Patent Application
20120121211
The present invention is directed toward a reusable bag and its toy enclosure.
The reusable bag and its toy enclosure of the present invention was conceived by the inventor while shopping. He saw some children playing with a ball in the shopping center in which he was shopping. He realized that children were easily entertained and that the parents allowed the children to entertain themselves with a ball that they found in the shopping center. He kept shopping that day and when he finished, he went to the cash register and paid for the items he had selected. The items he purchased were placed in a small shopping bag that he later discarded. When he discarded the bag, he realized that had he had a reusable shopping bag when he was shopping that he would have never needed the bag. Then he thought about the children playing with the ball when he was shopping. This is when he conceived the idea of making a toy that could also be used as a shopping bag.
At the present time, shopping bags are normally used by having the stores place the items purchased in a plastic or paper bag and then the bags are normally disposed of when the items are taken out of the bags. In some instances, the bag might be used to place trash within it after the initial purchase and then they are discarded. Disposal of plastic bags have a long lasting effect on the environment.
Caligiuri, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,872 discloses a shopping bag and pouch thereof. Caligiuri does not disclose a toy. It discloses a pouch that stores an attached shopping bag. The present invention is directed to a toy that can be used as a reusable bag when it is not used for entertainment. The present invention also discloses a clip that attaches to the toy. The clip allows the toy to easily be carried when not in use.
Accordingly, there is a need for a reusable bag and its toy enclosure that can serve the dual purpose of being a reusable shopping bag and a toy.
The present invention serves the purpose of providing children with a toy that they can play with when their parents are shopping that also serves the dual purpose of being a reusable bag for the parents after shopping. It is foreseen that the toy enclosure of the present invention might be used by users to store items that are not related to shopping. For example, the present invention might be used to take items to the beach, then after unloading the items from the bag, the bag can be housed within the toy enclosure and then used as a toy. In a preferred embodiment, the toy enclosure will be shaped like a baseball.
The reusable bag and its toy enclosure of the present invention comprises of a hollow toy enclosure, the toy enclosure defines a central opening, a rectangular cavity having a first and a second end, wherein the first end is adjacent to the central opening and defines a first and second cavity opening and the second end defines third cavity opening, and a bag, the bag having two carrying straps and a strip of material, the strip of material attaches to the toy enclosure from within the toy enclosure.
The present invention's strip of material might further attach to a clip after the strip of material is attached to the toy enclosure. The strip of material attaches to the toy enclosure by first threading the strip through the third cavity opening of the rectangular cavity, then threading the strip of material through the second cavity opening of the rectangular cavity, and lastly threading the strip of material through the first cavity opening of the rectangular cavity.
The present invention can be used by children by storing the bag within the toy enclosure. When the toy enclosure is shaped like a baseball, the toy can be used in the same manner that a child would play with a baseball.
An object of the present invention is to provide a reusable shopping bag.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy that can be used as a reusable shopping bag.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the use of disposable shopping bags.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and drawings where:
As seen in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the strip of material 20 might further attach to a clip 22 after the strip of material 20 is attached to the toy enclosure 10. The strip of material 20 attaches to the toy enclosure 10 by first threading the strip of material 20 through the third cavity opening 14b1 of the rectangular cavity 14, then threading the strip of material 20 through the second cavity opening 14a2 of the rectangular cavity 14, and lastly threading the strip of material 20 through the first cavity opening 14a1 of the rectangular cavity 14. In a preferred embodiment, the ball enclosure will be shaped like a baseball.
The present invention's toy enclosure 10 is made of a hard plastic, thereby giving the enclosure 10 a certain weight. The bag 16 and enclosure 10 can be made to weigh the same as a baseball. The bag 16 can be made of a cloth like material or of a plastic.
The present invention is used as a toy by housing the bag 16 and the clip 12 within the toy enclosure 10. The invention is used by removing the bag 16 from the toy enclosure 10. The bag 16 can be carried by clipping the clip 22 to belt loops or purses.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a reusable shopping bag.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a toy that can be used as a reusable shopping bag.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the use of disposable shopping bags.
Having described the invention in detail and by reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.
