Sterile collection bag and method of opening using wire mechanisms

A sterile collection bag comprising:

• (a) a body including opposed side walls and an upper body end, the body having a width, each side wall having an exterior surface and a center section, the body defining a sterile collection space for an object;
• (b) a lateral tear line located below the body upper end;
• and
• (c) an opening mechanism located near the tear line, the opening mechanism including first and second flexible metal strips each having a first end, a second end, and a mid-section;
• the first and second ends of the first metal strip being proximate with the first and second ends of the second metal strip respectively and forming first and second end pairs respectively, the metal strips mid-section being attached to a side wall exterior surface and in an orientation parallel with the lateral tear line;
• the opposed ends of the metal strips being unattached to one another;
• the metal strips each being longer than the width of the body so as to extend beyond the side wall edges;
• the end of at least one metal strip extending outwardly beyond its opposed metal strip end;
• wherein during use, the upper end of the body is torn along the lateral tear line, the first ends of the metal strips are bent away from one another and the second ends of the metal strips are bent away from one another, the spaced-apart ends are pinched together and the first and second end pairs are pushed toward one another to cause the metal strips to bulge outward at their mid-section thereby further causing the body side walls to separate and form an opening through which the object may be inserted into the bag.

A method of opening a sterile collection bag comprising:

• (a) providing a bag including a body with opposed side walls and an upper end with an opening, the body having a width;
• and an opening mechanism including first and second flexible metal strips, each strip having a first and a second end, the first and second ends of the first metal strip being proximate with the first and second ends of the second metal strip respectively and forming first and second end pairs respectively, the metal strips being attached to the opposed side walls, the metal strips being longer than the width of the body so as to extend beyond the side wall edges, the ends of the metal strips being unattached to one another;
• (b) bending the ends of the metal strips away from one another;
• (c) pinching at least one of the spaced-apart ends of the metal strips together to cause the metal strips to bulge outward at their mid-section thereby further causing the body side walls to separate the opening so that an object may be inserted into the bag.