Technical Field

The present invention relates to a clothes cover bag.

Background Art

As is well known, clothes cover bags consist of wrappers in which the cloths are placed in order to protect them from dust and moths.

Generally, the clothes cover bags have an access opening through which the cloth is made to pass to be stored inside the wrap.

The access opening is made on the front portion of the wrapper or, alternatively, on the lower portion of the latter.

Currently, the majority of commercial clothes cover bags are made of synthetic polymer material.

However, such clothes cover bags made of synthetic polymeric materials such as plastics must now be subject to specific technical standards and usage limits in order to meet the ever-increasing demands of environmental protection. Synthetic polymeric materials which are obtained by polymerization reactions starting from petroleum-derived materials do have manufacturing processes with a high environmental impact.

In detail, the different types of synthetic polymeric materials differ in chemical composition, chemical-physical properties and intended use and comprise PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PU (polyurethane), PS (polystyrene).

However, the use of these synthetic materials has many drawbacks, including the fact that they are not biodegradable and therefore the relevant disposal, in addition to being environmentally harmful, also has significant management and implementation costs.

To at least partly overcome this problem, materials obtained from recycled plastics are currently being used. However, even these materials are not without their drawbacks.

The recycling of plastics is very expensive for government institutions thus causing the accumulation of large quantities of plastics to be recycled in landfills, an alternative that is convenient from an economic point of view, but not from an environmental one.

Therefore, the aspect of environmental pollution is becoming increasingly important; in this regard, the European Union has issued specific regulations in this regard (EN 13432:2002), which manufacturers of materials are required to comply with.

Description of the Invention

The development of materials from renewable sources takes, therefore, special relevance.

In addition, in many sectors of industrial and commercial activities, there is a particular need to renew products and to search for new ones in order to distinguish these from the competitors’ ones.

The objects set out above are achieved by the present clothes cover bag having the characteristics of claim 1.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of a clothes cover bag, illustrated by way of an indicative, yet non-limiting example, in the accompanying tables of drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view of the clothes cover bag according to the invention. Embodiments of the Invention

With particular reference to these figures, reference numeral 1 globally indicates a clothes cover bag.

The clothes cover bag 1 comprises a containment wrapper 2 of a cloth 3 and an access opening 4 to the containment wrapper 2 adapted to allow the cloth 3 to be inserted into and/or removed from the containment wrapper itself.

The access opening 4 has two marginal edges 5 which can be juxtaposed with each other to allow the opening to be closed.

Preferably, the access opening 4 is made on the front portion of the containment wrapper 2.

It cannot however be ruled out from the scope of the present disclosure that the access opening 4 is made on the lower portion of the containment wrapper 2. According to the invention, the containment wrapper 2 is made at least partly of biopolymer.

It is specified that in the context of the present disclosure the expression “biopolymer” relates to materials directly derived from biological materials or microorganisms, or materials that can be obtained by classical chemical synthesis starting from renewable monomers.

In detail, the biopolymers are selected from the list comprising: polymers directly extracted from natural materials, plants and animals. Examples of the type include polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch and starch mixtures, as well as proteins. Monomers in turn can be produced by fermentation of carbohydrates or sugars contained in foodstuffs; polymers produced by chemical synthesis, using biological and renewable monomers such as polylactic acid (e.g. PLA: bio-polyester polymerized from lactic acid monomers) or polyester; polymers produced by microorganisms isolated from natural or genetically modified environments such as e.g. polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). Preferably, the biopolymer is selected from the list comprising: polyolefins, polyamides, polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), butylene adipate- coterephthalate (PBAT), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polyaprolactone (PCL), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) or combinations thereof.

Preferably, the biopolymer comprises polyolefins obtained from raw materials of natural origin.

In detail, polyolefins comprise polyethylene obtained from the fermentation of sugarcane.

The containment wrapper 2 comprises a first portion 6 and a second portion 7 associated with each other by interposition of joining means 8, at least one of either the first portion 6 or the second portion 7 being made of biopolymer. Specifically, the first portion 6 corresponds to the front portion of the containment wrapper 2 and the second portion 7 corresponds to the rear portion of the containment wrapper itself.

The joining means 8 are of the type of seams made on the perimeter edge of the containment wrapper 2 and adapted to allow the mutual association of the first portion 6 and the second portion 7.

Furthermore, one of either the first portion 6 or the second portion 7 is made at least partly of a fabric of natural origin selected from the list comprising: wool, cotton, silk, hemp, linen, jute, yarn of nettle, sisal, coconut, broom, hibiscus, manila, straw, bamboo, soya, kapok, or combinations thereof.

Preferably, the clothes cover bag 1 is made of a combination of materials comprising the biopolymer and the fabric of natural origin.

By way of example, the clothes cover bag 1 has the first portion 6 made at least partly of the biopolymer and the second portion 7 made at least partly of the material of natural origin.

Preferably, the first portion 6 is made of polyethylene obtained from sugarcane fermentation and the second portion 7 is made of cotton.

Alternatively, the first portion 6 and the second portion 7 are made entirely of polyethylene obtained from sugarcane fermentation.

Advantageously, the aforementioned polymer is of the compostable type.

It should be noted that in the present disclosure the term “compostable” relates to the definition according to the CEN (Committee of Standardization) stating that “Composting is defined as organic recycling; it must take place under certain conditions and not in a landfill”.

In detail, the term “compostable material” relates to a material which is biodegradable and can be disintegrated in a composting system.

In addition, the UNI EN 13432 standard defines the meaning of compostability: “A plastic material is compostable if it consists of components which are individually qualified as compostable”.

According to a preferred embodiment, the cloth cover bag is made entirely of a compostable biopolymer.

Preferably, the aforementioned compostable biopolymer is polyethylene obtained by the fermentation of sugarcane. Advantageously, the first portion 6 and the second portion 7 are transparent.

In detail, polyethylene obtained from sugarcane fermentation is transparent.

It is specified that the term “transparent” relates to the fact that polyethylene can be crossed throughout its thickness by light radiation, thus allowing the vision of the cloth contained in the containment wrapper 2.

In order to allow the access to the containment wrapper 2 for the insertion and removal of the cloth 3, the clothes cover bag 1 comprises closure means 9 of the access opening 4, the latter being made on the first portion 6.

Preferably, the closure means 9 are associated with the marginal edges 5 of the access opening 4.

The closure means 9 comprise at least one of: a hinge element (Figure 1) made of a compostable biopolymer, closure elements of the mechanical and/or magnetic type.

In detail, the closure means 9 of the mechanical type consist, e.g., of Velcro or two lace elements associated with the edges of the access opening 4 and knotted together.

At the same time, the closure means 9 of the magnetic type consist, e.g., of magnets symmetrically associable with the marginal edges 5.

In addition, the clothes cover bag 1 comprises gripping means 10 associated with the extreme portions 11, 12 thereof.

According to a preferred embodiment of the clothes cover bag 1, shown in Figure 1, the gripping means 10 are aligned along the vertical axis A passing through the containment wrapper 2.

The gripping means 10 comprise a first handle member 13 associated with a first extreme portion 11 and a second handle member 14 associated with a second extreme portion 12 opposite the first extreme portion 11.

In this case, when a user grasps the handle members 13, 14, the containment wrapper 2 folds at least partly on itself so as to allow the handle members themselves to approach each other and to simplify the carrying operations of the clothes cover bag 1.

Preferably, the handle members 13, 14 are made of biopolymer. Advantageously, the handle members 13, 14 are made of polyethylene obtained from sugarcane fermentation.

It has in practice been ascertained that the described invention achieves the intended objects. It is emphasized that the particular expedient of providing for the use of a compostable biopolymer makes it possible to create an environmentally sustainable clothes cover bag.