Patent ID: 6010047
Filing Date: 2000-01-04
Classification: B60N,Y10S

Abstract:
A container holder for use in automotive vehicles and the like, said holder comprising:a housing having a bottom and a pair of side members extending upwardly from the bottom to define a relatively narrow elongated trough having front and rear ends;a foldable assembly slidably received in the trough in a folded stored position and slidable out through the front end of the housing to an unfolded operative position wherein said assembly is positioned for receiving a container;a support member in the assembly and including a base slidable on the bottom of the housing and having inner and outer ends;a pair of side walls in the assembly and engagable with the side members of the housing when in the folded position wherein said walls have inner ends pivotably supported adjacent the inner end of the base and outer ends engagable with the side members of the housing adjacent the front end of the housing;resilient means in the assembly for urging the side walls in an outwardly pivoting direction; anddual guide arms in the assembly, said guide arms pivotably mounted along upper edges of respective side walls and pivoted downward alongside their respective side walls in the stored position, said arms having inner ends linked for contemporaneous upward pivotal motion toward horizontal orientation in said operative position of the assembly and including container receiving cutouts in adjoining edges of the arms outward of said inner ends;whereby, upon sliding of said base outward from said stored position to said operative position, the side walls are pivoted outward and the guide arms are pivoted upward causing the cutouts to form a container receiving opening for receiving a container within the opening for engagement with the base between the side walls so that the container is restrained in an upright position within the container holder; and, upon returning of the base to the stored position, the side walls are forced inward by engagement with the side members of the housing, allowing the guide arms to pivot downward to fold the guide arms and side walls into the stored position within the trough formed in the housing.