Carriers for beverage containers

Claim 1

A beverage container carrier, comprising: (a) a holder (10) extending from a body (14), the body being capable of being secured to a support, the holder defining an opening (16) capable of receiving a beverage container, and the body having both a base (38) and a flange (46) extending outwardly therefrom below and above the holder, respectively, with the flange (46) being formed with a groove (48) facing the holder and extending laterally of the body; (b) the holder including a pair of arms (12) which define said opening therebetween and which have opposed free ends (18) spaced apart by a distance (X) less than a parallel distance (Y) extending across an interior central portion of the opening; and (c) the holder being pivotally mounted (24, 26) to the body, about an axis extending laterally of the body, for movement between an operative outwardly extending position, in which either a beverage container can be received in the opening (16) defined by the pair of arms and be stood on the base (38), or alternatively a rimmed plate can be carried by the pair of arms (12) such that the rim of the plate engages in the groove (48) in the flange to maintain the plate on the pair of arms by a cantilever action, and an inoperative upwardly extending position in which the pair of arms flank and extend past each side of the flange (46); (d) the body (14) being formed with both upper (34a) and lower (32) abutments such that, in said operative position of the holder, an upper face (36) of the holder abuts the upper abutment (34a) on the body and a lower face of the holder abuts the lower abutment (32) on the body to provide another cantilever action enabling the holder to support even a heavily laden plate.