Yard Waste Bag Holding Apparatus
A yard waste bag holding apparatus includes a rectangular-shaped frame, two foldable arm assemblies, and a ring with a flange for abutting the top of the arm assemblies. A bag may be attached to the ring, holding the bag open and upright and preventing it from collapsing, folding in on itself, or blowing or tipping over. The user may insert a greater volume of yard waste into the bag at one time, thus increasing efficiency. An insert for engaging a hose of a vacuum to the ring may be added. Further, a wheel attachment may be coupled to the frame to place the apparatus at a given angle. Placing the apparatus at an angle prevents the apparatus from tipping during use with a vacuum and reduces the stress at the joining of the hose and the apparatus.
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The present application claims priority to co-pending U.S. provisional patent application entitled “Leaf Bag Holding Apparatus”, Ser. No. 61/500,713, filed on Jun. 24, 2011, and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONYard waste bags are well known in the art. Typically, the bags are opened and set on the ground without support while yard waste is placed inside the bags. However, the bags often collapse or tilt during use, which lowers the efficiency of yard waste gathering and raising the frustration level for the user.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to one embodiment of the present invention, a yard waste bag holding apparatus comprises: a frame, comprising: a first top bar; a first bottom bar; and a first side bars coupled to the first top bar and the first bottom bar to form a rectangular-shaped frame; a first arm assembly, comprising: a second top bar; a second bottom bar; and a second side bar coupled to the second top bar and the second bottom bar at an end of the second top and bottom bars distal to the frame; a second arm assembly, comprising: a third top bar; a third bottom bar; and a third side bar coupled to the third top bar and the third bottom bar at an end of the third top and bottom bars distal to the frame; and a ring, comprising: a flange for abutting the second top bar and the third top bar; a wall to reside within a yard waste bag; and a plurality of clips for securing the yard waste bag to the ring.
In one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises: a first top bracket assembly coupled to the second top bar at an end of the second top bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a first end of the first top bar; a second top bracket assembly coupled to the third top bar at an end of the third top bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a second end of the first top bar opposite to the first end of the first top bar; a first bottom bracket assembly coupled to the second bottom bar at an end of the second bottom bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a first end of the first bottom bar; and a second bottom bracket assembly coupled to the third bottom bar at an end of the third bottom bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a second end of the first bottom bar opposite to the first end of the first bottom bar.
In one aspect of the present invention, when the ring is engaged with the yard waste bag, the wall resides within a lip of the yard waste bag without the lip folding over the flange.
In one aspect of the present invention, the ring further comprises a plurality of notches residing in the wall and an insert detachably coupled to the wall, wherein the insert comprises: a plate comprising an opening for engaging a hose to a vacuum; one or more screened openings; and a plurality of tabs for engaging with the plurality of notches.
In one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a wheel attachment coupled to the frame, wherein the wheel attachment comprises: a first wheel bar and a second wheel bar; a first wheel coupled to a first end of the first wheel bar; and a second wheel coupled to a first end of the second wheel bar, wherein a second end of the first wheel bar and a second end of the second wheel bar are each coupled to the frame.
In one aspect of the present invention, wherein the wheel attachment further comprises: a first cross bar coupled to the first wheel bar and the second wheel bar, wherein the first wheel bar and the second wheel bar are approximately parallel; a second cross bar coupled to the first wheel bar and the frame; a third cross bar coupled to the second wheel bar and the frame, wherein the second cross bar and the third cross bar place the first wheel bar and the second wheel bar at a given angle away from the frame.
In one aspect of the present invention, the first top bracket assembly further comprises a first bracket coupled to the first top bar and to the second top bar at the end of the second top bar proximate to the frame, and a first locking mechanism, and the second top bracket assembly further comprises a second bracket coupled to the first top bar and to the third top bar at the end of the third top bar proximate to the frame, and a second locking mechanism, wherein when the first locking mechanism is in a first unlocked position, the first arm assembly is capable of folding along a first pivot point of the first top bracket assembly and a second pivot point of the first bottom bracket assembly, wherein when the second locking mechanism is in a second unlocked position, the second arm assembly is capable of folding along a third pivot point of the second top bracket assembly and a fourth pivot point of the second bottom bracket assembly.
In one aspect of the present invention, the first locking mechanism comprises: a first flexible plate coupled to the first bracket at a first end of the first flexible plate; a first pin traversing the first flexible plate at a second end of the first flexible plate, wherein disengagement of the first pin from a first corresponding hole in the second top bar places the first locking mechanism in the first unlocked position; wherein the second locking mechanism comprises: a second flexible plate coupled to the second bracket at a first end of the second flexible plate; a second pin traversing the second flexible plate at a second end of the second flexible plate, wherein disengagement of the second pin from a second corresponding hole in the third top bar places the second locking mechanism in the second unlocked position.
In one aspect of the present invention, the first and second pivot points are more distal from the frame than the third and fourth pivot points.
The present invention provides a yard waste bag holding apparatus. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
In this manner, the yard waste bag 111 is prevented from collapsing, folding in on itself, or blowing or tipping over. The weight of the yard waste inserted into the bag 111 is borne by the ground and not by the clips 110, which prevents the bag 111 from being dislodged from the clips 110 when yard waste is inserted into the bag. Further, the user is allowed to insert a greater volume of yard waste into the bag 111 at one time, thus increasing efficiency by reducing the time it takes to fill each bag. Once the bag 111 is filled, it is easily removed from the open side of the holder 100.
Returning to
The lock and unlock positions of the wheel attachment may be facilitated by slots (not shown) in the side bars 101C with screws (not shown) to tighten the cross bars 135A-135B in place. Alternatively, the cross bars 135A-135B may each be comprised of two smaller bars (not shown) coupled to form a pivot point. Additional wheels 136A-136B are coupled to the side bars 101C of the frame 101, such that the wheels 131A-131B and 136A-136B allow the yard waste bag holding apparatus to be moved more easily. The wheels 131A-131B may be rotatable wheels to facilitate ease of lateral movement of the holder 100. Further, a handle (not shown) may optionally be added to the holder 100. Here, the holder 100 is illustrated with the optional utility bag 126.
Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A yard waste bag holding apparatus comprising:
- a frame, comprising: a first top bar; a first bottom bar; and a first side bars coupled to the first top bar and the first bottom bar to form a rectangular-shaped frame;
- a first arm assembly, comprising: a second top bar; a second bottom bar; and a second side bar coupled to the second top bar and the second bottom bar at an end of the second top and bottom bars distal to the frame;
- a second arm assembly, comprising: a third top bar; a third bottom bar; and a third side bar coupled to the third top bar and the third bottom bar at an end of the third top and bottom bars distal to the frame; and
- a ring, comprising: a flange for abutting the second top bar and the third top bar; a wall to reside within a yard waste bag; and a plurality of clips for securing the yard waste bag to the ring.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a first top bracket assembly coupled to the second top bar at an end of the second top bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a first end of the first top bar;
- a second top bracket assembly coupled to the third top bar at an end of the third top bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a second end of the first top bar opposite to the first end of the first top bar;
- a first bottom bracket assembly coupled to the second bottom bar at an end of the second bottom bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a first end of the first bottom bar; and
- a second bottom bracket assembly coupled to the third bottom bar at an end of the third bottom bar proximate to the frame, and coupled to a second end of the first bottom bar opposite to the first end of the first bottom bar.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the ring is engaged with the yard waste bag, the wall resides within a lip of the yard waste bag without the lip folding over the flange.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ring further comprises a plurality of notches residing in the wall and an insert detachably coupled to the wall, wherein the insert comprises:
- a plate comprising an opening for engaging a hose to a vacuum;
- one or more screened openings; and
- a plurality of tabs for engaging with the plurality of notches.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a wheel attachment coupled to the frame, wherein the wheel attachment comprises:
- a first wheel bar and a second wheel bar;
- a first wheel coupled to a first end of the first wheel bar; and
- a second wheel coupled to a first end of the second wheel bar, wherein a second end of the first wheel bar and a second end of the second wheel bar are each coupled to the frame.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the wheel attachment further comprises:
- a first cross bar coupled to the first wheel bar and the second wheel bar, wherein the first wheel bar and the second wheel bar are approximately parallel;
- a second cross bar coupled to the first wheel bar and the frame;
- a third cross bar coupled to the second wheel bar and the frame,
- wherein the second cross bar and the third cross bar place the first wheel bar and the second wheel bar at a given angle away from the frame.
7. The apparatus of claim 2,
- wherein the first top bracket assembly further comprises: a first bracket coupled to the first top bar and to the second top bar at the end of the second top bar proximate to the frame, and a first locking mechanism;
- wherein the second top bracket assembly further comprises: a second bracket coupled to the first top bar and to the third top bar at the end of the third top bar proximate to the frame, and a second locking mechanism;
- wherein when the first locking mechanism is in a first unlocked position, the first arm assembly is capable of folding along a first pivot point of the first top bracket assembly and a second pivot point of the first bottom bracket assembly,
- wherein when the second locking mechanism is in a second unlocked position, the second arm assembly is capable of folding along a third pivot point of the second top bracket assembly and a fourth pivot point of the second bottom bracket assembly.
8. The apparatus of claim 7,
- wherein the first locking mechanism comprises: a first flexible plate coupled to the first bracket at a first end of the first flexible plate; a first pin traversing the first flexible plate at a second end of the first flexible plate, wherein disengagement of the first pin from a first corresponding hole in the second top bar places the first locking mechanism in the first unlocked position;
- wherein the second locking mechanism comprises: a second flexible plate coupled to the second bracket at a first end of the second flexible plate; a second pin traversing the second flexible plate at a second end of the second flexible plate, wherein disengagement of the second pin from a second corresponding hole in the third top bar places the second locking mechanism in the second unlocked position.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first and second pivot points are more distal from the frame than the third and fourth pivot points.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 24, 2012
Publication Date: Dec 27, 2012
Applicant: (Hamilton, MA)
Inventors: James M. Moynihan (Hamilton, MA), Edward J. Moynihan (Whitman, MA)
Application Number: 13/531,559
International Classification: B65B 67/12 (20060101);