Self-leveling cup holder
A self-leveling cup holder for a vehicle, said cup holder suspended from a rim rotatable within an inner ring, along an axis of the inner ring, said inner ring rotatable within an outer ring, attachable to a mounting which is attachable to the vehicle, permitting said rim to be rotatable, or tilt able, about two perpendicular axes of rotation, to self level.
The present intention relates to cup holders for use in moving vehicles, and specifically to cup holders which prevent the spilling of the cup contents as the vehicle turns, accelerates, and brakes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThere have been numerous attempts to provide cup holders for use in vehicles to prevent the spilling of liquid from the cup as the vehicle moves. Some cup holders are designed to prevent the cup from sliding and falling. U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,987 discloses a cup holder with suction cups at the under surface thereof, activated by placement of a cup in the holder.
Other cup holders are designed to prevent the cup from tipping over. U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,892 discloses a non-tipping drinking glass coaster; a construction which prevents the glass from tipping by providing a larger base, but does little to prevent the tipping of the coaster in a moving vehicle. The U.S. Design Pat. No. 311,477 discloses a similar cup holder, which resists tipping, but cannot maintain the cup in an upright position when the underlying surface tilts rapidly, as in a moving vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,453 discloses a cup holder for nautical use, comprising a ring-shaped carrier for a tapered cup. The carrier has a hanger means connected thereto, which may be hung from a support hook which is attached to the boat. It is, however, difficult to get the cup through the hanger to get it into and out of the carrier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,635 discloses a cup holder stabilizer comprising an extensible and contractible cylinder unit, which though it traps the cup in the holder, and prevents the cup from moving with respect to the cup holder, does not otherwise prevent spills.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,089 discloses a cup holder comprising a vertical backbone member that supports a pair of highly flexible symmetrically configured curving arms which hold the cup. A Velcro surface along the vertical backbone member attaches to a corresponding Velcro surface on the vehicle. By disengaging the Velcro, the cup holder may swing toward and away from the surface, but only one plane of motion is tolerated, hence spills will occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a cup holder which may be used in a moving vehicle and reduce or eliminate spillage from a cup therein when the vehicle accelerates rapidly or brakes suddenly. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cup holder which prevents or eliminates spills when the vehicle turns, or goes over bumps. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cup holder that may be attached to any surface of the vehicle, and be adjusted to set the plane of the cup holder parallel to the surface of the ground, or at any other desired angle.
These objects, as well as other objects which will become apparent from the discussion that follows, are achieved, in accordance with the present invention, which comprises a self-leveling cup holder comprising an outer ring, with inner ring, and cup receptacle, suspended therefrom; and means for securing the outer ring to a surface of the vehicle. The outer ring has two openings there through, along a diameter of the outer ring, and an inner ring is suspended within the outer ring by two pins extending from the exterior of the inner ring, along a diameter of the inner ring, through the openings in the outer ring. The pins, and inner ring, are freely rotatable within the openings of the outer ring. The inner ring also has two openings there thru, along a diameter of the inner ring, which diameter is perpendicular to the diameter of the outer ring. A cup receptacle is suspended within the inner ring by two pins extending from the exterior of the rim, along a diameter of the rim which is perpendicular to the diameter of the outer ring. The pins extending from the rim pass through the openings in the inner ring, and are freely rotatable within the openings of the inner ring. The cup receptacle comprises a generally tapered cylindrical body, with bottom surface, ring-shaped rim. The construction of the cup holder permits the cup receptacle free rotation about perpendicular axes, and the weight of the receptacle, and anything placed therein, operate through gravity to level the rim of the receptacle, thereby preventing spillage from the cup.
For a full understanding of the present invention, reference should now be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to
The top view of the self-leveling, or level headed, cup holder of the present invention is shown generally at 1, in
As shown in
As shown in
Cup receptacle, 8, comprises a generally cylindrical body, preferably a tapered cylindrical body, and more preferably a bottom surface, for holding a cup disposed therein. It is not necessary that the walls of the receptacle be continuous about the receptacle. In an alternative construction the receptacle may have, e.g. four side panels, each extending from the rim to the bottom of the receptacle. A piece of foam may be applied to the bottom surface of the receptacle to accommodate vertical motion. In use, a cup is disposed within the cup holder from above, placing the bottom of the cup into the opening, 15. A flap of foam, 17, may be attached to the rim and/or to the inner surface of the cup receptacle, to accommodate a cup of smaller diameter than the rim of the cup receptacle and cross-section or the receptacle, so that the cup does not move with respect to the rim. The foam flap may extend over all, or part, of the rim or inner surface of the receptacle.
The adjustable fastening of the outer ring to the mounting or the vehicle provides an additional measure of safety against spillage. A shown in
The cup holder of the present invention may be used for other vessels, such as bottles of water or wine. When adapted for such usage, the preferred dimensions may vary, but a foam flap attached to the rim will make any cup holder adaptable for different sized vessels. Though the cup holder may be made of any dimension, provided the size is not prohibitive for the vehicle, a total width of 4 to 4½ inches and a depth of 3½ to 4 inches will accommodate most cups and most vehicles. The cup holder may be easily manufactured from injection molded plastic, with metal screws and/or double sided adhesive pads.
There has thus been shown and described a novel self-leveling cup holder which fulfills all the objects and advantages sought therefore. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the subject invention will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering this specification and the accompanying drawings which disclose the preferred embodiments thereof. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention, which is to be limited only by the claims which follow.
Claims
1. A self-leveling cup holder for use in a moving vehicle, said cup holder comprising:
- a mounting, and a means for securing the mounting to a surface of the vehicle,
- an outer ring, comprising means for making an attachment to the mounting, and two openings there thru, along a diameter of the outer ring,
- an inner ring, within the outer ring, said inner ring comprising pins extending from the exterior of the inner ring, along a diameter of the inner ring, and through the openings in the outer ring, and said pins being easily rotatable within the openings of the outer ring,
- a cup receptacle comprising a ring-shaped rim and a generally tapered cylindrical body with bottom surface, depending there from, said rim contained within the inner ring, said rim comprising pins extending from the exterior of the rim, along a diameter of the rim which is perpendicular to the diameter of the openings of the outer ring, and through the openings in the inner ring, said pins being easily rotatable within the openings of the inner ring.
2. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the rim of said suspended cup receptacle is freely tilt able about two axes at right angles to one another, such that the weight of the cup receptacle operates to level the rim of the cup receptacle and any cup therein.
3. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the pins extending from said inner ring thru said outer ring are secured by caps attached to the ends of the pins, said caps being larger than the openings in the outer ring.
4. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the pins extending from said inner ring thru said outer ring are secured by caps attached to the ends of the pins, said caps being larger than the openings in the inner ring.
5. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the outer ring further comprises means for making and adjustable angle attachment to the mounting.
6. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the mounting further comprises means for making an adjustable angle attachment to the outer ring of the cup holder.
7. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the means for securing the mounting to a surface of the vehicle comprises a double sided adhesive pad.
8. The cup holder of claim 1, further comprising a piece of foam, disposed on the bottom surface of the cup receptacle.
9. The cup holder of claim 1, further comprising a foam flap on the inner surface of the receptacle.
10. A self-leveling cup holder for use in a moving vehicle, said cup holder comprising:
- a) an outer ring and means for securing the outer ring to a surface of the vehicle, such that the plane of the outer ring is generally parallel to the projected path of the vehicle, said outer ring having two openings there thru, along a diameter of the outer ring;
- b) an inner ring, suspended within the outer ring by two pins extending from the exterior of the inner ring, along a diameter of the inner ring, through the openings in the outer ring, said pins being freely rotatable within the openings of the outer ring, said inner ring further comprising two openings there thru along a diameter of the inner ring, perpendicular to the diameter of the openings of the outer ring; and
- c) a cup receptacle comprising a ring-shaped rim and a generally tapered cylindrical body with bottom surface, depending there from, said rim is suspended within the inner ring by two pins extending from the exterior of the rim, along a diameter of the rim which is perpendicular to the diameter of the openings of the outer ring, and through the openings in the inner ring, said pins being freely rotatable within the openings of the inner ring.
11. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the suspended cup receptacle is freely tilt-able about two axes at right angles to one another, permitting the weight of a cup placed in the receptacle to level the rim of the cup with the level of the ground, to prevent spilling of the contents of the cup.
12. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein each pins extending from the inner ring are secured by caps at the end of each pin, said cap being larger than the opening in the outer ring through which the pin extends, and the pins extending from the rim are secured by caps at the end of each pin, said caps being larger than the opening in the inner ring through which the pins extend.
13. The cup holder of claim 1, wherein the means for securing the cup holder to the surface of the vehicle comprises a mounting secured to the surface of the vehicle, and having a female fastening means, and said outer ring further comprising a matching male fastening means, for making an adjustable, releasable and re-attachable fastening of the outer ring to the mounting.
14. The cup holder of claim 13, wherein the fastening means is operable to make a fastening at a number of angles.
15. The cup holder of claim 13, wherein the male fastening means comprises a shaft with at least one tooth extending along a length of the shaft, said shaft attached to an extended shelf of the outer ring, and the female fastening means comprises a mating toothed inner surface of a cylinder, attached to the mounting, operable for securing the outer ring to the mounting at a number of different angles.
16. A self-leveling cup holder for use in a moving vehicle, said cup holder comprising:
- a mounting, and a means for securing the mounting to a surface of the vehicle;
- an outer ring, having a generally cylindrical outer surface and a generally cylindrical inner surface, said outer ring further comprising two openings there thru, along a diameter of the outer ring, and means for making an attachment to the mounting;
- an inner ring, having a generally inner cylindrical surface, and a generally cylindrical outer surface within the inner surface of the outer ring, said inner ring further comprising pins extending from the exterior of the inner ring, along a diameter of the inner ring, and through the openings in the outer ring, and said pins being easily rotatable within the openings of the outer ring; and
- a cup receptacle comprising a ring-shaped rim having an outer surface and an inner surface, and a generally tapered cylindrical body with bottom surface, depending there from, the outer surface of said rim spaced from and within the inner surface of the inner ring, said rim comprising pins extending from the exterior of the rim, along a diameter of the rim which is perpendicular to the diameter of the openings of the outer ring, and through the openings in the inner ring, said pins being easily rotatable within the openings of the inner ring.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 30, 2004
Publication Date: Feb 2, 2006
Inventor: Jonathan Mackin (Huguenot, NY)
Application Number: 10/903,728
International Classification: A47K 1/08 (20060101);