Patent ID: RE40756

Claim:
A improved bag clamp for closing and cutting a polymer bag, said clamp , comprising: two opposed clamp members, wherein said clamp members are movable between a normally closed position and open condition, each one of an opened position; said clamp members identified respectively as an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member and each having an inner surface and an outer surface , ; a gripping means disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members for gripping said bag, said gripping means including a plurality of internal ridges disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members, each one of said clamp members possessing a mouth end for engagement of a bag surface and a grasping end for grasping by a user, a hinge attaching said clamp members to each other, said hinge attached to each clamp member inner surface at a location between said mouth end and said grasping end, the hinge biased by a spring clip, said spring clip possessing increased strength over spring clips in previous applications, each of said clamp member mouth ends possessing a lip for aiding in positioning said bag in said clamp, said clamp members identified as an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member, a finger movable button flexibly integrally attached to said upper clamp member and having mounted thereto a cutting blade, said finger movable button facilitating the moving of said cutting blade downwardly from a retracted non- bag engaging position into an anvil protected bag cutting position; a cutting means disposed on the inner surface of said upper clamp member, said cutting means comprised of a cutting blade, a springboard button, and a blade guard, said cutting blade possessing a characteristic shape and increased sharpness such that cutting efficiency is improved over previous cutting blade designs for this application, a split anvil means disposed on integrally attached to the inner surface of said lower clamp member , said split anvil means and disposed in such a manner that it is directly opposite said cutting means blade when said upper clamp member and said lower clamp member are disposed in a said normally closed position ; said split anvil having two parallel closely spaced upstanding side walls between which said cutting blade fits and is guided to said anvil protected bag cutting position as a user moves said finger movable button flexibly downward; a blade guard mounted to said finger movable button for providing said cutting blade with a protected space when said cutting blade is disposed in said retracted non - bag engaging position; and wherein said two parallel closely spaced upstanding side walls facilitate holding up a bag material captured between said two opposing clamp members to allow the cutting blade to more easily engage and penetrate said bag material as said cutting blade is pressed downwardly by said finger movable button through said blade guard, and further downwardly into said anvil protected bag cutting position .