Trash bag for wet trash
A trash bag for containing wet trash has an outer ply of fluid imperious material defining an outer front wall and an outer rear wall of the bag, and an inner ply of fluid pervious material defining an inner front wall and an inner rear wall of the bag. The inner and outer plies form a compartment between them which contains a highly fluid absorbent material. The material is capable of capturing any fluids that enter the compartment from the interior of the bag thereby minimizing fluid leakage from the bag in the event that the outer ply of the bag is breeched.
This invention relates to a plastic trash bag. It relates especially to a trash bag for handling trash with a high moisture content and commonly referred to as wet trash.
Most commercial and residential trash receptacles are provided with a liner consisting of a plastic trash bag. Often, trash with a significant fluid content, i.e., wet trash, is thrown into these receptacles. This is particularly so in the case of receptacles located in public places such as parks, transportation terminals, malls and other areas located near retail food outlets. When that occurs, fluids collect at the bottoms of the standard trash bags or liners particularly as they are removed from their receptacles for disposal. Often, the welded seams of these bags are not able to withstand the weight of the contained fluids and consequently the fluids frequently leak out of the bags.
Also, in many metropolitan areas, trash bags are typically dragged across sidewalks to the curb for overnight collection. In some cases, the action of dragging the bags can puncture the bag allowing the bag contents to leak out creating a public health hazard as the exposed fluids and the punctured bag reposing at curbside can attract rodents, flies and other pests. In an attempt to overcome these problems, some receptacles have been fitted with heavy duty trash bags or liners having a greater wall thickness. While such bags are better able to withstand frictional forces due to dragging of the bag, they still leak when punctured by a sharp object. Also the weight of fluids in the bags can still cause leakage at the bag seams.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, the present invention aims to provide an improved trash bag for containing wet trash.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bag of this type which is especially adapted to serve as a liner for commercial trash receptacles.
Another object of the invention is to provide a trash bag which suffers minimum leakage even when punctured by an external object.
A further object of the invention is to provide a trash bag for containing wet trash which does not tend to leak even if a bag seam should be compromised to some extent.
Other objects will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the following detailed description, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
Briefly, the bag comprises an outer layer or ply of fluid impervious sheet material and an inner ply or layer of fluid pervious sheet material. The inner ply or layer occupies at least a portion of the bottom of the bag and is seamed to the outer layer to form a compartment between the two plies or layers which contains a layer of highly absorbent material. When wet trash is placed in the bag, the fluid content of that trash will penetrate the pervious inner ply of the bag and will be absorbed by the absorbent layer. Therefore, even if the outer wall of the bag should be breeched, since the fluids have been bound to the absorbent layer, there should be no leakage from the bag. The same is true if a bag seam is compromised due to the weight of fluids collected at the bottom of the bag. If desired, other substances such as a deodorizing agent, a neutralizing agent or the like may be included in the compartment to complement the fluid absorbing capacity of the bag.
Since it does not tend to leak, the present bag is especially suitable as a liner for receptacles in kitchens, HAZMAT facilities, hospitals, restaurants, airports, schools, and other locations where wet trash is discarded on a regular basis.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFor a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The bag also includes an inner ply or layer 16 of a flexible sheet material. Like ply 12, ply 16 is folded to form front and rear walls 16a and 16b and the upper edges of those walls are secured to walls 12a and 12b by transverse bonded or welded seams 18a and 18b to define a compartment 22 between the two plies 12 and 16, respectively. While the inner ply walls 16a and 16b are shown as extending about a third of the way up from the bottom of the bag, it should be understood that those walls could extend higher or even all the way to the top of the bag in which case the seams 18a and 18b would be located at or near the top of the bag.
In accordance with the invention, ply 16 is impervious or impermeable to water and other fluids. In the illustrated bag, ply 16 is of the same impervious material as ply 12 but is provided with a multitude of small holes or perforations 24 which allow fluid to flow from the interior of the bag into the compartment 22. However, ply 12 could just as well be of a woven plastic sheet material which can be penetrated by water and other fluids.
As shown in
Still referring to
For some applications, the bag may include one or more substances 30 in compartment 22 as shown in
The bag shown in
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that when wet trash is thrown into the present bag, the bag is able to separate fluids from the solid trash by allowing the fluids to flow into the compartment 22 and be captured by the absorbent material 26 therein. Any fluid volume that may be in excess of the absorbing capacity of material 26 will still be trapped by the bag's fluid impervious outer ply 12. On the other hand, if the outer ply 12 or the seams 28a, 28b should be compromised, any leakage from the bag will be minimal because most or all of the fluid is captured in absorbent material 26. As a result, the bag helps to prevent liquid contaminants from being introduced into an otherwise clean environment. This is particularly important in commercial food preparation areas, hospitals, nursing homes and the like where contamination could result in a serious health hazard.
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained. Also, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention described herein.
Claims
1. A trash bag comprising
- an outer ply defining an outer front wall and an outer rear wall of the bag, said outer ply being fluid impervious;
- an inner ply defining an inner front wall and an inner rear wall, said inner ply being fluid pervious, said inner and outer plies defining a compartment between them, and
- a fluid absorbent material in said compartment for absorbing any fluids that enter the compartment from the interior of the bag.
2. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner ply and absorbent material occupy at least the bottom third of the bag.
3. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the outer ply comprises a plastic sheet.
4. The bag defined in claim 3 wherein the plastic sheet is of polyethylene or poly-propylene.
5. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner ply is a perforated plastic sheet.
6. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner ply is of a fluid permeable woven plastic material.
7. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the fluid absorbent material in a super absorbent in layer form.
8. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the fluid material is a super absorbent in granular form.
9. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner and outer plies have opposite side edges which are bonded together.
10. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner and outer plies have bottom edges which are bonded together.
11. The bag defined in claim 1 and further including a substance in said compartment capable of interacting with or countering the effects of fluids absorbed by said material.
12. The bag defined in claim 11 wherein the substance includes a deodorant.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 15, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 19, 2006
Inventors: Jay Jacoby (Boston, MA), Anthony Cerasuolo (Reading, MA)
Application Number: 11/107,514
International Classification: B65D 30/22 (20060101); B65D 30/08 (20060101); B65D 81/26 (20060101); B65D 85/84 (20060101);