US20080290677A1

US20080290677A1 - Carrier for sacks

Info

Publication number: US20080290677A1
Application number: US11/752,061
Authority: US
Inventors: Dennis W. Ehrhard
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-05-22
Filing date: 2007-05-22
Publication date: 2008-11-27

Abstract

A device has a cylindrical handle with two opposed ends and lifts loaded sacks and other equipment with narrow handles. Upon both ends, the device has a hook attached, either single or double hooks. Each hook has a shank that connects with the end of the handle upon one end and extends in a curve upon the opposite end. The curve of the hook then terminates in a non-penetrating end, such as a spherical cap. Each hook can hold multiple sacks to the weight tolerable to a person holding the device.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The carrier for sacks generally relates to house wares and more specifically to a handle having hooks that receive plastic grocery sacks among other things.
For many years, people have brought home groceries in paper bags. The paper bags are generally hollow and rectangular in shape when unfolded. A person grasps the bag from below or grips the folded over top. But in recent years, paper bags have been found as a fairly large component in landfill waste. Paper bags also have a high cost of production and toll upon the environment. Bowing to environmental and cost pressures, grocers have sought other bags.
Grocers, joining with other stores, developed plastic sacks, generally of polyethylene. The plastic sacks are flexible, lightweight, biodegradable, and low cost. The question of “paper or plastic?” has more and more been answered with plastic. Plastic sacks generally have a planar rectangular form, somewhat like an envelope, that expands when loaded with groceries and other products. Grocers often pack one milk jug to a plastic sack and a few of other products to a plastic sack. More often than with paper bags, grocers place fewer items in a plastic sack. The typical customer takes home more plastic sacks than paper bags in times past.
Typically, the plastic sacks begin as a sleeve that is sealed at one end forming a bottom and then cut to form an open top. Near the top, each plastic sack has a handhold upon each side. The handholds allow a person to inset the fingers of one hand through one or both sides of the sack and thus to lift the sack with groceries and products therein. Arriving home from a grocery or shopping trip, a person unloads the plastic bags and brings them into a home. Though the handholds allow a person to grip the plastic sack, the handholds rest upon the inside skin of the fingers and across the palm of a hand. If many sacks are carried in one hand or a sack is carried for a long time, the sacks begin to pinch into the fingers causing discoloration and eventually discomfort from lack of circulation. Additionally, the plastic sacks generally remain in a person's hands as gripping them from beneath causes the sacks to open and spill out their contents. When carrying a plastic sack, the hands of a person are occupied and a person has difficulty reaching for keys in pockets or purses, holding a stair rail, turning door knobs, or opening doors, among other tasks. Once at the kitchen, pantry, or other location for the products within the plastic sacks, a person sets down the plastic sacks which then go limp and partially spill the products from within the sacks.
Besides grocery sacks, people carry bags and other containers with narrow diameter, or rope like, handles. Shopping bags for years have had cord like handles. Holding such handles for long durations also pinches the inside of fingers. Beyond shopping, fishermen use nylon rope stringers to hold and then to bring in a catch of fish. When the weight of fish on the stringers exceeds 4-5 pounds, the stringer also pinches the inside of the fisherman's hand. Similar to grocery sacks, cord handles and rope handles pinch the hand of a person holding them.
The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art. The present invention includes a handle, comfortably sized, with hooks upon each end. One or more plastic sacks or cord handle bags can be placed upon the hooks and then a person grasps the handle to lift and to carry the sacks or bags to a destination. The present invention operates so that a person carries many plastic sacks in one hand with a tool having a handle wider and longer than the handholds of the plastic sacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the present invention provides a cylindrical handle with two opposed ends. Upon one end and preferably both ends, the invention has a hook attached. The hook can be a single though a double hook is preferred. Each hook has a shank that connects with the end of the handle upon one end and extends in a curve upon the opposite end. The curve of the hook then terminates in a spherical cap. Each hook can hold at least one plastic grocery sack though multiple sacks upon each hook are foreseen.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. The present invention also includes a handle offset above the hooks, two fasteners upon each hook to prevent rotation of the hook relative to the handle, and rings or ridges upon the handle to prevent slippage of a person's grip.
Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of the presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved carrier for sacks.
Another object is to provide such a carrier for sacks that holds at least two sacks of groceries without reducing circulation to the fingers and palm and without pinching the fingers.
Another object is to provide such a carrier for sacks that has a low cost of manufacturing so the consuming public can readily purchase the carrier for sacks through existing retail outlets and retailers can source the carrier from existing wholesalers and suppliers.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In referring to the drawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the preferred embodiment when holding sacks thereupon;

FIG. 3 shows an end view of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 describes a side view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention; and,

FIG. 5 describes a perspective view of an alternate embodiment.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention overcomes the prior art limitations and provides a carrier for sacks that aids people bringing groceries and other goods into a home, among other tasks. The preferred embodiment of the present invention 1 is shown in FIG. 1 ready to hold sacks. The carrier 1 has a centered handle 2, generally cylindrical in shape and of a diameter comfortable in a person's palm, approximately one inch. The handle has a preferred round shape in cross section though oval and ovoid cross sections are possible. The handle has a length of approximately at least three times its diameter. Also, the handle has two opposed ends 3, generally on a plane perpendicular to the length of the carrier 1. The ends 3 are generally rounded from the perimeter of the handle partially towards the center of each end.
Upon each end 3, the present invention has a hook assembly that has a plate 4 connected to the end. The plate is generally planar, has an outer surface, and an opposite inner surface, and has a rounded shape slightly less in diameter than the diameter of the end. The plate connects to the end 3 with at least one fastener 5, such as a screw, and preferably two fasteners. Where one fastener is used, the plate has an extension, or bump, upon the inner surface. Upon tightening the one fastener, the extension is pressed into the end 3 to prevent inadvertent rotation of the plate. The preferred embodiment has two fasteners 5, generally spaced apart upon the diameter of the plate. Where the diameter containing the fasteners intersects a tangent to the plate, as at 6, the plate begins to narrow in width away from the fasteners.
Opposite the fasteners at the narrowest portion of the plate, as at 7, two shanks 8 extend from the plate. The shanks generally bifurcate outwardly from the plate and the centerline of the handle 2. Each shank has a hook 9, here shown as partially circular though other shapes, such as oval, are foreseen. In cross section the hook 9 is generally rectangular. Away from the plate 6, the hook terminates in a non-penetrating fitting, here shown as a ball 10. The ball has a diameter greater than the thickness of the hook 9 and prevents sacks, at the handhold, from slipping off the hook. Additionally, the ball having a rounded surface without a point minimizes the risk of injury from the hook abutting, or penetrating, a person. In the preferred embodiment, the ball is generally located below the elevation of the fasteners 5. The preferred embodiment has two hooks upon each plate and a plate upon each end.
Turning the invention, FIG. 2 shows the carrier 1 from the side. The handle 2 has an elongated shape of sufficient length to comfortably fit a person's hand with the fingers closed upon the handle. The handle has two opposed ends 3 with a hook assembly upon each end. Each hook assembly has a plate 4 generally abutting the end and attached with preferably two fasteners 5 into the handle. From each plate, a shank 8 descends away from the fasteners. The shank expands from a flat shape near the plate to a rounded shape that forms the curved hook 9. The hook proceeds further away from the fasteners and then returns upwardly to terminate below the fasteners 5 and slightly above the shank 8. Each hook terminates in a ball 10. In this figure, the hooks upon each end both extend in the same direction and generally define the bottom or down for this invention. The bottom of each hook, being below the plate establishes an offset, as at 0, for the handle. When the hooks are placed upon a surface as during a period of non-usage of the invention, the handle is raised slightly above that surface. Raising the handle permits a person's fingers to grip the handle prior to lifting the carrier. Additionally, when a person places the carrier, when loaded, upon a surface, a person can release his fingers from the handle and remove them from beneath with minimal disturbance to the sacks B or other loads upon the hooks. The offset generally reduces injury and damage to a person's knuckles and fingers.
Viewing an end 3 of the handle 2, FIG. 3 shows the installation of the plate 4 and the hook assembly. Each end is generally round in shape and cross section and partially rounded upon the perimeter. The rounding eases the transition from the handle 2 to the plate 4. The plate 4, generally flat in shape, attaches to the end with two fasteners 5, generally spaced apart upon a diameter of the handle. The plate has a slightly lesser radius that exposes a portion of the end for rounding as previously described. In the preferred embodiment, usage of two fasteners to attach the plate to the end also prevents rotation of the plate when subject to unequal loads upon the two hooks 9. The plate becomes the hooks as it narrows from its widest point as at 6 to the narrow section of the plate as at 7. From the narrow section, the plate bifurcates into two outwardly extending shanks 8 and upwardly extending hooks 9. Each hook ends in a ball 10 of generally greater diameter than the width of the hook. Generally, the hooks, the plate, and the related components are symmetric upon one end and the hook assemblies upon both ends are mutually symmetric.
An alternate embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. Similar to the carrier shown in FIG. 2, this alternate embodiment has a cylindrical handle 2 with two ends 3 and a plate 4 upon each end. Each plate has a bifurcated hook 9 that extends from a shank 8 and terminates in a ball 10 as before. Here though, the handle has a plurality of ridges 11 mutually parallel and spaced apart. The ridges are located upon the perimeter of the handle, partially around the circumference. Generally, the ridges have a position upon the handle generally behind the narrow part 7 of the plate 4 where the shanks join the plate. The spacing of the ridges prevents a person's fingers from slipping upon the handle. Opposite the ridges, the handle is smooth for gripping by the palm of a person's hand.
A further alternate embodiment takes form in FIG. 5 where a handle 2 has a cylindrical form with two ends 3. Upon each end, a plate 4 attaches with two fasteners 5 through the plate and into the handle. The planar plate has a generally round shape that narrows opposite the fasteners, as shown at 7. From the narrowing of the plate, a shank 8 extends downwardly and outwardly in a curved manner as a hook 9. The hook terminates in a ball 10 to prevent embedment of the end of the hook in the items carried thereupon. Each end thus has a single hook for carrying of two items by this alternate embodiment of the invention.
From the aforementioned description, a carrier for sacks has been described. The carrier for sacks is uniquely capable of distributing the weight from a narrow handle of a loaded sack to prevent pinching of the fingers and the palm of a person carrying the sack or other item. The carrier is preferably made from wood, the hooks are stainless steel, and the fasteners are screws. The carrier for sacks and its various components may be manufactured from many materials, including but not limited to, woods, polymers, polyvinyl chloride, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, steel, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, their alloys, and composites.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. Therefore, the claims include such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for carrying sacks and other containers having a narrow handhold, comprising:

a handle, having two opposed ends; and,

at least one hook attaching to each of said ends.

2. The sack carrying device of claim 1 further comprising:

said handle being elongated and round.

3. The sack carrying device of claim 1 wherein said handle is wood.

4. The sack carrying device of claim 1 further comprising:

said handle having a plurality of spaced apart ridges, generally perpendicular to the length of said handle, and locating proximate said hooks.

5. The sack carrying device of claim 1 further comprising:

said plate having a generally planar and round shape, and attaching to said end in a flush manner wherein said plate does not rotate relative to said handle; and,

each of said hooks extending from said plate and terminating in a non-penetrating end.

6. The sack carrying device of claim 5 further comprising:

each of said hooks terminating in a ball.

7. The sack carrying device of claim 5 further comprising:

said plate having at least two apertures; and,

at least two fasteners extending through said apertures and attaching said plate to said end.

8. The sack carrying device of claim 5 further comprising:

each of said plates having two hooks, said hooks extending outwardly and downwardly from said fasteners.

9. The sack carrying device of claim 5 further comprising:

each of said plates having one hook extending outwardly and downwardly from said fasteners.

10. The sack carrying device of claim 5 further comprising:

each of said plates having at least one aperture for receiving one of said fasteners and at least one bump extending opposite said hook.

11. The sack carrying device of claim 10 further comprising:

12. The sack carrying device of claim 11 further comprising: