Bag clamp

Abstract

An improved bag clamp and bag cutter is presented that is a non-obvious increase in capability over this inventor's previous bag clamp/cutter invention. The improved clamp possesses a stronger spring, an improved cutting blade with safety guard, a springboard button for pressing the blade firmly against a bag surface, and other improvements.

1. A improved  bag clamp for closing and cutting a polymer bag, said clamp , comprising:
 two opposed clamp members, wherein said clamp members are movable between a normally closed position and open condition, each one of  an opened position; 
 said clamp members identified respectively as an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member and each having an inner surface and an outer surface, ; 
 a gripping means disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members for gripping said bag, said gripping means including a plurality of internal ridges disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members,  
 each one of said clamp members possessing a mouth end for engagement of a bag surface and a grasping end for grasping by a user,  
 a hinge attaching said clamp members to each other, said hinge attached to each clamp member inner surface at a location between said mouth end and said grasping end, the hinge biased by a spring clip, said spring clip possessing increased strength over spring clips in previous applications,  
 each of said clamp member mouth ends possessing a lip for aiding in positioning said bag in said clamp,  
 said clamp members identified as an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member,  
 a finger movable button flexibly integrally attached to said upper clamp member and having mounted thereto a cutting blade, said finger movable button facilitating the moving of said cutting blade downwardly from a retracted non- bag engaging position into an anvil protected bag cutting position;   
 a cutting means disposed on the inner surface of said upper clamp member, said cutting means comprised of a cutting blade, a springboard button, and a blade guard,  
 said cutting blade possessing a characteristic shape and increased sharpness such that cutting efficiency is improved over previous cutting blade designs for this application,  
 a split anvil means disposed on  integrally attached to the inner surface of said lower clamp member, said split anvil means  and disposed in such a manner that it is  directly opposite said cutting means  blade when said upper clamp member and said lower clamp member are disposed in a  said normally closed position;  
   said split anvil having two parallel closely spaced upstanding side walls between which said cutting blade fits and is guided to said anvil protected bag cutting position as a user moves said finger movable button flexibly downward;    
   a blade guard mounted to said finger movable button for providing said cutting blade with a protected space when said cutting blade is disposed in said retracted non - bag engaging position; and    
   wherein said two parallel closely spaced upstanding side walls facilitate holding up a bag material captured between said two opposing clamp members to allow the cutting blade to more easily engage and penetrate said bag material as said cutting blade is pressed downwardly by said finger movable button through said blade guard, and further downwardly into said anvil protected bag cutting position.    
 
     
     
       2. A  The bag clamp as in  according to  claim 1 , where  wherein said finger movable button is a springboard button is a piece of the upper clamp member, the piece  flexibly attached to the remainder of the  said upper clamp member, the piece  springboard button possessing an upper surface and a lower surface, said piece  upper surface of said springboard button possessing concentric striations coincident with the upper surface of the upper clamp member. 
     
     
       3. A  The bag clamp as in  according to  claim 2 , where the cutting blade is attached fixedly to said springboard button lower surface and coincident with the lower surface of the upper clamp member. 
     
     
       4. A  The bag clamp as in  according to  claim 3 , where  wherein said blade guard is made of rigid material, the blade guard possessing a longitudinal slit, where the cutting blade is positioned such that when the springboard button is pressed flexibly downwardly toward said split anvil by the user, the blade extends through the longitudinal slit. 
     
     
       5. A  The bag clamp as in  according to  claim 4 , where said blade guard is made of flexible material, said blade guard attached movably at one end and fixedly at the other to said upper clamp member inner surface. 
     
     
       6. The bag clamp according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
   a set of opposing stretching members disposed on respective individual ones of the clamp members for stretching a bag to be cut for helping to improve blade cutting efficiency as said cutting blade is moved into engagement with said bag; and        wherein said set of opposing stretching members include a plurality of internal ridges disposed on the inner surface of each one of said clamp members.     
     
     
       7. The bag clamp according to  claim 6 , wherein each one of said clamp members having an inner and an outer surface, and wherein, said set of opposing stretching members are disposed on the inner surface of respective ones of said clamp members for gripping the bag. 
     
     
       8. The bag clamp according to  claim 7 , wherein each individual set of stretching members includes a plurality of internal ridges disposed on the inner surface of respective ones of said clamp members. 
     
     
       9. The bag clamp according to  claim 6 , wherein said two opposing clamp members are hinged and biased together in said normally closed position by a spring located on one of said clamp members; and
   wherein said opposing stretching members are further disposed on respective individual ones of the clamp members for helping to distribute the gripping force of said two opposing clamp member away from the location of said spring clip.     
     
     
       10. The bag clamp according to  claim 1 , wherein each one of said clamp members possessing a mouth end for engagement of a bag surface and a grasping end for grasping by a user. 
     
     
       11. The bag clamp according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
   a hinge attached to the inner surface of each respective clamp member at a location between said mouth end and said grasping end; and        wherein said hinge is biased by a spring clip.     
     
     
       12. A bag clamp, comprising:
   a pair of clamp members each having an inner surface and an outer surface;        securing means projecting upwardly from the inner surface of said pair of clamp members for spacing said pair of clamp members from one another along a rear portion thereon and for removably attaching said pair of clamp member to one another so they are biased together along a front portion thereof with a sufficient biasing force to clamp and hold a bag in a stationary position for closing and cutting purposes;        finger movable cutting means disposed in one of said pair of clamp members for biasing a cutting blade and a blade guard for rectilinear movement; and        bag raising stop means extending upwardly from the inner surface of one of said pair of opposing clamp members for holding a portion of said bag away from said inner surface and for limiting the path of travel of said blade guard as it and said cutting blade are pushed downward via a user pressing on said finger movable cutting means to facilitate bag cutting purposes.     
     
     
       13. The bag clamp according to  claim 12 , wherein said pair of clamp members includes an upper clamp member and a lower clamp member;
   wherein said upper clamp member and said lower clamp member each have a cutting channel defined by a rib extending upward from the inner surface of the corresponding clamp member and a lip extending upward from a mouth portion of the corresponding clamp, said rib and said lip of the corresponding clamp members engaging one another for clamping said bag between them when said clamp members are biased to a normally closed position.     
     
     
       14. The bag clamp according to  claim 13 , wherein one of said clamp members has a box- like boss with a centrally disposed open sleeve extending outwardly therefrom along the inner surface of said one of said clamp members; and      said box - like boss further having an elongated slot disposed therein for helping to facilitate rotational movement between said pair of opposing clamp members.     
     
     
       15. The bag clamp according to  claim 14 , wherein another one of said clamp members has an elongated bar- like boss with another centrally disposed open sleeve extending outwardly therefrom along the inner surface of said another one of said clamp members; and      said bar - like boss being dimensioned to be received within said elongated slot for further helping to facilitate rotational movement between said pair of opposing clamp members.     
     
     
       16. The bag clamp according to  claim 14 , wherein said sleeve and said box- like boss project upwardly at different heights from the inner surface of one of said clamp members.   
     
     
       17. A bag clamp, comprising:
   a pair of clamp members hinged together for relative movement between an open bag receiving position and a closed bag clamping position;        an upstanding split anvil integrally attached to an inner surface of an individual one of said pair of clamp members, said split anvil having two parallel sides between which a cutting blade is received;        a thin finger engagable button flexibly integrally attached to an outer surface of another individual one of said pair of clamp members, wherein the flexibility of said thin finger engagable button relative to the outer surface of said another individual one of said pair of clamp members allows said button under the finger force of a user to move downwardly and upwardly relative to said outer surface between a guard protected position and an anvil protected position;        wherein said finger button has attached thereto at a distal end thereof a cutting blade and at a proximal end thereof a blade guard, said cutting blade and said blade guard being disposed adjacent an inner surface of said another individual one of said pair of clamp members when said finger button is disposed in said guard protected position;        said cutting blade being hidden and concealed behind and above said blade guard in a blade protected position when said finger button is disposed in said guard protected position; and        said cutting blade being hidden and concealed between said two parallel sides in another blade protected position when said finger button is disposed in said anvil protected position.     
     
     
       18. The bag clamp according to  claim 17 , wherein said blade guard is disposed below said blade for shielding said blade, said blade guard having a slot disposed therein for allowing said blade to pass therethrough when said blade guard comes into resting engagement with said split anvil allowing said blade to pass through said slot and through a bag into said cutting blade receiving area of said anvil. 
     
     
       19. The bag clamp according to  claim 18 , wherein said blade guard and said anvil cooperate to hold a portion of the bag up and away from an inner surface of said one of the clamp members to facilitate bag cutting purposes;
   said slot and said slit being in longitudinal alignment when said pair of clamp members are disposed in said closed position with said blade guard resting against the bag for helping to hold the bag against said anvil to further facilitate bag cutting purposes.