Patent ID: 7789265

Claim:
A cup holder for a vehicle, the cup holder having a cylindrical wall and a bottom wall that cooperate to define a cylindrical opening, the cup holder comprising: a plurality of tab openings formed in the cylindrical wall; a plurality of tabs, each of said tabs being associated with and adapted to extend through one of said tab openings; a plurality of pivot portions secured to said cylindrical wall, each of said pivot portions being associated with one of said openings and including a stationary pivot post and having one of said tabs moveably mounted on the pivot post; and a spring operably connecting each of said tabs to said associated pivot portion, wherein the tabs are mounted to the associated pivot portion so as to move horizontally relative to the associated pivot portion and rotate in a vertical direction about the associated pivot portion, wherein the spring biases the tab to a neutral tab position, the neutral tab position being a position in which the tab extends to a maximum extent from the associated opening and a top end of the tab and a bottom end of the tab extend from said associated opening an equal amount.