Handle for bags particularly of net or plastic material

A handle for bags particularly of a net or plastic material has a closed loop carrying member to the bottom portion of which is connected a bendable strip substantially parallel to the carrying member. The strip is foldable back upon itself to form two strip portions. Detents and mating recesses are provided on the opposed inner faces of the strip portions to clamp the bag material between the strip portions which are detachably connected by a snap fastener.

The present invention relates to a carrying handle for bags, more 
particularly, to such a carrying handle which is detachably fastened to 
the open end of the bag. 
Bags particularly of a flexible plastic material or a net material are 
commonly used for carrying a wide variety of relatively small objects. 
Such bags are particularly popular for use in shopping wherein a number of 
small articles may be collected at different locations. Net bags are 
particularly suitable for shopping purposes since the shopper can easily 
acertain the contents of the bag without opening the bag. Such bags have 
been provided with many forms of handles or carrying members. Plastic bags 
in particular have been provided with plastic handles which are bonded or 
otherwise adhered to the open end of the bag. Such handles are not 
satisfactory since they are easily separated from the bag under the burden 
of the contents of the bag and eventually the handles are useless. Handles 
have also been secured to bags by various forms other than gluing or 
adhering. However, such handles are also generally unsatisfactory since 
the structure for securing the handles to the bag is either too 
complicated so as to be too difficult to be readily operated by the user 
or else the bag is not securely attached to the handle. 
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a 
novel and improved handle for bags particularly of a net or plastic 
material. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a bag handle 
which is readily attached to and detached from the bag material. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a detachable bag 
handle which is securely clamped to the bag material to provide a reliable 
and longlasting carrying member. 
According to one aspect of the present invention a handle for bags 
particularly of a net or plastic material may comprise a carrying member 
having an elongated portion which is to be gripped by the hand of the 
user. A bendable strip is attached to the carrying member and is foldable 
back upon itself so as to form two portions having opposed inner surfaces. 
A snap fastener on one strip portion is detachably engageable with the 
other strip portion to clamp the strip portions together. The opposed 
inner surfaces of the strip portions are provided with means for gripping 
bag material received between the strip portions so that the handle is 
securely but detachably attached to the bag material when the strip 
portions are clamped together by the snap fastener. 
The carrying member of the handle may be of a plastic material and the 
entire handle may be of integral construction. The gripping structure on 
the strip portions may comprise detents on one strip portion which mate 
with recesses on the other strip portion.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the 
same parts throughout the various views a specific embodiment and 
modifications of the present invention will be described in detail. 
The handle according to the present invention is indicated generally at 10 
in FIG. 1 and comprises a closed loop carrying member 11 having an 
elongated portion 12 which is manually gripped by the user when the handle 
is attached to a bag and is being carried as will be presently described. 
The handle is illustrated in its normal carrying position wherein the 
elongated portion 12 is horizontal and the description of the various 
directions of the elements will be described with respect to this carrying 
position for purposes of convenience. 
A substantially vertically extending link 13 connects the lower portion of 
the carrying member 11 to a bendable strip 14 which is bendable or 
foldable about one edge 15 so as to form strip portions 16 and 17 which 
are folded together in the manner as shown in FIG. 2. The strip portions 
are secured together in a clamped position by a snap fastener comprising a 
pin 18 having a conical head 19 of an enlarged diameter which is received 
within an opening 20. The enlarged diameter of the head 19 is only 
slightly greater than the diameter of the opening 20 so that the head may 
be inserted into and withdrawn from the opening to engage and disengage 
the snap fastener. 
The strip portions 16 and 17 have opposed inner faces 21 and 22 upon which 
may be formed a series of detents or pins 23 which may be received into 
cup-shaped recesses 24 positioned on the inner surfaces in such a manner 
so as to coincide with the positions of the pins and the detents and 
recesses are capable of a mating relationship. 
A plurality of detents or pins 25 are also positioned in upstanding 
positions on the inner surface of the carrying handle as shown in FIG. 1 
and a plurality of lateral detents 26 are positioned on each side of the 
lower portion of the carrying handle as also may be seen in FIG. 1 and 
FIG. 4. 
The carrying handle 10 is preferably made of a thermoplastic material and 
is formed of an integral one-piece construction. The fold 15 of the strip 
14 has a smaller thickness than the remainder of the strip 14 so as to 
facilitate bending of the strip. The plastic material from which the 
carrying member is formed also facilitates the snap action permitting the 
engagement and disengagement of the snap fastener. 
To use the handle 10 the open end of a net bag a portion of which is 
illustrated at 27 in FIG. 2 is gathered together and the gathered portion 
is passed over the detents on one strip portion 16 looped over the detents 
25 on the handle and then doubled over against the strip portion 16 into 
the position as shown in FIG. 2. The strip portion 17 is then moved into 
the closing position as illustrated by the arrow 28 in FIG. 4 to be 
clamped upon the doubled over bag material into the position as shown in 
FIG. 2. In this clamped position it can be seen that the detents 23 and 
recesses 24 on the strip portions grip the bag material together with the 
lateral detents 26 and upper detents 25 on the handle. While this gripping 
action is particularly effective with bags of netted material wherein the 
detents or pins readily penetrate into the bag material it is to be born 
in mind that bags of other material such as sheet plastic, fabrics 
including burlap can also be securely gripped by the clamping strips of 
this handle. 
Should at any time access be desired to the bag supported by the handle 22 
the strip portion 17 is pulled away from the strip portion 16 to disengage 
the snap fastener. With the strip portions in the opened position as shown 
in FIG. 1 the gathered opening of the bag is then readily released from 
the handle to permit access to the bag. In a manner similar to that 
described above the handle is readily attached to the bag opening. The 
procedure of disengaging the handle and subsequently clamping the handle 
to the bag material occupies such a short period of time that there is no 
inconvenience to the user in engaging and disengaging the handle 
repeatedly during use. 
The construction of the handle is sufficiently strong to withstand ordinary 
operations such as would be carried out with utilizing net or plastic bags 
by shoppers or other persons. At the same time, the construction is such 
that the handle may be inexpensively molded from plastic in a known 
manner. 
The inner and outer edges of the closed loop portion 11 of the handle may 
be provided with widened reinforcing edges or rims 29 to provide a more 
comfortable handgrip and to strengthen further the handle. If desired, 
transverse reinforcing ribs 32 may be located at different points along 
the handle between the upstanding edges indicated at 29. 
The opening 20 may be provided on the rearside of the strip with a 
reinforced annular portion 30 to permit repeated engagement and 
disengagement of the snap fastener without any damage to the opening. The 
inner surface of strip 16 surrounding the opening 20 may be formed with a 
tapering or conical surface 31 leading to the opening 20 so as to 
facilitate insertion of the head 19 into the opening 20. 
It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in 
order to adapt it to different usages and conditions, and accordingly, it 
is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may 
fall within the scope of the appended claims.