Trash bag holding device

• US 5,735,495 A
• Filed: 10/23/1996
• Issued: 04/07/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Teresita Kubota
• Original Assignee: Teresita Kubota
• Inventors: Kubota, Teresita
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Ramon O.
• Application Number:
  US08/731,970
• Time in Patent Office: 531 Days
• Field of Search: 248/95, 248/99, 248/100, 248/101, 248/97, 248/229.23, 248/229.13, 248/230.4, 248/316.5, 248/316.7, 24/543, 24/487, 24/518
• US Class Current: 248/100
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 67/1227 only by a part of the periphery, e.g. by single points or handles, or by one side or two opposite sides only B65B67/1244 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 1/06 with flexible inserts, e.g. bags or sacks B65F1/0073 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/44752 Integral locking-means

Abstract

A device for holding a flexible bag, such as a plastic trash bag, inside a receptacle, such as a wastebasket or trash can. One or more of the devices may be used to hold a trash bag in a trash receptacle. The first embodiment of the invention has an U-shaped resilient clip with two opposing arms to be placed over the rim of a trash receptacle. The first arm has a flap with an extension that can snap into a cavity in the main body of the arm, between which a trash bag can be retained to secure it in the receptacle. The second arm has an end portion permanently connected by a hinge, and releasably connected by an extension that fits into a cavity in the main body of the arm, so that the end portion can swing out to release the clip from the receptacle, and swing in and be snapped in place to secure the clip to the receptacle. The second embodiment of the invention has a clipping portion by which it may be retained on a trash receptacle, and a snapping portion by which it may retain a trash bag. The snapping portion has an inner member and an outer member, which are joined by a flexible connecting member. In the center of the outer member is a female projection, which matingly engages a male projection in the center of the inner member, to more firmly hold the bag in place.

Claims

1. A holding device, comprising:

a main portion having a first arm and a second arm, said first arm and said second arm being biased inward when outwardly displaced from a resting position, said main portion being retained on a first object;

said second arm having an end portion movable between an open position and a closed position, said end portion being permanently attached to an inner portion of the second arm by a flexible member, and said end portion having an extension matingly and releasably attached to a cavity in said inner portion; and

a flap attached to said first arm and movable between an open position and a closed position with respect to said first arm, said flap having an extension fittable into a cavity in said first arm when in the closed position, wherein a second object is retained between said flap and said first arm when said flap is in the closed position.

2. The holding device according to claim 1, wherein said first arm and said second arm of said main portion are joined by a connecting region made of a resilient material.

3. The holding device according to claim 2, wherein said first arm and said second arm of said main portion have inward projections on their ends opposite said connecting region.

4. The holding device according to claim 3, wherein said connecting region is U-shaped.

5. A plurality of holding devices for retaining a trash bag onto and within an open refuse container, said holding devices being dimensioned and configured to be distributed approximately evenly about the open trash container, each device comprising:

a clipping portion, having a pair of opposing arms that are biased inward when outwardly displaced from a resting position, whereby the device can be retained on a lip of a refuse receptacle; and

a snapping portion attached to the clipping portion, having a pair of matingly engageable members, between which an edge of a trash bag is retained when the members are in a closed position, and from which the trash bag edge is released when the members are in an open position.

6. A holding device, comprising:

a clipping portion, having a pair of opposing arms that are biased inward when outwardly displaced from a resting position, whereby the device can be retained on a first object; and

a snapping portion attached to the clipping portion, having a pair of matingly engageable members, between which a second object can be retained when the members are in a closed portion, and from which the second object can be released when the members are in an open position.

7. The holding device according to claim 6, wherein the arms of the clipping portion are joined by a connecting region made of a resilient material that imparts the inward bias to the arms when they are outwardly displaced from the resting position.

8. The holding device according to claim 7, wherein the arms of the clipping portion have inward projections on their ends opposite the connecting region.

9. The holding device according to claim 8, wherein the arms of the clipping portion are rectangular.

10. The holding device according to claim 9, wherein the connecting region joining the arms of the clipping portion is U-shaped.

11. The holding device according to claim 6, wherein the pair of matingly engageable members of the snapping portion are joined by a flexible connecting member.

12. The holding device according to claim 11, wherein the pair of matingly engageable members of the snapping portion are approximately disk-shaped, with inner surfaces and outer surfaces, with a first matingly engageable member having a male projection from its inner surface, and a second matingly engageable member having a female projection from its inner surface.

13. The holding device according to claim 11, wherein there is a tab projecting from one of the pair of matingly engageable members of the snapping portion, on a side opposite from the flexible connecting member.

14. The holding device according to claim 6, wherein the pair of matingly engageable members of the snapping portion are pivotally joined.

15. The holding device according to claim 14, wherein the pair of matingly engageable members of the snapping portion are approximately disk-shaped, with inner surfaces and outer surfaces, with a first matingly engageable member having a male projection from its inner surface, and a second matingly engageable member having a female projection from its inner surface.

16. The holding device according to claim 14, wherein there is a tab projecting from one of the pair of matingly engageable members of the snapping portion, on a side opposite from a side on which the members are pivotally joined.

17. The holding device according to claim 6, wherein one arm of the clipping portion is attached to one member of the snapping portion.

18. The holding device according to claim 6, wherein there are decorative designs on the surface of the holding device.

19. The holding device according to claim 6, wherein there are three-dimensional designs attached to the surface of the holding device.