Bag with handle and method of making the same

The bag is preferably a flat bottom side gusseted open top bag of the shopping bag type, which has soft braided or woven fabric handles. The handles are closed bail type handles having ends which are sandwiched between the bag side walls and a patch adhesively secured to the inner surface of the bag side walls. The bail portion of each handle is soft, limp and flexible while the end portions of each handle sandwiched between the patch and bag wall are stiff and relatively rigid. The ends of the handles are stiffened prior to assembling the bags. In assembly, the bag body is formed and the patches are adhesively secured to the bag side walls. Non-adhered pockets are positioned between the patches and the bag walls for reception of the stiffened ends of the handles. The ends of the handles are coated with adhesive and then inserted into pockets for securing to the bag body.

This invention relates to bags with bail type handles and more particularly 
to an improved bag which has soft, limp and flexible braided or woven 
handles. 
Open top shopping bags are conventionally made with bail handles which may 
be an integral part of the bag or may be a separate component secured to 
the bag. The handles, when a separate component of the bag, may be 
adhesively secured to the bag, stapled to the bag, knotted to the bag, or 
the like. The handles per se may be twisted paper, molded plastic, braided 
or woven fabric, or the like. 
This invention relates to bags having separate handles which are formed 
from braided or woven fabric and which are adhesively secured to the bags. 
The bags are typically formed from paper, coated paper, plastic, or the 
like. Bags of this type having braided or woven fabric handles are known 
in the prior art. The braided or woven fabric handles are quite soft, limp 
and flexible and are attached to the bags in one of two ways. The bags 
will be provided with paper patches adhesively secured to the inner 
surface of opposed walls of the bag. In one form, the patches will be 
provided with openings through which the inner ends of the handles are 
threaded. After threading, the ends of the handles are knotted so that 
they cannot be pulled back through the openings in the patches, thus 
securing the handles to the bags. In the other form, small rigid disks are 
secured to the ends of the handles and the disked ends are sandwiched 
between the patch and bag wall and adhesively secured in place when the 
patches are adhered to the bag wall. These types of bags with the soft 
braided or woven fabric handles are very popular due to their comfort for 
gripping, but are expensive because they must be hand assembled due to the 
softness and flexibility of the handles. Stiffer handles, such as molded 
plastic or twisted paper, are less expensive because they can be 
automatically assembled. These stiffer types of handles can have their 
ends automatically pushed in between the patches and bag walls after the 
patches have been secured to the bag walls. The ends of these stiffer 
handles will be coated with adhesive which will secure the handles in 
place between the patches and the bag walls. 
In accordance with this invention, the ends of the soft braided or woven 
fabric handles are modified to stiffen them so that they can be pushed 
into adhesive-free pockets between the patches and bag walls after being 
coated with adhesive. Only the ends of the handles are stiffened so that 
the hand gripping central portion of the bail retains its soft, 
comfortable nature. The stiffening can be accomplished in several 
different ways. If the handles are made from braided or woven polymeric 
material, such as polypropylene or the like, the ends of the handles can 
be momentarily confined in a heated die to fuse the polymeric fibers into 
a hardened condition. If the handles are formed from a polymeric material 
or from a natural fibrous material, the ends can be fitted with 
appropriately sized sleeves of acetate, or the like, much like the ends of 
a shoe lace are stiffened. Alternatively, the ends of the handle can be 
impregnated with any material which, upon drying, will harden. 
These modified handles can be prepared separately in assembly line fashion 
while the bag bodies are likewise prepared separately in assembly line 
fashion, as follows. The bags are cut, folded and glued to their normal 
form. On the inside surfaces of opposed side walls of each bag, paper 
patches are preferably adhesively secured in place. The adhesive pattern, 
securing the patches to the bag is such that a pocket is provided between 
each patch and the adjacent side wall, while pocket is adhesive-free. This 
pocket opens toward the mouth of the bag so that the stiffened ends of the 
handles can be pushed into the pocket so as to lie between the patch and 
the bag side wall. The resultant bag has a strong and durable handle 
connection and yet retains the soft, comfortable gripping portion of the 
handle. Manufacturing costs using this invention are approximately 
one-third the costs involved using the prior art procedures for forming 
these soft handled bags which require assembly by hand. 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved soft 
handle paper bag and a method of forming the same. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a bag of the character 
described wherein the handles are soft braided or woven fabric bail 
handles having stiffened ends for securement to the bag body. 
It is another object of this invention to provide a bag of the character 
described wherein the stiffened ends of the handles are pushed into 
reception pockets in the bag side walls for adhesive securement therein. 
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a bag of the 
character described which can be made more efficiently and at a lesser 
manufacturing cost.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 one embodiment of a 
bag handle formed in accordance with this invention. The handle, denoted 
generally by the numeral 2, is formed from a woven or braided fabric 
material and includes a central hand grip portion 4 and end securement 
portions 6. The handle shown in FIG. 1 is formed from a braided polymeric 
fiber such as polypropylene, and the end securement portions 6 are formed 
by momentary confinement in a heated die sufficient to fuse the fibers 
whereby fiber stiffening takes place. The end securement portions 6 are 
thus considerably stiffer than the central hand grip portion 4, the latter 
of which retains its natural soft and flexible nature. In the embodiment 
of FIG. 2, the stiffened end securement portion 6 is formed by a sleeve 8 
of material such as acetate which encircles and constricts the ends of the 
handle 2. The assembled bag 10 is shown in FIG. 3. The handles 2 are 
secured to the bag body 12 by being adhesively fixed to the side walls 14 
of the bag body 12. 
The manner of securement of the handles 2 to the bag body 12 is more 
clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A paper patch 16 is secured to the inside 
surface of the bag side wall 14 along three edges by a U-shaped strip of 
adhesive which lies generally outwardly of the phantom line 8. This leaves 
a central pocket 20 between the patch 16 and side wall 14 which is devoid 
of adhesive and which is open toward the upper edge 13 of the bag body 12. 
Prior to assembly, the ends 6 of the handle 2 are coated with adhesive 22 
and then inserted into the pocket 20, as shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 
5, the adhesive 22 secures the securement ends 6 of the handle 2 to the 
patch 16 and to the bag wall 14, providing a very solid, non-failing 
joinder of the handle and bag body. 
It will be appreciated that the stiffened ends of the handles allow the 
latter to be manipulated by automated machinery, will allow dipping of the 
handle ends into a glue reservoir, and will allow the ends of the handles 
to be pushed into place in the bag pockets on an automated assembly line, 
or at least will allow much faster manual assembly of the bags on an 
assembly line. 
Since many changes and variations of the disclosed embodiments of the 
invention may be made without departing from the inventive concept, it is 
not intended to limit the invention otherwise than as required by the 
appended claims.