Patent ID: 8905411

Claim:
A reusable shopping bag and shopping cart system for use in containing and transporting items, comprising: a generally rectangular soft-sided expandable and collapsible reusable shopping bag having a bottom wall panel, opposed front and rear end wall panels, two laterally opposed side wall panels defining an open top end and an interior volume, said opposed front and rear end wall panels being of a width greater than the width of said laterally opposed side wall panels and to fit between laterally spaced apart support arms of a conventional plastic T-shirt bag holding rack, an elongate flexible loop carrying handle secured to an upper end portion of each of said opposed front and rear end wall panels for carrying said bag in the manner of a tote-type shopping bag, and a pair of looped support members one on each of said side wall panels at an upper end thereof configured to receive the laterally spaced apart support arms of the holding rack to support said shopping bag thereon in a fully open condition; and a shopping cart having a frame with a generally U-shaped lower portion supported on wheels, lateral side rails extending upwardly from a rear end of said lower portion, one or more cross bars extending transversely between said lateral side rails, a hand grip portion extending between upper ends of said side rails, and a pair of tubular arms each extending forwardly from a respective said lateral side rail of said shopping cart frame in generally parallel laterally spaced relation; and a plurality of inverted generally U-shaped bag support members secured to each of said laterally spaced tubular arms to extend a short distance upwardly therefrom in adjacent longitudinally spaced relation, said tubular support arms and said U-shaped bag support members disposed in laterally opposed relation spaced apart a distance sufficient to receive said looped support members of a respective said shopping bag to support said shopping bag thereon in a fully open condition; said looped support members on each of said side wall panels of said reusable shopping bag being removably placed on said bag support members of said cart to support said shopping bag in a full open condition on said cart and, when removed therefrom, being removably placed on the laterally spaced apart support arms of the holding rack to support said shopping bag in a full open condition on the laterally spaced apart support arms of the holding rack.