Field of the invention

This invention generally relates to the buying of products in a retail store or other stores, the transfer of purchased product to a check out belt or bench, the transacting at a payment station or check out and the transport of products purchased to the home. However, aspects of the invention also extend to carry bags generally including luggage, cooler bags and the like. The invention relates particularly to a container or bag to replace existing plastic bags.

Background of the invention Typically products are purchased and placed into shopping trolleys supplied by the retailer. At the check out the products are picked one by one out of the trolley and placed on the check out bench or conveyor belt. Check out operators then pick the product and transact the product by passing them over a bar code reader to record the purchase. Transacted product is then packed into a plastic bag. The packed plastic bag is then used to carry purchased products to the shopper's home. Alternatively, for large purchases, the bags are placed back into the trolley and the trolley pushed to a car. The bags are placed into the car and the trolley returned to the store or a trolley collection point. This system has served retailers and shoppers well over the years.

Recently, conservation groups have complained about the billions of plastic bags the system uses. Many of them end up as litter creating worldwide environmental problems.

Discarded plastic bags have been shown to cause serious damage to fauna and to our ocean systems, killing and injuring dolphins, penguins and other marine life. Plastic bags end up polluting our parks, reserves, waterways and other public spaces. The typical plastic bag is not bio-degradable and they tend to accumulate in greater numbers.

Environmental groups have been lobbying governments to take action to curb the use of plastic bags. This has resulted in various actions being taken by interested parties. Retailers have adopted voluntary measures including charging for plastic bags in an attempt to reduce plastic bag usage. These voluntary methods have little incentive for shoppers to take up alternatives and governments have considered the reductions to be inadequate. As a result, governments have proposed that levies be paid on plastic bags and even suggested banning high density polyethylene plastic bags.

One option to replace the plastic bag, has been to encourage shoppers to purchase well priced reusable bags. These can be brought to the store by shoppers and used over and over again. This has resulted in shoppers presenting to the check out with a variety of bag alternatives. Generally, these are soft walled bags that are collapsible, which are difficult to hold open in bag cradles and are therefore slow to pack. As a result the time to transact purchases at the check out has increased substantially. Shopping queues have grown longer and shopping frustration has grown.

More recently a large liner bag has been developed, with special handles that clip over the top rail on opposite sides of a shopping trolley. Purchased products can be loaded into the liner bag. This system is an advance but has the following problems. The bag is too large and too heavy to handle and product still has to be manually placed onto the checkout belt and it is not suitable for packing by check out operators after bar coding.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to at least partly address one or more of these and other plastic bag and purchased product transacting problems associated with the prior art.

Summary of the invention

A first inventive concept resides in a recognition that customer convenience is improved and queue lengths reduced if a container system is constructed of two sections or tray components that can be opened to create a space over a bar code reader that permits the reading of the code as product is transferred from one section to the other section.

Accordingly, the invention provides, in a first aspect, a container for conveying multiple selected products through a payment station, including: a pair of tray components each at least partly open at one end and interconnected with a linkage means so as to selectively allow reconfiguration between a closed condition in which the tray components close together to form a basket for transporting products, and an open condition in which there is defined an opening for exposing products to an adjacent or below bar code reader as they are transferred from one tray component to the other.

Preferably, the linkages means are two struts co-pivotally mounted at two or more pivot points at the corners of the open end of the tray components, whereby the mutual reconfiguration is effected by relatively rotating the tray components through about 180 degrees.

Said opening may be defined by a space between the tray components in their open condition. This space may be effected by the open end of each tray component being square, oblique or tapered outwardly relative to the longitudinal direction of each tray component, whereby in the open condition opposed edges of the tray component together with the linkage means form an inverted U shape or V shape in side elevation and thereby define said opening.

Said opening may be formed in a variety of ways: for example a separate window may be defined in one of the side walls tapered to a pivot point extending beyond the base.

Both tray components advantageously have upstanding side walls and an upstanding distal end wall to laterally confine products on the respective tray component.

Ideally, the two tray components have upstanding side walls of the same height but one tray component may be deeper than the other so that, in the closed condition that tray component is received into the other, and so that in the open condition the shallower tray component can be placed with the unscanned product downstream of the bar code reader, and the deeper tray component upstream thereof to securely contain product transferred across the reader.

The container advantageously further includes one or two handles for carrying the container in its closed condition. Conveniently, the handle(s) is generally u-shaped and co-pivotally mounted at one or more pivot connections that interconnect the tray components. Furthermore, the handle(s) is preferably dimensioned to fold back on the rim of the tray components.

The handle(s) may have a laterally angled hand grip that facilitates carriage of two similar containers back to back.

Means is preferably provided for latching or locking the tray components together in the closed condition of the container on the upstanding distal walls.

The container in the closed position is preferably shaped, with the top rim wider than the base rim, to facilitate nesting of plural containers together.

Preferably, the base of one or more tray components have open spaces to ventilate product in the basket.

Ideally, the base of one or more tray components, have a retractable basket latch to engage a tab on a like or similar lock on an above nested container, such that plural nested containers can be carried by the handle of the top nested container.

Preferably, the closed ends on both tray components have protrusions to support the container, in its closed condition, upright on a floor or bench surface.

Preferably, said tray components have recesses to fit harness straps to allow the closed container to be carried on the shoulders.

Preferably, the closed container in an upright position is sized to fit into conventional shopping trolleys.

Preferably, the upstanding side walls of both tray components taper outwardly so that an inverted and rotated top tray component can be nested into a base tray component after use. To receive the stem of the pivotally mounted handle the top tray preferably has a cut away section. Advantageously, there is provided latching means for locking the two tray components into the closed position.

Preferably, said latching means is a recess on the rim of the end wall of the base tray component and the rim of the top tray has a lip for locking the tray components in the closed position. Alternatively, the latching means may be corresponding strips of hook and loop fastener, one on each outer face of the base. For similar means the rim of the base tray component at the open end has a retractable lock and the rim of the top tray component an outwardly extending protrusion, which locks the two tray components at the open position when the handle is rotated from its stored position to its carrying position.

The invention also provides, in a second aspect, a method of processing products at a payment station, wherein the products are presented in a container according to the first aspect of the invention, including the steps of:-

transferring the products in turn from one of said tray components to the other while the container is in its open condition on a bench at the payment station with said opening in front of a bar code reader; and

while effecting said transfer exposing the bar code on each product to said bar code reader as it transverses said opening whereby to register the product for sale.

A third inventive concept resides in a recognition that customer convenience is improved and shopping made easier, if a standard sized soft wall carry bag was constructed that was self-supporting, so that it would remain upright in the shopping trolley, so that purchased product could be placed directly into the carry bag and the carry bag loaded with product, lifted out of the shopping trolley and laid flat on a checkout belt or like or similar support, so purchases can be picked directly out of the soft wall carry bag by a checkout operator.

Accordingly, the invention provides, in the third aspect, a carry bag, including: at least two soft walls with a soft base in which a first side wall and second side wall are provided with a rigid wall liner, the first rigid wall liner having an inward facing, protruding lip along its base, and the second rigid wall liner having a rotatable rigid base section, with an upward facing base lip protrusion, the rotatable base section being hinged, such that the rotatable rigid base section can be rotated upward to collapse the carry bag or rotated downward so that the base lip protrusion and the protruding lip engage to push out the first and second side walls causing the carry bag to remain upright and open.

Preferably, there are four soft walls, two of which are lined by the rigid wall liners. Alternatively, there are two soft walls with the other two walls being formed by the rigid wall liners.

Preferably, the soft walls of the carry bag and base are made from non-woven plastic, linen, hessian, rope or other like or similar material, so that the volume of the bag can be reduced by collapsing for carrying convenience.

Preferably, the rigid wall liners and the rotatable rigid base section are constructed from moulded plastic, aluminium or metal, or like or similar material, to maintain the soft walls of the carry bag in a permanently rectangular configuration with an open top, when stood upright or when laid flat on a wider soft wall on a checkout belt, when the rotatable rigid base section is rotated downward onto the closed soft base.

Ideally, the rigid wall liners are on the inside of the narrower first side soft wall and narrower second side soft wall, but alternatively, could be on the outside of the soft walls.

Ideally, the rigid wall liners are flat or planar at the upper edges, so the rigid wall liners can be attached to the soft walls by riveting, gluing, welding, sewing or other like or similar means, or alternative, supported under a turned over section of the soft walls at the upper edges. Ideally, along the first rigid wall liner, are spaced apart side protrusions on both sides of the protruding lip to make the wall liner rigid and to support the wider front and back soft walls when the bag is upright and open.

Advantageously, the rotatable rigid base section has spaced apart, on either side of the base lip protrusion, base side protrusions, preferably tapering down toward the hinged bottom edge, to strengthen the rotatable rigid base section but tapered to allow it to be rotated as far as possible to collapse the carry bag for easy portability. Ideally, the base lip protrusion, along the bottom edge, has a central elliptical recess to assist pulling the rotatable rigid base section upward to collapse the carry bag or to assist pushing the rotatable rigid base section downward so that the base lip protrusion engages the wall of the first rigid wall liner and the protruding lip engages the under side of the rotatable rigid base section.

Alternatively, to create a more positive engagement the protruding lip could have one or more parallel male upright extensions and the under side of the base section front edge have one or more female recesses to engage the male upright extensions when the rotatable rigid base section is moved downward.

Alternatively, one or more elliptical recesses to assist movement of the rotatable rigid base section could be on the base side protrusions or on the base lip protrusion.

Preferably, the carry bag has a front handle and a back handle, stitched, glued or welded to the front soft walls and preferably a small loop on the inside of one of the wider soft walls to hook on conventional plastic bag holders, however, handles could also be on the narrower side wall.

The invention provides, in a fourth aspect, a carry bag, including:

four soft walls and a soft base in which rigid rims are provided around the perimeter of the open top and the perimeter of the closed base, or around the perimeter of a soft side wall, at least one rigid rim having a protruding trolley hook so the soft walled carry bag with rigid rims can be attached to the inside wall of a shopping trolley to allow the product to be placed into the open and upright carry bag. Preferably, the rigid rims are constructed from moulded plastic, wire or like or similar material, to maintain the soft walls of the carry bag in a permanently rectangular configuration.

When the rigid rims are lateral, i.e. around the perimeter of the open top, they hold the top permanently open, when the soft walled carry bag is placed into a conventional shopping trolley or is laid flat on the checkout belt on a wider side wall.

Ideally, the open top lateral rigid rim has a central, outwardly facing, horizontally aligned protruding trolley hook, on one or both of the wider front wall or wider back wall and at least one or more central, outwardly facing, horizontally aligned protruding trolley hook on the narrower left or right side walls, to clip onto a vertical wire on the inside of a shopping trolley, or alternatively, a vertically aligned protruding trolley hooks, to clip on any horizontal wire on the inside of a shopping trolley.

Preferably, the soft walls are made from non-woven plastic, linen, calico, hessian, rope or other like or similar material, so that the lateral rigid rims could collapse downward onto each other, for convenient storage after use and when transporting to the store.

Preferably, the soft walls of the carry bag are stitched, welded, glued or similarly attached over the rigid rims.

Advantageously, the planar space between the perimeters of the closed base lateral rigid rim could be a continuous moulding to provide a rigid base in the soft walled carry bag.

The rigid rims may be provided around the narrower side walls.

Advantageously, the soft walled carry bag with side wall rigid rims has a rotatable rigid base section, pivotally attached to the closed base horizontal rigid rim of one side wall rigid rim to provide a solid base in the carry bag, that can be tilted upward to allow the narrower sides to collapse side ways onto each other for convenient storage. Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side perspective view of a container according to the first aspect of the present invention, the container being shown in the closed position;

Figure 2 is a side perspective view of two containers, as illustrated in Figure 1 , in a conventional retail shopping trolley;

Figure 3 is a side perspective view of the container of Figure 1 on a checkout belt ready for scanning items in the container;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 3 in an open position;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 4 in the closed position after scanning items;

Figure 6 is a top perspective view of a soft walled carry bag according to a first embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention, the carry bag being shown in the open upright position;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the first rigid wall liner of Figure 6, viewed in isolation of the carry bag;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the second rigid wall liner of Figure 6 in the collapsed position, in isolation of the carry bag;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the second rigid wall liner of Figure 8 in the open position;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the extended first rigid wall liner of Figure 7, engaged with the second rigid wall liner of Figure 9; Figure 11 is a perspective view similar to Figure 10 of an alternative embodiment with a positive locking system;

Figure 12 is a perspective view, similar to Figures 10 and 11 , of a further alternative embodiment with an alternate locking system;

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the soft walled carry bag of Figure 6 moving into the open position;

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the soft walled carry bag of Figure 13 in the open position;

Figure 15 is a perspective view of the soft walled carry bag of Figure 14 moving into the collapsed position;

Figure 16 is a perspective view of the soft walled carry bag of Figure 15 being collapsed;

Figure 17 is a perspective view of the soft walled carry bag of Figure 16 fully collapsed;

Figure 18 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the soft walls and base of the carry bag according to the third aspect of the invention;

Figure 19 is a perspective view of the carry bag of Figure 18 with rigid walls attached;

Figure 20 is an end perspective view of a soft walled carry bag with side wall rigid rims according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the carry bag being shown in the upright position;

Figure 21 is a perspective view of two rigid side walls of the soft walled carry bag of Figure 20;

Figure 22 is a perspective view of the collapsed soft walled carry bag of Figure 20; Figure 23 is a perspective view of two soft walled carry bags of Figure 6 and one of Figure 20 attached inside a shopping trolley; and

Figure 24 is a perspective view of an alternative soft walled carry bag according to the fourth aspect of the invention laid flat on the wider front wall.

Detailed description of the embodiments

The illustrated shopping basket 10 (Figs 1 to 5) is a preferred embodiment of a container according to the first aspect of the invention for conveying multiple selected products (not shown) past a payment station. The basket 10 has two functional orientations and is reconfigurable between two functional conditions. It is depicted in Figure 1 in its upright orientation and closed condition. Figure 4 shows the basket 10 in its laid down orientation and open condition. The shopping basket 10 consists broadly of two tray components 20, 30, typically moulded in a suitable plastic material. Each tray component is of broadly rectangular configuration with respective panels, base walls 22, 32, sidewalls 24, 25; 34, 35, and a closing end wall 26, 36 at one end. At the other end, 28, 38, both trays are open. Both base walls 22 and 32, are wider at the open ends 28, 38 than at the closed ends, 26, 36 to allow for nesting of a plurality of shopping baskets.

It will be seen that in the closed condition depicted in Figure 1 , tray component 30 sits partially inside tray component 20 because the overlapping side walls are slightly offset.

At the open end of side walls 24, 25; 34, 35 are pivot points 71 , 72, 73, 74 towards each corner, to co-pivotally hinge handles 81 and 82 and linkage struts 83 and 84. Linkage struts 83, 84 are an inverted u-shape, as best seen in Figure 4, so that they sit over the upper rims of the side walls.

When placed in the laid down orientation, as shown in Figure 3, tray component 30, or alternatively tray component 20, can be rotated upwardly on pivot points 71 , 72 and over and down on pivot points 73, 74, so it can be brought to the open condition of the basket shown in Figure 4, in which the tray components 20, 30 are aligned open end to open end. The dimensions are such that, in this open condition, the respective base walls 22, 32 are also coplanar. Significantly, the length of the linkage struts 83, 84 results in the rims 61 , 62 being spaced to define an opening 85 between the tray components 20, 30 whose purpose will be further described shortly.

Handles 81 , 82 can be rotated through 270 degrees such that it is folded on the rim as depicted in Figure 1 or adjacent the base as in Figure 4, or in an upright orientation in which the basket can be carried by hand. The horizontal sections of handles 81 , 82 have a transverse web (not shown) and this allows an interesting and useful facility in which two shopping baskets can be carried back to back in the one hand by inclining their handles to abut face to face in a central location above the abutment plane of the baskets. The laterally angled webs of the handles abut flatly to facilitate a comfortable grip of both handles.

To facilitate storage one basket can be nested inside another basket, handles 81 and 82 must be oriented to rest on the pivot points 71 , 72, 73, 74. In an embodiment not shown, there may be provided an interlocking arrangement, such that when in the nested position the male lug of an above basket engages a female trap on the lower basket. This allows baskets to be carried into the store by the upward orientated handles of the top nested basket, rather than having to be carried from under the lowermost basket.

Other features of the shopping basket may include protruding rims (not shown) on the upstanding end walls and a male latching means on the end wall of the tray component 20 and a female latching means on the end wall of the tray component 30, to lock the tray components together in the closed position. In the embodiment illustrated (see Figures 4 and 5), a strap 91 is provided on component 20 with a hook and loop faster portion 92 which engages with a corresponding hook and loop fastener portion 93 on component 30. It will be appreciated that any fastening or latching means may be provided.

The use of the illustrated shopping basket will now be described. In a store, a customer will seat a number of the shopping baskets in a conventional trolley, as depicted in Figure 2, the baskets being seated upright in the trolley 52 with the handles lowered down. The customer gradually fills the baskets with selected products and then presents to the check out. Here, each basket is laid in turn on the check out belt 53 with either tray base component on the belt. (Figure 3). The checkout operator then moves the belt to bring the basket up to the front edge, disengages strap 91 and rotates the upper tray component 30 on the pivot points and struts 83, 84 to the open condition, with the opening 85 placed over the bar code reader 55 in the check out bench, as shown in Figure 4. The operator now transfers the products in turn from the tray 20 to tray 30 exposing the bar code of each product to the bar code reader 55 at opening 85 to thereby register the sale. When all products have been so transferred, tray component 20 is swung over to close the shopping basket and re-engage strap 91, as shown in Figure 5. After completing payment, the customer can swing out the handles 81 , 82 and carry the purchased products home or to a car in the upright configuration of Figure 1.

It will be appreciated that, in its closed condition, the container according to the first aspect can be employed as a shopping basket that can be placed inside conventional shopping trolleys 52. Shoppers no longer have to hand pick each item out of a trolley and place it on the checkout bench, and can re-close the container after scanning is complete to carry or transport products from the shop to the home.

The illustrated carry bag 200 of Figures 6 to 17 is preferred embodiments of a carry bag according to the third aspect of the present invention. The carry bag 200 has two functional orientations and is reconfigurable between a sideways collapsed or closed condition (as in Figure 17) and an upright functional condition (as is depicted in Figure 14). The carry bag 200 consists broadly of three components, a fully formed soft walled carry bag of the conventional type, with four broadly rectangular side walls, a narrower left side wall 201 , a wider front wall 202, a narrower right side wall 203 and a wider back wall 204, and a closed base wall 205. The soft walls 201 , 202, 203, 204 and 205 being made from non-woven plastic, linen, hessian, rope or other like or similar material, each panel being sewn, glued, or welded to form a functioning carry bag. For ease of carrying, the carry bag has ideally two or more handles, a front handle 220 and a back handle 219, that are stitched, welded, glued or similarly attached to the outside of the wider front wall 202 and wider back wall 204, but could be on the narrower side walls. The bag 200 has an open, top 206 for loading. The soft walls 201 , 202, 203, 204 and 205 are lightweight and compressible and easy to carry and handle, however, they have the disadvantages that they are not free standing for packing directly into a shopping trolley, for standing on the floor or resting in a car or for picking directly from at a checkout to reduce queue lengths.

Rigid wall liners are provided on the inside, or outside, of two or more of the soft walls. Ideally, on the inside of the narrower right side wall 203 is a first rigid wall liner 214, with inward facing, spaced apart side protrusions 224 along the front edge 207 and back edge 211 , to strengthen the liner 214 and support the soft front wall 202 and back wall 204. The rigid wall liner 214 has an inward facing protruding lip 218 (as in Figure 7), on the bottom edge 217.

The narrower left side wall 201 also has a second rigid wall liner 213 with inward facing, spaced apart, vertically aligned, side protrusions 225, along the front edge 208 and back edge 210 (as shown in Figure 8). Hinged to the rigid wall liner 213 is a rotatable rigid base section 215. The hinge 209 preferably extends across the width of wall 201 spaced above the bottom edge of the bag, with the rotatable rigid base section 215 having a curved end portion to create a smooth curve, such as to minimise sharp corners, which can create tears in the soft walls of the bag. The rotatable rigid base section 215, having upward facing, spaced apart, base side protrusions 222, tapering downward toward the hinge 209 at the narrower left side bottom edge, the taper allowing the carry bag 200 to collapse to the maximum amount when the rotatable base section is rotated upward as shown in Figure 8. At the outer bottom edge 217 is an upward facing base lip protrusion 237, with a central elliptical recess 223, to provide grip when moving the rotatable base section between the closed and open positions.

The addition of the rigid wall liners converts a soft walled carry bag into a free standing carry bag. In Figures 10 and 14, the rotatable base section 215, has been rotated downward from the closed position shown in Figure 8 so that the base lip protrusion

237, engages the inner surface of the wall liner 214, at the bottom edge 217 and the under side of the base section 215, engages the protruding lip 218. This rectangular configuration forces the right side wall 203 and narrower left side wall 201 apart and the wider front and back soft walls to extend, creating an upright, rigid and open carry bag, capable of being used to load product directly to the carry bag 200 in a shopping trolley and to be placed flat on a wider side for picking and transacting at a pay station.

In Figures 11 and 12, it can be shown that the support mechanism can be further strengthened by adding one or more male upright extensions 229, 232 and 233 to the protruding lip 218, which can be locked into female recesses 228, 230 and 231 , at the base of the lip protrusion 237. Figure 12 shows that instead of the central recess 223, two side recesses 226, 227 could be provided to assist in moving the base section 215. It will be appreciated that this is not required to maintain the rigid open configuration.

To retain all the advantages of a soft walled carry bag, Figures 15, 16 and 17, demonstrate how the carry bag 200 can be collapsed onto its narrower side to create a lightweight, compact and convenient bag to carry. In Figure 15, the rotatable rigid base section 215, is being moved upward until the base lip protrusion 237, reaches the wall of the second rigid wall liner 213, at the left upper edge 235. Figure 16 shows how the first rigid wail liner 214 can then be closed in on the collapsed second rigid wall liner 213 to reduce significantly the volume of the carry bag 200. Figure 17 shows a fully collapsed carry bag, several of which can then be stacked together in one carry bag

(not shown).

It would be preferred to attach the rigid wall liners to the soft walls. For this purpose, the upper edges 234, 235 of the rigid wall liners 214, 213 remain flat or planar for attaching to the soft walls by riveting, gluing, welding or sewing or by other similar means, or alternatively be supported under a turned over section of the narrower right or left side soft wall.

Preferably, the rigid wall liners 213 and 214 and the rotatable rigid base section 215 are made from plastic, aluminium or metal or other like or similar material.

Ideally, the inside of the wider back wall 204, has an inward facing loop attachment 221 , to attach the carry bag 200 to a conventional plastic bag holder for conventional packing. In an alternative embodiment of carry bag 500, the narrower left and right side walls may be two spaced apart, continuous, rigid, one piece sections such that the carry bag becomes a soft wall carry bag with two spaced apart rigid side walls. This preferred embodiment 500 shown in Figures 18 and 19, is an alternative of the soft walled carry bag 200 with four soft side walls, and consists broadly of only two soft wider walls, front wall 532 and back wall 534 and soft base 535. These three components 532, 534 and 535 would be attached directly to the perimeters of the two spaced apart rigid side walls 557 and 558, at the left side front edge 546, left bottom edge 549 and left side back edge 548 and on the right side on the right side front edge 568, right bottom edge 367 and the right side back edge 569, by stitching, welding, gluing or other similar method of attachment.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in Figures 20 to 23, longitudinal rigid rims are added to the perimeters of the narrower right side wall 333 and narrower left side wall 331 of the soft walled carry bag 300. This carry bag 300 with side wall rigid rims, would also have two functional orientations and be reconfigurable between a side ways collapsed or closed condition depicted in Figure 22 and an open and upright functional condition. The carry bag 300 consists broadly of five soft walls 331 , 332, 333, 334 and 335, again typically manufactured from non-woven plastic, linen, calico, hessian, rope or other like or similar material. The soft walls being broadly rectangular with a wider front wall 332, wider back wall 334, narrower left side wall 331 , narrower right side wall 33 and closed base 335. The carry bag 300 would have a similar open top 336, for packing.

In this alternative, the left side wall rigid rim 337, spans the perimeter edges of the narrower left side wall 331 , that includes the left side open top edge 341, left side back edge 348, left bottom edge 349 and the left side front edge 346. On the adjacent side, the right side wall rigid rim 338, spans the perimeter edges of the narrower right side wall 333, that includes the right side open top edge 343, right side back edge 309, right bottom edge 347 and the right side front edge 308. The left side rigid rim 337 and the right side rigid rim 338 are made from moulded plastic, wire or other similar material and attached at the perimeter edges on the left side 341 , 348, 349 and 346 and on the right side 343, 309, 347 and 308 by stitching, welding, gluing or other similar method of attachment. The right and left side rigid rims 338 and 337, maintain the carry bag 300 in a rectangular configuration, when placed on the floor, in the shopping trolley as illustrated in Figure 23, and when laid flat on the wider front wall 332 or wider back wall 334 for picking directly out of the carry bag and for repacking after transacting at the pay station.

The carry bag 300 has a central, outwardly facing, protruding trolley hook 307, attached to the left side wall rigid rim 337, in the middle of the left side open top edge 341 , to allow the carry bag 300 to be attached to the inside of a conventional shopping trolley on the narrower side.

The carry bag 300 also has two outwardly facing, protruding trolley hooks 351 and 352, trolley hook 351 at the open top front corners 339, or at the junction of the left side front edge 346 and the narrower left side open top edge 341 and trolley hook 352 at the open top front corner 345, or at the junction of the right side front edge 308 and the narrower right side open top edge 343. The two trolley hooks 351 and 352, would allow the carry bag 300, to be attached inside the shopping trolley on two wires on the wider front wall 332, to hold the top open and the carry bag erect to receive purchased product.

To provide substantial support for the soft walled carry bag 300, rigid wall liners 357 and 358 are provided with the closed base 335 having a rotatable rigid base 353 according to the third aspect of the invention, pivotally attached to the left side bottom edge 349 of the narrower left side wall rigid rim 337, rotated downward when product is to be loaded and rotated upward when the carry bag 300 is to be collapsed sideways for storage.

This carry bag would also have handles 354 and 355, attached to the wider front wall 332 and wider back wall 334 and an inward facing loop attachment 356 to hook to plastic bag holders.

In the carry bag 300, the two spaced apart side walls 357 and 358 are illustrated in Figure 21 , demonstrating how the rotatable rigid base section 353 could be hinged at the left bottom edge 349 to the left side wall 357, and be rotated downward when in use and be rotated upward when collapsing to store after use, as illustrated in Figure 22. This method of collapsing would render the carry bag with rigid ribs 300 or the carry bag with rigid side walls 500, compact and easy to carry to stores and several carry bags could be placed inside another carry bag to make shopping even more convenient.

Figure 21 illustrates the attached, central, outward facing, protruding trolley hook 307, horizontally aligned on the open top edge 341 , of the spaced apart left side wall 357, to attach the left side wall at any height to a vertical wire inside a conventional shopping trolley as illustrated in Figure 23. It must be understood that the trolley hook could also be vertically aligned to hook on to a horizontal wire of a conventional shopping trolley.

Also, the trolley hook could be on both the narrower right and/or left spaced apart side wall 357 and/or 358.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 24, the carry bag 600 includes an open top 616 which has a lateral rigid rim 617, with a rectangular configuration to hold the open top 616 of the carry bag 600 permanently open, to receive product and retrieve packed product. The open top lateral rigid rim 617 is typically moulded from plastic, wire or other like or similar material and is attached to the soft walls at the top edges 621 , 622, 623 and 624 by stitching, welding, gluing or other similar method of attachment.

Similarly, at the bottom periphery is the closed base lateral rigid rim 618, also with a rectangular configuration to hold rigid the closed base. Though not essential, the carry bag 600 could also have a middle lateral rigid rim 619, similarly attached at the mid point of the soft side walls 611 , 612, 613 and 614.

Preferably, the open top lateral rigid rim 617 is extended to form a central, outwardly facing, protruding trolley hook 602, on the top edge 622 of the wider front wall 612, or alternatively on the top edge 624 of the wider back wall 614. The trolley hook 602 allows the soft walled carry bag to be attached to a wire inside the shopping trolley, on the wider front wall or wider back wall, to maintain it in a permanently upright position.

Ideally, the open top lateral rigid rim 617 has another extension on the narrower left side and/or right side, a central and outwardly facing, protruding trolley hook 603, on the left side open top edge 621 , of the narrower left side wall 611 and/or the right side top edge 623 of the narrower right side wall 613. The trolley hook 603 being used to attach the left and/or right side walls 611 and 613 to a wire on the inside of a conventional shopping trolley and secure the carry bag 600 with lateral rigid rims in a permanently upright position.

Note that all the protruding trolley hooks can be horizontally aligned to hook on vertical wires inside a conventional shopping trolley or be vertically aligned to hook onto horizontal wires inside a shopping trolley.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.