Patent Application
20110139948
The present invention relates to a cup holder that is utilized in stadium, arena and theater seating. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cup holder that attaches to a seat back or adjacent seat backs and yet allows compact storage of bleacher-style seats.
Cup holders are utilized venues such as theaters, arenas and stadiums to provide event-goers with convenient places to stow their liquid beverages. Cup holders may be positioned proximate a front end of a seat standard (support frame) or arm. Cup holders may also be secured to a back end of a standard as well as to the back surface of the seat back.
Because such venues may serve more than one purpose or have varying capacity requirements, some of the seating may be collapsible and/or removable to allow for different seating configurations. Typically, the movable seating has a telescoping bleacher-type construction, where one seat row fits underneath another seat row in a vertically stacked configuration. This generally requires a seat back to be positioned in a substantially horizontal position. When the seat backs are collapsed forward to lie horizontally, the cup holders attached to the seat backs tend to prevent the proper stacking of rows of seats in a stored position.
The disclosure is directed to a cup holder for installation at a juncture of two adjacent seat backs, wherein each of the seat backs has an arcuate back surface having a most rearward point, an intersection of the most rearward points of the two adjacent seat backs defining a plane. The cup holder comprises a main body and an attachment portion. The main body comprises a receptacle for holding a beverage container and has an installed depth dimension. The installed depth dimension is within a space defined by the adjacent seat backs and the plane. The attachment portion attaches the main body at the juncture of the two adjacent seat backs.
This Summary is provided to introduce concepts in simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the disclosed or claimed subject matter, is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the disclosed or claimed subject matter, and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Many other novel advantages, features, and relationships will become apparent as this description proceeds. The figures and the description that follow more particularly exemplify illustrative embodiments.
The disclosed subject matter will be further explained with reference to the attached figures, wherein like structure or system elements are referred to by like reference numerals throughout the several views.
While the above-identified figures set forth one or more embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the disclosure. In all cases, this disclosure presents the disclosed subject matter by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art which fall within the scope and spirit of the principles of this disclosure.
The figures may not be drawn to scale. Moreover, where terms such as front, back, in front of, behind, above, below, over, under, top, bottom, side, right, left, etc., are used, it is to be understood that they are used only for ease of understanding the description. It is contemplated that structures may be otherwise oriented.
The present invention relates to a cup holder for attaching to a back surface of one or more seat backs. The cup holder is mounted on the seat backs so that they are accessible and useable for persons seated in the row behind the row of seats on which the cup holder is mounted.
The disclosed cup holder 10 includes a main body 12 having a front wall 14 that is positioned behind a vertical plane 16. In the illustrated embodiment, the installed depth dimension of cup holder 10 fits within a space defined by the adjacent seat backs 23, 24 and plane 16. The plane 16 is defined by intersecting the most rearward points 26 of the back surfaces of two adjacent seat backs 22, 24. With the front wall 14 positioned behind the plane 16, the configuration of the cup holder 10 allows for proper stacking when seat backs 22, 24 are flipped forward to a substantially horizontal storage position. Thus, rows of seats can be stored compactly in a substantially vertical stack by utilizing a telescoping bleacher-type structure. The cup holder 10 provides for a convenient place to position a beverage container 28 (shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, cup holder 10 also includes a slot 46 in the top surface 32 for accepting and surrounding a back portion of a seat arm standard 13 (shown in
Cup holder 10 includes an attachment portion for attaching main body 12 at the juncture of two adjacent seat backs 22, 24. In some embodiments, the attachment portion mounts cup holder 10 on a seat standard. In other embodiments, the attachment portion mounts cup holder 10 directly onto the seat backs 22, 24. In an exemplary embodiment, the attachment portion includes left and right flanges 50, 52 extending upwardly from the top surface 32 on opposite sides of the slot 46. The left and right flanges 50, 52 are angled at mirror image angles to each other to follow the contours of the arcuate back surfaces of the two adjacent seat backs 22, 24.
For installation, left and right flanges 50, 52 are positioned proximate arcuate portions of the left and right seat backs 22, 24 at a juncture of the seat backs (See
In the illustrated embodiment, substantially vertical side walls 59, 60 are connected with the front wall 14, which is also substantially vertical. Ends 62, 64 of the side walls 59, 60 are positioned proximate the seat backs 22, 24 to provide a continuous, smooth surface. Such continuity prevents accidental engagement of event goers with the cup holder 10 that could detrimentally effect the connection of the cup holder 10 to the seat backs 22, 24 or spill beverages from containers positioned within the receptacles 34, 36. Moreover, such a structure eases housekeeping requirements by providing smooth, easily cleaned surfaces.
A recommended installation will take into account any clearance required by pivoting arm rest 6. Accordingly, cup holder 10 is preferably installed low enough with respect to arm standard 13 to prevent interference of cup holder with the pivoting operation of arm rest 6. Moreover, a spacing between left and right receptacles 34, 36 is chosen so that in a case where arm rest 6 pivots into a position between beverage containers 28, it does not cause dislodgement of beverage containers 28.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
