GB2385314A

GB2385314A - Stack of bags and dispenser

Info

Publication number: GB2385314A
Application number: GB0203710A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Amy Tomlin; Andrew Thomson; John Smith
Original assignee: LESTA PACKAGING Ltd
Current assignee: LESTA PACKAGING Ltd
Priority date: 2002-02-16
Filing date: 2002-02-16
Publication date: 2003-08-20
Also published as: GB0203710D0

Abstract

In a stack of bags 34 for a dispenser, the front and back sheets 4,5 of each bag 2 at the mouth 18 of the bag are shaped to define an elongate tab 20 extending from the mouth 18 of the bag to a free end of the tab 20 in a direction away from the bottom edge 6 of the bag. The front tab 20 of each bag 2 is releasably adhered at 24 to the back tab 20 of the adjacent bag in the stack 34. The free end of the front tab 20 can be easily gripped by the user for withdrawal of the bag 2 from a dispenser and pulling on the front tab 20 naturally separates the front and back sheets 4,5 of the bag at the mouth 18 of the bag, ready for use. A bag dispenser for the stack of bags 34 comprises first and second gripping members 29,32 and an elastic element 36 for urging the gripping members 29,32 towards one another, for gripping the tabs 20 of the bags 2 between the gripping members 29,32.

Description

TITLE Bag dispensers DESCRIPTION Technical field The invention relates to the field of dispensers that allow single bags to be withdrawn from a stack of bags. It has particular application to plastic grocery bags.

Background Supermarkets and greengrocers frequently provide a supply of plastic bags in a dispenser adjacent to their displays of goods such as fruit and vegetables, for customers to use in wrapping their purchases. Large numbers of such bags are used so it is important that they should be cheap, compactly packaged and easily replaced when the stock in the dispenser is exhausted. For the convenience of customers and to avoid waste, the dispenser should make it easy to grip the next bag in the stack, to withdraw the bags one at a time without damaging them and, preferably, to open the mouth of the bag by separating its front and back sheets ready for use.

Many solutions to these problems have been proposed, of which one in common use is illustrated in patent application GB 2332422 A. In that arrangement, each bag is detachably joined to attachment means and a stack of such bags is held in the dispenser via the attachment means. In one embodiment, the attachment means is in the form of a bar extending between two handles of the bag, while in another embodiment the attachment means is T-shaped, detachably joined to the handles and also to the mouth of the bag. The dispenser is in the form of a box with an aperture overlapping one edge of the box. The stack of bags is folded within the box so as to present a convex surface of the uppermost bag under tension at the aperture. The top sheet of this bag is pinched by the user, the bag detaches from the attachment means and is pulled through the aperture. In principle, the rest of the bag follows, friction between the bag and the box causing the bag to open as it is withdrawn. However, in practice, when the box is full, the friction can be so great that a small piece of the bag is torn away before the whole bag can be withdrawn. As the number of bags in the

stack is reduced, it becomes easy to pinch both sheets of the uppermost bag, whereby the bag may not open on withdrawal, or to pinch more than one bag, causing wastage.

The invention aims to overcome one or more of these problems by providing a bag dispenser that reliably and consistently dispenses a single bag with its mouth open, irrespective of the number of bags remaining in the stack.

The invention The invention provides a stack of bags for a dispenser, wherein each bag comprises a front sheet and a back sheet, the front and back sheets being joined together along a bottom edge and along two opposite side edges but not being joined together along a fourth edge that defines the mouth of the bag; the fourth edge of the front sheet of each bag being shaped to define an elongate front tab and the fourth edge of the back sheet of each bag being shaped to define an elongate back tab, each elongate tab extending from the mouth of the bag to a free end of the tab in a direction away from the bottom edge of the bag ; the stack comprising a plurality of adjacent bags, wherein the front tab of each bag is releasably adhered to the back tab of the adjacent bag in the stack. Preferably, the elongate tabs are located midway between the side edges of the bags.

The provision of the elongate tabs extending from the mouth of the bag provides many advantages over the prior art. The free end of the front tab can be easily gripped by the user for withdrawal of the bag from a dispenser. Because the front tab of the uppermost bag in the stack is not attached to any other bag and is not under tension, there is little chance that the user will grab more than one bag. Pulling on the front tab naturally separates the front and back sheets of the bag at the mouth of the bag, ready for use.

The front tab of each bag may be releasably adhered to the back tab of an adjacent bag by a glue spot between the tabs, the glue spot being located near to the free ends of the tabs. This has the effect that as one bag is removed from the stack, the front tab of the next bag is drawn into position ready to be easily grasped by the user.

Preferably, each bag further comprises a pair of handles at the respective side edges of the bag and fixing means detachably joined to each handle; wherein the fixing means are used to attach together the plurality of bags in the stack. The fixing means may be a bar extending between the two handles and detachably joined to each handle at a line of perforations. By attaching the bags together via the fixing means, the stack can be more easily handled and the bags in the stack are maintained in the correct arrangement for use. The fixing means remains behind when a bag is removed from the stack.

The invention further provides a bag dispenser for dispensing bags from a stack of bags according to any preceding claim, the dispenser comprising: a first gripping member and a second gripping member for gripping the tabs of a stack of bags between the first and second gripping members, the gripping members being capable of relative movement towards and away from one another; and an elastic element for urging the first and second gripping members towards one another. By gripping the bundle of tabs in the stack together, the dispenser according to the invention ensures that when the uppermost tab is pulled, the remaining tabs stay in place so the bags are withdrawn singly. The grip on the tabs ensures that the back tab is the last part of a bag to be withdrawn from the dispenser so the mouth of the bag must be correctly opened. The elastically controlled grip can be made to operate correctly for both large and small stacks because correct operation does not depend on friction between the bags and their container (if any).

Preferably the elastic element is an elastic band looped around the first and second gripping members. At least one of the gripping members may then have the shape of an arrow, with a pointed end for gripping the stack of bags and a pair of shoulders for retaining the elastic band. An elastic band is a simple, cheap and reliable means of providing the required force between the gripping members. Other means can readily be envisaged, for example a more robust dispenser might include a spring clip, similar to those found on clipboards, perhaps with a roller on one of the gripping members to facilitate withdrawal of the tab from beneath it.

When the bags have fixing means used to attach together the plurality of bags in the stack, the bag dispenser preferably further includes retaining means for engaging the fixing means of the stack of bags. In one embodiment of the invention, the retaining means in the bag dispenser is a plate for engaging a slot in the stack of bags. Other embodiments may readily be envisaged, for example an arrangement of pins in the dispenser for engaging holes in the stack of bags. The complementary retaining means and fixing means should be designed to facilitate the loading of a supply of bags in the dispenser.

One embodiment of bag dispenser according to the invention further comprises a flexible wrapper surrounding the first and second gripping members and for containing a stack of bags gripped by the gripping members, the flexible wrapper having an aperture adjacent to one of the first and second gripping members for withdrawal of bags from the dispenser. This has the advantage of being cheap and easy to manufacture.

Another embodiment of bag dispenser according to the invention is in the form of a box for containing a stack of bags gripped by the gripping members; wherein the first and second gripping members are cut out from opposite faces of the box, at least one of the gripping members being hinged to the box to allow relative movement between the gripping members; and wherein the box has an aperture adjacent to one of the first and second gripping members for withdrawal of bags from the dispenser. This embodiment is more robust than a flexible container and, if formed from a single blank of corrugated cardboard or similar material, may also be cheap to manufacture. A permanent dispenser may naturally me made of more durable materials such as plastic or metal.

The drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a stack of bags according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-section of the stack of bags, taken on line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a bag dispenser according to the invention.

Figure 4 is a cross-section of the bag dispenser, taken on line IV-IV of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the bag dispenser of Figure 3 with its lid unfolded.

Figures 6,7, 8 and 9 are perspective views showing the sequence of steps to assemble the bag dispenser of Figure 3.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the bag dispenser of Figure 3, showing how a bag is withdrawn from the dispenser.

Figure 11 is a plan view of a bag dispenser according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 12 is a cross-section of the bag dispenser, taken on line XII-XII of Figure 11.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a stack of bags 2 of the kind provided in supermarkets for carrying fruit, vegetables or other loose goods. The bags are formed in the conventional way from a tube of plastic material, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE). Each bag 2 has a flat front sheet 4 and back sheet 5, which are joined together by a heat seal 6 to form the bottom of the bag 2. Pleats 8 may be formed along each side of the bag 2 before heat sealing to allow expansion of the bag to accommodate bulky items.

The front and back sheets 4,5 of the bag are also joined together by a heat seal 10 at the top of the bag. A central area 11 of the top of the bag 2 is cut away to leave handles 12 having a typical"vest"configuration. Extending along the top edge 10 of the bag is a bar 13, which is connected to each handle 12 by a row of perforations 14.

In the centre of the bar 13 is a slot 16, parallel to the top edge 10 of the bag.

The edge of the cut-out area 11 furthest from the top edge 10 of the bag and between the two handles 12 defines the mouth 18 of the bag. Here, the front and back sheets 4,5 are not joined together. At the mouth 18 of the bag, a tab 20 extends from each of the front and back sheets 4,5 towards the top of the bag, the tab 20 almost reaching the bar 13 but separated from the bar 13 by a gap 22.

A stack of bags 2 as previously described is assembled by fastening together the bars 13 of the bags in the stack, for example using strong adhesive between the bars 13 of adjacent bags or by binding around the bundle of bars 13 with tape. Each pair of

adjacent bags 2 is also lightly attached together, as shown in Figure 2, by a glue spot 24 near the top end of the respective tabs 20. Specifically, a glue spot 24 is applied to the front surface of the front tab 20 of one bag 2 so that it lightly adheres to the back surface of the back tab 20 of the next bag 2 in the stack. The front and back tabs 20 of a single bag 2 are not adhered to each other.

Figures 3 and 4 show how the previously described stacks of bags are used in a dispenser. The dispenser consists of a folded cardboard box, the construction of which will be described in more detail below. The box has a front wall 26 with a central aperture 28 and a projection 29 extending across part of the aperture 28. The box also has a back wall 30, a central part of which is bent forwards to form a ramp 32. As seen in Figure 4, one or more stacks of bags 34 are placed in the box, the bottom ends of the stacks being folded forwards if necessary to fit in the box. The slots 16 in the stacks of bags 34 engage with a plate 35 formed integrally with the box, which causes the tabs 20 of the stacks of bags 34 to rest on the ramp 32, while the handles 12 of the stacks of bags 34 pass either side of the ramp 32 and rest on the back wall 30 of the box.

An elastic band 36 looped around the ramp 32 and the projection 29 urges the ramp 32 upwards and the projection 29 downwards to clamp the tabs 20 of the stacks of bags 34 between them. (In Figures 3 and 4, the front tab 20 of just the uppermost bag 2 is shown protruding through the aperture 28 above the projection 29. ) The projection 29 is arrow-shaped in order to provide a point 38 that suitably grips the uppermost bag 2 in the stack, to provide a pair of shoulders 40 against which the elastic band 36 can bear and to indicate to the user the direction of withdrawal of a bag 2 from the dispenser (as described below). For cosmetic reasons, the elastic band 36 may be covered by a sticker 42 where it crosses the projection 29. The ramp 32 includes a pair of notches 44 for locating the elastic band 36, as best seen in Figure 5.

A single bag 2 may be withdrawn from the dispenser by pulling on the protruding front tab 20 of the uppermost bag 2, as shown in Figure 10. The back tab 20 of the bag 2 remains gripped by the projection 29 under the force of the elastic band 36 so

first the mouth 18 of the bag opens as the front and back tabs 20 are pulled apart. The bar 13 of the bag 2 is held firmly in the box by engagement between the slot 16 of the bag and the plate 35 of the box. Further pulling of the front tab 20 of the bag 2 therefore causes the handles 12 of the bag to detach themselves from the bar 13 along the weak perforations 14 and the bar 13 remains inside the box as the handles 12 are withdrawn through the aperture 28. As the user continues to pull on the front tab 20, the bottom part of the bag 2 unfolds from the stack 34 and is withdrawn through the aperture 28.

The back tab 20 is now the only part of bag 2 remaining in the box, trapped under the projection 29. Still further pulling causes the back tab 20 to slide out from under the projection 29 and emerge from the box. However, because the back tab 20 of the uppermost bag is attached by a glue spot 24 to the front tab 20 of the next bag in the stack, the front tab 20 of the next bag is also withdrawn from the box through the aperture 28. Finally, continued pulling detaches the back tab 20 of the uppermost bag from the front tab 20 of the next bag by overcoming the weak adhesion at the glue spot 24. It is important that the glue spot 24 should be sufficiently weak that the two tabs 20 become released from one another rather than the next bag being drawn through the aperture. The uppermost bag 2 is now free of the dispenser with its mouth 18 open. The next bag remains in the dispenser, except for its front tab 20, which protrudes as shown in Figures 2,3 and 10.

These steps all happen rapidly and automatically as the result of a single, continuous pull on the protruding front tab 20 of the uppermost bag. Because the uppermost bag 2 in the stack always has a protruding tab 20, it is easy to grasp the bag by the tab and there is not the difficulty experienced with some prior art bag dispensers of being unable to grip the slippery surface of a bag or of being unable to separate a single bag from the stack. Moreover, because the action of withdrawing a bag 2 from the dispenser also opens the mouth 18 of the bag, there is not the difficulty experienced with other prior art dispensers of being unable to separate the front and back sheets 4,5 of the bag after it has been removed from the stack 34. Because the ramp 32 is hinged to the back wall 30 of the box, the elastic band 36 continues to urge the ramp

32 and the projection 29 together as the thickness of the stack of bags 34 decreases so that the dispenser continues to operate well even when very few bags remain in it.

Figures 6 to 9 show more details of how the dispenser is assembled from a one-piece cardboard blank and the stacks of bags are loaded into the dispenser.

In Figure 6, the cardboard blank is shown partly folded. A lid portion 46 comprises the front wall 26 of the box (not visible in Figure 6), a lid end wall 48 and lid side walls 49. In the lid end wall 48 is a locating slot 50. A base portion 52 comprises the back wall 30 of the box, a base end wall 54 and base side walls 55. A flap is cut from the back wall 30 and bent up and then down to form the ramp 32. The elastic band 36 is looped over the ramp 32 and located in notches 44 (not visible in Figure 6). A further flap is cut from the back wall 30 and from the base end wall 54 and is bent upwards, parallel to the end wall 54, to form the plate 35.

Figure 7 shows how a stack of bags 34 is folded forwards in order to shorten it and then dropped into the box, with the slots 16 of the bags engaging with the plate 35.

One or more stacks 34 may be inserted in this way.

As shown in Figure 8, the plate 35 is then anchored in place parallel to the base end wall 54 by an anchoring slot 56 in an anchoring flap 57 hinged to the top of the base end wall 54. The elastic band 36 is pulled up over the bundle of tabs 20 resting on the ramp 32.

Finally, as shown in Figure 9, the lid portion 46 of the dispenser is folded over and closed. The locating slot 50 in the lid end wall engages with a locating tab 58, which projects from the back of the anchoring flap 57, to hold the lid 46 closed. The elastic band is hooked over the projection 29 and located behind its shoulders 40. The tension in the elastic band 36 also helps to hold the lid 46 closed. As a last step, a sticker 42 may be stuck onto the projection 29 to hide the elastic band 36. The front tab 20 of the uppermost bag 2 can be pulled out so that the dispenser is in the arrangement shown in Figure 3 and ready for use.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that much of the box can be omitted yet the bag dispenser will continue to function in much the same way, provided that the projection 29, ramp 32 and plate 35 are maintained in the same U-shaped configuration. Figures 11 and 12 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention, in which the parts are numbered in the same way as the first embodiment.

Comparing Figure 12 with Figure 4, one can see that the left end of the box has been omitted and the right end has been simplified. Of the box, only the ramp 32, plate 35 and projection 29 remain and they are bent from a single piece of cardboard into a U-shape, with the plate 35 now connecting the projection 29 to the ramp 32. As before, the tabs 20 of one or more stacks of bags 34 are gripped between the projection 29 and the ramp 32 under the force of an elastic band 36. Operation of the dispenser is just as previously described. Optionally, the dispenser and the stack of bags 34 may be contained in a flexible wrapper (not shown) having a wide aperture adjacent to the point 38 of the projection 29, through which the bags can be withdrawn.

Either embodiment of the invention may be used in a horizontal arrangement, as illustrated, or in a vertical arrangement, with the bags suspended from the plate 35.

Claims

1. A stack of bags for a dispenser, wherein each bag comprises a front sheet and a back sheet, the front and back sheets being joined together along a bottom edge and along two opposite side edges but not being joined together along a fourth edge that defines the mouth of the bag; the fourth edge of the front sheet of each bag being shaped to define an elongate front tab and the fourth edge of the back sheet of each bag being shaped to define an elongate back tab, each elongate tab extending from the mouth of the bag to a free end of the tab in a direction away from the bottom edge of the bag; the stack comprising a plurality of adjacent bags, wherein the front tab of each bag is releasably adhered to the back tab of the adjacent bag in the stack.

2. A stack of bags according to claim 1, wherein the elongate tabs are located midway between the side edges of the bags.

3. A stack of bags according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the front tab of each bag is releasably adhered to the back tab of an adjacent bag by a glue spot between the tabs, the glue spot being located near to the free end of the tabs.

4. A stack of bags according to any preceding claim, wherein each bag further comprises a pair of handles at the respective side edges of the bag and fixing means detachably joined to each handle; and wherein the fixing means are used to attach together the plurality of bags in the stack.

5. A stack of bags according to claim 4, wherein the fixing means is a bar extending between the two handles and detachably joined to each handle at a line of perforations.

6. A bag dispenser for dispensing bags from a stack of bags according to any preceding claim, the dispenser comprising:

a first gripping member and a second gripping member for gripping the tabs of a stack of bags between the first and second gripping members, the gripping members being capable of relative movement towards and away from one another; and an elastic element for urging the first and second gripping members towards one another.

7. A bag dispenser according to claim 6, wherein the elastic element is an elastic band looped around the first and second gripping members.

8. A bag dispenser according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the gripping members has the shape of an arrow, with a pointed end for gripping the stack of bags and a pair of shoulders for retaining the elastic band.

9. A bag dispenser according to any of claim 6 to 8 for dispensing bags from a stack of bags according to claim 4 or claim 5, the bag dispenser further including retaining means for engaging the fixing means of the stack of bags.

10. A bag dispenser according to claim 9, wherein the retaining means in the bag dispenser is a plate for engaging a slot in the stack of bags.

11. A bag dispenser according to any of claims 6 to 10, further comprising a flexible wrapper surrounding the first and second gripping members and for containing a stack of bags gripped by the gripping members, the flexible wrapper having an aperture adjacent to one of the first and second gripping members for withdrawal of bags from the dispenser.

12. A bag dispenser according to any of claims 6 to 10, the dispenser being in the form of a box for containing a stack of bags gripped by the gripping members; wherein the first and second gripping members are cut out from opposite faces of the box, at least one of the gripping members being hinged to the box to allow relative movement between the gripping members;

and wherein the box has an aperture adjacent to one of the first and second gripping members for withdrawal of bags from the dispenser.

12. A stack of bags for a dispenser, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.

13. A bag dispenser substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 3 to 9 of the drawings.