An improved bag clamp and bag cutter is presented that is a non-obvious increase in capability over this inventor's previous bag clamp/cutter invention. The improved clamp possesses a stronger spring, an improved cutting blade with safety guard, a springboard button for pressing the blade firmly against a bag surface, and other improvements.
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0. 12. A bag clamp, comprising:
a pair of clamp members each having an inner surface and an outer surface;
securing means projecting upwardly from the inner surface of said pair of clamp members for spacing said pair of clamp members from one another along a rear portion thereon and for removably attaching said pair of clamp member to one another so they are biased together along a front portion thereof with a sufficient biasing force to clamp and hold a bag in a stationary position for closing and cutting purposes;
finger movable cutting means disposed in one of said pair of clamp members for biasing a cutting blade and a blade guard for rectilinear movement; and
bag raising stop means extending upwardly from the inner surface of one of said pair of opposing clamp members for holding a portion of said bag away from said inner surface and for limiting the path of travel of said blade guard as it and said cutting blade are pushed downward via a user pressing on said finger movable cutting means to facilitate bag cutting purposes.
0. 17. A bag clamp, comprising:
a pair of clamp members hinged together for relative movement between an open bag receiving position and a closed bag clamping position;
an upstanding split anvil integrally attached to an inner surface of an individual one of said pair of clamp members, said split anvil having two parallel sides between which a cutting blade is received;
a thin finger engagable button flexibly integrally attached to an outer surface of another individual one of said pair of clamp members, wherein the flexibility of said thin finger engagable button relative to the outer surface of said another individual one of said pair of clamp members allows said button under the finger force of a user to move downwardly and upwardly relative to said outer surface between a guard protected position and an anvil protected position;
wherein said finger button has attached thereto at a distal end thereof a cutting blade and at a proximal end thereof a blade guard, said cutting blade and said blade guard being disposed adjacent an inner surface of said another individual one of said pair of clamp members when said finger button is disposed in said guard protected position;
said cutting blade being hidden and concealed behind and above said blade guard in a blade protected position when said finger button is disposed in said guard protected position; and
said cutting blade being hidden and concealed between said two parallel sides in another blade protected position when said finger button is disposed in said anvil protected position.
1. A improved bag clamp for closing and cutting a polymer bag, said clamp , comprising:
two opposed clamp members, wherein said clamp members are movable between a normally closed position and open condition, each one of an opened position;
said clamp members identified respectively as an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member and each having an inner surface and an outer surface, ;
a gripping means disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members for gripping said bag, said gripping means including a plurality of internal ridges disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members,
each one of said clamp members possessing a mouth end for engagement of a bag surface and a grasping end for grasping by a user,
a hinge attaching said clamp members to each other, said hinge attached to each clamp member inner surface at a location between said mouth end and said grasping end, the hinge biased by a spring clip, said spring clip possessing increased strength over spring clips in previous applications,
each of said clamp member mouth ends possessing a lip for aiding in positioning said bag in said clamp,
said clamp members identified as an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member,
a finger movable button flexibly integrally attached to said upper clamp member and having mounted thereto a cutting blade, said finger movable button facilitating the moving of said cutting blade downwardly from a retracted non-bag engaging position into an anvil protected bag cutting position;
a cutting means disposed on the inner surface of said upper clamp member, said cutting means comprised of a cutting blade, a springboard button, and a blade guard,
said cutting blade possessing a characteristic shape and increased sharpness such that cutting efficiency is improved over previous cutting blade designs for this application,
a split anvil means disposed on integrally attached to the inner surface of said lower clamp member, said split anvil means and disposed in such a manner that it is directly opposite said cutting means blade when said upper clamp member and said lower clamp member are disposed in a said normally closed position;
said split anvil having two parallel closely spaced upstanding side walls between which said cutting blade fits and is guided to said anvil protected bag cutting position as a user moves said finger movable button flexibly downward;
a blade guard mounted to said finger movable button for providing said cutting blade with a protected space when said cutting blade is disposed in said retracted non-bag engaging position; and
wherein said two parallel closely spaced upstanding side walls facilitate holding up a bag material captured between said two opposing clamp members to allow the cutting blade to more easily engage and penetrate said bag material as said cutting blade is pressed downwardly by said finger movable button through said blade guard, and further downwardly into said anvil protected bag cutting position.
2. A The bag clamp as in according to
3. A The bag clamp as in according to
4. A The bag clamp as in according to
5. A The bag clamp as in according to
0. 6. The bag clamp according to
a set of opposing stretching members disposed on respective individual ones of the clamp members for stretching a bag to be cut for helping to improve blade cutting efficiency as said cutting blade is moved into engagement with said bag; and
wherein said set of opposing stretching members include a plurality of internal ridges disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members.
0. 7. The bag clamp according to
0. 8. The bag clamp according to
0. 9. The bag clamp according to
wherein said opposing stretching members are further disposed on respective individual ones of the clamp members for helping to distribute the gripping force of said two opposing clamp member away from the location of said spring clip.
0. 10. The bag clamp according to
0. 11. The bag clamp according to
a hinge attached to the inner surface of each respective clamp member at a location between said mouth end and said grasping end; and
wherein said hinge is biased by a spring clip.
0. 13. The bag clamp according to
wherein said upper clamp member and said lower clamp member each have a cutting channel defined by a rib extending upward from the inner surface of the corresponding clamp member and a lip extending upward from a mouth portion of the corresponding clamp, said rib and said lip of the corresponding clamp members engaging one another for clamping said bag between them when said clamp members are biased to a normally closed position.
0. 14. The bag clamp according to
said box-like boss further having an elongated slot disposed therein for helping to facilitate rotational movement between said pair of opposing clamp members.
0. 15. The bag clamp according to
said bar-like boss being dimensioned to be received within said elongated slot for further helping to facilitate rotational movement between said pair of opposing clamp members.
0. 16. The bag clamp according to
0. 18. The bag clamp according to
0. 19. The bag clamp according to
said slot and said slit being in longitudinal alignment when said pair of clamp members are disposed in said closed position with said blade guard resting against the bag for helping to hold the bag against said anvil to further facilitate bag cutting purposes.
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This invention relates to devices for use with bags of food, pet food, potting soil, and other bulk items. More particularly, this invention relates to devices used to close and open these types of bags.
A previous invention, U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,217, “Bag Clamp”, was co-authored by this inventor, and this patent application is a set of improvements to that invention.
As covered in the cited patent application, modern polymer plastic bags are useful containers for bulk foods, bulk pet foods, and other loose, granular or small-sized items. The bags have the drawback that they are difficult to close properly once opened. They usually have smooth or slick surfaces which are difficult to grab with closure devices.
Polymer bags such as those under consideration here are often opened with the intention of closing and then re-opening then at a future time. Secure closure of the bag, to preserve product freshness for example, is necessary as is easy re-opening. Therefore, a bag closure device of this type should securely close the opened bag and be convenient to use to re-open. The previous invention by this inventor accomplished these goals by use of a strong spring to keep the device closed and by distributing the gripping force along the length of the device rather than concentrating it in the center of the device.
There are competing devices in use that also close polymer bags, but they largely fail to close and keep closed heavier bags. The competing devices tend to slip off of the bag surface easily and are much less useful.
In the cited patent, this inventor developed a device that could be made in a variety of sizes while retaining the generic characteristics of the invention. The small versions could be used for potato chip bags, popcorn bags, and the like, while the largest size would be capable of closing and re-opening larger bags of potting soil or pet food. The large device was strong enough to prevent spillage of product if a bag was knocked over, for example.
Opening polymer bags is also a problem, because they are usually tightly sealed to prevent product degradation while on store shelves. A method of quickly and predictably opening such bags is also desirable. Providing such a method prevents bag tearing, destruction of the bag, and spillage of bag contents while making bag closing and re-opening more straight-forward. The cited invention possessed features to aid consumers in opening polymer bags in an easy and safe manner, long with the above-described closure, clamping and reopening features.
The present invention is a set of improvements to the cited invention co-authored by this inventor. The additional features are non-obvious and confer additional, valuable, and useful capabilities to the cited invention.
In common with the cited invention, there is a clamp for closing and holding closed a polymer bag, consisting of a pair of opposed clamp members, where these clamp members can be moved from a closed bag receiving position. The user then slides the open edges of the invention until the top of the polymer bag abuts the internal structure112. The user then relaxes the hand pressure on the grasping ends of the invention and allows the internal spring111 to bias the clamp to a closed bag clamping position. The pressure of the spring is now applied to the surface of the bag on both sides of the bag by the internal ribs115,116 and the mouth ends of the clamp members104,105.
The polymer bag can be released quickly from the clamp by squeezing the grasping ends of the clamp members while simultaneously removing the bag.
To slice open the polymer bag, the user grasps the clamp grasping ends and squeezes, as in the process to clamp the bag. The user then places the clamp over the bag as if to clamp it, as described above. The user then presses on the springboard button120 to press the blade121 and blade guard 123 downward into contact with the bag and push the blade through the bag, where it stops between the guides of the split anvil122.
The leading edges of the mouth end of the clamp106,107, the edges away from the springboard button, have a radiused corner108,109 to help guide the clamp over seams in the polymer bag. The user then draws the clamp across the bag top in the direction of the other edge of the bag while keeping continuous pressure on the springboard button120. When the bag is completely open, the springboard button120 is released and the blade retracts behind the blade guard123 for safety.
It is evident that there are additional embodiments and applications of the improved bag clamp invention which are not disclosed in this detailed description, but which would clearly fall with the scope of said invention. This specification is intended to illustrate and clarify the nature of this invention and not limit its scope.
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