Dispensers containing pre-formed bags are commonly provided in supermarkets and other retail outlets so that a customer may remove a bag from the dispenser in order to package loose products such as, for example, fruits and vegetables. Similar dispensers for carrier bags are provided at supermarket checkout tills and kiosks.

Our co-pending PCT patent application no. GBO1/04545 describes a bag dispenser in which bags are folded over a substantially upstanding wall and retained thereon. The bags each have base and mouth ends and a detachable retention tab attached to the mouth end by perforations. A retaining tongue passes through aligned apertures in the retention tabs of the bags in the stack so as to retain the bags in place on the dispenser. When a bag is required the user simply grasps the uppermost bag on the dispenser and drags it downwardly so that the perforations tear and the bag detaches from the retention tab.

GB2332422 describes a bag dispenser in which pre-formed bags are arranged into a stack that is folded over and housed in a closed box. The bags are held captively in the box by one of several anchorage designs that engage with holes in a detachable portion of the bag. In one embodiment the anchorage comprises a"header"in the container that is folded around a detachable bar block of the bag. The bar block is a piece of material that extends between the two handle and is detachably connected thereto by perforations. In practice these dispensers are supplied to the supermarkets as closed cardboard boxes that are pre-filled with bags. When required for use the box is placed on a suitable support and a panel removed so as to form an access aperture.

The bags are dispensed individually by pulling the uppermost bag through the aperture so that the bag tears from the bar block. When the box is empty it is discarded and replaced by a full one. This design is disadvantageous in that the box has to be oriented in one or two directions so as to provide access to the aperture, it uses a significant amount of material and has to be discarded after one use.

The objects of the present invention are to provide for an improved dispenser with increased versatility, which is simple to construct, easy to use and cheaper to make.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a combination of a dispenser and a stack of pre-formed flattened bags; the bags of each stack comprising a main body with front and rear walls, a closed base end, an opposite mouth end, and a retention portion detachably connected to the main body adjacent to the mouth end; the dispenser comprising a wall, the bags being folded around the wall such that they bend at a position intermediate the mouth and base ends, an upper portion of the bags including the retention portion being disposed on one side of the wall and a lower portion of the bags including the base ends being disposed on the other side, a retention member received in aligned apertures in the retention portions of the bags so as to retain the stack of bags on the dispenser such that when the main body of the uppermost bag in the stack is pulled relative to the retention member it becomes detached from its retention portion which is retained by the retention member; wherein the dispenser further comprises an elongate holding member that passes around the lower portion of the bags so as to hold them against the wall.

The holding member is preferably in the form of a belt, band or the like.

In one preferred embodiment the holding member is integral with the wall.

The holding member may be a pair of arms that extend from the wall on each side and wrap around the lower portion of the bags. The arms preferably have an interlocking configuration. Alternatively a single arm may be provided.

The interlocking configuration comprises a slit on each arm that is designed to engage with a slit on the other arm.

The holding member may be resiliently flexible such as, for example, an elastic band.

The elongate flexible holding member preferably passes around upper and lower portions of bags on each side of the wall.

In a preferred embodiment the retention member is integral with wall. It may be folded to form a loop around at least part of the retention portions.

Preferably the retention member has a free end that passes through a slot in wall and is secured to the wall.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a dispenser for a stack of pre-formed flattened bags; the bags of each stack comprising a main body with front and rear walls, a closed base end, an opposite mouth end, and a retention portion detachably connected to the main body adjacent to the mouth end; the dispenser comprising a wall, the bags, in use, being folded around the wall such that they bend at a position intermediate the mouth and base ends, an upper portion of the bags including the retention portion being disposed on one side of the wall and a lower portion of the bags including the base ends being disposed on the other side, a retention member for receipt in aligned apertures in the retention portions of the bags so as, in use, to retain the stack of bags on the dispenser such that when the main body of the uppermost bag in the stack is pulled relative to the retention member it becomes detached from its retention portion which is retained by the retention member; wherein there is provided an elongate holding member that, in use, passes around the lower portion of the bags so as to hold them against the wall.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a dispenser filled with a stack of bags in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view from below of the dispenser and bag stack of figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a plan view of a single bag from the stack of figures 1 and 2; Figures 4 and 5 are front and rear plan views of the dispenser of figures 1 and 2 shown before folding; Figure 6 is . perspective view from above of an alternative dispenser; and Figure 7 is a perspective view from below of the dispenser of figure 6 Referring now to the drawings, a stack of flat pre-formed bags 1 is (shown in dotted line) folded transversely on a dispenser 2 in figures 1 and 2.

Each bag 1 (figure 3) comprises a tube of plastics film that is flattened to form front and rear walls and is heat welded to form a transverse seal 3 at each end in accordance with known techniques. The material is cut away from a mouth end of the bag to define handle portions 4. A U-shaped perforated cut or line of weakening 5 between the handles defines a removable retention block 6 that becomes separated from the main body of the bag 1 when it is dispensed as will be described below. The retention block 6 shape is designed such that when it is removed from the main body of the bag the length of the handles 4 is increased. Each retention block 6 has an elongate aperture 7 for engagement with the dispenser will be described below.

A plurality of such bags is provided in the stack, the bags 1 being arranged such that they overlie each other in alignment.

The dispenser 2 is constructed from a single sheet of cardboard that is cut (see figures 4 and 5) and folded to define a support panel 10 around which the bags 1 are folded and supported, a retention member 11 for engagement with the retention blocks 6 of the bags 1 and a pair of arms 12 for holding the bags against the support panel 10.

The support panel 10 is planar and substantially rectangular with upper 13, lower 14 and side 15 edges and a rectangular slot 16 in its middle. The retention member 11 comprises an elongate strip of cardboard that is integral with the support panel 10 and is defined, in part, by two parallel cuts 17 extending perpendicularly from the upper edge 13 towards the slot 16. The elongate strip extends beyond the upper edge 13 of the support panel and terminates in a tab 18 that is designed for receipt in the rectangular slot 16. The arms 12 are integral with the panel 10 and extend perpendicularly from opposite side edges thereof. They are elongate and define upper and lower edges 20,21 and end tips 22. Each of the arms 12 has a slit 23,24 towards its tip 22, the slit 23 extending in a direction substantially parallel with the side edges 15 of the panel 10. In the left arm (referring to the orientation shown in figure 4), the slit 23 is cut in the lower edge 21 and a corner intersection of the tip 22 and lower edge 21 is arcuate. In the right arm 12, the slit 24 is cut into the upper edge 20 and the corner at the upper edge 20 is arcuate.

The dispenser is assembled by folding the bags 1 around the upper edge 13 of the support panel 10 such that the mouth ends and the base ends of the bags 1 are disposed on opposite sides of the panel. The arms 12 are folded rearwardly and then inwardly over the bottom end of the folded bag stack so as to overlap with each other and are secured together by interlocking of the slits 23,24 as shown in figure 1. The bottom half of the bag stack is thus held against the support panel 10 by the arms 12.

The retaining member is then formed into a loop by folding the elongate strip forwardly (about dotted line 30) through a right angle so that it is disposed over an upper edge of the retaining blocks, then (about dotted line 31) over the front of the blocks, before being folded rearwardly (about dotted line 32) so that it passes through the aligned apertures in the retention blocks. Finally, the tab 18 on the end of the strip is folded through a right angle (about dotted line 33) in the opposite direction to the previous folds so as to extend in a direction parallel to the plane of the support panel 10. The tab 18 is then secured to the panel by glue or other fastening means. The retaining member 11 is thus folded around the retention blocks 6 of the bag stack so as to retain them on the dispenser whilst the bags are dispensed.

In use, the dispenser 2 is held in or on any suitable holder or support such that the folded portion of the bags 1 is presented to the customer. The customer dispenses a bag by grasping the uppermost bag of the stack and pulling it towards him/her relative to the dispenser in a direction away from the retention member 11. The main body of the bag is torn along the line of weakening 5 from the retention blocks 6, which remain on the dispenser 2.

The benefit of the above-described dispenser is that it is relatively inexpensive and simple to manufacture, uses less material, and is simple to assemble. As the bags are held on the dispenser securely they may be supplied to the end user in that form without additional elements. For example, there is no requirement for additional packaging such as an outer housing or container. Moreover, the design is versatile in that it allows the retailers the freedom to use the dispenser with various different containers, housings, stands, supports or holders in any convenient orientation provided the folded portions of the bags are readily accessible to the consumer.

The upper and/or lower edges of the interlocked arms may be designed to engage with part of the holder to prevent the dispenser being pulled with the bag being dispensed. Alternatively any suitable form of securing arrangement may be used.

An alternative embodiment of the dispenser is shown is figures 6 and 7 in which parts corresponding to those of figures 1 to 5 are indicated by the same reference numerals increased by 100 and are not further described except in so far as they differ from their counterparts in figures 1 to 5. The dispenser 102 is constructed from a single sheet of cardboard that as in the previous embodiment defines a supporting panel 110 around which the bags 101 are folded and supported and a retention member 111 for engagement with the retention blocks of the bags 101.

Instead of a pair of arms the bags 101 are retained against the support panel 110 by means of an elastic band 120 that is entrained with an extended portion 121 of the dispenser as is described below.

The cardboard sheet of this embodiment is longer than that of the figure 1 embodiment and defines an extended portion 121 that is folded downwardly and forwardly over on the rest of the panel 110 so as to cover the base of the bags 101 on the underside of the dispenser. This extended portion 121 of the cardboard sheet tapers inwardly along the length of the underside of the dispenser and terminates in a support 122 for the elastic band 120. The support 122 has a pair of laterally extending L-shaped cut-outs 123 that define hooked formations for retaining the elastic band.

The elastic band 120 is stretched in a transverse direction over the bags 101 on the dispenser. On the upper side of the dispenser the band passes under or over the bag handles 104 and on the underside it passes over the lower portion of the bags and is received in the hooked formations of the support 122.

It is to be appreciated that numerous modifications may be made to the above described designs without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the bags may be detachable from the retention portions by means of any appropriate configuration of line of weakening or perforations or the like. Moreover, the retention members may be connected at the lines of weakening to any convenient point near to the bag mouth such as the edge of the mouth and/or the bag handles. In addition the retention portion of the dispenser may take any convenient form and need not be folded over the detachable portion of the bags. The arms of the dispenser of the first described dispenser may be replaced with any other convenient elongate member such as a band, strip, belt or the like that retains the lower parts of the bags on the support. Such a band may be elastic or resilient. It is also to be understood that the dispenser can be used for any suitable kind of article, for example, bags without handles, sheets or gloves provided an appropriate retention tab is present on the article. Finally, it is to be understood that the dispenser may be manufactured form any suitable material besides cardboard.