WO1995026148A1

WO1995026148A1 - Ergonomic handle device for holding plastic bags and like

Info

Publication number: WO1995026148A1
Application number: PCT/IT1995/000043
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giuliano Petrelli
Original assignee: Giuliano Petrelli
Priority date: 1994-03-25
Filing date: 1995-03-23
Publication date: 1995-10-05
Also published as: AU2113495A; ITRM940063V0; CN1144465A; KR970701510A; ITRM940063U1; IT233118Y1

Abstract

Subject matter of this invention is an ergonomic handle device for holding bags of plastic material and like, ideally comprising a rear or palmar portion (10) merged by means of a U-shaped junction with a front portion (11) and cooperating therewith so as to form a throat (12), wherein the handles of the bag(s) are housed and a narrow bellmouth formation (13), as well as an outer lower surface (14) ergonomically patterned so as to fit the pattern of the fingers of the hand. In a preferred embodiment, the rear palmar portion (10) can be engaged with the front portion (11) by means of a pawl and eyelet coupling.

Description

ERGONOMIC HANDLE DEVICE FOR HOLDING PLASTIC BAGS AND LIKE

This invention relates to the general field of the devices for personal use intended to aiding the exploitation of the every day life operations and, more particularly, it concerns an ergonomic device to be used as an aid in carrying bags having very narrow handles, such as, specially but not exclusively, the presently very popular bags in plastic material.

This invention will be hereinafter described in connection with its application to the above mentioned types of containers or bags, but it should be understood that this description will have to be construed in exemplary and not in restrictive sense, because the concerned device will be useable in any circumstance wherein the need exists to hold and/or to carry objects of any kind that can be hand held only by means of very narrow handles to be grasped by hands.

As it is known, the plastic carrier containers, usually called bags, have become so popular that the possibility to avoid using them can hardly be considered as realistic. In effect, besides all concerns relating to their environmental impact, it should be admitted that such bags are today unreplaceable, thanks to their low cost and manufacturing ease, in addition to their mechanical strength.

Such bags, however, have the drawback that, since they are manufactured from a thin film of plastic material, they are not self-sustaining and additionally they are easily stretched. These two aspects entail two unpleasant consequences. In the first place, when such bags are filled with bulk materials or with small objects and are laid down upon any plane or on the ground, as it unavoidably occurs in their use, they tend to collapse and their contents are likely to outflow therefrom. In the second place, even if these bags carry not very heavy loads, their handles tend to stretch, thereby becoming so thin as to be troublesome for the hands by which they are held. This trouble becomes even more intolerable and sometimes really harmful when the load to be carried is heavy.

These drawbacks often make the concerned bags hardly useable by children and elderly people. It is an object of this invention to design a simple device adapted to contemporaneously solve both above set forth problems, namely to prevent any uncontrolled opening of the bags and to enable them to be hand held without troubles to the hands. This object is attained by the present invention by means of an ergonomic handle device for holding up bags of plastic material and like, ideally comprising a rear or palmar portion merged by means of a U shaped junction with a front portion and cooperating therewith so as to form a throat wherein the handles of the bag(s) are housed and a narrow bell outh formation, as well as an outer lower surface ergonomically patterned so as to fit the pattern of the fingers of the hand. In a different embodiment said rear palmar portion can be engaged with said front portion by means of a hook pawl and eyelet coupling.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a front view of the device according to this invention,

Figure 2 shows a side view of the device,

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the device,

Figure 4 shows a front view of a second embodiment of the device, provided with a pawl hook and eyelet coupling arrangement, Figure 5 shows a cross-section view of the device according to Figure 4 taken in correspondence to the pawl hook and eyelet coupling arrangement.

Specifically referring to the Figures, it can be seen that the device according to this invention, consisting of a rigid but somewhat resilient material, can be considered as ideally comprising a rear portion 10, that can be defined as the palmar portion, in view of the fact that during use it rests again the palm of the hand, merged by a U-shaped junction section with a front or clamping portion 11, which cooperates with said palmar portion and forms a throat 12 wherein the handles of the bags are housed, as well as a bellmouth 13, defined by a small flap 15, designed to aid the insertion of the bag handles.

The bellmouth formation 13 is rather narrow, in order to prevent the handles to get out of it, but this narrowness does not hinder the insertion of the handles, thanks to the resiliency of the : . erial. In addition, it should be not _ that said throat 12 has small end radiuses 16 and 17, the function of which is to follow to a certain extent the curvature of the bag handles and to prevent the weight of the loaded bag to cut the plastic material of the handles themselves.

For ergonomic reasons, the lower surface 14 of the device has an undulated pattern which fits the pattern of the fingers.

As above mentioned, the concerned device can be made of any material, provided only that it is somewhat rigid and somewhat resilient. It should be rigid, because it should not get deformed under the weight of the bag(s) and it should be resilient because it should permit the bag handles to be inserted therein and it should subsequently squeeze up to prevent them to get • out. In the different embodiment illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, it can be observed that the inlet flap 15 is much less flared and that the rear palmar portion

10 can be coupled to the front portion 11 by means of a hook pawl 18 and eyelet 19 coupling. This embodiment allows for greater use freedom and safety, thanks to the fact that, upon engagement between the hook pawl and the eyelet, the device retains its closed condition with the bag handles housed therein, even if it is no more held in the hand.

It should be understood that the locations of the hook pawl 18 and of the eyelet 19 can be interchanged without prejudice.

In addition, it should be observed that the device comprises a reinforcement also designed in order to enhance the elastic recovery, which is obtained by simply increasing the wall thickness of portions 10 and

11 and extends within the wall of the device between said hook pawl 18 and said eyelet 19. It should also be understood that, if desired, the reinforcement can be enhanced by inserting a suitable wire or network structure of metal or high strength plastic material therein.

The preferred embodiments of this invention have been described and a number of variations have been suggested hereinbefore, but it should expressly be understood that those skilled in the art can make other variations and changes, without so departing from the scope thereof.

Claims

5CLAIMS

1. An ergonomic handle device for holding up bags of plastic material and like, characterized in

5 that it ideally comprises a rear or palmar portion (10) merged by means of a U shaped junction with a front portion (11) and cooperating therewith so as to form a throat (12) wherein the handles of the bag(s) are housed and a narrow bellmouth formation (13) , as well as an outer lower surface (14) ergonomically patterned so as to fit the pattern of the fingers of the hand.

2. A handle device according to claim 1, characterized in that said bellmouth formation (13) is defined by a small flap (15) of said front portion (11) .

3. A handle device according to claim 1, characterized in that said throat (12) designed for housing the handles of said bag(s) has small end radiuses (16, 17) that follow the curvature of the bag handles to prevent them to be cut under load.

4. A handle device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is made of a material so much rigid as not to collapse, but sufficiently resilient as to resiliently recover its shape after having been to a small extent deformed.

5. An ergonomic handle device for holding bags of plastic material and like, according to any one of the preceding claims and further characterized in that said rear palmar portion (10) can be engaged with said front portion (11) by means of a hook pawl (18) and eyelet (19) coupling.

6. A handle device according to claim 5, characterized in that it has a reinforcement (20) extending within the device wall between said hook pawl (18) and said eyelet (19) .

7. A handle device according to claim 6, characterized in that said reinforcement (20) is made by a thickness increase of said wall.