Cup Holder

Abstract

A holder for holding one or more objects that may include a housing; and a grasping mechanism comprising a plurality of arms, each arm including a post anchored in the housing, a panel pivotally coupled to the post, and a spring operable to bias the arm in a grasping direction, thereby providing a plurality of panels biased by a plurality of respective springs.

1 . A holder for holding one or more objects, comprising:
 a housing;   a grasping mechanism comprising a plurality of arms, each arm including a post anchored in the housing and a panel pivotally coupled to the post and springingly biased in a grasping direction of the grasping mechanism, wherein shapes of the interior sides of the panels define an opening along an upper surface of the grasping mechanism; and   a cover coupled to at least one said panel and springingly biased so as to occupy the opening in the upper surface of the grasping mechanism.   
   
   
       2 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the object is a drink container. 
   
   
       3 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the cover has a shape that substantially matches a shape of the opening of the grasping mechanism when the grasping mechanism is in a fully closed position. 
   
   
       4 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the shapes of the panels and the shape of the cover cooperate to form the impression of a single integrated top surface of the holder when the grasping mechanism is in the fully closed position. 
   
   
       5 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the cover is configured to be deflected away from a plane of the upper surface of the grasping mechanism upon an insertion of an object into the holder through the opening in the grasping mechanism. 
   
   
       6 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the cover comprises:
 a plurality of flaps pivotally coupled to respective ones of the panels, wherein said flaps are springingly biased so as to occupy respective portions of the opening in the upper surface of the grasping mechanism when no object is present in the grasping mechanism.   
   
   
       7 . The holder of  claim 6  wherein the plurality of flaps are coupled to the respective panels through respective hinges and springingly biased toward the opening in the upper surface of the grasping mechanism by respective rotary springs anchored in respective ones of the panels. 
   
   
       8 . The holder of  claim 6  wherein the flaps are operable to deflect away from the plane of the opening in the upper surface of the grasping mechanism in response to an insertion of an object into the holder. 
   
   
       9 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the panels are substantially equally angularly distributed around an upper surface of the housing. 
   
   
       10 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein the panels are shaped such that the panels provide a substantially continuous annular surface on an upper face of the holder. 
   
   
       11 . The holder of  claim 1  wherein a balance of forces among springs springingly biasing the respective panels is operable to substantially center an object present between the panels within the holder. 
   
   
       12 . A holder for holding one or more objects, comprising:
 a housing;   at least one post anchored in proximity to the housing;   a panel pivotally coupled to the post and springingly biased in a direction suitable for grasping an object; and   a flap located in proximity to the panel and springingly biased so as to be parallel to a plane of an upper surface of the holder when the holder is empty.   
   
   
       13 . The holder of  claim 12  wherein the post is anchored in the housing and has an axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the plane of the upper surface of the holder. 
   
   
       14 . The holder of  claim 12  wherein the flap and the panel combine to provide an appearance of a single integrated surface when no object is present in the holder. 
   
   
       15 . The holder of  claim 12  wherein the flap is configured to deflect away from parallelism with the plane of the upper surface of the holder in response to an insertion of the object into the holder. 
   
   
       16 . The holder of  claim 12  wherein the flap is pivotally coupled to the panel. 
   
   
       17 . The hold of  claim 16  wherein the flap is configured to be rotated away from parallelism with the plane of the upper surface of the holder upon inserting the object into the holder. 
   
   
       18 . A holder for holding one or more objects, comprising:
 a housing; and   a grasping mechanism comprising a plurality of arms, each said arm including a post anchored in the housing, a panel pivotally coupled to the post, and a spring operable to bias the arm in a grasping direction, thereby providing a plurality of panels biased by a plurality of respective springs.   
   
   
       19 . The holder of  claim 18  wherein each said panel is moveable independently of others of said panels. 
   
   
       20 . The holder of  claim 18  wherein each said panel includes at least an inner edge, an outer edge, and a distal edge, wherein a succession of the panels is distributed over an upper surface of the housing, and wherein each said panel includes:
 a) a distal edge having a curvature substantially matching a curvature of, and slidable with respect to, the inner edge of a next panel in the succession of panels along a first direction, and   b) an inner edge having a curvature substantially matching a curvature of, and slidable with respect to, the distal edge of a preceding panel in the succession of panels along said first direction.   
   
   
       21 . The holder of  claim 20  wherein the inner edges of the panels collectively form a variable-diameter internal opening of the grasping mechanism. 
   
   
       22 . The holder of  claim 21  wherein the internal opening has an internal surface suitable for grasping an object located within the holder. 
   
   
       23 . The holder of  claim 20  wherein the matching curvatures of the respective distal panel edges and inner panel edges are operable to cause the plurality of panels to appear as a single part having an internal opening of variable diameter.