Trash bag raincoat
The trash bag raincoat is made of substantially waterproof material, having sufficient length to enclose at least the shoulder, torso and back areas of a person of a predetermined height and size range. Preferably, the trash bag raincoat includes a hood extendable from an opening along the bottom of the bag and sleeves extendable from openings in the side edges of the bag. The openings are equipped with re-sealable fasteners, so that the hood and sleeves are tucked inside the bag with the openings sealed by the fasteners for use as a trash bag. When the openings are unsealed a person can withdraw the hood and sleeve elements and wear the trash bag upside down while placing the wearer's arms through the side openings into the sleeves and placing the wearer's head through the unsealed bottom opening into the hood, thus providing rain protection for the wearer.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to trash bags and rainwear, and more particularly to an inexpensive, waterproof and disposable trash bag, which is convertible into a rain protector or raincoat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Even with modern advances in meteorology, the weather often remains unpredictable. Consequently, construction workers, campers, hikers, spectators of outdoor activities, travelers, school children, and other persons are often caught outdoors by a sudden shower or rainstorm without appropriate raingear. Even when the weather forecast is accurate, many people do not wish to be burdened by either wearing a raincoat or carrying an umbrella when the prospect of precipitation is only a possibility, probability, or less than a certainty, and will take their chances on getting wet.
When it does rain, people who haven't taken adequate precautionary measures will often adopt makeshift or ad hoc solutions to try to keep dry. A common expedient involves cutting a neck hole in a plastic trash bag and wearing the bag as a poncho, often trying to compromise by alternately pulling the neck opening over one's head to keep the head dry and pulling the bag down to keep the hips and waist dry.
Since plastic trash bags are often available on such occasions and are quite inexpensive, it would be desirable to have a trash bag that is manufactured in such a manner that the trash bag is quickly and easily convertible into a raincoat. Thus, a trash bag raincoat solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe trash bag raincoat is made of substantially waterproof material, having sufficient length to enclose at least the shoulder, torso and back areas of a person of a predetermined height and size range. Preferably, the trash bag raincoat includes a hood extendable from an opening along the bottom of the bag and sleeves extendable from openings in the side edges of the bag. The openings are equipped with re-sealable fasteners, so that the hood and sleeves are tucked inside the bag with the openings sealed by the fasteners for use as a trash bag. When the openings are unsealed a person can withdraw the hood and sleeve elements and wear the trash bag upside down while placing the wearer's arms through the side openings into the sleeves and placing the wearer's head through the unsealed bottom opening into the hood, thus providing rain protection for the wearer.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is a trash bag raincoat having re-sealable openings at the head and arm locations and tuck-away hood and sleeve elements. Due to the convertible nature of the present invention, it can also be viewed as having re-sealable closures at the respective head and arm locations. Conversion from trash bag to raincoat or vice versa does not destroy the use of the bag for either purpose. Referring to
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Similarly, the bottom opening 115 of the bag is fitted with a substantially watertight re-sealable fastener 145 for sealing off the hood 130, thus providing for conversion of the bag 100 to a trash container. Bottom fastener 145 may be a tongue and groove type closure mechanism, a hook and loop type closure mechanism, or an adhesive type closure mechanism. Each of the closure mechanisms discussed above is designed to perform as a bottom seal 145 sufficiently so that the bag 100 can function effectively as a trash bag without spillage of material through the sealed bottom opening. The fasteners 140 and 145 may comprise one or more beads disposed along one side of the openings that snap into grooves disposed along the opposite side of the openings, similar to Zip-loc® fasteners. It will be understood that the bottom opening 115 may be defined along the bottom edge or seam of the bag 100, or may be formed in the side panel adjacent the bottom edge or seam.
In the present invention, the manufacturing process for making the trash bag raincoat 100 may involve the same process of fusing seams that is currently used in the production of trash bags. The trash bag raincoat 100 may be made by fusing, e.g., heat fusing, seams of at least two sheets of durable, substantially nonporous, substantially waterproof, flexible material, e.g., thermoplastic sheets, each sheet having a planar shape, together with two sleeves 125, two oppositely disposed side openings 110, a hood 130, and a bottom opening 115.
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It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A trash bag raincoat, comprising:
- a bag made of substantially waterproof material, the bag having an open top, a bottom, and opposing side edges, the bag having an opening defined in the bottom and the opposing side edges;
- a hood attached to the bag adjacent the bottom opening, the hood being movable between an extended position deployed outside the bag and a retracted position tucked within the bag;
- a pair of sleeves attached to the bag adjacent each of the side openings, respectively, the sleeves being movable between an extended position outside the bag and a retracted position tucked within the bag; and
- re-sealable fasteners disposed along the bottom opening and the side edge openings;
- whereby the bag is configurable for use as a trash bag with the sleeves and the hood in the retracted position and the fasteners sealed, and configurable for use as a raincoat with the hood and the sleeves in the extended position, the fasteners being unsealed.
2. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, wherein said re-sealable fasteners comprise tongue and groove fastening closure mechanisms.
3. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, wherein said re-sealable fasteners comprise mating hook and loop fasteners.
4. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, wherein said re-sealable fasteners comprise adhesive fasteners.
5. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, wherein said bag is made from plastic.
6. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, wherein said bag is made from polyethylene.
7. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, wherein said bag is made from polypropylene.
8. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 1, further comprising a drawstring disposed around the open top of the bag.
9. A trash bag raincoat, comprising:
- a bag made of substantially waterproof material, the bag having an open top, a bottom, and opposing side edges, the bag having an opening defined in the bottom;
- a hood attached to the bag adjacent the bottom opening, the hood being movable between an extended position deployed outside the bag and a retracted position tucked within the bag; and
- means for re-sealably fastening the bottom opening;
- whereby the bag is configurable for use as a trash bag with the hood in the retracted position, and configurable for use as a raincoat with the hood in the extended position.
10. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 9, wherein said bag has openings defined in the side edges, the trash bag raincoat further comprising:
- a pair of sleeves attached to the bag adjacent each of the side openings, respectively, the sleeves being movable between an extended position outside the bag and a retracted position tucked within the bag; and
- means for re-sealably fastening the side edge openings.
11. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 10, wherein said means for re-sealably fastening the bottom and side edge openings comprises tongue and groove fastening closure mechanisms.
12. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 9, wherein said bag is made from plastic.
13. A trash bag raincoat, comprising:
- a bag made of substantially waterproof material, the bag having an open top, a bottom, and opposing side edges, the bag having a bottom opening and openings defined in the opposing side edges;
- a pair of sleeves attached to the bag adjacent each of the side openings, respectively, the sleeves being movable between an extended position outside the bag and a retracted position tucked within the bag; and
- means for re-sealably fastening the bottom opening and the opposing side edge openings;
- whereby the bag is configurable for use as a trash bag with the sleeves in the retracted position, and configurable for use as a raincoat with the sleeves in the extended position.
14. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 13, further comprising a hood attached to the bag adjacent the bottom opening, the hood being movable between an extended position deployed outside the bag and a retracted position tucked within the bag.
15. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 13, wherein said means for re-sealably fastening the bottom and side edge openings comprises tongue and groove fastening closure mechanisms.
16. The trash bag raincoat according to claim 13, wherein said bag is made from plastic.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 1, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 21, 2006
Inventors: Gerald Carmody (Melrose, MA), Laurie Blanchette (Medford, MA)
Application Number: 11/141,399
International Classification: B65D 30/00 (20060101); B65D 33/16 (20060101); B65D 33/28 (20060101); B65D 33/00 (20060101);