Importance

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Abstract

A cup holder for receiving a hot beverage carrying a cup of the type with a rim with an open top and a closed bottom end with a tapered outwardly and upwardly extending side wall between the bottom end and the top rim. The side wall has an outer surface heated by the hot beverage in the cup. The cup holder comprises a single molded piece free of overlapping joints and free of adhesive and having at least three upstanding segments with each segment having upper and lower extremities. Hinges interconnect the three upstanding segments to retain the segments in a circular configuration with the segments being outwardly inclined to form a lower aperture which has a size substantially less than the size of the top rim of the cup and an upper aperture greater in size than the lower aperture permitting the cup holder to be nested before use. The hinges permit the lower extremity of the segments to be cammed outwardly as a cup is introduced through the upper aperture and through the lower aperture to engage the lower extremities of the segments and cam the lower extremities of the segments outwardly to thereby increase the size of the lower aperture to permit the cup to continue move therethrough and cam the upper extremities of the segments inwardly to come into frictional engagement with the side wall of the cup to frictionally retain the cup so that the cup is retained in the holder between the top rim and the bottom end.

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First Claim