HANDLE FOR CARRIER BAGS

Abstract: A separate handle for carrier bags comprises a base (2), a first upstanding wall (4) formed on the base (2) and a second upstanding wall (6) formed on the base (2) generally parallel to the first wall (4) to create a channel (8) therebetween. A first arm (10) extends upwards from a rear end of the first wall (4) and a second arm (14) extends upwards from a front end of the second wall. The first arm (10) is connected to a hand grip (12). This arrangement allows the handle to be hooked through the loops of a carrier bag, whereupon the weight of the carrier bag rests on the first and second walls (4, 6). The first arm (10) at the rear of the first wall (4) and the second arm (14) at the front of the second wall (6) tend to cause the bag handles to rotate under the action of gravity and come to rest lying along the channel (8) between the first and second walls (4, 6). The invention allows successive bags to be picked up easily and carried comfortably.

Description: ■ 1 - TITLE Handle for carrier bags DESCRIPTION Technical field The invention relates to the field of separate handles suitable for carrying carrier bags or other articles that incorporate loop-shaped handles of their own. Background of the invention Carrier bags are frequently provided by shops for customers to carry home their purchases. A typical carrier bag is made of paper or plastics materials and incorporates handles forming a loop . Each handle may be formed by stamping out an area of the side of the bag, by joining together a pair of strips from opposite sides of the bag or by attaching a separately manufactured handle to the bag. Because such bags are often given away free, they tend to be manufactured as cheaply as possible and the handles, even when manufactured separately, are often insubstantial. When the bags are heavily loaded, the insubstantial handles tend to cut into the hands of the user and cause discomfort . One solution of this problem that has long been known is to wrap a flexible grip around the bag handles, which both cushions the hand of the user and spreads the weight of the load over a larger area, thereby reducing pressure on the hand. A variation on this idea is a commercially available grip of plastics material having the general form of a channel into which the bag handles can be placed. The underside of the channel may be moulded into a comfortable shape for resting on the fingers of the user. When more than one carrier bag is to be carried, a further problem arises besides the additional weight to be expected. While holding one bag it can be difficult to pick up a further bag in the same hand. Moreover, because of the flexible nature of carrier bags and their handles, and because of differences in their design and their contents, such bags are difficult to arrange on a surface with their handles all adjacent in order to be picked up together. This problem also applies to other bags with flexible handles, such as more substantial shopping bags made of fabric, and it is not alleviated by the known grips described above. Summary of the invention The invention provides a handle for carrier bags comprising: a base; a first upstanding wall formed on the base; a second upstanding wall formed on the base generally parallel to the first wall to create a channel therebetween; a first arm extending upwards from a rear end of the first wall to a height greater than the height of a rear end of the second wall, the first arm being connected to a hand grip; and a second arm extending upwards from a front end of the second wall to a height greater than the height of a front end of the first wall. This arrangement allows the base of the handle according to the invention to be hooked through the loops of a carrier bag handle, whereupon the weight of the carrier bag rests on the first and second walls. The upwardly extending first arm at the rear of the first wall and the upwardly extending second arm at the front of the second wall hold the bag handles in place and the handles tend to rotate under the action of gravity and come to rest lying - 3 - along the channel formed by the base between the first and second walls . Thus the invention solves the aforementioned problems by providing an easy way to pick up carrier bags individually, in which the handle is held by the hand grip on the first arm while the second arm is hooked through the bag handles . The bag comes to rest in the channel under the action of gravity, without the need to release the hand grip, and the grip may be designed for the comfort of the user. Preferably, an upper edge of the first wall slopes downwards from the rear end of the wall to the front end of the wall; and an upper edge of the second wall slopes downwards from the front end of the wall to the rear end of the wall . This arrangement enhances the rotation of the bag handles to drop into the channel as the weight of the bag pulls them downwards . In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the hand grip extends forwards from the first arm in a direction generally parallel to the first and second walls. This allows the grip to be generally horizontal for increased comfort when the base of the handle and the centre of mass of the carrier bags are directly beneath it. It also assists the action of hooking the second arm through the carrier bag handles . An upper end of the second arm may extend laterally to a position above the first wall. The upper end of the second arm may also have a rearwardly pointing prong and a forwardly pointing prong. Preferably an upper surface of the upper end of the second arm slopes downwards from front to rear. The lateral extension and the rearwardly pointing prong of the second arm help to keep the carrier bag handles in place in the channel, for example if the hand grip is released. The forwardly pointing prong and - 4 - the downwardly sloping upper surface of the second arm respectively assist with hooking the second arm through the carrier bag handles and encouraging the handles to slide into their intermediate position across the first and second walls . The handle according to the invention may be manufactured from any suitably rigid material but in order to keep costs as low as possible a plastics material is likely to be most appropriate . Drawings Fig. 1 is a side view of a handle in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of the handle of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the handle of Fig. 1. Figs. 4 to 6 are cross sections of the handle of Fig. 1, respectively on lines IV-IV, V-V, VI-VI and VII-VII of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a cross section of the handle of Fig. 1 on line VIII-VIII of Fig. 6. Description of a preferred embodiment A preferred embodiment of a handle for carrier bags in accordance with the invention is illustrated in the drawings . A generally elongated, flat base 2 has a first upstanding wall 4 along one side and a second upstanding wall 6 along the other side, such that the base 2 and the first and second walls 4,6 form a channel 8 between them. The longitudinal profile of the base 2 may be curved, as seen in Fig. 8, and small protrusions 9 may be provided in the bottom of the channel 8 to reduce slippage of bag handles resting in the channel 8. Extending upwards from a rear end of the first wall 4 is a first arm 10. Extending horizontally from the top of the first arm 10 is a hand grip 12. As may be seen from Fig. 2, the hand grip 12 is located directly above and generally parallel to the channel 8. The hand grip 12 is shaped to be comfortable when supported in the hand of a user. Extending upwards from a front end of the second wall 6 is a second arm 14. The upper end 15 of the second arm 14 is located higher above the base 2 than the upper edge 16 of the first wall 4. As seen in Fig. 2, the upper end 15 of the second arm 14 is broadened to extend laterally to a location above the front end of the first wall 4. The upper end 15 of the second arm 14 also carries a forwardly pointing prong 18 and a rearwardly pointing prong 20. The upper end 15 of the second arm 14, the forward prong 18 and the rearward prong 20 together define an upper surface 22 that slopes downwards towards the rear. The upper edge 16 of the first wall slopes downwards from the first arm 10 towards the front end of the first wall 4. The upper edge 24 of the second wall slopes in the opposite direction, downwards from the second arm 14 towards the rear end of the second wall 6. The sequence of cross sections in Figures 4 to 7 illustrates the change in relative height of the first and second walls 4,6 from the rear to the front of the channel 8. A user holds the handle by the hand grip 12, with the first arm 10 to the rear. The forwardly pointing prong 18 of the second arm 14 is threaded through the pair of handles of a carrier bag or similar article and, under the influence of the forward movement by the user or of the weight of the bag, the handles slide rearwardly along the downward slope of the upper surface 22 of the second arm. At the end of the rearwardly pointing prong 20, the bag handles fall onto the upper edge 16 of the first wall 4, where gravity carries them now forwards along the downward - 6 - slc e lo the crossover point 26 at which the heights cf the first: and second walls 4,6 are equal. From here, the first wail 4 continues to slope downwards in the fcrward direction, while the second wall 6 slopes downwards in the rearward direction. This has the effect of rotating the bag handles as they travel under gravity in opposite directions down the first and second walls 4,6 until, when the handles have slid to the front end of the first wall 4 and the rear end of the second wall 6, they have rotated through approximately 90° and fall into place lying along the channel 8. The bag is then supported with its handles parallel to and directly beneath the hand grip 12. Further bags can be picked up in the same manner, with the forward prong 18 facilitating the action of threading the bag handles onto the separate handle of the invention. Once in place in the channel 8, the bag handles are prevented from accidental removal, for example if the hand grip 12 is released by the user. As viewed from the front in Fig. 2, the first and second arms 10,14 overlap one another so there is no direct path by which the bag handles can rise out of the channel 8. Furthermore, the rearward prong 20 ensures that the bag handles must retreat quite far and quite high up the first wall 4 before they can be lifted over the upper end 15 of the second arm and be released. In effect, the rotational movement that was used to pick up the bags must be reversed in order to remove them, which is quite unlikely without the assistance of gravity and the guiding walls. However, intentional removal of the bags may easily be achieved by the user by twisting the handle and angling it. backwards . It will be understood that the illustrated handle could be made to have a mirror image form. In this case the rotation of the bacs or. t ckinσ them uo would occur i the opposite sense but otherwise the embodiment would work in an identical manner to that described. This might be found preferable for left-handed use.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A handle for carrier bags comprising: a base; a first upstanding wall formed on the base; a second upstanding wall formed on the base generally parallel to the first wall to create a channel therebetween; a first arm extending upwards from a rear end of the first wall to a height greater than the height of a rear end of the second wall, the first arm being connected to a hand grip; and a second arm extending upwards from a front end of the second wall to a height greater than the height of a front end of the first wall. 2. A handle according to claim 1, in which an upper edge of the first wall slopes downwards from the rear end of the wall to the front end of the wall. 3. A handle according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which an upper edge of the second wall slopes downwards from the front end of the wall to the rear end of the wall. 4. A handle according to any preceding claim, in which the hand grip extends forwards from the first arm in a direction generally parallel to the first and second walls . 5. A handle according to any preceding claim, in which an upper end of the second arm extends laterally to a position above the first wall. 6. A handle according to any preceding claim, in which the second arm has a rearwardly pointing prong at its upper end. - 9 - 7. A handle according to any preceding claim, in which the second arm has a forwardly pointing prong at its upper end. 8. A handle according to any of claims 5 to 7, wherein an upper surface of the upper end of the second arm slopes downwards from front to rear. 9. A handle for carrier bags substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.

Inventors: MATTISON IAIN, MATTISON, IAIN
Applicants: MATTISON IAIN, MATTISON, IAIN
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A45F5
IPC codes: A45F5