Patent Application
20200232600
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The disclosure and prior art relates to coupling assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new coupling assembly for coupling an item to a pole.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a block and a ring. The ring is coupled to and extends from a front of the block. A channel extends from a top to a bottom of the block so that the channel is perpendicular to the ring. A void extends into a first side of the block to a distal limit of the channel. The void is transverse to the channel and is configured to insert a substantially vertical pole into the channel. Subsequent pivoting of the block relative to the pole frictionally couples the block to the pole by a force of gravity acting on the ring. The ring is configured to insert an item of the user to couple the item to the pole.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The ring 14 has an inner face 18 that is planar. The ring 14 has an outer face 20 that is convexly arcuate. The inner face 18 has an upper perimeter 22 and a lower perimeter 24. The upper perimeter 22 is circumferentially larger than the lower perimeter 24 so that the inner face 18 is tapered, as shown in
A rod 26 is positioned between the block 12 and the ring 14, as shown in
A void 34 extends into a first side 36 of the block 12 to a distal limit 38 of the channel 28. The void 34 is transverse to the channel 28 so that an upper end 40 of the void 34 is positioned between an upper opening 42 of the channel 28 and the front 16 of the block 12, as shown in
Subsequent pivoting of the block 12 relative to the substantially vertical pole frictionally couples the block 12 to the substantially vertical pole by a force of gravity acting on the ring 14. The ring 14 is configured to insert an item of the user, such as a cup of coffee, to couple the item to the substantially vertical pole. The mass of the article serves to increase the frictional coupling of the block 12 to the substantially vertical pole. The rod 26 creates a separation between the item that is positioned in the ring 14 and the substantially vertical pole to facilitate access to the item by the user.
A first cutout 50 is positioned in a second side 52 of the block 12 so that the second side 52 is planar. A second cutout 54 is positioned in the top 30 of the block 12 so that the top 30 is planar. The first cutout 50 and second cutout 54 provide flat surfaces 56 upon which the user may place digits of a hand to manipulate the block 12 to couple the block 12 to, and to decouple the block 12 from, the substantially vertical pole.
In use, the substantially vertical pole is inserted through the void 34 into the channel 28. The block 12 is pivoted relative to the substantially vertical pole to frictionally couple the block 12 to the substantially vertical pole. The item of the user is inserted into the ring 14 to couple the item to the substantially vertical pole.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
