Patent Publication Number: US-2006010659-A1

Title: Device to hold bag open

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/587,936, filed Jul. 15, 2004. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a device used to hold open a lawn bag so that a user does not need help from a second person to keep the bag open as the bag is being filled.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Plastic receptacles are commonly used for collecting leaves, trash, rubbish and soiled linens. These plastic receptacles are useful because they may be disposed of with little expense, but it is often difficult to collect leaves and other trash by oneself. Many communities have started to require the use of paper refuse bags, which have similar difficulties but do not stretch like a traditional plastic bag in and around a garbage can. Thus, a device for holding bags open is needed that can accommodate both plastic and paper refuse bags of different sizes. Prior art stands and devices for holding open bags are generally not adjustable and are designed to only handle a bag of a single size.  
      Further, clipping devices for sealing bags are well known in the art, however, such clips can cause bags to tear. A wide variety of stands and supports have been utilized for maintaining a bag in an open position, but such prior art stands and supports are generally stand alone members, rather than being unitary pieces, such as the subject invention, which can easily be held in one hand by the user.  
      None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a device to hold bag open solving the aforementioned problems is desired.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The device to hold a bag open is a strap that is formed into an expandable loop that is placed into the mouth of a bag and expanded to keep the mouth of the bag open by tension. The strap is formed from a flexible, resilient material that is either straight or arcuate in its relaxed state. A plurality of ratchet teeth are disposed at one end of the strap and a spring-biased clasp is attached to the opposite end of the strap. A button or lever on the clasp is pushed to release a pawl on the clasp so that the toothed end can be inserted through the clasp and drawn far enough through the clasp so that the diameter of the loop is small enough to fit into the mouth of the bag. The resiliency of the strap material urges the strap to return to its straight or relaxed state, thereby exerting tension against the mouth of the bag to keep the bag mouth open.  
      The bag can be laid on its side or otherwise supported while the bag is filled. Once the bag is full, the lever or button is depressed so that the loop can be reduced in diameter and removed from the bag. After being removed from the bag, the resiliency of the strap causes the loop to expand, separating the ends of the strap and returning the strap to its relaxed state for use with another bag.  
      The strap can be made from any flexible, resilient material, plastic being an economical, easy to form choice. An exemplary application for the device is use of the device to hold a lawn bag open while raking leaves or other yard waste into the bag, although other applications calling for a device to keep the mouth of a bag open will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The device is best used with plastic bags having sufficient flexibility, strength, and enough elasticity that the mouth of the bag will stretch slightly without tearing when tension is applied to the bag by the strap, but the device may also be used with heavy paper bags.  
      These and other features 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 the device to hold a bag open according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the device to hold a bag open according to the present invention, shown in a relaxed state.  
       FIG. 3  is a top view of the device of the present invention in a relaxed state.  
       FIG. 4  is a fragmented side view showing the junction of the ends of the device of the present invention when joined together to form a loop.  
       FIG. 5  is a fragmented, environmental, perspective view showing adjustment of the diameter of the loop formed by the device to hold a bag open according to the present invention. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      The present invention is a device to hold open a bag, generally designated as  10 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , in a typical application the device  10  is placed within the open end of a bag B to hold the open end of the bag B open. A user P can then hold onto a single point along the device  10  with a single hand to hold the bag B in an open state, and then use the other hand to collect leaves T (or other trash items) off of the ground G. The device  10  may be used with either plastic or paper refuse bags B. It will be understood that the device  10  is not limited to use with lawn bags, but may be used in any other application where it is desired to hold the mouth of a bag open.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the device  10  is an elongated, flat strap  11  of flexible, resilient material that has two opposite surfaces  13  and  15  and two opposing ends  12  and  14 . The first surface  13  is substantially smooth through its length. The second surface  15  has a plurality of ratchet teeth  16  disposed at the second end  14 . Each of the teeth  16  has a front wall  24  substantially perpendicular to the length of the strap  11 . A clasp  18  is disposed on the second surface  15  at the first end  12  of the strap  11 . The clasp  18  includes a spring-biased pawl  20  having a front face  22  biased downward towards the second surface  15  to mate with the flat face  24  of the teeth  16 . The pawl  20  is held above the first end  12  of the strap  11  by two side support members  21 . An axle  23  is provided to allow the pawl  20  to pivot so that the second end  14  may be inserted between the pawl  20  and the second surface  15  to form a loop. A spring, e.g., a torsion spring, is provided within the clasp  18  to provide a rotational force for keeping the pawl  20  in position to press against the front wall  24  of a tooth  16 .  
      The strap  11  is preferably made of an injection-molded, resilient, flexible plastic material, but may also be made with other suitably resilient yet flexible materials. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the second end  14  preferably has a smaller width than the first end  12  so that the second end  14  may fit between into the clasp  18 . The transition from the first width of the first end  12  to the second width of the second end  14  may be abrupt or gradual. The first end  12  of the strap  11  preferably has a width of between 1″ to 2.5″. The second end  14  of the band  10  preferably has a width of between 1.5″ to 3″. The strap  11  may also have a constant width of between 1″-2″ with the side support members  21  being spaced to the sides of the first end  12 .  
      The strap  11  preferably has a length of between about six and twelve feet. Strap  11  is optimally about ten feet in length allowing for a maximum loop diameter of about three feet. The device  10  is preferably made so that it may adjust between a one-foot diameter loop size and a three-foot diameter loop size. The strap  11  may be provided in a linear shape for easy packaging, or it may be provided in an arcuate shape to reduce the amount of tension on the strap  11  when it is placed into the loop arrangement.  
       FIG. 4  shows the first and second ends  12  and  14  of the band  10  in a connected relationship for forming the device  10  into a loop. The second end  14  is placed over the second surface  15  of the first end  12 , under the pawl  20 , and between the two side support members  21 . The front face  22  of the pawl  20  abuts the front wall  24  of a tooth  16  to keep the device  10  open to a desired diameter. The inside walls of a bag B will keep the device  10  from expanding to a larger diameter when the device  10  is in use.  
      As shown in  FIG. 5 , when the second end  14  is inserted underneath the pawl  20 , the user P puts pressure on the end of the pawl  20  using a finger F to counteract the spring bias to place the pawl  20  in an open position to allow the second end  14  to slide underneath the pawl  20 . The strap  11  is formed into a loop  11  of a first outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the mouth of a bag B, inserted into the bag B, and the resiliency of the strap  11  causes the loop to expand in diameter to adjust to the diameter of the bag B. The abutting of the front face  22  of the pawl  20  against the front wall  24  of a selected tooth  16  will prevent the compressive pressure put on the loop by the bag B from reducing the diameter of the loop. The elastic limit and strength of the material forming the bag B will further prevent the diameter of the loop from expanding.  
      It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.