Bottle bag

A flexible bag including front and rear walls vertically joined along a center line to form a pair of adjacent separated upwardly opening compartments. The front and rear bag walls have integral handles projecting upwardly therefrom, one handle in generally overlying relation to each compartment. The compartments, each with its associated handle, are selectively severable from each other along the vertical joinder line.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is generally concerned with the bagging of glass containers, 
primarily bottles, wherein great care must be taken to avoiding direct 
contact between the bagged bottles such as might cause chipping or 
breakage. While the problem is not particularly significant in a grocery 
store environment wherein the glass containers for various foodstuffs use 
relatively thick glass and, in the bagging thereof, can normally be 
cushioned within other foodstuffs to avoid direct glass to glass contact, 
the problem is more acute in liquor stores and the like wherein the bulk 
of the products dispensed are in glass bottles. As such, while not limited 
thereto, it is contemplated that the present invention find particular 
utility as a bagging means or container for liquor bottles. 
Under current practice, when two or more bottles are to be carried within a 
carrier or bag, the bottles are separated within the bag by individually 
wrapping the bottles prior to insertion in the bag, providing extra bags 
to receive the individual bottles, or by inserting cardboard dividers or 
the like between the bottles. While such means are effective to keep the 
bottles from hitting each other and breaking, the cost of the extra bags, 
dividers, and the like can be high, particularly in liquor stores wherein 
substantially every sale will entail the use of substantial packaging 
materials in addition to the carrying bag itself. 
The problem of maintaining bottle separation within a carrying bag is 
recognized in the following patents wherein proposed solutions have 
involved the provision of rather elaborate permanent or removable 
partition structures: 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,983,418, Thurmer 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,089,297, Read et al 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,484, Rattay et al 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The bag construction of the present invention is unique in providing for 
bottle separation without requiring additional materials, separate 
partitions, extra bags, or the like. 
Basically, the bottle carrier of the present invention comprises a flexible 
bag, preferably of autogenously bondable synthetic resin material as in 
the commonly used plastic or thermoplastic grocery sack, wherein the front 
and rear walls of the bag are bonded together along the vertical center 
line thereof. When formed in this manner, a pair of upwardly opening 
isolated compartments are defined toward each side of the bag. The typical 
thermoplastic grocery bag normally incorporates a pair of upwardly 
extending handles, defining what is frequently referred to as a "T-shirt" 
grocery bag. The defined compartments of the liquor bag of the present 
invention will each generally underlie one of the handles for a direct 
support of the load therein. This is particularly desirable to avoid a 
load imbalance. 
It is also contemplated that provision be made for vertically severing the 
bag to separate the compartments, as would be desired in those instances 
where only a single bottle is to be bagged. In such cases, the provision 
for a handle in association with each of the compartments is particularly 
significant in defining a self-contained carrier unit. 
Provision for separation of the compartments of a bag will normally be 
provided by incorporating a severance line or line of weakness, such as a 
line of perforations, vertically along the bonded area between the front 
and rear walls of the bag and centrally of the bonded area whereby upon a 
severing of the compartments, a bonded edge is retained along each 
compartment. In this manner, a complete carrier is retained. 
It will be recognized that the significant advantages of a compartmented 
bag capable of being physically divided into multiple bag units with 
individual handles is achieved without the necessity of additional 
materials, internal partitions, or the like. In addition, assuming bags of 
thermoplastic material formed in the manner of the known plastic grocery 
bag, the formation of the bag of the present invention can be effected on 
standard manufacturing equipment with minor modifications to accommodate, 
as an example, a central vertical heat seaming or sealing of the front and 
rear walls of the bag together, in conjunction with means for defining a 
line of perforations centrally along the heat seam. 
Additional objects and features of the invention will be appreciated as the 
details of construction and manner of use are more fully hereinafter 
described and claimed.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now more specifically to the drawings, reference numeral 10 
designates the carrier or bag of the invention. As with known bags, the 
bag 10 can conveniently be fabricated from a tube of thermoplastic 
material sequentially gusseted, flattened and heat sealed at the opposed 
upper and lower ends. 
The formed bag will thus include opposed overlying front and rear panels 
defining front and rear walls 12 and 14 with integral outwardly expandable 
side walls or gussets 16, a heat sealed closed bottom or lower edge 18 and 
a heat sealed top edge 20. As desired, the basic configuration of the bag 
10 can be formed without the side gussets with the sides of the bag 
defined by a direct heat sealing of the side edges of the front and rear 
walls 12 and 14 to each other. 
The bag 10 is to be in the nature of a "T-shirt" or handle bag. As such, 
the bag 10 is cut away inwardly and centrally through the heat sealed 
upper edge 20 thereof for a minor portion of the height of the bag to 
define both an open bag mouth 22 and a pair of laterally opposed handles 
24. As will be appreciated from the drawings, the handle-defining cut will 
extend through the inner extremities of the upper portions of the opposed 
gussets 16 to allow for an opening of the formed handles 24. Each of the 
handles 24 is in turn formed of integrally upwardly extending portions of 
the front and rear bag walls reinforced by the inwardly underlying upper 
portions of the gussets 16. 
The bag construction as thus far described is generally conventional. The 
bag 10 of the present invention differs from the conventional 
thermoplastic grocery bag in that the front and rear walls 12 and 14 are 
directly bonded to each other vertically along a seal or seam 26 extending 
between the open loading mouth 22 of the bag and the sealed lower edge or 
bottom 18 thereof. The front and rear walls 12 and 14 are preferably 
autogenously bonded to each other, such as by heat sealing, a step which 
can be easily provided for during the manufacture of the bag. 
The central seaming of the front and rear walls 12 and 14 of the bag to 
each other defines a pair of laterally adjacent upwardly opening 
compartments 28, each directly accessible through the open mouth 22 of the 
bag, possibly in conjunction with an outward spreading of the overlying 
corresponding handle 24. 
As previously indicated, the bag 10 of the invention is particularly 
adapted for the accommodation of a pair of bottles, each received in one 
of the compartments. When so positioned, and as illustrated in FIG. 2 of 
the drawings, the bottles are segregated from each other, thus avoiding 
direct contact therebetween and avoiding any breakage which might be 
attributed to such contact. The bag 10, when loaded as illustrated in FIG. 
2, can now be readily carried in the manner of a conventional plastic 
grocery bag by merely an inward flexing of the handles 24 toward each 
other for convenient grasping within one hand. 
An additional and particularly significant feature of the invention is the 
provision for a severing of the two formed bag compartments 28 from each 
other to provide a carrier or bag unit 30, as illustrated in FIG. 4, to 
accommodate a single bottle. The severance of the bag 10 into two separate 
bag units 30 can be provided for by defining a line of severance or 
weakness 32 vertically along the heat seal or seam 26. This line of 
severance 32, which may consist of aligned material-weakening 
perforations, will extend centrally along the seam 26, with the seam 26 
being of sufficient width to maintain a positive edge seal along each of 
the bag units 30 upon a severance thereof. In this manner, the integrity 
of each of the severed bag units 30 is maintained. 
As with the formation of the seam or heat seal 16, the formation of the 
line of weakness or perforations can be easily effected during bag 
manufacture through relatively minor equipment modification. As an 
alternative to providing for a single wide heat seal capable of being 
centrally perforated or severed, a pair of laterally spaced separate heat 
seals or seams can be provided with the line of weakness therebetween. 
As will be noted particularly in FIG. 4, each of the severed carrier or bag 
units 30 incorporates one of the handles 24 and defines a self-contained 
handled carrier or bag for both facilitating a carrying of the bottle and 
cooperating therewith in confining the bottle and, through the flexible 
nature of the material of the bag and the weight of the bottle, providing 
for a intimate retention of the bottle within the bag unit. It will also 
be recognized that the flexible nature of the bag, either alone or in 
conjunction with the expanding side gusset 16, will tend to centrally 
locate the bottle, and hence the load, below the handle 24 to enhance the 
convenience of the carrier unit. 
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a bag has been defined 
which, while requiring no more material than that in a conventional 
plastic grocery bag, is uniquely compartmented and adapted for the 
accommodation of multiple bottles in a manner whereby the bottles are 
segregated from each other within a single carrier to avoid any potential 
for breakage resulting from direct bottle contact. The bottle segregation 
results from a direct seaming of the front and rear walls of the bag to 
each other vertically therealong. With regard to the intimate engagement 
and direct seaming of the front and rear walls to each other, as noted 
particularly in FIG. 2, such a relationship provides for a gradual 
reduction in the spacing between the front and rear walls of an expanded 
bag toward the central seam. This in turn will actually tend to outwardly 
space the bottles from the central seam and thus provide a further 
cushioning effect between the bottles above and beyond that resulting from 
the width of the seam itself and the front and rear wall material therein. 
The ability to sever the bag into separate handled bag units for single 
bottles is significant in accommodating purchases of single bottles 
without necessitating either the specific provision of smaller bags 
capable of accommodating single bottles, or the use of a 
larger-than-necessary bag normally adapted to accommodate more than one 
bottle.