Typically, when preparing food, mixing is often desirable or required. Conventionally, materials are placed in a mixing bowl and the bowl is set upon the kitchen counter-top. The user then grasps the bowl firmly with one hand so as to hold the bowl stationary while the contents of the bowl are mixed with the other hand. During mixing it is often difficult to hold the mixing bowl securely with only one hand. Further, since one hand is required to hold the bowl, and the other hand is used in mixing, no hand is free to perform any other desired tasks, such as adding ingredients during mixing.

Accordingly, a need exists to provide a supporting assembly for stabilizing bowls while mixing the contents thereof, thereby minimizing the requirement that the user hold the bowl.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to fulfill the need referred to above. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, this and other objectives are obtained by providing a supporting assembly for a mixing bowl including a support having first and second opposing edges and at least one open end defining an interior space.

First and second holding members are provided with each holding member covering at least a portion of a

respective edge of the support. The holding members have a high coefficient of friction and are constructed and arranged such that when the supporting assembly is disposed with the first holding member in contact with a planar surface and a mixing bowl is at least partially disposed in the interior space with the second holding member contacting a peripheral surface of the mixing bowl, friction between the mixing bowl and the second holding member and between the planar surface and the first holding member holds the bowl stationary with respect to the planar surface when contents-of the mixing bowl are mixed.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for holding a mixing bowl stationary during mixing contents of the bowl using a supporting assembly. The supporting assembly includes a support having first and second opposing edges and at least one open end defining an interior space, and first and second holding members, each holding member covering at least a portion of an associated edge of the support. The method includes placing the supporting assembly on a planar surface such that the first holding member is frictionally engaged with the planar surface.

Thereafter, a mixing bowl is placed in the interior space such that a peripheral surface of the mixing bowl frictionally engages the second holding member thereby preventing movement of the bowl while the contents of the bowl are mixed.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatus of the type described, which is simple in construction, effective in operation and economical to manufacture and maintain.

Other objects, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the methods of operation and function of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of the parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a supporting assembly provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention, shown supporting a mixing bowl; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the supporting assembly taken along the line 2-2 of FIG.

1; and FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a holding member of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the supporting assembly provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a fractional, cross-sectional views of an alternative configuration of the holding members and associated contacting portions of the support member of the supporting assembly provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGs. 6a-6e are fractional, cross- sectional views of alternative configurations of the holding members and associated contacting portions

of the support member of an alternative embodiment of the supporting assembly provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, a supporting assembly is shown, generally indicated at 10, which embodies the principles of the present invention. The supporting assembly 10 includes a support 12 and a pair of holding members 14, 16 covering opposing edges of the support 12.

The support 12 is a generally cylindrical ring member constructed and arranged to support the weight of a mixing bowl 15. The support 12 has two open ends 17, 18 defining an interior space 19 therebetween. The open ends 17, 18 may be of a generally circular configuration; however, different embodiments of the support may be constructed so as to give the open ends 17, 18 any of a variety of shapes. Only one end of the support 12 needs to be opened to receive a mixing bowl, as will become apparent below. However, to reduce material and cost, in the illustrated embodiment, both ends of the support 12 are open.

The support 12 may be constructed of any material suitable for supporting the weight of a conventional mixing bowl, such as plastic, elastomer, metal, or wood material. In the illustrated embodiment, the support 12 is comprised of clear plexiglass material having an overall diameter of approximately 5.5 inches and a thickness of approximately 0.25 of an inch. It can be appreciated that the dimensions are not critical and are only provided by way of example. The support

may be sized and configured to accommodate any mixing bowl.

As shown in FIG. 2, the support 12 has opposing parallel edges 20 and 21. In the illustrated embodiment, the edges are planar. It can be appreciated that the edges 20, 21 may be rounded or beveled if desired to improve ease of assembly of the holding members 14, 16, which will become apparent below.

One holding member 14, 16 is associated with a respective edge 20, 21 of the support 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the holding members 14, 16 are configured identically and cover the entire circumferential edges of the support 12. However, the edges of the support need not be completely covered; portions of the edges need only be covered.

For example, each holding member may comprise a plurality of individual sections covering portions of the edges. Sections spaced periodically about a circumferential edge of the support is within the contemplation of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the holding members 14, 16 is preferably a linear, extruded member comprised of a resilient material having a high coefficient of friction, such as neoprene, silicone rubber or any other suitable material.

Each of the holding members 14, 16 has a rounded outer peripheral surface 22 defining a contact surface. However, this surface 22 need not be rounded, but may be of the desired configurations suitable to frictionally engage an associated surface, as will become apparent below. Holding members 14, 16 having a textured or ribbed contact surface are within the contemplation of the invention.

As best shown in FIG. 3, each holding member 14, 16 includes a generally U-shaped channel

24 therein which is constructed and arranged to frictionally engage the edges 20, 21 of the support The The channel 24 is narrower near the open end 26 than at the base 28 thereof to ensure a tight frictional engagement with the edges of the support 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the holding members 14, 16 are fixedly secured to the edges 20, 21. The holding members 14, 16 may be secured by adhesive or the like. It is further within the contemplation of the invention that the holding members 14, 16 may be integrally formed with the support member 12. However, it can be appreciated that the holding members 14, 16 may be attached so as to be easily removable from the edges 20, 21, and thus facilitate cleaning of the holding members 14, 16 together with the support 12.

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the support assembly 10 wherein the generally cylindrical support 12 is configured such that the open ends 17, 18 are of unequal size with respect one to the other.

As noted above, in the illustrated embodiment, the holding members 14, 16 may be formed separately by an extrusion process and then either removably or fixedly secured to the edges of the support 12. It is within the contemplation of the invention to form the holding members in a variety of ways, for example, the edges of the support may be dipped in a material having a high coefficient of friction when cured so that the material covers a desired portion of the respective edge of the support. It is also within the contemplation of the invention to form the holding members 14, 16 during the molding process of the support 12 such that the holding members 14, 16 are integrally formed and thereby fixedly secured to the support 12.

FIG. 5 shows a fractional, cross-sectional view of the upper portion of one side of an alternative embodiment of the invention. The side walls of the U-shaped channel 24 of each of the holding members 14 can be formed to have at least one annular groove 30. The annual groove 30 may alternatively be formed on one or both side walls of the U-shaped channel 24. At least one corresponding annular ridge 32, sized and configured to securely fit within the at least one annular groove 30 of the holding members 14 may be formed on the sidewalls of the support 12. It will be appreciated that the opposite configuration to the above is also within the contemplation of the invention wherein the annular ridge 32 can be formed on the side walls of the U-shaped channel 24 and the corresponding annular groove 30 can be formed on the adjacent portions of the support 12. It is also understood that the embodiment as shown in the fractional, cross-sectional drawing of Fig. 5 can also be configured with a similar holding member 16 and similar sidewall of the support 12 for the lower portion of the support assembly 10.

FIGs. 6a-6e show alternative configurations of holding members 14, 16 and the associated contacting portions of the support 12 which can be used with an alternative embodiment of the present invention As shown in FIGs. 6a-6e, the holding members 14, 16 can be alternatively formed in one of several configurations and can be fixedly secured by overmolding, or by other methods known in the art, to a correspondingly configured edge 20, 21 of the support 12. The overmolding process can be performed as part of the initial molding process for the support 12 or can be sequentially performed as a separate molding step. The different configurations of holding members 14, 16 and the corresponding

edges 20, 21 shown in FIGs. 6a-6e are representative of a wide variety of possible shapes which are within the contemplation of the invention and which could be employed to provide a secure contact between the holding members 14, 16 and the corresponding edges 20, 21.

The use of the device will be appreciated with reference to FIG 1. As shown, contact surface 22 of holding member 16 is in contact with a planar surface 30 such as a counter-top, and the mixing bowl 15 is at least partially disposed in the interior space 19 of the support 12 such that the contact surface 22 of the second or opposing holding member 14 is contacting the outer peripheral surface of the bowl 15. It can be appreciated that the bowl 15 need not be vertically oriented within the device, as illustrated. The bowl may be tilted within the device for ease in mixing, so long as the outer peripheral surface of the bowl 15 is in contact with surface 22 of the second holding member. In this position, frictional forces generated between the bowl 15 and the second holding member 14 and between the planar surface 30 and the first holding member 16 hold the bowl 15 stationary with respect to the planar surface 30, when the contents of the bowl are mixed. Thus, beating, whisking or stirring of the contents of the bowl 15 can be performed by the preparer using only one hand to accomplish the task.

It can be appreciated that the objects of the invention have been fully and effectively accomplished, it will be realized, however, that the foregoing preferred embodiment has been shown and described for the purpose of illustrating the structural and functional principles of the present invention and are subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit of the following claims.