US2793842A - Beverage stirrer - Google Patents

Description

May 28, 1957 J. H. BACON BEVERAGE STIRRER Filed Feb. 16, 1956 Ir III/I/l/l/l/l/f i r .r

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INVENTOR. dorm H. BACON F/ 5. 9 F/ 5. m 4 Ezsma. Won

0!: Arron/m United States atent BEVERAGE STIRRER John H. Bacon, Wellesley Hills,.Mass.

Application February 16, 1956, Serial No; 565,879

13 Claims; (Cl. 259144) The present invention relates to an. improved beverage stirrer. In the recent past, there has. been an increased use of beverage stirrers, principally cocktail beverage stirrers for advertising promotion Ordinarily, these stirrers are dispensed with cocktails in lounges, barroomsand. the like. and very often bear an: advertisingemblem or insignia.

In many establishments; because of the cheapnessiof the stirrer, the management is' quite willing; and desirous of having: the customer take the. beverage stirrer with himas asouvenir. Such a distribution may, of course; be of, substantial advertising. benefit; One of: the difficulties, however, which deter individuals from taking thesebeverage stirrers as souvenirs is their size and their complete lack of utility except asbeveragestirrers; It is, therefore, an object of the presentinvention to-aprovide a beverage stirrer which is particularly appealingto an.indi.vidual as a souvenir and which may bermanufactured inv suchaform' as to bear advertising matter of. the establishment in which the stirrer is'dispensed;

Another object of the present inventionis. to provide a beverage. stirrer of'particular appeal to a. consumer which may be manufactured at substantially no greater expense than beverage. stirrers heretofore known. In' this connection it should be noted'that the beverage stirreris made in'two interlocking but separable sections-with each section adapted to be removed" and replaced by another. By this'structure, there isprovided a beverage stirrer in which one halfmay be re-used' -with"a-replacedother section in the event that a' consumer takes with him only a-portion of the entire unit. It is also intended that the present invention be so designed asto provide a structure which: is separable from the main body portionof the-stirrer and is of such a design as to beparti'cularly appealing: tov thev consumer.

Afurther object of the present invention isto provide a'beveragestirrer havingaahandle portion which serves; in: addition to functioning as a handle for the stirrer, to function-asan individual and separable object;

A still further object of the present invention is to provide abeverag'el stirrer having a handle member in'the fornr of a whistle which may, if desired, be used toattract the attention of an individual such as a waiter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a beverage stirrer utilizing a handle having a keyring form separable from the main portion of the stirrer and adapted to. be used independently of thestirrer' body;

One more object of the present invention is to'provide a beverage stirrer having a handle member. providing a spinner top which, when blown upon, will produceoptical illusions.

One moreobject of the present invention is to provide a" beverage stirrer separable in twosections so'that handles of various shapes, stylesand functions may beattached to? the. bodyas desired and removed therefrom as desired in which the interlocking means-provides a' rigid 2,793,842 Patentedv May 28,- 1-957- 2 interlocking grip betweenthe beverage stirrer body and the attached handle. v

In this structure, the beverage stirrer body is? formed of a rigid plastic material, such as polystyrene, and has formed" at its upper end a male projecting probe. The attachedhandle isprovided with a locking female mem-. ber formed of a flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene, which is. adapted tov engage rigidly the male probe. By thistype of structure, a beverage stirrer of inexpensive design and manufacture may readily be made and. assembled with substantially no greater expense than those heretofore knowna These and otherobjects of thepresentinvention will be. considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in. which:

Figured is an elevation of the invention showing, the handle,separatedfrom theabodyof thestirrer,

Figure-2 is- .-a cross-sectional elevation-takensubstana tially along thealine 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the-handle portion,-

Figure. 3. tea. front elevation of a modification of the invention,

Figure, 4 is a cross-sectional fragmentary detail; of the handle showniiniFigure 3,

Figure 5 'isa fragmentary'fronta elevation .of-..a-modification of the invention,

Figure 6 isJa side elevation in fragmentary: form: ofthe modification shownin Figure 5,

Figure 7' shows'a plan view of'a. detailofthe modifiea' tion shown in: Figure 5,-

Figure 8 shows a modification of: the invention in a side fragmentary. plan. view,

Figure 9" showsna front fragmentary elevation of a modification of the'invention, and

Figure 10 shows a side fragmentary elevation of the modification shown in Figure 9.

The beverage stirrers of the present invention are formed in two sections, a stirring body section; and? a handle section. In each instance the stirrer body is made of a rigid or substantially rigid plastic material, such as polystyrene, while thehandle section in each instance is made of a flexible material, such as polyethylene. The purpose of manufacturing these beverage, stir-J "ice rersinithis fashion is to provide integral locking members. with the body and handle adapted to engageone. another and secure these'two parts together'rigidly' until a determined effort'is m-adeto-= separate them. The purpose of making the body ofrigid'material and'the handle of flexiblematerial, rather'than viceversa, isj'merely because a rigid stirring member is normally desired, while the handle does not necessarilyhave' to have this, quality. Thus, by providing a member of. flexible'ma-. terial and a member of rigid material, one half of the locking device may be-made'flexible toreceivethe locking member of the other half of the. beverage stirrer;

In the embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in Figure 1, there is illustrated-a stirrer body 1 with the handle member 2. This body of the stirreris formed as stated of a rigid plastic material, such' as polystyrene, and has formed at its lower end a knob 3' or some similar member; The main portion of'this body has preferably a circular cross section" and. atlits upper end is provided with a male locking probe" 41 This probe has-a pair of oppositely arranged-projecting, knobs 5 formed at its'end. As the stirrer bodies shown in Figures 1 and 3 are identical and as thejsti'rrer'b'ody shown in Figure 3 is turned'toan angle of" from that? shown in Figure 1, the knobs '5' maybe seen inside view in Figure 3. Towards the rear of the'probe 4', there is an outwardly fiared section'6 on' either side ofthe probe, This outwardly flared section 6 is designed t'ooccupy' 3 a the bevelled opening on the female section of the look so as to provide a snug and tight interlocking fit.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 1, the handle section 2 is formed of a flat and preferably rectangular piece of flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene. At one side of this handle 2 there is provided an integral female locking section 7. Thislocking section 7 consists essentially of a ball-like enlargement having a recess opening 8 tapering at its inner end towards a pair of opposite transverse locking edges 9. Each of these locking edges 9 are at the lower edge of wall members defining a portion of opposite'openings 10. The main body of the handle 2 is preferably provided witha depressed center recess section 11, preferably in a rectangular'form. This depressed section '11 has undercut side edges as indicated at 12. This undercut side edge structure should be such 'as to permitthe insertion of cards or plastic elements having the same shape as the depressed section and having substantially the same size as this section. The overhang on the side edges should be sufiicient to retain a card or similarly inserted material within the depressed section once it has been pressed or forced fit into this area. This depressed section is provided primarily to receive printed advertising cards which may be printed quite cheaply on square or rectangular pieces of paper or cardboard corresponding to the size and'shape of these depressed sections. If desired, a hole 13 may be provided at the upper end of the handle.

The male probe on the body of the stirrer fits securely into the female section of the handle by forcing the probe into the recess 8 until the knobs pass the transverse edges 9 and are secured thereby in the openings 10. The female section should have its transverse edges 9 spaced apart just sufiiciently far enough as to grip the base of the knobs 5 and should further have the angle of the recess 8 such as to fit snugly about the members 6. When thus engaged, the handle 2 may be used together with the body 1 as a unitary structure. When separated, however, the handle 2 assumes the added function of a key chain ornament or identifying card holder with the hole 13 being provided to receive a chain or the like.

In Figures 3 and 4, there is provided a handle member 20 particularly adapted for use when separated from the body portion 1 as a key holder or key ring. In this structure, the handle 20 is provided at its lower end with a double female locking member 21. This double locking. female member 21 provides two halves, each identical to the other and each adapted to receive a male locking probe. The female member consists of a pair of recesses 23 tapered from the opening to a pair of opposite locking edges 24 in each recess. Each pair of locking edges 24 is formed in opposite sides of the female locking member and form portions of the openings 25 on either side of these halves of the female locking section. This structure is substantially identical to that shown in Figure 1 with the exception that it is duplicated to form two female members.

One of these recess openings 23 is adapted to receive the male probe of the body 1, while the other is adapted to receive the loop member 27 which is provided with a male probe similar to that shown at the end of the body 1. The other end of the loop member 27 is formed integrally with a fiat enlarged portion 28 of the handle at the top end of this enlarged portion 28. Thus, in this modification, the handle may be used in connection with the body 1 as a unitary structure or may be disengaged from it and used as a key ring structure in which keys are readily inserted on the loop member 27 by the simple. expedient of disengaging the male probe of the member 27 from its female locking recess, inserting the keys and then re-engaging this member.

In Figure 5, there is shown a further modification in which the body 1 is secured to a flat flexible plastic handle section 30 by a locking male and female section 31 similar to that as previously described. The handle section 30 is formed with an enlarged flat surface adapted to receive advertising material and is provided with a recess section 32, shown in Figure 7, at its upper center section. This recess 32 is connected to an opening 33 by a slot 34. A whistle 35 having a loop 36 is adapted to fit snugly within this recess 32 with the loop 36 passing through the hole 33. As the handle section 30 is flexible, this whistle 35 may readily be inserted in position by deforming the handle section until the sides of the slots 34 are forced apart and the loop 36 may be forced into the hole 33. The whistle may be removed by a reverse procedure. By this expedient, the whistle may readily be removed from the main portion of the handle section 34) and utilized separately.

In Figure 8, there is shown a further modification in which the whistle 40 is formed with a female locking member 41 similar to the female locking section 7 shown in Figure 1. This whistle is made of a flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene, and may be secured to the body of the stirrer 1 in the manner as previously described. This whistle 40 should be somewhat elongated so as to act as a handle element when the stirrer is used as a unitary structure.

In Figure 9, there is shown a modification of the present invention in which the body 1 of the stirrer has secured to it a spinner element 50. This spinner element should be of generally flat and enlarged structure so as to form a handle element. The spinner is secured to the body 1 by interlocking male and female members similar to those previously described. In this modification, the spinner is provided with a pair of arms 51 and 52 arranged with inwardly projecting bosses 53, with these inwardly extending bosses 53 adapted to fit into recesses or hollows in the center disc 54. These bosses 53 support the spinner or disc 54 for free rotation so that an individual, by blowing the lower portion of the disc 54, may cause it to rotate rapidly. In this type of structure, when a rapid rotation is obtained, images imprinted on either side of the disc 54 will, through the action of persistence of vision, appear to fuse together; thus, as indicated, the lettering on the face shown in Figure 9 will fuse together with the lettering on the reverse side to form a complete sentence. This type of handle may, therefore, be removed from the body 1 and used as a charm or toy.

If the article is to be used as a charm, it may be secured to a string or the like through the opening 56 which is formed as an enlarged portion of the transverse openings in the female locking section.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A beverage stirrer having a body section made of rigid material and a separate handle made of flexible material, a probe formed on one end of the body section as an integral part thereof, a pair of outwardly extending knobs formed on opposite sides of the probe, a recess formed in one end of the handle and receiving the probe, and a pair of opposite and outwardly extending openings formed in the sides of the recess and receiving the knobs when the probe is inserted into the recess.

2. A-beverage stirrer having a body section and a separate handle, a probe formed on one end of the body section as an integral part thereof, a pair of outwardly extending knobs formed on opposite sides of the probe, a recess formed in one end of the handle receiving the probe, and a pair of opposite and outwardly extending openings formed in the sides of the recess and receiving the knobs when the probe is inserted into the recess.

3. A beverage stirrer comprising a body made of polystyrene and a separate handle made of polyethylene, a probe formed on one end of the body section as an integral part thereof, a pair of outwardly extending knobs formed as part of and on opposite sides of the probe,v

a recess formed in one end of the handle receiving the probe, and a pair of opposite and outwardly extending openings extending from the sides of the recess through the handle and receiving the knobs when the probe is inserted into the recess.

4. A beverage stirrer comprising a body section and a separate handle, a probe formed on one end of the body section as an integral part thereof, said probe having a flared portion adjacent the body section, a pair of opposite and outwardly extending knobs formed on the outer end of the probe, a recess formed in one end of the handle and tapered inwardly from its outer end, a pair of opposite and outwardly extending openings formed in the sides of the recess and extending through the handle, whereby when the probe is inserted into the recess the knobs extend into said openings while the flared portion of the probe lies in the tapered portion or" the recess.

5. A beverage stirrer as in claim 1, wherein said handle is formed as a flat member with a depressed center section having undercut side edges adapted to receive a card.

6. A beverage stirrer as set forth in claim 4 wherein said handle section is provided with a second tapered recess having opposite openings like the first recess and said handle section is provided with a recess section formed to receive a whistle, and a whistle of a rigid plastic material removably connected to the handle in the recess section.

9. A beverage stirrer as set forth in claim 1, wherein said handle section has a pair of opposite arm members, a rotatable element, and means rotatably supporting said element between said arms.

10. A beverage stirrer as in claim 1 wherein said handle is formed as a flat member for hearing printed material.

11. A beverage stirrer as defined in dlaim 5 further characterized by said fiat member having an opening formed therein for receiving a key chain.

12. A beverage stirrer as defined in claim 4 wherein said handle is formed of a flat member with a depressed center section having undercut side edges adapted to receive a card.

13. A beverage stirrer as defined in claim 12 further characterized by the flat member having an opening formed therein adapted to receive a key chain.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,701,132 Arnold et a1. Feb. 1, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,700 Germany Sept. 3, 1931

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