Patent Application
20120228175
Cup holders are generally cylindrical devices or frames designed to circumscribe a beverage container to maintain the container in an upright position at a given location. Cup holders may include various attachments to secure the holder to a larger object, such as a car, bike, chair, etc. Inflatable cup holders have also been used to float a beverage container on the water for use at the pool. However, these devices are not properly weighted or designed to maintain a beverage container in an upright position if the water is moving or turbulent.
A novelty floating cup holder is designed to maintain a beverage container in an upright position through turbulent or moving water. The cup holder may include a holding compartment sized and shaped to accommodate a desired beverage container, or multiple beverage containers. The cup holder is sufficiently buoyant to float the cup holder and the added beverage container. The cup holder may also include a ballast to keep the cup holder oriented upright in the water. The outer surface of the cup holder may be shaped such that a side profile is longer than the frontal profile to assist in moving the water around the cup holder. The cup holder may also include a keel to further assist in orienting the cup holder such that the front profile is directed into the flow of moving water, such that the ballast, keel, and outer surface of the cup holder can work together to maintain the cup holder in an upright position through moving or turbulent water.
The following detailed description illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention. This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention. It should be understood that the drawings are diagrammatic and schematic representations of exemplary embodiments of the invention, and are not limiting of the present invention nor are they necessarily drawn to scale.
In an exemplary embodiment, the cup holder 100 includes a body 102 in the shape of a duck. The body may be contoured and colored to resemble the features of a realistic water animal, such as a duck. The cup holder may be made of a light weight, durable material, such as plastic or rubber. The body 102 may be hollow and water tight, to provide a buoyant structure to support a beverage container in the water. The interior may also be filled with foam or other material for buoyancy and/or insulation. The cup holder may be injection molded to include the various features of the animal, including a head with eyes and beak, neck, wings, and tail. The features or further details of the animal may be relief on the body surface, such as feathers. The animal may be colored or decorated to further add to the realistic perception of the cup holder. Alternatively, the cup holder 100 may be colored or configured to distinguish the reality of the holder, such as by applying bright colors inconsistent with the natural animal.
In an exemplary embodiment, the cup holder 100 includes a container compartment 104 to hold one or more containers 106. As shown, the container compartment 104 is a generally cylindrical compartment open at the top to accommodate a container 106, such as a can or cup. The container compartment includes a flange circumscribing the outer perimeter, creating a lip at the top of the container compartment. The lip rests on the body 102 of cup holder 100 to support the container compartment 104 and container 106. The container compartment 104 may be permanently coupled to the body 102 by adhering or bonding the lip to the body by glue, epoxy, adhesive, etc. The container compartment 104 may also be releasably attached to the body 102 through a mechanical fastener, or may simply rest on the body, supported by the lip.
The container compartment 104 may be a generally cylindrical indention in the back of the cup holder 100 body 102 as illustrated and described above. Alternatively, the container compartment 104 may be a larger cylindrical, oval, rectangular, or other shaped compartment to accommodate multiple containers in the same space, similar to a cooler. In this case, the container compartment 104 may also include a lid or other structure to fully enclose the container compartment. The cup holder 100 may also include more than one container compartment 104 accordingly to one or more embodiments as described herein. Therefore, the cup holder may include a container compartment of the cylindrical indention to support a single beverage as well as a larger compartment for multiple containers. These compartments may be separate or may be integrated together. For example, the lid of a larger compartment may be designed to hold multiple closed containers with a lid that includes the single holder compartment for an open container.
The container compartment 104 may be integrally formed into the body 102 or may be a separate component fitted into or onto the body 102. The container compartment 104 may be permanently coupled to the body 102, or may be removable to provide access to the interior of the body 102. In one embodiment, the container compartment 104 is detachable from the body 102 to provide access to the interior of the body. The body 102 may include a generally hollow area under the container compartment 104 accessible through a hole in the body 102 which accommodates the container compartment 104. The hollow area of the body 102 may be used to house a cooling medium, such as ice, to maintain the container compartment 104, and associated container 106, at a desired temperature. The interior may also provide the space for a second container compartment to house one or more additional beverage containers. In this case, the hole of the body is sufficiently sized to permit a hand to enter the interior space and retrieve the additional containers. The width of the flange of the container compartment 104 may be increased to span the distances from the cylindrical body of the container compartment to the edge of the enlarged hole and permit sufficient overlap to support the container compartment.
In an exemplary embodiment, the body of the cup holder 100 may be shaped to orient the body in a desired position relative to a direction of moving water. For example, the body may have a frontal profile area less than a side profile area, where the profile is the projection of the body surface from one perspective onto a two-dimensional surface. The frontal surface may also be contoured to further assist in orienting the cup holder 100 in the water. Therefore, the breast of the duck 120 may be swept back to create a profile as seen from the top of an end of an ellipse or oval, and the tail of the duck 122 may be more sharply contoured, such that the top profile is generally tear shaped.
The cup holder 100 may also include a keel 108 for orienting the cup holder with respect to moving water. The keel 108 may project from the underside of the body 100 and create a blade or fin along the long axis of the body. The keel 108 may be integral with the body 102 or separate and removably attached. For example, the body 102 and keel 108 may be injection molded to form a seamless, integral structure. Alternatively, the body 102 may include a slot on the underside to accommodate a corresponding projection from the keel. The slot and keel may include other features, such as detent and notch, to secure the keel to the body once properly positioned within the slot. Other connections are also possible, including mechanical fasteners, cooperating body structures, etc. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the keel runs along the long central axis of the cup holder, from front to end. The body include a slot with cross-bar indentions, generally in the form of a “T”. The keel includes a generally flat fin with a projection along the upper edge that corresponds to the T-shaped slot in the body. The projection along the top of the fin includes two pairs of indentions on either side of the projection to mate with two pairs of ridges within the top of the slot in the body. The lower portion of the keel, may include a shaped body to orient the keel in the water. The shaped portion may also include a ballast, as described in more detail below. The keel may also include one or more holes, indentions, rib, hook, connector, fastener, etc. to link the cup holder to a tether. The separable keel may improve packaging and shipping and also provide greater flexibility in material choices.
The cup holder 100 may include a ballast 110 to assist in stability and orientation of the cup holder in the water. The ballast 110 may be incorporated into the keel 108, or may be in the lower part of the body 102. The ballast includes a weight to the bottom of the cup holder, to retain the cup holder in an up-right position in the water. For example, the lower portion of the keel 108 may include a hollow shaped portion filled with weight such as sand, gravel, coarse rock, metal rod or bar, etc. The added weight pulls the ballast into the water, and keeps the cup holder oriented in the up-right position. The buoyancy of the cup holder maintains the top of the container compartment 104 above the water. The ballast may also or alternatively be incorporated into the body 102 of the cup holder 100. Therefore, a weight may be added to the lower portion of the body 102 to properly orient the cup holder in the water.
The cup holder may be formed of one or more combination of materials. For example, the container compartment, body, and keel may be of one or more light weight, durable plastics, while the ballast material may include lead or sand. The body may be injection molded in the desired form, and may integrally include the container compartment and/or the keel. Alternatively, the body, container compartment, and keel may be separately molded, and coupled together. The components may be fixed through glue, adhesive, bonding, mechanical fasteners, or cooperating configurations.
Although embodiments of the invention may be described and illustrated herein in terms of an exemplary cup holder in the form of a duck, it should be understood that embodiments of this invention are not so limited, but are additionally applicable to other forms of a floating cup holder. Furthermore, although embodiments of the invention may be described and illustrated herein in terms of separate components, it should be understood that embodiments of the invention are also applicable to configurations in which components are combined, integrated, separated, coupled, etc. as would be within a person of skill in the art.
For example, other animals and shaped cup holders may be used according to embodiments of the invention. The exemplary duck illustrates one exemplary configuration utilizing the preferred body profile adapted to traverse the water surface (side profile longer than frontal profile), however other configurations are permissible and contemplated. While the duck is depicted as the cup holder for the purpose of illustration, is to be understood that the cup holder can be the shape of any Animal as is encompassed in the Animal Kingdom or Kingdom Animalia. Both terms for the purpose of this description are interchangeable and have the same meaning. The Animal Kingdom (“Animal Kingdom”) shall be defined as “taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals.” For the purpose of further clarification, Animal (“Animal”) shall be defined by (1) Merriam-Webster dictionary or (2) as generally accepted by the greater scientific community, whichever gives greater creditability to the term Animal. To further clarify, the term Animal shall include but is not limited to mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, insects, spiders and all other forms of creatures within the Animal Kingdom, and including imaginary and real creatures. A person of skill in the art will understand that the disclosure herein may be adapted to other shapes as well, and is not limited to the disclosed figures, shapes, or animals as described, but includes all such variations.
Although embodiments of this invention have been fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being included within the scope of embodiments of this invention as defined by the appended claims. The cup holder may also include other features or accessories. For example, a bottle opener may be tethered to the cup holder or integrally formed into a body portion of the cup holder, such as the underside of the beak. All such modifications and alternatives are within the spirit and scope of the present claims.
A person of skill in the art will recognize that features as disclosed herein may be used alone or in combination, as described. Benefits of the various features will be realized by one of skill in the art. For example, the body profile, keel, and ballast may be used to orient the body with respect to moving water, such as shown in
