Adjustable Cup Holder
The present invention is in related to an adjustable cup-holder, which is able to hold different types of cups. An adjustable cup-holder comprises: a bottom; a handle, a lower end of the handle connecting the bottom; and a horizontally flexible ring; wherein the flexible ring and an upper end of the handle are in an adjustable connection for different dimensions of cups.
This is a divisional application of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/565,733 filed Jan. 24, 2006 and now U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0175506.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in related to an adjustable cup-holder, which is able to hold different types of cups.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior cup-holders are the types of a glass cup with a handle or a two-layer cup with stainless steel material; on the other hand, a cap can be utilized to contain a cup, but the cap is installed a handle and a pad for protecting that a table surface being not damaged by hot drink in the cup; further that, a fixing structure is designed on either the table or the cup for holding. The cup-holders or the cap are not adjustable and are only for specific cups, but there are many different types of cups with for example, dimensions, figures, etc.
Besides, due to the costs of materials as glass, paper, two-layer stainless steel, and cleaning, etc., and most of cups have no handles, pads, and fixing structures, therefore other suitable materials are needed to easily and efficiently produce such components on cups. Again, as aforesaid, there are sorts of cups, so the components to fit cups may not be possible. Hence an adjustable cup-holder with a handle, a pad, a fixing structure, etc. may be a need for fitting different types of cups.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of the present invention is to provide an adjustable cup-holder for a wide range of application to versatile cups. The cup-holder has a handle and is made of plastic, alloy, metals, etc. It is then that the cup-holder is manufactured with low technology and low cost, and thus a pad, a fixing structure, etc. can be made as well. The paper cup or the glass cup contained in the cup-holder is either replaced or cleaned.
According to the present invention, the cup-holder comprises a bottom; a handle, which lower end connects the bottom; and a horizontally flexible ring; wherein, the flexible ring connects an upper end of the handle for containing different dimensions of cups.
According to the present invention, any type of cup is easily put into and taken off from the cup-holder, further that, cups are not turned over due to the features of adjustment and fixing structure, thus the present invention is capable of applying to different sorts of cups.
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing.
In order that those skilled in the art can further understand the present invention, a description will be provided in the following in details. However, these descriptions and the appended drawings are only used to cause those skilled in the art to understand the objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention, but not to be used to confine the scope and spirit of the present invention defined in the appended claims.
According to a first embodiment of
A central portion of the cylindrical body 211 of the top cover 21 is a plug 2111 moving up and down, a lower end 21111 of the plug 2111 goes through a hole 21131 of a cylindrical body bottom portion 2113 for stopping an air through hole 223 located on a central portion of the socket 221 of the chassis 22. A flange 224 around the chassis 22 encloses a ring slot 231 of a sucker 23, therefore the sucker 23 and the chassis 22 are connected and sealed each other. Four small columns 2241 of the flange 224 are inserted into four holes 232 on the sucker 23 for fixing for avoiding that the sucker 23 being taken off.
A spring 21114 is above the plug 2111, and an upper end of the spring 21114 is against a small round cover 21121 of an upper hole 2112 of the cylindrical body 211, a lower end of the spring 21114 is located into a dent 21112 of a central portion of the plug 2111. Therefore, the spring 21114 can push the plug 2111 downward. The diameter of a flange 21113 on the upper end of the plug 2111 is larger than the hole 21131. While the plug 2111 is inserted into the air through hole 223, the sucker 23 can absorb the surface of a table to fix the chassis 22, as shown in
Due to the handle 1 is aside of the adjustable cup-holder, it may be strong enough, therefore the materials shall be heavy enough as well. The gravity of the cup-holder focuses on the rim of the bottom of the cup-holder. If a cup or a paper cup is not contained in the cup-holder, the cup-holder is easily turned over, therefore a suitable place of the top cover 21 or the bottom 2 under the handle 1, the chassis 22, is extended a supporting plate 2A for preventing that the cup-holder being turned over. Certainly the supporting plate 2A can be extended from the handle 1 as well. It is can be any figure of the supporting plate 2A, but the preferable one is a semicircle type.
A fixing end 31 of the flexible ring 3 above the handle I connects a buckling plate 4 protruding from the upper end of the handle 1. A buckling cam 5 is set on the upper end of the handle 1. An axial hole 51 of the buckling cam 5 cooperates with an axis 11 elongating from the upper end of the handle 1. A free end 32 of the flexible ring 3 is in between the buckling plate 4 and the buckling cam 5. The buckling cam 5 and the axial hole 51 are not concentric, the smaller diameter part of the buckling cam 5 is turned to be close to a portion 33, shown as the active lines in
The flexible ring 3 is not continuous, therefore two ends of the flexible ring 3 may be overlapped each other while the flexible ring 3 surrounding the cup 6. The diameter of the flexible ring 3 is smaller, the overlap may be longer; the diameter of the flexible ring 3 is larger, the overlap shall then be shorter. The flexible ring 3 can be adjustable to suitably fit the cup 6 and then fastened for fixing the cup 6. There are two aspects for fastening the flexible ring 3; the first is to tie up the front end and the rear end of the flexible ring 3, but not limited to the beginning end and the tail end, otherwise, the positions may be a suitable location around the front end and another suitable location around the rear end; further, there is not only the fastening of the front end and the rear end, but also that the front end is mounted on a bracket and the rear end is mounted on somewhere of the bracket; secondly, it is to fasten the flexible ring 3 and the cup-holder together. Although the present invention discloses that the end of the flexible ring 3 connects the upper end of the handle 1 and another end is an adjustable free end, on the other hand, two ends being free ends shall be another embodiments as well. As aforesaid embodiment, the two free ends are to be clamped in between the buckling plate 4 and the buckling cam 5. A couple of holes are punched on both the free front end and the free rear end, and a stick is through the holes for fixing different types of cups. Such way can be used as belts, braces, etc.
There are many ways to tie the cup-holder and the flexible ring 3 up, that is, a clamping mechanism mounted on a position of the flexible ring 3 is able to connect the flexible ring 3 and the cup-holder; alternatively, using a stick to go through the holes on both the flexible ring 3 and the cup-holder. The flexible ring 3 and the cup-holder are separate, thus they are convenient to clean, but many components may be careful for keeping and using.
Besides, the buckling cam 5 can be rotated by the axis 11 through the axial hole 51 and elongated upward from the handle 1, shown as in
There are some possibilities that the cup is still shaken even if the cup is tied up by the flexible ring 3. Hence, there is a need to settle some fasteners under the lower portion of the cup. The adopted way is to bind the lower portion of the cup by means of the flexible ring 3, and the buckling plate 4 of the flexible ring 3 is suitably set on the bottom portion 2113 or the bottom 2 of the handle 1. Due to the bottom 2 is fastened with the cup, the more convenient, reliable and economical way is to install some fasteners on the bottom 2. Due to that the bottom 2 is under the cup originally, therefore the simple way is to set some fasteners on the bottom 2. The fasteners have a couple of baffles protruding upward to hold the surrounding edge of the bottom 2, and the baffles are divided into two types, one is fixing type, another one is movable type. The fixing type of the baffles are designed as ladder figure for different diameters of cups. The ladders are closer to the center of the bottom 2, the ladders are lower. Such that, smaller cups are located into lower positions of the baffles. No matter what cups are located into lower or upper positions, cups are held tightly. Further, the organized shape of the baffles can be the type of reverse taper figure. Hence, while the cup is applied by more power into the baffles, the cup is more tied up. The bias angle of the reverse taper figure is closer to 90.degree., the cup is fixed more easily. More, the surface of the baffle can be covered by soft material, and the bottom 2 is hard to move while the bottom 2 being sunk into the soft material. The aforesaid two figures of the baffles may be installed some positions surrounding the bottom 2, preferably a pair of baffles are located on two sides of the handle 1, and they are symmetrical.
The movable type of the baffles are settled on the bottom 2 for holding the cup as well, a movable base is under the baffles, and a couple of tracks are on the bottom 2 for the movable base riding on. The movable base has a temporarily fixing mechanism so as to fix the movable base on the bottom 2 while the movable base moving to a certain position, continuously the baffles are capable of holding the cup.
Please refer to figures, and following will describe the movable type of the baffles first, and then the fixing type of the baffles. In
A round upper baffle 2147 and a round lower baffle 2148 are individually set beyond and below the oscillating axis 2142. Both the baffles are wider the slot 213 for clamping thereon, the lower line-tooth fastener 214 can then moves back and forth in the slot 213, and not loosed as well.
A pair of arc slots 215 are arranged on the top cover 21, and two arc sliding blocks 216 are in the two arc slots 215 respectively, and sliding back and forth therein. Each of the arc sliding blocks 216 extends a stopping plate 2161 upward, and a clamping surface 21611 of the stopping plate 2161 may clamp the cup 6. In
Shown as in
In
Another embodiment shown as in
Besides, at least one ladder type of fixing block 217 is set on a suitable position of the top cover 21 adjacent to the lower end of the cup 6, and there is only one fixing block 217 shown in
As shown in
According to a second preferred embodiment of
As shown in
The cup is put into the flexible ring 3 and tied up firmly by stirring the buckling cam 5 while in use. The cup may be shaped as cylinder-type or with different tapers, an axial central line of the cup may be deflective after the cup is tied up firmly. Hence, a structure for angle adjustment is a need. The solution is to design an arc surface 14 on the handle head 12 and other two arc surfaces 21833 and 45 in between a middle of the binder and an inner surface of the buckling head 4. The I-type binder is able to adjust deflective angles of the cup before tying the cup up. For ensuring the adjusted angle to be stable, a plurality of teeth 141 of the arc surface 14 can buckle a plurality of long holes 21832 up. Otherwise, if the buckling head 4 is power enough, the teeth 141 and the long holes 21832 can be ignored.
A third preferred embodiment is shown as in
A free end 32 of a flexible ring 3 with a round profile is settled a plurality of indentations 321. The free end 32 penetrates through a through hole 43 of a handle head 12. A cylindrical guiding column 46 of a buckling head 4 is capable of going through a guiding hole 15 of the handle head 12. A hook edge 431 of a wedge hook portion 43 of a wedge plate 47 inserts into one of the indentations 321 of the flexible ring 3 and a guiding slot 16 of the handle head 12. A guiding rail is composed of the guiding column 46, the guiding hole 15, the wedge plate 47 and the guiding slot 16, and downward insertion of the buckling head 4 may be with a bias angle toward right, shown as in
The present invention is thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. An adjustable cup-holder comprising:
- a bottom;
- a handle, a lower end of the handle connecting the bottom; and
- a horizontally flexible ring; wherein the flexible ring and an upper end of the handle are in an adjustable connection for different dimensions of cups.
2. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 1, wherein an end of the flexible ring connects to the handle to form a fixing end, another end of the flexible ring is a free end, the free end is adjustable and fixed on the handle or the fixing end of the flexible ring.
3. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 2 further comprises a buckling plate protruding from the upper end of the handle and a buckling cam setting on the handle, the fixing end of the flexible ring connects the buckling plate, a space between the buckling plate and the buckling cam is provided for the free end, the free end of the flexible ring is fixed to a position by way of turning the buckling cam.
4. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 3, wherein the buckling cam is mounted on an axis elongated from the handle vertically or horizontally.
5. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 3 further comprises a stirring rod mounted on the buckling cam.
6. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 3 further comprises a buckling head mounted on the upper end of the handle, a through hole is formed in the buckling head for inserting the free end of the flexible ring.
7. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 6, wherein the through hole with a protrusion is formed in the buckling head, a plurality of holes are settled on the free end of the flexible ring to match with the protrusion for fixing the free end of the flexible ring.
8. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 7, wherein the protrusion is a tooth, a figure of the hole or the dent match with a figure of the tooth.
9. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 7 further comprises the buckling cam on a handle head, the buckling cam matches with a horizontal protruding portion of the buckling head by means of a guiding structure, and then turning the buckling cam can fix the free end of the flexible ring in the through hole of the buckling head firmly.
10. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 9, wherein the guiding structure is a pair of hook structure on the buckling cam, the buckling head has a pair of pin members and a pair of flexible plates, the flexible plates can move horizontally on the handle head, the hook structure hitches the two pin members of the buckling head.
11. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 10 further comprises an elastic binder between the buckling head and the handle head.
12. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 11, wherein the binder has a plurality of elastic curve clamping members.
13. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 11, wherein the handle head, a middle of the binder and an inner surface of the buckling head have an arc surface respectively.
14. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 1, wherein a top cover protruding downward and out of a cylindrical body is set on a center of the bottom, a chassis protruding upward and out of a socket is below the top cover, a sucker is mounted on the chassis for sealing, the top cover and the bottom connect each other for moving up and down and not being dismantled.
15. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 14, wherein a wall of the cylindrical body has two stopping slots, the stopping slots symmetrically cooperate with a plurality of stopping portions located on an upper portion of the socket of the chassis.
16. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 14, wherein a supporting plate elongated from the handle or the top cover is set under the handle.
17. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 14, wherein a plurality of baffles protrudes upward and are located around a lower end of the cup on the top cover for stopping movement of the cup.
18. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 17, wherein the baffle is shaped as ladder figure or bevel figure and mounted on the top cover symmetrically.
19. An adjustable cup-holder comprising:
- a bottom;
- a handle, a lower end of the handle connecting the bottom; and
- a horizontally flexible ring; wherein the flexible ring and an upper end of the handle are in an adjustable connection for different dimensions of cups;
- wherein a top cover protruding downward and out of a cylindrical body is set on a center of the bottom, a chassis protruding upward and out of a socket is below the top cover, a sucker is mounted on the chassis for sealing, the top cover and the bottom connect each other for moving up and down and not being dismantled.
20. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 19, wherein a plurality of baffles protrudes upward and are located around a lower end of the cup on the top cover for stopping movement of the cup.
21. The adjustable cup-holder as cited in claim 20, wherein a plurality of arc sliding blocks under the baffle are in plural arc slots respectively, and sliding back and forth therein.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 3, 2009
Publication Date: Oct 15, 2009
Inventor: Yung-Huei Lan (Taipei)
Application Number: 12/477,344
International Classification: A47G 23/02 (20060101);