Flexible Sheet Dispenser With Interference Tabs for Easy Bag Separation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for storing and dispensing flexible sheet materials, such as trash bags, are inefficient due to space constraints, difficulty in separating serially joined bags, and the need for manual handling, which leads to time and effort wastage.
Innovation Solution
A system involving a substantially rigid enclosure with a sheet materials dispensation slot and interference tabs that allow for space-efficient storage and continuous point-of-use dispensing, enabling efficient separation of serially joined flexible sheet materials using yieldable, trans-axial, and projective configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If flexible sheet materials are stored in a stack or roll at a remote location, then storage capacity is improved, but accessibility and time to retrieve individual bags deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from remote centralized storage to on-site storage by placing the storage container directly within or adjacent to the refuse container. This spatial repositioning eliminates the need to transport bags from a remote location, allowing multiple bags to be stored and accessed at the point of use, thereby resolving the contradiction between storage capacity and retrieval time.
2Ease of operation
If conventional separation methods are used for serially joined trash bags, then individual bags can be separated, but the process requires manual handling and potentially sharp cutting surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pre-scored separation lines or perforations along the serially joined trash bags within the storage container. These segmentation features allow individual bags to be easily torn or separated by hand without requiring sharp cutting surfaces, thereby improving ease of operation while eliminating harmful factors.
3Device complexity
If a rigid refuse container is designed to hold only one trash bag at a time, then the container structure is simple, but space efficiency and continuous dispensing capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent places a storage container holding multiple serially joined trash bags inside or within the confines of the rigid refuse container. This nesting arrangement allows the refuse container to simultaneously serve its structural function while accommodating additional storage capacity, enabling continuous dispensing without significantly increasing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus may permit the storage of flexible sheet materials in a space-efficient manner and may provide a continuous point-of-use dispensing capability of such sheet materials at such stored location. Serially joined sheet materials may be separated from one another at sheet materials separation zones utilizing interference tabs having yieldable configurations, intra-planar configurations, trans-axial configurations, movement resistive configurations, and projective configurations. Such interference tab configurations may permit the simplified design and construction of a sheet materials dispensation apparatus, and multiple flexible sheet materials may be serially joined for use with such configurations. A substantially rigid enclosure for storing such serially joined sheet materials and incorporating an interference tab having one or more of such configurations may be dimensioned to dispense sheet materials from within an open-ended receptacle, for example a refuse container.