The present invention relates generally to the field of convenience carry articles such as bags, sacks, etc.; more specifically, to that of devices for organizing and handling convenience carry articles; and more specifically still, to a rotatable hook assembly for organizing and handling convenience carry bags.
Not so many years ago, when a person went shopping at a grocery store or other store, articles that were purchased were placed in boxes, paper sacks, and/or wrapped in bundles for transport home. In more recent times, purchases are placed either in plastic “store bags” or re-usable bags for transport. In either case, handling such bags can be cumbersome and keeping them closed and organized often is challenging.
To address this problem, people may utilize a large carabiner to gather the handles to all their bags. This keeps the bags somewhat organized, but usually has limited space that quickly fills when multiple bag handles are gathered together. Further, the carabiner can't keep bags suspended upright, and can be difficult to attach to shopping carts, headrests, etc.
A need exists for an organizing device that may be useful for storing plastic bags, is easily usable, and can be easily stored so as not to be lost. Additionally, if the organizing device has additional functions, then that would be desirable.
The rotatable hook assembly 10 is designed to meet all of the above criteria and more. It can comprise five or more primary components: a locking twist handle, a bag hook, a suspension thickness buffer, a lock in accessory, and a headrest storage hook. The locking twist handle functions in concert with the bag hook to form the main body of the rotatable hook assembly 10. Together, they provide for a hook on which a plethora of shopping bag handles (or similar) can be gathered and hooked as well as a locking member which, once activated, secures the handles on the hook. The locking twist handle also comprises a convenient carry handle so that multiple bags can be carried simultaneously by the user in one hand without discomfort, pinching, and other common issues experienced when carrying multiple bags with a bare hand. The twist function allows the locking twist handle to twist open and closed making adding and/or removing bags from the bag hook a simple process. The bag hook can incorporate a first cart member to hang the device from the sidewall of a shopping cart or similar relatively thin, vertical surface. Additionally, a suspension thickness buffer helps the first cart member work for various thicknesses of vertical surfaces by adjusting to fill the void spaces between the first cart member's sides and the vertical surface placed therebetween. An additional lock in accessory can be incorporated into the rotatable hook assembly 10 as well. In one embodiment, this comprises a lock in cup holder that snaps into a groove in the bag hook's exterior and is locked in place by the closing of the twist handle. Optionally attaching to the twist handle can be a headrest storage hook which allows the rotatable hook assembly 10 to be attached to and hang from a vertical tube or support member of an automobile's headrest.
It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described with reference to the drawings herein, could be implemented in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the system and method of the present invention, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, but is merely representative of various embodiments of the invention. Unless explicitly stated, the use of “or” means and/or, that is, this the non-exclusive meaning of or. Exemplary embodiments are described below and in the accompanying Figures. The following detailed description provides a review of the drawing Figures in order to provide a thorough understanding of, and an enabling description for, these embodiments. One having ordinary skill in the art will understand that in some cases well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.
Referring to 14B; an embodiment of an entrapment bay is shown; the button shaft 700 is depicted in cross section. Referring to
Referring to the button shell 800, a centrally positioned button member 802 may be substantially circular or round and may define a void that is large enough for button 702 to protrude from. Half of a button shell 800 is shown in
Referring to
The suspension buffer may have at least one substantially horizontal channel and at least three substantially vertical channels; in the preferred embodiments the suspension buffer may have three vertical channels. An inner portion of the suspension buffer may be contoured to be arcuate to fit the contour of the bag hook upon which it rides; the suspension buffer may have one bottom end 912 that is narrower than the top end 914; on in some embodiments the top end is narrower than the bottom end; in some embodiments four pieces of the suspension buffer may extend out from the main surface of the suspension buffer so as to form a suspension buffer ridge 916 (see
In the preferred embodiments the suspension buffer has a first end piece 920, a second end piece 921, a first central end piece 922, a second central end piece 923, a third central end piece 923, a fourth central end piece 924, a third end piece 925, and a fourth end piece 926. In the preferred embodiments, the suspension buffer has a first middle piece 930, a second middle piece 931, a third middle piece 932, a fourth middle piece 933, a fifth middle piece 934, a sixth middle piece 935, a seventh middle piece 936, and an eighth middle piece 937. In the preferred embodiments a first vertical channel for engaging a substantially vertical bar of a shopping cart may be defined by 920, 930,922, 932,923, 934, 925 and 936 and be within 0.1 mm and 10 mm in length; wherein the preferred embodiments the width of the channel may be between 0.1 mm and 5 mm in width or may be between 0.1 mm and 1 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm, or 1.5 mm and 2 mm in width.
In the preferred embodiments a second vertical channel for engaging a substantially vertical bar of a shopping cart may be defined by 930, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937 and be within 0.1 mm and 10 mm in length; wherein the preferred embodiments the width of the channel may be between 0.1 mm and 5 mm in width or may be between 0.1 mm and 1 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm, or 1.5 mm and 2 mm in width. In some embodiments the lengths of the vertical channels may be between 35 mm and 70 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm, 51 mm and 57 mm, 53 mm and 65 mm.
In the preferred embodiments a third vertical channel for engaging a substantially vertical bar of a shopping cart may be defined by 931, 921, 933, 9231, 935, 924, 937 and 926 and be within 0.1 mm and 10 mm in length; wherein the preferred embodiments the width of the channel may be between 0.1 mm and 5 mm in width or may be between 0.1 mm and 1 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm, or 1.5 mm and 2 mm in width. In some embodiments the lengths of the vertical channels may be between 35 mm and 70 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm, 51 mm and 57 mm, 53 mm and 65 mm.
In the preferred embodiments a substantially horizontal channel may be defined by 922, 932, 933, 923, 923, 934, 935, and 924 and may be between 0.1 mm and 70 mm, 5 mm an d20 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm, 25 mm and 35 mm, 31 mm and 38 mm in length. The depth of the horizontal channel may be between 2 mm and 15 mm, 8 mm and 12 mm, or 9 cm and 11 mm. The width of the horizontal channel may be between 2 mm and 15 mm, 4 mm and 7 m, 5 mm and 8 mm, 5 mm and 7 mm, and the upper width of the horizontal channel may be greater than the lower width of the horizontal channel such that the upper width minus the lower width may range between 0.01 mm and 10 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm, 1 mm and 4 mm, 0.5 mm and 1.5 mm. Referring to
In the following discussion, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments may be practiced without such specific details. Furthermore, lists and/or examples are often provided and should be interpreted as exemplary only and in no way limiting embodiments to only those examples. Similarly, in this disclosure, language such as “could, should, may, might, must, have to, can, would, need to, is, is not”, etc. and all such similar language shall be considered interchangeable whenever possible such that the scope of the invention is not unduly limited. For example, a comment such as: “item X is used” can be interpreted to read “item X may be used”.
Extending upwards from the entrapment bay 110 may be a grasp handle 102. grasp handle 102 may be arcuate. grasp handle 102 may provide a grasping surface so that a user can wrap the user's hand around the grasp handle 102 and carry the rotatable hook assembly 10 as well as all the bags suspended therefrom without the pinching and discomfort commonly experienced when attempting to carry multiple bags with a single handle.
The bag hook 200 may have a rotation bay 140 (see
In some preferred embodiments, an accessory lock 150 (see
When the twist handle 100 is twisted closed, the entrapment bay 110 may surround a portion of the bag hook 200 called the entrapment tooth 210. The locking portion 202 of bag hook 200 may extend upwards into the entrapment bay 110 and may include an entrapment tooth 210 which may be coupled by a slot defined by the lock flange 120 of twist handle 100 when the twist handle 100 is in the locked position, thereby ensuring that the bag hook 200 may not be rotated substantially clockwise or substantially counterclockwise until a user has lifted the entrapment tooth 210 above the slot of the lock flange 120. The bag hook 200 may comprise a locking portion 202 which may be positioned at the end of the bag hook 200 above a bag storage loop 230. The bag storage loop 230 may comprise the bulk of the bag hook as it loops from the entrapment tooth 210 down and around back up to the rotation member 240. The bag storage loop 230 can hold one or even a large number and variety of bag handles threaded thereon. Once the twist handle 100 is in a twisted closed position on the bag hook 200, the bags may be locked onto the bag storage loop 230 and may not be removed without again twisting the twist handle 100 to gain access to the bags on the bag storage loop 230.
The bag storage loop 230 may terminate into the rotation member 240. The rotation member 240 may be rotatably coupled with the rotation bay 140 and the two components may rotate relative to each other. Extending downwards from the other side of the rotation member 240 is the first cart member 250, which may have a substantially flat portion and may have a length greater than the average bar used in a grocery cart on which the first cart member may be placed in frictional contact. The first cart member 250 may be between 0.1 inches and 500 inches in length, may be between 0.1 inch and 5 inches in length, may be between, 1 inch and 2 inches in length, may be between 2 inches and 4 inches in length, may be between 4 inches and 6 inches in length, may be between 6 inches and 8 inches in length. The first cart member 250 extends downward from the main lateral portion of the bag hook 200 and is opposed to the second cart member 252, which may also extend downwards from the main lateral portion of the bag hook 200. As defined herein the second cart member 252 may be substantially the same length of the first cart member 250, and the first cart member 250 and the second cart member 252 may be substantially parallel to each other, or in some preferred embodiments, the first cart member 250 may be slightly angled downwards at an angle between 0.1 degrees and 30 degrees from a horizontal line, such that a shopping cart bar may be wedged between the first cart member 250 and the second cart member 252 and one of the first cart member 250 and the second cart member 252 may flex to allow the shopping cart bar to be inserted and then may flex back to at or near the original position so as to grasp or hold the shopping cart bar. In some embodiments the length between the first car member 250 and the second cart member 252 is between 15 mm to 23 mm, wherein the difference between the first cart member 250 and the second cart member 252 at the top of the first cart member compared to the bottom of the first cart member is between 0.1 mm and 3 mm, and in some preferred embodiments is between 1 mm and 2 mm.
When suspending the rotatable hook assembly 10 from shopping cart walls of varying types and thicknesses, a suspension thickness buffer 300 may be incorporated into the gap between the first cart member 250 and the second cart member 252. The buffer may be compressible or otherwise deformable so that it can fill any excess gap left after the rotatable hook assembly 10 is hung from a shopping cart wall. Further, in the case of relatively thick sidewalls, it needs to squeeze down and provide more space for the sidewall in the gap. In order to function in this way in some embodiments, the buffer 300 man comprise a plurality of thickness adjusters, which may be the pieces that define channels of the suspension buffer also known as the suspension thickness buffer 300. Extending from a side of the first cart member 250 opposite the gap in which the shopping cart sidewall can be placed, may be an optional lock in accessory 400. In the embodiment illustrated in
A headrest storage hook 500 may be included; the headrest storage hook 500 may have a first arcuate portion and a second arcuate portion. The first arcuate portion may be substantially perpendicular to the second arcuate portion. storage hook 500 can be hooked around a headrest upright support member or other object so that the rotatable hook assembly 10 can be used in the car or anywhere a loop or hook receiver is located; thus, storage hook 500 is not just limited to use on the sidewall of a shopping cart.
The rotatable hook assembly may have rotation hardware, which may include a mounting member, which may comprise a bolt, screw, or other type of fastener in the preferred embodiments. Similarly, a friction member such as a simple washer and the accepting member, such as a threaded metal lock-nut type cylinder that can be affixed inside the twist handle 100 may be used; the threaded metal lock-nut type cylinder may accept the mounting member therein. In other embodiments other types of rotation hardware are contemplated. Basically, any sufficiently sturdy way of rotatably mounting the rotation member within the rotation bay can be used.
The above specification, examples and data provide a description of the structure and use of exemplary implementations of the described systems, articles of manufacture and methods. It is important to note that many implementations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In some of the figures, a lock button is shown with a shaft; the shaft fits between the handle and the bag hook; the shaft may be placed through a spring, and the end of the shaft may protrude through a central void of the lock button; the shaft may have an end piece which acts as a wedge wherein the end of the shaft, when pushed by a user, applies force against the end of the shaft then the entire shaft moves away from the end, thereby pushing the guard away from the engagement tooth, thereby allowing the engagement tooth to be rotated. In some embodiments, the twist handle has a two pronged component that may be rotationally attached to the bag handle allowing the bag handle to be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise.
This nonprovisional claims the benefit of and incorporates by reference Appln No. 62/503,891, which was filed on May 9, 2017.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62503891 | May 2017 | US |