US375773A

US375773A - Island

Info

Publication number: US375773A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1888-01-03
Anticipated expiration: 1905-01-03

Description

(No Model.) W. M. ROCKWELL.

HANDLE. No. 375,773. Patented Jan. 3, 1888.

| I 1 I I IA I I1 I UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM M. ROCKWELL, OF WOONSOGKET, RHODE ISLAND.

HANDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,773. dated January 3, 1888.

Application filed August 30, 1887. Serial No. 248,972. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. ROCKWELL, of Woonsocket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Handles; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished and forming part of the same, is a true, clear, and complete description of my invention.

Although my improved handles are well adapted for use in various connections, they have been specially devised with reference to their use with such kitchen utensils as hand mixing-spoons, heaters, &c., to which are imparted a general circular movement without any axialmotion, as in mixing cake or other pasty compounds. These operations, when performed with spoons or boaters having ordinary handles,always involve more orless painful fatigue of the arm,wrist, and hand, and much of this is due to the firm and continuous grip requisite for preventing axial rotation of the spoon or beater, and the object of my invention is to obviate all necessity for a heavy grip upon the handle.

To this end my handle, in its best form, is provided with a pendent horn at its butt or rear end,which can be well engaged between the little'finger, when bent or closed, and a coincident portion of the palm of the hand; also,with a series of crosswise corrugations or ribs at the under side of the handle and extended upward at the two sides thereof, and also with two specially-formed faces on the upper side--one face for engagement by the base of the thumb and the other face by the ball of the thumb. These two faces are each substantially flat or straight laterally, but concave longitudinally, and they are inclined laterally in opposite directions, so that they can be firmly engaged without any undue grip of the thu mb and fingers. WVith thesetwo thumbbearing faces properly formed and arranged good results will accrue even if the corrugations or ribs and the pendent horn be singly or collectively dispensed with; but the most satisfactory results accrue when all of the described features are employed.

To more particularly describe my invention and several cross-sections a handle embodying v the two novel thumb-faces without the horn and the corrugations or ribs.

The handle A, Figs. 1 and 2, has the usual ferrule, a, and adjacent thereto, at line 20, the cross'section of the handle is substantially circular, as shown in Fig. 3. At line a; the lateral su rfaceof the front thumb-face, b, is clearly indicated, its longitudinal surface being concave and of a length which corresponds to the length of the outer joint of an average thumb, so that the ball of the thumb will readily engage therewith. At line 3 the lateral surface of the rear thumb-face, c, is clearly indicated, this also being longitudinally concaved,so that the base of the thumb can firmly engage therewith. It will be seen that the lateral surfaces of these faces b and c are inclined, and also that they are inclined in opposite directions, thus enabling the portions of the hand which engage therewith to readily resist axial rotationof the handle in both directions with even the lightest grip thereon. These faces are arranged as on handles intended for use by right-handed persons; but the angles or inclinations should be reversed when the handles are adapted for use by left-handed persons.- Regardless of how the remainder of the handles may be formed, these front and rear thumb-faces will be effective for the purpose intended; but to enable the hand to more securely resist longitudinal displacement of the handle when in use the pendent horn d is provided; but such horns have heretofore been formed on handles of various kinds.

For relieving the fingers from undue close contact with each other, I provide the series of corrugations or ribs 6 on the under side of the handle, and these are extended slightly upward on each side, as clearly indicated. More or less similar corrugations have also been heretofore formed upon many varieties of handles. My handles may be cheaply made of cast metal, especially of the light alloys, the well-known slippery surfaces of which are in no manner objectionable when the novel thumb-faces are employed,and especially when these are supplemented by the ribs and the pendent horn. I prefer, however,to use strong light wood, and to work up the handles in pattern-lathes and finish them in an enamel which is impervious to moisture.

It will be obvious that a spoon or beater provided with one of my improved handles can be readily worked in circular lines and all axial rotation readily prevented with a minimum grip of the hand, and hence that much of the fatigue heretofore incident to such operations will be obviated.

With the use of the handle A (shown in Fig. 7) less fatigue will result than with any ordinary handle, because of the front and rear thumb-faces, b and c, which are as before described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A handle provided on its upper side with front and rear thumb bearing faces, each 1ongitudinally concave, and each laterally inclined in adirection opposite to the other, substantially as described.

2. A handle provided with two longitudinally-coneave and laterally-inclined thumbbearing faces on its upper surface, a pendent horn at its rear end, and a series of corrugations or ribs on its under side, substantially as described.

WILLIAM M. ROCKWELL. \Vitnesses:

CHARLES M. ARNOLD, ERWIN J. FRANCE.