BMW Patents Fancy, Kind of Ridiculous Cup Holder
BMW has filed a patent for a high-tech cup holder.
The patent was filed in February but was recently published in the U.S. It relates to “an apparatus for holding a liquid-filled vessel includes a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature related to the temperature of the liquid in the vessel and a control unit connected to the temperature sensor.” You read that right. The word “temperature” is used four times in that sentence. And in case you’re wondering, “liquid-filled vessel” is BMW’s fancy way of saying a cup and the apparatus holding said cup would be a cup holder.
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It appears that the fancy cup holder would use the temperature of the beverage to prompt the car take certain actions, like if the cup is too hot, it’ll flash a warning saying “Attention! Hot!” A diagram for the patent also shows that if the liquid-filled vessel is carrying coffee and it gets too cold, it’ll suggest the driver to take a break and will even automatically roll down the windows or turn on a radio station “with fast pieces of music” to wake the driver up.
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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this seems like such a waste!