GB2316389A

GB2316389A - Fanfold stack of bags for dispensing

Info

Publication number: GB2316389A
Application number: GB9617300A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Alexander Clarkson
Original assignee: GLOBAL TRADING U K Ltd
Current assignee: GLOBAL TRADING U K Ltd
Priority date: 1996-08-17
Filing date: 1996-08-17
Publication date: 1998-02-25
Also published as: GB9617300D0

Abstract

A continuous length of interconnected, detachable bags 10, 10a, 10b is fanfolded into a stack. The bags are folded back on each other in the region of where they join each other. The fold may be about the perforations 16 between the bags and/or about additional fold means in the form of a series of apertures (30 Figs 3 and 4) extending parallel and adjacent to the line of perforations 16. The apertures (30) can be of varying length and widths. A plurality of stacks can also be joined together, by adhesive tape or the like, by connecting the last bag of one stack with the first of another.

Description

BAG DISPENSING The present invention relates to the dispensing of bags, and in particular to the dispensing of bags connected together in series and wherein a bag is detached from the remainder of the bags when required.

In circumstances where a relatively large number of bags is frequently required, for example, in selfservice sections of supermarkets, it is common practice to store a series of bags as a roll. The bags are reeled during manufacture and the lower edge of one bag is connected to the upper edge of the adjacent bag by means of an interrupted seal or line of perforations.

The roll of bags is held in a dispenser and when a bag is required, the bag protruding from the roll is grasped and pulled which causes the roll of bags to rotate and thereby dispenses a bag from the roll. The bag may then be separated from the rest of the bags on the roll by tearing along the interrupted seal or line of perforations. The detached bag is then ready for use.

Dispensing bags in this way is successful but it suffers from significant drawbacks. Since the bags are stored in the form of a roll, the diameter of the roll increases with the number of bags to be stored. A compromise between the number of bags on the roll and the physical size of the roll thus has to be reached.

In practice, it is found that only a relatively small roll can be used, both to minimise the size of the dispenser and to enable a fresh roll to be loaded by a single person.

The relatively small size of such rolls also means that they are used up quite quickly and thus require frequent replacement.

It is impractical to produce very large rolls (e.g. containing 1,000 bags) as the rolling resistance of a large, heavy reel would mean that a stronger interrupted seal would be needed to stop the bags detaching from each other as the reel was unwound.

However, this stronger interruption would be incompatible with the acceptable operation of any dispensing system as the customer would have to tear the interrupted seal using a large amount of force, thus creating problems with the integrity of the released bag.

The second drawback from dispensing bags on a roll is that the reeling/unreeling process induces a small amount of static electricity which is passed into the film, which causes the bag surfaces to cling to each other, thus making it more difficult to open the bag.

The third major drawback of a roll of bags is that by rolling up the bag the manufacturing process invariably puts creases in the bag. This not only spoils the appearance of the printed information and logo on the bag but can also cause problems with opening the bag as the creases slightly hold together the two faces of the bag.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages and in particular to increase the number of bags which may be stored and to reduce the frequency with which a new stock of bags needs to be loaded.

In its broadest aspect, the present invention involves fanfolding a continuous length of interconnected, detachable bags into a stack.

Preferably, the stack is formed by folding adjacent bags back onto each other about a fold line in the region where they join each other. In this way, a stack of bags having a "footprint" no larger than the size of a single bag is formed. Thus, with an increasing number of bags in the stack the width and length of the stack remain the same and only the height of the stack changes.

Fold means may be provided for facilitating the folding at a desired location, preferably in the region between adjacent bags. In one embodiment, an interrupted seal or line of perforations temporarily joining two adjacent bags may serve as a fold line.

Alternatively, additional fold means may be provided, which in one embodiment comprise a series of apertures formed across the width of the bag material, preferably between adjacent bags. Removal of a portion of the material in this way facilitates folding of the bag in that region.

In one embodiment, the additional fold means is located between the line of separation of adjacent bags. The fold means, e.g. the size of the apertures, may vary across the width of the bags.

Advantageously, adjacent stacks of bags may be "daisy chained" together, whereby the bottom bag of a first stack is connected to the top bag of a second stack, whereby when the final bag of the first stack is dispensed, the first bag of the second stack is automatically dispensed as the next bag. Several stacks of bags may be connected together in this way, which greatly reduces the frequency of reloading.

By way of example only, specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stack of bags in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view in more detail of the region connecting two adjacent bags in the stack of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of an alternative connecting region between two adjacent bags which can be used with the embodiment of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a further connecting region between two adjacent bags which may be used with the embodiment of Fig. 1; and Figs. Sa and 5b are perspective views showing how a plurality of stacks of bags in accordance with the present invention can be connected together.

Referring firstly to Fig. 1, a stack of bags to be dispensed is formed from a continuous length of interconnected bags 10. In the embodiment illustrated the bags are so-called "vest" carrier bags. The bags are arranged longitudinally in series such that the upper edge of each of the two handles 12 of each bag is connected to the lower edge 14 of the previous bag along a respective interrupted seal or line or perforation 16. It will be noted that, as is conventional, each bag is folded flat and two parallel fold lines 18 extend longitudinally. The bags, and the manner of their manufacture in a continuous length, is thus conventional.

As shown in Fig. 1, however, the bags are arranged into a stack 20 by fanfolding the length of interconnected bags i.e. by repeatedly folding the joined bags back on themselves about the interrupted seals or perforation lines 16 between adjacent bags, whereby the faces of adjacent bags lie flat in contact with one another, with the top of one bag being adjacent to the base of an adjacent bag and vice versa.

Thus, it will be seen that the bags form a stack having an outline or "footprint" of area equal to that of a single bag, only the height of the stack changing with the number of bags.

As illustrated in more detail in Fig. 2, the interrupted seals 16 are located between a first continuous seal 22 defining the base of the previous bag and two shorter continuous seals 24 defining the upper end of the handles 12 of the bag. The interrupted seals, in this embodiment, are aligned with the lower edge 14 of the previous bag, which edge also defines the upper edge of a cut-out or bight portion 28 between the handles 12. The interrupted seals 16 provide a convenient fold line about which to fold the length of bags.

The bags are dispensing by taking the uppermost bag in the stack and pulling it from the remainder of the stack. Depending on the location where the bag is to be separated from the rest of the length of interconnected bags, one or more additional bags may also be pulled from the stack. In Fig. 1 it will be noted that a second bag 10a has been partially pulled from the stack. Fig. 1 also illustrates the uppermost bag lOb in the stack which has not been pulled from the stack.

The uppermost bag of the length of bags may then be detached from the remainder of the interconnected bags by tearing along the interrupted seal or line of perforations 16, in the conventional manner. Typically the stack of bags is used with a conventional dispenser which retains the next bag in position to be grasped in order to dispense it.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, additional fold means may be provided, in this case in the form of a series of aligned elongate apertures 30 located between the interrupted seal or line of perforations 16 and the transverse seal 22 defining the base of the next uppermost bag 10. The formation of a series of aligned elongate apertures 30 results in the removal of a significant amount of material from the web and thus makes folding of the web easier about that line.

A variation of the connecting region shown in Fig.

3 is illustrated in Fig. 4, in which the width of the apertures 30 decreases in the vicinity of the cut-out portion 24 between the handles of the bag.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, the present invention also enables two or more stacks 20 of bags as described to be connected together in "daisy chain" fashion, whereby the lowermost bag of a first stack 32 is secured (by adhesive tape or the like) to the uppermost bag in a second stack of bags 34. In this way, as the final bag of the first stack is used bags from the second stack are thereafter sequentially dispensed without any reloading of the dispenser. Once the first stack of bags has been used and the second stack of bags is being dispensed, a further stack of bags may thereafter be connected in the same manner. More than two stacks of bags may be connected in this manner if desired.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments. For example, bags other than vest-type carrier bags may be fanfolded together to form a stack.

Claims

1. A stack of bags comprising a continuous length of interconnected, detachable bags which are fanfolded into a stack.

2. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 1, wherein adjacent bags are folded back onto each other about a fold line in the region where they join each other.

3. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising fold means for facilitating the folding at a desired location.

4. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fold means are provided in the region between adjacent bags.

5. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fold means comprise a fold line comprising an interrupted seal or line of perforations temporarily joining two adjacent bags.

6. A stack of bags as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the fold means varies across the width of the bag.

7. A stack of bags as claimed in any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the fold means comprise a series of apertures formed across the width of the bag material.

8. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 6, wherein the apertures are located between adjacent bags.

9. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the size of the apertures varies across the width of the bags.

10. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 9, wherein the width of the apertures varies across the width of the bags.

11. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the length of the apertures varies across the width of the bags.

12; A stack of bags as claimed in any of claims 3 to 11, comprising first and second fold means for facilitating folding.

13. A stack of bags as claimed in claim 12, wherein the second fold means are provided in the region between two adjacent bags.

14. A stack of bags as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising an interrupted seal located between a first continuous seal defining the base of one bag and a seal defining the upper end of the following bag.

15. A stack of bags as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the bags comprise handles.

16. A stack of bags substantially as herein described, with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

17. A plurality of stacks of bags as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the final bag of a first stack is connected to the first bag of a second stack.

18. A plurality of stacks of bags substantially as herein described, with reference to, and as illustrated in, Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.