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A cup holder is a device, such as a zarf, to hold a cup or other drinking vessel. It may be free standing to hold cups securely on a desk or other flat surface, or in a tree style to store sets of cups in kitchens. They may be built into automobiles or chairs, or fixed to the walls of airplanes, boats, buses and trains.
The development of the drive-in restaurant was a step in the cup holder's development. Servers would attach a tray that hooked over the car's side window, which needed to be left up a little for it to attach to. This gave a temporary table to hold drinks and food while eating in the car. The drive-in restaurant and cinema encouraged the development of built-in tray tables; often, the inside of the glove compartment lid, when folded down, had indentations to hold cups, cans as well as pistachio shells and were found in cars as early as the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. [1] These were sufficient to hold beverages when the car was stopped, but not while in motion.
The later development of the drive-through restaurant encouraged the development of better holders for drinks, and a more fast-paced life and longer commute times made many drivers desire to drink their morning coffee in the car on the way to work. The 1960s saw coffee cups with wide, flat, rubberised bases being sold, which would keep them steady on the dash or console. A little later, aftermarket cup holders began to be sold. These often clipped onto the door windows, although other designs wedge in between the front seats and the center console.
Built-in cup holders began to be available in the 1920s.[ citation needed ] Minivans were pioneers in their availability, and they still offer the greatest number of them. Over time, automotive cup holders have become larger and more sophisticated, so that they can hold a variety of different cup sizes securely. Many offer spring-loaded holders that clasp the cup securely, no matter how large or small. The development of ever-larger cups by fast-food chains and convenience stores in the US and Canada has proven a challenge to automotive designers; many fast-food chains now offer 44 fl.oz. (1.3 L) drinks. The automobile cup-holder has also driven the development of "car cups" designed to fit within most cars' cup holders; these have a narrower base but flare outward after a short cylindrical distance.
The installation of cup holders in automobiles increased significantly[ citation needed ] after Stella Liebeck v. McDonald's Corporation , in which a 79-year-old woman in Albuquerque, New Mexico ordered hot coffee from a McDonald's restaurant and, when it spilled, was scalded so severely she required skin grafts. In her suit against McDonald's the jury awarded her US$2.7 million in damages (later reduced by the judge to US$640,000). Before the inevitable appeal could be heard, the case was settled privately for an undisclosed sum.
Earlier wood versions of cup holders for tops of desks have been around decades such as one featured in a U.S. Airline catalog in the late 1980s. Cup holders for edges of desks and tables really picked up steam in the U.S. around 2006 regarding the GW Bush administration. Specifically, the CDC Department. Cup holders for such a use weren't for sale on the internet in the U.S. during most or all of 2005 and possibly not prior. The 1st appearance 2005 to 2006 was by Antro Technology with a cup holder for the edge of a construction table. The 2nd was a South Korean export with a clip for an indoor table. People sometimes drink beverages at their tables and work desks. It is very easy to knock over a cup or mug full of hot tea or coffee and this can then damage expensive laptops or keyboards. Also the hot liquid may cause injury to people or damage to books or carpets.
On a table or work desk, coffee cups can be knocked over by the person sitting and working at the desk by their arms or hands. This can happen very easily if they are disturbed e.g. by a telephone call or by a sudden impulse move. Coffee cups on desks can also be knocked over by pets such as dogs or cats who may jump up on to the desk. Coffee or tea can also spill out of a cup if the table is knocked by a person walking by.
Several devices were patented to hold coffee cups. The main problem in the endeavor is to provide a mechanism to hold the handle of the cup which usually protrudes a few centimeters from the side of the mug. Another problem facing the inventors is the varying sizes of coffee cups. Some devices which were patented are as follows.
In Japan several patents were applied for, but they were not finalized. They have since been commercialized by other manufacturers. These are:
New Zealand patent number 565067. This is a completely free-standing desktop coffee cup holder that can sit on any flat surface this was invented by Digby Green, George Green and Aly Matthews. It can be manufactured in several materials, e.g. wood, metal or plastic. It has been manufactured in plastic by Adovationz Ltd in New Zealand under the brand name of Adkaf.
Dorian Gibbs of Los Angeles, California had the earliest workable cup holder that attaches to a flat edge in the U.S. with US 5,842,671 granted Dec. 1, 1998. US 6,929,229 was granted on Aug. 16, 2005 to Chris D. Palmby of Bellingham, Washington. Perry Segretto of Elmhurst, Illinois had a similar cup holder pending like Palmby's in the U.S. around the same time. Segretto and Michael Koczor sold a cup holder called Drink Hold'em featured on HGTV's "I want that." Antro Technology sold one similar briefly. A South Korean company exported a clip type cup holder to the U.S. No lawsuits were involved to slow the product though mail was received. An agenda regarding jobs with a patent trolls interest occurred during the time of the Obama administration.
A wide variety of cup holders that attach to cylinders were produced in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Before the automobile cup holders, many buses and trains were built with wall-mounted cup holders. These cup holders are usually constructed by thin stainless steel plates. Some of them are covered by rubber. There are now many cup holders available which can be screwed to the walls of boats and buses and recreational vehicles.
Another popular cup holder for boats is the "drop in" cup holder. This is a round plastic item, that has a lip at the top. It requires that a hole is drilled into the boat's table or console and then the unit is inserted and the lip holds it in place. These do not accommodate cups with handles.
AMC Theatres patented cup holder armrests in 1981. [2]
These are devices which hold several mugs usually in a kitchen or dining room. People often buy sets of mugs for use in a family or guest situation and they need a place to store them ready for use. These cup holder trees are available in two types. The first type has a base with a vertical mast from which there are hooks to hold each cup or of an "accordion" arm where pegs are placed at each junction of a pivot point. The second type is screwed or mounted underneath shelves or in kitchen cupboards etc..
Espresso is a coffee-brewing method in which a small amount of nearly boiling water is forced under pressure through finely ground coffee beans.
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September 1972 and overseas the following year. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two rectangular controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots and one line of varying height on the screen in monochrome black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. Players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements for each game, and one or two players for each game control their dots with the knobs and buttons on the controller by the rules given for the game. The console cannot generate audio or track scores. The Odyssey console came packaged with dice, paper money, and other board game paraphernalia to accompany the games, while a peripheral controller—the first video game light gun—was sold separately.
A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pulp trays which are disposable and inexpensive melamine trays used in cafeterias, to mid-priced wooden trays used in a home, to expensive silver trays used in luxury hotels. Some examples have raised galleries, handles, and short feet for support.
A coffee percolator is a type of pot used for the brewing of coffee by continually cycling the boiling or nearly boiling brew through the grounds using gravity until the required strength is reached. The grounds are held in a perforated metal filter basket.
A drink can is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc. Drink cans are made of aluminum or tin-plated steel. Worldwide production for all drink cans is approximately 370 billion cans per year.
A stapler is a mechanical device that joins pages of paper or similar material by driving a thin metal staple through the sheets and folding the ends. Staplers are widely used in government, business, offices, work places, homes and schools.
A mug is a type of cup typically used for drinking hot drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cups. Typically, a mug holds approximately 240–350 ml of liquid. A mug is a less formal style of drink container and is not usually used in formal place settings, where a teacup or coffee cup is preferred. Shaving mugs are used to assist in wet shaving.
The Kensington Security Slot is part of an anti-theft system designed in the mid 1980s and patented by Kryptonite in 1999–2000, assigned to Schlage in 2002, and since 2005 owned and marketed by Kensington Products Group, a division of ACCO Brands.
Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture (KD), flat-pack furniture, or kit furniture, is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain assembly instructions and sometimes hardware. The furniture is generally simple to assemble with basic tools such as hex keys, which are also sometimes included. Ready-to-assemble furniture is popular with consumers who wish to save money by assembling the product themselves.
Senseo is a registered trademark for a coffee brewing system from Dutch companies Philips and Douwe Egberts. The system is known for the coffee pods it uses to brew the coffee.
A coffee cup is a container, a cup, for serving coffee and coffee-based drinks. There are three major types: conventional cups used with saucers, mugs used without saucers, and disposable cups. Cups and mugs generally have a handle. Disposable paper cups used for take-out sometimes have fold-out handles, but are more often used with an insulating coffee cup sleeve.
Coffee preparation is the process of turning coffee beans into liquid coffee. While the particular steps vary with the type of coffee and with the raw materials, the process includes four basic steps: raw coffee beans must be roasted, the roasted coffee beans must then be ground, and the ground coffee must then be mixed with hot or cold water for a specific time (brewed), the liquid coffee extraction must be separated from the used grounds, and finally, if desired, the extracted coffee is combined with other elements of the desired beverage, such as sweeteners, dairy products, dairy alternatives, or toppings.
Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The American company Keurig Dr Pepper manufactures the machines. The main Keurig products are K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; and the proprietary machines that use these pods to make beverages.
The Magic Bullet is a compact blender sold by Homeland Housewares, a division of the American company Alchemy Worldwide, and sold in over 50 countries. It is widely marketed through television advertisements and infomercials and sold in retail stores under the "As seen on TV" banner. A feature-limited retail version not under this banner called the "Magic Bullet Single Shot+" is also available.
Coffee cup sleeves, also known as coffee sleeves, are roughly cylindrical sleeves that fit tightly over handle-less paper coffee cups to insulate the drinker's hands from hot coffee. Coffee sleeves are typically made of textured paperboard, but can be found made of other materials. Coffee sleeves allow coffee houses, fast food restaurants, and other vendors to avoid double-cupping, the practice of using two nested paper cups for a single hot beverage. Some paper cup holders carry advertisements.
A vehicle horn is a sound-making device installed on motor vehicles, trains, boats, and other types of vehicles. The horn is activated to warn others of the vehicle's presence or approach, or to call attention to some hazard. Motor vehicles, ships and trains are required by law in some countries to have horns. Trams, trollies, streetcars, and even bicycles are also legally required to have an audible warning device in many areas.
The Easy Serving Espresso pod, is a small packed coffee pod with a paper filter covering for use in a non-grinding espresso machine. The E.S.E. standard was created by Italian Illy in the 1970s and is maintained by the "Consortium for the Development and the Protection of the E.S.E. Standard." It is open to all coffee roasters and machine manufacturers, making it the self-acclaimed "only open system available to the sector for espresso coffee prepared with paper pods".
Assistive eating devices include devices ranging from low-tech utensils to high-tech powered robotic eating equipment. Low tech eating devices include utensils, plates and bowls with lips that make scooping food easier. Cups and mugs, and even a standard disposable straw can be considered assistive drinking devices. They are used by people when they have difficulty eating or drinking independently. These devices are typically used for people with disabilities, but can also be used for children or people that have poor dexterity. They can promote independence during meal times, but in many cases also can reduce the caregiver workload during meals. "Assistive eating devices can increase self-care, increase self-esteem associated with increased independence, increase safety during meals, and make meal-time better for caregiver staff…".
Rollercoaster Restaurant is a chain of restaurants where food is delivered by way of rollercoaster tracks via gravity, owned by HeineMack GmbH. The restaurants work on a license model, and there are currently 8 locations across Europe and the Middle East, some of these restaurants are in or near theme parks, the company resp. patent holder is based in Nuremberg.
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