Detachable Bottle Handle

Abstract

A bottle handle for use on large milk bottles and the like, and which includes a circular housing comprising a semi-circular rear housing portion and a semi-circular front housing portion hingedly connected to said rear housing portion, whereby the circular housing may be opened for detachably mounting the handle on a bottle. A releasable locking means is provided for securing the semi-circular rear housing portion to the semi-circular front housing portion after these portions have been mounted on a bottle. A handle is attached to the semi-circular rear housing portion. One of the semi-circular housing portions is provided with a length of surgical rubber which extends inwardly into gripping engagement with a bottle when the bottle handle is mounted on a bottle around the open end thereof.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a novel and improved detachable bottle handle, and more particularly, to a bottle handle which may be quickly and easily assembled on a bottle.

It is a common practice in accordance with present day merchandising methods to sell milk, fruit juices, and other fluids, in large bottles, as, for example, gallon and half-gallon sizes. The use of such large bottles permits the selling of such fluids at lower prices. However, the size and bulk of such larger bottles create problems of handling and pouring the fluids from the same. Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable bottle handle which may be quickly and easily mounted on a large bottle, and with which a large bottle may be easily handled and the contents thereof poured out in a safe and satisfactory manner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a detachable bottle handle which is adapted for use on large bottles or other objects having a neck-like upper end.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable bottle handle which embodies a simple, releasable locking means for securing the handle to a bottle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved bottle handle which is simple and compact in construction, economical to manufacture, and light in weight.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable bottle handle which is easy to use, in that it may be quickly secured to a bottle, or quickly detached from a bottle, and, when it is secured to a bottle it provides a firm means for grasping the bottle.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable bottle handle which includes a circular housing comprising a semi-circular rear housing portion and a semi-circular front housing portion, means hingedly connecting one of the ends of the semi-circular rear housing portion to one of the ends of the semi-circular front housing portion, releasable locking means detachably connecting the other end of the semi-circular rear housing portion to the other end of the semi-circular front housing portion, a handle attached to said semi-circular rear housing portion, and a resilient bottle contact means carried on at least one of said semi-circular housing portions and projecting inwardly for gripping engagement with the bottle.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a detachable bottle handle made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the bottle handle structure shown in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2--2 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 3--3 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a first modified detachable bottle handle made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the bottle handle structure illustrated in FIG. 4, taken along the line 5--5 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of a second modified detachable bottle holder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the bottle handle structure shown in FIG. 6, taken along the line 7--7 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawing, and in particular to FIG. 2, the numeral 10 generally designates a large size milk bottle, as for example, a gallon milk bottle, on which an illustrative bottle handle is mounted. The illustrative embodiment of the invention includes a semi-circular rear housing portion 11 and a semi-circular front housing portion 12. The rear housing portion 11 and the front housing portion 12 form a circular housing as shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, one end of the rear housing portion 11 is connected to one end of the front housing portion 12 by a hinge means. The hinge means includes a first hinge member 13 in the form of a flange which is seated in a slot 15 that is formed by the pair of spaced apart flange members 14. The flange members 14 are integral with the front housing portion 12 and form a second hinge member. The aforementioned hinge members are hingedly connected by a hinge pin 16.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a handle generally indicated by the numeral 17 is integrally attached to the rear housing portion 11. The handle 17 includes a first horizontal portion 18 which is attached to the rear housing portion 11 and a second downwardly extended portion 19.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottle handle is provided with means for releasably locking the rear housing portion 11 and the front housing portion 12 to the body 10. The locking means includes a fastener wire 20 which is rectangular in elevational view, as shown in FIG. 2. One vertical leg 21 of the wire 20 is rotatably mounted in a lug 22 formed on the front housing portion 12. The wire 20 includes the upper and lower horizontal portions 23 and 24 that terminate in the inwardly extended vertical portions 25 and 26, respectively. The wire portions 25 and 26 are rotatably mounted in the top and bottom plates or walls 29 and 30, respectively, of a fastener clip generally indicated by the numeral 27. The upper and lower fastener clip walls 29 and 30 are integral with an outer wall 28, as shown in FIG. 1. A semi-circular recess 31 is formed in the front end of each of the clip walls 29 and 30 for the reception of the ends of a vertical fastener pin 32 which is held in the rear housing portion 11 in a suitable hole, by a press fit. The fastener clip 27 includes a handle 33. The numeral 34 shows the front housing portion 12 moved to an open position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front housing portion 12 carries a cylindrical resilient bottle contact means generally indicated by the numeral 35. The resilient bottle contact means 35 comprises a cylindrical piece of flexible material, such as rubber or the like, and it is slidably mounted in a bore 36 in the front housing 12. The outer end of the bore 36 is enclosed by a suitable plug 37.

The bottle handle of the present invention is mounted on a bottle 10 by moving the rear end portion 11 into engagement with one side of the neck of the bottle 10, and swinging the front housing portion 12 into engagement with the opposite side of the bottle neck. The resilient contact means 35 engages the bottle neck and provides for an efficient gripping engagement between the bottle handle and the bottle 10. The releasable fastener means is secured by moving the recesses 31 over the ends of the pin 32 and pivoting the clip 27 inwardly toward the bottle 10 by an inwardly directed force on the handle 33. It will be seen from FIG. 1 that the fastener wire 20 is mounted so that when the handle 33 is moved to the solid line position, as shown in FIG. 1, the wire ends 25 and 26 are moved inwardly of the pin 32 to form a self-locking action to hold the fastener clip 27 in place.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention wherein the parts corresponding to the parts of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 3 are marked with the same reference numerals followed by the small letter a. In this embodiment the fastener clip handle 33a is extended rearwardly and it is shaped like the bottle handle 17a so as to lie against the handle 17a. The handle 17a is shaped slightly different from the handle 17 of the first embodiment. The handle portion 19a is shown as having a covering 40 such as a colored plastic covering. The disposition of the fastener handle 33a permits a user to grasp both handles 17a and 33a simultaneously.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a third embodiment of the invention wherein the parts corresponding to the parts of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 3 are marked with the same reference numerals followed by the small letter b. This embodiment shows the releasable fastener means in a position reversed from that of FIGS. 1 and 2 so as to have the fastener wire 20b hinged on the rear housing portion 11b.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a detachable bottle handle for mounting around the upper end of the neck of a bottle and beneath and against the enlarged pouring rim of a bottle, the combination, comprising:

a. a circular housing for mounting on the bottle neck against the lower side of the pouring spout of a bottle;

b. said circular housing including, a semi-circular rear housing portion and a semi-circular front housing portion;

c. a resilient bottle neck contact means carried in one of said housing portions and comprising an elongated cylindrical rubber member which has its ends supported by said one housing portion and which has its central portion projecting inwardly from said one housing portion and into gripping engagement with the neck of the bottle on which the handle is mounted;

d. a handle integrally formed on said rear housing portion;

e. means hingedly connecting one of the ends of the semi-circular rear housing portion to one of the ends of the semi-circular front housing portion;

f. rotatable locking means detachably connecting the other end of the semi-circular rear housing portion to the other end of the semi-circular front housing portion comprising,

1. a fastener member which is rectangular in elevational view and having one vertical leg thereof rotatably mounted on one of said housing portions and the other vertical leg of said fastener member rotatably mounted in the rear end of a fastener clip;

2. a vertical fastener pin fixedly mounted on said other housing portion;

3. said fastener clip having a semi-circular recess on the front end thereof; and

4. a handle on said fastener clip for swinging the fastener clip from an unlocked position to a locked position with the semi-circular recess receiving said fastener pin and the other vertical leg of the fastener member moved to a position inboard of the fastener pin to lock the fastener clip in place and the bottle handle on the bottle.

2. A detachable bottle handle as described in claim 1 wherein:

a. said fastener clip handle extends alongside said first named handle and is disposed so as to be grasped simultaneously with said first named handle.