Bag stack and dispenser

Details Bag stack and dispenser Bag stack and dispenser

1999-09-27

2001-12-04

Bui, Luan K. (Department: 3728)

Special receptacle or package

Plural paper bags

C383S009000, C383S037000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06325214

ABSTRACT:

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of United Kingdom Patent Application No. 9909908.7, entitled Novel Bag Stack and Dispenser, and filed Apr. 29, 1999.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a novel stack of individual pre-formed bags for use with dispensers for dispensing such bags individually from the stack. Such stacks are also known as bag-packs, particularly in the United States. The invention also relates to novel dispensers for bag stacks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is common practice to provide, for example in supermarkets and other retail outlets, dispensers for dispensing pre-formed bags (e.g. plastic bags) from a stack of such bags.
A simple known system hangs a stack of T-shirt type handle bags from two substantially horizontal support rods. For example, U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 33,264 (Baxley et al; Jul. 17, 1990), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an arrangement (illustrated in
FIG. 1
of the accompanying drawings) in which each bag is provided with two support rod receiving apertures in its handle portions
1
, such that the apertures pass through the stack of bags
2
and receive the support rods
3
,
4
. The stack of bags
2
is also provided with a bonded block (“header”) of detachable mounting tabs which extends from a central area of a mouth portion of a bag and is provided with a mounting aperture
5
. The dispenser takes the form of a metal frame having two rods projecting forwards to provide the support rods
3
,
4
, and having a shorter hook element
6
projecting between the support rods
2
,
3
to receive in use the mounting aperture
5
of the bonded block of mounting tabs. The central bonded block of detachable mounting tabs can be omitted (FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264). The support rod receiving apertures can be formed by a generally C-shaped cut in each handle portion
1
, which defines a flap lying across the aperture of the respective handle of the respective bag. Before hanging the stack of bags on the dispenser the flaps substantially close the apertures of the stack. On engaging the stack of bags on the support rods the support rods push the flaps down and thereby open the support rod receiving apertures (FIGS. 3 and 8 of U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264). The flaps are permanently heat sealed together, as indicated by numeral 44 in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264 and the associated description.
The bags of the stack
2
can be adhesively bonded together via spots or regions of adhesion, whereby the act of drawing one bag forward along the support rods
3
,
4
will cause the next following bag to partially open (FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264). After the first bag has been loaded it is lifted forwardly off the support rods
3
,
4
and the adhesive bond broken to detach the bag from the dispenser. The flaps are broken away and the broken-off flaps are left on the dispenser, still heat-sealed to the flaps of the next bag of the stack.
In another form of such a system, U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,417 (Prince et al; Mar. 7, 1989), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a form of bag stack in which an elongate vertical slit provides the support rod receiving aperture of each handle of the stack of bags and the handles are maintained in alignment in the stack by means of releasable heat welds holding the end of each handle to its neighbour in the stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,216 (Wilfong; Jan. 1, 1991), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a further form in which a front part of the handle is detachable from the support rod to assist in opening the mouth of the first bag for loading.
The known systems suffer from various inherent disadvantages. The act of lifting the loaded first bag, forward and off the support rods, is itself awkward and potentially straining when performed repeatedly many times a day in a seated position. The use of aperture flaps which are permanently heat-sealed together is inconvenient in the act of loading a stack of bags onto the dispenser, and results in a block of redundant flaps, which must be discarded, as the stack is consumed. The use of a central block of mounting tabs from which the bags are detached, while serving to maintain the integrity of the stack before use, is wasteful of plastic, as the block is thrown away after the last bag of the stack has been used. Moreover, the webs connecting the bags to the block are prone to break as the block is being engaged onto the hook element of the dispenser, thereby causing the bags to “daisychain” or pull forward prematurely from the stack before the first bag has been removed, as described in our British Patent Application No. GB-A-2309957.
It is an aim of the present invention to go at least some way towards overcoming the disadvantages of the previously known systems, or at least to provide an acceptable alternative system.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, therefore, there is provided a stack of individual pre-formed bags for use with bag dispensers of the type in which at least one (e.g. two laterally spaced) elongate support member of the dispenser passes in use through at least one support member receiving aperture defined by corresponding portions of the stack and thereby supports the stack, the stack comprising a plurality of stacked T-shirt type bags, each bag comprising front and rear, preferably gusseted, walls, a closed bottom and an open mouth top portion, the open mouth portion being preferably (but not essentially) free of any integral extension header at the top of the front and rear walls; the top portion having a pair of spaced loop handles as integral extensions of the walls at opposite sides of the mouth; the plurality of stacked bags being positioned with the corresponding handles of the pair of handles of each bag in stacked aligned overlying relation forming a pair of handle stacks associated with the stacked bags; and aligned support member receiving apertures being provided through the handles of at least one (preferably each) handle stack for reception of the respective handle stack on a corresponding support member of the dispenser receivable through the aligned apertures; the handles in the respective handle stack being retained together for maintaining the apertures in alignment by bag retaining means which comprise a flap within each aperture of each bag of the handle stack integral with the respective bag at a minor region on the periphery of the aperture; characterised in that the flaps of the apertures of one bag in the handle stack are releasably secured to the flaps of the apertures of the adjacent bags, for retention of the flaps in overlying aligned relation prior to removal of a bag from the dispenser, and for release of the flaps of a first bag of the stack from the flaps of the remainder of the stack on pulling the bag away from the stack.
In contrast to the arrangement of, for example, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,264, the flaps of the apertures in the or each handle stack in the bags of the present invention are not severed during the action of removal of a bag from the dispenser, with the desirable result that, provided that no integral extension header is present at the top centre of the walls of the bags, no waste bag material is left on the dispenser or the last bag of the stack.
It is particularly preferred that the support member receiving apertures are provided nearer the inwardly directed sides of the handles than the outwardly directed sides of the handles, and generally intermediate between the base and end of the handles.
It is preferred that the flaps have a length to width ratio of at least about 1:1, more preferably between about 2:1 and about 6:1, with the result that in this most preferred form the flaps take the form of generally elongate tongues (e.g. about 3-4 cm long and about 1 cm wide) and the apertures generally elongate slots of corresponding size.
The inwardly directed sides of the handles are suitably configured so th

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