Holder for a beverage container

The invention described and claimed hereinbelow is also described in German Patent Application DE 10 2007 048 947.3 filed on Oct. 12, 2007. This German Patent Application, whose subject matter is incorporated here by reference, provides the basis for a claim of priority of invention under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).

The invention relates to a holder for a beverage container.

Holders of that kind are known; they are frequently installed in motor vehicles in order to hold beverage containers so that they do not tip over, They have an insertion opening for inserting a beverage container, for example a beverage can, a cup, a beaker or a bottle. Holders are known which have a holding ring that is guided by means of a guideway, for example a slideway, so that it is movable up and down between a raised position and a lowered position. The holding ring therefore performs a reciprocating movement between its end positions, the directional terms “raising”, “lowering”, “up” and “down” being used with reference to an intended installation position of the holder.

The holding ring contains the insertion opening for the beverage container, the words “holding ring” being understood not in terms of a ring shape but rather in terms of the possibility of inserting a beverage container. Likewise, the holding ring does not have to be continuous in the circumferential direction. Raising the holding ring increases the beverage container insertion height in order to hold the beverage container so that it does not tip over. When not being used or when a short beverage container is inserted, the holding ring can be lowered.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a holder for a beverage container, which is a further improvement of the existing beverage containers.

In keeping with these objects and with others which have been apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention recites, briefly stated, in a holder that has a dead-center spring element which, after a dead center in one direction has been overcome, urges the holding ring into the raised position and, after the dead center in the other direction has been overcome, urges the holding ring into the lowered position.

Such dead-center spring elements are also referred to as bi-stable spring elements. The dead-center spring element does not have to be a special spring but can, for example, be a conventional compression spring or even tension spring, that is to say, for example, a helical spring or leg spring. The spring is so mounted that it is more highly stressed at the dead center than at the end points. When the holding ring is moved from the lowered or raised position, the dead-center spring element is subjected to (greater) stressing and relaxes (partly) after the dead center has been overcome. As a result, after the dead center has been overcome, the dead-center spring element raises the holding ring fully into the raised position or, when being moved in the opposite direction, lowers the holding ring into the lowered position. In addition, the dead-center spring element holds the holding ring in the raised position and lowered position.

The holder according to the invention furthermore has an operating element, which acts on the holding ring with play. The operating element can act on the holding ring directly or indirectly by way of drive members, for example gear wheels or levers. As a result of the play it is possible to move the operating element back into a neutral position between its end positions when the holding ring has been moved up or down into the raised or lowered position by the dead-center spring element after the dead center of the latter has been overcome.

For raising the holding ring, the operating element is moved out of the neutral position in one direction and, for lowering the holding ring, out of the neutral position in the other direction; the starting position is always the neutral position. The play of the operating element should therefore be of sufficient magnitude that, when the holding ring is in either end position, the operating element can be moved back into the neutral position. For this purpose, in one embodiment of the invention, the operating element is provided with play which is about half of the displacement of the holding ring.

In one embodiment there is provided a return spring which urges the operating element into the neutral position so that it returns to the neutral position under spring loading after the holding ring has been raised or lowered.

In one embodiment, in order to obtain the desired play between the operating element and the holding ring, two jointly movable stops are provided. The two stops can be formed on a common component, for example the operating element. Two pins, lugs or the like between which the operating element engages and which are located on, for example, a gear wheel of a drive of the holding ring can also form the two jointly movable stops. Arrangements are also feasible in which the jointly movable stops are formed on different components connected in terms of drive. One of the stops moves the holding ring upwards, the other downwards. The desired play is obtained by way of the spacing between the stops.

In a development of the invention there is provided a displacer having a recess the edges of which, spaced apart in the direction of movement of the displacer, form the two stops. In addition to a linearly displaceable displacer having a recess which extends in the direction of displacement and the two ends of which form the two stops, the displacer can also be a rotary displacer having an angled recess. The rotary displacer can also be described as a turntable but it does not have to have a circular shape. Side walls of the angled recess of the rotary displacer form the two jointly movable stops. The side walls of the angled recess of the rotary displacer are spaced apart from one other in the circumferential direction or, that is, the direction of rotation, that is to say in the direction of movement of the rotary displacer.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a cover which is connected in terms of drive to the holding ring and which as a result is opened when the holding ring is raised and closed when the holding ring is lowered. The holder can also have two or more covers. Opening and closing of the cover is accomplished by raising and lowering the holding ring.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of a holder according to the invention in the open position;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the inventive holder of FIG. 1;

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Coupling part for connecting two containers stacked on top of one another
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Receptacles

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