GB2475699A - An auxiliary handle for a carrier bag - Google Patents

Abstract

An auxiliary handle suitable for use with a carrier bag comprises a flexible fabric body formed by least two panels 1 a-c (three are shown). The panels 1 a-c are contiguous or linked. Preferably there is provided a base panel 1b with an end panel 1a, 1c at an end thereof. The panels 1a-c fold together to a compact form wherein they stack close together and enfold a handle 3 of the carrier bag. The base panel 1b is preferably padded and prevents the handle 3 of the carrier bag from biting into the hand of a user.

Description

Auxiliary Handle for Carrier Bags

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns improvements in and relating to auxiliary handles for carrier bags, ie handles for bags that are commonly used as disposable shopping bags such as are dispensed at check-outs of supermarkets and other stores.

Background to the Invention

Disposable shopping bags commonly are of polyethylene and often referred to as poly bags. They have an aperture for the fingers of the hand to pass through so that the band of polyethylene above the aperture can be gripped as a handle. It is well known that the handle part of disposable plastics shopping bags is far from ideal and liable to cause considerable discomfort to most shoppers, particularly when the bags are heavily loaded and the handle part becomes tightly drawn and slices into the users fingers. For many this is merely a brief unpleasant inconvenience when transferring shopping from a supermarket trolley to their car but for those who have to carry heavily-loaded such bags for any length of time the pain can literally be excruciating.

Whereas a number of long-suffering users have sought to address the problem over the last couple of decades since such bags replaced paper bags and became a mainstay of the modern retail experience, the proposals to date have mostly concerned rigid devices, normally extruded plastics mouldings, shaped as a bar or rod handle grip. Some have a channel-shaped slot in a top surface for the handle part of the poly bag to sit in such as shown in GB2437915, while others have a hook on the underside to hang the bag from as shown in GB2445773 and U55797166.

In general these proposals have not taken off since they entail a substantial up-front investment in mould tooling and there is also an issue over the comfort and convenience of carrying around a rod or bar in one's pockets and especially so for those who are not wearing a deep-pocketed jacket or the like. Ideally the device can be so compact that it can be slipped into any pocket and carried around all of the time so that it is available when needed.

Whereas one simple low-tech partial solution to the problem is simply to provide a flexible pad of foam rubber or the like to be rolled up around the carrier bag handle in the users hand, that too is far from ideal since it is difficult in practice to provide a pad that is sufficiently flexible to be compact when not in use, yet not so flexible that the pad provides poor io protection against the biting pressure of the poly bag handle.

Whereas sports bags have for many years been formed with a wrap-around handle cover of Neoprene or other fabric for comfort of grip, such handle covers are generally integral to sports bag handle construction and are relatively long and bulky.

The present invention seeks to provide a new approach to making an auxiliary handle for a carrier bag, where the handle is compact when not in use, yet can enlarge to a size suitable for embracing at least one and preferably several poly bag handles while preventing the handles from biting down into the fingers of the user.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an auxiliary handle for a carrier bag in use combined with a said carrier bag the auxiliary handle comprising a flexible fabric body that forms at least two panels that are contiguous or linked as a base panel with an end panel at an end thereof and that fold together to a compact form where the panels stack close together closely enfolding the handle part of the carrier bag, whereby the base panel substantially prevents the handle part of the carrier bag from biting into the hand of a user. Since the flexible fabric body is able to fold-up it can be very compact in the user's pocket when not needed and yet fulfills its function well in use. The compact folded state of the body also allows the user to fully enwrap and grip the body for optimal hold in use.

Preferably the auxiliary handle forms at least three panels that are contiguous or linked as a base panel with an end panel at each end thereof that fold together to a compact form.

Particularly preferably the body comprises a sheet-form fabric that may be a textile or natural fabric and suitably of canvas or leather. Preferably at least the bridging panel is internally padded with a filling. The filling may be a soft compressible filling and may optionally be of foam rubber or other elastomeric material or of down, shredded textile fabrics or cardboard, for example. is

Preferably the end panels each have thereon a respective co-operative engagement means so that the end panels may be coupled together when folded together. The co-operative engagement means may comprise a pop-fastener or clasp or Velcrotm/ hook fastener tabs.

Preferably the body is no more than about 10cm long in its longest dimension in the folded state and no more than about 2cm or at most 4cm in thickness of the stack of folded panels.

Brief Description of the Drawings

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein; Figure 1 is a perspective view of the auxiliary handle grip prior to use; and Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 but with the handle grip in use with the panels closed together around the poly bag handle.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, these show the auxiliary handle grip as comprising a hollow padded body 1 formed of three contiguous panels -a first end panel 1 a, a bridging panel 1 b and a second end panel 1 c.

The body 1 is of canvas, leather or Neoprene sheet, and forms a pouch or pocket at least in the bridging panel ib, filled with a soft and suitably resilient filling 2 which may comprise foam rubber or other elastomeric material or feather down, shredded textile fabrics or cardboard, for

example.

The body is stitched along lines A-A and B-B dividing each of the adjacent end panel la and bridging panel lb and the bridging panel lb and second end panel lc so that the body can be readily folded in those dividing regions to stack the panels atop each other. Suitably the body 1 is of reduced thickness at the folding! dividing regions to assist folding and may is optionally be scored or otherwise weakened to assist folding there.

As shown in Figure 2, the carrier bag handle part 3 is enwrapped in the flexible fabric body by folding the two end panels la, lc up around the handle part 3 and the base panel lb provides a comfortable pad that substantially prevents the handle part 3 of the carrier bag from biting into the hand of a user.

Each of the end panels has a respective Velcrotm/ hook fastener tab 4 as co-operative engagement means so that the end panels may be coupled together when folded together. Since the flexible fabric body is able to fold-up it can be very compact in the user's pocket when not needed and yet fulfills its function well in use. The compact folded state of the body also allows the user to fully enwrap and grip the body for optimal hold in use. The body 1 is no more than about 10cm long in its longest dimension in the folded state and no more than about 2cm or at most 4cm in thickness of the stack of folded panels la, lb, lc. It is thus easy to carry around in most pockets without inconvenience.