US3288325A

US3288325A - Bag holder waste basket

Info

Publication number: US3288325A
Application number: US423776A
Authority: US
Inventors: William H Fulton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-01-06
Filing date: 1965-01-06
Publication date: 1966-11-29
Anticipated expiration: 1983-11-29

Description

Nov. 29, 1966 w. H. FULTON BAG HOLDER WASTE BASKET Filed Jan. 6, 1965 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,233,325 BAG HOLDER WASTE BASKET William H. Fulton, I Academy St., Chelmsford, Mass. Filed dan. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 423,776 4 Claims. (Cl. 22d-65) This invention relates to a bag holder wastebasket. It is especially for use with disposable, fold-flat, paper bags such as `are provided by self-service food stores for containing miscellaneous products purchased by consumers.

Such bags 4are well known and tend to accumulate in the average household. Many housewives find the bags convenient for placement inside the kitchen wastebasket so that the bag serves as a disposable trash and garbage container. However, the conventional supermarket paper bag, when distended and erected, is` rectangul-ar in section and seldom fits the conventional basket, despite the fact that some such baskets are angular, rather than round. It has been observed that when a paper bag is crowded into a kitchen wastebasket, the open top of the bag tends to `become partially closed, thus being inconvenient to receive trash, and when the basket is emptied, the bag yremains in the basket because of friction. If bodily removed, filled, from the basket, the bag is usually so full that it tends to spill over, yand it is most dificut to cover the full bag with another inverted empty bag to present a neat, closed, self-contained paper bag container suitable for pick up by trash collectors.

In this invention, a hollow shell of thin sheet material is provided, open at both ends, into which an empty paper bag may be inserted, the shell supporting the bag in distended, erected condition with the bag top fully open, while masking any advertising on the bag. The unit thus resembles a bottomless wastebasket with the base of the shell supported on the floor and the bag enclosed and covered while serving as a disposable liner. When the bag is completely filled, a second, identical bag is inverted and slid over the shell to form a closure for the first bag, whereupon the shell may be slidably withdrawn endwise from between the bags. Handle means is provided Aat the shell base extending laterally and inwardly of the base opening to form a support for the bottom of the inside bag and a grip for withdrawing the shell from between the inside and outside bags. The major area of the base opening, however, remains clear and open so that the user may push on the bottom of the inside bag during withdrawal of the shell to overcome friction. Thus the shell is withdrawn from the bag, rather than the bag from the shell, and the covered full bag cannot spill when placed on the street for collection or when carried to -a suitable place of disposal.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a low cost, attractive bag holder wastebasket for more efficient use of disposable super-rnarket bags as liners, the shell being separable for low cost shipment but rigid when assembled and erected.

Another object of the invention is to provide an -open ended, hollow shell of rectangular cross-section, the walls of the shell 'being substantially equal in dimensions to the dimensions of a typical paper grocery bag, whereby one such bag may be supported within the shell and another such bag may be supported around the shell.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a shell formed in two halves, the halves having edge flanges for assembly into la rigid unit and 'also having handle means at one end of the shell to aid in withdrawal thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the claims, the description of the drawing, and from the drawing in which 3,283,325 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 ICC FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the two halves of the shell of the invention nested for storage or shipment.

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of the assembled shell, showing the edge flanges slidably interlocked.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing ya paper grocery bag being inserted into the shell to form a lined wastebasket.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged end elevation, in section on line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing a second 'bag inverted and on the outside of the shell.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 showing the shell being withdrawn from between the first and second bags.

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6, showing the neat, closed paper bag package resulting from the use of the shell of the invention.

FIGURE 8 is la perspective view, similar to FIGURE 3, showing another embodiment of the shell of the invention.

As shown in the drawing, a conventional paper bag 20, much used by self-service food stores, includes relatively limp,

paper side walls

21 and 22,

end walls

23 and 24, a rectangular bottom 25, and a top opening 26. Such bags are usually of low cost, strong, brown paper, sometimes bearing advertisements on the exterior, and fold flat for storage by reason of the center creases 27 in the end walls and

other creases

23 and 29 of well known type. These bags are substantially identical in dimensions throughout the country, are considered disposable, provided at no charge, and tend to accumulate in the average household.

The bag holder wastebasket 31, of this invention comprises a hollow shell 32 of thin, self supporting material 33, such as sheet metal, sheet plastic, or the like. While it could be skeletonized and perhaps perform an equivalent function, it is preferred that the material 33 be imperforate sheet aluminum, to present an attractive appearance and `form a closed rectangular figure to entirely cover the walls of bag 20, mask the brown paper thereof, and mask any advertisements thereon.

To prevent the limp walls of a bag 20` from bulging when filled, the shell of the invention essentially must consist at least of a rect-angular base 34 and four integral, upstanding wall-

like supports

35, 36, 37, and 38, of selfsupporting material, spaced around the base 34, `as shown at 39 in FIGURE 8.

However, as shown in FIGURES 1-7 in the preferred embodiment of shell 32, the wall-like supports Iare coextensive in width with the base and joined at the corners to form two longer side walls 41 `and 42 and two

shorter walls

43 and 44 and to form a closed rectangular ligure having a base portion 45 at one open rectangular end 46 and having a rectangular bag receiving opening 47 at the other end 48. The

walls

41, 42, 43 and 44 of shell 32 are of predetermined dimensions substantially equal to the corresponding dimensions of the

walls

21, 22, 23 and 24 of bag 20, each wall being coextensive in height and width with a wall of the bag, lso that a bag 20 may be slidably mounted around the shell or slidably inserted within the shell. The four walls, 4l, 42, 43 land 44 of shell 32 define ia rectangle, in section substantially equal to the rectangle defined by the bag 20, in section, when the bag is distended and erected for use, from its normally fiat-folded condition. The planes of the walls, 4l, 42, 43 and 44 are substantially parallel to the planes of the corresponding walls of the bag.

As shown in FIGURE l, the shell 32 is preferably formed in two detachable halves Si) and 51, each half being right angular in configuration and consisting of one

longer side wall

41 or 42 integral with one adjacent

shorter end wall

43 or 44. Along the axially extending mating edges of each

half

50 and 51 are seam fianges 3 52, 53, 54 and 55 bent from the material 33 and which interlock, when one half is axially slid into the other half, thereby forming the rigid shell 32. By this means, the shell 32 can be shipped and stored at low cost, but can be easily assembled into a rigid unit.

Handle means 60 is provided at the base end 45 of the shell 32, means 60 extending laterally and inwardly thereof while covering only a minor portion of the area of the base opening 46. Means 60 preferably includes at least one aperture 61 or 62, Iand preferably two pairs of

apertures

61 and 63 and 62 and 64, each pair at a spaced distance from the opening 46 in one of the

opposite side walls

41 or 42. A flexible strand 65 is secured in the apertures to extend across the opening 46 in the base portion 45 from one side wall to the other, thereby serving as a hand grip for shell 32 as well as a bottom support for bag 20. While a single large aperture in each side wall could be used as a hand grip, the exposed strand 65 is much more convenient when the shell 32 is being used as described below. The strand 65 is detached for shipment as shown in FIGURE 1.

In operation the shell 32 is shipped with the two

halves

50 and 51 nested as shown in FIGURE 1, and with the strand 65 detached. It is erected into a rigid shell of predetermined rectangular cross section by axial sliding together of the halves to interlock the

flanges

52 and 54 and the

flanges

53 and 55. A first paper bag 20, which is one of a plurality of identical bags, is then inserted bottom downward within the shell as shown in FIGURE 3 until the bottom rests on the strand 65 and the bag walls are entirely covered by the shell walls. Because of the lateral support offered by the shell walls, the bag opening 26 remains fully open as the shell and bag are used as a lined wastebasket 31, `resting on the floor (FIGURE 4). When the first bag is full, a second bag 66, identical with bag 20 is inverted, bottom up and slidably mounted around shell 32 as shown in FIGURE 5 to form a closure and cover for bag Z0. The assembly is then inverted as shown in FiGURE 6, so that the user may grasp the handle strand 65 with one hand while reaching into the opening 46 with the other hand and pushing on the bag bottom to thereby slidably withdraw the shell 32 from between the first bag 20 and second bag 66 for re-use. The

bags

66 and 20, as shown in FIGURE 7, thus form a neat, covered paper bag package 67, with no possibility of spillage and with the bottom 63 of bag 67 now below, in case the bottom of bag 20 has been weakened by damp trash or garbage. The package 67 may be carried to a place of disposal or left on the street for trash collection with the doubled side walls preventing collapse due to wetness, marauding animals or tears in the paper material of the first bag 20.

I claim:

1. A bag holder wastebasket comprising:

a hollow, tubular, shell of thin self supporting sheet material defining a closed figure, said shell having an open upper end for receiving a paper bag and having an open lower end for exposing the bottom of said bag when said shell is inverted;

said shell having flat planar side walls conforming generally to the configuration of an erected paper bag with which it is used and both slidably fitting around one said bag and slidably fitting within a second said bag;

and handle means secured proximate the lower end of said shell, said handle means extending inwardly and laterally `of the said open lower end thereof for supporting the bottom of said one bag when said shell is right side up as a wastebasket and for serving as a grip for one hand of a user, when said shell is inverted, while the other hand of the user extends into said bottom opening to push on the bottom of said one bag to eject said bag from said shell throughsaid open upper end of said shell.

2. A bag holder comprising:

a pair of identical paper bags;

a hollow tubular shell, of thin, self supporting sheet material having an open upper end and an open lower end, said shell having flat planar upstanding walls free of projections and having one said bag erected and filled right said up therewithin and having the other said bag inverted therearound to form a cover;

and handle means at the bottom of said shell, said means being secured to the bottom portion of the shell walls and extending inwardly of the open lower end thereof to support the bottom of said filled bag and to provide a grip for one hand of a user, in withdrawing said shell from ybetween said bags, while thc other hand of the user pushes on the bottom of said filled bag to overcome friction of said bag with said shell.

3. A device for use with paper bags of the fold flat type, having limp side walls, center creased end walls, and a bottom, said walls defining a rectangle in section of predetermined dimensions, when erected;

said device comprising:

a hollow, tubular shell of thin shelf supporting material, said shell having at least a rectangular base and four integral wall-like supports, each upstanding therefrom at spaced distances therearound, said supports being substantially equal in height to said bag, said shell defining a rectangle in section, substantially equal to said rectangle defined by said bag, to slidably lit in said bag and the material of said shell being substantially entirely within planes parallel to the planes of the walls of said bag when erected;

said shell being formed of a pair of right angular halves, l each half having interlockingfianges bent from the mating edges thereof for permitting said shell to be shipped with one said half nested within the other and to be erected by longitudinal slidable interlocking of said mating edges;

whereby an erected bag may be inserted within said erected shell to support said bag with the bag bottom proximate said base, a second bag may be inserted and slid downwardly outside said shell to form a cover and said shell may then be Withdrawn downwardly from between said bags.

4. A bag holder wastebasket comprising:

a hollow, rigid shell of thin self supporting sheet material, said shell having two longer side walls and two shorter side walls defining a rectangle in cross section, and having a rectangular opening at each opposite end thereof, adapted to receive an erected foldable paper bag;

said shell being formed in two halves, each half comprising a longer wall with an adjacent shorter wall;

integral, interlocking flanges on the mating edges of each said half, said halves being separable from each other for nested shipment and forming said shell when slidably assembled axially;

said shell walls being of predetermined dimensions,

corresponding to the dimensions of said bag to selectively fit around a first such bag to support the same as a lined wastebasket, fit within a second such bag inserted to cover said first bag and be slidably withdrawn from between said first and second bags,

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1963 Groff 220-65 5/1965 Fleming 220-65

Claims

1. A BAG HOLDER WASTEBASKET COMPRISING: A HOLLOW, TUBULAR, SHELL OF THIN SELF SUPPORTING SHEET MATERIAL DEFINING A CLOSED FIGURE, SAID SHELL HAVING AN OPEN UPPER END FOR RECEIVING A PAPER BAG AND HAVING AN OPEN LOWER END FOR EXPOSING THE BOTTOM OF SAID BAG WITH SAID SHELL IS INVERTED; SAID SHELL HAVING FLAT PLANAR SIDE WALLS CONFORMING GENERALLY TO THE CONFIGURATION OF AN ERECTED PAPER BAG WITH WHICH IT IS USED AND BOTH SLIDABLY FITTING AROUND ONE SAID BAG AND SLIDABLY FITTING WITHIN A SECOND SAID BAG; AND HANDLE MEANS SECURED PROXIMATE THE LOWER END OF SAID SHELL, SAID HANDLE MEANS EXTENDING INWARDLY AND