GB2376179A

GB2376179A - A waste collection bag

Info

Publication number: GB2376179A
Application number: GB0211135A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Matthew Joseph Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-05-16
Filing date: 2002-05-16
Publication date: 2002-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2022-05-16
Also published as: GB0211135D0; GB2376179B

Abstract

A waste collection bag for a roll cage having a wheeled base 1, a pair of fixed rear uprights 4 and a pair of hinged side panels 5 comprises a main body panel 1, one or more storage pockets 11/12, a top suspension pocket 15 allowing the bag to be suspended from the side wall of a roll cage and two top auxiliary suspension pockets 16 allowing the bag to be alternatively suspended from the fixed rear-side uprights across the open rear of the roll cage. The auxiliary top suspension pockets may be connected to vertical side seams at the edge of the top suspension pocket and may be provided with releasable fasteners such as press-studs or hook-and-loop fasteners to hold them flat against the top suspension pocket so as to prevent them flapping around when not in use. If more than one pocket is present, each may be labelled, eg. 'cardboard' or 'polythene', to facilitate the sorting of packaging waste for recycling. In use, the waste collection bag is intended to store packaging waste generated by a supermarket worker who filling a shelf with goods from a roll cage.

Description

TITLE WASTE COLLECTION BAG FOR A ROLL CAGE DESCRIPTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to waste collection bags for use with roll cages of the kind that are used for example for the stocking of shelves in supermarkets.

Background Art A modern supermarket is conventionally divided into a storage area into which goods are delivered, and a display/shopping area in which the goods are on display for shoppers who can take the goods from the display shelves and place them in shopping baskets or shopping trolleys before transporting them to a checkout for purchase. Supermarket staff must constantly refill the display shelves by moving goods forward from the storage area, and conventionally the restocked items are moved around the store on roll cages which comprise wheeled wire frame towers having a base and two sides but being open at the front and rear. The roll cages are of standardised construction, and can have a Z-frame wheeled base or an A-frame wheeled base with a hinged cage floor member and hinged sides so that the roll cages can be partially collapsed and then nested together for storage purposes. The A-frame base roll cages comprise a pair of narrow fixed rear frame uprights to which the hinged side panels are connected.

Typically the roll cages are loaded with goods which are packaged in multiples, for example packed in protective cardboard boxes or stacked on cardboard trays and held in position by shrink film. The store worker must move the loaded roll cage down the appropriate aisle to the display point, remove the packaging from the goods, and transfer the individual goods/items to the display shelf. That leaves him with the waste packaging material to dispose of whilst he is still working in the supermarket aisle. This problem of

waste disposal has in the past been solved by the provision of waste collection bags which hang against the hinged sides of the roll cages, each waste collection bag having along its upper edge an inverted pocket which hooks over the top of the side panel on one side or the other of the roll cage. The cardboard and plastic shrink film waste from the unpacking of the goods/items can then be stuffed into one or more waste collection pockets on the waste collection bag, and the bag then simply removed for emptying when the roll cage is returned to the storage area of the supermarket.

One disadvantage of the existing waste collection bags is that they hang at the sides of the roll cages, thereby increasing the effective width of the roll cages. This increase in width can become quite significant when the waste collection pockets of the waste collection bags are stuffed full of cardboard and plastics film packaging, sometimes to an extent such that the roll cage and waste collection bag together block the supermarket aisle and interfere with the free movement of shoppers'trolleys. This invention is made from the realisation that a far superior location for the waste collection bags would be not on the sides of the roll cages but on the front or back, so that the addition of a waste collection bag adds to the overall length of the roll cage but not to its overall width. There is however a problem in deciding how to attach a waste collection bag across a completely void space, since unlike the side walls of the roll cages, the front and rear ends have no cross members at all above the level of the base.

The obvious solution to securing a waste collection bag across the void space of the front or rear open end of a roll cage would be to add a structural member across the void space at a high level, so that a waste collection bag can be hooked onto that structural member. That, however, involves either a modification in the basic construction of the roll cage (which is undesirable because all supermarkets will have a current stock of unmodified roll cages) or the provision of a detachable mechanism to permit a rigid structural member to be removably clipped across the open front or rear end of the roll

cage at a suitably high level. This latter solution is not an attractive one because either the structural member can be come accidentally detached when removing the filled waste collection bag, or if designed not to be too easily detachable, can be difficult to fit in the first instance.

It is an object of the invention to provide a solution to the above problems.

The invention The invention provides a waste collection bag for use with an A-frame roll cage having a wheeled base, a pair of rear fixed uprights and a pair of hinged side panels supported by the rear fixed uprights, which storage bag comprises: a main body panel ; one or more storage pockets for receiving flat packaging materials, formed on or attached to the outside of the main body panel ; and a top suspension pocket along a top inside portion of the main body panel, opening downwardly and sized and shaped to fit over the hinged side panel on either side of the roll cage to suspend the waste collection bag from the side panel ; CHARACTERISED IN THAT a pair of auxiliary top suspension pockets are provided, one at each end of the top suspension pocket and capable of swinging out perpendicularly from the general plane of the top suspension pocket, each auxiliary top suspension pocket being sized and shaped to engage over a respective one of the pair of rear fixed uprights of the roll cage, to suspend the waste collection bag from the rear fixed uprights across the otherwise open rear of the roll cage.

The waste collection bag of the invention can thus be suspended either from the side panels of the roll cage or across the void at the rear of the roll cage. For the side suspension, the top suspension pocket is simply pulled over the appropriate side panel of the cage in conventional manner, and the two auxiliary top suspension pockets are not used. To avoid those auxiliary top

suspension pockets from flapping around unnecessarily when not in use, they may be provided with releasable fastening means to hold them flat against the top suspension pocket. The fastening means may be, for example, one or more buttons or hooks, or cooperating panels of hook and pile fastenings on facing surfaces of the top suspension pocket and the auxiliary top suspension pockets.

When it is decided to hang the waste collection bag across the open void of the rear of the roll cage, then the above fasteners, if provided, are released so that the auxiliary top suspension pockets can hinge outwardly from the opposite top ends of the top suspension pocket. The separation of the two auxiliary top suspension pockets and the size and shape of each is such that they can be pulled down, one over the top portion of each of the rear fixed uprights of the roll cage, and it has been found that this provides a perfectly secure anchorage for the waste collection bag across the otherwise open rear end of the roll cage. Moreover it has been found that even when the waste collection bag has been filled with waste packaging material, it remains stably in place without any significant tendency either to sag to an unacceptable extent between its points of suspension over the rear fixed uprights or to become detached accidentally. Nevertheless even when filled it can be relatively easily unhooked from the roll cage, for removal to a disposal zone where the packaging material can be removed from the pockets leaving the bag ready for reuse.

Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional A-frame roll cage; Figure 2 is a side view of the roll cage of Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is an end view of the roll cage of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front elevation of a waste collection bag according to this invention; Figure 5 is a side view of the waste collection bag of Figure 4, with the auxiliary top suspension pockets folded flat ;

Figure 6 is a side elevation similar to that of Figure but with the auxiliary top suspension pockets folded out; Figure 7 is a top plan view of the waste collection bag of Figure 5; Figure 8 is a top plan view of the waste collection bag of Figure 6; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the waste collection bag of the invention; and Figure 10 is a partial section taken along the line A-A of Figure 9.

Referring first to Figures 1-3, there is illustrated a conventional roll cage for supermarket use. It comprises an A-frame base 1 with two fixed wheels 2 at the rear and two castor wheels 3 at the front. Extending from the rear of the A-frame base are two rear fixed uprights 4 on which are hingedly mounted two hinged side panels 5. The position of the hinges is shown at 6 in Figure 2, from which it will be seen that the top hinge is located at a level somewhat below the top of the rear fixed uprights 4 and the top of the hinged side panels 5.

Figures 4 to 10 illustrate a waste collection bag according to the invention which can be used with the roll cage of Figures 1-3. The bag is made from a heavy duty fabric material such as a 1100 denier woven nylon. A suitable weight and quality of material is sold under the Trade Mark DURA, and is typically provided with a two-stage coating after weaving to increase its stiffness and render it waterproof. The waste collection bag comprises a body panel 10 onto the outside of which are sewn two gusseted pockets 11 and 12 for receipt of packaging waste. Advantageously the pockets are labelled, for example"Cardboard"and"Polythene", to facilitate sorting of the packaging material for subsequent re-cycling. It has been found advantageous that each pocket opening should be strengthened with a reinforcing polycarbonate rod to make it easier for the user to grasp the front lip of the pocket to open it prior to insertion of the waste material. The pockets 11 and 12 are provided on the outside face of the panel 10, and on the inside face along the top edge is an inverted pocket 15 which is a top suspension pocket that is sized and shaped

to fit over the top of the rear fixed upright 4 and associated hinged side panel 5 on one side or the other of the roll cage. In that way the waste collection bag can be hung at either side of the roll cage.

In addition, however, the top suspension pocket 15 is provided at each of its opposite vertical end walls with a flap pocket which is one of a pair of auxiliary top suspension pockets 16. Each pocket 16 is sized and shaped so as to fit over the top portion of the rear fixed upright 4 of the roll cage, at a level above the hinge 6. When not in use, the flap pockets 16 can be folded flat against the inside surface of the top suspension pocket 15 as shown in Figures 5 and 8, and are preferably secured in place for example by cooperating patches of a hook and pile fastening material such as that sold under the registered Trade Mark VELCRO. One half of a pair of such patches is shown at 17 in Figure 9, and the cooperating patches are shown together at 18 in Figure 10.

When it is desired to hang the collection bag across the void at the rear of the roll cage, the two auxiliary top suspension pockets 16 are moved out to lie perpendicular to the plane of the top suspension pocket 15 as shown in Figure 7, and the open bottoms of the pocket 16 are slipped over the top portions of the rear fixed uprights 4. It is has been found that this provides a mounting for the waste collection bag that is easy to attach, secure in use, and easy to detach even when the collection bag is filled to capacity with waste material.

Claims

1. A waste collection bag for use with an A-frame roll cage having a wheeled base, a pair of rear fixed uprights and a pair of hinged side panels supported by the rear fixed uprights, which storage bag comprises: a main body panel ; one or more storage pockets for receiving flat packaging materials, formed on or attached to the outside of the main body panel ; and a top suspension pocket along a top inside portion of the main body panel, opening downwardly and sized and shaped to fit over the hinged side panel on either side of the roll cage to suspend the waste collection bag from the side panel ; CHARACTERISED IN THAT a pair of auxiliary top suspension pockets are provided, one at each end of the top suspension pocket and capable of swinging out perpendicularly from the general plane of the top suspension pocket, each auxiliary top suspension pocket being sized and shaped to engage over a respective one of the pair of rear fixed uprights of the roll cage, to suspend the waste collection bag from the rear fixed uprights across the otherwise open rear of the roll cage.

2. A waste collection bag according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary top suspension packets are connected down vertical side seams to the outside edges of the top suspension pocket.

3. A waste collection bag according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the auxiliary top suspension pockets are provided with releasable fastening means to hold them flat against the top suspension pocket to prevent them from flapping around when not in use.

4. A waste collection bag substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.