GB2088330A

GB2088330A - A holder and dispenser for a roll of web material

Info

Publication number: GB2088330A
Application number: GB8134955A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Perstorp AB
Current assignee: Perstorp AB
Priority date: 1980-11-20
Filing date: 1981-11-19
Publication date: 1982-06-09
Also published as: DE3146082A1; SE8008142L

Abstract

A holder for a roll of plastic bags comprises a housing 1 formed of transparent or translucent plastics or coated pasteboard material having two parts 2, 3 which, when closed, together have flanges defining a spout 12 through which bags may be withdrawn from the roll within the housing. The spout 12 may have a pointed end 14 to facilitate the separation of a bag withdrawn from the remainder of the bags retained within the holder, or one flange may have a serrated free edge. The two parts 2, 3 may be moulded as two interconnected parts. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to a holder for a roll of web material The present invention relates to a holder for a roll of web material, and more particularly relates to a holder for a roll of web material, from which the web material can be readily dispensed.

It is envisaged that a holder in accordance with the present invention may be utilised with many rolls of web material such as, for example, aluminium cooking foi, kitchen paper, greaseproof paper, or the like. However, it is primarily intended that a holder in accordance with the invention may be suitable for use in dispensing plastic bags from a roll of plastic bags.

The holders or packages for rolls of plastic bags that are currently available are usually made of pasteboard, and are of a very simple construction.

Consequently, these presently known holders easily get broken, and do not facilitate the dispensing of plastic bags from the roll of plastic bags. It is often difficult to tear off a bag from a roll of plastic bags in the holder.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved holder for rolls of web materal, and in particular an improved holder for rolls of plastic bags.

According to this invention there is provided a holder for a roll of a web that is to be dispensed, said holder comprising a housing having a hollow interior to accommodate the roll, said housing having two substantially parallel outwardly directed flanges which define a spout through which the web may pass, the spout defining means to facilitate the separation of a part of a web that has been drawn through the spout from the remainder of the web on a roll within the holder.

Preferably the holder comprises two parts, each said part being provided with a respective one of said flanges, the two parts being separably connected together. The two parts may be connected together by means of a hinge, and the hinge may be formed integrally with the material constituting said two parts, the hinge being of lesser thickness than the material defining the two parts. In such an embodiment, the holder may be integrally formed from a plastics material.

Advantageously means are provided for retaining the two parts in a closed position. The retaining means may comprise lugs formed on one said part adapted to engage the flange formed on the other said part, or alternatively may comprise protrusions formed on one said part adapted to engage apertures formed on the other said part.

Preferably at least one of said flanges is pointed, although both said flanges may be pointed, or at least one of the flanges may have a free edge that is serrated.

In a preferred embodiment said two parts form a housing that is of substantially circular cross section. In such an embodiment the spout may be directed substantially tangentially relative to the circular transverse cross-section of the housing.

However, in alternative embodiments said two parts together form a housing that is of substantially square or rectangular cross-section.

A holder in accordance with the invention may be fabricated from a transparent or translucent material.

This invention also relates to a holder as described above in combination with a roll of plastic bags.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a holder in accordance with the invention, FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line Il-Il of Figure 1, FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the holder of Figure 1 when in an opened condition, FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a holder in accordance with the invention when in an opened condition, and FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the holder of Figure 4 when in a closed position.

Turning initially to Figures 1 , 2 and 3, a holder in accordance with the invention for holding a roll of a web to be dispensed, such as a roll of plastic bags, comprises a housing 1, which is of generally cylindrical form. As will be described hereinafter the housing is hollow and thus defines a cylindrical cavity to accommodate the roll of plastic bags. The housing 1 is formed from two parts 2, 3 each of which are substantially of semicylindrical shape. Thus, each part has two substantially semi-circular end walls 4, 5, 6, 7, the end walls of each part being interconnected by an outer wall 8, 9, each of the outer walls 8, 9 being of semi-circular section.Each of the side walls 8, 9 has a long side edge, extending between the two semi-circular walls associated with that side wall, which is located immediately adjacent the corresponding side edge of the other part. The two side edges are interconnected by a web 9 of thin material that is formed integrally with the material forming the two parts 2, 3. The web 9 acts as a hinge, enabling the two parts 2, 3 to be moved from an opened position, as illustrated in Figure 3 to a closed position as illustrated in Figure 1. The remaining side edges of the side walls 8, 9 are provided with respective flanges 10, 11 which each extend substantially tangentially from the cylindrical housing 1, the flanges being substantially parallel and spaced apart by a short distance. The flanges thus together define a spout 12 which extends substantially tangentially from the housing 1.A triangular reinforcing web 1 3 is provided which is located between the flange 11 and the side wall 9 of the part 3, since the flange 11 is reflexed, and can thus be reinforced by the provision of such a web 13.

Both the flange 10 and the flange 11 are of substantially triangular configuration and thus the spout 12 terminates at a point 14. The semi circular end walls 6, 7 of the body part 3 are each provided with a forwardly extending portion terminating in an inwardly directed lug 1 5. The lugs are dimensioned to embrace the flange 10 of the body part 2 when the body is moved to the closed position as illustrated in Figure 1 The lugs 1 5 then embrace the flange 11 to retain the holder in the closed position.

When the holder is to be utilised to dispense a web in the form of a roll, such as a web of plastic bags, initially the holder is moved to the opened position illustrated in Figure 3. The hollow interior of the housing is thus exposed and a roll of plastic bags 1 6 is located in position within the interior of the housing. The end of the roll of plastic bags is fed out to lie over the lower flange 11 of the spout 12 in the direction indicated by the arrows 1 7, and then the upper part of the housing 2 is moved about the hinge 9 and the lugs 1 5 are engaged with the flange 10 to secure the holder in a closed position. The bags can then be successively pulled out through the spout 12, the holder being held in one hand, and the bags being pulled with the other hand.The bags can be torn off by performing a tearing action against the free edges defined by the flanges 10 and 1 The pointed configuration facilitates the tearing action and also ensures that when a bag has been separated from the rest of the bags on the roll 16, a portion of the next bag will still be protruding from the spout 12, thus facilitating the withdrawal of the next bag. It is to be appreciated that when dispensing bags from the holder it may well be desired to press the two flanges 10 and 11 together when a bag is being torn off to facilitate the ready separation of the bag that is being torn off from the rest of the bags contained in the roll.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention, and since this embodiment is very similar to the above-described embodiment, like reference numerals will be utilised for like parts, which in general will not be re-described in detail.

It will be noted that, in the embodiment shown in Figures 4 and 5, instead of a triangular web being provided between the flange 11 and the associated semi-circular side wall 9, instead there is a "V" shaped notch 1 6 formed between the flange 11 and the side wall 9, thus effectively defining two reinforcing webs. It is preferred to utilise such a notch to facilitate the manufacture of the described holder. It will also be noted that the semi-circular end walls 6 and 7 of the part 3 of the holder are provided with forwardly extending protrusions 1 7 which are dimensioned to be accommodated, when the holder is in the closed position, in apertures 1 8 formed at the junction between the semi-circular side wall 8 and the flange 10.Thus, when the holder is in the closed position, as shown in Figure 5, the protrusions 1 7 project through the apertures18.

It will thus be appreciated that, in both the above-described embodiments of the invention, resilient fastening means are provided to secure the holder in a closed position.

Both the above-described embodiments in accordance with the invention may be manufactured of plastics material such as, for example, polyethylene or polypropylene. The use of such a material facilitates the injection moulding of the described devices. It is to be appreciated that such an injection moulding process can be readily utilised in view of the integral nature of the described device, but it is equally to be appreciated that embodiments of the invention could be fabricated as two separate parts, the parts being interconnected by suitable means.

It is preferred that holders in accordance with the invention are made of transparent plastics material, since this enables a person utilising the holder to see how many plastic bags are left on the roll within the holder. However, it is to be appreciated that holders in accordance with the invention can, if desired, be made of an opaque material.

It is also to be appreciated that materials other than plastics materials can be utilised for the production of holders in accordance with the invention. For example, a pasteboard coated with a plastics material may be utilised, but then steps will have to be taken to ensure that the holder has sufficient strength.

In the described embodiments of the invention both the flanges forming the spout 12 are provided with a point. However, it is to be appreciated that in alternative embodiments of the invention only one of the flanges may be provided with a point or, alternatively, one or both of the flanges may be provided with a serrated edge.

It is also to be appreciated that whilst the invention has been described with reference to a holder that is of substantially cylindrical form, the holder may have other forms and may thus be generally square or may be generally rectangular in transverse cross-section.

Claims

1. A holder for a roll of a web that is to be dispensed, said holder comprising a housing having a hollow interior to accommodate the roll, said housing having two substantially parallel outwardly directed flanges which define a spout through which the web may pass, the spout defining means to facilitate the separation of a part of a web that has been drawn through the spout from the remainder of the web on a roll within the holder.

2. A holder according to claim 1 comprising two parts, each said part being provided with a respective one of said flanges, the two parts being separably connected together.

3. A holder according to claim 2 wherein said two parts are connected together by means of a hinge.

4. A holder according to claim 3 wherein said hinge is formed integrally with the material constituting said two parts, the hinge being of lesser thickness than the material defining the two parts.

5. A holder according to claim 4 wherein the holder is integrally formed from a plastics material

6. A holder according to any one of claims 2 to 5 wherein means are provided for retaining the two parts in a closed position.

7. A holder according to claim 6 wherein said retaining means comprises lugs formed on one said part adapted to engage the flange formed on the other said part.

8. A holder according to claim 6 wherein said retaining means comprises protrusions formed on one said part adapted to engage apertures formed on the other said part.

9, A holder according to any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one of said flanges is pointed.

10. A holder according to claim 9 wherein both said flanges are pointed.

11. A holder according to any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein at least one of the flanges has a free edge that is serrated.

12. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said two parts form a housing that is of substantially circular crosssection.

13. A holder according to claim 12 wherein said spout is directed substantially tangentially relative to the circular transverse cross-section of the housing.

14. A holder according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein said two parts together form a housing that is of substantially square or rectangular cross-section.

1 5. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims fabricated from a transparent or translucent material.

1 6. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with a roll of plastic bags.

1 7. A holder substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

1 8. A holder substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

19. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.