US2454013A - Shopping bag with foldable, extensible top - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 16, 1948. F. F. SCHERZINGER 2,454,013

SHOPPING BAG WITH FOLDABLE EXTENSIBLE TOP Filed March 14, 1945 Patented Nov. 16, 1948 OFFICE SHOPPING BAG WITH FOLDABLE, EXTENSIBLE TOP Frank F. Scherzinger, Henderson, Nev. Application March 14, 1945, SerialNo. 582 616 1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to a folding extensible top shopping bag and has for its principal objects, to provide a simple, practical and inexpensive shopping bag which may be collapsed and compactly folded so as to occupy very little space while not in service, further, to construct the upper portion of the bag so that it may be easily and quickly folded or unfolded, so as to increase or decrease its volumetric or carrying capacity and further, to provide a, simple and novel arrangement of handles which perform their in tended function when the size or carrying capacity of the bag is made larger or smaller.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of my improved shopping bag with the upper portions of its walls folded inward and downward so as to diminish the length and carrying capacity of said bag.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the upper portions of the walls of the bag folded upwardly so as to increase the length and carrying capacity of said bag.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are elevational views of different forms of handles which may be used on my improved bag.

Referrin by numerals to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, Ill designates a bag comprising four walls and a bottom which may be formed of suitable flexible material such as paper, or fabric either plain or treated with rubber or other waterproof coating and the upper portion of said walls are folded inwardly and downwardly to form hems II, the lower edges of which are secured by rows of stitching I2.

Seated in the walls of the hems I I, on an oppositely disposed pair of the walls I 0, are grommets I3, of metal, plastics or the like, and which receive the flexible handles of the bag.

Suitably secured by rows of stitching or otherwise, to the external faces of the walls of the bag several inches below the hems II and parallel therewith are narrow reinforcing strips I4 of fabric or the like and seated therein and in the underlying walls in vertical alignment with grommets I2 are grommets I5.

2 Those portions .of the walls of the bag above strips I4 function as the extensible portion of the bag, and to decreaseor minimize the length of the bag said upper portions are folded downwardly into said bag so as to lie against the inner face of the walls thereof.

The handles of my improved bag are preferably of the form illustrated in Fig. 5, each handle being formed from a suitable length of flexible material such as cord.

Formed in the center of the cord is a knot I1 and the ends are tied to each other by a knot I8. Thus the cord is divided in two U-shaped portions, one of which I9, forms a handle for the bag when the same is folded to its smallest size, and the other portion 20 serves as a handle when the bag is opened to its largest size.

When the bag is folded to small size as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, handle portion I9 passes from the exterior of the bag inwardly through grommets I5 with knots I I and I8 lying against the inner faces of said grommets, with handle portion 20 extending downward between the outer wall of the bag and the downwardly folded upper portion of said wall and thence outwardly through grommets I3, with that portion of the handle between said grommets, lying against hem I I.

Thus the strains developed by the weight of the bag and its contents when carried, are transmitted to knots I1 and I8 bearing against grommets I5 and from thence to the upwardly projecting handle members I9.

To lengthen and increase the carrying capacity of the bag, the downwardly folded upper portions of the walls are unfolded to the position seen in Figs. 2 and 4 and handle portions 20 are drawn upward, until knots I1 and I8 engage the inner faces of grommets I3.

- Under such conditions, handle portions I9 extend downward against the inner faces of the walls of the bag, thence outward through grommets I5 with the central portions of said handle I9, lying against reinforcing strap I 4.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a modified form of the handle wherein both ends of two pieces of heavy cord 2! are knotted as designated by 22 and the knots of one part connected to the respective knots of the other part by short pieces 23 of small cord.

In the smaller sizes of bags, or where the material forming said bags is of extra strength, the reinforcing stri-p I4 may be dispensed with and the grommets seated in the walls of the bag only.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a shopping bag which is simple in structure, inexpensive of manufacture and which may be easily and quickly manipulated so as to be lengthened or shortened to thereby increase or decrease its carrying capacity.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts may be made and substituted for those herein shown and describedtwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A foldable, extensible top predetermined portions of its walls at'the top adapted to fold inwardly and downwardly into the bag, pairs of opposed grommets seated in the upper portions of the side walls of said bag, other pairs of opposed grommets seated in said side walls below the foldable portions thereof and in vertical alignment with the grommets in the upper portions of said side walls, an endless flexible handle arranged to slidefreely through the grommets in each side Wall with portions of said handles disposed on the insides of the foldable shopping bag, having I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,182,580 Maxfield May 9, 1916 1,805,810 Deubener May 19, 1931 1,810,347 Daitch June 16, 1931 1,986,743 Musick Jan. 1, 1935 2,212,390 Conklin Aug. 20, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7 22,108 Great Britain 1906 547,391 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1942

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