Cup holder

A dual beverage container holder assembly for a vehicle comprising:

• a housing member formed in the dashboard of a vehicle and including surfaces defining an opening facing the interior of the vehicle, said housing member including a means for slideably receiving an insert member;
• an insert member slideably disposed in the housing, the insert member including a base and an upper wall connected by a longitudinally extending central receiver member, said upper wall including a pair of arcuate surfaces facing outward from said central receiver member for forming a pair of openings for partially surrounding an arcuate side surface of a beverage container on either side of said central receiver member, said lower wall supporting at least a portion of the beverage container;
• a pair of pivotal arms connected to said insert and biased for pivoting away from the central receiver member in response to sliding of said insert member out of said housing, said pivotal arm including a free end having an arcuate surface facing toward the central receiver member portion for partially surrounding the outside surface of a beverage container and retaining the beverage container between said arcuate surfaces of the upper wall and the arcuate surface of the pivotal arm;
• and
• a stop means for providing a stop position at an open position of said pivotal arms for holding of said insert member at an open position.

A dashboard and retractable dual beverage container holder comprising:

• a dashboard for a vehicle including an opening therein for receiving a retractable dual beverage container holder, said opening including a top, a bottom and two sides;
• a mounting bracket attached in said opening, adjacent said top of said opening, said mounting bracket including a central support member extending in a direction away from said top at a central location and a pair of camming flanges extending in a direction away from said top of said opening and adjacent said two sides of said opening;
• a cup holder insert, said cup holder insert including a base having a front and a rear portion and an upstanding receiver portion, said receiver portion being slideably journaled to said central support member for facilitating sliding of said insert into and out of said opening, said upstanding receiver portion including a pair of attachment flanges spaced from the base and at the rear portion of said cup holder insert;
• a pair of pivotal engagement arms pivotally journaled to said pair of attachment flanges, each of said pivotal arms biased toward movement away from said receiver portion including a free end defining an arcuate beverage container engaging portion and a camming surface, said camming surface engaging said camming flanges during relative movement between said insert and said mounting bracket for providing opening and closing of said pivotal arms in response to sliding movement therebetween;
• a variable stop means for providing selective stop positions of said pivotal arms for engaging variable size beverage containers, said pivotal arms being collapsible for sliding into said opening;
• and
• an upstanding closure wall at the front of said insert for substantially closing the opening when said insert is retracted fully into said opening.

A dashboard and retractable dual beverage container holder comprising:

• a vehicle dashboard having an opening therein, said opening including a top, a bottom and two sides;
• a mounting bracket attached to the dashboard adjacent said top of said opening;
• said mounting bracket having a first portion extending along said top of said opening and having a pair of side edges terminating adjacent said sides of said opening, said mounting bracket including a pair of side camming flanges extending downwardly from each of said side edges of said opening, said mounting bracket including a downwardly extending centrally disposed support member extending along the length of said first portion, said support member having a pair of tensioning spring members attached on either side thereof, each of said pair of tensioning spring members including a terminal upper surface;
• a beverage container holder insert including a base extending parallel with said first portion of the mounting member for supporting a bottom of a beverage container;
• an upstanding receiver portion extending longitudinally from and along a centerline of said base, said receiver portion having a central channel therein for receiving said support member and said spring tensioning members, said receiver member including a pair of lips for extending over said terminal upper surfaces of said pair of spring tensioning members, said receiver portion being slideable with respect to said support member and said tensioning members providing for frictional engagement with said receiver portion to reduce rattling between said receiver portion and said support member, said receiver member including a rear wall for closing of said channel in said receiver portion to provide a stop against sliding of said insert beyond a predetermined point;
• an upper attachment flange member vertically spaced from and parallel to said base member, attached to and extending along said receiver member, said upper attachment flange including a pair of outwardly extending beverage container receiving portions, said pair of beverage container receiver portions each including an arcuate concave container receiving surface formed therein, a pivotal arm attached to said upper attachment flange on either side of said receiver portion, a helical spring operably attached between said attachment flange and each pivotal arm for biasing said pivotal arm towards movement away from said receiving member, each of said pivotal arms including a concave arcuate camming surface for cooperating with said camming flanges of said mounting bracket for progressively allowing for movement away from or toward said central receiving member during relative sliding movement between said beverage container holder insert and said mounting bracket;
• each of said pivotal arms including an arcuate free end having an arcuate concave surface facing each of said container receiving surfaces of said container receiving portions of said attachment flange for supporting of sides of a beverage container between said arcuate concave surface of said pivotal arm and said arcuate container receiving surface of said container receiving portions;
• a spring member attached to said mounting bracket, said spring member including a tongue portion for tensionally engaging the attachment flange portion during sliding therebetween, said attachment flange portion including a plurality of longitudinally spaced indentations for cooperating with said tongue portion to provide for stopping points during sliding between said beverage container holder insert and said mounting bracket to provide stopping points for pivoting of the pivotal arms for providing for different progressive size openings between said arcuate concave surface of said pivotal arms and said container receiving surfaces of said container receiving portion for closely surrounding the sides of various sizes of beverage containers.