Cup-holder with adjustable depth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cup holders for automobiles fail to stably hold containers of different heights, especially when the vehicle accelerates or travels over uneven surfaces, and they often require excessive interior trim space, making installation in thin areas like the rear seat armrest challenging.
Innovation Solution
A cup holder with an adjustable depth featuring a moveable cup holder that rotates and ascends/descends using ascending/descending spiral raised strips, allowing for secure placement of containers of varying heights while compactly folding to fit within thin interior trim spaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cup holder depth is designed for high containers like mineral water bottles, then high containers can be stably held, but short containers become difficult to place and interior trim space is excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The cup holder employs a movable cup holder body that can shift between a first position (deeper) and a second position (shallower). This dynamic adjustment allows the cup holder to adapt its depth to match different container heights, providing stable holding for both high containers like mineral water bottles and short containers like beverage cans, while minimizing interior trim space occupation when not accommodating tall containers.
2Ease of operation
If the cup holder depth is designed for short containers like beverage cans, then short containers can be easily placed, but high containers like mineral water bottles cannot be stably held and may fall out during vehicle maneuvers
Solution Approach 1:
The movable cup holder body enables dynamic depth adjustment, allowing users to easily place short containers in the shallower second position while providing the option to shift to the deeper first position when high containers need to be stably held during vehicle acceleration, braking, or travel over uneven surfaces.
3Device complexity
If the cup holder is designed with fixed depth, then the structure is simple, but it cannot accommodate containers of different heights
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than designing a completely complex adjustable mechanism, the invention uses a relatively simple movable cup holder body that can shift between two fixed positions (first and second positions). This provides adaptability for different container heights while maintaining structural simplicity and avoiding excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable cup holder body is nested within the cup holder housing, allowing it to slide between positions while remaining contained within the overall structure. This nesting approach enables depth adjustment without requiring separate external mechanisms, thus balancing adaptability with structural simplicity.
4Reliability
If the cup holder depth is increased to accommodate high containers, then high containers can be held stably, but the cup holder cannot be installed in thin interior trim areas like the rear seat armrest
Solution Approach 1:
The movable cup holder body allows the cup holder to dynamically adjust its effective depth. When installed in thin interior trim areas like the rear seat armrest, the cup holder can be positioned in the shallower second position to fit the limited space, while still providing the capability to shift to the deeper first position when high containers need to be held stably, thus resolving the conflict between installation space constraints and holding stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The adjustable cup holder securely holds containers of different heights during vehicle maneuvers and can be installed in thin areas by compactly overlapping when not in use, ensuring stability and space efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
at least one ascending/descending spiral raised strip is provided on an outer surface of the cup wall of the fixed cup holder; when the moveable cup holder rotates around the fixed cup holder, one pair of guide blocks slides along a trajectory defined by the ascending/descending spiral raised strip and drives the moveable cup holder to ascend and descend
Data Source
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AI summary
A cup holder with an adjustable depth includes: a cup-holder base, having at least one accommodation hole; a fixed cup holder, fixed in the accommodation hole of the cup-holder base; and a moveable cup holder, moveably sleeved over the fixed cup holder and capable of rotating around the fixed cup holder to ascend and descend, where during ascending and descending of the moveable cup holder, an inner cavity of the moveable cup holder and an inner cavity of the fixed cup holder jointly define a container placement hole for placement of containers of different heights. The present invention solves the problem that containers of different heights placed in the cup holder easily fall out when the automobile is accelerating, hard braking or travelling over uneven road surfaces. In addition, after the moveable cup holder descends to the lowest position, the moveable cup holder can completely overlap the fixed cup holder, so that the entire cup holder has a small height and is therefore suitable for installation in a thin interior trim part of the automobile, for example, in the armrest at the rear seat, thereby saving interior trim space in the automobile.