US 5,287,971 AGranted

Rack for supporting loaded plastic grocery bags

OwnerIsidore Dormaninventor

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Abstract

A rack that may readily be installed in the trunk or cargo compartment of a vehicle, the rack including at least one raised horizontal bar from which one can suspend in a row several loaded plastic-film grocery bags so that the bags then rest on the floor of the trunk or cargo compartment in an upright position with their mouths closed. The plastic film bag has an open mouth and is provided with a pair of upwardly-extending handle loops integral with the opposing sides of the bag. The raised bar has a series of hooks anchored thereon at spaced positions, each hook being formed of a resilient spring wire having a U-shaped bend therein that defines a dilatable clamp. When the loaded grocery bag is carried in one hand by a shopper by its handle loops, the loops then bunch together to form a tail. This tail is pushed into the dilatable clamp of a hook on the bar.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A rack for suspending loaded plastic-film grocery bags so that they rest on the floor of a trunk or cargo compartment in a vehicle and are maintained in an upright position, each bag having an open mouth and a pair of handle loops extending upwardly from opposite sides of the bag, the loops when held together in a hand of a shopper then bunching together to form a tail closing the mouth, said rack comprising:

(a) at least one horizontal bar having a series of suspension hooks anchored thereon, each hook being formed by a resilient spring wire that is bent to define a dilatable clamp whose configuration is such that when the tail is pushed into the clamp, the clamp then dilates to clench the tail and the bag is suspended therefrom, said bar being a pipe having at each hook position bores to receive a crook extension of the hook clamp;
and
(b) means to support the bar at an elevated position at which the bags rest on the floor and are maintained in an upright position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.