Leaf funnel

Abstract

Apparatus for use with a paper yard waste bag is disclosed. The bag has a flat rectangular bottom and, when expanded and empty, interiorly defines a void substantially in the shape of a rectangular prism. The apparatus includes a body having collapsed and expanded configurations as well as a support and a chute. When collapsed, the support is smaller than said prism. When expanded and in use, the support is disposed in a portion of said bag to hold that portion at least substantially fully expanded and the chute is disposed exteriorly of the bag and leads through the support into said bag, the chute having a base side arranged substantially coplanar with a wall of the bag, thereby to permit said bag and apparatus to be positioned with the wall of the bag and the base side of the chute on the ground to function like a dustpan.

1 . An apparatus for use with a paper yard waste bag of the type which has a flat rectangular bottom and which, when fully expanded and empty, interiorly defines a void substantially in the shape of a rectangular prism, said apparatus comprising:
 a body having a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration and a support portion and a chute portion;   
       wherein in the collapsed configuration of the body, the support portion is smaller than said rectangular prism; and in the expanded configuration of the body and in use, the support portion is disposed in a portion of said bag to hold that portion of said bag at least substantially fully expanded and the chute portion defines a chute disposed exteriorly of the bag and leading through the support portion into said bag, the chute having a base side arranged substantially coplanar with a wall of the bag, thereby to permit said bag and the apparatus to be positioned with the wall of the bag and the base side of the chute on the ground to function in the manner of a dustpan. 
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein in the expanded position of the body and in use, a base side of the support portion is substantially coplanar with the base side of the chute and extends substantially the full width of the wall of the bag. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the apparatus is biased for movement towards the expanded configuration. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the chute is a funnel. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the body is defined by a single sheet of plastic. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein in the expanded configuration of the body, the support portion has a generally triangular cross-section. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein in the expanded configuration of the body, the support portion has a generally triangular cross-section. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the sheet of plastic, if laid flat and viewed in plan, is generally rectangular. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein:
 the base side of the chute is defined between two slits which extend from a common edge of the sheet, spaced apart from one another and extending away from one another as they extend from the common edge to respective termini; and   a crease is provided in the sheet for each slit, the creases extending outwardly from one another to respective edges of the sheet which are opposite to one another and connected by the edge of the sheet from which the slits extend, each crease extending from the termini of the slit for which it is provided.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein in each portion of the sheet bounded by the perimeter of the sheet, a slit and a crease, an aperture is provided, to define in said each portion a handle which permits the apparatus to be drawn from the bag when the bag has been filled. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein, notches are provided in the opposite edges of the sheet such that the creases provided for the slits terminate in the notches. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein a pair of folds are provided in the sheet, each fold extending from a respective notch, towards the edge of the sheet opposite the edge of the sheet from which the slits extend, to define a pair of flaps, the flaps, in use and in the expanded configuration of the body, overlapping one another and being orientated substantially parallel to the base side of the support portion.