DESCRIPTION

The present patent concerns paper bags or shopping bags, and in particular it concerns a new paper bag or shopping bag with thin flat bottom and handle/s.

Disposable bags or shopping bags are known, which are commonly used for transporting objects, for example for carrying one's everyday shopping, comprising a bag with an upper opening and one pair of handles positioned on the edge of said opening.

Bag or shopping bags are known, which are made of a sheet or film in a plastic material, properly cut, folded and heat-sealed along its edges in such a way as to form said bag and said handles.

Said plastic bags or shopping bags are rather strong but also very light, as the plastic film with which they are made has limited thickness and weight. Said plastic bags or shopping bags, however, have a rather short useful life, as said plastic film, once the bag has been used for a few times, tears or breaks in some points, particularly due to the sharp objects contained therein, so that the bags are finally disposed of as waste.

The manufacture of said plastic bags or shopping bags has a strong impact on the environment, especially due to the high consumption of oil as raw material and of the considerable emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Furthermore, said plastic shopping bags biodegrade very slowly and therefore even their disposal affects the environment considerably.

For these reasons, in order to implement the directives intended to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, production and distribution of plastic shopping bags will be forbidden starting from January 1, 2010.

To replace plastic bags, disposable paper bags or shopping bags are also used, which therefore are made of a material allowed by the new regulations, comprising a paper sheet that is folded and glued in such a way as to form a bag with an opening and handles applied in proximity to the edge of said opening.

In particular, the paper bags or shopping bags of known type comprise a substantially rectangular paper folded along folding lines that are parallel to one edge, with the edges joined to form a substantially tubular element, and wherein one end, or upper end, is open in order to define the opening of the bag, while the bottom of the bag is obtained via a sequence of operations including opening of the lower end of said tubular element, application of glue to at least one edge, folding of the two opposite edges and glueing to close the bottom.

In this way paper bags or shopping bags like the one illustrated in Figure 1 are obtained, having a large bottom substantially orthogonal to the side walls of the bag, and wherein the glueing areas for closing the bottom are positioned on the bottom itself.

Said glueing areas also represent the weakest areas of the bag, as with use it may happen and it often happens that due to the action of the objects contained in the bag the glued edges of the bottom come off, thus causing the bottom to open and the objects contained therein to fall down, in addition to making it impossible to use the bag again. In order to increase the resistance and therefore the average life of a paper bag of the known type, it is necessary to make said bag using paper or cardboard or plasticized paper with a suitable basic weight, while it is not possible to use paper with a low basic weight or insufficient thickness, for example like the paper commonly used for bread bags.

An important drawback posed by the paper bags or shopping bags of known type thus lies in that, in order to be able to guarantee the required strength and resistance of the bag, which must be able to carry average-weight objects, it is necessary to use paper with a basic weight at least exceeding 90 g/m or cardboard or plasticized paper.

The known paper bags or shopping bags thus involve high costs for raw materials, as well as complex production procedures, in particular for making the bottom, and therefore they do not seem to represent a convenient solution for replacing the plastic bags or shopping bags that are currently used and will soon be forbidden.

The subject of the present patent is a new type of paper bag or shopping bag with flat folded bottom and handle/s.

The main object of the present invention is to reduce the costs for raw materials, and can be achieved using paper sheets with a low basic weight and reduced thickness, while at the same time guaranteeing the required strength, owing to a particular configuration of the bag.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a bag with reduced weight, thus limiting also the costs for transporting, handling and storing large quantities of bags.

A further object of the present invention is to ensure quicker production processes, which means reducing production times and costs even further.

These and other direct and complementary objects are achieved by the new type of paper bag or shopping bag with flat folded bottom and handle/s, comprising at least one sheet folded along one or more parallel folding lines, with the opposite edges joined to form a substantially tubular element, substantially defining the side walls of the bag.

The bottom of the bag is obtained by folding and glueing one end of said tubular element, in such a way as to form a substantially flat and thin bottom, while the opposite end remains open and defines the upper opening of the bag, in proximity to which the handles are applied.

The bottom of the new bag is thus obtained by folding one or more times the lower end of the tubular element, differently from the bags or shopping bags of known type having a large bottom folded and glued as explained above. The bottom of the new paper bag or shopping bag is flat and thin and does not have glued strips in the area that is most subjected to loads and stress, where the objects contained in the bag rest, and therefore, with the same paper thickness and basic weight, the new bag is stronger than the paper bags with large glued bottom of known type.

The new bag preferably comprises also one pair of handles applied in proximity to the edge of said upper opening and can therefore be safely and comfortably carried like a bag or shopping bag of known type.

According to a possible embodiment of the invention, said handles comprise one or more paper or cardboard strips substantially bent in the shape of an upturned U, with the ends constrained to said sheet, thus forming the handles to be used to carry the bag. Alternatively, said handles are of the cord type and each of them comprises a cord, made for example of a cellulose material or natural fibres, substantially bent in the shape of an upturned U, the ends of which are constrained to said sheet, thus forming the handles to be used to carry the bag.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the new bag is made of paper with limited basic weight and thickness, which considerably reduces the costs of raw materials, the weight of each single bag and consequently also transport and storage costs, though ensuring equal strength and practicality, thanks to the presence of said thin flat bottom and of said carrying handles.

The characteristics of the new bag with flat thin bottom and handle/s will be highlighted in greater detail in the following description, with reference to the drawings attached as non-limiting examples.

Figures 1 and 2 respectively show a front and a side view of the new bag (B) once completed, with flat thin bottom (F) obtained by folding and closing the edge (B6) of the lower end (T2), upper opening (T) and handles (B21 , B22) applied in proximity to the edge of said upper opening (T).

Figure 3 schematically shows the sheet (Bl) completely open for the manufacture of the new bag (B), in three different versions, with applied handles (B21. B22).

Figures 4 and 4a respectively show a front view and a horizontal cross section of the sheet (Bl) with applied handles (B21 , B22), folded and with the opposite edges (B51, B52) joined to form a substantially tubular element with both ends (Tl, T2) open.

The new bag (B) comprises at least one sheet (Bl) with one pair of handles (B21, B22) applied in proximity to one side (Bl 1) of said sheet (Bl), said sheet (Bl) being folded along one or more folding lines (P) orthogonal to said side (Bl l) where said handles (B21, B22) are applied, with the opposite edges (B51, B52) joined to form a substantially tubular element, shown in Figure 3, which defines at least the side walls (B31, B32, B41, B42) of the bag.

In particular, according to the invention said folding lines (P) are distributed in such a way as to define at least two opposite main walls (B31 , B32) and two side walls (B41, B42), preferably of the bellows type.

Said joined edges (B51 , B52) of said sheet (Bl) are preferably at least partially overlapping (S) and glued together.

Said tubular element has an open upper end (Tl), suited to define the upper opening (T) of the completed bag (B), shown in Figures 4 and 5, and the opposite lower end (T2) flattened and closed by folding the lower edge (B6) along a single substantially straight line (PI), in order to define a thin and flat bottom (F), as shown in Figure 5.

In the solution shown in Figures 3 b and 3 c, said lower edge (B6) is die cut and has a part or tab (B61) that projects from the rest of the edge (B6) at the level of one of said main walls (B31) and is suited to be folded on the opposite main wall (B32), in such a way as to close said lower end (T2) and make the bottom (F) of the bag (B).

Figure 3c shows a bag provided with a lower edge (B6) with a part or tab (B61) projecting from the rest of the edge (B6), and an upper edge (Bl l) having a recess into the rest of the edge (Bl l).

According to a possible embodiment of the invention, shown in particular in Figures 2-5, said handles (B21, B22) are applied by glueing to the surface of said tubular element.

Said handles (B21, B22) can be of the strip or cord type.

These are the schematic characteristics that are sufficient to carry out the invention for a person skilled in the art, consequently upon construction changes may be made that do not affect the substance of the innovative concept disclosed herein.

Therefore, with reference to the above description and the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.