Bag supporting apparatus

Apparatus for supporting articles such as grocery bags or the like to prevent overturning or tipping. Two like bag supports are disclosed, each having a plurality of tines forming a base, and a bag upright support pivotably attached to the base. The bag upright support can be moved between a folded position and an upright position, and a latch automatically locks the apparatus in the upright position for supporting a bag or the like.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates in general to apparatus for supporting or 
stabilizing an upright article, and in particular relates to apparatus for 
supporting articles such as grocery bags or the like. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Nearly everyone who shops for groceries has had one or more grocery bags 
overturn during the drive home from the store. The bags full of groceries 
are typically loaded into the trunk of an automobile, or into the open 
floor space near the back of a station wagon, and the bags receive little 
or no lateral support in these locations. Even mild cornering or 
stop-and-go driving can cause a grocery bag to overturn, especially where 
no canned goods or other relatively heavy articles are packed at the 
bottom of the bag. An overturned grocery bag is at best an inconvenience 
for the shopper, requiring him or her to retrieve and rebag the spilled 
contents which has typically spread itself all over the trunk or other 
area of the automobile. At worst, an overturned grocery bag will spill 
fragile or breakable articles, creating a wasteful and unsightly mess 
which must then be cleaned from the automobile. 
Although various kinds of bag supporting structures are shown in the prior 
art, these structures are generally intended to hold the bag during a 
filling or loading operation. A support especially intended for 
stabilizing grocery bags should be relatively inexpensive to purchase, 
relatively sturdy and easy to use, and should fold or collapse into a 
relatively compact configuration occupying minimum trunk or other storage 
space when not actually in use. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
Stated in general terms, the present invention provides a relatively 
lightweight, inexpensive and compact apparatus for supporting and 
stabilizing objects such as grocery bags or the like. The support 
apparatus of the present invention includes a pair of like support 
structures, each having a base readily fitting between the bottom of a 
grocery bag and an automobile trunk floor or other surface on which the 
bag rests. Each support apparatus also includes an upright support 
connected to the base and extending to engage one side of a grocery bag or 
other object to be stabilized. The base and upright support are pivotably 
attached to each other, and each support apparatus can be compactly stowed 
by folding together to form a substantially flat compact structure when 
not in use. 
Stated somewhat more particularly, the base of each support apparatus 
includes a number of rod-like tines which are mutually spaced apart to 
provide stability for the support apparatus, and to accommodate the base 
tines of a like support apparatus disposed in mutually confronting 
relation. The space between the upright supports of each support apparatus 
defines an object receiving region of variable dimension, and one or more 
grocery bags or other objects to be stabilized may be disposed within this 
region resting on the overlapping tines of each like support apparatus. 
Stated even more particularly the present support apparatus is preferably 
fabricated from elongated elements such as wire rod or the like, providing 
an inexpensive, lightweight, yet durable construction. The pivotable 
connection between the base and upright support includes a latch which 
automatically locks the upright support in place as that support is raised 
upwardly from folded position. This latch is readily released, when 
desired to return the support to its compact folded position. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved 
support apparatus for supporting articles such as grocery bags or the 
like. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide support apparatus 
for preventing grocery bags or the like from tipping or upsetting. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide support 
apparatus for maintaining grocery bags or the like in a stabilized upright 
position, while being transported from place to place. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more 
readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Turning first to FIG. 1, there is shown generally at 10 a pair of bag 
supports 11 and 12 according to the disclosed embodiment. Both the bag 
supports 11 and 12 are preferably identical in design and construction for 
understandable reasons of economy, and the two bag supports are shown 
facing each other in confronting relation to define an intervening space 
sufficient to receive and support one or more articles such as the loaded 
grocery bags indicated generally at 13. It will be appreciated that the 
bag supports 11 and 12 typically rest on a generally flat surface (not 
shown) such as the floor of an automobile trunk or the like. 
Each bag support 11 and 12 includes a base including a pair of tines 16a 
and 16b mutually parallel and spaced apart sufficiently to provide 
stability for the bag support, while fitting beneath the bottom of one or 
more typical bags 13 resting on the tines. The tines 16a and 16b, along 
with other elements of the bag supports, may be fabricated from metallic 
rod such as 3/16 mild steel rod, for lightness and economy while providing 
the necessary strength and durability. Other materials will suggest 
themselves to those skilled in the art. 
The tines 16a and 16b are bridged by a connecting rod 17 which lies on top 
of the tines near one end thereof, and is perpendicular to the tines. The 
ends of the connecting rod 17 extend outwardly a distance beyond each tine 
16a and 16b for a purpose described below. The connecting rod 17 is 
preferably attached to the tines 16a and 16b by welding at the crossing 
points between the connecting rod and the tines. 
Each inner end 18a and 18b of the respective tines 16a and 16b is looped 
upwardly to form part of a hinge interconnection, and these hinge 
interconnections join together the tines with the bag upright support 21. 
A pair of rod extensions 22a and 22b pivotably extend through the looped 
ends 18a and 18b of the respective tines, and it can be seen that these 
rod extensions are the ends of a unitary inverted U-shaped support member 
23 comprising the main body of the bag upright support 21. 
The U-shaped support member 23 of each bag support 11 and 12 includes a 
pair of parallel support arms 24a and 24b extending from the hinge joints 
formed by corresponding rod extensions 22a and 22b passing through the 
looped ends 18a and 18b of the tines, and an end member 25 interconnecting 
the two support members and forming the base of the inverted U-shape of 
the support member 23. A pair of space-apart connecting rods 26 and 27 
extend perpendicularly between the support arms 24a and 24b of the bag 
upright support 21, on the inside or bag-contacting surface thereof, to 
add structural rigidity to the bag support 21 and to increase the 
bag-contacting surface area of that support. The connecting rods 26 and 27 
are welded to the support arms 24a and 24b at the crossing points. 
It should now be understood that the bag upright support 21 of each support 
11 and 12 is pivotably attached to the tines 16a and 16b, through the 
hinge interconnection formed by the looped ends 18A and 18B and by the rod 
extensions 22a and 22b. This hinged interconnection of the support 21 with 
the tines allows the support member to assume either an upright 
back-supporting position shown in FIG. 1, or the folded position shown in 
FIG. 3 wherein the support 21 is pivoted forward to rest against the tines 
16a and 16b. In this folded position, the connecting rods 26 and 27 of the 
upright support 21, and the connecting rod 17 of the base, permit the 
upright support to fold substantially flat against the tines 16A and 16B 
without becoming intertangled with each other. As is apparent from FIG. 3, 
the present apparatus folds substantially flat, so that each bag support 
11 and 12 when folded occupies little usable space within an automobile 
trunk. The two bag supports thus can remain in the trunk or other location 
ready for use as needed. 
The upright support 21 is locked in the upright or bag-supporting position 
by a latch assembly best seen in FIG. 2. The latch assembly includes a 
latch engaging member 30 pivotably attached at one end 31 to an extension 
17' of the connecting rod 17, and operating to engage a latch member 
formed as an extension 27' of the connecting rod 27 forming part of the 
pivotable upright support 21. The latch engaging member 30, in keeping 
with the mode of construction shown for the disclosed embodiment of the 
apparatus, is formed of a unitary length of wire rod having a lower end 32 
curved to form a loop about the connecting rod extension 17'. The 
outermost end of the extension 17' is bent facing toward the rod extension 
22b as shown at 33, FIG. 1, to retain the end 31 of the latch engaging 
member in place on the connecting rod extension. 
The latch engaging member 30 includes two parallel lengths of rod 35 and 36 
separated to define an elongated channel 37 sufficiently wide to 
accommodate sliding movement of the rod extension 27' without binding. 
Toward the end of latch engaging member 30 remote from the end 31 defining 
the pivotable hinge connection, the rods 35 and 36 undergo a right-angle 
bend to define a relatively short locking channel 38 substantially 
perpendicular to the channel 37, and extending upwardly therefrom as best 
seen in FIG. 2. The locking channel 38 also accommodates sliding movement 
of the rod extension 27'. 
The rods 35 and 36 making up portions of the latch engaging member 30 are 
freely received within a slot 41 defined by a pair of rod segments 
collectively indicated at 42, best seen in FIG. 1, and forming part of the 
upright support 21. The slot 41 defines the desired position of the latch 
engaging member 30, and guides the movement of that member as the bag 
supporting apparatus pivots between its upright and folded positions. 
The operation of the apparatus described above is now considered. With the 
bag support apparatus in the folded position shown in FIG. 3, both 
supports 11 and 12 can be conveniently stowed when not in use. Each 
support apparatus 11 and 12 is readily moved to the upright position 
simply by grasping any part of the upright support 21, and pivotably 
raising that upright support to its upright position as shown in FIG. 1. 
As the upright support 21 is raised, the rod extension 27 slides along the 
channel 37 in the latch engaging member 30. When the upright support 21 
reaches upright position, the extension 27' enters the locking channel 38 
permitting the latch engaging member 30 to pivot downwardly a short 
distance until the extension reaches the end of the locking channel; this 
fully-locked position is shown in detail in FIG. 2. 
It is thus seen that each bag support 11 and 12 can be moved from folded 
position to upright position simply by raising the upright support 21 with 
one hand. The apparatus automatically latches in the upright position 
without requiring manual manipulation of any latching member or component. 
After bag supports 11 and 12 are each placed in the upright position, the 
two supports are then placed in spaced-apart confronting relation as shown 
in FIG. 1 with the tines 16a and 16b overlapping one another. The spacing 
between respective upright supports 21 is easily selected for the number 
of bags 13 to be supported. The upright supports 21 help stabilize the 
relatively unstable loaded grocery bags, and prevent these bags from 
overturning under lateral forces encountered during most normal driving 
conditions. Once a destination is reached and the bags 13 are removed, the 
supports 11 and 12 are easily returned to the folded configuration simply 
by manually raising the latch engaging member 30 to align the channel 37 
with the extension 37'. The upright support 21 may then be pivotably 
returned to the folded position shown in FIG. 3, and it is seen that the 
latch engaging member 30 lies in substantially flat alignment with the 
tines and the upright support so that each support 10 and 11 occupies 
minimum volume when folded. 
Although the foregoing description assumes that a pair of like supports 11 
and 12 will be used in conjunction with each other, it should be 
understood that some article-supporting applications may require but a 
single support. Depending on the configuration of the automobile trunk or 
other environment, for example, a body panel or other solid upright object 
may conveniently support one side of a single bag, leaving the other side 
available for support by one of the bag supports 11 or 12. 
It should also be understood that the foregoing relates only to a preferred 
embodiment of the present invention, and that numerous changes and 
modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.