Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to handgrips and
particularly those which may be opened to permit
placement of items to be grasped within the grip
portion.
BACKGR~UND OF THE INVENTION
Various types of handgrips have been developed in
the past for carrying parcels and the like which may
have rope handles. Examples of such carrier handles or
holders for shopping bags are disclosed in IJnited States
patents 2,041,691 and 4,004,722. In Becklin, United
States patent 2,041,691, a hardwood carrier handle is
shown which has two grooves cut therein to receive the
pair of rope handles on a shopping hag. This
faci]itates carrying of the bag by reason of the
hardwood handle preventing the narrow rope cutting into
user's hand.
Olivier, United States patent 4,004,722, also
discloses a handle device which may be used in clipping
onto ropes to carry parcels. The clip portion on the
handle which receives the rope is separate from the
portion one grasps to carry the parcel. If the parccl
is too heavy, the clip portion can readily open and
result in dropping of the parcel. A suggested
modification to the handle arrangement to provide for
carrying heavier parcels is to grip the handle beneath
the clip portion which receives the rope. This results
in the regular handle portion interferring with the user
carrying the heavy parcel so that the handle is not
readily usable in this manner. In addition, the handle
arrangement cannot be readily placed over edges of items
to be carried, such as panels and box openings, because
of the handle interferring with such positioning.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The tubular handgrip, according to this invention,
permits one to use it in association with a variety of
items to be carried, namely, bags with handles, ropes
for towing or pullin~ items, ropes for binding articles,
edges of items such as plywood sheet and edges of
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open-sided handholds or raised handles in cardboard
cartons for bottles and the like.
The separable tubular handgrip, according to an
aspect of this invention, aids the hand gripping of
items. The handgrip is formed of a flexible plastics
material and comprises an elongate tubular body portion
having a curved base which is straight along its length,
opposing sidewalls and a separable top to permit opening
of the handgrip by virtue of the sidewalls flexing
relative to the base. The top has an overturned portion
integral with each sidewall and extends into a cavity
within the tubular portion. The overturned portions
oppose one another to define the entrance area to within
the tubular body portion. The interior surface of the
base portion is free of any projections into the cavity
]5 within the tubular portion. The overturned portions
exten~ less than half way into the cavity to space
thereby the overturned portions from the base. The
plastics material is sufficiently flexible to permit the
flexing of the sidewalls and sufficiently resilient to
bias the overturned portions towards one another. This
device aids the manual grasping of items by wrapping a
user's hand about the curved base of the handgrip.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING~
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in
the drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is perspective view showing the handgrip
held in a user's hand;
Figure 2 is a side view of the handgrip of Figure
l;
Figure 3 is a top view of the handgrip of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a section of the handgrip of Figure l;
Figure 5 shows the use of a handgrip of Figure 1 in
capturing a plurality of handle portions on plastic bags
for purposes of carrying the bags;
Figure 6 shows the use of the handgrip for
insertion in the open-sided handholds of boxes which
contain glass articles and the like;
Figure 7 shows the use of the hand carrier with a
tow rope or the like;
~^ Figure 8 shows the handgrip of Figure 7 in the
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latched position to retain positively the rope within
the handgrip;
Figures 9 and 10 are sections through alternative
embodiments of the handgrip; and
Figure 11 is a~perspective view of the handgrip of
Figure 9 applied dver an edge of plywood sheeting to
facilitate carrying.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
_
A long standing problem in carrying articles is
that rope handles, rope for securing parcels closed and
handles on small plastic shopping bags and the like
cause great discomfort to the person carrying the items.
The handles are usually very narrow causing a stress
concentration on the user's hand which distorts the
fingers and results in considerable pain and discomfort.
The degree of discomfort is increased considerably with
increased weight in the bags. The handgrip, according
to this invention, overcomes these problems and is
readily usable in carrying all types of items.
Referring to Figures 1 through 4, the handgrip 10
comprises a curved base portion 12 with sidewall
portions 14 and 16 which, according to this embodiment,
are planar opposing upright walls. The base portion 12
is straight along its length. The top portion 18 of the
handgrip includes overturned portions 20 and 22. The
overturned portions extend into the tubular handgrip 10
which has a cavity area 2S. The interior surface of the
base portion 12 is free of any projections into the
cavity.
As shown in Figure 2, according to this embodiment,
the ends of the handgrip slope downwardly at 24 and 26.
The handgrip is made from a plastics material which is
sufficiently flexible to allow opening of the top 18 by
flexing the sidewalls 14 and 16 about the base 12.
This separates the overturned portions 20 and 22 to
permit insertion of an item to be carried, such as a
rope, narrow handle portion or the like within the
cavity 25. The plastics material may have sufficient
resiliency to bias or urge the overturned portions 20
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3.1
and 22 towards one another. As shown in Figure 4, the
resiliency of the plastic is sufficient to contact the
overturned portions at area 28 to define an entrance
area 30 which extends along the length of the handgrip
as shown in Figure 3. Once an item to be carried is
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placed within the handgrip 10, as shown in Figure 1, a
user's hand generally designated 32 grips the handgrip
by wrapping the user's hand about the base 12 of the
handgrip 10. According to this embodiment, due to the
upright sidewalls 14 and 16 and the width of the base
12, the handgrip is of sufficient size and the base is
so curved that considerable weight may be carried in the
handgrip without causing discomfort to the person's hand
because the grip fits nicely within the folded finger
10 region~
As can be appreciated, this type of hand carrier
has many uses. Ropes of handle portions for shopping
bags and ropes for holding boxes together may be
inserted in the handgrip. The handgrip may also be used
lS in grasping toboggan ropes and other ropes for towing
items and starter cords. An important feature of the
handgrip is for use in as.sociation with plastic carrying
or shopping bags as shown in Figure 5. Sections of the
plastic bag handles, namely six sections thereof, show a
common type of plastic shopping bag. Each hag has a
side portion 34 which has punched therein a handle
opening 36. The openings may be of various
configurations, such as, round, o~Jal or rectangular.
Normally, one carries the bag by gripping the upper
portion 38 of each bag side. With the handgrip 10 of
this invention, several bag handles may be inserted in
the handgrip 10 through the entrance 30 of the handgrip.
The openings are appropriately stretched from their
normal configuration, if needed, to accommodate the
handgrip 10. As an example, six bag handles are
inserted in the handgrip 10. It is appreciated that the
handgrip 10 can be used with more or less than three
bags.
The resiliency of the handgrip plastic is
sufficient to reclose the entrance portion in the manner
shown. Thus one is able to insert his hand through the
bag openings 38, grasp the handgrip 10 and safely carry
the bags with the handgrip held closed so that none of
the bags can slip from the handgrip and result in damage
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to the carried goods. Due to the resiliency of the
handgrip plastic seiected for this embodiment of the
invention, the handgrip is maintained in the closed
position when not held in the hand, so that when the
bags are set down, the bag handles are retained in the
handgrip. The plurality of bags in the handgrip are
ready to be picked up again when needed. The ends of
the handgrip are sloped at 24 and 26 to allow the ends
to bend slightly. This prevents the grip bitting into
or straining the corner portions 40 and 42 of the bag
being carried. By the handgrip distributing the load of
the bags along the handle portions 38, this ensures that
the handles of the bags are not ripped by piercing these
corner areas of the bag handles.
~nother use for the handgrip 10 is for insertion in
open handholds 44 in the side of a cardboard box 46 or
the like. There are, for example, many forms of
cardboard boxes which have openings 44 in each end to
provide handholds for carrying heavy glass articles and
the like. Because the opening 44 is of limited width,
again in prolonged carrying of the cardboard carton 46,
great discomfort can be realized by the user. By
spreading apart and opening the top portion 18 of the
handgrip and sliding it over the upper reqion 48 of the
opening 44 in the box 46, a broad handgrip portion by
way of the base 12 is provided to allow the user to
comfortably carry heavy boxes and the like. The
overturned portions 20 and 22 allow easy slipping of the
handgrip into position by reasons of their smoothly
rounded portions camming against the aperture sidewalls
of the box and being forced into position as shown in
Figure 6. Similarly, the handgrip 10 may be used with
cardboard handles on the top of the boxes. The handgrip
is inserted over the cardboard handlegrip region.
Considering the use of the handgrip 10 with rope
50, the rope is inserted into the handgrip through the
entrance region 30 by spreading the sidewalls apart in
the manner already discussed. By grasping the grip 10
about its base portion 12, minimal discomfort is
realized by the user in having significantly increased
the surface area to grip and apply load to the rope 50.
There may be situations when it is desired to positively
retain the rope 50 in the hand carrier 10. This is
shown in Figure 8 where overturned portion 22 has a
curved area 52 which underlies the edge 54 of the other
overturned portion 20. By pressing the sides 14 and 16
towards one another, the overturned portion 20 is
snapped upwardly over the underlying portion 22 by
camming engagement with the surface 56. Referring to
Figure 4, overturned portion 20 includes an interior
recess 58 and overturned portion 22 includes a rounded
exterior surface 60. By snapping the portions together,
the rounded interior portion 58 snaps over the
lS corresponding rounded portion 60 to provide a latching
closed of the handgrip 10.
An alternative embodiment is shown in Figure 9,
where the handgrip 10 has a base portion 12 with
opposing sidewalls 14 and 16. The overturned portions
are slightly different in that they comprise smoothly
rounded portions 62 and 64 which have depending planar
parallel portions 66 and 68. The opposing faces of
portions 66 and 68 have ribs 70 which abut one another
due to the inherent resiliency of the plastic biasing
portions 66 and 68 against one another and in so doing,
defining an entrance area 72. The ridges or ribs 70 are
useful when it is desired to grip a bag without a
handle. The bag upper portion may be inserted into the
cavity 74 within the tubular handgrip lG where the
ridges 70 grip the upper bag portion. Then by rolling
the handgrip 10 into the bag upper portion, a secure
grip is provided to carry the bag contents.
Another use for the handgrip 10 of Figure 9 in
having the serrations 70 is for gripping panel edges and
the like for purposes of carrying. Referring to Figure
11, a plywood panel 80 is shown partly in section with
the handgrip 10 of Figure 9 placed over the edge 82 of
the plywood panel~ lrhe sidewalls 14 and 16 are
separated to open the entrance area 72 so as to place
the opposing portions 66 and 68 on respective sides 84
and 86 of the plywood panel. The ridges 70 grip the
panel edges to resist the grip popping off of the panel
during use and slipping along the panel. In so using
the handgrip 10, one may easily grasp a large sheet of
plywood and comfortably carry it with a pair of
handgrips. This avoids discomfort to the carrier and
reduces the risk of getting wood slivers in one's hands.
Similarly, the handgrips may be used in carrying glass
sheet and the like to again reduce discomfort and
prevent one cutting his hands on the glass edges.
In Figure 10, an alternate embodiment for the
handgrip is shown. The handgrip 10 has the normal
provision of a base portion 12 with upstanding sidewalls
14 and 16. The sidewalls have overturned portions 88
and 90 which are rounded to define the entrance area 92.
The overturned portions are smoothly curved to provide
rounded opposing portions 94 and 96. Such section for
the handgrip lends itself readily to formation by
extrusion or injection molding~
It is appreciated that the handgrip 10 may be
formed by injection molding the shape from an
appropriate plastic material. Alternately the shape may
be cut from an extruded length of the tubular body
portion of an appropriate plastics material. As can be
appreciated by those skilled in the art, many plastics
are available which would be useful in forming the
handgrip. These include polyethylene, high density
polyethylene, and less flexible plastics such as
polypropylene and polyurathane. Obviously the plastic
has to have sufficient flexibility to provide for
opening of the grip for use. With respect to the needed
resiliency in the plastic, it is desirable for the
plastic to have sufficient memory to urge or bias the
overturned portions of the handgrip towards one another.
Depending upon the use, such as in carrying grocery
bags, it is desirable that the plastic have sufficient
memory to urge the opposing portions together so as to
close the entrance to the handgrip and prevent the bag
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handles from falling out of the handgrip when the
carried bags are set down. However, it is appreciated
that such memory in the plastics material need not
always close the handgrip, because the overturned
portions can function as hooks to preclude the bag
handles slipping out of the handgrip should the bags,
when set down, exert an opening force on the handgrip.
The overturned portions would hook the handles and
ensure that they do not fall out of the handgrip. Other
considerations in selecting the desired resiliency for
the plastic is that the handgrip may be formed with
catch portions which function in the manner discussed
with respect to Figure 8, thereby positively retaining
the items within the handgrip. In addition, the
handgrip, when formed, may be slightly open at the top
entrance portion to facilitate insertion of items within
the handgrip cavity.
Although various preferred embodiments of the
invention have been described herein in detail, it will
be understood by those skilled in the art that
variations may be made thereto without departing from
the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended
claims.
