Patent ID: 7318615

Claim:
A holder for a food and beverage container in a motor vehicle, comprising: a housing having an opening; a handle for the container articulatingly arranged on the housing and displaceable between a retracted rest position and a deployed position of use; a door arranged to open or close the opening in the housing according to the rest position and position of the handle; and a handle locking and releasing mechanism including a control track disposed on one of the housing and the handle, and a control pin disposed on the other of the housing and the handle, and engaging in the control track, wherein the mechanism includes a lever movably journaled on the housing, wherein the door is journaled for movement in a pivot shaft on the housing, wherein the door in an open position thereof is subjected to a closing force in the direction of a closed position thereof, and wherein the lever journaled on the housing has a locking spur which holds the door in its open position until the holder is displaced from a position of use thereof to position of rest.