Abstract:
A stack ( 24 ) of vest-style bags ( 10 ), each bag comprises a front layer and a rear layer of flexible sheet material. The layers define a bag body having a closed base end ( 12 ), closed sides ( 14, 16 ) and an open mouth end ( 18 ) opposite the base end ( 12 ). The front and rear layers each define a tab ( 42 ) extending between handles ( 20, 22 ) of the bag. Each handle part defines an aperture ( 30, 32 ) to receive a pin of a dispenser. A further aperture ( 36 ) is provided to receive a hook pin of the dispenser adjacent the mouth of the bag.

Description:
[0001]     The invention relates to a stack of bags, particularly but not exclusively limited to use in a retail establishment at the point of sale for packaging purchased goods.  
         [0002]     Stacks of bags are commonly provided in retail establishments at the point of sale to allow the customer to package purchased goods. Such bags are generally made of thin walled, flexible plastics material and are sealed at the base end and the sides leaving the upper end open to form the mouth of the bag. There are various designs of such bags. However, one common configuration has two handle members extending from the mouth, one on each side of the bag. That configuration is known as a “vest bag” or “vest-style bag”. The present invention is concerned with vest-style bags.  
         [0003]     It is known from our earlier PCT application number PCT/GB2003/000652 to provide a stack of vest-style bags, whereby the handles of the bags in the stack are separably connected to opposite ends of an attachment block of bag material. It is also known to provide a tab of material extending from the attachment block to the mouth of the bag, the tab being separably attached to the attachment block, whereby the tab forms a permanent attachment to the open end of the bag adjacent the mouth of the bag, which supports the middle part of the bag and prevents sagging. It is also known to provide a bond, in semi-permanent manner, between the rear face of a top bag in a stack to the front face of the subsequent bag in the vicinity of the tab formation so that, on pulling of the front face of the tab on the uppermost bag from the stack, the front face tab of the next bag is pulled forward. Such bags are adhered together at a point above the mouth of the bag but below the semi-permanent attachment means of the tab adjacent to the attachment block. The problem with such bags is that, the current form is not compatible with some known dispensing systems/brackets, whereby the tab dispensing form would be advantageous for use on bag supporting packing systems, Secondly, the use of the attachment block is not advantageous for the application of the tab dispensing form on the aforementioned bag supported, dispensing systems.  
         [0004]     The known bag supporting dispenser system relates to a device having two pins, so spaced as to align with the width of the handles of a vest style bag but not exclusively in a perpendicular arrangement, a third pin or hook form is provided equidistant between the aforementioned pins to locate with an advantageously correlating aperture formed in the bag walls adjacent the mouth of the bag on such a dispenser, a stack of bags can be mounted, in which each bag is affixed to the following bag by semi-permanent means or detachably permanent means, so as to aid the alignment of the handle and mouth apertures with the correlating pin/hook features of the dispensing system upon mounting of the bag stack on the dispensing device. By manual pulling of the front face of the frontmost bag of the mounted stack, the rear face is held against the front face of the subsequent bag in the stack by the semipermanent attachment means so as to open the bag. The pins project through the advantageously located handle apertures so as to hold the bag upright in a weight supporting manner, so that the user does not have to manually support the open bag for filling with heavy articles. Upon completion of the filling of the bag, the frontmost (now full) bag is manually pulled from the dispensing device, whereby, the semi-permanent attachment means of the rear face of the front bag to the front face of tic subsequent bag remains intact to enable the front face of the subsequent bag to be pulled forward on the dispensing device, thereby acting to open the subsequent newly positioned bag, in a supported manner ready for filling. Further manual pulling of the full bag away from the dispenser then acts to break the semi-permanent attachment point between the two bag faces so as to leave the subsequent bag in location on the dispensing device ready for manual filling.  
         [0005]     The problem with this configuration of manual pulling of the first bag to a usable location on the dispensing device, is that if the first bag of the located stack is not so positioned on the dispensing device as to be open and supported ready for manual filling by the user, the user must pick an undefined point of the front face of the bag to initiate the correct function of the bag stack. This relies on the users experience of using the dispensing device to initiate successful movement of the first bag into a usable position, and therefore subsequent bags. A second problem relates to the manual pulling of a bag completely off the dispensing device without filling, so as to fill the bag on an available surface of the cash desk free from the limitations and locality of the dispensing, device and the dimensional limitations of the width of the pins, such action is not facilitated by the lack of an identifiable point on the bag to which the bag can be easily and successfully be removed, with or without filling. A third problem relates to the need of the correlating apertures in the individual bags and therefore plurality of bags in a stack, to be so aligned to allow the user to easily manually locate the relevant aperture with the associated pink hook of the dispensing device without obstruction by misaligned apertures throughout the depth of the bag stack. A fourth problem relates to the point that no materials of the body of the bag can be left on the dispensing device after a single or plurality of bags have been removed from the stack as they can potentially become detached from the dispensing device and fall to the floor potentially causing a health and safety hazard to persons nearby.  
         [0006]     It is an object of the invention to provide an improved stack of bags fit for the application on bag supporting dispensing systems.  
         [0007]     According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a stack of vest-style bags, each bag comprising a front layer and a rear layer of flexible sheet material, the layers defining a bag body having a closed base end, closed sides and an open mouth end opposite the base end, and two handle parts spaced from each other and extending from the open mouth end, the front layer further defining a front tab extending from the open mouth end from a point between the two handle parts the rear ply further defining a rear tab extending from the open mouth end from a point between the two handle parts, the rear tab of one bag in the stack being separably attached to the front tab of the subsequent bag in the stack, the handle parts each have an aperture so placed as to receive the pins of a dispensing device, a further aperture is arranged through the walls of the bag adjacent the mouth of the bag to receive a pin or hook from normally associated with a dispensing device or mounting structure.  
         [0008]     By providing a tab which can be pulled manually, a defined pulling point is provided ensuring successful opening of the bag for loading on the dispenser.  
         [0009]     The apertures are preferably so formed as to limit the reduction in strength caused by the reduction in width of the handle formation. Advantageously the handle formation may be modified in width and form to retain the overall strength as observed without the aperture present.  
         [0010]     The further aperture or apertures may be located equidistant between the handle formations adjacent to the mouth of the bag.  
         [0011]     To facilitate ease of use an additional feature of a non-precipitating slot or cut may be provided running from the aperture adjacent to the mouth of the bag, so formed to facilitate an increase in the aperture size in a controlled manner due to the manual pulling of the bag from the dispensing device and/or stack. The non-precipitating slot is preferably effected by the breaking of a semi-permanent feature created of the body of the bag, between the aperture and a slot. A tear precipitation formation is preferably provided at an end of the slot spaced from the aperture. The increase in aperture size facilitates easy removal of an individual bag from the stack by reducing the resistance of the body of material as it is pulled over the pin/hook formation of the dispensing device thereby facilitating easy removal of a single bag from the dispensing mechanism.  
         [0012]     The apertures of the bag are so formed to correlate to the form of the pins of the dispensing device for example round, elliptical, oblong, square or curved.  
         [0013]     In a further preferred embodiment, the aperture formed adjacent to the mouth of the bag is formed in a position so as to create a thinned area of the wall of the bag so as to provide a means of weakening such an area to become detachable upon manual pulling of the front face of the bag. The thinned area, being weaker than the surrounding thicker area, therefore, provides a restricted location for a fracture or rip to form, thereby facilitating the removal of the mouth of the bag or tab to become free of the restraint of the dispensing systems central hook or pin. The provision of the area of weakening does not therefore require additional severance points or lines. By locating the aperture asymmetrical the aforementioned thinned area is formed between the edge of the bag and the edge of the aperture. The aperture being so shaped in a symmetrical or asymmetrical form to facilitate the of thinning, it is also advantageous that the aperture has single or a plurality of positive or negative protrusions around its circumference so as to provide an increasingly specific point for the rip or fracture to occur.  
         [0014]     To further facilitate easy removal of a bag from the dispensing device, it is the intention that a user can pull the front tab of a first bag in the stack, the rear tab of the first bag remains attached to the front tab of the subsequent bag in the stack whilst on the dispensing device. Further pulling of the front tab of the first bag opens the mouth of the first bag, pulling the front tab forwardly and thereby advantageously opening the bag and so locating the bag on the dispensing device so as to be open and supported by the dispensing device&#39;s pin features, ready for manual filling by the user. Upon further manual pulling of the first bag the rear tab pulls the semi-permanently attached front tab of the subsequent bag forward to locate the subsequent bag open and supported ready for filling. Removal of the first bag from the dispensing device causes the rear tab of the first bag to detach from the subsequent front tab. Thus the front tab of the subsequent bag has pulled forward ready for use and the withdrawn bag removed from the stack either, full ready for transport, or open and ready for filling in an alternate packing location, or for use by concurrent multiple users. The provision of a tab protruding from the mouth of the bag makes a much more obvious pulling point for the user. The configuration of the inventive bag provides reliable withdrawal of bags from the stack every time. Also, it is not essential for the stack of bags to rely on any particular mounting configuration to function.  
         [0015]     Each bag may be made from an elongate tube, sealed along the base and cut to define handles, a mouth and the tabs. Alternatively, each bag may comprise two plys of material, sealed along the base and the side edges to form gussets and cut to define the handles, a mouth and the tabs.  
         [0016]     The attachment between the rear and subsequent front tabs is preferably effected, by means of an adhesive. The point of adhesion is preferably below the upper edge of the tab formation. Alternatively, the tabs can be locally deformed so that the material of the rear tab is pushed into a depression formed in the front tab of the next bag. In a particularly preferred embodiment, where the tabs are attached together by local deformation, one or both of the rear surface of the rear tab and the front surface of the front tab are treated to enhance the adhesion of the tabs together when locally deformed. The treatment is most preferably an electrostatic discharge treatment, known as a “Corona” treatment which renders the surface “rougher” 0  at a microscopic level. By applying the Corona treatment to the relevant surfaces of the tabs, then locally deforming the tabs, appropriate adhesion is provided without the use of adhesive. Still further, the tabs can be punched through, the punching providing the semi-permanent attachment. In a further embodiment, the tabs may be spot-welded together, although that is less preferred than the aforementioned methods as it is a more intensive process. Other alternative attachments can be created by means of punching formations in the body of the tab or by punching the profile of the tab perimeter to create an advantageous temporary attachment.  
         [0017]     The front tab of each bag preferably includes a marking or markings indicating that the user should pull the tab to remove the bag from the stack.  
         [0018]     According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a stack of vest-style bags, each bag comprising, a front layer and a rear layer of flexible sheet material, the layers defining a bag body having a closed base end, closed sides and an open mouth end opposite the base end and two handle parts spaced from each other and extending from the open mouth end, the front layer further defining a real tab extending from the open mouth end from a point between the two handle parts, the rear tab of one bag in a stack being separably attached to the front tab of the subsequent bag in the stack, each tab being so formed as to act as an anchor for the placement of the tab on through or around the hook/pin formation of the supporting dispenser system, or other known dispensing systems, the formation of the tab being formed such as to restrain the tab, though behind or around the hook/pin of the dispensing system whilst static.  
         [0019]     The means of restraint acts to hold the mouth of the bag in an advantageous position ready for use, by holding, the individual faces of the bag, bag or plurality of bags in a stack from becoming detached from the dispenser system unintentionally. This tab formation advantageously, provides means of removing the individual plys of the front and rear tab from the hook/pin by means of manual pulling, without having to break the body of the tab formation, as in known embodiments. No part of the dispensing system passes through the body of the mouth of the central tab form, such as through an aperture whereby the body of material surrounding the aperture is unbroken or has lines of weakening, removal of the individual bags is made easier by the reduction in resistance due to the deflection of the front and rear ply of the tab form, as it is manually pulled through, around or over the dispensing hook/pin form. The deflection of the tab form acts to allow the bag to become detached of the dispensing system upon intentional manual pulling. Advantageously the tab form having pre determined cuts or forms so aligned with the structure of the dispensing system as to act to add additional strength to the anchor created by the tab form, this allows for increased security of the bags against becoming detached from the dispensing system unintentionally. The anchor tab can be used with or without an advantageously placed aperture/apertures adjacent to the mouth of the bag formed through the body of the bag.  
         [0020]     The present invention provides a more effective bag removal function in a stack of bags which provides a single open bag removed from the stack or supported from the stack and/or dispensing device for each bag removal operation and winch leaves the stack ready for the next bag use/removal.  
         [0021]     Other tab and attachment geometries and methods may be selected within the scope of the invention.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0022]     Various bag formations and stacks of bags will now be described in detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is an elevation of a first bag configuration in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.  
         [0024]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a stack of bags of the  FIG. 1  configuration arranged on known dispensing apparatus,  
         [0025]      FIG. 3  is an elevation of a bag configuration in accordance with the first and second aspects of the invention,  
         [0026]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a stack of bags having the  FIG. 3  configuration,  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is an elevation of a bag having a configuration in accordance with the first and third aspects of the invention,  
         [0028]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a stack of bags having the configuration of  FIG. 5 ,  
         [0029]      FIG. 7  is an elevation of a bag having a configuration in accordance with the fourth aspect of the invention, and  
         [0030]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a stack of bags having the  FIG. 7  configuration. 
     
    
       [0031]     In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a bag  10  comprises a well known vest style bag configuration in which the bag is formed from two layers of flexible plastic material with a closed based end  12 , closed sides  14 ,  16  and an open mouth end  18 . A pair of spaced apart handles  20 ,  22  extend from the open mouth end  18 .  
         [0032]     The bag  10  is configured to be arranged on a known dispensing apparatus.  
         [0033]     The dispensing apparatus is well known and comprises two spaced apart elongate pins  26 ,  28  which are arranged to extend through apertures  30 ,  32  formed through the handles  20 ,  22  of the bag,  10 . A hook ended pin  34  extends between and beneath the pins  26 ,  28  on the dispensing apparatus. The hook ended pin  34  is arranged to extend through an aperture  36  formed through the walls of the bags  10  adjacent mouth end  18  thereof. The hooked end  34   a  of the pin  34  terminates the pin  34  and the pin  34  is substantially shorter than the pins  26 ,  28 . The rear face of each bag  10  in the stack  24  is separably attached, for example by means of a glue spot  38  to the front face of the subsequent bag in the stack. Thus, when the customer pulls the front face of the bag, the adhesion of the rear face of the bag to the subsequent bag in the stack causes the bag to open, the handles  20 .  22  sliding along the pins  26 ,  28  so as to open the bag. In that way, the bag is presented open for filling. Once the bag has been filled then the customer pulls the bag further from the stack which causes the handles  20 ,  22  to slide off the ends of pins  26 ,  28 , the front face of the subsequent bag in the stack to be pulled forward and then the bond  38  between the bags to be broken. In that way, the next bag in the stack is presented open for filling.  
         [0034]     An example of such a dispensing apparatus and a stack of bags for use therewith is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,580, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by way of reference. In particular,  FIGS. 11   a  to  e  and the related description demonstrate the operation of that dispensing system. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,909 is hereby incorporated by reference, particularly  FIGS. 1 and 2  and the related description.  
         [0035]     In the bag  10  of  FIG. 1 , the hook ended pin  34  extends through the apertures  36  in the bag  10  of the stack  24 . The bags  10  are connected together by means of glue spot  38 .  
         [0036]     Each bag  10  further comprises a preformed line of weakening extending from the aperture  36  towards the glue spot  38 . Thus when the bag is pulled along the hook ended pin  34 , the hook end  34   a  encounters the predetermined line of weakening  40  and tears through it to allow easy removal of the bag from the pin.  
         [0037]     The bag  10  is further provided with a tab  42  which extends from the open mouth  18  away therefrom parallel with the handles  20 ,  22 . The aperture  36  is formed at the base of the tab  42 , the glue spot connecting the rear face of each bag to the front face of the subsequent bag is formed at a point spaced from the mouth of the bag along the tab  42  and the predetermined line of weakness  40  is formed between the aperture  36  and the glue spot  38 .  
         [0038]     The provision of the tab  42  provides an obvious protrusion which presents itself for the user to pull to effect opening and dispensing of each bag in the stack. Thus, the problem of the customer not knowing where to pull the bag in order to effect opening and subsequent dispensing of the bag is eliminated.  
         [0039]     It should be noted that the handles  20 ,  22  are locally strengthened around the apertures  30 ,  32  formed therein so as to avoid an inherent weakness therein which might compromise the function of the handle.  
         [0040]     Thus, when the bag  10  of  FIG. 1  forms a stack of bags  24  on a dispenser and the customer approaches, the tab  42  is presented for ready pulling of the front face of the first bag. Pulling the tab  42  opens the bag on the dispensing apparatus so that the handles  20 ,  22  slide part way along the pins  26 ,  28  and the rear face of the bag is retained by the hook end  34   a  of the hook end pin  34 . When the bag is filled with produce, the tab  42  can be pulled further so that the handles  20 ,  22  come off the pins  26 ,  28 . Further pulling of the first bag causes the bond  38  between the rear face thereof and the front face of the subsequent bag to fail.  
         [0041]      FIG. 3  illustrates an alternative bag configuration in accordance with the first and third aspects of the invention. The bag is substantially similar to that shown in  FIG. 1  and parts corresponding to parts in  FIG. 1  carry the same reference numerals.  
         [0042]     As stated above, the bag  10  of  FIG. 3  is substantially similar to that of  FIG. 1  and the common features will not be described in detail here. In  FIG. 3 , the bag includes an aperture  36  adjacent the mouth end  18  of the bag and the glue spot  38  arranged beneath the aperture  36 . Optionally, the tab  42  may be provided as in  FIG. 1 . In place of the line of weakening  40 , the bag  10  of  FIG. 3  is provided with a non precipitating slot  44  extending from the aperture  36 , the non precipitating slot  44  comprises a perforated weakened longitudinal portion  46  terminating in a punched radius hole  48 . Thus, when the bag is pulled from the dispensing apparatus and the hooked end  34   a  of the hooked pin  34  encounters the non precipitating slot  44 , the perforated portion  46  fails but the provision of the radiused portion  48  prevents the slot from precipitating upwardly causing the bag to tear.  FIG. 4  illustrates the stack of the bags  10  of  FIG. 3  arranged on dispensing apparatus.  
         [0043]      FIG. 5  illustrates the further alternative embodiment of bag in accordance with the first and third aspect of the invention. Again, parts corresponding to parts in  FIGS. 1 and 3  carry the same reference numerals. The bag  10  of  FIG. 5  is substantially similar to that shown in  FIG. 3  with the exception that the bag  10  in  FIG. 5  is not provided with a non precipitating slot  44 . Rather, the aperture  36  is elliptical in form and is arranged off the centre line of the bag so that the bag wall  50  at one end of the ellipse is substantially thinner that the hag wall  52  at the other end of the ellipse. In that way, when the bag  10  of  FIG. 5  is withdrawn from the stack  24  and the hooked end  34   a  of the hook pin  34  encounters the wall of the bag around the apertures  36 , the thin wall  50  will tend to fail, facilitating withdrawal of the bag  10  from the stack  24 . Again, the bag  10  of  FIG. 5  can be provided with an optional tab  42  as described in  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 7 , further bag configurations in accordance with the fourth aspect of the invention is  
         [0044]     The bag  10  of  FIG. 7  is a vest style bag similar to that described in  FIGS. 1, 3  and  5 . However, the bag  10  of  FIG. 7  does not have an aperture adjacent the mouth end  18 . Instead, an anchor tab  54  is provided which extends from the point adjacent mouth end  18  equidistant between the handle  20 ,  22  substantially parallel therewith. The anchor tab  54  comprises a narrow stem  56  and an enlarged mushroom like head  58 . The rear face of each bag in the stack  24  is attached to the front face of the subsequent bag in the stack by means of a glue spot  38  arranged substantially centrally of the head  58  of the anchor tab  54 . The bag  10  of  FIG. 7  is for use on an alternative form of dispensing apparatus to that shown in  FIGS. 2, 4 , and  6 . The dispensing apparatus is shown in  FIG. 8 . The dispensing apparatus of  FIG. 8  still comprises elongate pins  26 ,  28  but in place of the hook ended pin  34 , a wire loop  60  having two spaced arms  62 ,  64  is provided having an upturned hook like end. When bags  10  of  FIG. 7  are arranged in a stack on the dispenser of  FIG. 8 , the pins  26 ,  28  are received through the apertures in the handles  20 ,  22  and the anchor tab  54  is pushed through the space between the two arms of the loop  60 . Once installed on the dispensing apparatus, the stem  56  of the anchor tab  54  extends through the space between the arms  62 ,  64  of the loop  60  and the head  58  sits on top of those arms.  
         [0045]     When the customer uses the bag in accordance with that shown in  FIG. 7  on the dispensing means as shown in  FIG. 8 , the head of the anchor tab  54  can be pulled down through the gap between the arms of the loop  60 . The bag is then pulled forwardly so that the handles  20 ,  22  move along the pins  26 ,  28  and the rear face of the bag is retained by the abutment stem  56  of the rear wall anchor tab  54  with the loop  60 . The bag can then be loaded and further pulling of the bag, once loaded, causes the handles  20 ,  22  to be pulled off the pins  26 ,  28  and the enlarged head  58  of the anchor tab  54  to be pulled through the gap between the arms  62 ,  64  of the loop  60 . At that point alter the front anchor tab  54  of the subsequent bag is pulled through the gap the bond  38  between the rear face of the first bag and the front face of the second bag fails to allow the first bag to be pulled free.