Resilient clip-on handle for mounting to propane bottles

Abstract

A resilient clip-on handle for mounting on propane bottles includes a unitary resilient sheet including a base member and backing member mounted contiguous to each other so as to be de-formable to a position substantially orthogonally relative to each other. The backing member fits through an opening in a valve protecting collar on a propane bottle. The backing member is sized and shaped so that, when deformed, it may be mounted to lie flush along the underside of a rigid flange extending outwardly from the collar above the opening in the collar. When so deformed, the base and backing members form a common edge therebetween in an interior corner between the base member and backing member. The interior corner snugs against the seam between the flange and the collar. A distal end of the base member, when mounted on the flange, is coextensive with the distal end of the flange.

1 . A resilient flexible handgrip for mounting to a valve-protecting rigid collar on a gas cylinder between a rigid protruding flange protruding from the collar for use as a handle and the adjacent rim of the collar, the handgrip comprising: 
 a resilient sheet having first and second opposite edges, said first and second edges formed as corresponding first and second channels which are opposed facing when said sheet is planar,    said sheet having third and fourth edges which are substantially orthogonal to said first and second edges,    said sheet having a width measured from said third edge to said fourth edge, wherein said width is sized to pass through a handle aperture formed adjacent the protruding flange of the collar mounted on the gas cylinder,    said sheet having a length measured from said first edge to said second edge, wherein said length is sized to snugly wrap from the protruding flange on the collar of the gas cylinder to the adjacent rim of the collar when said first and second channels are mounted to the protruding flange and adjacent rim respectively.    
   
   
       2 . The handgrip of  claim 1  wherein said first channel has closed ends at opposite ends thereof so as to form a pocket.  
   
   
       3 . The handgrip of  claim 1  wherein said second channel is sized to fit snugly over the adjacent rim of the collar.  
   
   
       4 . The handgrip of  claim 3  wherein said first channel is sized to fit snugly over the protruding flange.  
   
   
       5 . The handgrip of  claim 1  wherein said sheet has an un-deformed position into which said sheet is resiliently urged, and a resiliently deformed position, different from said un-deformed position, said deformed position when said sheet is mounted onto, so as to extend between, the flange and the rim of the collar.  
   
   
       6 . The handgrip of  claim 5  wherein when in said un-deformed position, said third and fourth edges are urged into an inverted u-shape when viewed in a side elevation of said third and fourth edges.  
   
   
       7 . The handgrip of  claim 5  wherein in said deformed position said sheet forms a resilient L-shape when viewed in a side elevation of said third or fourth edges so as to conform said sheet to the shape the flange forms with the rim of the collar.  
   
   
       8 . The handgrip of  claim 7  wherein said first channel has closed ends at opposite ends thereof so as to form a pocket.  
   
   
       9 . The handgrip of  claim 8  wherein said second channel is sized to fit snugly over the adjacent rim of the collar.  
   
   
       10 . The handgrip of  claim 9  wherein said first channel is sized to fit snugly over the protruding flange.  
   
   
       11 . The handgrip of  claim 1  wherein said sheet has a thickness, and wherein said thickness is non-uniform along said length of said sheet, said thickness forming a cushioning portion adjacent said first edge, said cushioning portion thicker than a hinge portion extending across said sheet between said third and fourth edges substantially medially along said length.  
   
   
       12 . The handgrip of  claim 11  wherein said thickness adjacent said second edge is thicker than said thickness of said hinge portion whereby said second edge is of greater rigidity than said hinge portion.  
   
   
       13 . The handgrip of  claim 1  wherein said sheet, when laid flat, is substantially square.