CARRYING BAG

The present invention concerns a carrying bag comprising a bag body, which has at least one strap, and a case which has a retraction opening and a bag body connected to the retraction means.

Carrying bags and here especially shopping bags are available in different variations regarding the bag body materials and designs. Particularly in the segment of shopping bags are for example plastic bags consisting out of polyethylene widely spread. This kind of bag typically is found in retail stores and/or at the checkout of supermarkets enabling customers, who forgot their own bags, to transport safely the bought items back home. Such plastic bags mainly are not meant for a repeated usage and often are thrown away directly after the transportation, resulting in an adverse ecological point of view. Bags consisting out of different materials, such as fabric bags, on one hand side are meant for multi-usage but on the other they have the disadvantage of being to space intensive. Thus, they are very seldom, e.g. in handbags, permanently carried around. That's why fabric bags when they are needed urgently are not handy. Furthermore fabric bags have the disadvantage, that its storing volume is limited in comparison to the space requirements. Eventually so-called net bags are often used as shopping bags. This kind of net bags consist out of net and/or mesh material by having mainly a certain elasticity leading to little space requirements with a relatively huge storage volume. Nevertheless net and/or mesh bags are grudgingly transported by the user in other vessels, like handbags or backpacks, because the net fabric quickly gets dirty due to unprotected storage and easily interlocks with other items being inside of the handbag. Under such conditions the user only has access to the handbag's volume and the net or mesh shopping bag with complications and after disentangling the interlocked items.

All those circumstances finally result in the scenario, that the user has no own carrying bag available when it's needed. While shopping she/he is forced to fall back upon the ecologically not preferable plastic bags.

The technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide a carrying bag especially a shopping bag, which eliminates the above stated disadvantages. The carrying bag of the invention shall be particularly suitable multi-usage, easy and without difficulties storage in other containers such as handbags and backpacks while the storage volume in relation to the space required shall be huge.

This technical problem is solved by the carrying bag having the characteristics described in the annexed claims. Preferable embodiments of the invention are subject to dependent claims.

Therefore the invention concerns a carrying bag, especially a shopping bag, with one bag body, which has at least one strap and a case or housing, which has a retraction opening where the bag body is connected to the retraction means. The carrying bag of the invention is characterised in that the retraction opening and the retraction means are adapted such that upon retraction into the housing, the bag body is folded into a tube-like configuration and is reeled up within the housing.

The invention firstly is based on the consideration offering a carrying bag with a separate protective housing. The German patent DE 198 40 410 C2 describes a technical process and device for storing net- and/or mesh-like items. In this patent it's suggested to use a case with a retraction mechanism for reeling-up the net and/or mesh subject, whereas the retraction mechanism, in general over a punctual fixation area, which is small in relation to the size of the net and/or mesh like subject, affects at this item and reels it up in the box through a retraction opening that is also small, in comparison to the unfolded net and/or mesh like item. DE 198 40 410 C2 in general deals with retention nets, for example for securing the freight in cars' trunks. Despite that it's also mentioned that the net and/or mesh like subject could be also used for hammocks, ladders, security- and filter nets etc, and finally also for bags. DE 198 40 410 C2 neither describes a precise construction of such a bag nor details of the appropriate retraction mechanism for the daily use of such a bag.

The presented invention suggests to construct the retraction opening as well as the retraction means, which are known from the bag in DE 198 40 410 C2 in such way that by drafting the bag body into the housing or box, it's folded tube-like and reeled-up in the case. Due to the tube-like folding of the bag body it's guaranteed that the bag body by reeling-up into the housing or box does not interlock or get knotted disabling the process of reeling-up. By reeling-up the so folded tube a volume-saving storage of the bag body in the box is guaranteed. If the invented carrying bag is not used, it stays completely retracted in the box. The box covers the bag body completely and protects it from contamination and interference of other items. Thus the invented carrying bag can be stored without problems with other items in vessels such as handbags or backpacks, without the danger of other items interlocking with the bag or contamination as well as other external influences.

Adding a housing or box to the carrying bag allows furthermore diverse design possibilities transferring a daily life item like a shopping bag into a real lifestyle object. The box typically will be out of plastic, which can have different forms and colours. A particularly volume saving box for example can be achieved, if the box has the shape of a flat, at the edges preferably rounded cylinder. The cylinder's axis in general correlates the angle's axis. In this case the retraction opening is preferably placed in such way in the girthed area of the rounded cylinder, that the bag's draft takes place tangentially towards the angle's axis.

The box of course can also consist out of other materials, e.g. sheet of metal or wood. Particularly preferable the box is constructed bipartitely whereas in the case of a flat cylindrical box the two halves in general are connected vertically orientated to the angle's axis of the centre plane. After the integration of the retraction means of the presented carrying bag the two box halves will be merged in the production process, e.g. by clogging, bolting, welding, riveting or primarily preferable by appropriate complementary lock-in positions. According to a first embodiment, the two box halves are merged in such way that they cannot be separated by the user, if handled properly. According to a second construction the halves of the box can be separated by the user, e.g. by screwing them apart enabling in this scenario to loosen the bag from the retraction means resulting in the possibility to separately wash and clean it.

Preferably, the retraction means comprise a rotatably embedded reel in the box, where the bag body is fixed. By reeling up the bag body into the box the bag body itself can be reeled-up thanks to the folded configuration.

Preferably the reel has a resetting mechanism for reeling-up the bag body into the box. It could be for example a manually rotatable crank allowing the user to reel-up the bag body on the reel again after usage. Primarily preferable, the resetting mechanism comprises elastic spring mediums which guarantee an automatic reeling-up of the bag body after usage. The spring means are loaded by pulling the bag body out of the box in such way that the force required for retracting the bag is available. Preferably, the spring means comprise a spiral spring.

Preferably the retraction means comprise a blocking means, which can resume a first position, where the retraction means are released and a second position where the retraction means are locked or barred. The first position with released retraction means correspond to the position in which the bag body is reeled-up in the box. The second position corresponds to the unreeled bag in use. Such a blocking means is especially needed if an elastic retraction mechanism for the automatic reeling-up of the bag body into the housing is provided.

According to a first construction the blocking means is automatically locking. For example a spring-loaded pin could be used, which after having pulled the bag out arrests in an appropriate lock-in position located e.g. on the reel. For unlocking the blocking means there could be for example an actuation element such as a button which can be pressed by the user. If pressed the spring loaded pin is sliding out of the lock-in position and sets the retracting mechanism free again resulting in the reeling-up of the bag body. The button can also comprise locking means, which can cooperate with complementary locking means provided in the retraction means for locking the retraction means' rotation in reeling-up direction, in the direction which is equal the reeling-up of the bag in the housing. The button then is preferably constructed versus the retraction force of the retraction item's supposed elastic element which is axially placed in the housing's inner. Preferably the button unlocks in the housing's pressed position the locking means while setting free the rotation of the retraction means in reeling-up direction.

According to a primarily preferable construction the blocking means can be automatically unlocked, causing the user not to have to press any obstruction element for unlocking. An automatic unlocking of the blocking means e.g. could be constructed in such way that the blocking means is unlocked by pulling the bag body upon the lock-in position. Appropriate constructional solutions for an automatic unlocking are known out of the segment of cable windlasses, household items such as cable windlasses of hovers, where by pulling at the cable's end the spring loaded rolling feature is unlocked and the cable gets retracted again into the housing. DE 1 574 391 for example describes an electrical device with a cable windlass, which has spring windlass for the main cable. The blocking of the spring biased windlass functions via a multiplicity of embedded lock-in pins, placed in a circle around the windlass' axis. The pins are effective in one turning direction and the interference of the lock-in is dependent on the turning speed.

According to another construction for the automatic unlocking of the blocking means, a central bearing pin of the reel has a toothing on part of its perimeter, into which a pivotably arranged, spring-biased rocker arm can engage. The toothing and the shape of the rocker arm are designed such that within the rocker arm's first orientation blocks both, a rotation of the reel in the bag's reeling-up direction according the turning direction as well as the pivoting of the rocker arm into his second orientation. A rotation of the reel in the extracting direction of the bag body is however possible. On the other part of the bearing pin's perimeter there's no toothing, thus enabling the rocker arm's swivel towards his second orientation. Here a reel's turn in direction of reeling-up the bag body is possible.

According to another construction of the carrying bag of the invention, the blocking means can comprise a slider, which preferably finalises flushed with the inner area of the housing and comes along with the above mentioned second position of the reel. In the first position the slider sets the reel free enabling to pull out the bag body out of the box while by moving the slider towards the second position blocks the reel. This results e.g. in a charged retraction mechanism and the bag is disabled to move into the housing again. As soon as the slider is moved again from position two to position one, the reel is unlocked and the retraction mechanism leads to the reeling-up of the bag body.

The reel can comprise two guide discs at its two axial ends which preferably terminate flushed with the housing's inner side. The guide discs can have a toothing in which a pin of the slider in its second position interferes disabling the reel's rotation.

Preferably the bag body has at least one stop, which by reeling-up the bag into the housing engages with the perimeter of the retraction opening. The stop is constructed in the way that it is bigger at least in one direction than the inner diameter of the retraction opening. The stop consequently avoids that the bag body completely gets reeled-up into the box. The user moreover is able to grasp the bag at the stop and to pull it out for usage. Preferably the housing's cut out retraction opening as well as the stop are formed in such way that the stop by reeled-up bag integrates itself aesthetically to the total shape of the box thus forming a “closed appearance” of the housing.

Especially preferred, the stop is placed on the strap of the bag's body. The stop can be e.g. a body made of two parts, which for example in the production process of the invented carrying bag are placed around the strap and/or, if two straps are desired, are placed around one strap and merged by welding, bonding etc.

The bag body itself can consist of diverse materials such as fabrics and/or natural as well as synthetic materials. Primarily preferred, the bag body comprises net- and/or mesh-like material. Thus, it's possible to realise on one hand side an easy and on the other side a volume effective shopping bag. The net and/or mesh material comprises preferably out of an anisotropic elasticity allowing the adjustment of the bag's volume referring to the particular demand. The anisotropic elasticity is preferably chosen in the way that while carrying loose items in the shopping bag the in general vertically orientated fibres and/or strings of the net and/or mesh like material have only a limited elasticity which guarantees in general a constant length of the shopping bag. Despite that the horizontal fibres and/or stripes are characterized by a high elasticity enabling the bag to directly adjust to the needed transportation volume.

According to a very preferable construction the bag body comprises two connected tailored parts, which have round edges. Such a construction of the bag's body guarantees a trouble-free extraction from and reinsertion of the bag from and into the housing, respectively.

In order to allow for making the bag of a light weight material and simultaneously provide for a stable transportation bag allowing to carry heavy goods such as bottles etc. without causing ruptures, one of the straps preferably is a ribbon. The ribbon will be folded on its endings around the upper edge of the tailored part and connected with it, whereas the middle part of the ribbon is distanced from the upper edge of the tailored part resulting in a strap opening between the ribbon and the upper edge of the tailored parts. This ensures that there's an even introduction of forces from the strap towards both tailored parts and decreases the risk of ruptures while carrying heavy items. In addition, it's possible to integrate in the ribbon's middle area a reinforcement stripe which is connected to the endings of the tailored parts' upper edges, e.g. by sewing.

According to another construction of the carrying bag of the invention, the bag body itself is detachable from the retraction means. Accordingly, the bag body can be independently cleaned and/or otherwise washed without the housing. Additionally, it's possible to use different bag bodies, e.g. different in design and/or material, with the same box. The bag body for example can be fixed detachable on a ribbon or cord which is connected to the retraction means. Then the ribbon or cord preferably has at least the length, or, if constructed out of elastic material, is at least elastic enough, that the blocking means for the detachable fixing of the bag body can be pulled out by the user. Appropriate fixing means are for example buttons, hook and loop fastener, rivets, zippers etc.

The housing's outside of the invented carrying bag can be designed in diverse ways. For example advertisement prints or pocket mirrors integrated into the box's surface. Particularly preferably, however, the outer surface of the housing is provided with means for releasably attaching disc like body. This disc-like body is preferably a shopping cart coin, which are often required to release a shopping cart from a depot where they are chained to each other.

The invention will now be described in more detail making reference to preferred embodiments depicted in the attached drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of the housing of a first embodiment of the carrying bag according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view on the housing of FIG. 1 with the upper shell removed;

FIG. 3 is an axial cross sectional view through the housing of a second embodiment of the invented carrying bag;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the reel arranged in the housing of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is top view on the construction of the reels of the housing of the carrying bag of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the line IV-IV of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along the line IV-IV of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is an axial cross-sectional view through the housing of a third embodiment of the carrying bag of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the reel arranged in the housing of FIG. 10 with a part of the reel's mantle torn off;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the button arranged in the housing of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the housing of forth embodiment of the carrying bag of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the upper shell of the housing of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the reel arranged in the housing of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 a perspective view of the lower shell of the housing of FIG. 13.

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of the carrying bag of the invention denoted in total by reference numeral. The bag 10 comprises a housing 11, which in the demonstrated example has two half-shells 12 and 13 which are connected along the centre plane 14 by lock-in means 15 and 16. The lock-in means comprise pins 15 (see FIG. 2) which are placed around the half-shells' edges 12. They snap in complementary openings 16 which are provided on the periphery of the half-shell 13. The housing 11 is characterised in general by an oval box opening 17 through which a bag body 18, only a schematically depicted, can be pulled out of the carrying bag. To this effect, the body 18 comprises a stop 19 in the area of a strap which is not visible in FIG. 1, said stop being generally adapted to the form of the retraction opening's shape 17 but having such a dimension that it fits closely to the peripheral edges of the opening 17, so that the bag body 18 is prevented from getting reeled-up completely into the housing 11. The stop 19 furthermore acts as a pull-handle with which the user is able to pull the bag body 18 out of the housing 11. In the drawing of FIG. 1, showing only the schematically partially torn-off bag body 18, one notices that the retraction opening 17 and the housing 11 are designed in such way that the bag body 18 is folded into a tube-like form when being reeling-up into the housing 11. This results in a volume-saving and structured storage of the bag body 18 in the housing leading to a trouble-free usage of the invented carrying bag 10. The housing 11 is also provided with a slider 20, which is shown in FIG. 1 in its first position, in which the un- and up-reeling of the bag body 18 is possible. As soon as the slider 20 is moved towards the retraction opening 17 on the guidance tracks 21, it blocks, like more clearly described below in connection with FIG. 2, the un- and up-reeling of the bag body 18. In the depicted example, the housing 11 is characterised in general by the form of a flat, rounded cylinder. On a front face 22 of the cylinder, clips 23 acting as blocking means are provided which hold a detachable shopping cart coin 24 in place. In the depicted example, there are three holding-clips 23 distributed in a semicircle, protruding in the shape of a reverse “L” over the front face 22 of the housing 11. The distance between the horizontally situated shank 25 of the L-like profile and the front face 22 is defined in such way that it corresponds to the thickness of the shopping cart coin 24, resulting in the coin 24 having a tight-fit. If the coin 24 shall be used, the user can slide the coin parallel to the interface 22 in direction of the semicircle-like area of the coin's perimeter, where no holding clips are provided, thus releasing the coin from the clips.

In FIG. 2 the function of the carrying bag of the invention is described more clearly referring to a drawing of the housing 11 in which the half-shell 13 and the bag body 18 have been omitted in order to render the inner construction of the housing 11 more clear. The housing 11 comprises a reel 26 rotatably embedded in the housing, which is arranged rotatably around an axial bearing pin 27. The end of a (only schematically depicted) spiral spring 28 engages into the bearing pin 27, whose other end is connected with the reel 26. The bag body 18 shown in FIG. 1 is fixed with the on the opposite side situated ending of stop 19 which serves as the pulling strap lying with the reel. If the bag body 18 is pulled through the retraction opening 17, the reel turns against the retraction force of the spiral spring 28 which will consequently be biased into reeling-up direction of the body bag 18. Upon releasing the bag body 18, the reel 26 can therefore reel it up again in the other direction into the housing 11. To be able to block the reel 26 in the un-reeled position with tautened spiral spring 28, the slider 20 can be moved along a transversal inner area 29 of the housing 11 in such way that a pin 30 of the slider towering above the inner of the housing 11 locks-in the on the reel 26 situated joggle 31. In the shown example the joggle 31 is placed on the outer edge of the axial reel's ending 26 placed guide disc 32. Such a joggle can be earmarked for the same guide disc 32 situated on the opposite axial reel's ending 26. In this case the slider is symmetrically constructed and comprises one more of the same pins 30 which locks-in with the second guide disc's joggle. The guide discs are preferably integral ingredients of the reel 26. The guide discs are situated in cavities s of the housing's inner surface, resulting in general in a flushed ending with the inner area. Therefore the slider is constructed in the way the pins 30 are situated at the endings of a crescent part 33, which also ends flushed with housings inner area. Accordingly, it's guaranteed that the blocking means made of the slider 20 and the guide discs 32 of the reel 26 do not influence the reeled-up bag body 18; especially they don't interlock with the back, thus enabling trouble-free functioning of the un- and up-reeling of the bag as well as of the blocking means. The bag body itself can be constructed permanently fixed to the reel 26 or can be detachably mounted to the reel for cleaning-, reparation- or exchange.

While in the embodiment of the housing 11 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a moveable slider for the blocking of the reel 26 is provided, FIGS. 3 and 4 present an embodiment of the invented carrying bag having a reel which is self-locking and self-blocking. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 elements, which have the same or related function like the elements shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 and 2 are denote by the same reference number 100 higher and will not be described again in detail.

FIG. 3 shows the housing 111 regarding to the self-blocking and self-locking embodiment of the invented carrying bag in an axial cross-sectional view. Here the reel 126 located in the housing's 111 also comprises a spiral spring (not shown for the sake of a more clear representation), which is loaded by pulling out the bag body (also not shown) through the retraction opening 117. In this self-locking and self-un-locking embodiment of the blocking means, the central bearing pin 127 of the reel comprises a toothing 151 on an area 150 of its perimeter 151, into which a rocker arm 154, which is pivotably arranged on an axis 152 and which is biased by a spring 153, can engage. The toothing 151 and the shape of the rocker arm are designed in such way that the rocker arm shown in FIG. 4 in its first orientation can slide via the toothing's 151 flanks when the reel 126 is turned. When the reel is turned in the direction of reeling-up of the bag body, the flanks of the toothing block the rocker arm 154 and vice versa. In the area 155 of the bearing pin's 127 perimeter are no pins situated, thus enabling the rocker arm 154 in this area, under influence of the spring 153 which causes a torque, to swivel towards its second orientation, in which the reel's 126 rotation in direction of reeling-up the bag is unlocked.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic drawing of the bag body 18 of the invented carrying bag. For simplicity reasons, the net and/or mesh like structure of the bag body is not shown here. The bag body 18 comprises two tailored parts 34, 35, which are laid upon each other in FIG. 5 and which are sewed to each other around a U-like edge 36. In the area of its in generally convex arched upper edge 37, both tailored parts 34, 35 are not connected to each, thus forming the opening 18 of the bag body. Every convex arch 37 of the tailored parts 34, 35 comprises in its middle area out of a concave cleavage 38 defining the downer fringe of a strap opening 39. The upper fringe of the strap opening 39 is formed by a ribbon 41 being a strap 40, which is prolonged towards both straps' directions in the area of the convex upper edge 37 of the tailored parts 34 and 35. In this area the ribbon 41 is folded in the form of a reverse “U” around the upper edges of the tailored parts 34, 35 and merged with the tailored parts 34, 35 by a seam 42. FIG. 6 shows the corresponding cross-sectional view along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, where the so-formed three-layer seam of the convex upper edge 37 of the tailored parts 34, 35 is visible. Accordingly, an effective introduction of the strap's 40 resulting forces into over the entire upper side of the bag body 18 is guaranteed, thus ensuring that when carrying heavy items, there's no danger of rupture of the bag. In order to guarantee a three-layer firm construction in the area of the strap 40 as well, another ribbon layer 43 is folded with the U-shaped ribbon 41 and sewed with a seam 44. In the drawing 25 of FIG. 7, the cut along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5 can be seen. The over the seam overhanging loose endings of the ribbons 41, 43 can be quilted. In the area of the strap 40 is also at least on one side, the by the tailored parts 34, 35 defined structure of the already above stated stop 19 situated (in FIG. 5 only shown dotted). As one can see in FIG. 8, showing a cross-sectional view along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 5, the concave upper edge 38 of the tailored parts 34, 35 can be double-folded resulting also in a three-layered firm edge, which is completed with a seam 45. In the lower area of the bag, there is also a three-coated, folded ribbon 46 sewed in, which is connected with its loose ending 47 or 48 to the reel 26, 126 of the housing 11, 111. As seen in FIG. 9 showing a cut along the line IV-IV of FIG. 5 the three-coated, folded ribbon 46 is sewed by two seams 48 and 49.

The interior of the bag body 18 is defined in that the endings of the tailored parts 34, 35 which are free from seams are oriented towards the inner direction around the U-like edge 36, resulting in a clean outer connection edge 36. Depending on whether the housing 11 is connected to the ending 48 of the ribbon 46 which terminates within the so-defined interior space or whether it is connected to the outside ending 47 of the ribbon 46, the housing 11 is either carried inside of the bag's bottom or outside of the bag hanging downwards when the bag is used. Since the housing 11 has to be outside from the bag's interior before reeling-up the bag body 18, it's necessary to invert the bag before reeling it up, if the housing 11 should be fixed to the ending 48 of ribbon 46.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the bag body can be connected with appropriate fixing means (not shown here) in a detachable way to the housing's retraction means.

FIG. 10 shows a housing 211 of a further embodiment of the carrying bag of the invention in an axial cross-sectional view. This construction of the housing is self-blocking and can be unlocked by the user via a button 270. This construction also comprises a reel 226 arranged rotatably in the housing comprising a spiral spring (not shown for a more clear representation) which is loaded by pulling the bag body (also not shown) out the retraction opening of the housing, said opening is located in the cut-off part of the drawing of FIG. 10 and is therefore not visible in the drawing. The spiral spring is situated between the central bearing pin 227 and the reel 226. The spiral spring's endings (not shown) are firmly connected to the bearing pin 227 and the reel 226, respectively resulting in a tensioning of the spiral spring of the reel 226 is turned with respect to the bearing pin 227. By pulling the carrying bag out of the housing 221, the reel 226 is turning with respect to the bearing pin 227 and loads the spiral spring because the bag 18 is firmly connected to the reel's 226 mantle area via its ending 47 or 48 (see FIG. 5), said connection can e.g. be made by clogging or point welding.

The embodiment presented in FIG. 10 of the housing 211 also comprises two half-shells 212 and 213 which are mechanically connected along the centre plane 214 with appropriate lock-in means 215, 216. Additionally or alternatively, both half-shells can be also bonded to each other along the centre plane 214.

In the upper shell 212, a recess 256 is provided in which a shopping cart coin 224 is arranged in such way that the upper surface of the coin 224 generally ends flushed with the outer surface of the upper shell 212. The shopping cart coin 224 is situated detachable in the recess 256, whereas the inner diameter of the recess and the outer diameter of the coin 224 are dimensioned in such a way that on the one hand side the coin 224 is safely held by the recess 256 and on the other hand it can be easily detached from the recess 256 by the user. To this effect, the recess 256 can be provided by a peripheral gorge 257 in which the outer edge of the coin 224 engages when the coin is pressing into the recess 256. Since the surface of the housing shell 212 in the depicted construction is vaulted, a planar shopping cart coin 224 doesn't rest planarly on bottom of the recess. The user consequently is able by slightly pressing on the coin's 224 periphery to shift it versus the bottom of the recess 256 bottom, so that the elasticity of the coin 224 and/or of the material of the housing shell 212 defining the recess is sufficient to enable the coin to disengage form the from the gorge 257 of the recess 256 and consequently being released from the housing 211.

The locking and unlocking mechanisms, respectively, of the housing 211 of FIG. 10 will be described in the following making reference to the reel 226 shown in more detail in FIG. 11 and the button 270 shown in more detail in FIG. 12.

As can be seen in FIG. 11, the rotatable reel 226 comprises a hollow cylinder 258, in which an axially extending aperture 259 for locking the (not depicted) spiral spring is provided. For a more precise presentation of the reel's 226 interior construction, the hollow cylinder 258 is shown in FIG. 11 with parts cut-off. At the hollow cylinder's 258 ending towards the button 270, radial wedges 260 are aligned which have a sloped sliding area 261 and a general axially extending stop area 262.

Furthermore, an elastic tongue 263 extending diagonally through the hollow cylinder's 258 interior space is provided, which, compared to the wedges 260, is slightly axially displaced towards the hollow cylinder's 258 centre.

FIG. 12 shows the press button 270 in more detail. The button 270 is placed into a recess 264 provided in the lower shell 213 of the housing 211 (see FIG. 10). The outer edge 271 of the button 270 is designed in such way that, inside of the half-shell 213, it engages under the edge of the recess 264 with a circumferentially extending peripheral shoulder 272 thus preventing the button 270 from falling out of the half-shell 213 in the assembled device. The button 270 is arranged axially movable in the shell half 213, whereas the peripheral shoulder 272 forms a stop for the button's outward movement, while the button's axial movement towards the half shell's 213 inside causes the button to engage against the elastic tongue 263 of reel 226. On the side of the button 270 directed towards the interior of housing 211, a guide cylinder 273 is provided having a cavity 274 into which the bearing pin 227 can engage (see FIG. 10). On the guide cylinder's 273 outer perimeter, radially extending wedges 275 are provided which can cooperate with the wedges 260 of reel 226 for locking and unlocking the reel 226. The wedges 275 have a slope gliding area 276 and an in general axially oriented stop area 277. The wedges 276 and 260 are arranged in such a way that they enable, in one rotating direction of the reel 226, particularly in the direction of unreeling the carrying bag which corresponds to a loading of the spiral spring, a rotation of the reel 226 against the spiral spring's retraction force. As soon as the pulling force on the bag decreases, the retraction spring tries to turn the reel 226 in the opposite direction. After moving in the opposite direction by a reduced angle determined by the number of wedges, the stop areas 262 of the reel's 226 wedges 260 engage with the stop areas 277 of the button's 270 wedges 276 in such way that a further rotation of the reel 226 is prevented. The carrying bag of the invention is then ready to be used. If the user wants to reel the bag up into the housing 211, she/he only has to press onto the outer surface 278 of the button 270 in order to force the button a short distance axially into the housing 211. As a result, the wedges 275, 260 which are still against each other, will be shifted axially against each other and the locking mechanism of the reel is unlocked. The reel 226 can rotate backwards under the retraction force of the spiral spring towards its neutral position by reeling-up the bag into the housing 211. The axial movement of the button 270 towards the interior of the housing 211, caused by pressing the button, results in a deformation of the reel's 226 elastic tongue 263, against which the edge of the guide cylinder 273 abuts. The elastic tongue causes a retraction force opposite to the pressure exerted by the user on the button 270. As soon as the user releases the button 270, the retraction force caused by the elastic tongue 263 results in the button 270 moving outwards again. Thus, the wedges 275 respectively 260 are again engaged leading to the blocking of the reel 226 in the reeling-up direction.

FIG. 13 shows the housing 311 of another embodiment of the carrying bag of the invention in a perspective axial profile. The locking and unlocking mechanism, respectively, of the housing 311 in FIG. 13 are shown in more detail in FIGS. 14 to 16. FIG. 13 shows the housing 311 of the embodiment in an axial profile. FIG. 14 shows a perspective bottom view of the upper housing shell 312 with the button 370 inserted into the shell, whereas FIG. 15 shows the reel 326 in more detail. Finally FIG. 16 shows the lower shell 313. The elements of the embodiment of FIGS. 13 to 16 which correspond to the elements of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 2 and the embodiments of FIGS. 10 to 12, respectively or which have a similar function will be denoted by the same reference numerals but increased by 300 and 100, respectively, and will do be described again in detail.

This embodiment of the housing is also self-blocking and can be released by the user by pressing a button 370. An rotatable reel 326 arranged in the housing 311 comprises a spiral spring (not shown in order to improve clarity of the representation of FIG. 15), which is loaded by pulling the bag body (also not shown) out of the retraction opening 317. The drawing of FIG. 13 shows the retraction opening 317 closed by the stop which is used as pulling strap 319. The spiral spring is arranged between a central bearing pin 327 and the reel 326 and functions like the spiral spring already described in FIG. 1.

The housing 311 comprises two half-shells 312 and 313 which are connected with each other along a centre plane 314. In the presented construction, the two shells 312 and 313 are pressed together during assembling, so that hooks 315, 316 located on the shells' edges can engage with each other.

The central bearing pin 327 which acts as the turning axis has a slot 379 which widens in a V-like manner towards its upper end. At the bearing pin's peak 327 lock-in hooks 380 with a wedge-like contour are provided. Due to the slot, the bearing pin 327 can be pressed together in such way during assembling that its peak with its lock-in hooks can engage into an opening 374 which is situated on the lower surface of the button 370. As soon as the peak of the bearing pin 327 has passed through the opening 374, the lock-in hooks can engage behind the outer edge of the opening. In essence this kind of construction, optionally in combination with bonding or welding of the shells edges, prevents unwanted opening of the housing 311 by the user.

The coin is placed on a pin provided at bottom side of the housing; a recess surrounding the coin allows detaching of the coin by tilting it.

In the variation of FIG. 13 the recess 356 for the shopping cart coin 324 is arranged in the lower half-shell in such way that the surface of the coin 324 in general ends flushed with the surface of the lower shell 313. The recess's bottom 356 and the coin's surface are not exactly complementary but allow on the one side to safely hold the coin 324 and on the order side to release the coin via a tilting movement of the coin caused by the user.

As can be taken from FIG. 15, the rotatable reel 326 comprises a hollow cylinder 358 in which an axially extending slot 359 for locking the (non-shown) spiral spring is provided. In the assembled housing, the reel 336 is surrounded by guide rings 381, 382 which are moulded on the inner surfaces of both, the upper and the lower shell 312 and 313. By pulling out the (not depicted) shopping net, reel 326 is caused to rotate by pulling the pulling strap 319 connected to the net, and the spiral spring, which on the one end engages into the bearing pin 327 and on the other end is fixed at the slot 359 of the reel, is loaded. The cylindrical reel 326 comprises in its interior two resilient wedges 360 which have a gliding slope surface 361 and an in general axially extending abutting area 362. On the side of the button 370 directed towards the housing's 311 interior, a guidance cylinder 373 is provided having radially extending wedges 375 on its outer periphery. Similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 10 to 12, the wedges can cooperate with the reel's 326 wedges 360 in order to locking or unlock the reel 326. The wedges 360 can pass clockwisely the complimentary wedges 375 located on the outer perimeter of the guidance cylinder 373 due to their elasticity. The button is pushed outwardly towards its neutral position which is aligned with housing's surface. As soon as the force on the shopping net decreases, the retraction spring turns the reel 326 counter-clockwise resulting in a meeting of the wedges' 360 and 375 abutting faces causing the retraction of the reel for reeling-up the net to stop. By pushing the button 370 the wedge 375 of the upper shell is pressed downward and passes below the reel's wedge. This causes the blocking of the reeling-up of the shopping net to be released and the net is reeled-up completely by the tension of the spring.

The opening 374 in which the bearing pin 327 acting as an axis engages, prevents the interlocking of the axis by pushing the button. The elasticity of the wedges 360 ensures that the button is elastically pressed back. Optionally, it's possible to insert an elastic retraction member such as a leaf spring or an elastic pillow between the bearing pin's peak and the button's inner surface to support the backward movement of the button.

Although the invention has been described regarding embodiments where the bag body in the area of its bottom is connected with retraction means and in the area of its straps comprises a pulling strap, other possible modifications are conceivable. The bag body for example can be also connected in the area of its straps with the housing's retraction means. In this case the pulling strap will preferably will be placed on the bag's bottom.

Number	Date	Country	Kind
10 2006 046708.6	Oct 2006	DE	national
20 2007 001805.3	Feb 2007	DE	national

CARRYING BAG

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