Crayon holder

Claim 1

A crayon holder comprising: a hollow generally cylindrical body; a generally cylindrical collet member having jaws at one longitudinal end capable of flexing radially inwardly and outwardly, said collet member being telescoped and threaded to said body at the other longitudinal end; a cylindrical sleeve telescoped over at least a portion of each of said collet member and said body, said body including a simulated neck which is connected to a simulated head having a hat, and simulated arm stubs projecting from opposite sides of said neck beyond the circumference of the head and the sleeve, said arm stubs being substantially perpendicular to said body, the lower end of said neck having a radially outwardly extending shoulder acting as a longitudinal limit stop for said sleeve; means including an axially extending keyway on the outer periphery of said collet member extending through at least a portion of said threads and a key on the inner periphery of said sleeve cooperative with said keyway for moving said collet member longitudinally relative to said sleeve as said body is rotated relative to the sleeve; and a groove on said body coextensive with said shoulder for receiving a projection on said sleeve to facilitate rotation of the body relative to the sleeve without moving the sleeve in a longitudinal direction, said sleeve having a tapered portion at one end for cooperating with outwardly extending cams on said jaws for camming said jaws inwardly, said jaws having an end surface cooperating with an end surface at the tapered end of the sleeve to provide a stable support area substantially equal to the circumference of the holder so that the crayon holder may stand in an upright vertical position on a support surface when the jaws are positioned inside said sleeve.