Elastic trash bag and method of making the same

Abstract

A trash bag capable of being secured to a receptacle includes a trash bag body having a bag mouth, a hem formed proximate the mouth and a drawtape contained within the hem to close the bag. At least one elastic member, such as one or more elastic strands or bands, is adhesively attached to the drawtape and elastically secures the mouth to the receptacle. A method of making a trash bag includes adhesively attaching an elastic member to the trash bag body or drawtape proximate the bag mouth while the elastic member is in a stretched state. When released, the elastic member returns to an unstretched state and the bag gathers along the elastic member thereby providing a stretchable region adjacent the mouth.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 285,233 filed Oct. 31, 2002, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to plastic trash bags and, more specifically, to trash bags having a securing system that enables the trash bag to be securely fitted to an upper portion of a trash container. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Trash bags are typically formed from two panels of thermoplastic materials that are sealed along opposing vertical sides. The horizontal seam along the bottom of the panels is also sealed. The top side of the panels, however, is not sealed and provides an opening or mouth for access to the interior of the bag. The trash bag is inserted as an interior liner of a formed container or receptacle. The bag mouth is then loosely laid over the top end of the receptacle to provide an unobstructed opening for inserting trash into the...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] The securing system of the present invention may be easily incorporated into existing bags with or without integral closure systems. For traditional trash bags with no integral closure system, the elastic strands or bands previously described may be placed immediately adjacent the bag mouth, in which case a separate bag tie would have to be used at a gathering point somewhere below the strands. In one exemplary embodiment, the elastic strands or bands may be hidden by forming a hem along the mouth of the bag by folding the top edge over the bag for a distance to cover the strands or bands and sealing the edge of the hem to the bag body. The elastic strands or bands are fully enclosed within the hem. Alternatively, the elastic strands or bands may be placed some distance away from the mouth end to provide a length of bag material sufficient to tie a knot or otherwise provide a gathering point somewhere above the strands or bands that would be secured using a separate bag tie.

[0016] The securing system of the present invention may also be easily incorporated into trash bags with integral closure systems. For trash bags that shape or contour the bag in order to provide integral tie ends extending above the bag mouth, the elastic strands or bands previously described may be placed adjacent the bag mouth. When the bag is full, the mouth is stretched and removed from the receptacle and the integral tie ends are used to secure the bag contents. For cinch-type closure systems, the elastic strands or bands may be placed within the hem, below the hem, or on the drawtape itself. In this way, the strands or bands effectively secure the bag to the receptacle while the cinch effectively closes the bag and may further provide a handle for which to carry the bag.

Problems solved by technology

The top side of the panels, however, is not sealed and provides an opening or mouth for access to the interior of the bag.

Having separate tie mechanisms is often undesirable due to the additional expense in manufacturing and the inconvenience they cause the consumer.

When consumers fill the trash bag, the bag mouth often becomes detached from the formed container and consequently falls down inside the container.

Otherwise, the consumer risks missing the inside of the bag completely and having trash in immediate contact with the inside surface of the container.

This defeats the purpose of the bag and creates a nuisance for the consumer.

A number of disadvantages exist in this design.

First, because the elastic ring is not attached to the bag, it requires that a hem be formed along the mouth of the bag which adds to the manufacturing cost of the bag.

Second, this design requires that the loop completely traverse the mouth of the bag.

Anything less than a closed looped ring would not be effective in this design.

This design, however, also has some disadvantages.

First, this mouth securing system is limited to trash bag designs having closure systems that employ drawtapes or drawstrings.

This is a significant disadvantage because the drawtape manufacturing process is more expensive, requires additional materials, and requires more steps than other closure systems.

Furthermore, this design attaches the elastic member to the drawtape at discrete locations along the drawtape, i.e., at the troughs of the gather sections, which complicates the manufacturing process and thereby may add cost to the bag.

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