“For travelers, balancing luggage, a snack, personal items, and a drink can be difficult, often resulting in spilling of beverages either while walking around or while seated on, for example, a plane or in a car.”
What one needs, perhaps, is a self-stabilizing drinks-cup holder? And, fortunately, a newly patented solution has become available. Inventor Donald Joseph Berg of Escondido, California, has just been granted a US patent for a ‘Gyroscopic cup holder’. It’s also applicable, they say, for use with bicycles, strollers, carts, boat railings, cars and trucks etc. etc..
Note:
The word ‘Gyroscopic’ appears just once in the patent document (i.e. in its title). And perhaps that may be one time too many, as it doesn’t feature a gyroscope of any kind – relying instead on a dual-axis gimbal mechanism.
Also Note :
The 2017 Ig Nobel FLUID DYNAMICS PRIZE was awarded to Rouslan Krechetnikov [USA, RUSSIA, CANADA] and Hans Mayer [USA] for studying the dynamics of liquid-sloshing, to learn what happens when a person walks while carrying a cup of coffee.
REFERENCE: “Walking With Coffee: Why Does It Spill?” Hans C. Mayer and Rouslan Krechetnikov, Physical Review E, vol. 85, 2012.
Research research by Martin Gardiner