Abstract:
Devices for maintaining the mouth of a bag in an open condition. The device may comprise a housing with a cavity and at least one opening, and at least one support band which is at least partially positioned in the cavity, wherein a first end of the at least one support band is located in the cavity and at least a portion of the at least one support band extends exterior of the housing, and the at least one support band has at least two positions relative to the housing, a retracted condition in which a majority of the at least one support band is positioned in the cavity and an extended condition in which less than a majority of the at least one support band is located exterior to the cavity.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/733,476, filed Nov. 5, 2005, which is titled “Adjustable Device for Holding Trash Bags Open”, and which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to devices for maintaining the mouth of a bag in an open condition in order to place debris, laundry, or other materials into such bags. Such bags can include, but are not limited to, disposable plastic bags, reusable nylon bags, and cloth bags.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Anyone attempting to bag material or debris, such as leaves or other waste, has experienced the frustration of trying to simultaneously hold the mouth of the bag open and try to place the material into the bag. The bag, particularly disposable plastic bags and lightweight nylon bags, are very floppy and the mouth is, at best, partially open and must be repeatedly re-opened. An alternative is to have one person open the mouth of the bag while another person places the material into the bag. Such a method is inefficient in that it requires two people and, because one person is constantly adjusting the mouth of the bag, at least partially obstructs the mouth of the bag thus inhibiting the loading process.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The present invention is directed to devices for maintaining the mouth of a bag in an open condition. The devices are adjustable to accommodate bags of various sizes and materials.  
         [0005]     According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the device comprises a housing with a cavity and at least one opening, and at least one support band which is at least partially positioned in the cavity. The at least one support band has at least two conditions relative to the housing, a retracted condition in which a majority of the at least one support band is positioned in the cavity and an extended condition in which less than a majority of the at least one support band is located into the cavity.  
         [0006]     According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the device comprises a housing, a first support band connected to the housing at a first support band first end, and a second support band connected to the housing at a second support band first end. The length of the first support band external to the housing is variable and the length of the second support band external to the housing is variable. Further, the first support band second is detachably connectible with the second support band second end.  
         [0007]     In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the device comprises a housing having a cavity internal to the housing, a first spool located in the cavity, a second spool located in the cavity, a first support band attached to the first spool at a first support band first end with a first support band second end located outside the cavity, and a second support band attached to the second spool at a second support band first end with a second support band second end located outside the cavity. The length of the first support band exterior to the cavity is variable by rotating the first spool, and the length of the second support band exterior to the cavity is variable by rotating the second spool. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates an alternate view of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates another alternate view of the exemplary embodiment of  FIGS. 1-2 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates a side view of the exemplary embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  depicts an exploded view of another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  depicts a partial exploded view of another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a retracted condition;  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in combination with a bag; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the present invention in combination with a bag. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     To promote an understanding of the principles of the present invention, descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention follow and specific language is used to describe the specific embodiments. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended by the use of specific language. Alterations, further modifications, and such further applications of the principles of the present invention discussed are contemplated as would normally occur to one ordinarily skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.  
         [0018]     The present invention is directed to devices that may have one or more extendable supports which extend from a housing in order to maintain the opening of a bag such that debris and other items or materials may be placed into the bag. The devices of the present invention may be utilized with bags comprised of plastic, fabric, and other materials. Such devices are adjustable in order to be utilized with bags of various dimensions including bags of varying diameter. The supports of such devices may be retracted into a cavity in the housing for convenient storage. One exemplary device of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1-4 .  FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrating housing  10 . The embodiment also includes one or more support bands such as first support band  20  which are extendable from housing  10 . In this embodiment, first support band  20  may be partially extracted from housing  10  by way of first opening for first band  22 . Also illustrated in  FIG. 1  is a first band lock  24  which may be placed in at least two conditions, a first condition (“locked”) in which first support band  20  is locked with respect to housing  10  and a second condition (“unlocked”) in which first support band  20  may be extracted/retracted with respect to housing  10 . In practice, when first band lock  24  is unlocked, first support band  20  may be extracted to a desired length (i.e., to support a given sized bag), and then first band lock  24  may be locked. First band lock  24  may be of any suitable mechanism, including, but not limited to, a slide lock, a spring biased lock, a pneumatic lock, a manual slide lock, an elastic lock.  
         [0019]     Housing  10  may be of unitary construction or of multiple components and may be comprised of various materials including, but not limited to, plastic, metal, aluminum, steel, ceramic, and wood. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , housing  10  is comprised of multiple components such that screws  32  may be utilized to secure the various components together. Various means may be utilized to secure the various components together such as, but not limited to, screws, gluing, bonding, bolting, welding, snap fit, zippers, hooks and loops (such as available under the trade name Velcro ®), snaps, etc.  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  also illustrates an optional slot  16  which may extend partly or entirely through housing  10 . Also illustrated is an optional handle  12  which may be utilized for grasping, holding or manipulating the device. The exemplary embodiment illustrated allows a user to grasp housing  10  by either grasping an outer perimeter of handle  12  or allows a user to insert their fingers through slot  16  in order to manipulate the device.  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  illustrates another perspective view of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 2  shows a second support band  26 , which is extendable from housing  10  by way of a second opening for second band  28 . Also illustrated is a second band lock  30  which may operate similarly to first band lock  24  discussed above.  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of the underside of the illustrated embodiment of  FIGS. 1-2 . A belt clip  60  is shown in this view wherein belt clip  60  may be used to attach housing  10  of the device to a user&#39;s belt, for example, when the device is not in use. Though illustrated as a belt clip, it is also within the scope of the invention to have a carrying strap, or other means, in contact with the housing in order to permit a user to transport a device in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  illustrates another view of the exemplary embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3  illustrating a side view showing an exemplary configuration of belt clip  60  with respect to housing  10 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , first support band  20 , first opening for first band  22 , first band lock  24  can also be seen.  
         [0024]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exploded view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention in which housing  10  is comprised of housing first portion  44  and housing second portion  46 . Screws  32  may be utilized connect housing first portion  44  to housing second portion  46  though it is also acceptable to utilize other means as discussed above. In the illustrated embodiment, screws  32  extend through holes  34  in housing first portion  44  into receptors  58  in housing second portion  46 .  
         [0025]     Also shown in  FIG. 5  is an arrangement of first support band  20  and second support band  26 . In the illustrated embodiment, first support band  20  has a first band first end  50  and a first band second end  52  whereas second support band  26  has a similar second band first end  54  and a second band second end  56 . In this embodiment, first band first end  50  may be attached to a first spindle or spool  36  such that first support band  20  may wrap about spool  36  ( FIG. 7  illustrates a similar arrangement in which first support band  20  is wrapped about spool  36 ). In the illustrated embodiment, spool  36  may pivot about a first spool axis  38 . In a similar fashion, second band first end  54  may be attached to a second spool  40  such that it may be wound/unwound from second spool  40  which may pivot about a second spool axis  42 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  also illustrates a configuration in which first band second end  52  is detachably connected to second band second end  56 . In the illustrated embodiment, the respective second ends  52 ,  56  may have any suitable connection means, including, but not limited to, interlocking s-shaped ends, interlocking male-female ends such that one of the second ends may connect to the other second end. Also illustrated in  FIG. 5  are first opening for first band  22  and first opening for second band  28  each of which allows their respective support band to be expelled/retracted from housing  10 . Support bands  20 ,  26  may be constructed of any suitable materials including, but not limited to, plastic, rubber, metal, aluminum, and ceramics and may have a cross-sectional shape including, but not limited to, round, elliptical, and rectangular.  
         [0027]     In some embodiments, spools  36 ,  40  may be biased in order to cause their respective support bands  20 ,  26  to be retracted into cavity  48  of housing  10  when their respective band locks  24 ,  30  are in a condition to allow such movement of support bands  20 ,  26 . In such embodiments, when a user desires to utilize the device, the user can (1) switch first band lock  24 , for example, from the locked condition to the unlocked condition, (2) then pull on first band second end  52  with sufficient force to overcome the retraction force of the biased spool until a desired length of first support band  20  has been extracted from housing  10 , and (3) then switch first band lock  24  to its locked condition to prevent the support band  20  from being prematurely retracted into housing  10 . The user can similarly retract a desired length of second support  26  from housing  10 . In use, a user may extract a sufficient length of support bands  20 ,  26  such that a mouth of a bag is maintained in an open condition as shown in  FIGS. 8-9 . Once a user is done utilizing the device, the user can move band locks  24 ,  30  to their respective unlocked conditions, thus allowing support bands to be retracted into housing  10  and freeing the mouth of the bag.  
         [0028]     In other embodiments, spools  36 ,  40  may be free-spinning about their respective spool axis  38 ,  42 . In these embodiments, a user may manually extract and retract support bands  20 ,  26  from housing  10  while using  24 ,  30  locks to control the length and configuration of support bands  20 ,  26  as desired.  
         [0029]     In still other embodiments, spools  36 ,  40  may be biased in order to expel their respective support bands  20 ,  26  such that when their respective locks  24 ,  30  allow such movement, support bands  20 ,  26  are expelled until a desired length of support bands  20 ,  26  have been expelled at which time the user may switch the respective locks  24 ,  30  to their locked conditions. In yet other embodiments, the expelling force of the support bands  20 ,  26  may be sufficient that it is not necessary to switch locks  24 ,  30  to a locked condition in order to maintain support bands  20 ,  26  as desired.  
         [0030]     Biasing means for spools  36 ,  40  include, but are not limited to, spring biasing, pneumatic means, electrical biasing, electronic biasing, and hydraulic biasing.  
         [0031]      FIG. 6  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the respective support bands  20 ,  26  are wound in a counter-direction to that illustrated in the embodiment of  FIG. 5  relative to respective spools  36 ,  40 . In some embodiments, it may be advantageous to configure support bands  20 ,  26  such as that illustrated in  FIG. 5  whereas in other embodiments, it may be advantageous to configure support bands  20 ,  26  as that illustrated in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0032]      FIG. 7  illustrates another configuration of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 6  in which support bands  20 ,  26  are in a retracted/wound configuration about their respective spool  36 ,  40 .  FIG. 8  illustrates an exemplary embodiment according to the present invention in combination with a bag  62  situated about the device. In the illustrated embodiment and configuration, a mouth  64  of bag  62  is maintained in position by a combination of housing  10  and support bands  20 ,  26  which exert an outward force on the inside of bag  62 . Thus mouth  64  is maintained in an open condition by the tension of housing  10  and support bands  20 ,  26  on bag  62 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 9  illustrates another exemplary embodiment according to the present invention in combination with bag  62  situated about the device. In this embodiment, housing  10  is configured with a lowered portion  70  which allows a user to have full access to handle  12  and slot  16  without interference from bag  62 .  
         [0034]     While the specification has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to these embodiments. Also note that the housing and other components may be of any suitable shape depending on the desired application for the device. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be assessed as that of the appended claims and any equivalents thereto.