Patent Publication Number: US-2009223850-A1

Title: Bag

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a bag, and more particularly to a bag for carrying bottles, cups and other liquid containers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In a first aspect, the present invention provides an insert for a bag, the insert comprising at least one container-receiving aperture. 
     Preferably, the insert is of a foldable construction. 
     Suitably, the insert comprises a central platform from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls extend downwardly. 
     Preferably, the insert is affixable to an inner wall of the bag, suitably by means of an adhesive or adhesive tape. More preferably, the insert is affixable, by only one of its side-walls, to an inner wall of the bag, enabling the insert to be folded flat against the bag. 
     Preferably, a lower edge of an unfixed side-wall is restable, in use, against the base of a bag in which the insert is fitted. Optionally, the insert further comprises at least one strengthening shelf which spans the side-walls intermediate upper and lower edges thereof. 
     In one embodiment, the at least one container-receiving aperture is a generally circular cut-out region through which a container, such as a bottle or cup is insertable. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the aperture comprises a generally circular partially cut-out region comprising a plurality of deformable flaps. 
     In a second aspect, there is provided a bag manufactured of a recyclable material, further comprising an insert as described above. 
     Suitably, the bag is a paper bag or a bag manufactured from lightweight card. 
     Preferably, the bag and insert are collapsible for storage or transportation. 
     Suitably, the bag is sized to carry two containers and the insert comprises two container-receiving apertures accordingly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in further detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bag in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an insert in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  in which the insert is partially retracted; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of an insert in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional side view of a bag with an insert according to a second embodiment of the present invention in which the insert is partially retracted; and 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional side view of a bag with insert according to the second embodiment of the present invention in which the insert is fully deployed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIG. 1  there is shown a collapsible paper bag  10 , having a body portion  11  and a pair of handles  12 . Housed within the bag  10  is an insert  13  of a flattened, generally inverted ‘U-shaped’ cross-section. As more clearly seen in  FIG. 2 , the insert  13  is formed from a central platform  14 , from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls  15  extend downwardly. In an assembled configuration in which the insert is correctly located within a bag, the bottom edges  22  of the side-walls  15  rest upon the base  23  of the bag such that the insert  13  is ‘self-supporting’ within the bag  10 . However, in preferred embodiments one of the side-walls  15  is fixed to a correspondingly adjacent inner side-wall of the bag (discussed below in relation to  FIG. 3 ). 
     The central portion  14  of insert  13  comprises at least one container-receiving aperture in the form of circular cut-out regions  20 , through which bottles, cups or other such containers may be passed, in use. The cut-out regions  20  are dimensioned appropriate to the particular containers for which the bag is designed to accommodate. In particular, the cut-out regions  20  are dimensioned to allow an appropriately sized bottle or container (not shown) to be passed therethrough, such that the base of the bottle or container rests on the base  23  of the bag  10 , and the container sides are supported by the central platform  14  immediately adjacent the relevant cut-out region  20 . This arrangement helps to keep such placed containers in an upright position during portage. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , an insert  13  is fixed to a single wall of the bag to enable the bag fitted with the insert  13  to be easily collapsed for storage. In preferred embodiments the insert  13  is fixed by gluing. An additional benefit of this arrangement is that the insert can be folded against the bag side-wall when the bag is required for conventional carrying purposes in which bottles or containers are not required to be carried. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a bag  10  with insert  13  in a deployed position. 
       FIGS. 5 to 7  show a second, alternative, embodiment of an insert  13 ′ in which the insert is formed from a first central platform  14 ′, from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls  15 ′ extend downwardly, and a second central platform in the form of shelf  21 , which spans the side-walls  15 ′ intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof,  22 ,  24  respectively. 
     Additionally, the cut-out regions  20  may further include a plurality of bottle or container engaging flaps (not shown). The flaps allow a container to be inserted therethrough, and grip the container so inserted around its body. The flaps also act to prevent adjacently placed containers from knocking against each other when the carrier is in use. Each flap is formed from by a fold line located around the circular container receiving region and two cut lines which radially project towards the centre of the circular container receiving region, to form a series of substantially triangular hinged flaps. 
     Although described above with respect to a bag for carrying two containers ( FIGS. 1 to 4 ), such as bottles of wine, the bag of the present invention is applicable to carrying any number of containers, subject to the weight-carrying constraints of the material from which the bag is constructed. For example, the bag could carry three, four or more bottles in a 1×3, 1×4, 2×2, 2×3 or 2×4 configuration, as will readily be apparent to the skilled person. 
     The bag and insert may, optionally, be formed from paper or card material having excellent wet tear strength properties. The simplicity of the bag and insert design allows rapid and cheap production by conventional methods and produces a bag which can be stored flat and assembled in minimum time. 
     In the expanded configuration, as best seen in  FIG. 1 , the bag  10  is capable of receiving and accommodating a number of bottles, such as wine or beer bottles or other containers for liquids, such as cups of tea or coffee. Bags according to this invention allow a user comfortably and safely to carry a number of such items, and are particularly suitable to food outlets in which both food and drinks items are purchased simultaneously. A bag according to this invention allows the user to securely and stably carry drinks containers without the risk of them damaging other items, such as food. Additionally, due to the high specification of the material from which the bags are preferably constructed, the bags can be reused a number of times. 
     As may be seen, therefore, the present invention provides numerous advantages. It may be assembled easily and inexpensively, and is capable of accommodating beverage containers of a range of different sizes and shapes. A bag and insert of the present invention can be opened from flat, in a simple one-handed operation by a flick of the wrist and accordingly helps to speed-up service times.