US3463381A - Bags and carrying handles therefor - Google Patents

Description

6, 1969 o. WAINBERG 3,463,331

BAGS AND CARRYING HANDLES THEREFOR Filed Feb. 8, 1968. 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTUR @Wm Owl Aug. 26, 1969 n. WAINBERG was AND cumme HANDLES THEREFOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 H106 Feb 8, 1968 INVENZTUR S- 6, 1969 o. WAINBERG BAGS AND CARRYING HANDLES THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 8. 1968 Z/NlI lENZ/"OR United States Patent 3,463,381 BAGS AND CARRYING HANDLES THEREFOR Daniel Wainherg, 4755 Blvd. des Grande Prairies, St. Leonard, Montreal 38, Quebec, Canada Filed Feb. 8, 1 968, Ser. No. 704,025 Int. Cl. B65d 31/00, 33/06 U.S. Cl. 229--54 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention refers generally to a bag and carrying handle therefor, which consists of a bag body portion that may be made from polyethylene or equivalent material, and is formed from a sheet of such material which is folded in half and heat-sealed at its opposing vertical edges to complete opposing walls and a bottom wall and having an open end or mouth. The upper portions of the opposing walls terminate in borders forming opposing longitudinal channels and surrounding the mouth of the bag, the borders having slitted gaps, suitably spaced apart from one another, and located approximately intermediate of their lengths, the carrying handle consisting of a pair of handle units made from a semi-stiff flexible material, each handle unit having a hand grip from which are suspended a pair of elongated base members which are inserted through the gaps of the borders into the longitudinal channels thereof and are independently flexible and movable from each other in a cross-sectional plane and interdependently movable with one another in a longitudinal plane, and provided with integral fastening means for detachably securing the handle units together to complete the handle.

The invention relates to improvements in bags and carrying handles therefor as described in the present specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that form a part of the same.

In the past, shopping bags and the like have generally been made from semi-stiff or pliable material and pro vided with carrying handles that were detachable therefrom or secured thereto. In certain instances the carrying handles were constructed of rope, cord, draw-strings and equivalent structures, which engaged with apertures or other openings formed through the walls of the bag and located at predetermined positions adjacent to the periphery of the mouth of the bag, or other types of flexible handles that could be sewn, stapled or otherwise secured to the body of the bag.

Such types of structures have the tendency of pulling loose and tearing the bags and also to dig into the flesh of the fingers or palm of a hand of a person carrying the shopping or other type of bag provided with such types of carrying handles.

In other instances, the shopping bags and the like have been made from paper, cloth, synthetic resinous materials, thermoplastics, vinylite, polypropylene, polyethyle ene and other heat-scalable plastic materials, and in which handles, made from stiff or semi-stiff materials, were inserted and fixedly or detachably secured. In general these handles, made from rigid or semi-rigid materials, were composed of hand-grip portions provided with integral elongated and somewhat flat-shaped base members of lengths sufficient to extend along the width of the bags and secured in any suitable manner to the bodies of the bags and located adjacent to their open ends.

Such types of structures have been found fairly satisfactory but still have the tendency of tearing the material of the bag, especially adjacent to the end edges thereof, which may occur through the weight of the contents of the bag pulling on the material of the bag, which in turn 3,463,381 Patented Aug. 26, 1969 effects a drag to the longitudinal bases of the carrying handles and thus causes the ends of the longitudinal bases to dig into or penetrate through the walls of the bag and effect abrasions or tears in the plastic material of the bag, which, once started, will often enlarge to such an extent as to partially or completely demolish the bag.

Furthermore, the size of the opening or mouth of the bag is often restricted due to insufficient longitudinal and lateral flexibility of the longitudinal bases of the handles, which are attached to or adjacent to the edges of the mouth of the bag and thereby adding to the difiiculty of the user of the bag when packages or parcels of varying sizes and shapes are inserted in the bag.

It is therefore the purpose of this invention to devise a bag and handle that will permit the opening or mouth of the bag to be expanded to the desired diameter for the insertion thereinto of items of various sizes and shapes and also to devise a combination of a bag and handle that will minimize the possibliity of abrasion or tearing of the bag material when under strain caused by the weight of the contents in the bag.

Among the objects of the invention is to devise a bag and carrying handle therefor made with the minimum of waste material and that will have increased capacity and strength and which may be assembled by automatic or manual means.

A further object of the invention is to construct a combination of a bag and carrying handle and in which the carrying handle is detachablly or fixedly held to or otherwise supported within specified longitudinal portions of the bag located adjacent to the opening or mouth thereof so as to reinforce the same in longitudinal and lateral directions and yet permit the angular expansion of the opening or mouth of the bag, which is emanated from the intermediate and end portions of the bag at its periphery, through the manipulation of the carrying handle, for the purpose of allowing the easy insertion and removal of various sized parcels or other items into the bag.

A still further object of the invention is to devise multiple individual suspension means that form an integral part of each of a pair of opposing hand grips for the completion of a carrying handle and which are held or otherwise supported to certain longitudinal portions of the bag that are located adjacent to the opening or mouth thereof, and which are adapted to absorb a proportion of thestrain and tension that may be applied to the body portion of the bag, through the weight of packages or other articles that are inserted therein, and effect a balanced distribution of the weight of the contents in the bag.

Still another object of the invention. is to provide a polyethylene or equivalent body bag portion made of thin foldable film with semi-rigid polyethylene or equivalent carrying handles for producing various types of bags, such as shopping bags and the like, and which will be capable of carrying and supporting comparatively substantial loads with the minimum possibility of any tearing of the thermoplastic synthetic resin material of which the body portion of the bag is made.

Other objects and novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the consideration of the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrative of an acceptable form of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the bag without the carrying handle.

FIGURES Z and 3 are perspective views of the opposing hand grips of the carrying handle and each being provided with integral multiple individual suspension members. a

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the assembled bag and carrying handle and illustrating the hand grips thereof detached from one another.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the assembled bag and carrying handle and illustrating the hand grips thereof in engagement with one another.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the assembled bag and carrying handle and illustrating the mouth of the bag in its opened and angularly expanded position.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the assembled bag and carrying handle and illustrating the mouth of the bag in its closed position and having the hand grips of the carrying handle interlocked with one another.

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view as taken on the line 8-8 in FIGURE 4.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

Referring to the drawings, the bag and its accompanying handle may be made from any suitable flexible material and formed of any desired style, size, shape or configuration, and an acceptable form of which is shown in the shape of a shopping bag, as indicated by the numeral 15, in which the bag body portion 16 is made from a synthetic resinous material, such as, thermoplastic, polyethylene, polypropylene or their equivalent.

The bag body portion 16 may be formed of a sheet of the above-mentioned material, which is folded in half and heat-sealed at its opposing vertical edges 17 and 18 to complete opposing walls 19 and 20, an integral bottom wall 21 and an opening or mouth 22.

The upper portions of the opposing Walls 19 and 20, of the bag body portion 16, form the contour of the opening or mouth of the bag and are turned down to form the top edges 78 and 79, and from which they project downwardly and inwardly into the bag opening for a predetermined distance, and then are heat sealed to the inner surfaces of the walls 19 and and terminate in the longitudinal free edges and 26, thereby completing the borders 23 and 24 which form the longitudinal channels 2 7 and 28, and in which the handle units 29 and 30*, of the handle 31, are inserted and retained therein.

Approximately intermediate of the length of each of the opposing borders 23 and 24 of the bag body portion are a pair of cut-out portions, suitably spaced apart from one another, and which form the gaps 32 and 33 having downwardly projecting slits 34 and 35 in the border 23 and parallel gaps 36 and 37 having downwardly projecting slits 38 and 39 in the opposing border 24, these gaps and accompanying slits being for the purpose of permitting the insertion or removal of the handle units 29 and 34} in or out of the borders 23 and 24.

The carrying handle 31 consists of a pair of identically constructed handle units 29 and 30 and are made from a semi-rigid polyethylene or equivalent material and relatively stiff in comparison to the material of the bag body portion, and having greater flexibility in a transverse direction than in a longitudinal direction. The handle units are formed of inverted U-shaped hand grips 40 and 41 with integral bridge portions 42 and 43 that are provided with bulbous portions 44 and 45 for convenience of carrying. The bridge portions 42 and 43 terminate at their ends into integral downwardly projecting posts 46, 47, 48 and 49; the posts 46 and 47 of the bridge portion 42 and the posts 48 and 49 of the bridge portion 43 terminate and merge with the longitudinal and individually separated suspensions means, in the form of base members 50, 51, 52 and 53 respectively.

The merging joinders 54, 55, 56 and 57 of each of the individually separated base members 50, 51, 52 and 53 to their respective posts 46, 47, 48 and 49 of the bridge portions 42 and 43 of the hand grips 40 and 41 are so arranged that approximately one-third of the length of each of the base members will extend inwardly from their merging joinders towards one another so that their adjacent ends 58, 59, 60 and 61 respectively, will terminate short of one another at approximately below the location point of the centre of the length of each of the bridge portions 42 and 43 while the remaining and longer lengths 62, 63, 64 and 65 of the base members will extend outwardly from the merging joinders.

The base members of the hand grips are supple, elongated in shape and substantially flat and, when inserted in the longitudinal channels 27 and 28 of the borders 23 and 24, are adapted to be of sufficient length to extend across the greater part of the width of the mouth of the bag body portion.

The pair of handle units, that combined to form the carrying handle 31, are introduced to the bag body portion by inserting the longer lengths of the base members into the gaps formed in the borders 23 and 24 that surround the sides of the mouth of the bag body portion and then sliding the longer lengths into and partially through the longitudinal channels that extend outwardly away from the gaps and towards the heat-sealed vertical edges of the bag body portion.

Similarly the shorter lengths of the base members, that extend inwardly from their merging joinders with the respective posts of their hand grips, are inserted into the gaps and partially through the intermediate channels 66 and 67 and which are in alignment with the longitudinal channels 27 and 28, thereby completing the assembly of the carrying handle with the bag.

When it is desirable to close the mouth of the bag, the handle units of the carrying handle may be joined and secured together in any convenient manner. An acceptable way of detachably securing the handle units of the carrying handle to each other may be accomplished by having grip fastening means form an integral part of the handle so that the handle units may be interlocked with one another and thereby completing the closing and fastening of the open end or mouth of the bag.

The grip fastening means 68 consists in providing the downwardly projecting posts 47 and 48 of the respective hand grips 40 and 41 with a pair of parallel ears 69 and 71 which extend outwardly and inwardly from the opposing vertical edges 71 and 72 of the posts 47 and 48 and are integral therewith and which combine to form one of the gripping members 73, while the other posts 46 and 49 of each of the hand grips 40 and 41 are each provided with parallel channels 74 and 75 which are formed on the opposing vertical edges 76 and 77 of the posts 46 and 49 and which are on a horizontal plane to the location of the adjacent gripping member 73.

When the handle units 29 and 30 are inserted and retained within the borders 23 and 24 of the bag 15, and the open end or mouth of the bag is required to be closed and fastened, the two hand grips 40 and 41 are brought into face-to-face contact engagement with one another and thereby causing the gripping members 73, which project from certain of the posts of the respective hand grips, to engage with the channels 74 and 75, which are formed from certain of the opposing and adjacent posts of the respective hand grips, and interlock therewith and thereby closing and securing the handle units together and forming a single handle for carrying the bak.

The carrying handle is made from a semi-stiff flexible material and is so constructed that the two elongated base members of each of its handle units are independently flexible and movable from each other in a cross-sectional plane and interdependently movable with one another in a longitudinal plane. In this manner, under normal conditions, such as in the closed position of the bag, the elongated base members will be in a longitudinal alignment with one another, but are automatically misaligned when the open end or mouth of the bag is expanded or distended, which itself is created by manipulation of the handle units.

Consequently through the freedom of movement of the elongated base members, that are located in their respective channels formed in the borders 23 and 24 of the bag and floatably suspended therein from their respective common hand grips 40 and 41, this will cause a balancing effect, by the two handle units, to any load that is carried in the bag as it will tend to equalize the weight thereof on each side of the approximate central vertical axis plane of the bag body portion, and where the free inner ends of the elongated base members of each handle unit are in adjacent proximity to each other and effecting an equilibrium to the weight or force of the load and which is produced by the mutual counteraction of the two or more forces. This will further counteract, to a certain extent, the strain or force that may be exerted on the material which would disarrange or destroy the cohesion of its parts, due to extreme torsion or tension.

The vertical ends of the bag have also space for expansion and contraction which are controlled by the location and freedom of movement of the individual base members, such as when they are in misaligning positions with one another, as well as controlled by the balancing of the weight and the force of the load placed in the body portion of the bag.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, a bag body portion made from a pliable material and comprising a bottom wall, opposing walls forming an integral part of said bottom wall and having their vertical edges joined together and forming a mouth for said bag body portion, a carrying handle consisting of a pair of semi-stiff flexible handle units, each handle unit having a hand grip, and a pair of individually formed base members suspended from and integral with said hand grip and being retained to the upper portions of the respective opposing walls and located at the mouth of the bag body portion and having freedom of movement in connection therewith and having greater individual flexibility in a transverse direction than in a longitudinal direction.

2. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, a bag body portion made from a pliable sheet of material folded in half and secured at its opposing edges to form opposing walls, a bottom wall and a mouth, opposing borders constituting the top edges of said opposing walls and surrounding the contour of the mouth of said bag body portion and forming longitudinal channels and having gaps leading thereinto, a carrying handle made from a semi-stiff flexible material and formed of a pair of handle units, each of said handle units consisting of an inverted U-shaped hand grip, and a pair of elongatedshaped base members integrally suspended from each of said hand grips and inserted in the longitudinal channels of each of said opposing borders and being independently flexible and movable from each other in a cross-sectional plane and interdependently movable with one another in a longitudinal plane.

3. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that intermediate of the length of each of the opposing borders are located a pair of cut-out portions, suitably spaced apart, forming gaps and downwardly projecting slits and through which the individually separated elongated base members are inserted and extend along the longitudinal channels formed in each of the opposing borders.

4. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that the inverted U-shaped hand grip of each of the handle units is formed of a bridge portion having its ends terminating into integrally downwardly projecting posts, the lower ends of the posts terminating and merging with the elongatedshaped and individually separated base members.

5. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that in the closed position of the bag the elongated base members of each handle unit are in a longitudinal alignment with one another and in the open position of the bag the said base members are automatically misaligned with each other and effected through the manipulation of the integral hand grips.

6. In a bag and carying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that each pair of individual base members of each hand grip are supple, elongated in shape and substantially flat, and when inserted in the longitudinal channels of said opposing borders are adapted to be of sufiicient length to spread outwardly from one another to extend across the greater part of the width of the bag body portion and to extend inwardly towards one another so that their adjacent ends will terminate approximately midway of the bag body portion.

'7. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 4, characterized by the fact that the elongated base members extend beyond each side of their respective posts and have their inner adjacent ends of their shorter lengths terminating short of one another at approximately below the location point of the centre of the length of their respective bridge portions and having their outer ends of their longer lengths terminating well beyond the length of their respective bridge portions.

8. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 4, characterized by the fact that grip-fastening members are formed integral with the downwardly projecting adjacent posts of the hand grips of said handle units and adapted to detachably secure the handle units to one another.

9. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the fact that the folded sheet is made from polyethylene or equivalent pliable material and is heat-sealed at its opposing vertical edges to complete the opposing walls of the bag body portion, while the handle units, forming the carrying handle, are formed from a semi-stiff flexible polyethylene or equivalent material and have their elongated base members loosely enclosed in the longitudinal channels of the opposing borders, the length of the base members being so arranged as to leave a predetermined distance between the outer adjacent ends of the base members and the heat-sealed vertical edges of the opposing walls and thereby completing expansile end walls.

10. In a bag and carrying handle therefor, as claimed in claim 9, characterized by the fact that the expansile end walls together with the opposing walls form spaces of varying expansions and contractions and which are controlled by the location and freedom of movement of the individual base members, as well as controlled by the balancing of the weight and force of any load placed in the bag body portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,313,040 6/1950 Miller 12 2,705,987 4/ 1955 Schulte 150-12 2,769,474 11/ 1956 Klotz ISO-12 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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