US3095172A - Bag holding rack - Google Patents

Description

June 25, 1963 M. J. DWYER BAG HOLDING RACK Filed Nov. 20. 1961 INVENTOR.

MAURICE J. DWYER i M 4/ M ATTORNDJ'.

United States 'atent ffiee 3,095,172 BAG HOLDING RACK Maurice J. Dwyer, San Jose, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to L. W. Moss, San Mateo, Calif. Filed Nov. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 153,301 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-97) The present invention relates to bag rack, and pertains more particularly to a rack for supporting a cloth bag with the mouth thereof open for filling, and with the bottom of the bag preferably resting on a floor supporting the rack.

In the linen supply business, restaurants, hotels, motels, doctors, dentists, beauty operators and many other businesses receive a supply of clean linen for their various uses from a so-called linen supply house, and, after use, return the soiled linen to the supplier for laundering. The soiled linen is usually deposited by the user in a bag provided for this use by the linen supply company.

In the past, attempts have been made to provide a suitable holder for such bags which would support them with the mouth thereof open to receive the soiled linen as it accumulates, and upon which it would be easy to mount and remove the bags. Many of these prior holders have been found, however, not to hold the bag in a satisfactory condition, while others thereof have torn and damaged the bags.

-An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and improved bag supporting rack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag rack which will permit the mounting of a bag on, and removing it from, the rack without lifting the bag from the floor, and which will support such bag with its mouth open and without damage to the bag.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag rack comprising a plurality of supporting legs, two front legs thereof being spaced apart sufiiciently to permit a bag to pass freely therebetween even when filled, an encircling top frame portion'being open between the front legs and a pair of bag engaging ears extending beyond these front legs so that when the mouth of the bag is folded outwardly over the top frame portion the bag will be supported in open-mouth position, ready to receive articles therein.

These, and other objects and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag rack embodying the invention, a bag being shown in dash-dot lines sup ported in open-mouth position thereon.

FIG. 2 is a side eleuational view of the bag rack shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational View of the bag rack shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of bag rack, portions thereof being broken away.

Briefly, the bag rack A embodying the invention is illustrated in FIGS. l-3, and comprises a circular base portion with a pair of upwardly extending forward legs 11 and 12, and an upwardly extending rear leg 13 secured thereto. The upper ends of the forward legs 11 and 12 are bent to form bag engaging ears 14 and 15, respectively, while the upper end of the rear leg 13 is bent outwardly at 17. An encircling top frame portion 18 is secured to the upper ends of the legs 11, 12 and 13. When a bag B (FIG. 1) having a hemmed mouth portion 19 of a size to fit snugly over this top frame portion 18 is placed within the rack A, and the hemmed mouth portion 19 of the bag is folded outwardly and downwardly over this top frame portion, the hem 19a thereof will tend to draw inwardly below the ears 14 and 15 and the top frame portion 18 to thereby firmly support the bag on the rack, and without damage to the bag.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, the bag rack A shown in FIGS. 1-3 preferably is made of suitable wire, rod or tubing of suitable material, for example, metal or plastic. The base frame 10 defines a circular area of substantially larger circumference than a bag B, indicated in broken lines in FIG. 1, which is to be used therewith. The base frame 10 provides :a firm support for the bag rack A of which it forms a part, and also serves as a suitable anchorage for the three legs 11, 12 and 13. The two forward legs 11 and 12 extend upwardly with a slight inward inclination, as does also the rear leg 13, the lower ends of all three legs being firmly secured to the base frame 10. The forward legs 11 and 12 are spaced apart by a distance sufficient to permit the passage of a fully filled bag B therehetween. Each forward leg 11 and 12 has a forwardly bent portion 20 at its upper end, then an upwardly bent portion 21 at the forward end of the forwardly bent portion 20, and then a rearwardly bent portion 22 at the upper end of the upwardly bent portion 21 to form the bag-engaging cars 14 and '15.

Each rearwardly bent portion 22 continues rearwardly to form the parallel side members 23 and 24 of the rectangular top frame portion 18. The rear ends of these side members 23 and 24 are joined by a continuous, transverse, rear top frame member 25. All three of these top frame members 23, 24 and 25 are of substantially the same length, and the rectangular area defined thereby is approximately equal in circumference to the mouth portion 19 of a bag B to be used therewith.

The outwardly bent portion 17 at the upper end of the rear leg 13 permits the hemmed mouth portion -19 of a bag B fitted over the top frame portion 18 to be drawn inwardly over the top frame portion by the usual slight resilient tension exerted by the bag material as a result of its having been fitted snugly .over the top frame portion 18. v I

The bags B to be used with the present invention preferably are of cloth, for example, woven, knitted or netted cotton or synthetic material, and are of substantially uniform size. These bags B also preferably are of sufficient length to allow their lower ends to rest on a floor or other surface upon which the rack A is supported.

In using the rack A a bag B to be mounted thereon is grasped at its mouth 19 by the two hands (not shown) of a person who is to place it on the rack. The hands are placed on the bag generally opposite a draw-string 28, land are separated by a distance equal approximately to the length of the rear transverse frame member 25. The bag B is then inserted through the opening between the cars 14 and 15, and the hemmed mouth portion 19 of the bag is folded outwardly and downwardly over the rear top frame member 25.

The operators hands (not shown) are then allowed to slide around the rear corners of the top frame member 25, and thence vforwardly along the hem of a bag as the latter is drawn forwardly while .the hemmed mouth portion 19 is folded outwardly and downwardly over the ear portions 14 and 15 to complete the operation. Actually, as will be obvious to one performing the operation, if not from reading the present description thereof, this bag mounting operation is performed in one sweeping movement requiring not more than one or two swonds.

Since the mouth portion 19 of the bag B is, as mentioned previously herein, of a size to fit snugly over the top frame portion 18, the outwardly folded mouth portion 19 of the bag has a tendency to draw inwardly beneath the ear portions 14 and 15, and around all three sides of the top frame portion 18. This action holds the bag in firmly supported position on the rack, and the weight of linen in the bag as the latter becomes filled tends to tauten and increase this gripping effect.

There are no sharp points or portions of the rack A which tend to cause excessive wear, or to cut into or tear the bags mounted thereon. A bag B is left in the rack A until it is filled with soiled linen, at which time the operator again grasps the hemmed mouth of the bag beneath the two ears 14 and 15, frees the bag from these ears and then slides his hands rearwardly along the hem and frees the bag from the rear top frame portion '18. Then, by pulling upwardly and forwardly on the draw string 28 of the bag, which draw string preferably is located between the front legs 11 and 12 of the rack when mounting a bag on the rack, the bag can be drawn closed and dragged between the front legs 11 and 12 in one simple movement, without even lifting the bag from the floor.

In the modified form C of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the structure of the base a and legs 11a, 12a and 13a thereof is generally similar to that of the form A of the invention shown in FIGS. l-3. These portions are, there- .fore, designated by the same reference numerals as those applied to the corresponding parts of the form A of the invention shown in FIGS. 13 with the suflix a added thereto. The difference between :the two forms A and C of the invention resides in the top frame portion 30 (FIG. 4) which top frame portion is generally circular in shape. Otherwise the structure and manner of use of the rack C of FIG. 4 are generally similar to those of the form A of the invention shown in FIGS. l-3 and described previously herein. They will, therefore, be obvious without further explanation to anyone familiar with the art who has perused the foregoing description of the form A of the invention. V

The present invention provides a simple, inexpensive and sturdy bag rack, which is light in weight and inexpensive to manufacture. Several of the racks may be easily nested together so as to occupy but little space. The invention provides a rack upon which a bag of known size may be easily mounted and removed. It has no points or other parts which would be apt to cause tearing or accelerated wearing of the bags which are used thereon. Also, it is a rack which can be easily and properly used by even inexperienced and mechanically inept personnel.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred em- 4!. bodiment of the present invention, and one modified form thereof, it will be understood, however, that various changes and modifications may be made in the details thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim. I

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is defined in the following claim.

A rack for supporting a fabric bag having a hemmed mouth portion of known size, said rack comprising a plurality of supporting legs, two of said legs being spaced apart by a distance sufiicient to pass such bag when completely filled therebetween, each of said two legs having a forwardly extending portion at the upper and each of the remainder of said legs having an outwardly extending portion at its upper end, a top frame continuous and integral with the forwardly extending por tion of each of said two legs, and connecting the outer extremity of each of said outwardly extending leg portions to the other, said topframe being omitted between said.

two legs, and being shaped to define an area having a cir cumference substantially equal to that of the mouth of such bag when fully open, the forwardly bent portion of said two legs and the portion of the top frame connected thereto defining, a pair of bag retaining ears, one thereof. being co-extensive with each end of said top frame and extending beyond the upper end of each of said two legs, whereby, when such bag is placed within the top frame, and the mouth portion of such bag is folded outwardly and downwardly and is stretched over the top frame and below said ears, the bag is drawn into the outwardly bent portion of each of said other legs to be supported in open mouth position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France July 18, 1921 end thereof,

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