Filling device for use with plastic trash bags

Claim 1

In combination with a bag having a flexible wall providing a bottom at one end and an opening at an opposite end, said flexible wall normally incapable of supporting itself in a fully upright open position, an open-ended frusto-conical liner mounted in said bag to support said bag wall only from the inside during filling of said bag with materials, said frusto-conical liner having a lower end larger than its upper end and engaged with the bottom of the bag during initial filling of the bag to anchor the bag so that it resists being upset easily during filling, said liner being fabricated of a sheet of flat material having upper and lower arcuate edges with the lower edge being longer than the upper edge, said liner being readily bendable about an upright axis to afford disposition of the liner either in an erect frusto-conical usage configuration or in a flat storage configuration, said liner having edge margins extending between said upper and lower arcuate edges and overlapping one another when said liner is erect, and including complimentary fastening means mounted on said liner edge margins for releasably securing said liner in said erect frusto-conical usage configuration while affording ready dismantling of said liner for storage.