. In view of the fact that the diameter of the 
cylindrical hollow defined by the clip is substantially equal to that of 
the section, the legs will exert a clamping force on the portion of the 
bag overlapping said section ie leg 24 exerts a radially inward clamping 
force and leg 26 exerts a radially outward clamping force. With the clip 
in the position shown in FIG. 3, the free ends of the clip are allowed to 
relax and return to their usual position thereby providing a snap-fit 
engagement with the ring. As can be seen with reference to FIG. 3, the 
clip envelops a substantial portion of the circumference of a cross 
section ie. at least 50% thereof. In this position, the free ends must be 
forced apart in order to enable the clip to be removed and hence ensures 
that it is not inadvertently removed during use. As described above, the 
free ends are directed outwardly thus providing finger purchase thereby 
facilitating the removal of the clip from the ring. In the illustrated 
embodiment, the clip is positioned with its legs 24,26 extending in a 
direction which is perpendicular to handle 14. Although that is the 
preferred positioning of a clip, in an alternative arrangement (not 
illustrated) a clip is provided for locating onto the ring in a direction 
such that its legs extend radially inward or outward from the ring. In 
this alternative arrangement, the clip has a curved longitudinal axis 
which lies in a single plane and the clip is installed on the ring in a 
direction which is substantially parallel to said plane. 
By locating the six clips in the manner described above, the upper portion 
of the bag is secured to the ring with the mouth in an open position. In 
practice, it may not be necessary to utilise all six clips to secure a bag 
and, for example, only four may be required. 
It is envisaged that different sizes of ring will be provided to match 
varying sizes of bags. 
In a further embodiment of the invention (not illustrated), the bag holder 
is secured to a wall by a bracket or by any other convenient means and 
used in this static manner.