GB2453376A

GB2453376A - Shopping bag made of fabric

Info

Publication number: GB2453376A
Application number: GB0719519A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gwendoline Margaret Alison Heath
Original assignee: HEATH GWENDOLINE MARGARET ALIS
Current assignee: HEATH GWENDOLINE MARGARET ALIS
Priority date: 2007-10-05
Filing date: 2007-10-05
Publication date: 2009-04-08
Anticipated expiration: 2027-10-05
Also published as: GB2453376B; GB0719519D0

Abstract

A woven shopping bag 11 is made from a single sheet of fabric, preferably cotton or jute, folded end-to-end and sewn along the juxtaposed edges, preferably incorporating a strengthening edge binding 16. The bag has a bottom pleat 13 of between a quarter and a half its depth and handles 17 preferably provided out of the bag material.

Description

1 2453376 Shopping Bag This invention relates to shopping bags.

Over many years, shopping bags have taken various formats, which have changed as shopping habits change.

In recent years, supermarket shopping has been served by free-issue plastic bags, picked up at check-out, to load a trolleyfbl of merchandise. Of late, however, supermarkets have been establishing green credentials by offering stronger shopping bags, designed for extended use. These stronger bags, however, are still made of plastics material, and, compared to pre-supermarket shopping bags, relatively short-lived. They are not, or not particularly, bio-degradable, and are perhaps more an attempt to win customer loyalty -who wants to turn up at Sainsbuiy's with Tesco shopping bags? -than a solution to the problems of global warming and waste disposal posed by free-issue, point-of-sale plastic bags. Meanwhile, the more familiar disposable bags are made from ever-thinner plastics film material, and can be relied on less and less to carry heavier shopping items such as wine bottles.

The present invention provides shopping bags that are inexpensive, yet durable, and which are eco-friendly, and which could be used instead of the free-issue plastic bags currently handed out by supermarket check-out clerks. The bags of the invention ar found to be much more suitable for carrying home a mix of shopping than any conventional supermarket shopping bag.

The invention comprises a woven shopping bag made from a single sheet of fabric, having a bottom pleat of between a quarter and a half, preferably about a third, the bag's depth.

The width of the bag may be greater than its depth, and may in any event be between 1.1 and 1.25 times its depth.

The bag may be made of jute or of cotton.

The bag may be made from a single sheet of fabric folded end-to-end with a central pleat, and sewn along the thereby juxtaposed edges. Sewing may incorporate a strengthening :. edge binding. Handles may be provided out of bag material.

*0 OBI 125363 discloses a shopping bag made of plastics film material having a bottom pleat, as does GBI 149673. Jute and cotton, as well as other woven fabrics have, of course, been used from time to time to make inexpensive bags. *.S.

One embodiment of a woven shopping bag according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: a.. * *

S * *

Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2 is a section on the line Il-Il of Figure 1; and Figure3 is a view of a single sheet of fabric showing fold lines for producing the bag of Figures 1 and 2.

The drawings illustrate a woven shopping bag 11 made from a single sheet of fabric 12, having a bottom pleat 13 of about one third the bag's depth.

A bottom pleat of this size is found most readily to accommodate a typical supermarket shopping load while maintaining its overall shape. A bag made from the same length of material, without the pleat, would undoubtedly have a greater capacity, but would then extend too far towards the ground from a comfortable canying position. On the other hand, a bag of similar depth but without a pleat would have a far smaller carrying capacity considering a typical shopping load comprising boxes, bottles, packets and so forth of mixed sizes.

Of course, filling the bag with small granules would sink the bottom of the bag to a similar depth to what it would have without the pleat, and a bag without the pleat could accommodate a far greater volume of granules than one with the pleat. But supermarket shopping is not comprised of small granules, and, in practice, a bag according to the invention represents a much better carrying capacity for its size and for its material content.

The bag 11 is sewn from a length of woven fabric 12, as seen in Figure 3, by folding the fabric length on centre line 14 and lines 15 either side of the centre line. The edges of the folded fabric length 12 are sewn reinforced with binding tape 16.

The length of material is chosen so that the finished bag is wider, when flat, than it is deep, anything, in fact between 1.1 and 1.25 times its depth.

The ends I 2a of the fabric length 12 are hemmed -references to fabric length above are always to hemmed length -and handles 17, fashioned from strips of the woven fabric 12, are attached to the hems 18 intermediate the sewn edges.

Bags 11 made of woven jute or cotton are durable, yet inexpensive, and have a greater :. load bearing capacity, without liability to tear, than conventional plastics material * *.* supermarket bags. They can be washed -cotton, perhaps, more so than jute -and can *::::o be printed or otherwise embellished with e.g. supermarket logos and promotional material. When finally discarded, they are short-term biodegradable. ****

A typical size for the bag 11 is 22 cm deep by 53 cm wide, with handles of length 37 cm, * but, clearly, these dimensions can be increased or decreased, bearing in mind the ratios aforementioned, by up to ten per cent either way, while still maintaining the advantages referred to.

S * *

Claims

Claims: 1 A woven shopping bag made from a single sheet of fabric, having a bottom pleat of between a quarter and a half the bag's depth.
2 A bag according to claim 1, of which the bottom pleat is about a third the bags depth.
3 A bag according to claim I or claim 2, of which the width is greater than its depth
4 A bag according to claim 3, in which the width is between 1.1 and 1.25 times its depth.
A bag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, made of jute or of cotton.
6 A bag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, made from a single sheet of fabric folded end-to-end with a central pleat, and sewn along the thereby juxtaposed edges.
7 A bag substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

7 A bag according to claim 6, in which edge sewing incorporates a strengthening edge binding.

8 A bag according to any one of claims I to 7, comprising handles provided out of bag material.
S. * * * **. * . *S*. *.. * S

S

* **** * * * S..... * .

S

*5.5.. * S

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows: (t Claims: I A durable yet inexpensive woven shopping bag, adapted for supermarket shopping to carry a typical shopping load of packages of mixed types and sizes, made S from a single rectangular sheet of woven fabric by folding the sheet on its centre line and on lines either side of the centre line to form a bottom pleat of between a quarter and a half the bag's depth, and sewing, with a strengthening edge binding, the thereby juxtaposed edges of the folded fabric length, whereby to have a greater carrying capacity for such a typical load than a bag of similar depth without such a pleat.

2 A bag according to claim 1, of which the bottom pleat is about a third the bags depth.

3 A bag according to claim I or claim 2, of which the width is greater than its depth 4 A bag according to claim 3, in which the width is between 1.1 and 1.25 times its depth.

A bag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, made of jute or of cotton.

6 A bag according to any one of claims I to 5, comprising handles provided out of bag material.