One-piece shopping bag handles

Claim 1

A shopping bag, comprising: a container having an upper openable end, a lower closed end, and side walls located between the ends and circumferentially bounding an interior space in which objects may be received, said side walls having upper marginal portions bounding the upper end, said container having an inner hem folded inwardly along a fold line and juxtaposed with the upper marginal portions, and openings formed along the fold line at opposite sides of the container; a pair of one-piece handles mounted at the opposite sides of the container, each handle including a substantially planar elongated base located between a respective upper marginal portion at a respective side of the container and its respectively juxtaposed hem, each base having a first major adhesive contact surface facing and spaced from its respectively juxtaposed hem, and a second major adhesive contact surface facing and spaced from its respectively juxtaposed upper marginal portion, each handle having a predetermined thickness and being constituted of a moldable plastic material, each handle also including an elongated bail constituted of the same moldable plastic material as its respective base to form a one-piece molded plastic construction therewith, each bail having an end portion integrally and rigidly connected to both major surfaces of its respective base at a predetermined location thereon, an opposite end portion integrally and rigidly connected to both major surfaces of its respective base at another location thereon which is longitudinally spaced from the predetermined location, and an intermediate bight portion between the bail end portions and extending through a respective opening away from the upper end of the container, each bail end portion having a tapered end which decreases in thickness towards both major surfaces of its respective base from a larger thickness to a smaller thickness which corresponds to said predetermined thickness of its respective base, each bail end portion having smooth opposite outer surfaces facing the respectively juxtaposed upper marginal portion and the hem, each intermediate bight portion having a twisted hand-engaging portion which has a smooth lower surface facing the upper end of the container and which is free of sharp edges to facilitate gripping each handle and supporting the container; and an adhesive layer applied over each major contact surface of each handle, for securely adhering the handles at the opposite sides of the container, each adhesive layer being located in the spaces between the respective contact surface and the respectively juxtaposed upper marginal portion and the hem to thereby impart an esthetically pleasing, generally flat appearance to the shopping bag both at its exterior upper marginal portion and at its interior hem which overlie the bail end portions.