Cupholder assembly and table including the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11219324-B2
Application number	US-202016841969-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2020
Priority date	Apr 7, 2020
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

Abstract

A cupholder assembly adapted to be mounted to a support structure and a table including a cupholder assembly are provided. In one example, the cupholder assembly includes a housing that extends in a distal direction from a proximal housing portion to a distal housing portion. The housing is configured to pivotally couple to the support structure to move between a mounted position and a rotated position that is rotated relative to the mounted position. A cupholder subassembly is slidingly coupled to the housing to move between a stowed position substantially within the housing and a deployed position extending from the housing in the distal direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cupholder assembly adapted to be mounted to a support structure, the cupholder assembly comprising:
a housing extending in a distal direction from a proximal housing portion to a distal housing portion and configured to pivotally couple to the support structure to move between a mounted position and a rotated position that is rotated relative to the mounted position; and
a cupholder subassembly slidingly coupled to the housing to move between a stowed position substantially within the housing and a deployed position extending from the housing in the distal direction, wherein the cupholder subassembly further comprises a cupholder body portion and a movable pin extending from the cupholder body portion towards the housing, wherein the housing has a releasable lock member that comprises a raised outer portion partially surrounding and spaced apart from a raised intermediate portion to define a track therebetween, wherein the raised intermediate portion has a lock detent, and wherein the movable pin is configured to be advance through the track during movement of the cupholder subassembly between the stowed position and the deployed position and to releasably engage the lock detent to hold the cupholder subassembly in the stowed position.

2. The cupholder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cupholder assembly further comprises a mounting bracket that is pivotally coupled to the proximal housing portion about a first rotational axis and that is configured to be mounted to the support structure.

3. The cupholder assembly of claim 2 , wherein the distal housing portion is configured to releasably couple to the support structure to hold the housing in the mounted position and to allow the housing to move between the mounted position and the rotated position about the first rotational axis when the distal housing portion is released from the support structure.

4. The cupholder assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a bearing rail extending in the distal direction and the cupholder subassembly comprises a bearing carriage that is coupled to the cupholder body portion and that is slidingly coupled to the bearing rail to guide the cupholder subassembly to move between the stowed position and the deployed position.

5. The cupholder assembly of claim 4 , wherein the cupholder subassembly further comprises a spring that is coupled to the cupholder body portion and the housing to bias the cupholder subassembly in the deployed position.

6. A cupholder assembly adapted to be mounted to a support structure, the cupholder assembly comprising:
a housing extending in a distal direction from a proximal housing portion to a distal housing portion and configured to pivotally couple to the support structure to move between a mounted position and a rotated position that is rotated relative to the mounted position; and
a cupholder subassembly slidingly coupled to the housing to move between a stowed position substantially within the housing and a deployed position extending from the housing in the distal direction, wherein the housing has a bearing rail extending in the distal direction and the cupholder subassembly comprises a bearing carriage that is coupled to the cupholder body portion and that is slidingly coupled to the bearing rail to guide the cupholder subassembly to move between the stowed position and the deployed position, wherein the housing comprises a damper rack that extends in the distal direction and the cupholder subassembly further comprises a rotary damper that is coupled to the cupholder body portion and that meshes with the damper rack to dampen movement of the cupholder subassembly between the stowed position and the deployed position.

7. The cupholder assembly of claim 4 , wherein the cupholder body portion has a cupholder opening formed therethrough and the cupholder subassembly comprises a cupholder bracket that is pivotally coupled to the cupholder body portion to move from a first position when the cupholder subassembly is in the stowed position to a second position when the cupholder subassembly is moved to the deployed position, wherein the cupholder bracket comprises a cupholder support that is pivotably coupled to the cupholder body portion and that is disposed under the cupholder opening when the cupholder bracket is in the second position for supporting a beverage container.

8. The cupholder assembly of claim 7 , wherein the cupholder bracket is spaced apart from the cupholder opening a distance of from about 50 to about 100 mm when the cupholder bracket is in the second position.

9. The cupholder assembly of claim 7 , wherein the cupholder subassembly further comprises an adjustable clip that is disposed in the cupholder opening and is operatively coupled to the cupholder body portion to move relative to the cupholder opening to adjust an effective opening size of the cupholder opening for receiving the beverage container.

10. A table comprising:
a tabletop having an upper surface for supporting an object and a lower surface opposite the upper surface, wherein the tabletop comprises an intermediate table section having an intermediate table edge and a foldable leaf section that is pivotably coupled to the intermediate table section adjacent to the intermediate table edge to move from an extended position extending distally from the intermediate table section to a folded position overlying the upper surface of the intermediate table section; and
a cupholder assembly mounted to the tabletop, the cupholder assembly comprising:
a housing pivotally coupled to the tabletop to move between a mounted position adjacent to the lower surface and a rotated position that is rotated relative to the mounted position, wherein the housing extends in a distal direction from a proximal housing portion to a distal housing portion, wherein the proximal housing portion is pivotally coupled to the tabletop and the distal housing portion is releasably coupled to the tabletop to allow the housing to move between the mounted position and the rotated position when the distal housing portion is released from the tabletop; and
a cupholder subassembly slidingly coupled to the housing to move between a stowed position substantially within the housing and a deployed position extending distally from the housing, and wherein the cupholder assembly is mounted to the lower surface of the intermediate table section.

11. The table of claim 10 , wherein the housing in the mounted position is substantially parallel to the lower surface of the tabletop.

12. The table of claim 11 , wherein the housing in the rotated position is positioned at an angle of from about 45° to about 90° relative to the lower surface of the tabletop.

13. The table of claim 10 , wherein the tabletop comprises a metal-containing area that is disposed along the lower surface, and wherein the housing further comprises a magnet that is coupled to the distal housing portion and that releasably couples to the metal-containing area to hold the housing in the mounted position and that releases from the metal-containing area in response to a force applied to the cupholder subassembly.

14. The table of claim 10 , wherein the cupholder assembly is disposed adjacent to the intermediate table edge and is substantially covered by the intermediate table section when in the stowed position, and wherein the cupholder subassembly extends distally away from the intermediate table section when in the deployed position.

15. The table of claim 14 , wherein the cupholder subassembly is exposed when in the deployed position and the foldable leaf section is in the folded position.

Assignees

• Gulfstream Aerospace Corp

Inventors

• Raghoonandan Anand
• Norton Jacob
• Caron Yves

Classifications

• B64D11/00 Primary

  Passenger or crew accommodation; Flight-deck installations not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• A47B1/04

  with supplementary leaves or drop leaves {arranged at the periphery (A47B1/08 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60N3/106

  with adjustable clamping mechanisms · CPC title

• A47B13/088

  Sectional table tops · CPC title

• A47G23/0225 Primary

  attachable to a plate, table, or the like · CPC title