GB2362090A - Bag carrying and closure device - Google Patents

Abstract

A device 1 for carrying and holding closed a bag 3 comprises a channel 2 suitable for inserting two bag handles 4 and retaining or clip means for securing together the bag handles. The clip means may comprise two clips 7 which are located one at each end of the channel 2, and which may comprise a pair of 'fins'. Each 'fin' pair may have interlock means e.g. lugs 8 to secure them together and they may be hingedly mounted at the channel ends to enable them to be folded inwards for compactness when storing. The device may include finger indentations 6. Alternatively, the channel 2 maybe formed from two walls (11, Fig. 8) coupled together by a longitudinal hinge means which may comprise a hinge pin 12 having pressure angle control means using a biassing spring. The 'fins' may have a decorative motif.

Description

2362090 BAG CARRYING AND CLOSURE DEVICE This invention relates to a bag

carrying and closure device. It relates particularly to a device that can be attached to the conventional open- top grocery shopping bag provided by supermarkets and stores to enable carry handles located on an upper part of the bag to be secured together. The grocery items carried in the bag will thereby be more reliably contained therein and the full bag can be more easily carried by the customer.

A great deal of household grocery shopping today is done in supermarkets and stores where the shop provides an open-top plastics shopping bag that enables the customer to carry the groceries to a car park and eventually to the customer's home. Since the bag is generally provided at no charge to the customer, it is manufactured at a minimal cost but it still includes two integral carry handles which extend above a load carrying part of the bag. However, when the bag is placed in a car boot and the car is driven a short distance, there is a tendency for the bag top to fall open and the grocery items to spill out and become distributed over the car floor. This causes some trouble to the customer since the groceries will need to be repacked before they can be taken into the home.

The present invention was devised to provide a bag carrying and closure device that would serve to retain packed items in a plastics shopping bag and enable the bag to be carried more easily.

According to the invention, there is provided a bag carrying and closure device comprising a rigid channel section of such a length that it will be possible to secure two shopping bag handles together in the said section, the section supporting clip means effective to retain the bag handles together when they are located in the section. Preferably, the said clip means comprises two clips which are located one at each end of the channel section.

Each clip may be arranged in the form of a pair of fins which extend outwards from each side of one end of the channel section. The two fins of a pair may be secured together -2by an interlocking lug arrangement such that they will be able to attach the channel section to the bag. The interlocking lug arrangement may include male and female type members such as a press-stud fixing connector.

The channel section may have a generally U-shaped cross-section. A lower side of the U-shape may be provided with finger indentations to allow the channel section to form a comfortable hand-hold when a bag in the device is required to be carried.

At one or both ends of the channel section, a pair of fins may be hingedly mounted on the channel end. This can enable the fins to be folded apart from one another so they will lie against the channel sides when the fins are not required. This can enable the bag closure device to be rearranged into a compact shape when it is out of use and required to be carried in a pocket or purse to the supermarket. The fins may be spring-loaded so that they will tend to be moved to a position where the fin lies alongside the channel side.

One or both of the fins of a pair may be provided with a decorative motif. Some examples of motifs that have been applied in practice are sports symbols, cartoon characters, baseball caps, animal characters, company logos, ice hockey sticks or boots, bottle or drink can shapes, football boots and football team motifs. The fin may be provided, for example, in the shape of the particular motif or by a painted surface or by embossing the shape on the fin.

The invention also comprises a method of constructing a bag carrying and closure device.

By way of example, a particular embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the bag carrying and closure device when mounted for use on a plastics carrier bag, Figures 2 and 3 are views from above of the device on its own where the end clips are depicted respectively in a closed and an open position, Figure 4 shows a bag carrying and closure device including end clips in the shape of a rugby football motif, Figure 5 shows cross-sectional views of two different closure device embodiments shaped by a vacuum forming process, Figures 6 and 7 are alternative embodiments where the clips are in the form of fins which are able to be folded to give a more compact construction of the closure device, and, Figure 8 is a further embodiment where the whole closure device is constructed in a form capable of being folded like a door hinge.

As shown particularly in Figure 1, the bag carrying and closure device 1 comprises a U-shaped channel section 2 which is formed from a plastics composition by a vacuum forming process. The section 2 is able to be passed below the handle part of a supermarket carrier bag 3 so that the bag handles 4 will become accommodated in the hollow part of the channel section 2. This arrangement will then enable a customer to lift a bag 3 after this has b een filled with grocery purchases and then carry the bag a short distance without the bag handles 4 tending to cut into the customer's fingers.

In addition, the channel section 2 is provided with finger indentations 6 which form a comfortable region where the customers fingers can be placed to make the use of the device 1 of even greater benefit to the customer.

Furthermore, the channel section 2 includes two clip means which are located at the ends of the section. Each clip means is formed from a pair of fins 7 between which the bag handles 4 are passed before the handles are lodged in the hollow part of the section 2. The two fins of each pair are then optionally secured together by the engagement of interlocking lugs 8 to retain the handle 4 in the section 2.

The pair of fins 7 at the opposite end of the section 2 are similarly secured together to retain the handle in the closure device.

This means ensures that the two handles 4 of the bag will be secured together in the section 2 for easy carrying of the bag by the customer. Additionally, the section 2 has been temporarily attached to the bag by the closure of the lugs 8 on the fins 7. -This serves to hold the upper part of the bag closed and it also secures the section 2 to the bag so that it cannot become disengaged until the customer requires the bag to be opened. In this way, once the bag top has been secured by the bag closure device, the customer will know that the goods in the bag will be retained safely until the goods have been taken to the customer's home so that the customer can unpack the bag.

Figure 2 is a view from above of the closure device where the pairs of fins 7 at each end can be seen. Each fin 7 pair includes the interlocking lugs 8 and these are shown secured together in the Figure 2 view. Figure 3 is a similar view with the lugs 8 in an unsecured condition. In this position, the handle supports on a bag can be passed between the fins 7 to allow the bag handles to be accommodated along the length of the section 2. One interlocking lug 8 arrangement which has been used with this embodiment is a plug and socket fixing, a moulded plug being located on the first fin of a pair and a socket being provided on the second fin.

Figure 4 is a side view of the bag carrying and closure device where the end fins 7 are formed in the shape of a rugby football motif.

Figure 5 shows cross-sectional views of two embodiments constructed by a vacuum -5forming process and having profiles of the section 2 corresponding to V- and U- shapes.

Figure 6 is a different embodiment where the fins 7 at the ends of the closure device are mounted on pivots on the section 2 so that they are able to be folded to lie against the main body of the device. In this embodiment, the two fins 7 of each pair are mounted with spring-loaded hinges (not shown) so that they will tend to be biassed towards one another. The spring action also allows the fins 7 to be folded inwards so that they will be able to lie against the inner walls of the device. This arrangement thus allows the device 1 to be carried in a compact form but it permits the fins 7 to be opened out very easily when it is required to be put into service. A finger slot 9 permits a fin 7 to be folded out readily when the device is required to be used.

Figure 7 shows the appearance of the device and it also depicts the outline of the fins 7 when they have been folded to lie alongside the inner walls of the closure device.

Figure 8 is a further embodiment where the closure device might be made in a metal construction, with two side walls 11 which are coupled together by a hinge pin 12 to form a body somewhat similar to a door hinge. In this particular embodiment, the fins are made in one piece with the side walls so that they form rigid extensions to the walls 11. To use this construction, the user will hold the device just beneath the position of the hinge pin 12 and the fins 7 will then be opened and closed by the action of folding the side walls 11 about the hinge pin 12.

In an alternative embodiment of the Figure 8 construction, the side walls 11 are connected to the hinge pin 12 by means including a spiral spring (not shown) located around the pin 12. The mounting of the side walls 11 allows them to lie in an attitude where the two walls enclose an angle of 45' when in a rest position. If an outward pressure is applied to the side walls 11 they may be moved apart from one another to a maximum angle of 80'. When -6this pressure is released, the spring action will tend to return the walls to the position in which they are at 45' to one another. Conversely. if an inward pressure is applied to the side wal Is 11 they may be moved towards one another to a minimum angle of 10'. When the pressure is reduced, the walls will again be returned to the rest position in which they are 45' apart. This arrangement of providing a biassing spring located about the hinge pin 12 may also be arranged to incorporate a certain amount of stiffness in the hinge so that the side walls 11 will tend to remain at any angle to which they may be moved by the user. This construction is able to include rigid fins extending from the ends of the walls 11, however, alternatively, it may use end fins which are capable of being folded either inwards between the side walls 11 or outwards to lie along the outer surfaces of the walls 11 in order to allow the device to be folded into a smaller space by the user.

In use of the bag carrying and closure device, it has been found to be able to be accommodated easily in a pocket or purse and then it may be readily fitted to a shopping bag when it is required for the bag to be carried. The bag may thus be carried home by the user without the normal bag handles tending to cut into the user's fingers. When the shopping bag is to be carried to a car park, the bag may be placed in a car boot without dif f iculty and the fact that the device will then remain attached to the bag handle means that the bag top will tend to be held in a closed condition so that the shopping will be retained in the bag and will not spill out when the car is moved. This thus adds considerably to the convenience of the user since otherwise it is difficult to support a shopping bag in a way that avoids spillage when a car is in motion. The shopping items may then be carried into the user's home, the bag carrying and closure device removed and the bag can be unpacked. The bag closure device can then be returned to the user's pocket or purse until the next time that this is -7required to be brought into service.

The bag carrying and closure device of the invention has been found to be inexpensive to manufacture. It can be provided in several different forms, a thin plastics version, a heavy plastics version and a metal model. The device is able to be stacked by partially fitting one unit into a similar unit and several devices are thus able to be accommodated in a small space. The use of different motifs on the fins at the ends of the device can enable the bag closure device to be used as an advertisement medium for promoting sales of a particular product or service. One version could be made, for example, as a give-away item to promote sales of supermarket goods. The bag carrying and closure device could easily be made to carry more than one bag. When several bag handles are coupled together in the interior of the device, this can enable a single device to carry a number of secured bags simultaneously.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1 A bag carrying and closure device comprising a rigid channel section of such a length that it will be possible to secure two shopping bag handles together in the said section, the section supporting clip means effective to retain the bag handles together when they are located in the section.

2 A device as claimed in Claim 1, in which the clip means comprises two clips which are located one at each end of the channel section.

3 A device as claimed in Claim 2, in which each end clip comprises a pair of fins which extend outward from each side at one end of the channel section.

4 A device as claimed in Claim 3, in which each fin pair includes interlock means by which the two fins of a pair may be secured together.

A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, in which a lower side of the channel section includes finger indentations.

6 A device as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 5, in which the two fins of a pair are hingedly mounted on an end of the channel section.

7 A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, in which the rigid channel section is formed of two side walls which are coupled together by a longitudinally- directed hinge means.

8 A device as claimed in Claim 7, in which the hinge includes a hinge pin and a spring pressure angle control means.

9 A device as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 8, in which at least one fin is provided with a decorative motif.

A bag carrying and closure device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.