U.S. patent application number 10/237279 was filed with the patent office on 2004-03-11 for laundry bag.
Invention is credited to Thibault, Micheline.
Application Number | 20040047522 10/237279 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32714136 |
Filed Date | 2004-03-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040047522 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Thibault, Micheline |
March 11, 2004 |
Laundry bag
Abstract
A laundry bag comprising a fillable part, a fold, a flap, at
least one attachment, at least one complementary attachment
receptacle and a hook.
Inventors: |
Thibault, Micheline;
(Montreal, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
INVENTARIUM
4050 Rosemont blvd #1607
Montreal
QC
J1X 5X4
CA
|
Family ID: |
32714136 |
Appl. No.: |
10/237279 |
Filed: |
September 9, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
383/86 ; 383/21;
383/22 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06F 95/002
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
383/086 ;
383/022; 383/021 |
International
Class: |
B65D 033/14; B65D
033/06; B65D 033/16 |
Claims
1. A laundry bag comprising: a fillable part, a fold, a flap; at
least one attachment and at least one complementary attachment
receptacle; a hook having hook ends; the fillable part further
comprised of a bottom part and two panels sown together using
several parallel rows of stiches including overlock stitches and
all said stiches being made on the inside of the bag; the fold
having two opposing sides.
2. A laundry bag as described in claim 1 further comprised of: a
piece of fabric running across the width of the panel to provide
proper anchoring and durability for the attachment receptacles.
3. A laundry bag as described in claim 1 further comprised of: at
least one pocket for mounting the laundry bag on a rack.
4. A laundry bag as described in claim 1 further comprised of:
straps sown into the entire length of the flap to securedly hold
the attachments.
5. A laundry bag as described in claim 1 further comprised of: an
additional row of stiches running across the bottom of the laundry
bag and across the ends of the hook
6. A laundry bag as described in claim 1 further comprised of: yet
another row of stiches running across the bottom of the bag just
under the ends of the hooks.
7. A laundry bag having a method of operation as follows: the
laundry bag is filled until the contents reach the height of the
fold or less; the fold is closed by mating the opposing sides when
closing the flap; securing the attachment to the attachment
receptacle.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to laundry bags in general but more
specifically to laundry bags used in institutions such as hospitals
and the like.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Laundry bags are well known in hospitals and several patents
for such bags have been obtained over the years. U.S. Pat. No.
4,120,335 by Mitchell elequently gives a background of the
requirements, and shortcomings of current laundry bags. It is true
that because of the rough handling and the frequent reuse of
laundry bags in the health care industry, strong and resilient bags
are a must. Besides durability, a persistent problem with bags
using a draw string to close the bag opening is that the draw
string gets caught, mangled, jammed and stuck so that the bag
cannot be opened. Workers are instructed to simply cut the string
and throw the bag over for repairs instead of wasting time trying
to unmangle the string.
[0005] Of course, those bags with the cut strings can't be readily
reused and have to be sent out for repairs, which engenders
additional costs. It would therefore be a great advantage to have a
bag which does not have a bag opening mechanism which can be
subject to jamming or inoperability.
[0006] Some of the prior art describes bags having a flap which
serves as closure means some of the flaps described are sown on
their side in order to, when in an opened configuration, serve as
means to hold the bag to a support frame and when flipped over,
procure a tight sealing of the opening. The drawback of such a
system is that it can quite often jam if the bag is too tightly
filled and can be harder to open than drawstring bags which, as
described earlier, only require their drawstring to be cut.
[0007] Moreover, the way seams are sown together also affects the
durability of the bags, therefore, a better, more reliable laundry
bag is needed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present laundry bag uses an innovative extension fold in
the bag that folds upon itself when the cover flap is closed. This
insures a tight seal that blocks even the tiniest pieces of
clothing from escaping the bag. The flap is maintained in the
closed position by attachments, thus effectively keeping the bag
shut.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERED EMBODIMENT
[0009] FIG. 1 perspective view of the bag in an opened
configuration and empty.
[0010] FIG. 2a perspective view of the bag in an opened
configuration and full.
[0011] FIG. 2b perspective view of the bag on a rack.
[0012] FIG. 3a perspective view of the bag in a closed
configuration and full.
[0013] FIG. 3b perspective view of an alternate attachment
configuration.
[0014] FIG. 4 front elevation showing details of the hook
stitching.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] A laundry bag (10) is comprised of a fillable part (12) a
fold (14) flap (16) at least one attachment (18) and at least one
complementary attachment receptacle (20) a hook (22) and at least
one pocket (24). The fillable part (12) is comprised of two panels
(30) and (30') sown together using several parallel rows of stiches
(32) including overlock stitches and all stiches, running on both
sides plus the bottom, are made on the inside of the bag for a
clean exterior finish. An extra piece of fabric (34) running across
the width of the panel (30) insures proper anchoring and durability
of the attachment receptacles (20). To ensure durability, straps
(28) are sown into the entire length of the flap (16) so that the
attachments (18) won't give way.
[0016] FIG. 2a Industry regulations limit the weight of the
contents in the bag (10) and it is therefore very unusual for the
contents to reach or exceed the height of the fold (14). At any
rate, users of the bag (10) should know that the fold works best
when the two opposing sides (26) and (26') that constitute it are
to mate in order for the fold (14) to work properly. The simple
action of closing the flap (16) and attaching it using the
attachment (18) and attachment receptacles (20) insures that the
laudry bag (10) is properly shut.
[0017] FIG. 2b In order to facilitate in the filling of the laundry
bag (10), various types of mouting rack exist in the industry which
conform to standard laundry bag sizes. The rack (26) shown here is
for illustrative purpose only to indicate the workings of the
pockets (24).
[0018] FIG. 3a The laundry bag (10) filled and closed.
[0019] FIG. 3b It should be understood, as shown in this figure,
that one attachment (18) can equally be used as more than two can
also be used.
[0020] FIG. 4 The hook (22) which is used for hanging the laundry
bag (10) upside down when emptying is sown just above the stiches
(32) used in joining the panels (30) and (30') together. In order
to add additional durability to the hook's (22) attachment to the
laundry bag (10), an additional row of stiches (34) runs across the
bottom (38) of the laundry bag (10) and across the ends of the hook
(40). In order to reinforce the bottom of the bag (38), yet another
row of stiches (36) runs across the bottom of the bag (38) just
under the ends of the hooks (40).
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