US3722785A

US3722785A - Re usable handle bag

Info

Publication number: US3722785A
Authority: US
Inventors: S Rivman
Original assignee: WR Grace and Co
Current assignee: WR Grace and Co Conn
Priority date: 1971-10-21
Filing date: 1971-10-21
Publication date: 1973-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 1990-03-27
Also published as: CA986066A

Abstract

The re-usable handle bag has both a closure flap and a tapered handle flap extending from opposed sides of the mouth of the bag. A handle is attached to the handle flap and can be inserted through a receiving aperture in the closure flap to close the bag and leave the grip portion of a handle exposed for convenient carrying.

Description

United States Patent H 1 1111 3,722,785

Rivman 1 Mar. 27, 1973 s41 RE-USABLE HANDLE BAG 3,429,497 2/1969 Dorfman ..229 54 R 3,429,498 2/1969 Dorfman t ..229 54 R [75] Inventor gTg' 'g' :oseph 3,549,085 12/1970 Hart ..229/54 R 3,525,468 8/1970 Kamins et al. ..229/54 R [73] Assignee: W. R. Grace 8: Co., Duncan, SC.

- Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead 22 Fl d: t. 21 1971 J l e 00 Atromey.lohn .l. Toney et al. [21] Appl. No.: 191,308

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..2Z9/$4 R, ISO/l2 The [bumble handle bag h h a d fl d a [Sl] Int. Cl ..B6Sd 33/06, 865d 33/]6 tapered hame flap extending from Opposed sides of [58] Field of Search ..229/5Z A, 54, 55, 62, 68;

the mouth of the bag. A handle is attached to the han- 190/43; 150/12 dle flap and can be inserted through a receiving aperture in the closure flap to close the bag and leave the [56] References Cited grip portion of a handle exposed for convenient carry- UNITED STATES PATENTS l,866,24l 7/1932 Vineberg ..229/54 R UX 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENIEUmzma SHEET 10F 3 FIG.

FIG.

INVENTOR SAMUEL J. mvmw m... 9.

ATTORNEY RE-USABLE HANDLE BAG FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to handle or carrier bags which are commonly referred to as shopping bags. In particular, this invention relates to carrierv bags in which the bag portion is made of flexible, film-like material, and the handle is made of a relatively rigid material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Many bags with handles are known in the prior art and all have certain advantages and disadvantages. The present invention represents an improvement over the type of bags disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,429,498 issued to J. J. Dorfman on Feb. 25, I969 and US. Pat. No. 3,525,468 issued to Seymour Kamins on Aug. 25, I970. A third patent of interest is US. Pat. No. 3,549,085 issued to Robert L. Hart on Dec. 22, I970.

Both the Dorfman and the Kamins patents shown carrier bags with handles attached thereto. In the Dorfman patent the handle is attached to the only flap provided on the bag and this flap in turn acts as a closure for the bags mouth. This is unsatisfactory as the weight of the contents of the bag will be supported only by the single flap leaving an imbalance which can lead to premature failure of the bag. Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a handle bag construction wherein the load carried by a filled bag is evenly distributed to opposed sides of the bag.

In the Kamins patent, the handle is attached to the interior surface of one side of the bag's mouth and a flap having an apperture formed therein extends from the other side of the bag's mouth and a portion of the handle will pass through the aperture in order to close the bag. However, by attaching the handle directly to and within the perimeter of the bags mouth, it becomes difficult to insert the handle grip through the aperture, particularly when the bag is filled. This difficulty is even more pronounced if the grip portion of the handle is of a dimension to be conveniently manually handled. Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide a handle bag which is readily and securely closable and has, at the same time, a grip of convenient size for comfortable carrying by hand.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In its broadest aspect, the present invention is a reusable handle bag which will lie flat when it is empty and which comprises bag or pouch means and handle means. The bag or pouch has a mouth from a portion of whose periphery a closure flap extends, and, from the opposed side of the mouth of the bag, a tapered handle flap extends. A handle is affixed to the handle flap and is positioned so that it can pass through a receiving aperture which has been provided in the closure flap and thereby close the bag.

In a more limited aspect, the present invention is a handle bag wherein the width of the closure flap is approximately one-half the perimeter of the bag mouth, and the width of the handle flap is less than the remaining one-half of the perimeter of the bag mouth. The

closure flap is folded over and sealed to itself along its side edges and the receiving aperture is located in the fold line of the closure flap. The handle comprises a connecting bar which is attached to the handle flap and a grip portion which is adapted to extend through the receiving aperture. A shoulder is associated with the connecting bar, but the shoulder does not extend through the aperture. The shoulder acts as a load bearing surface and receives that portion of the load of a filled bag which is carried by and transmitted through the closure flap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown:

FIG. I is a front view of the handle bag of the present invention showing the bag in its closed condition;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along section lines 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the bag as shown in FIG. I but with the handle flap of the bag folded down so that the bag is in its open condition;

FIG. 4 is a view of the preferred handle for the ban dle bag of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view taken along section line 5 5 of FIG. 4.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. I the preferred embodiment of the handle bag I of the present invention is shown in its closed condition. Handle bag 1 comprises bag or pouch means 2 and handle means he made by folding a sheet of filmlike material and 3. The bag means 2 can be it along its sides leaving the opposed edges open to form a mouth.

FIG. 2 is a view along section line 2 2 of FIG. 1 and shows in detail the construction of the handle bag of the subject invention. In this view, bag means 2 comprises front wall 7 and back wall 8. Front wall 7con tinues upwardly past the bag mouth, which is not distinguishable in this view, and an extension of front wall 7 becomes handle flap 13. The connecting bar portion 4 of handle 3 is attached to handle flap 13. When the bag and the handle are made of the same or similar thermoplastic material, this attachment of the handle connecting bar 4 to the flap 13 can be accomplished by heat sealing.

The back wall 8 of the bag 2 as shown in FIG. 2 continues upwardly past the bag mouth, which, as stated above, can not be distinguished in this figure, and forms closure flap 6. As can be seen, closure flap 6 has an aperture through which the handle 3 extends and the closure flap completely covers the bag opening or mouth. The bag material forming closure flap 6 is doubled back upon itself for added strength and, in a preferred embodiment, reinforcing insert 10 is placed between the folds of closure flap 6 as shown.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the handle bag of the present invention is shown in its open condition with handle flap l3 folded downwardly from bag mouth 14. In this view, the sloping or tapered sides 11 of the handle flap [3 are clearly shown and the end of the flap 13 with its straight cut edge 12 to which connecting bar 4 of handle 3 is attached can be fully appreciated. Closure flap 6, in the preferred embodiment, has its side 24 sealed to themselves at the edges of the bag. This provides for positive and complete closing of the bag. To close the bag from the open condition shown in FIG. 3, the handle 3 is rotated upwardly, closure flap 6 is lifted, and the grip portion 23 of the handle means 3 is inserted through receiving apertures 9. Receiving aperture 9 is approximately the same width as the widest portion of grip means 23. When the grip means 23 has been in serted through receiving aperture 9, the shoulder 22 of handle means 3 comes to rest on the interior part of the closure flap 6 beneath fold line 25. When this closing operation is completed, the bag will then have the appearance as shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show in greater detail the structure of handle means 3. Handle means 3 comprises basically grip means 23 and connecting bar 4. Connecting bar 4 has shoulders 22 formed on its upper side which are flared or flange-like projections to provide a broader load bearing surface for connecting bar 4. Filler strip 27 connects connecting bar 4 to the grip portion 23. A flared edge 21 is provided around the interior periphery of grip 23 and this flared edge has a flangelike construction and provides a broad area to distribute the load of the filled handle bag to the hand of the person carrying the bag. At two points within the inner perimeter of grip 23 the flared edge 21 departs from being completely coincident with the perimeter of the grip 23 and forms notches leaving grip edges 26 exposed. The flared edge 21 forms a second purpose in that it directs the edges of the receiving aperture 9 of closure flap 6 outwardly and down below notches 20 to form a positive and secure lock of the closure flap onto handle means 3.

FIG. 5 is a view of FIG. 4 taken along section lines 5 5 and shows in greater detail the structure of flared edge 21, the exposed interior grip edge 26, the filler strip 27, and the connecting bar 4.

Returning now to FIG. 3, the tapered or sloping edges 11 of handle flap 13 are preferably cut at about a 45 angle to the vertical. This provides for ease of insertion of handle flap 13 under closure flap 6 as handle flap 13 is rotated at bag mouth 14. Of course, depending upon the desired width of a particular handle bag and the desired width of the shoulders 22 of the grip means 3, the sloping or tapered edges 11 can be made to vary in angularity. The closure of the bag is made relatively easy as closure flap 6 can be rotated backwardly away from the handle flap 13 so that the grip means 23 can be quickly inserted into receiving aperture 9. This flexibility and ease in closing is a distinct advantage of the present handle bag over those of the prior art.

In FIG. 2, it is clearly seen how the load of a filled bag is evenly distributed. Front wall 7 will transmit approximately half the load of a filled bag through closure flap 13 to connecting bar 4 and hence to handle means 3. Likewise, back wall 8 transmits its half of the load through closure flap 6 which rest upon shoulder 22 and thence to handle means 3.

Many flexible, film-like materials are suitable for making the bag or pouch portion of the subject invention. The most common materials would be those that are classified as either paper, plastic, or cloth. The

preferred material is a thermoplastic such as polyethylene in a thickness ranging between 2 and 4 mils. Preferred widths of the bag ran e from approximately l5 Inches to approximately 2 inches and the length or height of the bag can range from l2 inches to 18 inches. Within these dimensional ranges, a typical receiving aperture would be a slit ranging from about 3 to 8 inches with a preferred width being about 5 inches.

The handle means can also be constructed of various materials such as paper or fiber board, plastic, metal, or wood. A preferred material is a thermoplastic such as polyethylene. The total width of a handle means including the shoulders can preferably vary between 8 and t2 inches and the total height of a handle can be about 3 to 7 inches with the preferred height being about 5 inches.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A handle bag comprising:

a. a bag having a mouth, said bag being adapted to lie flat when empty and being constructed from flexible, film-like material;

. a closure flap extending from a portion of the periphery of said bag mouth, said closure flap being folded over and sealed to itself along its side edges to form a fold, and said closure flap having a receiving aperture located in its fold-line;

. a handle flap extending from a portion of said bag mouth opposed to said closure flap, the sides of said handle flap being tapered whereby the width of the handle flap is reduced as the handle flap extends away from said bag mouth; and,

. a handle attached to said handle flap, at least a portion of said handle being adapted to pass into said fold and through said receiving aperture whereby said handle flap and said closure flap cover the mouth of said bag.

2. The handle bag of claim 1 wherein the width of said closure flap is approximately one-half the perimeter of said bag mouth and the width of the handle flap is less than the remaining one-half of the perimeter of said bag mouth.

3. The handle bag of claim 1 wherein the handle comprises:

i. a connecting bar which is attached to said handle ii. a grip portion which is adapted to extend'through said receiving aperture.

4. The handle bag of claim 3 wherein the handle includes a shoulder associated with said connecting bar, said shoulder and said connecting bar being wider than said receiving aperture.

5. The handle bag of claim 1 wherein the sides ofsaid handle flap are tapered at approximately 45 angles from the vertical.

6. The handle bag of claim 5 wherein the connecting bar and shoulder are substantially the same width as the handle flap at the point at which said connecting bar is attached to said handle flap.

7. The handle bag of claim 6 wherein a reinforcing insert extending the width of the closure flap is associated with said receiving aperture.

* i t i i

Claims

1. A handle bag comprising: a. a bag having a mouth, said bag being adapted to lie flat when empty and being constructed from flexible, film-like material; b. a closure flap extending from a portion of the periphery of said bag mouth, said closure flap being folded over and sealed to itself along its side edges to form a fold, and said closure flap having a receiving aperture located in its fold-line; c. a handle flap extending from a portion of said bag mouth opposed to said Closure flap, the sides of said handle flap being tapered whereby the width of the handle flap is reduced as the handle flap extends away from said bag mouth; and, d. a handle attached to said handle flap, at least a portion of said handle being adapted to pass into said fold and through said receiving aperture whereby said handle flap and said closure flap cover the mouth of said bag.

3. The handle bag of claim 1 wherein the handle comprises: i. a connecting bar which is attached to said handle flap; and, ii. a grip portion which is adapted to extend through said receiving aperture.

5. The handle bag of claim 1 wherein the sides of said handle flap are tapered at approximately 45* angles from the vertical.