Abstract:
A beverage container holder includes a holder body presenting a container well, an adjusting wall, a support strap and a spacer element. The adjusting wall is adjustably coupled with the holder body in spanning relationship with the well for selectively altering the span of the well in order to support and retain differently sized containers. In preferred forms, adjustment notches are defined in the top wall of the holder body on opposed sides of the well for receiving respective pins extending from the adjustable wall adjacent the opposed ends thereof. The spacer element is eccentrically and rotatable coupled with the bottom wall for selective adjustment of the spacing between the holder body and an upright support surface.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable 
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of beverage container holders for vehicles. In particular, the invention is concerned with a beverage container holder including a holder body presenting a container well, an adjusting wall, a support strap and a spacer element wherein the adjusting wall is adjustably coupled with the holder body in spanning relationship with the well for selectively altering the span of the well in order to support and retain differently sized containers. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The prior art discloses a variety of beverage container holders for use in vehicles. Many do not present structure for adjusting the size of the container well. As a result, these types of holders cannot accommodate the larger containers and do not provide adequate support to smaller containers. 
     Other prior art holders disclose various techniques for adjusting the size of the container well. These include structure for shiftably coupling the side walls with the bottom wall or base. Other types include inwardly extending flexible fingers designed to conform to the shape of a beverage container and provide sufficient support. These and other prior art holders tend to be marginally effective in use or mechanically complex leading to increased manufacturing cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the prior art problems discussed above and provides a distinct advance in the state of the art. More particularly, the beverage container holder hereof is mechanically simple yet effective in supporting and retaining differently sized beverage containers. 
     The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a holder body presenting a container well, an arcuate adjusting wall, a support strap and a spacer element. The holder body includes adjustment teeth defined in the top wall thereof on opposed sides of the well configured for selectively receiving in the notches therebetween respective pins depending from opposed ends of the adjustment wall. By shifting the pins to the notches, the adjusting wall can be shifted to a selected position in the well for adjusting the span of the well in order to accommodate the size of a selected beverage container. 
     In preferred forms, a spacer element is eccentrically and rotatably coupled with the bottom wall of the holder body. With the holder suspended by the support strap from a generally upright support surface, the spacer element can be rotated until it provides the needed spacing from an adjacent upright surface in order to present the bottom wall substantially level. Other preferred aspects of the present invention are disclosed herein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred beverage container holder apparatus in accordance with the present invention shown in use suspended from the side window of a vehicle; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of the holder body of FIG. 2 with a portion of the adjusting wall shown in phantom lines in a first position; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the portion of the adjusting wall in the sixth position; 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 shown holding a beverage container such as a soda cap illustrated in phantom lines; 
     FIG. 6 is a side elevational view in partial section of the apparatus of FIG. 1 shown holding a larger beverage container illustrated in phantom lines; and 
     FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 2. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 illustrates preferred beverage holder apparatus 10 in accordance with the present invention in use suspended from the interior surface of side window 12 of a vehicle 14 and engaging the interior door panel 16 below window 12. Apparatus 10 broadly includes holder body 18, adjusting wall 20, support strap 22 and spacer element 24. 
     Holder body 18 is preferably composed of synthetic resin material and integrally includes C-shaped top wall 26, circular, apertured bottom wall 28 and spaced side walls 30, 32, 34, 36 extending therebetween. Walls 26-36 cooperatively define beverage container well 38 and are configured so that holder body 18 presents front side 40 and rear side 42. Top wall 26 includes arcuate left section 44, arcuate right section 46 positioned on the opposed side of well 38, and upraised rear section 48 interconnecting the rearward ends of left and right sections 44, 46 and defining the rearward side of holder body 18. 
     As best viewed in FIG. 1, side wall 30 extends between the forward end of left section 44 and bottom wall 28. Similarly, side wall 32 extends between the forward end of right section 46 and bottom wall 28. Spaced side walls 30 and 32 define gap 50 located at the front of well 38 and configured for allowing the ear of a cup to extend therethrough when the cup is received in well 38. Side walls 34, 36 also extend between sections 44, 46 respectively but adjacent and on opposed sides of rear section 48. 
     Referring also to the other drawing figures, left section 44 further includes structure defining left slot 52. Five adjustment teeth 54a, 54b, 54c, 54d and 54e extend into slot 52 respectively defining six, arcuate, rearwardly extending, adjustment notches 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d, 56e and 56f. Similarly, right section 46 includes structure defining right slot 58 with five adjustment teeth 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d and 60e extending therein defining six, arcuate, rearwardly extending, adjustment notches 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e and 62f. As explained further herein, notches 56a-f and 62a-f are configured to receive depending pins for selective positioning of adjustment wall 20. 
     Arcuate adjusting wall 20 is preferably composed of synthetic resin material and integrally includes wall strap 64 and depending wall portion 66. Wall portion 66 is positioned centrally relative to wall strap 64 and depends therefrom in order to extend into well 38. Wall strap 64 presents opposed, left and right ends 68 and 70, ridged, left and right handles 72 and 74 positioned adjacent respective ends 68, 70, and upstanding, ridged, left and right grippers 76 and 78 spaced respectively from handles 72, 74. 
     Left and right adjustment pins 80 and 82 extend downwardly from wall strap 64 adjacent ends 68, 70 and adjacent respective handles 72, 74. Pins 80, 82 are configured for reception in notches 56a-f and 62a-f respectively and present an L-shaped configured as best viewed in FIG. 7 to prevent inadvertent removal of pins 80, 82 from respective slots 52 and 58. 
     Support strap 22 is coupled with rear section 48 of top wall 46 and is preferably configured as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,214 incorporated herein by reference. Strap 22 is length adjustable relative to holder body 18 and includes suction cup 84 coupled adjacent the distal end thereof designed for attachment to a vehicle window in order to support holder body 18 in a depending relationship. Integral tongue 86 is configured to extend between a vehicle window and the window frame as shown in FIG. 1 for added support. 
     Spacer element 24 presents a generally rectangular configuration with rounded corners and is preferably composed of synthetic resin material. Pivot member 88 rotatably couples element 24 with bottom wall 28 adjacent the lower surface thereof. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, pivot member 88 is off-center relative to bottom wall 28 and near the rearward side of holder body 18 in order to eccentrically couple spacer element 24 with bottom wall 28. With this arrangement, spacer element 24 is rotatable between an extended position as illustrated in FIGS. 1-2 and 5-6 and a retracted position in which spacer element 24 is positioned within the area of bottom wall 28, with intermediate positions therebetween. Accordingly, spacer element 24 can be rotated to provide the spacing necessary against an adjacent upright surface for maintaining bottom wall 28 substantially level. 
     In use, apparatus 10 can be placed on any substantially level surface or mounted within the interior of a vehicle as the preferred environment of use. For the example illustrated in FIG. 1 for vehicle mounting, tongue 86 is inserted between the interior surface of a side window 12 and the window frame which extends from door panel 16. Suction cup 84 is then pressed against window 12. This places holder body in a depending relationship from support strap 22 with the length thereof adjusted as needed to place holder body 18 at the desired height. Next, spacer element 24 is rotated to engage door panel 16 and space holder body 18 therefrom. Continued rotation increases the spacing until bottom wall 28 presents a substantially level surface, such as the extended position illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     The next step is to position adjusting wall 20 as needed to accommodate the size of the beverage container to be received in apparatus 10. Well 38 presents a span thereacross between gap 50 and wall portion 66. Adjusting wall 20 is positioned as needed to adjust the well span in order to support a particular beverage container. 
     For example, FIG. 5 illustrates the first position for accommodating a typical soft drink can. In this position, left pin 80 is received in left notch 56a and right pin 82 is received in right notch 62a. This position presents the smallest well span. As noted above, notches 56a-f and 62a-f extend rearwardly and this helps ensure that a respective pin is locked in its notch while supporting a beverage container in well 38. 
     In order to accommodate a larger beverage container, the user grasps left handle 72 and pushes leftwardly which removes left pin 80 from notch 56a and into left slot 52. While holding left handle 72 the user slides left pin 80 along slot 52 until the selected notch is reached such as notch 56f (as the sixth position) for a large beverage container such as illustrated in FIG. 6. The user then releases left handle 72. Adjusting wall 20 is resilient and configured for bias toward reception in a notch. The same procedure is repeated for the right side by grasping right handle 74, removing right pin 82 from notch 62a, sliding pin 82 along right slot 58 until notch 62f is reached whereupon right handle 74 is released and pin 82 slides into notch 62f. 
     The other notches allow positioning of wall 20 at intermediate positions. With six pairs of notches corresponding to six positions for wall 20, virtually any sized beverage container can be effectively supportive by apparatus 10. Moreover, this effectiveness if accomplished through the mechanical simplicity of apparatus 10. It will be noted that a total of thirty-six positions are available for wall 20 because each of the two pins can be positioned in any one of six notches. 
     In order to shift adjusting wall 20 to present a shorter well span for a smaller container, the procedure described above is repeated except that pins 80, 82 are moved forwardly along respective slots 52, 58. This procedure is aided by the thumb of the user&#39;s other hand engaging a respective gripper 76, 78 for shifting a pin to a selected location. As will be appreciated, if the beverage container presents an extension such as the ear of a coffee cup, the cup is positioned so that the ear extends through gap 50 with adjusting wall 20 positioned to engage the side wall of the cup.