1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder for supporting beverage containers such as cups, glasses, and cans. A receptacle receives the container, and a clamp engages a nearby environmental object, such as a lawn chair. A strap having hook and loop material secures the clamp tightly in place.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beverages contained within drinking glasses, cans, and the like are frequently enjoyed by persons who are engaged in activities such as driving, or sunbathing or other diversions wherein they are seated in a lawn chair or the like. It is desirable to locate the beverage receptacle close at hand for convenience and to assist in preventing spills. Accordingly, holders for supporting drinking glasses and cans attached to a chair, automobile door, and similar environments have been developed to meet this need.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,147, issued to Ronald W. Dutton on Mar. 1, 1988, describes a drink holder intended for attachment to a lawn chair. The drink holder comprises an open frame to support the beverage container. The holder secures to the lawn chair by partial surrounding engagement of a frame member of the lawn chair with a portion of the body of the holder. A flexible strap of hook and loop material completes the encirclement. The portion of the body designed to engage the lawn chair has a square walled recess, and is substantially limited to use with lawn chairs having frames cooperating in dimension and configuration with this recess.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,106,046, issued to Donald R. Rowles et al. on Apr. 21, 1992, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,452, issued to Nichol Huynh on Jan. 18, 1994, describe drink holders intended for use in automobiles. Both include a tab insertable into the gap existing between a window and its adjacent door structure. The tab projects downwardly, and the inner portion of the door structure is straddled by the tab and an arm connecting the tab to the body of the drink holder. No flexible straps are employed to secure the installation. The receptacle of the device of Huynh is provided by an insulating blanket. The receptacle of the Rowles et al. holder is an open frame similar to that of Dutton.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,770, issued to Connie S. Louthan on Oct. 5, 1993, a drink holder comprising an open frame is secured to an adjacent environmental object in one of two ways. The body of the holder is provided with many slots for accepting a belt covered with hook and loop fastener. The belt can be passed through any of the slots in several different ways, so that attachment can be pendant, or attachment may be by drawing the holder into tight abutment with the environmental object. Pendant attachment may possibly be subject to allowing a drink so supported to sway and spill. Abutment with a flat vertical surface will likely suppress swaying, but attachment may not be readily accomplished. In the case of lawn chairs and the like typically comprising tubular frames, there is no flat surface to suppress sway. Therefore, while the holder may be tightly and solidly mounted to its supporting environmental object, spillage is possible in a great many instances.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,370, issued to George H. Adkins on Jun. 24, 1986, sets forth a drink holder intended for use with bicycles. A clamp having circular recesses is tightened around a tubular member of the bicycle. Securement of the clamp is accomplished by tightening a wing nut onto a threaded stud. There is no hook and loop strap provided. The receptacle surrounding the beverage container comprises a sleeve of fairly rigid material lined with an insulating material.
U.K. Pat. No. 579,356, dated Jul. 31, 1946, illustrates a spring urged clamp for securing a holder or support to an associated environmental object. The support or holder comprises a clothes pin adapted so that the wire bent to form the spring is elongated, projecting laterally from the clothes pin, and bent to define loops into which a beverage container may be placed. The clothes pin clamps to a small, cylindrical object in order to support the portion of the wire bent to form the receptacle. Obviously, an extensive receptacle cooperating with a beverage container would not be provided by the wire loops. No insulating member could readily be formed to cooperate with the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 54,530,479, issued to Jason K. Chen on Jul. 23, 1985, Swiss Pat. Document No. 660,448, dated Apr. 30, 1987, and U.K. Pat. Application No. 2,223,931, dated Apr. 25, 1990, all illustrate other drink holders. All three examples have open frame receptacles, and attachment devices different from that of the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.