The present invention relates to an assembly for holding and supporting at least one beverage container within a vehicle. More particularly, this invention relates to an assembly integrally constructed with a vehicle arm rest and adapted to hold and support multiple beverage containers. Generally, these assemblies are known as cup holders.
When traveling in a motor vehicle, whether it is a short cross town commute or a trip of a longer duration, the occupants of the vehicle often find it enjoyable to consume a beverage while in route. For example, morning commuters often carry with them a hot beverage in a cup from the house or a convenient drive-thru service. At other times the beverage may be contained in a bottle or can. In all of these situations, while the vehicle is moving the container can be easily upset if it is placed on the dash, floor, seat or center console. For obvious reasons, it is desirable to provide a stable support or holder for beverage containers when they are used within a vehicle.
Over the years, a number of devices have been developed to prevent a beverage container from spilling its contents within a vehicle. One such device is known as the travel mug. Travel mugs generally come in two varieties, one of which has a narrow opening and a wide base and the other includes a lid and sometimes a flanged bottom which can be slid into a base mounted to the dash or center console of the vehicle. Both of these mechanisms have limitations in that they require the use of a dedicated container, exclusive of other containers. Since you must always have the travel mug in your car or with you to reap its benefits, these beverage containers can be inconvenient.
Another direction in which designers have moved has been to develop "generic" cup holders which can receive and support numerous types, styles and sizes of beverage containers. One of the first of these cup holders was a one-piece plastic "hanger" which included a downwardly extending tab that, during use, was positioned so as to extend into the window opening generally between the glass of the window and the interior of the door. These cup holders were rigid structures and of limited use because they were bulky, easily broken, and sometimes interfered with turning of the steering wheel or the opening of the door in certain vehicles. Cup holders have also been seen which fold down and generally operate as a tray on which the container can be placed.
Notwithstanding the above, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have been developing retractable cup holders which are mounted within the vehicle. One such cupholder includes a tray which is mounted for sliding movement into a recess in the dash board of the vehicle. The tray may include one or more fixed circular apertures into which the beverage container can be received. Another type of OEM cup holder includes a pivoting tray having one or more fixed circular apertures into which the beverage container can be received. These trays often pivot from a stored position to horizontal "use" position in response to the opening of a cover or door. The cover often operates as a rest for the bottom of a container received within the aperture of the tray.
As instrument panels have become increasingly crowded with electronic and ventilation equipment, cup holder trays with fixed circular apertures have fallen into disfavor. In an effort to reduce size, numerous assemblies have been developed where one or more retaining member forms less than a complete aperture into which the container is received. These retaining members often pivot with respect to a tray-type member which defines the remaining portion for the container receiving aperture. While being slightly more complicated in construction than fixed ring cup holders, these assemblies allow the cup holder to occupy less space when stored.
Another current trend is to relocate the cup holder assembly from the instrument panel to another portion of the vehicle. Because it is desirable to provide a compact cup holder which occupies a minimum amount of storage space, one location which has received considerable attention in the design of cup holders is the center console or fold down arm rest, respectively found in vehicles with bucket seats or split bench seats.
Generally, cup holders found in a center console or arm rest (hereinafter just arm rest) consist of one of two types. In the first of these types, the cup holder pivots about a horizontal axis from a stored position, located within the arm rest, into a use position where a beverage container can be received in it. Typically, this variety of cup holder is used where the arm rest also doubles as a center storage compartment and is provided with a hinged lid. The cup holder portion itself usually only occupies the forward end of the storage compartment.
The second type of arm rest cup holder utilizes a drawer which slides into a recess defined in the arm rest. In order to hold at least two containers whose combined width is greater than that of a standard sized arm rest, this type of cup holder must include some features which will allow those portions of the cup holder which actually define the container receiving apertures to occupy a reduced amount of space when stored in their non-use position. In accomplishing the above, cup holders have been proposed where each aperture which receives and holds a beverage container is defined in part by two elements, one of which is movable relative to the other.
Accordingly, one or more arms are provided so that they will laterally pivot relative to a drawer as the drawer is withdrawn from a recess in the arm rest. Generally these pivoting arms include a curved portion which cooperates with a curved recess in the drawer so that when the arms are fully extended a beverage container receiving aperture is generally defined by the two. One drawback with this type of design is that since the pivoting arms only define a portion of the beverage container receiving apertures, only one end of each pivoting arm is supported making the entire arm susceptible to instability problems. Another drawback is that these types of cup holders lack the ability to accept a beverage container having a handle, such as a coffee mug.
With the prior art in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cup holder assembly which is mounted to slide within a recess defined in the vehicle. In particular, it is an object to provide a cup holder which is mounted to slide within a center console or arm rest, located between the driver and passenger seats of the vehicle.
Another object of this invention is to provide a cup holder in which the beverage container receiving aperture is wholly defined by a single element so as to offer a significant amount of stability to support a beverage container therein.
A further object of this invention is to provide a cup holder of the above mentioned variety wherein the container receiving aperture readily accepts beverage containers with handles, such as coffee mugs.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a cup holder which will occupy a reduced amount of space when in either its stored or use position.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a cup holder assembly which is adapted to readily receive beverage containers exhibiting a wide variety of diameters and to support them in a stable manner.