DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a bag sealing system.

Known bag sealers typically comprise a device incorporating a sealer for sealing an end of an open bag when the end is scrunched or compressed together. For example, the sealer may be an adhesive tape which is passed around the scrunched or compressed end of the bag.

It will be appreciated that there are many situations in which the sealing of bags is desirable so as to prevent the contents of the bag from escaping the bag. For example, refuse bin bags and food bags both require sealing once they have been filled.

A known bag sealer is disclosed in US 2012/0046152, and comprises an installation wheel having a roll of adhesive tape, a rotary wheel with a trough for receiving an end of a bag, and a blade unit for cutting through the adhesive tape after it has been passed around the end of the bag by rotating the rotary wheel. Fig. 2 of this document appears to show a base with holes for fixing the bag sealer to a surface.

One of the problems with known bag sealers is how to make them readily available for use in the situations where they are required. It is known to incorporate a bag sealer within a refuse bin, however, adhesive tape that has been drawn off a roll in preparation for sealing may be exposed to the dusty interior of the refuse bin for significant periods of time before it is actually used and may lose its

effectiveness, resulting in poor quality sealing.

Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a bag sealer that was suited to use in more than just one situation. It is therefore an aim of the invention to provide an improved bag sealing system.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a bag sealing system that comprises a bag sealer and a case for storing the bag sealer inside of the case. The case comprises a connection portion for connecting the bag sealer to the case whilst the bag sealer is outside of the case, so that the case supports the bag sealer for use in sealing bags.

Since the bag sealer is provided with a case, it can be returned to the case after use to protect the sealer of the bag sealer from the outside environment, for example to protect exposed adhesive tape from dust. Furthermore, the connection portion provides a way of supporting the bag sealer for use once it has been withdrawn from the case. For example, the connection portion may be configured to support the bag sealer in an orientation perpendicular to the case. Then, the case can act as a horizontal stabilising base that supports the bag sealer in a vertical orientation where it can be easily used. Alternatively, the bag sealer may also be used without the case, for example if the user wishes to manually hold the bag sealer, or if the bag sealer is temporarily held by another device to assist in its use.

The case may comprise a housing having upper and lower major faces, and the lower major face may be provided with non-slip feet formed of rubber or pliable plastics, to help prevent the case from slipping along a surface that the case is supported upon when the case acts as a base for supporting the bag sealer during use.

The upper and lower major faces may be joined together by opposing side faces along a length of the housing, and the bag sealer may be slidable in and out of the housing between the upper and lower major faces. The bag sealer may be a friction fit within the housing. Optionally, the bag sealer may comprise a tab at an end of the bag sealer, the tab protruding outside of the housing when the bag sealer is inside of the case, and the tab being pullable by a user to assist in withdrawing the bag sealer from the case. The connection portion may comprise a slot that extends across a width of the housing, and so the bag sealer may be conveniently attached to the case when outside of the case by locating an end of the bag sealer into the slot. Alternatively, other types of connection portions may be provided, such as protrusions that locate into the bag sealer, or the bag sealer may have protrusions that locate into holes of the housing.

The slot may be formed by a cut away portion of the upper major face and cut away portions of the sidewalls. The cut away portion of the upper major face may extend along the width of the housing, and the cut away portions of the sidewalls may extend at least partially along a depth of the housing from the upper major surface towards the lower major surface.

Then, the bag sealer may be eatable into the slot with sides of the housing bordering the cut away portion of the upper major face preventing movement of the bag sealer along a length of the housing, and with sides of the housing bordering the cut away portions of the sidewalls helping to hold the bag sealer in a vertical orientation. The bag sealer and the case may both be rectangular and a lengthwise end of the bag sealer may be eatable within the widthwise slot of the case so that the end of the bag sealer protrudes through and beyond the cut away portions of the sidewalls.

The bag sealer may for example comprise a housing with a channel and a bag sealing mechanism inside the housing, the bag sealing mechanism configured to seal a compressed end of a bag when the compressed end is drawn along the channel. The bag sealing mechanism may comprise a spool for adhesive tape, and a cutting device for cutting the adhesive tape once it has been applied to the compressed end of the bag.

The housing of the bag sealer may comprise front and back faces that extend between upper and lower ends of the bag sealer, and the channel may extend through the front and back faces, from the upper end towards the lower end. If the bag sealer is rectangular then the lower end may be a lengthwise end that is sized to fit into the slot of the case to support the housing of the bag sealer by the case so that the bag sealer can be used.

The bag sealing system may further comprise a refuse bin cradle, the refuse bin cradle sized to receive the bag sealer for use in sealing refuse sacks within the refuse bin, the bag sealer being interchangeable between the refuse bin cradle and the case. Accordingly, the bag sealing system could be used for sealing bags on a worktop whilst it is held by the case, then subsequently used for sealing refuse bin bags whilst it is held by the refuse bin cradle, and then returned to inside the case until it is needed again.

Advantageously, the refuse bin cradle may be formed as part of a lower lid for fitting to a refuse bin, the lower lid configured to fit over sidewalls of a main body of a refuse bin and to support a lid of the refuse bin. Therefore, the lower lid may be retrofitted between the main body and the lid of an existing bin so that the bag sealer can be placed into the refuse bin cradle when sealing of a refuse bag is required. It can be more desirable to seal a refuse bag whilst it is still within a refuse bin, than to withdraw the refuse bag from the refuse bin whilst the refuse bag is still unsealed with accompanying release of unpleasant odours.

The bag sealing system may further comprise a refuse bin that incorporates the refuse bin cradle at a top of the refuse bin, for example as part of a main body of the refuse bin. The refuse bin cradle may comprise left and right U-shaped sidewalls for supporting left and right ends of the bag sealer, enabling the bag sealer to be easily added to and withdrawn from the refuse bin cradle when required, by grasping a central area of the bag sealer.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective diagram of a bag sealing system according to a first embodiment of the invention, in a configuration where a bag sealer is inside of a case;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective diagram of the bag sealing system of Fig. 1 , in a configuration where the bag sealer is being withdrawn from the case; Fig. 3 shows another perspective diagram of the bag sealing system of Fig. 1 , in a configuration where the bag sealer is being held by the case outside of the case;

Figs. 4a - 4c show perspective diagrams of the use of the bag sealer to seal a bag;

Fig. 5 shows a perspective diagram of a bag sealing system comprising a refuse bin and the bag sealer of Fig. 1 ; and

Fig. 6 shows a perspective diagram of a bag sealing system comprising another refuse bin and the bag sealer of Fig. 6.

Same or similar reference signs denote same or similar features.

A first embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. The schematic diagram of Fig. 1 shows a case 10 that is being used to store a bag sealer 30 inside of the case 10. The case 10 is shown resting upon a table 5.

The case 10 comprises a housing 12, and the housing 12 is in the form of a rectangular box having a length Ln, a width Wd, and a depth Dp. The housing 12 is formed by an upper major face 14, a lower major face 16, and three sidewalls 18, 19, and 20 that are connected between the lower and upper major faces 16 and 14 and that form three adjoining sides of the rectangular box. The fourth side of the rectangular box is left open for the bag sealer 30 to pass into or out of the case 10.

A portion 22 of the upper major face 14, a portion 24 of the sidewall 18, and a portion 26 of the sidewall 20 have been cut away from the housing 12 to form a slot that extends along the full width of the housing 12. The slot is approximately mid way along the length of the housing 12, and in Fig. 1 the bag sealer 30 is visible through the slot. The cut away portions 24 and 26 of the sidewalls 18 and 20 extend from the upper major face 14 towards the lower major face 16, and in this particular

embodiment do not extend all the way to the lower major face 16, so that some of the depth of the sidewalls remains to help provide rigidity to the housing 12 at the region of the slot.

The bag sealer 30 comprises a housing 32 and a tab 33 that extends outwardly from a left side of the housing 32 and that protrudes beyond the housing 12 when the bag sealer is inside of the case 10. The bag sealer 30 is a friction fit inside of the housing 12 of the case, and the tab 33 can be grasped by a user and pulled in a direction D to slide the bag sealer out of the case, as shown in Fig. 2.

The housing 32 of the bag sealer comprises a front face 34 and back face 36 that both extend between an upper end 38 and a lower end 40 of the bag sealer. A channel 42 extends through the front and back faces, from the upper end 38 towards the lower end 42. The channel 42 comprises an enlarged region 44 at the end of the channel closest to the lower end 40. The enlarged region 44 is considered to be enlarged since it is larger than the remainder of the channel.

Once the bag sealer 30 has been fully withdrawn from the case 10, the lower end 40 of the bag sealer can be inserted into the slot in the housing 12 formed by the cutaways 22, 24, and 26, as shown in Fig. 3. The cutaways 22, 24, and 26 have a width that matches the distance between the front and back faces 34 and 36 of the bag sealer, so that the bag sealer 30 is a friction fit inside of the slot of the housing 12.

The cutaways 24 and 26 that extend in the depth direction Dp of the housing 12 mean that the bag sealer 30 is held perpendicular to the orientation of the housing 12 of the case. As shown in Fig.3, the case 10 rests horizontally on the table 5 and the bag sealer 30 extends vertically upwards in a convenient orientation for its use. The lower face 16 of the housing 12 of the case is provided with four non-slip rubber pads 28 to prevent the housing 12 from slipping along the table 4 during the use of the bag sealer 30. The four non-slip rubber pads are located near the corners of the lower face 16 as so only two are visible in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 also shows the bag sealing mechanism which is within the housing 32 and which is used for sealing bags. The bag sealing mechanism was omitted from the view of the bag sealer shown in Fig. 2 for clarity. The bag sealing mechanism comprises a spool 50 that holds adhesive tape 54 and which can rotate about a spindle 52 to release more adhesive tape as required. The bag sealing mechanism also comprises a rotatable wheel 56 with troughs for receiving a compressed end of a bag, and a cutting device 58 for cutting the adhesive tape 54 once it has been applied to the compressed end of the bag.

The use of the bag sealer 30 to seal a bag will now be described with reference to Fig. 4a to 4c. As shown in Fig.4a, the open end of a bag 62 has been scrunched and compressed down into a compressed end 60 of the bag. The compressed end 60 is pulled downwardly through the channel 42, and as shown in Fig. 4b this downward movement results in the bag sealing mechanism applying a portion of the adhesive tape 54 to the compressed end 60 to seal the bag. The uncompressed portion 64 of the open bag is then withdrawn through the enlarged region 44 of the channel 42, as shown in Fig. 4c.

The precise details of operation of this type of bag sealing mechanism are known to those skilled in the art, and the bag sealing mechanism could for example be the same bag sealing mechanism as described in the above-referenced patent application US 2012/0046152.

Once the bag sealer 30 has been removed from inside the case 10, it could be used in association with another device to put it to use in a different type of situation, for example before or after the bag sealer 30 has been used together with the case 10 as described above.

One such other situation will now be described with reference to Fig. 5, which shows a refuse bin comprising a main body 72 for holding a refuse bag, and a lid 74 for placing over the main body 72 and providing access to the refuse bag when required. The main body 72 comprises a refuse bin cradle 76 for holding the bag sealer 30 at the top of the main body 72.

The refuse bin cradle 76 comprises a left side 77 which extends vertically downwards and has a U shaped cross section for receiving the left side of the housing 32 of the bag sealer, and a right side 78 which extends vertically downwards and has a U shaped cross section for receiving the right side of the housing 32 of the bag sealer. Accordingly, the bag sealer 30 can be slotted into the refuse bin cradle 76 whenever it is required, and withdrawn and returned to the case 12 after it has been used.

As an alternative to a refuse bin cradle being provided in the main body of a refuse bin, a refuse bin cradle may be provided within a lower lid that can be retrofitted to existing refuse bins by placing the lower lid between the main body and the lid of the refuse bin.

An example of this type of arrangement is Fig. 6, wherein a refuse bin comprises a main body 82 for holding a refuse bag, and a lid 84 for providing access to the refuse bag. A lower lid 83 is provided to fit between the main body 82 and the lid 84. The lower lid is shaped to fit upon the sidewalls of the main body 82, and has a large aperture through it so as not to interfere with refuse that is inserted into a refuse bag in the main body 82 via the lid 84.

The lower lid 83 comprises a refuse bin cradle 86 into which the bag sealer 30 can be fitted for sealing a refuse bag that is inside of the main body 82.

Further embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims will also be apparent to the skilled person.