Handling: hand and hoist-line implements – Sanitary handler for pet droppings
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-02
2001-03-20
Cherry, Johnny D. (Department: 3652)
Handling: hand and hoist-line implements
Sanitary handler for pet droppings
C002S159000, C294S025000, C383S004000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06203080
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is specifically directed toward a bag which can be everted upon the capture of an object creating a container to retain the object for later use or disposal.
PRIOR ART
The present applicant is the inventor of U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,670 directed to a bag used for protecting articles from contamination or for preventing dirty or hazardous articles from contaminating the environment and the user the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Plastic bags are used for collecting crime scene evidence, containing food products and disposing waste or hazardous material. If an article is picked up and placed in the bag by hand, the article will be contaminated by the hand, or vice versa. Although gloves can be used, they must be carried and used separately. After they are used to pick up a dirty or hazardous article, they become a source of contamination and present an additional disposal problem. If a delicate article is picked up and placed in a bag with a tool, such as a pair of tongs, the tool may damage the article. The tool may also require cleaning or sterilization. Furthermore, when a wet article is inserted into the bag, it will usually touch the rim of the bag on the way in, so that contamination may be spread by the wet rim even after the bag is tied, so that clean-up may be necessary.
Others have also suggested glove-like products which are capable of being everted and thus capable of retaining objects therein. For example, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,881 dated Jul. 3, 1990. This patent is directed to a garment capable of fitting upon the hand and arm of the user which can be turned inside out and sealed. It is specifically taught that the glove is provided with a widened sleeve extending at least part way up the arm of the user. The outer portion of one side of the sleeve is provided with an adhesive band such that when the glove is removed, the adhesive band is on its inner portion and may be used to seal the glove for container disposal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,955 dated Oct. 29, 1996 is directed to yet another glove-shaped device, in this instance, employed for collection of pet excrement. The device is intended to receive a user's hand and is further provided with an extension for receiving a user's thumb. As was the case with the '881 patent, the invention disclosed in the '955 patent shows a widening of the glove-like device at its open end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,251 dated Feb. 24, 1987 is again directed to a glove-like waste disposal device comprising a relatively thick, heat-insulating flexible inner glove which is placed over the hand of a user. An outer glove is then placed over the inner glove, the outer glove being made of a thin, flexible disposable material. In use, the waste material is picked up by the user whose hand is contained within the inner glove. The outer glove is pealed or stripped off to an inside-out pouch-forming configuration which contains the picked-up waste material therein. The outer glove and the waste material can then be disposed of. It is taught that the inner glove is to be made reusable and serves to insulate the user's hand from the temperature and “feel” of the waste material. It is clearly shown by both the drawing and disclosure of the '251 patent that the glove is intended to be widest at its opening and narrows to conform to the wrist of the user and then widens yet again to accommodate the thumb and fingers of a user's hand.
Applicant's own '670 patent teaches a configuration whereby the glove is intended to have distinct wrist and cuff portions whereby the forward end of the cuff portion is substantially wider than the wrist portion and extends orthogonally from opposite sides of the wrist portion.
Each of the prior art glove-like products, although being capable of capturing and retaining foreign objects, are flawed in their design and execution. Noting that these various products are intended to be of extremely low cost and disposable, the various prior art configurations do nothing but create unnecessary manufacturing complexities which add to the overall per piece cost of the final product.
In addition, oftentimes such products are intended to be employed by a user who desires to insert his fingers, hand, wrist and forearm within the bag rapidly and repeatedly in those instances where repetitive motion is required. As such, any such bag-like device must facilitate the appropriate acceptance of the thumb and fingers of a user without requiring the user to serpentine his hand within the bag as his hand is caused to intricately manipulate through the bag's wrist portion so that proper finger and thumb alignment can be achieved. Instead, devices of this nature should facilitate rapid arm and hand insertion within the bag material for the rapid employment, capture and disposal of appropriate articles.
These and further objects of the present invention will become readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a bag and a method for employing the bag for grasping an object and capturing the object once the bag has been everted. The bag is sized to accept the hand, wrist and at least a portion of an arm of a user, the bag being characterized as having an open end and a closed end and parallel side walls extending from the open end towards the closed end. As such, the portion of the bag sized to fit over a portion of the user's arm and wrist is in the profile of a square or rectangle. The closed end of the bag is configured to accept a thumb and at least two fingers of the user.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4230354 (1980-10-01), Claras
patent: 4252356 (1981-02-01), Tokuzumi
patent: 4902283 (1990-02-01), Rojko et al.
patent: 5222777 (1993-06-01), Clonch
patent: 5301806 (1994-04-01), Olson
patent: 5704670 (1998-01-01), Surplus
patent: 5806668 (1998-09-01), Bixby
Cherry Johnny D.
Wittenberg Malcolm B.
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