Patent Publication Number: US-5425513-A

Title: Bag dispenser package

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a new and improved method for dispensing plastic bags and, in particular, dispensing large plastic bags from a compact, conveniently suspendable dispensing package. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     Plastic bags are used in large numbers in a wide variety of applications. For example, cleaning personnel often require dozens of plastic trash bags on a single route through offices, hotel rooms, hospitals and other large buildings. The use of plastic bags, however, is not limited to collecting trash. Shoppers, for example, use large numbers of bags to package various types of produce and other items which often must be individually weighed or stored separately. 
     When bags are used in large numbers, compact storage and easy access provides the best possible scenario. Often, cleaning personnel will pile folded plastic bags on carts for access during the day. However, space on these carts can be very limited. Plastic trash bags laid flat require a substantial amount of room which may not be available on a cart because of other essential items. Sometimes a box is used to hold the trash bags, but the box takes up valuable room on the cart and is not convenient to carry. 
     Rolls of plastic bags can be found in grocery stores where the rolls are suspended by rods in the produce or other sections of the store. The shoppers tear bags from the roll along perforated tear lines. One inconvenience, however, is that the rods require special mounting fixtures and a large surface area. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The principal object of the present invention is to provide a bag dispensing package which may be easily hung from a rod or hook while simultaneously providing easy access to the plastic bags housed within. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing package which is cheap and simple to make, and readily disposable when the plastic bags run out. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing package which is easily portable and may be readily transferred from one cart or hook to another. 
     To accomplish these and other objects, the bag dispensing package of this invention includes a continuous roll of plastic film bags with the bags serially related in an interleafed arrangement or connected along perforated tear lines and a single T-shirt bag having a handle and an opening to its interior and containing the roll of bags enabling the roll of bags to turn as the leading bag in the roll is drawn out the opening while the T-shirt bag is suspended by the handle. 
    
    
     These and other objects and features of the present invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for the purpose of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the present invention suspended from a cart; 
     FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the present invention suspended from a hook; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the present invention taken along the section line 3--3 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the roll of plastic bags connected along perforated tear lines and the T-shirt bag of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the T-shirt bag prior to heat sealing; 
     FIG. 6 is a box including multiple bag dispensing packages; and 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a partially unrolled roll of plastic bags in an interleafed arrangement. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The overall arrangement and function of the dispensing package 8 may best be seen in FIGS. 2-4 and 7. The package 8 comprises a T-shirt dispensing bag 10 housing a continuous roll of plastic bags 20 or the like. The T-shirt dispensing bag 10 has a pair of handles 12 extending upwardly from a body portion 14. The dispensing bag 10 is preferably made of a lightweight plastic film such as high molecular weight high density polyethylene which is strong enough to support the roll 20 without tearing or rupturing. While a T-shirt bag 10 is preferred, other styles of bags may be used. The advantages of a T-shirt bag 10 is, however, that it may be hung from a hook 16 without having to tie the handles together or to the support on which it is to be suspended, and when the bag is to be suspended from a bar as shown at 18 in FIG. 1, the handles 12 may readily be tied together about the bar. Also, the handles 12 make the package 8 convenient to carry. 
     The roll of plastic bags 20, having each bag serially related, sits on the bottom of the body portion 14 of the dispensing bag 10. A leading bag 26 on the roll 20, that is, the next bag to be torn or pulled from the roll 20, extends out of the mouth 28 of the body portion 14 and drapes over an upper edge 31 of the body portion 14 and down along a face of the T-shirt bag 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Each bag on the roll 20 is separated from its immediate neighboring bags on the roll 20 by tear lines 27, if perforated rolls are used (FIG. 4). If an interleafed arrangement is used, the neighboring bags on the roll 20 overlap with one another as seen in FIG. 7. The leading bag 26&#39; extends below its following neighboring bag as shown in phantom. FIG. 7 shows the roll partially unrolled, however, once the leading bag 26&#39; is no longer urged against the body of the roll 20&#39;, it is free for use. 
     It is preferable that the continuous roll 20 have a length substantially similar to the width of the dispensing bag 10 (see FIG. 2). This arrangement provides resistance to lateral motion of the leading bag 26 when it is being torn or pulled from the roll 20 along the tear line 27. If the bag 10 had a body portion width shorter that the roll 20, there could be too much resistance due to the tight fit of the body portion 14 on the roll 20 and the bag 10 would likely rupture or tear and the leading bag 26 on the roll 20 would separate from the roll 20 before it was fully withdrawn so as to leave the new leading bag of the roll 20 within the dispensing bag 10. On the other hand, if the width of the body portion 14 were substantially greater than the roll 20, rotation of the roll 20 would not be as controlled as in the preferred relationship. The roll 20 would tend to bounce around in the bag 10 as the leading bag 26 was being pulled off. Furthermore, the roll 20 could spin or slip sideways causing the leading bag 26 or subsequent bags to become twisted. 
     When both handles 12 are suspended from the same point of a support, a triangular opening 29 is defined by the handles 12 and the upper edge 31 of the body portion 14 (see FIG. 2). The opening 29 acts as a collar on the leading bag so that the leading bag will not fall back into the T-shirt bag 10 or become entangled with the handles 12. 
     When the leading bag 26 is pulled outward as shown in FIG. 3, the roll 20 easily rotates within the dispensing bag 10. The friction between the roll 20 and the bag 10 and between the leading bag 26 and the upper edge 31 is sufficient to prevent the user from unintentionally withdrawing more bags than desired from within the body portion 14. 
     The roll 20 may be composed of gusseted or plain unexpandable bags as desired. As shown in FIG. 4, the trash bags are gusseted lengthwise so as to have an expandable width several times the width of the dispenser 10. This arrangement provides a compact dispensing T-shirt bag 10 for a roll of large size trash bags. For example, the trash bags shown are approximately 3 feet long, 2.5 feet wide at the opening 33 when completely expanded, and 8 inches wide at the base 34. When filled, the bag assumes a U-shaped cross-section. The roll 20 has a width of 8 inches, the same as the base 34 of the bag and an diameter of 5 inches before any bags are torn from the roll 20. Conventional manufacturing and folding techniques may be used to form the roll 20. The same gusseting or folding is available in the interleafed arrangement of FIG. 7. 
     The T-shirt bag 10, as seen in FIG. 4, has heat sealed seams 30 on the handles 12 and the sides and bottom of the body portion 14. The T-shirt bag 10, prior to sealing is shown in FIG. 5, is cut along dotted lines 32 from the handles 12 and mouth 28 of the bag. The T-shirt bag may be made in different methods known in the bag manufacturing art. 
     FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate two ways of using the dispenser 10, namely, in conjunction with a cart 40 or a wall hook 16. Many other ways of using the invention exist, however. For example, the dispenser bag may be secured to a shopping cart or the handle of a garbage can for the convenience of the user. 
     Shipment of the dispensing packages 8 may be done in a box arrangement. FIG. 6 shows four dispensing packages 8 tightly secured within a box 42 for shipping. Any number of packages 8 may be sent in an appropriately sized box 42. 
     Various changes and modifications and equivalents of the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings may be made within the scope of this invention. It is intended that all matters contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings are presented by way of example only and are intended to be interpreted in an illustrative and not limiting sense.