GB2389572A

GB2389572A - Carrier bag able to be enlarged

Info

Publication number: GB2389572A
Application number: GB0213294A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Simon Cotter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-06-10
Filing date: 2002-06-10
Publication date: 2003-12-17
Also published as: GB0213294D0

Abstract

A carrier bag (10) comprises a container portion (12) which is closed at the bottom and has an opening at the top to receive goods required to be held or carried. Handles (14) are provided. A lining portion 16 is disposed within or around the outside of the container portion (12) and comprises a sleeve which is attached round (or formed integrally with) the top of the inner or outer surface of the container portion (12) such that the upper opening of the sleeve (16) is substantially concentric with the opening of the container portion (12). The entire bag may be made of plastics material. In use, goods purchased at a retail outlet can be placed in the carrier bag (10) and held or carried thereby as required. When the cater bag (10) is no longer required for that purpose, a user can pull the end of the sleeve (16) which is not attached to the container portion (12) out of or from around the container portion (12), so as to extend the length of the bag (10) and enable it to be used as a refuse sack (18).

Description

r -1 CARRIER BAG

This invention relates to a carrier bag and, more particularly but not exclusively, to a carrier bag of the type frequently supplied by supermarkets and other retail outlets for transporting purchased goods from the shop.

It is well known that supermarkets and other retail outlets usually provide one or more carrier bags which a purchaser can use to conveniently transport the goods they have purchased. Typically, a carrier bag comprises a container made of flexible-materSal, such (RrM) as polytheneor similar plastics material, with an opening at the top to receive the goods required to be held or carried thereby. The container usually includes handles for allowing a user to conveniently carry the bag. The handles may simply be provided by two openings on opposite sides of the container, close to the top thereof. Altematively, loops may be provided at the top of the container, again on opposite sides thereof.

Thus, in order to transport groceries from the supermarket to purchasers' homes, for example, there is an enormous requirement for relatively small, plastic carrier bags. In most cases, once the groceries have been transported to their ultimate destination, these bags are of little use and become virtually redundant. As such most of these bags are then discarded. In recent years, disposal of such carrier bags is increasingly becoming an issue. They are usually made of a non-biodegradable plastics material and the quantity in which they are discarded results in the excessive waste of thousands of tons of non-biodegradable plastics, which must be land filled. Other such non-biodegradable commodities which are discarded and must be disposed of in great quantities include refuse sacks, waste bin liners and the like, which need to be somewhat larger than carrier bags to be convenient. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, have packaging waste recycling targets to meet, in an effort to reduce the detrimental effect on the environment of disposing of Me current level of non-biodegradable materials, but such targets are not necessarily easy to meet when the convenience of a widely-used commodity is likely to be adversely affected.

( I have now devised an arrangement which is intended to overcome the problems outlined above in the sense that it may be used to substantially reduce the number of non-

biodegradable items required to be disposed of over the same period of time. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a carrier bag comprising a container portion having an opening at the top, one or more handles, and a lining or cover portion comprising a sleeve, one end of which is attached to (or formed integrally with) said container portion, which lining or cover portion is adapted for selective use in a first configuration, in which it lines the inner surface or covers the outer surface of said container portion, or in a second configuration, in which it has been pulled out of or from around said container portion so as to increase the capacity of the container portion.

Thus, the carrier bag of the present invention has a second use in which it may b) used as, for example, a refuse sack. The result of this is that the number of polythene,or the like) bags which are discarded and require disposal can be effectively halved. The carrier bags) could be purchased or otherwise provided at the checkout of a supermarket or other retail outlet, in order to facilitate the transportation of groceries home. Once emptied, it could then be opened out so as to increase (say substantially double) its size to size convenient for use in storage, refuse collection or as a gardening aid. The bags could be manufactured and sold in different colours and even possibly used for local recycling purposes.

It will be apparent that the use of one bag instead of two has the potential to substantially reduce the formidable amount of plastics material used in today's society. It would at least give a conscientious consumer a choice in addressing and actively participating in cleansing the environment. It would also enable supermarkets and other retail outlets to assist in the goverurnent's drive to minimise excessive packaging and promote environmentally-friendly recycling projects.

The carrier bag including the container portion and the lining/cover portion may be made of any suitable flexible material, such as paper or, more preferably, plastics material such as polytheneor e like.

( -3 One end of the sleeve forming the cover or lining portion is preferably attached to the container portion at or adjacent the end thereof having the opening such that the sleeve openings and the opening of the container portion are substantially concentric. The other end of the sleeve is then preferably disposed at or adjacent the closed end (i.e. the bottom) of the container portion in the first configuration.

In the case where the carrier bag has a cover portion, a logo or other printed information may be provided on the outer surface of the cover portion such that it is externally visible in said first configuration and not visible in said second configuration (because when the unattached end of the cover portion is pulled upwards (toward and then beyond the open end of the container portion, it effectively turns inside-out, thereby causing the surface having the printed information thereon to face inwards.

In the second configuration, the carrier bag may be used as a refuse sack or the like.

The one or more handles may be in the form of one or more openings in the container portion and/or lining or cover portion. Altematively, they may take the form of loops attached to or formed integrally with the top of the container portion and/or the lining or cover portion.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of examples only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure IA is a schematic diagram of a carrier bag according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of the carrier bag of Figure IA illustrating the operation whereby the lining portion is being pulled out of the container portion; Figure 1C is a schematic diagram of the carrier bag of Figure I A illustrating the refuse sack resulting from the operation of pulling the lining portion out of the container portion; Figure 2A a schematic diagram of a carrier bag according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of the carrier bag of Figure 2B illustrating the operation whereby the lining portion is being pulled out of the container portion; Figure 2C is a schematic diagram of the carrier bag of Figure 2A illustrating the refuse sack resulting from the operation of pulling the lining portion out of the container portion; Figure 3A a schematic diagram of a carrier bag according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of the carrier bag of Figure 3B illustrating the operation whereby the lining portion is being pulled from around the container portion; arid Figure 3C is a schematic diagram of the carrier bag of Figure 3A illustrating the refuse sack resulting from the operation of pulling the lining portion from around the container portion. Referring to Figure 1A of the drawings, a carrier bag 10 according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a container portion 12 which is closed at the bottom and has an opening at the top to receive goods required to be held or carried.

Handles 14 are provided by openings in the container portion 12, on opposite sides thereof.

A lining portion 16 is disposed within the container portion 12 and comprises a sleeve which is attached around the top to the timer surface of the container portion 12 such that the upper opening of the sleeve 16 is substantially concentric with the opening of the container portion 12.

In use, goods purchased at a retail outlet can be placed in the carrier bag 10 and held or carried thereby as required. When the carrier bag 10 is no longer required for that purpose, a user can pull the end of the sleeve 16 which is not attached to the container portion 12 out of the container portion 12 (as illustrated in Figure IB), so as to extend the length of the bag 10 (as illustrated in Figure IC) and enable it to be used as a refuse sack 18.

Referring to Figure 2A of the drawings, a carrier bag 20 according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention once again comprises a container portion 22 which is closed at the bottom and has an opening at the top to receive goods required to be held or carried. Handles 24 are provided in the form of loops at the lope of Me container portion

( -s - 22, on opposite sides thereof. A lining portion 26 is disposed within the container portion 22 and comprises a sleeve which is attached around the top to the inner surface of the container portion 22 such that the upper opening of the sleeve 26 is substantially concentric with the opening of the container portion 22.

Once again in use, goods purchased at a retail outlet can be placed in the carrier bag 20 and held or carried thereby as required. When the carrier bag 20 is no longer required for that purpose, a user can pull the end of the sleeve 26 which is not attached to the container portion 22 out of the container portion 22 (as illustrated in Figure 2B), so as to extend the length of the bag 20 (as illustrated in Figure 2C) and enable it to be used as a refuse sack 28. Referring now to Figure 3A of the drawings, a carrier bag 30 according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a container portion 32 which is closed at the bottom and has an opening at the top to receive goods required to be held or carried. Handles 34 are provided in the form of loops at the top of the container portion 32, on opposite sides thereof. A cover portion 36 is disposed around the outside of the container portion 32 and comprises a sleeve which is attached around the top to the outer surface of the container portion 32 such that the upper opening of the sleeve 36 is substantially concentric with the opening of the container portion 32.

In use, goods purchased at a retail outlet can be placed in the carrier bag 30 and held or carried thereby as required. When the carrier bag 30 is no longer required for that purpose, a user can pull the end of the sleeve 36 which is not attached to the container portion 32 from around the outside of the container portion 32 (as illustrated in Figure 3B), so as to extend the length of the bag 30 (as illustrated in Figure 3C) and enable it to be used as a refuse sack 38.

It will be appreciated that the carrier bag according to the present invention may be made of any suitable flexible material, such as paper, but is more suited to plastics materials such as polytheneor the like.

( -6 It will also be appreciated that, while the illustrated embodiments show the sleeve (forming the lining or cover portion) attached to the container portion, it may in fact be formed integrally therewith. In one specific exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the carrier bag may comprise a single large container having an opening at the top, the upper end of the container being folded down toward the closed end, either inside or outside the bottom portion of the container, to form the lining or cover portion. Handles may then be provided at or adjacent the fold. The container can then simply be unfolded to extend its capacity for use as a refuse sack or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of examples only and it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

-7 Claims:

1. A carrier bag comprising a container portion having an opening at the top, one or more handles, and a lining or cover portion comprising a sleeve, one end of which is attached to (or formed integrally with) said container portion, which lining or cover portion is adapted for selective use in a first configuration, in which it lines the inner surface or covers the outer surface of said container portion, or in a second configuration, in which it has been pulled out of or from around said container portion so as to increase the capacity of the container portion. ;

2. A carrier bag according to claim 1, wherein the container portion a d)he lining/cover portion is made of plastics material such as polythene, or e like.

3. A carrier bag according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein one end of the sleeve forming the cover or lining portion is attached to or formed integrally with the container portion at or adjacent the end thereof having the opening such that the sleeve openings and the opening of the container portion are substantially concentric. D

4. A carrier bag according to claim 3, wherein the end of the sleeve opposite the end which is attached to or formed integrally with the container portion is disposed at or adjacent the closed end (i.e. the bottom) of the container portion in the first configuration.

5. A carrier bag according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more handles are in the form of one or more openings in the container portion and/or lining or cover portion.

6. A carrier bag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the one or more handles are in the form of loops attached to or formed integrally with the top of the container portion and/or the lining or cover portion.

( -8

7. A carrier bag substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.