CONVERTIBLE GIFT BAG TO GIFT BOX

Abstract

A gift bag that is convertible to a gift box comprises a decorative bag that is foldable flat and openable to a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an insert for the bag that also folds flat but opens to a generally open-ended box inserted into to the bag to reinforce and stiffen the bag. The bag has an integral top flap that opens to cooperate with the insert to form a closed box, and has carry handles connected to the interior of the bag that are either removable or can be located within the bag when it is converted into a box.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 61/525,994, filed Aug. 22, 2011.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to gift packaging, and more particularly to a decorative gift bag that is convertible to a gift box.

Gift wrapping has long been a tradition in presenting gifts to others, and many retailers, particularly larger department stores, offer customers boxes with their purchases which may be used to gift wrap items. Purchases are usually given to customers by the retailers in shopping bags along with separate boxes folded flat. The boxes may be subsequently unfolded to contain the purchases and then gift wrapped. The shopping bags are usually discarded, contributing to wasted material. Retailers incur added expenses in providing both boxes and shopping bags.

For many, the extra effort in gift wrapping is burdensome, time-consuming and inconvenient, which has led to the proliferation of decorative gift bags. Gift items may be “gift wrapped” by placing the items in the decorative gift bags, and covering them with tissue paper, confetti, or the like. While the gift bags may have handles which can be tied together, it is difficult to completely secure the bag to prevent the items from falling out. Additionally, for some heavier or bulkier items, gift bags may not be suitable. Accordingly, gift bags with separate inserts, and covers or flaps that can be folded over to afford a box-like configuration to the bag have been developed. Examples are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,849 to Keller et. al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,903 to Mahoney. However, known gift bags that are convertible to boxes have not been entirely satisfactory. Gift bags typically have carrying straps or handles connected to the bag that are difficult to accommodate when attempting to convert the bags to boxes using inserts or covers. Removing the handles frequently defaces the bag or leaves holes in the bag which are undesirable.

It is desirable to provide the gift bags which are easily convertible to gift boxes which address the foregoing and other problems of known gift bags, and it is to these ends that the present invention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention affords a convertible bag, such as a decorative gift bag, that quickly and easily converts into a gift box and offers a time-saving and convenient alternative to conventional methods of wrapping gifts. It avoids the necessity of purchasing a separate gift box, wrapping paper, tape, ribbon, etc., and allows busy on-the-go people to quickly pick up a gift and wrap it on the way to an occasion. The convertible bag may be made in a variety of different sizes, shapes, configurations, and from a variety of different materials that can accommodate different uses.

In one aspect, the invention affords a decorative gift bag that is convertible into a gift box. The bag has integrally formed front, back, bottom, and lateral side panels, and a top flap integrally formed with one of said front, back and side panels. In a folded flat position, the top flap is folded against the one panel to which it is integrally connected. In an unfolded opened position, an insert in the bag unfolds to impart a box-like configuration to the bag. The top flap cooperates with said the insert to convert the bag into a closed box.

In another aspect, the invention affords a bag formed of flexible sheet material folded to provide generally parallel front and back side panels, a pair of lateral side panels, and a bottom panel. The panels are integrally connected to form a container have a collapsed flat condition in which the side panels are folded inwardly with the front and back panels folded flat against one another, and the bottom panel folded upwardly against one of the front or back panels. The container further has an uncollapsed open condition to form an open bag, and a top flap integral with one of the front or back panels at a top of said one panel. In the folded state, the top flap is folded into an interior of the bag against said one panel. In an unfolded state, the top flap is folded out of the bag. The bag also has a pair of carrying handles having ends connected to interior surfaces of opposing panels of the bag. An insert formed of stiffer sheet material than the sheet material of the bag, has integral parallel side panels and parallel front and back panels, a folded flat state, and an unfolded open state. The insert is sized to fit inside of the bag to stiffen the bag and to impart to the bag a box-like configuration. The top flap closes the top of the bag to convert the bag into a closed box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views which illustrate a first embodiment of a gift bag in accordance with the invention and that respectively show the gift bag in a flat folded condition and in an unfolded opened condition;

FIG. 2 comprises perspective views of the first embodiment of the gift bag illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1B shown folded flat and an insert for the bag also in flat folded condition that may be used with the gift bag;

FIGS. 3-6 are perspective views that illustrate a sequence of steps for positioning the insert illustrated in FIG. 2 in the gift bag to convert the gift bag to a gift box;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view that shows the gift bag of the first embodiment after being converted to a gift box;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIGS. 9A-9C comprise perspective views illustrating a second embodiment of a gift bag in accordance with the invention used with the insert of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10A-10C comprise a sequence of perspective views illustrating a third embodiment of a gift bag in accordance with the invention that uses a different insert; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a fourth embodiment of a gift bag in accordance with the invention that has detachable handles.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention is particularly well adapted to a decorative gift bag that is convertible to a decorative gift box, and will be described in that context. It will be appreciated, however, that this is illustrative of only one utility of the invention, and that the invention may be used for converting bags to boxes for other purposes.

Referring to the figures, where similar components are labeled with like reference numerals throughout the several figures, and referring initially to FIGS. 1-8 a first embodiment of a convertible bag in accordance with the invention is shown. As illustrated, the invention comprises generally a bag 10 having first and second handles or straps 12 and 14, an integral top flap 16 that will form a cover or lid when the bag is converted into a box, and a separate insert 18. The bag may be fabricated from a sheet of high-quality decorative paper, plastic or other flexible material which may be coated or uncoated, and which has sufficient stiffness to provide a freestanding, upright bag as shown in FIG. 1B. The bag may formed from a single sheet of material and have four longitudinal creases or folds 22 dividing bag into parallel front and back panels 24, 26, respectively, and parallel side panels 28. The panels may be folded to produce a bottom panel 34. The side panels may also have central longitudinal creases or folds 30 and diagonal creases or folds 32 extending from the central longitudinal folds 30 to the bottom corners of the side panels. The bottom 34 of the bag may be integral with the front, back and side panels, and folded and seamed to provide a generally flat rectilinear, e.g., rectangular-shaped, bottom panel. The folds permit the bag to be collapsed and folded flat (to the position illustrated in FIG. 1A), and to be opened to the position illustrated in FIG. 1B to form a bag preferably having a generally parallelepiped box-like configuration with an opened top. The top edges of the side panels 28, as well as the front panel 24, may be bent over and connected to the interior of the bag to form peripheral reinforcing flaps at the tops of the panels, such as shown at 36 in FIG. 1B.

The top cover flap 16 of the bag is preferably integrally formed with the rear panel 26, and, in the bag configuration illustrated in FIG. 1B, is folded about a transverse crease or fold line 40 along the top of the back panel (see FIG. 4) into the interior of the bag flat against the back panel, as shown in FIG. 1B. As will be described, the top flap 16 may be folded out of the bag to form a cover or lid when the bag is converted to a box. Handles 12 and 14 may comprise cords, ribbons, or straps, for example, and may be fastened, as by adhesive, for instance, to the interior surfaces of the front and back panels 24 and 26, respectively, of the bag. As best illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 3, the back handle 14 is preferably connected to the inside of the back panel 26 at a distance that is far enough below the top of the bag to permit the top cover 16 to be folded into the bag flat against the back panel without obstruction from the back handle 14. In a second embodiment of the invention, the ends of the back handle 14 may be connected to the interior of the opposite side panels 28 of the bag at locations 38 near the upper peripheral flaps 36 and adjacent to the rear panel 26, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9B. This allows the top cover 16 to be folded into the interior of the bag flat against the rear panel unobstructed by the attachment of the back handle 14.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 4-6, top cover 16 may be formed with a front flap 42 and a pair of side flaps 44 that are folded about a pair of longitudinal fold lines 46 and another pair of diagonal fold lines 48, 50 in the side flaps to enable the flaps to be folded flat against the interior of the top cover, as best illustrated in FIGS. 4-5. When the front flap 42 and the side flaps 44 are folded out as shown in FIG. 5 and opened to the position illustrated in FIG. 6, the top cover may be rotated as shown in FIG. 6 so that the flaps extend into the bag and are positioned between the interior surface of the bag and the exterior surface of insert 18, as will be described, to form a closed box as shown in FIG. 7. If desired, an adhesive strip with a peel-away cover (not shown) may be located along the front flap 42 to seal the box.

Returning to FIGS. 2-4, insert 18 may be formed of a substantially stiffer sheet material than that of the bag, such as from poster board or index card stock so that when opened and inserted into the bag, it adds reinforcement and helps to maintain the panels of the bag flat and the bag in a box-like form. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, insert 18 may have parallel front and back panels 50, 52 and parallel side panels 54 to form, when the insert is opened, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shaped form having an open top and bottom. This allows the insert to be folded flat to the position illustrated in FIG. 2 so that the insert may be packaged and sold together with the bag 10 as a kit. To convert the bag to a box, the insert may be unfolded and opened to the position shown in FIG. 3, the top cover 16 unfolded out of the bag as shown in FIG. 4, and the insert inserted into the interior of the bag. The panels 50-54 of insert 18 are preferably sized such that the insert has exterior dimensions that are slightly less than the interior dimensions of the bag so that the insert may be inserted into and fitted closely to the interior surface of the bag, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. When inserted into the bag, the insert stiffens the front, back and side panels of the bag to impart a box-like configuration to the bag and maintain the bag in a box shape, as explained above. Once the insert is positioned in the bag, the top cover flaps 42, 44, may be opened, as shown in FIG. 6, and the top cover 16 closed as shown in FIGS. 6-7 with the flaps positioned between the exterior surface of the insert and the interior surface of the bag, as illustrated in FIG. 8, to convert the bag to a closed box. The top flap not only closes the box, it also cooperates with the insert to stiffen the bag so that the bag maintains its box-like shape.

In order to afford even greater stiffness and reinforcement to the bag, insert 18 may be formed with a bottom flap (not illustrated) integrally connected to either the front panel 50 or the back panel 52 at the bottom of the panel. When the insert is unfolded and opened to the position shown, for instance, in FIGS. 3 and 4, and inserted into the bag, the bottom flap of the insert may be folded out and down into contact with the bottom panel of the bag to provide greater reinforcement to the bottom of the bag and greater stiffness to the insert. When the insert is folded flat as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom flap may be folded inside of the insert.

As described above, the second embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9C may be substantially the same as the first embodiment of the invention, except for the connections of the back handle 14 to the side panels 28 of the bag to avoid obstruction of the top cover.

FIGS. 10A-C illustrate a third embodiment of the invention that uses a different form of insert 60. As shown, insert 60 may have only three sides comprising a front panel 62 and a pair of side panels 64 connected to the opposite longitudinal sides of panel 62, as shown in FIGS. 10A-C. When the bag is in a bag configuration, side panels 64 are folded flat onto contact with the front panel 62 of the insert 60, as shown in FIGS. 10A-B. This allows the bag to be folded flat as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2. Being prepositioned inside the bag, insert 60 avoids the necessity for a separate insert as with the first embodiment. The front panel 62 of insert 60 may be permanently connected (as with adhesive) to the interior surface of the front panel 24 of the bag.

As also shown in FIGS. 10A-B, in the third embodiment both the front handle 12 and the back handle 14 may be connected to the interior of the side panels 28 of the bag in the manner described previously in connection with the second embodiment. To convert the bag into a box, the handles 12 and 14 may be positioned inside of the bag and the side panels 64 of insert 60 may be rotated open into engagement side panels 28 of the bag, as indicated in FIGS. 10B-C. Preferably, the side panels 64 have adhesive tabs 68 with removable cover strips so that the side panels 64 can be adhesively adhered to the interior of side panels 28 in the positions shown in FIG. 10C. Upon closing the top cover with its flaps inserted between the inner surface of the bag and the exterior surface of the insert, the bag will be converted into a box configuration as previously described and illustrated in FIG. 7. Insert 60 may also be formed with a bottom flap (not shown) that is connected to the bottom of panel 62 (similar to that described for insert 18). The bottom flap may be folded out to reinforce the bottom of the bag and to help the bag maintain a box-like configuration. The bottom flap may similarly have an adhesive tab with the removable cover strip to connect the bottom flap to the bottom of the bag.

Finally, FIG. 11 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention which employs detachable handles. As shown in the figure, tabs 70 having a flexible portion 72 with an eyelet may be connected to the interior of the bag, and the ends of the handles may be formed with posts 74 that can be inserted into the eyelets to connect the handles to the bag. Tabs 70 may be thin flexible plastic tabs similar to merchandise hang tags, and may be adhesively connected to the bag. To convert the bag into a box, handles 12 and 14 may be detached by removing the posts 74 from the eyelets, and an insert such as the previously described may be used for reinforcement and stiffening of the bag.

As may be appreciated from the foregoing, convertible bags in accordance with the invention have many advantages. They may be fabricated from a variety of different materials, in a variety of different sizes and configurations, and with a variety of different decorative and artistic patterns. The bags may be quickly and easily converted to boxes, are reusable, and by forming the bags from decorative materials, they may be used either as gift bags or as gift boxes without the necessity for separate gift wrap. Thus, they may be easily leveraged into the already large existing market for gift bags as a supplement to or a replacement for conventional gift bags. Advantageously, retailers may use convertible bags in accordance with the invention as shopping bags (decorative or not), and provide inserts to allow the bags to be converted to boxes without the necessity of providing separate gift boxes. This not only reduces costs, but avoids unnecessary waste of materials.

While the foregoing has been with respect to particular embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes to these embodiments may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A convertible bag, comprising:

a bag formed of flexible sheet material folded to provide generally parallel front and back side panels, a pair of lateral side panels, and a bottom panel, the panels being integrally connected to form a container have a collapsed flat condition in which the side panels are folded inwardly, the front and back panels are folded flat against one another, and the bottom panel is folded upwardly against one of the front or back panels, the container further having an uncollapsed open condition to form a open bag, and the sheet of material further forming a top flap integral with one of the front or back panels at a top of said one panel, the top flap having a folded state in which the top flap is folded into an interior of the bag against said one panel and having an unfolded state in which the top flap is folded out of the bag;

a pair of handles having ends connected to interior surfaces of opposing panels for carrying the bag;

an insert formed of stiffer sheet material than the sheet material of the bag, the insert having integral parallel side panels and parallel front and back panels, the insert having a folded flat state and an unfolded open state, and being sized to fit inside of the bag to stiffen the bag and impart to the bag a box-like configuration, and the top flap closing the top of the bag to convert the bag into a closed box.

2. The bag of claim 1, wherein in the unfolded state the side panels and the front and back panels of the insert are parallel and spaced apart, the insert having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and being sized to fit within the interior of the bag and impart a substantially rectangular parallelepiped configuration to the bag.

3. The bag of claim 2, wherein the top flap has a rectangular shape, and has front and side flaps that unfold such that said front and side flaps are located between the insert and the interior surfaces of the bag when said top flap closes the bag to form said box.

4. The bag of claim 1, wherein said insert further comprises a bottom panel formed integrally with one of said parallel front and back panels of the insert, said bottom panel being folded flat within the insert when the insert is in said folded flat state, and is unfoldable into contact with the bottom of the bag when the insert is unfolded and inserted into the bag.

5. The bag of claim 1, wherein said handles are connected to inner surfaces of said front and back panels within said bag, and wherein said ends of the handle connected to said one panel having the integrally formed top flap is connected at a location on said one panel sufficiently below the top of said one panel to avoid obstruction to said top flap when the top flap is in said folded flat state against said one panel.

6. The bag of claim 1, wherein the ends of each of said handles are connected to the inner surfaces of opposing lateral side panels.

7. The bag of claim 1, wherein said handles are removably connected to the bag.

8. The bag of claim 7, wherein the inner surfaces of the bag panels have tabs with eyelets, and said handle ends have posts insertable into said eyelets for said removable connection.

9. The bag of claim 1, wherein said sheet of flexible material has a decorative finish, such that said bag is convertible into a gift box.

10. A gift bag that is convertible into a gift box, comprising:

a decorative gift bag having integrally formed front, back, bottom, and lateral side panels, and having a top flap integrally formed with one of said front, back and side panels, the bag having a folded flat position with said top flap folded against said one panel and an unfolded opened position, and an insert in the bag also having a folded flat state and an unfolded opened state for imparting a box-like configuration to the bag, and the top flap cooperating with said the insert to convert the bag into a closed box.

11. The bag of claim 10, wherein said insert has an insert panel sized to mate with one of said front and back panels, and pair of lateral side panels integrally connected to said insert panel, the side panels being foldable flat against the insert, and being unfoldable to connect to side panels of the bag.

12. The bag of claim 11, wherein said side panels of the insert have adhesive to connect to the side panels of the bag.

13. The gift bag of claim 10 further comprising handles connected to the interior surfaces of the bag panels to permit the bag to be carried.

14. The bag of claim 13, wherein the handles are removably connected to the bag.

15. The bag of claim 14, wherein the handles have posts on their ends, and bag has tabs on its interior surfaces with eyelets for receiving the posts to permit the handles to be connected to the bag and removed.