Bag

Abstract

The present invention relates to a bag, and more particularly to a bag for carrying bottles, cups and other liquid containers. We describe a bag manufactured of a recyclable material, comprising an insert comprising at least one container-receiving aperture.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bag, and more particularly to a bag for carrying bottles, cups and other liquid containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, the present invention provides an insert for a bag, the insert comprising at least one container-receiving aperture.

Preferably, the insert is of a foldable construction.

Suitably, the insert comprises a central platform from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls extend downwardly.

Preferably, the insert is affixable to an inner wall of the bag, suitably by means of an adhesive or adhesive tape. More preferably, the insert is affixable, by only one of its side-walls, to an inner wall of the bag, enabling the insert to be folded flat against the bag.

Preferably, a lower edge of an unfixed side-wall is restable, in use, against the base of a bag in which the insert is fitted. Optionally, the insert further comprises at least one strengthening shelf which spans the side-walls intermediate upper and lower edges thereof.

In one embodiment, the at least one container-receiving aperture is a generally circular cut-out region through which a container, such as a bottle or cup is insertable.

In an alternative embodiment, the aperture comprises a generally circular partially cut-out region comprising a plurality of deformable flaps.

In a second aspect, there is provided a bag manufactured of a recyclable material, further comprising an insert as described above.

Suitably, the bag is a paper bag or a bag manufactured from lightweight card.

Preferably, the bag and insert are collapsible for storage or transportation.

Suitably, the bag is sized to carry two containers and the insert comprises two container-receiving apertures accordingly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in further detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bag in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an insert in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in which the insert is partially retracted;

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of an insert in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a bag with an insert according to a second embodiment of the present invention in which the insert is partially retracted; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of a bag with insert according to the second embodiment of the present invention in which the insert is fully deployed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIG. 1 there is shown a collapsible paper bag 10, having a body portion 11 and a pair of handles 12. Housed within the bag 10 is an insert 13 of a flattened, generally inverted ‘U-shaped’ cross-section. As more clearly seen in FIG. 2, the insert 13 is formed from a central platform 14, from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls 15 extend downwardly. In an assembled configuration in which the insert is correctly located within a bag, the bottom edges 22 of the side-walls 15 rest upon the base 23 of the bag such that the insert 13 is ‘self-supporting’ within the bag 10. However, in preferred embodiments one of the side-walls 15 is fixed to a correspondingly adjacent inner side-wall of the bag (discussed below in relation to FIG. 3).

The central portion 14 of insert 13 comprises at least one container-receiving aperture in the form of circular cut-out regions 20, through which bottles, cups or other such containers may be passed, in use. The cut-out regions 20 are dimensioned appropriate to the particular containers for which the bag is designed to accommodate. In particular, the cut-out regions 20 are dimensioned to allow an appropriately sized bottle or container (not shown) to be passed therethrough, such that the base of the bottle or container rests on the base 23 of the bag 10, and the container sides are supported by the central platform 14 immediately adjacent the relevant cut-out region 20. This arrangement helps to keep such placed containers in an upright position during portage.

As shown in FIG. 3, an insert 13 is fixed to a single wall of the bag to enable the bag fitted with the insert 13 to be easily collapsed for storage. In preferred embodiments the insert 13 is fixed by gluing. An additional benefit of this arrangement is that the insert can be folded against the bag side-wall when the bag is required for conventional carrying purposes in which bottles or containers are not required to be carried.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bag 10 with insert 13 in a deployed position.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show a second, alternative, embodiment of an insert 13′ in which the insert is formed from a first central platform 14′, from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls 15′ extend downwardly, and a second central platform in the form of shelf 21, which spans the side-walls 15′ intermediate the upper and lower edges thereof, 22, 24 respectively.

Additionally, the cut-out regions 20 may further include a plurality of bottle or container engaging flaps (not shown). The flaps allow a container to be inserted therethrough, and grip the container so inserted around its body. The flaps also act to prevent adjacently placed containers from knocking against each other when the carrier is in use. Each flap is formed from by a fold line located around the circular container receiving region and two cut lines which radially project towards the centre of the circular container receiving region, to form a series of substantially triangular hinged flaps.

Although described above with respect to a bag for carrying two containers (FIGS. 1 to 4), such as bottles of wine, the bag of the present invention is applicable to carrying any number of containers, subject to the weight-carrying constraints of the material from which the bag is constructed. For example, the bag could carry three, four or more bottles in a 1×3, 1×4, 2×2, 2×3 or 2×4 configuration, as will readily be apparent to the skilled person.

The bag and insert may, optionally, be formed from paper or card material having excellent wet tear strength properties. The simplicity of the bag and insert design allows rapid and cheap production by conventional methods and produces a bag which can be stored flat and assembled in minimum time.

In the expanded configuration, as best seen in FIG. 1, the bag 10 is capable of receiving and accommodating a number of bottles, such as wine or beer bottles or other containers for liquids, such as cups of tea or coffee. Bags according to this invention allow a user comfortably and safely to carry a number of such items, and are particularly suitable to food outlets in which both food and drinks items are purchased simultaneously. A bag according to this invention allows the user to securely and stably carry drinks containers without the risk of them damaging other items, such as food. Additionally, due to the high specification of the material from which the bags are preferably constructed, the bags can be reused a number of times.

As may be seen, therefore, the present invention provides numerous advantages. It may be assembled easily and inexpensively, and is capable of accommodating beverage containers of a range of different sizes and shapes. A bag and insert of the present invention can be opened from flat, in a simple one-handed operation by a flick of the wrist and accordingly helps to speed-up service times.

Claims

1. An insert for a bag, the insert comprising at least one container-receiving aperture.

2. An insert as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insert is of a foldable construction.

3. An insert as claimed in claim 1, comprising a central platform from which a pair of substantially parallel side-walls extend downwardly.

4. An insert as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insert is affixable to an inner wall of the bag.

5. An insert as claimed in claim 4, wherein the insert is affixable by means of an adhesive or adhesive tape.

6. An insert as claimed in claim 4, wherein the insert is affixable, by only one of its side-walls, to an inner wall of the bag, enabling the insert to be folded flat against the interior of the bag.

7. An insert as claimed in claim 6, wherein a lower edge of an unfixed side-wall is restable, in use, against the base of a bag in which the insert is fitted.

8. An insert as claimed in claim 3, wherein the insert further comprises at least one strengthening shelf which spans the side-walls intermediate upper and lower edges thereof.

9. An insert as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one container-receiving aperture is a generally circular cut-out region through which a container, such as a bottle or cup is insertable.

10. An insert as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one container-receiving aperture comprises a generally circular partially cut-out region comprising a plurality of deformable flaps.

11. A bag manufactured of a recyclable material, comprising an insert as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

12. A bag as claimed in claim 11, wherein the bag is a paper bag or a bag manufactured from lightweight card.

13. A bag as claimed in claim 11, wherein the bag and insert are collapsible for storage or transportation.

14. A bag as claimed in claim 11, wherein the bag is sized to carry two containers and the insert comprises two container-receiving apertures accordingly.