Abstract:
A cup holder, wherein the cup holder comprises a well adapted to receive a beverage container through an open top of the well. The cup holder also includes a sealing unit having a ring seal secured to the well adjacent to the open top of the well. The ring seal engages the container when the container is disposed in the well to cooperate with the well in providing a substantially closed and sealed chamber resistant to heat transfer to or from the chamber.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 60/725,556 filed Oct. 11, 2005. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to cup holders and more particularly to a sealing unit for a cup holder in an automotive vehicle.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Cup holders have a variety of different uses. A cup holder is particularly useful in an automotive vehicle where it can hold a beverage container close to the driver or to passengers in the vehicle. However, all too soon, hot beverages become cold and cold beverages become warm. Preferably the beverage should hold its temperature as long as possible.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     In accordance with the present invention, a cup holder is shown comprising a well adapted to receive a beverage container through an open top of the well. A sealing unit is secured to the well. The sealing unit comprises a ring seal that engages the container. The ring seal cooperates with the well in providing a substantially closed and sealed chamber surrounding a major lower portion of the container which is resistant to heat transfer to or from the chamber.  
         [0005]     More specifically, the well of the cup holder has an annular side wall and a bottom wall. The ring seal has a radially outer supporting ring section that is secured to the side wall of the cup holder adjacent to the open top of the well. The ring seal has a radially inner ring section that sealingly engages the beverage container.  
         [0006]     Preferably the radially inner ring section is relatively soft, flexible and compressible. Also, the radially inner ring section is preferably made of one piece and includes a circular series of circumferentially contiguous segments joined only at the radial outer edge with little or no separation between the segments.  
         [0007]     The radially outer supporting ring section may be secured to the side wall of the cup holder by an adhesive or by clips engaged in slots in the side wall or by other means.  
         [0008]     Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a fragmentary perspective view of the inside of a typical automotive vehicle showing a center console having a cup holder constructed in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a sealing unit for use with the cup holder, also constructed in accordance with the invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken on the line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 , and also showing the sealing unit surrounding a beverage container disposed within the cup holder; and  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a view looking in the direction of the arrow  4  in  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0014]     The following description of the preferred embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
         [0015]     Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is shown a center console  10  in a front area of an automotive vehicle  12  next to the driver&#39;s seat. The console  10  has a cup holder  14  comprising a well  16  for receiving a beverage container  18  which typically has a cylindrical side wall  20 .  
         [0016]     The console  10  has laterally spaced apart, generally vertical outer side walls  22  and  24  and generally vertical outer front and rear walls  26  and  27 , and a horizontal top wall  28 . As seen in  FIG. 3 , the top wall  28  of the console has a center opening  29 . An annular flange  30  extends downwardly into the console from the center opening  29 . The annular flange  30  is generally vertical, although slightly downwardly tapering.  
         [0017]     Secured within the console beneath the annular flange  30  is an open top receptacle  32  which has a vertical annular side  34  and a generally horizontal bottom  36 . The lower edge of the flange  30  rests on an annular rim  37  at the top of the receptacle  32  in a sealed contact with the rim. The annular side  34  of the receptacle  32  is generally concentric with the annular flange  30  of the console  10  so that the annular flange  30  and the annular side  34  together form the side wall  38  of the well  16 . The bottom  36  of the receptacle  32  forms the bottom wall  39  of the well  16 . The opening  29  in the top wall  28  of the console forms the open top  40  of the well.  
         [0018]     A sealing unit  41  is provided for the cup holder  14 . The sealing unit  41 , as best seen in  FIG. 2 , comprises a ring seal  42  which when inserted in the well  16 , is concentric with the side wall  38  of the well. The sealing unit  41  has a circular radially outer supporting ring section  44  and a circular radially inner ring section  46  secured and sealed to the supporting ring section as by a suitable adhesive or other fastening means. The outer supporting ring section  44  is preferably in the form of a tubular band and is made of a relatively strong self-supporting material, such, for example, as polyethylene or any other suitable plastic.  
         [0019]     The inner ring section  46  is preferably in the form of a one piece layer of a relatively soft, compressible and flexible material such as natural or synthetic rubber. The inner ring section  46  is radially cut at circumferentially equally spaced points indicated at  48  to separate the radially outer portion of the inner ring section into circumferentially contiguous segments  50 , with minimum width that is, little or no clearance, separating the segments.  
         [0020]     The radially inner surfaces or edges  52  of the segments  50  of the inner ring section  46  are arcuate and together form a continuous or, nearly continuous, closed circle. The diameter of the circle defined by the inner edges  52  of the segments  50  of the inner ring section is preferably somewhat smaller than the diameter of the smallest beverage container that is likely to be held in the cup holder.  
         [0021]     The ring seal  42  is disposed horizontally in the well  16  adjacent to the open top  40  of the well, with the outer supporting ring section  44  extending vertically and pressing against the flange  30  of the side wall  38  of the well. The inner ring section  46  extends horizontally, radially inwardly from the outer supporting ring section  44 . The outer supporting ring section  44  may be secured to the side wall  38  of the well by a suitable adhesive or by angularly spaced clips  60  formed integrally with the outer supporting ring section  44  which extend into small slots  62  formed in the flange  30 . The tops of the clips are preferably horizontal to better lock into the slots, while the bottoms of the clips are preferably slanted radially outwardly and upwardly to facilitate the insertion of the seal ring  42  through the open top of the well  16  and into the flange  30 . The outer supporting ring section  44  presses against the flange  30  of the side wall  38  of the well in sealed contact therewith throughout the full circumference of the supporting ring section.  
         [0022]     In use, and with the sealing unit  41  in position in the well as shown in  FIG. 3 , the beverage container  18  may be placed in the well through the open top  40  thereof to a position in which it is seated on the bottom wall  39  and the radially inner surfaces  52  of the segments  50  of the inner ring section  46  are in sealing contact with the side wall  20  of the beverage container. The well  16  can accommodate beverage containers of a larger diameter than the beverage container  18 , in which case the segments  50  of the inner ring section  46  will fold or bend downwardly as shown in dotted lines in  FIG. 3 , with the segments  50  still in sealing contact with the container. The inner ring section segments  50  form a near continuous seal around substantially a full 360° of circumference of the beverage container. The bottom wall  39  is imperforate and the side wall  38 , except for the small slots  62  in the flange  30 , is also imperforate so that the ring seal  42  cooperates with a lower portion of the side wall  38  and with the bottom wall  39  in providing a substantially closed and sealed chamber  70  surrounding a major lower portion of the beverage container  18  which is resistant to the transfer of heat to or from the chamber. The slots  62  are small and allow only a very slight heat transfer. If, instead of the clip and slot connection shown, the outer supporting ring section  44  of the ring seal  42  is adhesively secured to the side wall  38  of the well in a sealed relationship, there would be virtually no heat transfer from the chamber  70 .  
         [0023]     A cold beverage in the container will be kept cold for a longer period of time and likewise a hot beverage will retain its heat for a longer period of time due to the substantially closed and sealed chamber  70 .  
         [0024]     The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.