Patent Publication Number: US-6705575-B1

Title: Disposable bag with stand

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to bags for disposing of waste, and particularly to a disposable bag with a stand for supporting the bag. The bag has a mouth adapted for being grasped by a support ring which is mounted on a stand having a post for freestanding use on countertops and the like. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The effective disposal of waste material in a sanitary manner is a chronic problem. This is especially true of certain health care or personal hygiene products which are capable of carrying disease through bacteria or germs, or which may have an offensive odor, such as sanitary napkins. The problem is often acute in public restrooms where the waste containers are often open top containers, or which have a single swing door closure which bulges open when the container is filled to capacity. Even in the home, the disposal of such waste may be a problem, as the sanitary napkin is often wrapped in toilet paper, tissues, or the like, and simply dropped into an open top waste basket. The problem is not limited to sanitary napkins, but also encompasses other waste products, such as food, which is subject to biological degradation and which attracts germs, parasites, and other disease carriers. Various devices have been proposed to provide for sanitary disposal of waste products. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 590,606, issued to Young on Sep. 28, 1897, teaches a bag including a lid held by a support. U.S. Pat. No. 755,085, issued to Viano on Mar. 22, 1904, teaches a frame for holding bags that is ring-shaped. U.S. Pat. No. 960,451, issued to Vicary on Jun. 7, 1910, teaches a ring-shaped bag holder. U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,332, issued to Bergquist on Oct. 31, 1950, teaches a self-closing opening using a plurality of overlapping flaps. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,489, issued to Paetzold on Jan. 26, 1982, teaches a bag holder for collapsible bags. U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,904, issued to Iverson on May 11, 1982, teaches a spill-proof container including a plurality of resilient overlapping flaps in its opening. U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,924, issued to Christensen on Apr. 5, 1983, teaches a wall-mounted ring-shaped bag holder including a removable lid. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,717, issued to Bussard et al. on Dec. 5, 1989, teaches a non-spilling snack container including non-overlapping flaps in a single-piece opening made by cutting a plurality of slits in the opening. U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,546, issued to Imazeki et al. on Apr. 24, 1990, teaches a trash bag including a holder and a disposable bag. U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,751, issued to Larkin on Jun. 4, 1991, teaches a garbage bag and holder including a lid. The bag includes a flange/lip that protrudes radially outward from the opening, and rests on a similarly sized support ring. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,468, issued to Murdoch et al. on Nov. 23, 1999, teaches a film container including overlapping flaps in the opening. 
     Various bag and bag holder combinations are taught in the prior art; however, there is a need for a disposable bag having an attached lid and an additional self-closing opening that can be easily mounted onto or removed from a corresponding support. 
     None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a disposable bag with a bag stand solving the aforementioned problems is desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a disposable bag with an attached lid and a corresponding support stand. More particularly, the support has a two-part ring for supporting the bag. The opening of the bag includes an outwardly projecting flange spaced from the opening and having a size similar to the ring that permits the bag to rest on the ring and be clamped in place by the ring. In addition, a second outwardly projecting flange near the opening provides an edge to snap the lid firmly onto the bag, thereby sealing the bag for disposal. 
     The disposable bag of the present invention also features a plurality of overlapping leaves projecting inwardly in the mouth of the bag. This construction permits a waste article to be dropped into the bag, and the leaves immediately resume their position covering the opening of the bag. In this way, unsanitary waste is covered until the bag is full and ready for disposal, both restricting the passage of airborne disease carriers, and ameliorating the problem of offensive odor. 
     Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a disposable bag with stand having a lid attached to the bag and a corresponding support stand for holding the bag. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a disposable bag with stand wherein the support includes a support ring and the bag includes an outwardly projecting flange having a size corresponding to the size of the ring so that the bag can be supported by the flange resting on the ring. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a disposable bag with stand which having a support ring which has two interconnecting parts so that the ring can clamp onto the bag near a flange about the mouth of the bag in order to hold the bag firmly onto the support. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a disposable bag with stand in which the bag includes an additional flange near the opening to permit the lid to close the bag, thereby sealing the bag opening for disposal. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes. 
     These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a disposable bag with stand in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the bag and stand of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the stand showing the relationship of the support ring with the brace. 
     FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the connecting ends of the support ring. 
     FIGS. 5A,  5 B and  5 C are plan views of alternative arrangements of overlapping leaves in the bag opening. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bag and stand including a protective enclosure. 
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the disposable bag with stand according to the present invention, the combination being designated generally as  10  in the drawings. As shown, bag  50  is held on support ring  30 , which, in turn, is attached to post  22  that is mounted on base  20 . Although base  20  is shown in the drawings as a rectangular platform, it will be understood that the shape of the base  20  is not critical to the present invention, provided that the base  20  is sufficiently stable to support ring  30  and bag  50 , as described below. For example, base  20  may be horseshoe or U-shaped, with a pair of legs projecting beneath ring  30  and bag  50 . 
     Bag  50  includes a lid  56  attached to the bag  50  at an outwardly projecting lower flange  54  through a flexible hinge  60 . However, it is noted that the hinge  60  can be attached to the bag  50  at any suitable location that permits the lid  56  to remain attached and be able to be opened and closed as appropriate. Alternatively, the lid  56  may be attached to the bag  50  by a tether. 
     At the opening or mouth of the bag  50  is a ring defining an outwardly projecting upper flange  52 , an outwardly projecting lower flange  54 , and an annular groove  74  defined between upper flange  52  and lower flange  54 . When the lid  56  is closed, the outerlip  58  of the lid  56  snaps onto and around the flange  52 , and into place in the groove  74 , thereby sealing the lid  56  in place. 
     Inside the opening of the bag  50 , is a set of overlapping resilient leaves or flaps  40 . The flaps are capable of opening to permit objects to be inserted into the bag and they are capable of reclosing after the object(s) has(have) been inserted. 
     FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the disposable bag with stand  10  with additional detail of the cooperation of the bag  50  with the stand. As explained in reference to FIG. 1, bag  50  includes an upper flange  52  and a lower flange  54  with an annular groove  74  between the two flanges. The groove  74  is sized to accommodate the inner peripheral edge of the lip  58  of lid  56 . Also, it is noted that a short skirt  76  depends from the ring defining the mouth of the bag below the lower flange  54 . Skirt  76  is provided with sufficient rigidity to permit the support ring  30  to adequately clamp onto and firmly hold the bag  50  in place. The body  51  of the bag  50  is attached to and depends from skirt  76 , and is flexible, as is known in the art of disposable trash bags. 
     FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of support ring  30  having two portions, with respective connectable ends,  34  and  36 . End  34  can swing away from end  36  by pivoting about hinge  32 . Ring  30  can be attached to post  22  in any suitable manner, including, for example, by a pin  24  inserted into a corresponding hole (not shown) in the underside of end  36  of ring  30 . 
     A detailed view of one possible configuration of connectable ends  34  and  36  is shown in FIG. 4, which shows ends  34  and  36  connected in matching single tooth fashion. However, any suitable manner of connecting the ends is contemplated, so long as the ring  30  can be securely closed to clamp onto the bag  50  and can be easily opened to release the bag  50 . 
     Alternative arrangements of the flaps in the opening of the bag are shown in FIGS. 5A,  5 B, and  5 C. These figures show a three flap  45 , four flap  46 , and five flap  48  arrangement, respectively. Each arrangement includes a center opening,  90 , 92  and  94 , respectively. Center openings should be as small as possible to ensure that objects inserted in the bag  50  cannot fall out if the bag  50  is removed from the stand and inverted. Also, the closed flaps  40  can substantially prevent odors and other gases, as well as airborne disease carriers, from escaping the bag  50 , if the discarded objects inserted in the bag  50  include such gases or other volatile ingredients. 
     FIG. 6 shows the disposable bag with stand  10  mounted onto a vertical surface, such as a wall  82 , in this case using a screw-and-slot arrangement,  80  and  70 . It will be understood that in this embodiment, base  20  includes a plurality of upright enclosure walls a rising from a rectangular platform, with slot  70  being defined in the enclosure wall abutting vertical surface  82 . 
     The material used for the flaps  40  is any suitably firm, resilient material that can permit objects to be inserted into the bag  50 , yet still be able to return to a closed position. 
     It is noted that the post  22  and/or the base  20  can be fastened to any existing support, e.g., a wall  62 , using any suitable manner of attachment, such as an adhesive, rather than using screws or other mechanical devices. Moreover, the support ring  30  itself can be mounted directly onto any existing support, using a bracket with known “sliding screws”, that permit the ring  30  to be easily moved toward or away from the existing support. Furthermore, the bag  50  can be transported separately, e.g., in a knapsack, to be used as a container for various types of items. 
     Also, the base  20  is preferably rounded along all sides to prevent skin abrasions during use, e.g., when the disposable bag with stand  10  are used in a moving vehicle and when the stand accidentally becomes dislodged during vehicle travel. Alternatively, instead of a squarish shape, the base  20  can be U-shaped, or any suitable shape that adequately supports the ring  30  and bag  50 . 
     Regarding the internal features of the bag  50 , in addition to conventional bags, such as paper, fiber, textile, plastic, composite, or any combination of these, the interior of the bag  50  may be treated with, coated with, or incorporate odor eliminating compositions, scents, perfume, antimicrobial compositions, etc., to reduce or eliminate odors or to sanitize the contents of the bag  50 . 
     It is noted that the bag  50 , including the lid  56 , hinge  60  and overlapping leaves  40  in the opening, are all disposable. Therefore, the material chosen for all of these interconnected parts is necessarily environmentally acceptable for use in a landfill or reuse in a recycling facility, depending upon the particular objects and items discarded. Exemplary disposable materials include paper, coated paper, plastic, 
     The dimensions of the bag  50  opening and support ring  30  are preferably about 3 inches, and the length of the bag  30  and height of the post  22  are about ten inches, for use on top of a counter, such as in a kitchen, hospital, bedroom, bathroom, or for inside of a vehicle, etc. However, the dimensions can be made as large as necessary, while keeping the relative dimensions the same, to use the disposable bag with stand  10  as a general use container, rather than solely for disposing of items. For example, the bag  50  could be used to hold various automotive objects, such as bolts, screws, and other hardware and tools for use in mechanical shop. 
     In order to obtain the necessary resiliency for the overlapping leaves in the mouth of the bag  50 , elastomeric plastics, such as rubber can be used. For the more rigid flanges  52  and  54 , annular groove  74 , and rigid ring  76  below the flange  54 , a sturdier material must be used. This could include rigid plastics or metal-reinforced composite, for example. 
     Finally, the material for the support ring  30 , post  22  and support base  20  can be any material having a suitable strength and durability to hold the bag  50  and its contents, including metal, hard plastic and combinations thereof. 
     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.