Beverage vessel holder

Abstract

A beverage vessel holder for providing support for aluminum cans or other beverage vessels in sand, soil or other earth. The holder has a hollow stake attached to a support deck including beverage vessel indentations for at least two beverage vessels. The holder may also have an adapter to allow it to be used on surfaces into which the stake cannot be depressed.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This disclosure relates to the field of holders or supports for objects, particularly holders for vessels containing consumable liquids such as beverage cans or bottles.

2. Background of the Invention

The beverage vessel is almost ubiquitous in society. There are a plethora of vessels for holding beverages prior to drinking ranging from simple cups, to resealable bottles, to aluminum cans. While there are a plethora of such vessels available, the vessels are not always best suited for safe and sanitary storage of the beverage while the beverage is being consumed because they are open on their top side. This can particularly be an issue when the beverage is being consumed outdoors in an area where tables or other specially designed eating furniture is not readily available.

The need to have a device for holding an open beverage vessel while the beverage is being enjoyed away from traditional furniture can exist in numerous locations and situations such as, but not limited to, at the beach, on picnics, while camping, or at outdoor concerts, events, or recreations. At these locations, consuming beverages can aid in enjoyment of those recreating or working in these locations, and can also help prevent dehydration. While the locations are quite disparate, they all generally share a commonality in that the individual at the location will generally not have traditional furniture available, but will instead generally be reclining on or near the ground. Further, even if furniture is present, it is often furniture intended only to support the person's body in the form of a portable chair. Often, furniture is not present as the location is being used for a special event, or the owner of the location may not provide furniture and the individual is limited in what they can bring.

In these various cases, support of a beverage container by simply placing it on the ground is often undesirable. In the case of a park or other similar area, the ground is often uneven or sloped. Further, the individual may not be alone and the location may have other individuals nearby. Therefore, it can be difficult to maintain a vessel upright to avoid spilling while in these areas as the container will often be balanced on the ground and is subject to unintentional tipping by others who do not see the vessel. Further, placing the vessel on the ground often places it in grass or other plants which can harbor insects with an interest in the beverage resulting in contamination of the beverage. Dust, sand, dirt or other material can also enter the vessel from the proximity with the ground. At the beach, the surface is more malleable, and a can or bottle can be dug into the sand to support it. At the same time, this often places the open top of the vessel in close proximity to the sand allowing for sand to more easily enter the vessel and contaminate the beverage due to wind or nearby movement.

To try and help with the support of vessels at these types of locations, various types of beverage vessel supports have been proposed. These devices, however, generally have two major limitations. In the first instance, the stakes on the devices are generally thin metal rods which are often long and flexible. Alternative stakes are often flanged or otherwise solid plastic components. These types of stakes do not provide for sturdy support, especially in non-rigid materials such as sand where insufficient surface area between the stake and the earth can result in tipping of the holder due to the weight of the beverage and the lever action of the stake.

A related problem is that most of the devices are designed to only hold a single beverage container and the container is centered over the stake. Because the stake is weak, the weight of the full beverage vessel is often sufficient to cause the holder to tip and lever from the ground if it is not centered over the support. When only a single beverage is desired this is acceptable. But in many cases a support for multiple beverages is desired and it would be desirable that the holder not need to be load-balanced in order to be used as this provides additional flexibility to the device.

Other beverage vessel holders have the problem that they require other, and generally larger devices, to which they are attached to provide support. These types of holders generally use the mass of the other objects (such as a beach chair or umbrella) to keep the beverage upright in a holder and prevent tipping. However, in many situations these extra objects are not desired or present. This can be particularly true in a park or similar location where the only furniture present may be a blanket which cannot provide any support.

SUMMARY

Because of these and other problems known to those of skill in the art, described herein, among other things, is a beverage vessel holder which comprises a hollow stake designed to be at least partially filled with material upon its depression into the earth. Further, the beverage vessel holder is designed to support two or more beverage vessels simultaneously and does not require the vessels to be load balanced over the stake.

Described herein, in an embodiment, is a beverage vessel holder comprising: a support deck including at least two beverage vessel indentations; and a hollow stake having an outer wall with opposing proximal and distal ends and a length therebetween, and a hollow interior; wherein the hollow stake is attached to the support deck at the proximal end; and wherein the stake has a blade designed to be pushed into earth at the distal end.

In another embodiment of the holder the support deck includes a stake support indentation and the stake is connected to the support deck in a press-fit configuration, the blade is formed by a single cut at an angle to the length of the outer wall, the blade is formed by two intersecting cuts at angles to the length of the outer wall, or the beverage vessel indentations are circularly symmetrical about the proximal end of the stake.

In another embodiment of the holder, there is further included an adapter, the adapter including: a post configured to fit into the hollow interior; a sleeve, surrounding the post, configured to interact with the blade; and a base, attached to at least one of the sleeve or the post.

In an embodiment, the base may comprise a disk or include a plurality of legs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of an embodiment of a beverage vessel holder with aluminum cans in insulated covers therein and staked into the ground as it would be in common use.

FIG. 2 provides a perspective view of the beverage vessel holder of FIG. 1 with the beverage cans and insulated covers removed and separated from the ground.

FIG. 3 provides a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 2

FIG. 4 provides a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 2

FIG. 5 provides a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 provides a cut through drawing along line 6-6 in FIG. 5 with the stake removed.

FIG. 7 provides a bottom view of the support deck with the stake removed.

FIG. 8 provides a perspective view of the underside of the stake.

FIG. 9 shows the beverage vessel holder of FIG. 2 placed on an adapter to allow it to be used on a paved or similar surface.

FIG. 10 provides a side view of two of support decks from beverage holders, nested inside each other.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

FIGS. 1 through 6 provide for various different views of an embodiment of a beverage vessel holder (100) designed for improved beverage support. The beverage vessel holder (100) comprises two major components, a stake (103) and a support deck (105). These components are shown separated from each other in FIGS. 7 and 8. Both the stake (103) and the support deck (105) will generally be manufactured of plastic or other relatively lightweight and fairly rigid and strong materials and are preferably formed with the stake (103) and support deck (105) each being a single monolithic piece.

The stake (103) as shown in FIG. 8 generally comprises a hollow main body (301) generally in the form of a tube which comprises an outer wall (311) and hollow interior (313). While the embodiment of the FIGS provides for a cross-sectional shape to both the outer wall (311) and hollow interior (313) which is circular making the main body (301) generally cylindrical, both the outer wall (311) and hollow interior (313) may have any cross-sectional shape allowing a plethora of resultant shapes for the stake (103).

The proximal end (303) of the main body (301) is designed to interface with the support deck (105) and therefore may include any structures to facilitate the connection. In the embodiment of FIG. 8, no such structure is included as it is unnecessary in the press fit construction. However, the proximal end (303) may include a slightly tapered section to improve adhesion to the support deck (105) when in press fit relation. In yet another embodiment, the proximal end (303) may include holes for rivets or screws, or may include tabs or other securing mechanisms for connection to the support deck (105).

The outer wall (311) of the main body (301) is generally designed to have a relatively small thickness compared to its diameter or other cross-sectional distance. In effect, the main body (301) will comprise a relatively large bore tube. In an embodiment, this tube may have an outer diameter on the order of one-half inch to 2 inches preferably about 1.5 inches, while having an outer wall thickness of only about ⅛ of an inch to ¼ of an inch.

As best shown in FIG. 8, The distal end (305) of the main body (301) is tapered or cut-off to form a sharp point and associated angle in the outer wall (311) which is referred to as a blade (307). In the depicted embodiment, the blade (307) is formed from the main body (301) being cut completely across at an angle to its length. In the depicted embodiment, the resultant internal angle is about 15 degrees. The blade (307) therefore has a point (309) formed from a portion of the outer wall (311). This particular arrangement where a single cut completely transects the main body (301) is not required, however, and alternative cuts may be used to produce the blade (307). For example, two intersecting cuts may be made across the main body (301) which would form two points (309) in the outer wall (311) forming a more “V” shaped blade. This arrangement comprises an alternative pattern of blade (307). Further, the cuts to form the edges (317) of the blade (307) do not need to be straight and can be, but are not limited to, straight, undulating, jagged, saw-toothed, or barbed in alternative embodiments. Regardless of the exact design of the blade (307), the blade (307) is generally designed to facilitate pressing of the stake (103) into earth. In particular, the point (309) will generally form a focus point for force applied to the stake (103) to allow the stake (103) to be pressed into earth more easily than a tube without a blade (307) could be placed. Further, the blade (307) will preferably be designed to allow earth to be at least partially displaced by the insertion of the stake (103) into the hollow interior (313) and to allow earth which is under the hollow interior (313) to pass into the hollow interior (313) during insertion.

Turning to FIGS. 5 through 7, the support deck (105) is generally a platform including various indentations therein. The indentations serve to allow for secure holding of both beverage vessels and the stake (103). The support deck (105) will generally comprise a relatively flat volume when viewed in composite, however, the support deck (105) may not actually have “volume.” As shown in the depicted embodiment, the support deck (105) comprises a single relatively thin piece of material which has been molded into the support deck (105) by being bent to occupy various points within the volume. In the depicted arrangement, therefore, the material forming the support deck (105) effectively forms the borders of the indentations in the support deck (105), with the remaining structure of the support deck (105) platform simply not being present. The structures that are discussed as part of the support deck (105), therefore, are actually formed by interrelated bends and connections of the material forming the support deck (105) due to the molding of the material making the borders of those indentations. This structure is not required and, in an alternative embodiment, the support deck (105) could be a solid block of material which has the indentations cut therein. Therefore, when indentations are discussed herein, they are intended to refer to arrangements which serve to provide an indentation into the generally block form of the resultant support deck (105) shape, even if the actual material of the support deck (105) is of relatively constant thickness and is bent to form the indentations or other alternative constructions are used.

On the underside (503) of the support deck (105) there is a stake support indentation (501) which is most easily seen in FIG. 7. The stake support indentation (501) comprises, in the depicted embodiment, an opening in the shape of a generally hollow frustum which extends from the underside (503) of the support deck (105) toward the top side (505), the widest portion being toward the underside (503) while the narrower portion is toward the top side (505). The stake support indentation (501) is designed to provide for a place to insert the proximal end (303) of the stake (103) to connect the two components together and therefore will generally have a cross-sectional shape similar to the cross-sectional shape of the outer wall (311). The stake support indentation (501) may include one or more friction tabs (551) to further provide for friction with the stake (103).

In the embodiment shown in the FIGS. the stake (103) is attached to the support deck (105) via a press-fit arrangement. In particular, the stake support indentation (501) is generally sized so that the proximal end (303) of the stake (103) is smaller than the opening of the stake support indentation (501) (that is the portion of the stake support indentation (501) toward the underside (503)), but is larger than the smallest part of the stake support indentation (501) (that is the portion of the stake support indentation (501) toward the top side (505)).

To assemble the stake (103) with the support deck (105) as shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, the proximal end (303) of the stake (103) is inserted into the stake support indentation (501) from underneath the support deck (105) and is pushed upward into the body of the support deck (105). The outer surface of the outer wall (311) at the proximal end (303) will be generally centered in the stake support indentation (501) and begin to frictionally engage the stake support indentation's (501) inner surface (511) or friction tabs (551) at some point along the stake support indentation (501) where the outside of the outer wall (311) and the inner surface (511) (or resultant radius from the friction tabs (551)) are of similar size. As the pieces continue to be pushed together, the frictional engagement will serve to bind the stake (103) and support deck (105) together. As the amount of force exerted to push the stake (103) and support deck (105) together is increased, the resulting connection is generally made stronger as the binding action is made more rigid. If the proximal end (303) includes a taper as discussed previously, it may match the taper of the interior surface (511) of the stake support indentation (501) which can also serve to provide for stronger connection between the stake (103) and support deck (105) by increasing the total surface contact area over which there is a frictional connection.

The resultant holder (100), therefore, has the support deck (105) overlying the proximal end (303) of the stake (103) when assembled. Further, while the depicted embodiment is designed to be assembled using friction as the connection, that is by no means required. In an alternative embodiment, fasteners such as, but not limited to, screws, adhesives, tabs and slots, or rivets may be used to connect the stake (103) to the support deck (105). Further, while it is preferred that the attachment mechanism be selected so that the stake (103) and support deck (105) are separable from each other as that allows a user to assemble the holder (100) for use and disassemble the holder (100) for ease of storage or transport, this is not required and the stake (103) and support deck (105) may be designed to be permanently or semi-permanently attached together.

The support deck (105), when viewed externally, comprises a generally rectangular-based pyramid frustum structure in the depicted embodiments. A tapering structure is preferred in the depicted embodiments to allow the support deck (105), which is generally hollow due to its construction, to nest with other support decks (105) as shown in FIG. 10. For this reason, in the preferred embodiment, the support decks (105) are of tapered design with significant open space from the underside (503) where the widest open spaces are toward the underside (503) of the support deck (105), while the narrowest open spaces are toward the top side (505) of the support deck (105). The support deck (105) is sized and shaped so that one support deck (105) can nest on the top of another support deck (105) sliding part way down its structure as shown in FIG. 10. There are also included a number of stop tabs (553) to allow the two support desks (105) to rest together in the nested arrangement without the force from the mass of higher support deck (105) forcing the support decks (105) too strongly together. This design is, however, by no means required, and the support deck (105) can be of any shape including a conical frustum, a parallelepiped, a cylinder, or any other shape.

The support deck (105), on its top side (505), includes at least two vessel support indentations (507) which extend from its top side (505) towards its underside (503). These effectively form indentations in the opposite direction to the stake support indentation (501). As should be apparent from FIGS. 5 through 7, the stake support indentation (501), due to this opposing positioning, may actually be formed from the walls of the vessel support indentations (507) coming the opposite directions. In effect, in this embodiment, the stake support indentation (501) becomes the space between the two or more vessel support indentations (507).

Each of the vessel support indentations (507) preferably includes a base (571) which is located toward the underside (503) of the support deck (105) so that a vessel may sit in the support deck (105) on the base (571) and have its sides at least partially within the structure of the support deck (105). The base (571) is not required in all embodiments, and may be replaced by simply an appropriately sized hole forming the indentation to frictionally engage the side of the vessel with its sides (573), or may be replaced by a strip or bracket suitable for supporting the vessel. It is, however, preferred that base (571) be present as base (571) supports a variety of different vessels having differently sized and shaped footprints in the vessel support indentation (507) without risk of the vessels not being securely supported.

The vessel support indentations (507) will generally be sized and shaped so as to allow a standard aluminum beverage can (901), which has been placed inside a standard aluminum can insulator (903) to be placed within the vessel support indentation (507), as shown in FIG. 1, however, the vessel support indentations (507) may be of any size depending on the embodiment. The vessel support indentations (507) may also be of any shape. In the depicted embodiment, the vessel support indentations (507) are generally of a roughly ovular shape in cross-section having a modification toward their inner edges so as to create the frustum indentation (501) which is located between them while still being able to accept the circular can insulator (903). The vessel support indentations (507) also include access openings (575) through the side of the support deck (105) as in the depicted embodiment. These access openings (575) are by no means required, but are provided to allow for improved access to a vessel (901) in the vessel support indentation (507) and to decrease the friction between the support deck (105) and beverage vessel (901) to allow for the vessel (901) to be more easily withdrawn if it is relatively large compared to the size of the vessel support indentations (507). The access indentations also allow for beverage vessels (901) with handles can also be positioned in the vessel support indentations (507) with the handles positioned through the access openings (575).

In the depicted embodiment, the support deck (105) includes two vessel support indentations (507). While this number is depicted, any number of vessel support indentations (507) may be included in different embodiments. It is preferred that at least two vessel support indentations (507) be present so that the vessel support indentations (507) are not located directly over the stake (103), but are distributed around the stake (103). In this way, the support deck (105) can also be more compact in construction as the stake support indentation (501) can be located between the vessel support indentations (507) as discussed previously.

Generally, the vessel support indentations (507) will be arranged so as to be equally distributed about the stake support indentation (501) forming a circularly symmetrical arrangement. In this way, when beverage vessels (901) are distributed through the various vessel support indentations (507), the mass of the beverages is distributed about the stake support indentation (501). The distribution of weight need not be exact, and in some cases the holder (100) may be overloaded with beverage vessels (901) arranged together in adjacent vessel support indentations (507) instead of being distributed about the support deck (105). At the same time, the current design will generally still be stable and will not tip due to the strength of the stake's (103) interaction with the earth (951). Further, even with maximum mass distribution to a single area, the mass will still be somewhat distributed due to the spacing of the vessel support indentations (507) around the stake support indentation (501).

The holder as it would appear in use is shown in FIG. 1. The user would first assemble the stake (103) and support deck (105) as discussed above, if required. Once assembled, the user will select a suitable place on the ground (951) to put the holder (100). Generally the holder (100) will be placed into sand, soil, dirt, or other earth which is particulate and has sufficiently small particles that a plurality of particles can pass into the hollow interior (313) of the stake (103) when the blade (307) is pushed into the earth (951). The stake (103) is pushed into the ground (951) nearby to the place the user wishes to occupy with the blade (307) being used to concentrate force and displace the ground (951) about the outer wall (311) of the stake (103). Some of the earth (951) displaced will be displaced to either side of the outer wall (311). As should be apparent, much of the earth (951) under the stake will be allowed to enter the hollow interior (313) of the stake (103) as the blade (307) passes into the ground. Once positioned, the user will place a beverage vessel (901) into at least one of the vessel support indentations (507) as shown in FIG. 1.

The use of a hollow stake (103) in the preferred embodiment provides for improved support over a solid stake. As earth is pushed into the hollow interior (313) of the stake (103), the distal end (305) of the stake (103) effectively becomes heavier and harder to move. In order for the holder (100) to tip, therefore, the mass of the earth inside the stake (103) must be shifted by the leverage of the stake (103) and the mass of the beverage vessels (901), beverages, and support deck (105). The mass of a hollow stake (103) at its distal end (305) is generally significantly greater than the mass of a similar weight stake which is not hollow due to the earth (951) inside the stake (103) making the holder (100) harder to tip. Further, to tip the holder (100), the stake (103) also has to displace all the earth (951) to the side of the stake (103) to lever the stake (103) from the earth (951). This requires more mass in the support deck (105). Again, as the stake (103) is hollow, the stake (103) will generally have a larger cross sectional area than a solid stake of similar mass meaning that more earth (951) must be moved to tip the holder (100). The holder (100) therefore can generally support a significant mass in the support deck (105) without tipping.

The support deck (105), by its generally circularly symmetric design also aids in preventing tipping as it generally inhibits placement of a significant amount of mass in a manner to allow the holder (100) to obtain leverage on the stake (103). Generally, as a user increases the number of beverage vessels (901) and therefore mass on the support deck (105), the more the mass will be evenly distributed due to the separation of various vessel support indentations (507). This further inhibits leveraging of the stake (103) from the earth.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative method for using the holder of FIG. 2 in the case where the ground is unsuitable for the blade (307) to be driven into the earth. In such a case, the ground will often be flatter and generally very rigid as it will be rock, concrete, asphalt, or similar material. In this situation, an adapter (800) is provided. The adapter (800) comprises a base (801) which may comprise a disk, a plurality of legs or feet, or other supports which are designed to rest against a flat surface and provide a stable base for the holder (100). The adapter (800) includes an extension (803) which is designed to interface with the distal end (305) of the stake (103). In particular, there is a post (831) surrounded by a sleeve (833). The post (831) is sized and shaped so as to pass into the hollow interior (313) of the stake (103) when the distal end (305) of the stake (103) is placed thereover. The sleeve (833) is contoured to be a mating shape to the blade (307). Therefore, the blade (307) intermeshes with the sleeve (833) as the post (831) is retained in the hollow interior (313). The sleeve (833) is not necessary in all embodiments, but it is preferred as it inhibits the holder (100) from rotating about the post (831) which, depending on the shape and arrangement of the base (801), could unbalance the holder (100) and adapter (800) combination.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with certain preferred embodiments, this should not be taken as a limitation to all of the provided details. Modifications and variations of the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and other embodiments should be understood to be encompassed in the present disclosure as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Claims

1. A beverage vessel holder comprising:

a support deck including at least two beverage vessel indentations; and

a hollow stake having an outer wall with opposing proximal and distal ends and a length therebetween, and a hollow interior;

wherein said hollow stake is attached to said support deck at said proximal end; and

wherein said stake has a blade designed to be pushed into earth at said distal end.

2. The holder of claim 1 wherein said support deck includes a stake support indentation and said stake is connected to said support deck in a press-fit configuration.

3. The holder of claim 1 wherein said blade is formed by a single cut at an angle to said length of said outer wall.

4. The holder of claim 1 wherein said blade is formed by two intersecting cuts at angles to said length of said outer wall.

5. The holder of claim 1 wherein said beverage vessel indentations are circularly symmetrical about said proximal end of said stake.

6. The holder of claim 1 further comprising:

an adapter, said adapter including: a post configured to fit into said hollow interior; a sleeve, surrounding said post, configured to interact with said blade; and a base, attached to at least one of said sleeve or said post.

7. The holder of claim 6 wherein said base is a disk.

8. The holder of claim 6 wherein said base includes a plurality of legs.