GB2389780A

GB2389780A - A device for supporting bags

Info

Publication number: GB2389780A
Application number: GB0213929A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Nicholas Monsarratt Day
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-06-18
Filing date: 2002-06-18
Publication date: 2003-12-24
Also published as: GB0213929D0

Abstract

A device for supporting bags and the like comprises a length of substantially inelastic cord 4 with a suction cup 3 at each end. In use, the cord is passed through the handles 5 of a bag and the suction cups attached to a suitable surface such that the tension created by the cord maintains the bags in an upright position. The device may alternatively comprise a u-loop of cord having both ends secured to the same suction cup, the loop when used bing passed through the handles of the bag. The cord may be adjustable 7 in length without the need to move the suction cup/s. Magnets or hook and loop type material may be used instead of the suction cups. In use, the device is especially intended to prevent bags of shopping, bags containing takeaway food or the like falling over when they are transported in the footwell of a vehicle, the suction cups being attached to the dashboard of the vehicle. The device may also be secured to a table in a restaurant so as to prevent bags of shopping propped against the table falling over.

Description

( Description

TITLE Support, security and organizational apparatus for bags with handles and articles of comparable topology BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The filed of invention relates to article support, security and organisationai devices. More specifically, it relates to the support and organization of carrier bags and similar items which do not stand stably when placed in the footwells and other spaces of a vehicle, but is also applicable in other environments. It also relates to the security and organization of articles in other locations such as at a restaurant table or attached to a window, wall or door.

2. Description of the Prior Art

UK patent GB340,844 to Lorcombe specified a handbag security wrist strap with a slidable loop mechanism at one end to attach to the handbag and a buckle at the other to attach to the wrist.

UK patent GB2,110,641 to Badger described a document displayer comprising an adhesive magnetised annulus and a magnetic backing disc. This is suitable for displaying a UK road tax disc or parking disc or similar but is not applicable to the stable support or hanging of heavier articles.

Suction cups have been described in the prior art in various configurations to attach articles to

surfaces. Many uses of suction cups have been catalogued (e.g httP /tVNVW suctioncucmuseum.com/html/uses.html). The prior art includes fixing of a suction cup to

a bag, patent application CN2227081 U by Fang. Combination of a pair of suction cups with stretch cord is also in prior art for travellers to mount a temporary washing line in hotel bathrooms (e.g.

Geraldine Manson travel tips, httD:llwww aboutravelcozalFRoNTENDlA SCRIPTS/article.asP?nklArticlelD=16265okllssuelD=2 33). The prior art also includes a bathing aid for dogs in which a chew resistant cable is attached

to a suction cup to anchor a dog in a bath, and for this a crosstie version with two suction cups has been claimed to anchor a 200-pound dog ( httD://archives.emazing comiarchives/doq/2oo1-o6-o4).

By contrast, support of takeaway meals in cars seems only to have been achieved using rigid plastic hooks to hang from the round uprights of a headrest: hanging by full weight, without adjustment for the base of the goods to rest on the floor, risks swinging and handle breakage and furthermore the article will be substantially out of sight of the driver US patent 5,137,158 to Brockway describes a combination of suction cups and magnets mounted on a rigid bar member, which may include a framework with a lower bar to which hangers, adjustable suspension loops and similar may be attached. Particularly, the apparatus is securable to a vehicular boot lid or truck bed wall.

US patent 5,020,754 to Valentine Research Inc (US) specifically deploys two suction cups connected by apertured ears to a release bar which acts as a convenient handle for mounting and unmounting of a stably attached radar detector to a windscreen.

However, it remains a common problem unsolved by the prior art, to temporarily place carrier bags

and other items in certain places, including but not exclusively in vehicular footwells, and to establish their adequate support and organization. Temporary light anchorage for security, for example a handbag or carrier bags at a restaurant table, is a further aspect for which there is shortfall in the prior art. Support, organization and security applications may either overlap or

differentiate in different environments. The present method and apparatus addresses and substantially fulfils both the needs, ease of use and ease of construction.

ESSENTIAL AND IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a support mechanism which has four essential features Firstly, there is a supporting member which extends from the article to one or more points higher than the top of the article, relative to Earth's gravity. Secondly, there is an attachment of the supporting member to the article to be supported. Thirdly, there is an attachment of the supporting member to a structure which in the case of a transport vehicle might be the windscreen, windows, roof or seats.

In the most generally applicable apparatus, there must also be a means of length adjustment of the supporting member to take account of the distance between top points of supported article and point(s) of support for the supporting member.

INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS

Two simple embodiments are shown in Figures 1 and 2 which are illustrative of the principles and concepts of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a device in which two attachment points 1 and 2 are used. These may represent parts of the same object, or different sites. The support attachment 3 is preferably detachable, such as a suction cup, magnet or Velcro (trademark name). Support attachment 8 could be identical with support member 3, or of a different type. A flexible supporting or securing member 4 is looped through the handle(s) or loop 5 of the bag or article to be supported or secured. The location of members 3 and 8 can be chosen on areas 1 and 2 such that supporting member 4 is pulled taut, in order to support the standing article, or even suspend its full weight. For security purposes, members 3 and 8 may be located and rebelled in such a way as to remain in the visual held of the user. Figure 2 shows a device similar with figure 1 in its principles. However, looping member 3 through a U-loop 6 formed by connecting both ends of supporting member 4 to the same attachment member 3, permits the device only to require one attachment member and point. U-loop 6 will also serve to secure closure of bag handles 5 where the bag has 2 handles. The same can of course be achieved in the device of Figure 1 by looping member 4 tightly twice through handles 5. Member 7 is a length adjustment device, equally applicable to the device in Figure 1, which enables length and tension of supporting member 4 to be adjusted without dependence on the location of the anchor point 1.

PARTICULAR EXAMPLES

In one simple embodiment not in the prior art, two members such as suction cups are attached

near to opposite ends of a flexible cord. The cord is passed through the handles of a bag to be supported, which might for example contain a takeaway meal or a pot plant. One suction cup is attached to the lower or side edge of windscreen or side window of a vehicle, then the other cup is attached to another point along said edges so that the cord is pulled tight, thus preventing the bag from falling over (which can cause spillage and driver distraction) without obscuring driver vision.

However, other articles, non-vehicular usage and other means of attachments and adjustment may alternately be chosen. For example a handbag could be secured to a restaurant table by attaching the two cups adjacent to the diner's plate. The specific feature of varying the two (or more) support points to which the supporting member is attached, is both a convenient, simple and stable means of tension adjustment and provides also for a simple device and manufacture. However, a U-

shaped loop connected to a single suction cup or other attachment can provide the mechanism, by looping the U-loop through the article's handles or other attachment point, passing the attachment member through the U-loop, drawing taut and attaching the member to a suitable location for supporting or otherwise securing the article It should be noted that a convenience of the invention is that the securing attachments can be located and labelled such that although the supported or

secured article may not be visible to the person owning or responsible for the article, the attachments can be, with the tautness of the supporting member providing continuous confirmation that the article remains supported or secured. In the case of the first example, as in Figure 1, it should be noted that the members capable of attachment to tertiary surfaces, for example a pair of suction cups or a pair of magnets could also be attached to each other to form a separate carrying or retaining loop.

In contrast with prior art GO patent 340,844, the present invention is concerned with the temporary

connection of the article to inanimate objects such as, but not exclusively, smooth flat surfaces such as glass, plastics and metal of windows, windscreen and tables and provides simpler methods both of connection and adjustment.

In contrast with the apparatus in prior art US patent 5,137,158, the article(s) can remain close to, or

in direct vision of the driver, such as in front passenger seat footwell; and the tension adjustment of the supporting member can be inherent in the attachment points chosen on the vehicle.

In contrast with the use of two suction cups connected through their ears by a bar for easy unmounting of a windscreen mounted radar detector (US patent 5,020,754), the embodiment here which uses two suction cups at opposite ends of a support member uses a support member which is flexible, in order to create a tensioned support member by triangulation of the two cups and angular loop around article handle or similar. In addition, the member is attached to the main support points of the cups, not to the release ears.

The apparatus is inherently compact and apparatus not permanently attached to article or environment could either be left in situ (either on the article or on the vehicle or other environment) when not in use or packed away into vehicle glove pocket, pocket of human clothes, handbag or other location. Economical devices will be feasible, so the invention could also be treated as a disposable item. Additionally, carrier packaging could come with a supporting member already attached and with a means of connection such as suction cup or magnet at the distal end of the supporting member.

It is the particular combination of features, not any one of them, which forms the basis of this invention. The specific descriptions and drawings that follow, illustrate in more detail, some of the

possible embodiments of this invention. However, those skilled in the art will recognise that the principle of the invention may be embodied in other equivalent constructions.

Claims

( Claims

1. A portable device consisting of two suction cups attached to the ends of a piece of substantially inelastic cord, for creating a triangulated support for a bag by looping the cord through the handles and then attaching the cups to suitable locations on a smooth surface to tension the support

2. A portable device for the support or securing of one or more bags with handles, or topologically similar articles, which either are intrinsically unstable standing without support, or need anchorage for security or organizational reasons.

3. A portable device with one or more flexible supporting members which has components attached at or near each end capable of reversible attachment to points on surfaces or objects, designed as a simple support, securing or organizational apparatus for bags with handles, or topologically similar articles.

4. A portable device wherein the flexible supporting member is a U-loop with the arms of the U attached to a component capable of reversible attachment to a point on a surface or object, which by passing the U-loop through bag handles or comparable feature of article and by passing the component through the U-loop prior to anchorage of component, permits support or securing of component.

5. A device according to claims 1 or 2 or 3 in which the attachment components are suction cups, magnets, or a reusably adhesive substance or textile, or some combination thereof.

6. A device according to claims 1 or 2 or 3 which is attached semipermanently or permanently to the bag or similar article to be supported or secured.

7. A device according to claim 2 or 3 containing a mechanism for length and tension adjustment of the flexible supporting or securing member.

8. A device according to claims 2 in which the attachment components can not only attach to tertiary sites but also to each other to form a carrying loop.