1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to transportable containers and more particularly to a materials handling apparatus for facilitating the placement of various articles in containers and transporting of the containerized articles.
2. Description of the Background Art
Although the materials handling apparatus of present invention may be used for handling a large variety of articles, for purposes of this description, the articles to be placed in containers and transported will be described as waste materials such as household refuse, yard and garden trimmings and the like.
Various types of containers have traditionally been used to receive and contain waste materials and in recent times trash bags have come into wide use. Such bags come in various sizes and are most often made of synthetic resin (plastic) and sometimes of they are made of paper. In either case the bags are flimsy and are not self supporting which makes loading waste materials into them difficult unless they are supported is a suitable container. When such trash bags are used inside a home they are usually relatively small and are supported in waste baskets and are therefore well suited for such use. When this type of trash bag is used in commercial establishments, such as a restaurant, they are relatively large and are contained within trash cans.
However, when these bags are used outside such as for yard and garden clean-up they are usually relatively large and can be difficult to use. Most of the time people will struggle to manually hold these larger trash bags upright and open while trying to accomplish the loading operation and this can be a frustrating and often unsuccessful task. About the only time that such a bag loading operation is even reasonably successful is when one person holds the bag while another does the filling.
Another method for loading the larger trash bags is to insert them in a conventional cylindrical garbage can with the upper portion of the bag being folded over the rim of the can to hold the bag in the upright and open position. This method limits the amount of waste material that can be loaded into the bag in that loading an excessive amount of materials into the bag can make its removal from the garbage can difficult due to excessive weight and due to bulging of the sides of the bag into engagement with the interior walls of the can.
Therefore a need exists for a new and useful materials handling apparatus for aiding the containment and transporting of various materials.