Authors:
Kevin Guo, Yi-Tsung Chen, Justin Dhillion, E. Jingtong, Jessica Snead
Abstract:
Produce bags at grocery stores are often difficult to open, especially when your hands are too dry and there is not enough friction between your fingers and the bag. Our idea uses a rubber wheel and block to pull the produce bag open using friction.
Background:
Produce bags at grocery stores are often difficult to open, especially when your hands are too dry and there is not enough friction between your fingers and the bag. There have been several tricks to open them easily: 1. The vegetables at grocery stores are often sprayed to keep them fresh, therefore, you can touch the surface of the vegetables to get your hands wet first to increase friction when opening the produce bags (Before the outbreak of COVID-19, some shoppers would lick their fingers). This solution is not sanitary nor elegant, and your hands might get dirty after touching the vegetables. 2. Some shoppers would peel the stickers off the fruits, stick them on the top of the produce bags and pull them open. This solution takes time for the shopper to learn the trick, which decreases their shopping satisfaction.
Description:
Our idea uses a rubber wheel and block to pull the produce bag open using friction. The user would place the produce bag onto the wheel then clamp the block down from the top of the bag. The user then turns the wheel causing the bag to split open. This product could be attached to existing produce bag dispenser stands or just beside them for anyone to use. The goal is for a user to easily grab a produce bag and use this invention to open it if they are having trouble doing so.
- Insert the opening end of the produce bag onto the rubber wheel
- Close the top rubber block onto the opening tip of the rubber wheel
- Turn the handle counterclockwise as needed
Enabling Technology:
- Rubber wheel
- Rubber block
- Handle
- Hinge
TGCS Reference 3212
