EP0308063B1 - Bag - Google Patents

Abstract

There is disclosed a bag (10) of thermally insulating sheet material whose opening can be sealed by pressing the upper edges of the front (11) and rear (12) walls of the bag (10) together and unsealed by pulling them apart.

Description

• This invention relates to bags, primarily shopping bags and like bags for carrying groceries and provisions.
• Shopping bags have to some extent gone out of fashion nowadays, having been in large measure supplanted by one trip paper or flimsy plastic bags for packing supermarket purchases. The tendency to buy more goods on a single shopping trip resulted in the older-fashioned, so-called shopping bag being generally too small.
• A bag large enough to hold bulk purchases is, if of conventional design, also inconveniently large and bulky to carry when empty and to store when not in use.
• Bulk purchases moreover usually involve vehicular transportation either in the luggage compartment or on the seat of an automobile, or, in public transportation, on a luggage rack or shelf which may not be immediately adjacent the seats. Supermarket plastic and paper bags have no closure, and this means that they permit goods to spill out into the luggage compartment or over the floor of an automobile, while in public transport there is also the risk of pilfering.
• Since, moreover, frozen food is a major component of today's grocery shopping, it is desirable that bags be not merely closable but also sealable, the better to prevent such foods thawing out on the trip home. Such an insulating bag is disclosed in DE-A1-3 539 626 which serves as the basis for the preamble of claim 1.
• The present invention provides, however, a shopping bag which does not have these disadvantages of one-trip supermarket plastic or paper bags or of conventional, more durable shopping bags.
• The invention comprises an insulating bag for transportation of frozen or refrigerated foods having front and rear walls, there being an opening to the interior of the bag between the upper edges of said front and rear walls which opening can be sealed by pressing the inner faces of said edges together and unsealed by pulling said edges apart, and further including a rectangular base wall and triangular side walls, the bag being foldable at the junctions between the walls from which it is formed, characterised in that said base wall has a fold line centrally thereof and parallel with the lower edges of the front and rear walls and the side walls have fold lines centrally thereof and extending downwardly from the opening to meet the fold line in the base wall at the opposite ends thereof, the fold lines in the base and side wall being formed by welded seams and the said front and rear, base and side walls being formed of inner and outer layers and intermediate thermally insulating material.
• The bag may have handle means comprised by apertured flaps extending outwardly from the upper edges of said front and rear walls.
• The inner faces of the upper edges of the front and rear walls may carry lengths of tape which adhere when pressed together. Such tape may be of the type which comprises on one face cut pile loops of monofilament forming hooks engageable with uncut fibrous loops on the tape on the other face - this is sometimes known as "Velcro".
• The bag may have additional mechanical fastenings at each end of the said opening, which may comprise snap fastenings such as stud fasteners.
• The invention will be further apparent from the following description, with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawing, which show, by way of example only, one form of bag embodying same.
• One embodiment of a bag according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-

Figure 1

shows a partially cut-away view of a bag as it might be when in use;
and

Figure 2

shows a perspective view of the bag of Figure 1 folded flat for storage.

• Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that the bag, generally indicated at 10, comprises a front wall 11, rear wall 12, rectangular base wall 13, and opposite triangular side walls 14 and 15.
• All of these walls are of thermally insulating construction comprising inner and outer layers 16 and 17 of plastics sheet material enclosing an intermediate sheet of thermally insulating material 18, such as a fleece of polyester fibres for example.
• The walls are joined together at their edges along welded seams which define fold-lines. Additional welded seams define a fold-line 19 centrally of the base wall 13 and parallel with the lower edges of the front and rear walls and fold- lines 20 and 21 centrally of the side walls extending downwardly from the opening to the bag to meet the fold line 19 in the base wall at the opposite ends thereof, all whereby the bag may be folded flat for storage as shown in Figure 2.
• The opening to the bag defined between the upper edges of the front and rear walls 11 and 12 may be sealed by pressing the inner faces of such edges together and unsealed by pulling them apart. The inner faces of such edges are provided with textile tapes 22 and 23 providing cut pile loops of monofilament and uncut fibrous loops respectively. Suitable tapes are marketed under the name Velcro (Registered Trade Mark).
• Additional mechanical fastenings in the form of snap-stud fasteners 27 are provided at each end of the opening.
• Alternatively the edges may carry plastic tapes providing interengageable ribs and grooves or similar formations.
• The bag has a carrying handle comprised by flaps 24 and 25 extending outwardly from the upper edges of the front and rear walls. The flaps 24 and 25 are provided with apertures 26 shaped to receive the fingers of one hand.
• It will be appreciated that it is not intended to limit the invention to the above example only, many variations, such as might readily occur to one skilled in the art, being possible, without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (7)

1. An insulating bag for transportation of frozen or refrigerated foods having front and rear walls (11,12), there being an opening to the interior of the bag between the upper edges of said front and rear walls (11,12) which opening can be sealed by pressing the inner faces of said edges together and unsealed by pulling said edges apart, and further including a rectangular base wall (13) and triangular side walls (14,15), the bag being foldable at the junctions between the walls (11,12,13,14,15) from which it is formed, characterised in that said base wall (13) has a fold line (19) centrally thereof and parallel with the lower edges of the front and rear walls (11,12) and the side walls (15,14) have fold lines (20,21) centrally thereof and extending downwardly from the opening to meet the fold line (19) in the base wall at the opposite ends thereof, the fold lines (19,20,21) in the base and side wall being formed by welded seams and the said front and rear, base and side walls (11,12,13,14,15) being formed of inner and outer layers (16,17) and intermediate thermally insulating material (18).
2. A bag according to claim 1, characterised by including handle means (24,25) at its upper end.
3. A bag according to claim 2, characterised in that said handle means is comprised by apertured flaps (24,25) extending outwardly from the upper edges of said front and rear walls (11,12).
4. A bag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the inner faces of the upper edges of the front and rear walls (11,12) carry lengths of tape (22,23) which adhere when pressed together.
5. A bag according to claim 4, characterised in that the tape on one face has cut pile loops of monofilament forming hooks engageable with uncut fibrous loops on the tape on the other face.
6. A bag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that there are mechanical fastenings at each end of the said opening.
7. A bag according to claim 6, characterised in that said mechanical fasteners comprise snap fastenings such as stud fasteners.

Images