Abstract:
The invention is a bag having a glow stick incorporated into the hem of the bag. The glow stick is horizontal and extends across the majority of the bag&#39;s width. It provides a light source without an independent power source and makes the bag visible from a great distance in the dark. In this way, a driver will see the light of the bag and know that a person carrying the bag is also present. In such a way, the safety of the user is increased.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/161,362, filed on Oct. 26, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Lighted bags can be used to enhance safety. This is particularly true for bags used for trick or treating. Small children are usually out after dark on Halloween. Even children accompanied by adults face a risk of not being seen at night by drivers. It is desirable to have some type of light source to make the children visible at a great distance. Such a light source would be conveniently incorporated into something that the child wears or carries. The prior art discloses several lighted bags that can be used for such purposes. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,296 (Blume et al) discloses an illuminated carrying bag having transparent windows in the sidewall. Lights are positioned near the transparent portions and the inside surface of the sidewall has a protective flap 39 covering the lights. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,844 (Coyner et al) discloses a lighted baggage piece having a pocket extending along two sidewalls and the bottom wall in which a string of lights 84 is placed. The string of lights is connected to a power source located elsewhere in the bag and provides light to the interior of the bag. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,054 (Dalgleish) discloses a bag having a transparent pouch in the bottom. A chemiluminescent wand is placed in the opening of the pouch and is activated to provide light. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is a bag having a glow stick incorporated into the hem of the bag. The glow stick is placed in a horizontal position and extends across the majority of the bag&#39;s upper width. It provides a light source without an independent power source and makes the bag visible from a great distance in the dark. In this way, a third party or driver will see the light located in the hem of the bag and be alerted that a person carrying the bag is also present. In such a way, the safety of the user is increased. 
     The bag uses a glow stick that has a chemiluminescence source. As such, the glow stick does not require its own power source and has no connections between the light stick and power a source. This simplicity increases the durability of the device since there are no connections that can fail and prevent the light source from operating. Preferably, the light source is able to be easily removed and inserted into the hem of the bag. This way, the light source (glow stick) can be easily replaced when it no longer functions. This allows the bag, if used for trick or treating, to be used for many occasions. 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a bag that increases the safety of the user, by being illuminated. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a lighted bag that can be seen by drivers at night to alert the driver of the presence of the bag user. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a bag having a light source which does not need a separate power source. 
     It is yet another object of the invention to provide a lighted bag that has a light source which is easily replaceable. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the bag having a glow stick; 
     FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the glow stick and the opening in the hem of the bag; 
     FIGS. 3A-3C depict the method of inserting the glow stick into the bag; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the bag; 
     FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the glow stick and the opening in the hem of the alternative embodiment of the bag; and 
     FIGS. 6A-6C depict a method of inserting the glow stick in the alternative embodiment of the bag. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The overall configuration of the bag can be seen in FIG.  1 . The bag  10  has a distinct bottom wall  12 , a front wall  14 , back wall  16 , and two end walls  17 ,  18 . Preferably, the bag is made of a frosted or translucent plastic material. The bag is provided with rope handles  25  so that the bag is easy to carry. The top edge of the bag is folded over and back up, secured by the handles to create a hem  35  having an inner wall. 
     The inner wall of the hem is provided with an opening  38 . The opening allows a glow stick  50  to be inserted and removed from the hem  35 . The glow stick is of conventional construction and is preferably a chemiluminescent glow stick that will provide light for several hours. 
     The relationship between the dimension for the glow stick and the opening in the bag  10  can be seen in FIG.  2 . The glow stick length can, at most, be equal to the distance between a bag edge and the opening. This relationship allows a glow stick  50  to be as large as possible and still allow it to be inserted and removed from the bag  10 . The bag can also be circular in cross-section and have a hem that extends about the entire upper perimeter. 
     The method for inserting and conversely removing, the glow stick is depicted in FIGS. 3A-3C. As shown in FIG. 3A, the glow stick is pushed through the opening and pushed all the way until it reaches the end of the wall. At this point, because the glow stick is not longer than the perimeter distance of the bag edge to the opening, the second edge of the glow stick can be placed within the opening. Once it is placed in the opening, the glow stick can be moved in the opposite direction, away from the bag edge against which it rests. For removal, the user reverses the process by sliding the glow stick all the way to the edge and pulling one end of the glow stick out from the opening and then pulling the glow stick from the hem. 
     The arrangement of the invention has numerous advantages over the devices of the prior art. 
     Firstly, the use of a luminescent wand that does not require its own power source obviates any possibility of a broken connection between the power source and the light source. Since the bag will be carried by the user and transport contents, the possibility of a connection between the power source and the light source failing, is always present and results in the safety function of the bag to no longer exist. 
     The placement of the light source in the upper sidewall of the bag also has advantages. The prior art discloses the placement of a light source in a lower pouch formed by sealing the front and back walls to one another to form a pouch in the bottom of the bag. This pouch detracts from the volume of the interior of the bag and would otherwise be able to accommodate the contents of the bag. By placement of the light source in sidewall, the full length of the bag is used for the storage of contents. Also, placement of the light source in the sidewall allows two light sources to be used, one in the front wall and one in the back wall. This not only doubles the amount of light available for safety purposes, it also presents a redundant system so that if one light source fails, there is a second, operating light source. 
     Moreover, having a light source in the upper sidewall allows the opening that accommodates the insertion and removal of the light source to be on the interior of the bag. Then, if by any turn of events, the light source is able to inadvertently slip through the opening after being inserted into the pouch in the side wall, the light source will fall into the interior of the bag and continue to provide the safety features. With a pouch in the bottom wall, any light source which works itself free of the pouch would fall to the ground and, unless noticed by the user, would no longer be able to serve as a safety feature. 
     Another important advantage of having the light source in the sidewall, as opposed to the bottom, the light source could be easily damaged by the weight of the contents, if they are heavy and dropped into the bag. Plus, with the light source in the bottom of the bag, if the bag is dropped, the light source can be damaged. 
     Lastly, when the light source is placed into the hem of the bag, there is the added advantage of machinery that already produces hemmed bags. Plastic bags having a hem and drawstring are known in the prior art. The machines presently used to make these bags can be used to produce a hemmed bag without a drawstring and used for this invention. Like the invention, the prior art bags with drawstrings in the hem have an opening in the interior side of the hem to accommodate the drawstring. This opening can now be used for the aforementioned insertion or removal of light sources. These are just a few of the advantages that are realized by the invention that do not exist in the prior art. 
     FIG. 4 shows an alternative view of the embodiment. In this embodiment, the bag  110  provided with vinyl or polyolefin handles  125  so that the bag is easy to carry. The top edge of the bag is folded over and secured to the inner surface of the walls to create a hem  135  having an inner wall provided with a slot  138 . After folding over, the bag is preferably heat sealed to form the hem. In FIG. 5, the relationship between the glow stick  50  and the slot  138  for insertion of the glow stick into the hem is depicted. As can be seen, the length of the glow stick is at most equal to the distance between the edge of the bag and the furthest edge of the slot but at least as long as the slot  138 . 
     FIGS. 6A-6C demonstrate how the glow stick is inserted into the hem. In FIG. 6A, the glow stick is inserted into the slot. As seen in FIG. 6B, the glow stick is moved all the way to the edge. When the glow stick is pushed all the way to the edge, the second end of the glow stick fits into the slot. The glow stick is then moved away from the edge as seen in FIG. 6C so that the glow stick is somewhat centered in the hem. In this final configuration, the glow stick extends pass both edges of the slot. When thus inserted, the stick is secured and will not accidentally be removed from the hem. By using this method, a glow stick that is larger than the opening is inserted into the hem and will be securely held in place until the user wishes to remove it. 
     While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, several modifications and variations would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. The bag can be made of a front and back wall connected together, having no side or bottom wall. The front and back walls would be connected along three edges. The fourth edge of the front and back wall would define the opening. The bag may also be formed with a single side wall, resulting in a circular cross-section. The glow stick could be threaded about the entire perimeter until the end initially placed in the opening again reaches the opening. Also, the handle can be formed integrally with the bag instead of having separate handles that are attached to the bag.