Patent ID: 7748679

Claim:
A container securing device, comprising: a housing portion for housing a container, said housing portion having a cylindrical shape, a surrounding wall with a hole therein, and an opening at an upper end thereof; a flap positioned within said hole of said surrounding wall of said housing portion, said flap being configured and arranged with respect to said housing portion such that a leading end portion of said flap is operable to move in or out of said housing portion in response to the container being inserted into the housing portion or being extracted from the housing portion; and an urging component comprising a spring for pushing said flap toward an interior of said housing portion; wherein said housing portion, said flap, and said urging component are interconnected and configured such that: when the container is not housed within said housing portion, said flap is in a projected position in which said leading end portion of said flap protrudes into an interior of said housing portion; said flap is operable to be rotated from said projected position in either a first direction or a second direction opposite said first direction; when the container is being inserted into the housing portion, said flap is operable to rotate in said first direction from said projected position to an extracted position in which said flap is withdrawn from the interior of said housing portion by contacting an outer wall of the container; and when the container is being removed from the housing portion, said flap is operable to rotate in said second direction from the projected position to the extracted position by contacting the outer wall of the container.