Patent Publication Number: US-2004040974-A1

Title: Plastic bag dispenser and manufacturing method thereof

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates to plastic bags and more particularly to a plastic bag dispenser and manufacturing method thereof.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] Petrochemical industry has been well developed during these several decades. Various products including many used in daily life are made from plastic. It brings a great convenience to people. One type of plastic product is plastic bag for containing objects. Plastic bags have many different shapes and sizes in implementation. Also. not only quality and appearance but also convenience and ergonomic design are factors under consideration in choosing a desired plastic bag by consumers. As such, there is a need for plastic bag manufacturers to fulfil such needs of consumers in order to survive in the competitive market.  
       [0003] In one implementation, for example. plastic bags are hung in a roll by a vegetable stand in supermarket. People may pull the plastic bag roll for a desired length prior to tearing one or more plastic bags therefrom. In fact, however, it is often that people may tear several plastic bags in one tearing, i.e., the number of removed plastic bags larger than the desired one. Further, opening of plastic bag is not easy to open. It really bothers consumers. Furthermore, unopened plastic bags are useless, i.e., it is a waste. Thus improvement exists.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a plastic bag dispenser comprising a parallelepiped container having an opening assembly on top, and a stack of a plurality of plastic bags received in the container each including an opening at a front side. a closed end at a rear side, two folded sections at both sides between the front and the rear sides wherein each folded section is folded symmetrically inward. and an adhesive on top near the opening of the bag for sticking to a next below bag wherein the closed ends are bent downward toward the openings of the bags so as to form a bent section at underside of the stack of plastic bags. In use, user can exert a small force to pull one bag from the container through the opening assembly without worrying of pulling two or more bags at one time since the adhesive force of adhesive is suitably small so that the adhesive force of adhesive only allows top halves of both folded sections and opening of the next below bag to be exposed on top of the container as folded sections of the next below bag being stopped in the opening assembly while one bag on the top being removed.  
       [0005] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process of manufacturing a plastic bag dispenser, the process comprising the steps of (a) applying an adhesive on top of the bag near an opening thereof; (b) continuing step (a) until a predetermined plurality of bags have been processed; (c) stacking the bags with the openings thereof oriented the same for forming a stack of plastic bags; (d) bending closed ends of the bags downward toward the openings thereof so as to form a bent section at underside of the stack of plastic bags; and (e) placing the stack of plastic bags into a receiving space of a container through a top opening assembly of the container.  
       [0006] In one aspect of the present invention, the opening assembly comprises a widthwise opening near one side above the bent section. a central lengthwise opening extended from and perpendicular to the widthwise opening, and a flared opening extended from the lengthwise opening to the position above the openings of the bags. In use, user pulls a top bag up by holding the opening thereof. Thus, the bag is exposed above container as it has been drawn from the flared, the lengthwise, and the widthwise openings. After the adhesive on the bag is disengaged from a next below bag, the bag has been completely removed with the opening in an open state. At this time, top halves of both folded sections and opening of the next below bag are exposed on top of container as folded sections of the next below bag being stopped in the lengthwise opening while one bag on the top being removed. User does not need to worry about pulling two or more bags at one time since the adhesive force of adhesive is suitably small.  
       [0007] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0008]FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a stack of plastic bags placed in a paper container according to the invention;  
     [0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of several plastic bags partly disengaged;  
     [0010]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one bag on the top being removed from the paper container;  
     [0011]FIG. 4 is side view in part section showing one bag on the top being removed from the paper container;  
     [0012]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an almost removed plastic bag and a next plastic bag partly exposed on the paper container; and  
     [0013]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an adhesive adhered between two adjacent plastic bags.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0014] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a plastic bag dispenser comprising a parallelepiped paper container  1  and a stack of plastic bags  2  within the container  1  in accordance with the invention. The stack of plastic bags  2  consists of a plurality of plastic bags  20 . Each bag  20  comprises an opening  201  at a front side, a closed end  202  at a rear side, two folded sections  203  at both sides between front and rear sides wherein each folded section  203  is folded symmetrically inward, and an adhesive  3  on top near opening  201  for sticking to a next below bag  20 . Closed ends  202  are bent downward about 180 degrees toward openings  201  so as to form a bent section  21  at underside of the stack of plastic bags  2 . On top of the container  1  there is provided an opening assembly comprising a widthwise opening  10  above bent section  21 , a lengthwise opening  11  extended therefrom and perpendicular to widthwise opening  10 , and a flared opening  12  extended from one end of lengthwise opening  11  (i.e., distal from the joint of widthwise opening  10  and lengthwise opening  11 ) to the position above openings  201  of the plastic bags.  
     [0015] Referring to FIGS.  3  to  5 , the removing of a bag  20  from container  1  will now be described. First pull a bag  20  up by holding the opening  201  thereof through the flared opening  12  of the container  1 . Thus. the bag  20  is exposed above container  1  as it has been drawn from flared opening  12 . lengthwise opening  11  and widthwise opening  10  until the bag  20  is completely removed from widthwise opening  10  (i.e., disengaged from a next below bag  20  which is adhered to the immediately above bag  20  by the adhesive  3 ) with the opening  201  in an open state. At this time. top halves of both folded sections  203  and opening  201  of the next below bag  20  is exposed on top of container  1 .  
     [0016] Referring to FIG. 6, adhesive  3  is applied onto an area on top of a bag  20  so as to form a film after dried. The adhesive film is adhered to a next below bag  20 . Consumer can exert a small force to pull one bag  20  from container  1  through the opening assembly without worrying of pulling two or more bags  20  at one time since the adhesive force of adhesive  3  on such small area is suitably small. That is, the adhesive force of adhesive  3  only allows top halves of both folded sections  203  and opening  201  of the next below bag  20  to be exposed on top of container  1  as folded sections  203  of the next below bag  20  being stopped in lengthwise opening  11  while one bag on the top being removed.  
     [0017] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and  6  again. a manufacturing process of plastic bag dispenser according to the invention will now be described.  
     [0018] First, form a wrinkled area  204  on top of plastic bag  20  near opening  201  by performing a polarization treatment by means of a corona discharge device. Next, apply an amount about 2 mm 3  of adhesive  3  on wrinkled area  204 . Continue the above two steps until a predetermined plurality of bags  20  have been processed. Then stack the plurality of bags  20  with openings  201  of all bags  20  oriented the same direction for forming a stack of plastic bags  2 . Next, bend about one third portion of the stack  2  from closed ends of the plastic bags  2  downward about 180 degrees toward openings  201  thereof so as to form a bent section  21  at underside of the stack of plastic bags  2 . Then place the stack of plastic bags  2  into a receiving space of the container  1  which has an opening assembly on top comprising a widthwise opening  10  near one side above bent section  21 , a central lengthwise opening  11  extended from and perpendicular to widthwise opening  10 , and a flared opening  12  extended from one end of lengthwise opening  11  (i.e., distal from the joint of widthwise opening  10  and lengthwise opening  11 ) above the openings  201  of the plastic bags  2 .  
     [0019] Moreover, a manufacturing process of plastic bags  20  comprises the following steps. First, pull a continuous tube like plastic film a predetermined length from a source (not shown) wherein the plastic film has both sides being inward folded symmetrically. Next, melt and seal a rear side of the pulled plastic film by a sealing device for forming a closed end  202 . Then cut the pulled plastic film from the source at the closed end  202  for forming a plastic bag  20 . The above three steps are repeated until a predetermined number of plastic bags  20  are manufactured. Each bag  20  comprises an opening  201  at a front side, a closed end  202  at a rear side, and two folded sections  203  at both sides between front and rear sides wherein each folded section  203  is folded symmetrically inward.  
     [0020] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6 again. a forming of adhesive  3  on bag  20  will now be described. First, form a wrinkled area  204  on top of plastic bag  20  near opening  201  by performing a polarization treatment by means of a corona discharge device. Next, apply a predetermined amount of adhesive  3  on wrinkled area  204  so as to form a film after dried. Continue above two steps until a predetermined plurality of bags  20  have been processed. Then stack the plurality of bags  20  with openings  201  of all bags  20  oriented the same and each bag  20  (except the last one) is adhered to a next below bag  20 , thereby forming a stack of plastic bags  2 . In use, consumer can exert a small force to pull one bag  20  from container  1  without worrying of pulling two or more bags  20  at one time since the adhesive force of adhesive  3  on wrinkled area  204  is suitably small. That is, the adhesive force of adhesive  3  only allows top halves of both folded sections  203  and opening  201  of the next below bag  20  to be exposed as folded sections  203  of the next below bag  20  being stopped in lengthwise opening  11  while one bag  20  on the top being removed from the paper container.  
     [0021] While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.