Fully assembled, foldable device to which a perforated bag is attached to allow for the horizontal (parallel to the ground) bagging of leaves, grass trimmings, and other garden and lawn debris, especially via powered leaf blower
Large, pliable/flexible bags are widely used for collecting and discarding garden and lawn debris. Unfortunately, these bags alone make it very difficult for a single worker to both hold open the bag and deposit debris into the bag at the same time. Attempts have been made to provide frames for supporting an open bag to help a single user rake leaves and debris into a bag by him/herself; none have ever been created to blow leaves and other debris directly into a bag with a powered leaf blower—the device in this patent application is designed to do just that. Very significantly, the present invention is a foldable/collapsible self-contained fully assembled frame (hereinafter “the frame”) for the attachment of a perforated bag thereby requiring no additional add-on or separate frame parts to both fully function and to fold up for convenient storage, packaging, and transportability.
1 . A leaf and trash collection container comprising:
(a) a flexible, perforated collection bag having an open end and a closed end; and
(b) a self-supporting, foldable frame for receiving said open end of said flexible, perforated collection bag, said frame comprising;
(i) a rectangular or square enclosed arch lying in a substantially upright vertical plane, said arch formed by four (4) struts hinged together, wherein each of said four struts incorporates a clamping system for securing said flexible, perforated collection bag;
(ii) two (2) first integral components forming first opposing corners of the frame when fully assembled, said first integral components each connecting two adjacent strut ends and serving as single-plane hinges to allow said connected adjacent struts to pivot relative to one another in a single plane;
(iii) two (2) second integral components forming second opposing corners of the frame when fully assembled, said second integral components each connecting two other adjacent strut ends and serving as dual-plane hinges to allow said connected struts to pivot relative to—one another in two perpendicular planes;
(iv) a locking mechanism incorporated into at least one of said first or second integral components, said locking mechanism configured to lock the four struts in a position perpendicular to one another to form the rectangular or square enclosed arch; and
(v) a minimum of two (2) smaller support struts, each hinged to one of the integral components forming bottom corners of the frame, wherein said smaller support struts are configured to lie on the ground and are positioned perpendicularly to the strut forming the bottom of the rectangular or square enclosed arch to hold said arch in the substantially upright vertical plane.