Supports – Bag holders – Mouth holding frames
Reexamination Certificate
1995-04-24
2001-10-02
Braun, Leslie A. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Bag holders
Mouth holding frames
C248S095000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296212
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a device for holding open and supporting a bag such as a leaf bag to make collection of leaves easier. Applicant has filed Disclosure Document No. 337318.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Raking leaves has traditionally been a difficult spring and fall chore. The leaves can be blown or raked into adjacent woods or property in some rural areas, but in suburban areas this is not always possible or appropriate. One old method of handling a lot of leaves is to rake or blow them onto a sheet or tarpaulin and then haul them away. This works but generally requires more than one person and also a large vehicle.
Therefore, most people rake or blow the leaves in a pile and ultimately place the piles in individual bags or barrels for transport or pickup. The major problem with this is that typical lawn and leaf bags do not stay open without some additional support.
So, numerous devices have been developed to hold leaf bags open. The oldest method includes using a garbage can or barrel to support the bag from the outside. But, placing a bag inside a firm walled barrel or garbage can does not always work well: it is especially difficult to maintain the bag in the proper position during filling and it is also difficult to remove the bag from the container when it is full.
Other devices are designed to be placed inside the bag. Cooke, U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,982, for example, discloses three rigid panels hinged to form a trough to be placed inside the leaf bag. This device, however, has sharp edges and corners which tend to puncture or tear the leaf bags during insertion and removal. Also, the grip holes of this device are not placed appropriately for convenient handling. McEniry, U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,690, discloses a support structure for suspending an open bag from a wall. This device is simply not appropriate for yard work because it requires that the support structure be permanently attached to a wall-like structure. Corsaut, U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,348, discloses a trash bag holder which has a very narrow plastic strip with an intermediate straight portion adapted to engage either the ground or a wall hanging. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,669,689; 3,754,785; 4,458,932; 4,537,337; 4,537,376; 4,445,658; 4,291,798; 4,457,483.
A product on the market under the trade name “CLEAN-UP CADDY” has a galvanized wire frame that holds only the mouth of the bag open so that it can be filled with leaves and garden waste. The primary problem with this device is that it can be difficult to install and, even when installed correctly, it holds only the mouth of the bag open making it difficult to fill the bag since the length of the bag is unsupported. Another product, sold under the trademark “EASY BAGGER”, is a piece of plastic packaged and sold in a 4-inch diameter roll. This device is long enough so that it is intended to be used as an insert liner with all popular size trash, grass and leaf bags. If it worked as intended, this product would form a round container shape within and supporting the leaf bag. This product, however, is difficult to use for raking leaves: since it is round, there is no support surface and it cannot be easily used to rake leaves directly into the bag. Worse, because the product is packaged and sold in a four-inch diameter roll, by the time it is purchased and unpackaged, it has completely stress relaxed and stays in that small diameter roll form. The operating instructions say to “reverse roll” the product for use, but this is very difficult. When the product is inserted into a bag without reverse rolling, it returns to the very small diameter packaged shape. Even if the product is reverse rolled and inserted into a bag, it provides essentially no force against a leaf bag and the leaf bag will very quickly slide down the sides of the product.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION: I
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved bag support for supporting and holding a bag open.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a bag support which has a width sufficient to extend along and hold open a majority of the length of a bag.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which has a length which, when flexed inside a bag, leaves one side of the bag unsupported thereby forming a flat, stable surface so that when the bag is laid on that flat side leaves or refuse can easily be raked directly into the bag.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which automatically provides and maintains an opening in a leaf bag broad enough to facilitate a standard rake.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which automatically maximizes the open volume of a standard leaf bag.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which has rounded and smooth edges so that the leaf bag is not torn during insertion or removal.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which more easily tips up when the bag is full and also remains stable in an upright position.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which can be easily handled regardless of how it is inserted inside a leaf bag.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improved bag support which can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively.
This invention results from the realization that if, instead of attempting to support the opening of a leaf bag or even the entire leaf bag on the outside, and instead of attempting to support the entire circumference of a leaf bag from the inside, a leaf bag supported along a majority of its length only in an arc-like fashion, leaving one side of the bag unsupported, allows leaves to quite easily be raked into the bag over that flat unsupported side of the bag, and also that the flat unsupported side of the bag provides a stable platform which stabilizes the leaf bag in a horizontal position during raking.
This invention features a bag support and may, depending on the application, suitably comprise, include, consist essentially of and/or consist of a straight free state flexible body having a width sufficient to extend along and hold open a majority of the length of a bag and having a length which defines an arc when flexed inside a bag leaving one side of the bag unsupported by the flexible body.
The body typically has at least one hand-hold along the length thereof and may have a plurality of such hand-holds. The body typically has at least one hand-hold along the width as well. The bag support, to prevent tearing of the bag when used, preferably has radiused corners.
This invention also features a support device for holding a bag open, the support device comprising: a straight free state flexible body having a length which defines an arc, when flexed inside a bag leaving one side of the bag unsupported by the flexible body, the unsupported side thereby stabilizing the bag in position horizontally during raking.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3754785 (1973-08-01), Anderson
patent: 3936087 (1976-02-01), Alexander
patent: 4291798 (1981-09-01), Transport
patent: 4445658 (1984-05-01), Ferron
patent: 4457483 (1984-07-01), Gagné
patent: 4458932 (1984-07-01), Resch
patent: 4530533 (1985-07-01), Dieter
patent: 4537337 (1985-08-01), Girty
patent: 4537376 (1985-08-01), Burku
patent: 4669690 (1987-06-01), McEniry
patent: 4749011 (1988-06-01), Rylander
patent: 4760987 (1988-08-01), Cooke
patent: 4884603 (1989-12-01), Simpson
patent: 4979547 (1990-12-01), Hoerner
patent: 5065965 (1991-11-01), Aulabaugh
patent: 5129609 (1992-07-01), Tobin
patent: 5316060 (1994-05-01), Hodgdon
Baxter Gwendolyn
Braun Leslie A.
Pearson & Pearson LLP
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