Patent Publication Number: US-6213640-B1

Title: Bag suspending device

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to the field of bags fitted with devices enabling them to be hung up. 
     BACKROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Bags are known that have a cord for drawing together the edges of the openings so as to close them. In practice, this primary function of the cord is now associated with the function of suspending the bag. 
     Such a cord is generally made out of a material that is unsuitable for being recycled by the same method as the bag, and in addition, installing the cord requires manual operation, giving rise to a manufacturing process that is relatively lengthy. 
     The present invention seeks to mitigate those drawbacks by using a suspension device that is less expensive, that facilitates recycling, and that is suitable for automated assembly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the invention, the bag suspension device is constituted by a suspensive portion for suspending the bag and by a fixing portion serving to attach the suspensive portion to the bag, and is characterized in that the device is constituted by a single piece of plastics material in which the suspensive portion forms a loop and the fixing portion is formed by an element integrally formed with the loop and adapted to pass through the or each wall of the bag or one or more extensions thereof, and to be held thereto. 
     The element constituting the suspensive portion is formed by a closed loop. The element which constitutes the fixing portion is advantageously a cylindrical shaft having one end secured to the suspensive portion and its other end free. 
     The free end can be in the form of a point so as to make it easier to pierce the film constituting the walls of the bag, said film being optionally already pre-pierced. After the fixing portion has been passed through the walls of the bag, its free end is flattened, e.g. by stamping, or is subjected to some other operation that gives this end the function of holding the fixing portion in the holes of said walls. For example, this operation may be performed by melting or by thermally softening the free end of the fixing portion. 
     The plastics material constituting the device of the invention is selected from the family of materials comprising polyolefins, and more particularly polypropylene or high density polyethylene, associated with respective copolymers such as polyacetal, e.g. as sold under the registered trademark DELRIN®. Such a material has the advantage of being very similar to the material of the plastics film that usually constitutes the bag and of being miscible therewith, so as to enable the entire bag and fixing device assembly to be recycled by a single method. 
     Another advantage of the device of the invention is that it can be installed automatically. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a particular but non-limiting embodiment of the invention as mentioned above. 
     FIG. 2 shows a device of the invention in the position it can occupy when the shaft of the fixing portion is in the holes through the walls of the bag. 
     FIG. 3 shows the device of the invention in position on the bag prior to the free end of the fixing portion being flattened. 
     FIG. 4 shows the device of the invention after the free end of the fixing portion has been flattened. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a suspensive portion  1  and a fixing portion  6 . 
     The suspensive portion  1  is constituted by a closed loop having two parallel rectilinear strands  2  and  3  interconnected at their ends by segments  4  and  5  which are approximately semicylindrical, which are convex towards the outside, and which join the strands  2  and  3  tangentially. 
     The fixing portion  6  is constituted: 
     by a cylindrical base  7  which is received in one of the semicylindrical segments  4  or  5  to form a base which is flush with the edge of said segment; 
     by a cylindrical shaft  8  parallel to the axes of the semicylinders  4  and  5  and perpendicular to the base  7  in which it is centered; and 
     by a point  9  whose diameter at its base is greater than the diameter of the shaft  8  so as to form a catch. 
     More particularly, the strands  2  and  3  are approximately 40 mm long, 5 mm wide, and 0.5 mm thick. 
     The semicylindrical segments  4  and  5  have an inside diameter of about 4 mm and the same thickness as the strands  2  and  3 . 
     The base  7  of the fixing portion  6  is 1 mm thick and about 4 mm in diameter. The shaft  8  is 4 mm long and has a diameter of about 1.2 mm. The point  9  is a cone whose base has a diameter of 2 mm and whose height is about 3 mm. 
     The invention can be fixed to the bag  10  which is to be suspended therefrom as follows: 
     a) an optional automatic operation of piercing the walls  11  and  12  of said bags ready for said walls  11  and  12  to have the fixing portion  6  pass therethrough; 
     b) the fixing portion is passed through the walls  11  and  12 , with the point  9  passing first (FIGS.  2  and  3 ); this operation can be performed automatically; and 
     c) when the shaft  8  is in the holes  13  and  14  formed by the point  9  passing through the optionally pre-pierced walls  11  and  12 , it is retained therein by an operation which flattens the point  9  so as to obtain a disk  15  of flattened and deformed material having a diameter greater than that of the holes  13  and  14  (FIG.  4 ). 
     The device of the invention could be fixed to the bag  10  in other ways. For example, the fixing portion could be attached to an extension of the or each wall  11  (and/or  12 ) of the bag  10 . 
     Bags that are to be suspended by the device of the invention can be of any type: they can be made of plastics, paper, metal, or any other material suitable for being put into sheet form. The sheets can comprise a single thickness or can be made up of a plurality of layers, optionally made of different materials, with each material being capable of performing a different function.