Stacked plastic bag system with auto-inserting tongue mechanism and method for easy opening

Abstract

A stacked plastic film bag system includes a plurality of open top bags and at least one tongue for separating front and back panels of a bag that is next to be dispensed. Each bag has a header for maintaining the plurality of stacked open top bags in a mechanically pressed and/or heat-sealed. The tongue(s) extends below the front panel tops of the bags so as to permit a bag user to pull off a most forward bag wherein the front panel of the next sequential bag will be pulled forward so as to position in front of the tongue and will fall back to rest after complete removal of the most forward bag to effect interleafing of the tongue between the front panel and the back panel of each next sequential bag to ready it for easy removal and to inhibit static cling of the front and back panels.

1 . A stacked plastic film bag system, which comprises: 
 (a) a plurality of stacked open top bags, each bag including: 
 a front panel and a back panel, said front panel and said back panel being formed of a flexible plastic film, and each having an inside and an outside, and each having a top, a bottom, a left side and a right side, said front panel having a predetermined width at it's top and having a predetermined height, said back panel and said front panel being connected to one another at said sides and said bottom and being open at said top to establish said bag;  
   (b) each of said plurality of stacked open top bags having a header for maintaining said plurality of stacked open top bags in a mechanically pressed or heat sealed stack with sufficient connection between bags to maintain said stack and to permit pull-apart removal of each sequential bag from said stack; and,    (c) at least one tongue connected to said headers and extending downwardly therefrom in front of said plurality of stacked open bags, said at least on tongue extending to at least one half inch below said front panel tops of said plurality of stacked open bags so as to permit a bag user to pull off a most forward bag wherein the front panel of the next sequential bag will be pulled forward so as to position in front of said at least one tongue and will fall back to rest after complete removal of said most forward bag to effect interleafing of said at least one tongue between the front panel and the back panel of said next sequential bag to ready it for easy removal and to inhibit static cling of said front panel to said back panel of said next sequential bag.    
   
   
       2 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 1  wherein each said header includes a perforation to render each bag removable from said header with little force.  
   
   
       3 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 1  wherein said header includes at least two perforations for hanging said plurality of stacked open bags on a corresponding hanger.  
   
   
       4 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 1  wherein said at least one tongue is a flat member connected to a front area of a frontmost header.  
   
   
       5 . The stacked film bag system of  claim 1  wherein said at least one tongue has an inverted U-shaped side view, extends over said headers of said plurality of stacked open bags, and is attached to a front most header and to a backmost header.  
   
   
       6 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 1  wherein there are at least two tongues.  
   
   
       7 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 1  wherein there are two tongues.  
   
   
       8 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 7  wherein said two tongues are separate members from one another.  
   
   
       9 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 7  wherein said two tongues are part of a single member having a common overheader section.  
   
   
       10 . The stacked plastic film bag system of  claim 1  wherein each bag of said plurality of stacked open bags is attached to each adjacent bag for pull-apart separation from one another, with an attachment selected from the group consisting of heat seal, mechanical compression weld and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       11 . A method of dispensing a bag from a stacked plastic bag system, which comprises: 
 A) Providing a stacked film bag system, including:    (a) a plurality of stacked open top bags, each bag including: 
 a front panel and a back panel, said front panel and said back panel being formed of a flexible plastic film, and each having an inside and an outside, and each having a top, a bottom, a left side and a right side, said front panel having a predetermined width at it's top and having a predetermined height, said back panel and said front panel being connected to one another at said sides and said bottom and being open at said top to establish said bag;  
   (b) each of said plurality of stacked open top bags having a header for maintaining said plurality of stacked open top bags in a mechanically pressed or heat sealed stack with sufficient connection between bags to maintain said stack and to permit pull-apart removal of each sequential bag from said stack; and,    (c) at least one tongue connected to said headers and extending downwardly therefrom in front of said plurality of stacked open bags, said at least on tongue extending to at least one half inch below said front panel tops of said plurality of stacked open bags so as to permit a bag user to pull off a most forward bag wherein the front panel of the next sequential bag will be pulled forward so as to position in front of said at least one tongue and will fall back to rest after complete removal of said most forward bag to effect interleafing of said at least one tongue between the front panel and the back panel of said next sequential bag to ready it for easy removal and to inhibit static cling of said front panel to said back panel of said next sequential bag;    B.) Removing a most forward bag from said stack by pulling it forward and simultaneously opening the next sequential bag to automatically insert said at least one tongue between said next sequential bag front panel and back panel and to inhibit static cling therebetween.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein each said header includes a perforation to render each bag removable from said header with little force.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein said header includes at least two perforations for hanging said plurality of stacked open bags on a corresponding hanger.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein said at least one tongue is a flat member connected to a front area of a frontmost header.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein said at least one tongue has an inverted U-shaped side view, extends over said headers of said plurality of stacked open bags, and is attached to a front most header and to a backmost header.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein there are at least two tongues.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 11  wherein there are two tongues.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein said two tongues are separate members from one another.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein said two tongues are part of a single member having a common overheader section.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 11  wherein each bag of said plurality of stacked open bags is attached to each adjacent bag for pull-apart separation from one another, with an attachment selected from the group consisting of heat seal, mechanical compression weld and combinations thereof.