Collapsible holder for a beverage container

A holder for a beverage container including a vertical back plate having arms for engaging the side wall of a beverage container, a base member including a flat plate and first and second sidewalls attached to the base plate, and a collapsible bracket which can be engaged with the base member in an upright position, or stored within the holder when in its collapsed configuration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to holders for cups and other beverage 
containers, and more specifically to a collapsible beverage container 
suitable for use in an automobile. 
2. Background of the Invention 
Beverage container holders for use in automobiles, and particularly 
cupholders which are supported on the door of an automobile are widely 
known. Beverage container holders may be either collapsible or not, 
although the collapsible type holders provide the additional. Examples of 
known cupholders are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,828,211 and 
4,984,772. A beverage container of upholder of this type will accommodate 
beverage containers of various sizes and shapes. 
It is an object of this invention to provide a collapsible holder for 
beverage containers of various sizes which can be adjusted for use with a 
variety of container shapes and sizes, and which can be folded and stored 
in place between uses. 
It is a second object of this invention to provide a collapsible holder for 
beverage containers of various sizes which can be adjusted for use with a 
variety of container shapes and sizes. 
It is another object of this invention to provide a holder for beverage 
containers which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which includes a 
minimum number of moving parts. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention meets the stated objects by providing a holder for a 
beverage container which may comprise a vertical back plate including arms 
for engaging the side wall of a beverage container, a base member 
including a flat plate and first and second sidewalls attached to the base 
plate, and a collapsible bracket which can be engaged with the base member 
in an upright position, or stored within the holder when in its collapsed 
configuration as discussed below. 
The vertical back plate may further include a coin holder formed integrally 
with the back plate and the arms. The base member is pivotally attached to 
the vertical back plate, and is pivotable between a horizontal position 
for supporting a beverage container on the base plate, and a vertical 
position generally parallel to the vertical back plate. The first and 
second base member sidewalls each include a plurality of parallel channels 
formed along a portion of the inner surface of the sidewalls. The bracket 
includes an upper portion supported on a pair of parallel legs. Each leg 
includes one or more parallel teeth which are sized to engage to engage 
the parallel channels of the first and second sidewalls for supporting the 
bracket upper portion in an upright position on the base member for 
supporting a beverage container. The position of the bracket may be 
adjusted along the sidewalls toward and away from the back plate as 
required for receiving and supporting beverage containers of various 
sizes. The bracket may be disengaged from the sidewalls for storage within 
a space defined by the vertical back plate and the base member which has 
been pivoted to its vertical position. 
The beverage container may further comprise a hanger mechanism for 
supporting the beverage container on the door of an automobile. The hanger 
may comprise a horizontal channel member extending rearwardly from the 
vertical back plate, and an L-shaped member having a first portion 
received within the channel. The L-shaped member has a second portion for 
being inserted downwardly into the window channel in the upper portion of 
the automobile door. The hanger may be adjustable for use with doors of 
differing widths by virtue of parallel transverse grooves formed in the 
first portion of the L-shaped member, and by means of a resilient member 
operatively connected to the channel for engaging one or more of the 
parallel grooves for spacing the angled member a pre-selected distance 
apart from the vertical back plate. 
The invention will now be described in greater detail by reference to the 
drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, a container holder according to the present invention 
is shown generally at 10. Holder 10 includes vertical back plate 12, an 
adjustable hanger 13, a pivotable base member 14, and an adjustable 
bracket 16. Back plate 12 includes a pair of fixed, outwardly projecting 
arms 17 and 19 for partially encircling a beverage container supported on 
base member 14. For additional utility and convenience, back plate 12 and 
arms 17 and 19 are formed to cooperatively define a coin and pencil holder 
11 having three differently sized compartments for storing coins 50 and a 
pencil 51. Space is provided immediately below coin and pencil holder 11 
for attaching a small "Post-It.RTM."-type note pad 52 as well. 
Hanger 13 consists of a horizontal channel member 28 extending rearwardly 
from the upper edge of back plate 12 into which one arm 21 of an L-shaped 
hanger bracket 29 is inserted. As best shown in FIG. 3, arm 21 is formed 
with a series of transverse, ratchet-type grooves 25 along its center 
portion. Grooves 25 are engaged by pawl 31 when arm 21 is inserted into 
channel member 28. Hanger bracket 29 includes a second perpendicular arm 
33 for being inserted downwardly into the window channel of an automobile 
door (not shown) to hang the holder 10 on the door. 
Base member 14 is pivotally attached to back plate 12 by hinge assembly 39. 
Base member 14 includes a flat portion 15 having perpendicular side walls 
18 and 20, each of which is connected at its outer ends to end wall 22. 
The connected outer edges of side walls and end wall form a continuous 
edge 23 which abuts back plate 12 when base member 14 is pivoted to its 
vertical position. Along the inner surface of each side walls 18 and 20 is 
a channel 27, having a series of parallel grooves 24 and 26 respectively 
for engaging bracket 16, and having a perpendicular portion 46. Grooves 24 
and 26 are molded separately and attached to side walls 18 and 20. Base 
member 14 is preferably formed by a one-step molding of a polymeric 
material such as polystyrene. 
Bracket 16, also of a unitary molded construction, includes an upper 
portion 35, legs 30 and 32 and feet 47 and 49. Feet 47 and 49 include 
outwardly facing parallel teeth 34 and 36 which are sized and oriented to 
engage grooves 24 and 26 respectively (FIG. 5) for locking bracket 16 in 
the upright position for holding a container as shown in FIG. 1. Bracket 
16 may also be laid flat on back plate 12 for storage, and to that end is 
sized in length, width and height to fit within the space between back 
plate 12 and base member 14 when base member is pivoted to its upright 
position as shown in FIG. 3. 
In operation, holder 10 is fitted to the door of an automobile by inserting 
arm 33 of hanger bracket 29 downwardly into the window channel of an 
automobile door, for example, and sliding back plate 12 to rest against 
the door to securely clamp holder 10 in place. Owing to the complementary 
angled surfaces 25a and 31a of grooves 25 and pawl 31, back plate 12 may 
be adjusted toward the automobile door and locked in place without the 
need to manually operate pawl 31. Holder 10 is opened for supporting a 
beverage container by pivoting base member 14 downwardly to its horizontal 
position as shown in FIG. 1. Bracket 16 is then pivoted to an upright 
position. Legs 30 and 32 are then gripped and gently squeezed as indicated 
by the arrows in FIG. 4, and bracket 16 is slid toward back plate 12 to a 
position selected to fit the particular container. The legs are then 
released allowing teeth 34 and 36 to engage grooves 24 and 26 and lock 
bracket 16 in position. As best seen in FIG. 7, grooves 24 and 26 are 
provided in sufficient number along each side wall to allow bracket 16 to 
be adjusted toward and away from back plate 12 to accommodate various 
sized beverage containers. To avoid breaking bracket 16 by overzealous 
squeezing, stops 42 and 44 (FIG. 4) are provided to limit the available 
inward displacement of legs 30 and 32. A beverage container may then be 
placed on base member 14, where it is held in place by bracket 16 and arms 
17 and 19. 
When holder 10 is no longer needed, it may be folded as shown in FIG. 2 and 
left in place on the door. Holder 10 is readily collapsed by squeezing 
legs 30 and 32 to disengage from grooves 24 and 26. Bracket 16 then slid 
away from back plate 12 until teeth 34 and 36 are slid beyond grooves 24 
and 26; bracket 16 is then pivoted and laid flat in base member 14 as 
shown in FIG. 8. Base member 14 is then pivoted upwardly until edge 23 
meets back plate 12 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The narrow profile of 
holder 14 in this configuration allows it to be conveniently stored in 
place on the door where it may be quickly and conveniently opened for use. 
Holder 10 may also be removed from the door by manually lifting pawl 31 to 
disengage it from grooves 25, and sliding back plate 12 slightly away from 
the door, allowing the holder to be lifted out of the window channel. 
Having described my invention in terms of the preferred embodiment, it will 
be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications in 
details and materials are possible. All such modifications are intended to 
be included within the scope of the following claims.