Cup holder for a vehicle

Details Cup holder for a vehicle Cup holder for a vehicle

1999-10-19

2001-06-26

Vidovich, Gregory M. (Department: 3727)

Package and article carriers

Vehicle attached

Slidable receiver

C224S539000, C224S926000, C248S311200

Reexamination Certificate

active

06250527

ABSTRACT:

The contents of Application No. TOKUGANHEI 10-297203 filed on Oct. 19, 1998 in Japan is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cup holder for use in a conveyance.
A cup holder for a conveyance in the past was, for example, provided for use by rear-seat passengers on the rear surface of a console box installed between the left and right front seats of a vehicle. (Refer to the Japanese laid-open patent application publication H6-115392 for similar technology.)
In a cup holder of the past, however, because the pair of left and right holders were merely housed within a case stacked vertically, the vertical width of the case was large, making it difficult to install the holders in a conveyance which provided only a limited amount of usable space.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention, in view of related art, to provide a cup holder for a conveyance that features small dimensions in the horizontal and vertical directions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the above-noted object, a cup holder according to the present invention has a case that is fixed to a conveyance, a tray for supporting the bottom of a container, and a pair of holders on the left and right. The case has an aperture that opens facing the passenger compartment. The tray is movably supported by the case, and can be pulled out from its position housed within the case to the position in which it is used, via the aperture. Each holder has an arm with a ring for supporting the side of the container. The arms are linked to the tray so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. Each of the rings has an overlapping part, which overlaps vertically with an overlapping part of the other ring when the arms are brought into mutual proximity, and a non-overlapping part which does not overlap with the corresponding part of the other ring when the arms are brought into mutual proximity. The vertical-direction width of the overlapping parts is smaller than the vertical direction width of non-overlapping parts.
The term conveyance as used herein should be understood as a broad-ranging concept that encompasses such means of conveyance as motor vehicles, railroad cars, vessels, and aircraft. The expression “fixed to a conveyance” should be understood to include the case in which the case is fixed to the conveyance itself (that is, to a motor vehicle in the case of a motor vehicle) and also the case in which the case is fixed to an item assembled to the conveyance (such as a console box, instrument panel, or seat in the case of a motor vehicle). Additionally, the term container should be understood as a broad concept encompassing such containers as cans, bottles, and cups.
According to the above-noted configuration, because the vertical-direction width of the overlapping part of each ring is smaller than that of the non-overlapping part, when the rings are superimposed one over another, the overall vertical direction width thereof is smaller that the total of the width of the two non-overlapping parts. Therefore, the vertical-direction width of the case for housing the holders can be made small, the above-noted configuration being therefore suitable for use in conveyances that have only limited usable space.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4919381 (1990-04-01), Buist
patent: 5474272 (1995-12-01), Thompson et al.
patent: 5762307 (1998-06-01), Patmore
patent: 5791616 (1998-08-01), Volkmann et al.
patent: 5820094 (1998-10-01), Tanaka
patent: 5839710 (1998-11-01), Hubbard
patent: 5857633 (1999-01-01), Pelchat, ll et al.
patent: 6050468 (2000-04-01), Kelley
patent: 6-115392 (1994-04-01), None
patent: 8-132949 (1996-05-01), None
patent: 9-220961 (1997-08-01), None

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