There are many types of shopping bag or general purpose carrier bag available to consumers, such as disposable shopping bags as supplied by retail outlets and the like. Typically, the disposable or re-useable shopping bag is formed from plastics materials, paper-based materials or a suitable flexible fabric. For convenience and cheap manufacture, handles provided on such bags are very often formed from the same or similar material as the bag, eg. as a unitary construction, sometimes slightly reinforced or stiffened, or from rope or cord.

Such handle materials, while suitable for low cost manufacture of the bag, are not often ideal for the comfortable distribution of the weight of the bag and its contents across a person's fingers, and have a tendency to reduce to a very narrow width or cross-section when under tension along the length, either by simple longitudinal creasing of the handle or plastic deformation thereof. Such bags can be uncomfortable to carry even for short periods, particularly if the bag is heavy.

Many such bag handles also have a tendency to plastic deformation particularly in the region where the handle leaves the user's fingers and joins the main part of the bag. This can be exacerbated by the user's need to continually shift grip position to keep the fingers more comfortable and can often lead to handle failure.

In addition, the bag handles are often not self supporting such that when the bag is put down, the handles (and the bag) have a tendency to

collapse, enabling the bag to fall open and release its contents. Picking up the bag again, particularly when several bags are being carried together is then rendered troublesome and awkward. Often, it is not easy to see whether one's fingers have been passed through all handles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a convenient, compact and portable auxiliary bag handle to assist in the conveyance of one or more carrier bags.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary bag handle which assists in maintaining the closure of a bag or bags.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary bag handle which assists in keeping the handles of multiple bags together for conveyance with one hand.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides an auxiliary handle for a bag comprising a tube of substantially circular or elliptical cross-section, the tube wall being incomplete around the cross-section along the entire length of the tube so as to form an elongate slit adapted to allow passage of a bag handle through the slit into the cavity defined by the tube, wherein the tube is curved along its longitudinal axis and the slit lies along the outside of the curve.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a top view of an auxiliary bag handle according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the auxiliary bag handle of figure 1; Figure 3 shows a bottom view of the auxiliary bag handle of figure 1; and Figures 4a and 4b show opposite end views of the auxiliary bag handle of figure 1, with the handle inverted in figure 4b.

With reference to figures 1 to 4 there is shown an auxiliary bag handle 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The auxiliary bag handle 10 comprises a tube 11 of approximately circular cross-section, the tube walls having a diameter of approximately 40 mm in the cross-section, and a length of approximately 115 mm As best seen in figure 1, the tube wall is incomplete around the cross-section along the entire length of the tube so as to form an elongate slit 12 which extends along the entire length 1 of the tube 11. In the preferred embodiment, the slit width w is approximately 10 mm.

Preferably, the slit widens slightly at each end 13,14, by tapering the tube walls away from the centreline of the slit 12.

The tube 11 is curved along its longitudinal axis (best shown in figure 2), such that the longitudinal axis has a radius of curvature of approximately 85 mm. The curve of the tube 11 is oriented such that the slit 12 lies along the outside of the curve, which forms the top of the auxiliary bag handle 10.

The tube 11 is formed from any suitable material, such as thermosetting plastics material, which is sufficiently rigid not to significantly deform in normal use to be described below.

In use, the auxiliary bag handle 10 is held between the fingers and palm of one hand with the slit uppermost as shown in figure 2, with the fingers oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis of the tube. One or more plastic carrier bags may then have their handles passed over the top of the auxiliary handle 10, through the slit 11 and into a cavity 15 (figure 4a, 4b) defined by the tube walls.

The weight of the bag or bags which passes through the bag handles is thereby spread more widely and evenly in both the longitudinal direction and lateral direction of the tube 11, thereby avoiding excessive localized pressure on the fingers, particularly the outer fingers. This can be of particular benefit to those having weak finger joints or arthritis.

The slit 12 is sufficiently wide to accept various styles of bag handles and the cavity is sufficiently large to receive a number of bag handles simultaneously. The difference in width between the slit 12 and the tube cavity 15 is such that, during use, the bag handles are unlikely to unintentionally escape from the tube 11 through the slit 12. This is found to be true even when the bags are put down, and thus makes the auxiliary bag handle 10 particularly useful in keeping a number of shopping bags together when it is frequently necessary to put them down in order to free up hands for other tasks while shopping.

A further benefit of the auxiliary bag handle 10 is that it tends to keep the shopping bags closed even when the bags are put down, thereby reducing the risk of contents being spilt.

When it is necessary to remove a bag from the auxiliary bag handle 10, two approaches are possible. Firstly, single or multiple bags may be lifted out manually through the slot with the handle in its normal

orientation. Secondly, where all bags should be released from the auxiliary handle, the handle is simply rotated through 180° about its longitudinal axis. The smooth internal profile of the tube causes all bag handles to be fed toward the slit 11 and to be released therethrough in a single action as the auxiliary bag handle is lifted clear of the bags.

The preferred design of auxiliary bag handle 10 embodied in figures 1 to 4 is particularly suited to ease of use and comfort.

The tapered ends of the slit 12 in the preferred embodiment prevent snagging of the bag handles on the ends thereof during loading or unloading.

The curvature of the tube 11 along its longitudinal axis is preferably adapted to better distribute weight across all the fingers along the entire length of the handle. The curvature of the tube 11 around its cross-section is preferably adapted to distribute weight onto as much finger length as possible.

The curvature of the tube 11 along its longitudinal axis also serves to better distribute the weight of the bag along the length of its handle, reducing the likelihood of plastic deformation or breaking of the bag in the handle region.

As already discussed above, the smooth internal profile of the tube walls eases removal of all bags simultaneously by inversion of the auxiliary handle 10. In addition, a smooth external profile circumferentially also eases rotation of the auxiliary handle about its long axis within the hand to release all of the bags therein.

A rubberised or suitable high friction surface may be applied to the outside surface of the tube to assist in gripping the auxiliary handle. The outer surface of the tube may be contoured or profiled in an appropriate manner to follow the finger profile, in particular on the lower surfaces thereof, to include a series of ridges and depressions, each depression receiving one or more fingers.

Although the preferred embodiment is shown as having a circular cross-section tube 11, it will be understood that this could be elliptical or oblate, and need not be a perfect circle or ellipse. In addition, the diameter of the cross section may vary slightly along the length of the tube in order to better accommodate finger or hand profile.

In preferred embodiments, the length of the auxiliary handle 10 lies between 100 and 150 mm. The distance between the lower ends 20,21 of the tube as shown on figure 2 is preferably approximately 75 mm or possibly greater if the auxiliary handle is to be suited to large hands. The radius of curvature of the tube along its longitudinal axis preferably lies between 70 mm and 100 mm. The overall width or diameter d of the tube preferably lies in the range 25 mm to 60 mm. The slit width preferably lies between 8 mm and 20 mm, and ideally is less than or equal to approximately one quarter the width or diameter of the tube to minimize risk of bag handles unintentionally escaping from the tube.

In preferred embodiments, the material from which the tube 11 is formed is sufficiently rigid that little or no deformation of the tube, particularly between points 20,21, occurs when the auxiliary handle is loaded with bags of a weight ordinarily carryable by a person, eg. up to a weight of approximately 20 kg.

A further advantage of the handle design described above is that the auxiliary handle can be used to store plastic bags by folding or rolling up the bag or bags and stuffing them into the handle. The auxiliary handle plus carrier bags may then conveniently be carried in a pocket or handbag.