SHOPPING BAG CARRIER DEVICE

Abstract

A shopping bag carrier device includes a shoulder strap formed in a continuous closed loop and including a spaced arrangement of hooks on an outer facing side of the shoulder strap. Each of the hooks includes a stem and a curled portion surrounding a handle containment area for holding the handles of shopping bags. A rivet secures a top portion of the stem to the shoulder strap. In use, the shoulder strap is placed over the user's shoulder and shopping bags containing purchased items are hung on the spaced arrangement of hooks, thereby freeing up the user's arms and hands for performing other tasks such as opening doors, pushing elevator buttons and retrieving and using keys to open a door.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a shopping bag carrier device and, more particularly, to a device worn on a user's body for carrying multiple shopping bags to thereby allow the user free use of their arms and hands for other purposes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Most consumer goods stores, including grocery stores, home improvement stores and large chain drugstores provide lightweight, thin plastic shopping bags with built-in handles to allow customers to carry their purchased items out of the store and from their car into their home. While many stores also offer paper bags, they usually do not have handles and therefor many customers prefer their items to be placed into the well-known lightweight plastic recyclable shopping bags. And, while plastic shopping bags offer the convenience of a built-in handle, it can be very difficult to carry multiple shopping bags filled with purchased items and to also perform other operations, such as opening a car door, pushing elevator buttons, accessing and using keys to open a door, and turning doorknob handles to open a door to get into one's home. In some cases, customers are required to place at least one handful of shopping bags on the ground in order to open their car door, or to open the door to their home. This is not always convenient or desirable, especially if the ground is wet or dirty. Also, due to the thin and rather flimsy nature of plastic shopping bags, it can be difficult to find the handle openings, particularly on two or more shopping bags, once they are placed onto the ground or another resting surface. Some shoppers may slide their arm through the handle openings to support the multiple bags on their forearm or in the crease of their arm at the elbow, however this can be very uncomfortable, and possibly painful, especially if the filled shopping bags are heavy.

Accordingly, there remains a need for a simple and effective device that allows a user to conveniently carry multiple plastic shopping bags filled with purchased items on their body, while allowing for free and unencumbered use of their arms and hands in order to perform tasks such as opening doors, pushing elevator buttons and using keys.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a shopping bag carrier device and includes a shoulder strap formed in a continuous closed loop. The shoulder strap includes a spaced arrangement of hooks on an outer facing side of the strap. Each of the hooks includes a stem and a curled portion surrounding a handle containment area for holding the handles of shopping bags. A rolled-over top portion of the curled portion of the hook promotes ease of passage of handles of the shopping bags onto the hooks and into the handle containment area. A rivet secures a top portion of the stem to the shoulder strap. In use, the shoulder strap is placed over the user's shoulder and shopping bags containing purchased items are hung on the spaced arrangement of hooks, thereby freeing up the user's arms and hands for performing other tasks such as opening doors, pushing elevator buttons and retrieving and using keys to open a door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the shopping bag carrier device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isolated perspective view showing a top portion of the shoulder strap of the shopping bag carrier device including a hook that is attached to the outer facing side of the shoulder strap with a rivet;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view showing the shopping bag carrier device of the present invention worn over a user's shoulders without any shopping bags carried on the device;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view showing the shopping bag carrier device worn over the user's shoulder with filled shopping bags held on the spaced arrangement of hooks on the shoulder strap, both on the front of the wearer and the back of the wearer;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view showing the shopping bag carrier device worn over the user's shoulder, as seen on the front of the wearer, without any shopping bags carried on the device; and

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view showing the shopping bag carrier device worn over the user's shoulder with a number of plastic shopping bags held by the hooks of the shopping bag carrier device on the front of the wearer's body.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the several drawing figures, the shopping bag carrier device is shown and is generally indicated as 10 throughout the drawing figures. The shopping bag carrier device 10 includes a strap member 12 that is formed in a continuous closed loop.

An outer facing side 14 of the strap 12 is provided with a spaced arrangement of hooks 20 or other similar elements that allow for hanging at least one plastic shopping bag 40 on each of the hooks 20 or other hanger elements, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. The hooks 20 or other shopping bag hanger elements are provided on the outer facing side 14 of the strap 12 on the front and back of the closed loop when worn over a user's shoulder, as shown in FIG. 3. In use, the strap is worn over the user's shoulder, as seen in FIGS. 3-6, and the handles 42 of the shopping bags 40 are hung on the hooks 20 or other hanger elements on both the front and the back side. Naturally, the shopping bags 40 are at least partially filled with items, such as consumer goods purchased by the user at a commercial store, such as a grocery store or home improvement store. As can be appreciated with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6, when the shopping bag carrier device 10 is worn over the user's shoulder, with the multiple shopping bags 40 hanging on the hook members 20, the user's arms and hands are free to perform other tasks such as opening doors, pushing elevator buttons and using keys.

Each of the hooks 20 includes a lower curled portion 22 and a stem 24 extending up from the curled portion to a mounting head 26 that is formed with an aperture for receiving a rivet 30 therethrough in order to secure the hook 20 to the outer facing side 14 of the shoulder strap 12, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The rivet 30 passes through both the aperture in the mounting head 26, and through the thickness of the shoulder strap, so that a front head 32 of the rivet is seated within the mounting head 26 of the hook and a rear flanged portion 34 of the rivet is positioned on the inner facing side 16 of the shoulder strap, as clearly shown in FIG. 2. It should be noted that the flanged portion 34 is smooth and almost flush with the inner surface 16 so that the flanged portion 34 of each of the rivets attaching the hooks to the strap does not cause discomfort or dig into the wearer's body when the shopping bag carrier device 10 is worn on the user's shoulder and carrying considerable weight within plastic shopping bags that are hanging from the hooks 20.

In one embodiment, each of the hooks 20 includes a rolled-over top portion 23 that provides a smooth rounded surface that will not cut into the wearer's arms, hands, as well as other objects. The curled portion 22 of each hook curls back towards the stem 24 at the rolled-over top portion 23, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, providing an open mouth 25 between the rolled-over top portion 23 and the stem 24 for passage of the handles of plastic shopping bags therethrough so that the plastic handles are received and held within a handle containment area 27 that is at least partially surrounded by the curled portion of the hook. The smooth, rounded surface of the rolled-over top portion 23 promotes ease of passage of the shopping bag handles through the open mouth 25 and into the handle containment area 27. It should be noted that the open mouth 25 is partially closed when compared to the handle containment area 27 in order to discourage the handles of the plastic shopping bags from being easily dislodged or removed from the hooks during use of the shopping bag carrier device 10. In a preferred embodiment, the hooks 20 are formed of a rubberized plastic composition that is sufficiently firm and strong to hold the weight of the filled shopping bags hanging from the curled portion of the hooks without compromising the shape of the curled portion and the entire shape of the hook.

In one embodiment, the shoulder strap 12 is formed of a soft, durable material that can be molded or manufactured as a seamless and endless continuous closed loop. The material of the strap 12 may be a rubberized composition or other material that is soft and comfortable and will not dig into the wearer's shoulder when supporting a significant amount of weight of the shopping bags carried on the device. However, it should be noted that the material of the shoulder strap 12 is of a composition that allows for minimal stretching so that the shoulder strap 12 does not stretch and sag when under load and carried over the user's shoulder.

The shoulder strap 12 may further be formed or fitted with a shoulder engaging member (not shown) that helps to better distribute the weight of the filled shopping bags on the user's shoulder, by enlarging the surface area engaging the user's shoulder. Additionally, the shoulder engaging member may be padded for enhanced comfort against the user's shoulder, particularly when carrying heavier items in the shopping bags.

While the present invention has been shown and described in accordance with a preferred and practical embodiment, it is recognized that departures from the instant disclosure are fully contemplated within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A shopping bag carrier device comprising: a shoulder strap formed as a continuous, endless closed loop and having an outer facing side and an inner facing side;a plurality of hooks attached to the outer facing side of the shoulder strap in spaced arrangement, and each of the plurality of hooks including a stem extending between a mounting head and a lower curled portion surrounding a shopping bag handle containment area and an open mouth between a top portion of the curled portion and the stem and openly communicating with the shopping bag handle containment area; andeach of the plurality of hooks being attached to the outer facing side of the shoulder strap by a rivet passing through the mounting head of the hook and through the shoulder strap, and the rivet including a flanged portion engaging the inner surface of the shoulder strap.

2. The shopping bag carrier device as in claim 1 wherein the shoulder strap is structured and disposed to be worn over a user's shoulder so that at least one of the plurality of hooks is positioned on a front of the user and at least one of the plurality of hooks is positioned on a back of the user.

3. The shopping bag carrier device as in claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of hooks is structured and disposed for holding at least one shopping bag that is at least partially filled with contents, and wherein each of the plurality of hooks is structured and disposed to hold the at least one shopping bag by a handle of the shopping bag, wherein the handle of the at least one shopping bag is held and supported within the containment area.

4. The shopping bag carrier device as in claim 3 wherein the top portion of the curled portion of each of the plurality of hooks is rolled-over to provide a top rounded surface that promotes ease of passage of the handles of the at least one shopping bag through the open mouth and into the handle containment area.