Family uncovers patent for citrus bowls in Tampa storage unit - Axios Tampa BayLog InLog InAxios Tampa Bay is an Axios company.

Family uncovers patent for citrus bowls in Tampa storage unit

Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios Brothers John and Garrett Honeycutt were cleaning out their family's storage unit in Tampa this weekend when they came across some odd bowls at the bottom of a box. They were about to toss the decorative ceramics when Garrett pulled from a rusty file cabinet an envelope marked "DESIGN PATENT, FRUIT BOWL."Inside were drawings, documents, letters and ... a stamped and sealed design patent — #203.515 — for a coupling design for bowls in which fruit fills a small central bowl, and crushed ice fills the surrounding cavity to keep the fruit cold.Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios Flashback: The inventor was the brothers' grandfather, Henry Zibelin, who owned a motorcycle dealership in Winter Haven, in Polk County, starting in the 1960s. Old timers might remember it for the blonde life-sized doll mounted on a Honda out front for years.Zibelin, a former airplane mechanic and refrigeration specialist, was always tinkering when he wasn't selling motorcycles.John and Garrett knew about his for a mattress drain for bed wetters, a kidney stone crusher and a heart valve.Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios They did not know about his patent for "BOWL FOR CITRUS FRUITS."Zibelin doesn't appear to have profited substantially off any of his inventions, his grandsons tell Axios, even, , the mechanical heart he patented in 1986. He had an inventor's mind and not much follow-through. Yes, but: We wonder if these bowls ever made it to market. If you recognize them — hello, Polk County — or know anything more, . Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

More Tampa Bay stories

No stories could be found Get a free daily digest of the most important news in your backyard with Axios Tampa Bay.Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.