Abstract:
A frilled panel, with frills extending from the top and/or bottom edges, that is attached to a panel of a bag as decoration. A cutter is used to produce cuts that form the frills.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates generally to shopping and gift bags, and, more particularly, to an accessory for attachment to a bag. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Shopping and gift bags are available in various dimensions, colors, styles and materials, including (but not limited to) paper or plastic. Many have a rectangular bag compartment with an open top and U-shaped handles extending from the top front and back edges. The outside panels of the bags may be colored, with our without patterns, letters, words and other informational or design elements. 
         [0003]    Such bags are widely available in the marketplace. Mass produced using bag manufacturing equipment and readily available materials, such bags are relatively inexpensive. While the manufacturing process minimizes cost, it also limits the features that may be incorporated into a bag. For example, conventional manufacturing processes do not allow texturing, e.g., ruffling or frilling, bag features. Even if the equipment to incorporate such features into a convention bag existed, manufacturers loathe modifying their manufacturing line for a particular customer. 
         [0004]    What is needed is a method and article for adding frills and ruffles to a bag, without changing the bag manufacturing process. To be cost effective and practical, the article must not only be aesthetically pleasing, but must also be readily attachable to a conventional bag and suitable for mass production. 
         [0005]    The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems and solving one or more of the needs as set forth above. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    To solve one or more of the problems set forth above, in an exemplary implementation of the invention, a frill strip for decorating a bag includes a flat or folded sheet of material with frills cut on an edge. An adhesive applied at the time of attachment, or an adhesive strip, or a mechanical fastener such as a clip, or magnetic fastener, or a glue, such as a microwave cured glue, or other attachment means now known or hereafter developed, is provided along the spine to facilitate attachment to a panel of a bag. A cutter is used to produce cuts that form frills. A filled panel, with frills extending from the top and bottom edges of the panel, may also be formed and attached to a panel of the bag. 
         [0007]    Another exemplary frill sheet includes a plurality of adjoined folded sheets, each having opposite frilled edges and an intermediate spine separating the frilled edges. The filled edges overlap without concealing lower frilled edge layers. A plurality of the resulting assembly, a “frill tile,” can be overlapped and affixed to a panel of a bag. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The foregoing and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, where: 
           [0009]      FIGS. 1 and 11  are perspective views of an exemplary bag adorned with exemplary frill panels according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an exemplary frill panel with optional exemplary adhesive strips according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0011]      FIGS. 3 and 12  are perspective views of an exemplary frill sheet according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a side view of a plurality of exemplary frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a plurality of exemplary frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an exemplary overlapping frill strip comprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is another perspective view of an exemplary overlapping frill strip comprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a plurality of exemplary overlapping frill strips, each comprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a bag adorned with a plurality of exemplary overlapping frill strips, each comprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is a front view of a bag adorned with a plurality of exemplary overlapping frill strips, each comprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and 
       
    
    
       [0019]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the figures are not intended to be drawn to any particular scale; nor are the figures intended to illustrate every embodiment of the invention. The figures illustrate exemplary embodiments, which are non-limiting examples of embodiments that incorporate one or more features of the invention. Some of the figures illustrate optional features. The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments depicted in the figures or the specific components, configurations, shapes, relative sizes, ornamental aspects or proportions as shown in the figures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]    By way of example and not limitation, the material may comprise tissue paper, crepe paper, some other paper or thin plastic sheet or textile that is suitable for cutting to form frills. The strip may represent a portion of a roll of material or an isolated strip. 
         [0021]    As used herein, a frill is a feature of a decorative border comprised of a plurality of adjacent narrow strands, that are comparatively long, usually of uniform width, attached to and extending from a root opposite the decorative border. The frills may be bent or curled in various directions and radii to provide a full 3-dimensional decorative fluffy garland. The frills may have various shapes, including, but not limited to generally rectangular, flower petal shaped, or other naturally occurring or geometric shapes or combinations thereof, without departing from the scope of the invention. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an exemplary frill panel according to principles of the invention. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  11  are perspective views of an exemplary bag  200  adorned with frill panels  100  and a frill panel  100  according to principles of the invention. A frill panel  100  is sized to fit over the front and back panels  202 ,  204  of a bag  200  with the frills extending above the top edges of the panels  202 ,  204 . In use, the frills may extend substantially above the edge of the bag, and may be ruffled with various curvatures and bends. 
         [0024]    The frill panel  100  is either a wide frill strip attachable to a bag or a panel having a plurality of frill strips attached to it. By way of example, one or more frill strips  105  may be attached to a substrate  110  to form the frill panel. The substrate  110  may be a paper, cardboard, plastic, textile, woven or nonwoven, sheet. A plurality of adhesive strips  112 ,  114 ,  116  are provided for attaching the frill panel  100  to a panel of the bag  200 . In another implementation, adhesive may be applied to the panel of a bag to define a point of attachment. The adhesive may be pre-applied or applied at the time of attachment. In the case of pre-application, the adhesive may include a removable backing 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a perspective view of an exemplary frill sheet according to principles of the invention is shown. The sheet  201  includes opposite frilled edges  210 ,  215 . The sheet  201  may be a portion of a long strip of material on which frilled edges  210 ,  215  are formed using any of the methods described above. An unfilled strip  220  known as a spine separates the frilled edges  210 ,  215 . Layers of sheets  201 ,  202 ,  203 ,  204  may be adhesively joined together by intermediate adhesive strips  220 ,  221 ,  222 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . The adhesively joined sheets  201 ,  202 ,  203 ,  204  may by offset so that their centerlines do not align. In such a configuration, the frilled edges  210 ,  211 ,  212 ,  215 ,  216 ,  217  overlap without concealing lower frill edge layers, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The resulting assembly is referred to as a frill tile  300 . Though a portion of a spine  220  is exposed on the front side of the frill tile shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the entire spine  220  may be removed from sight at the front side of the panel by adjusting relative alignment of the sheet  201 . 
         [0026]    Now referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , a plurality of frill tiles  300 ,  301 ,  302  and  300 ,  301 ,  302 ,  303 ,  304 ,  305  are arranged in overlapping fashion to provide overlays  310  and  315 . The overlays may be configured to cover one or more panels of a bag, such as the bag conceptually illustrated in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . While a plurality of fringe tiles are illustrated, the invention is not limited to a plurality. Rather, one or more fringe tiles may be used in accordance with the principles of the invention.