GB2122876A - Improvements in or relating to bottle-supporting devices - Google Patents

Abstract

A bottle-holding device comprising one or more orifice- defining means adapted to grip the neck of a bottle, for example of wine, the device having means for attaching the device to a wall or the like. One such device (Figures 1 and 2) comprises a three by two orthogonal array of six such orifices spaced along the side faces 3 of a generally cuboid device having a rectangular front face 2 and rectangular side faces 3 and top and bottom faces 4. An annular step 8a within each orifice is adapted to engage the collar of a standard wine bottle to prevent the bottle falling out. Another such device (Figures 3 to 5, not shown) has two orifices and is provided with a channel-defining means to accommodate a metal tube so that a spaced array of the devices may be formed on the tube. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to bottlesupporting devices The present invention relates to a device for supporting at least one bottle, and particularly preferred embodiments are specifically adapted to accommodate wine bottles.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for supporting at least one bottle, the device comprising a means defining at least one orifice adapted to engage the neck of a respective bottle so that the bottle is thereby supported and a means for securing the device to an upright surface such as a wall.

In a preferred embodiment the orifice is provided with a step means adapted to engage a collar on the neck of the bottle.

The step means may be created by having the orifice-defining means formed as two co-axial annular portions of differing diameters.

Preferably, the surface bounding the or each orifice has a coefficient of friction so chosen as to enhance engagement between the neck of the bottle and the orifice.

Advantageously, the shape of each orifice is so chosen that a wedging action is created when the neck of a bottle is inserted into the orifice.

Conveniently, the device is injection moulded from a plastics material such as ABS or polystyrene.

Advantageously, the said means for securing comprises one or more holes for the passage of a fastening means, such as a screw, to be used to attach the device to the said upright surface.

Preferably, the device comprises a plurality of orifice-defining means. Advantageously, the orifice-defining means are so located on each device that an array of abutting devices may be formed in which respective bottles may be supported in all the orifices of the devices simultaneously.

In one preferred embodiment, six of the said orifices are provided in the device, so spaced from one another that six bottles may be supported by the device simultaneously.

Preferably, a device in accordance with the said preferred embodiment is generally rectangular and the six orifices are arranged as a two by three orthogonal array. The device may be attached to the upright surface with the long dimension of the rectangle assuming any chosen orientation within a substantially upright plane. Advantageously, a distance of at least approximately half the diameter of each of the bottles to be supported by the device is provided between each end of the device and the nearest adjacent orifice.

In a second embodiment, the device comprises two orifices, so spaced from one another that two bottles of the desired type may be accommodated respectively within the two orifices simultaneously.

Conveniently, the device either be attached to a tube which may be secured to the said upright surface, or may be attached directly to the said upright surface. A preferred such device is provided with a channel adapted to accommodate the metal tube and is provided with an appropriate hole for a screw or the like to be used to secure the device to a tube which is accommodated within the said channel. So that such a device may be attached directly to the wall without the use of such a tube, it is possible for there also to be a separate screw hole for this purpose, or the same screw hole may be used.

Preferably the device comprises a modular unit provided with means to engage with a corresponding modular unit to enable an assembly to be fabricated.

So that the invention may be more readily understood and so that further features may be appreciated, two bottle-supporting devices will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a first such device; FIGURE 2 is a section of the device shown in Figure 1 taken along line X-X; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the second such device; FIGURE 4 is a rear view of the device of Figure 3; and FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an array of the devices, one of which is shown in Figure 4, arranged on a common tube.

The device 1 illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is integrally formed from ABS, polystyrene or the like as a generally cuboid structure having a rectangular front face 2, two rectangular side faces 3 and rectangular top and bottom faces 4.

The front face 2 is slightly concave about a medial line parallel to the long edges of the rectangle and two screw holes 5 are provided on this medial line for securing the device to an upright surface such as a wall.

Six substantially identical generally annular orifice-defining elements 6 are formed in the device to support the necks of respective bottles (one of which is indicated schematically at A), three such orifices lying equally spaced along each long edge of the rectangle of the front face 2 with the central axis of each element lying in the plane defined by the said side edge. Each orifice-defining element 6 is formed from a first annular portion 7 protruding forwardly from the front face 2 of the device and a second annular portion 8, coaxial with but having a slightly greater diameter than the first said portion 7, half of this portion protruding laterally from the adjacent side face 3 of the device. The rear of the second portion 8 is flush with the rear of the adjacent side face 3.

Because the rear annular portion 8 has a greater diameter than the front portion 7, a rearwardly-facing annular step 8a is created within the orifice between the two portions 7, 8, as may best be seen in Figure 2.

Most standard wine bottles have, at the neck, a short collar of increased width. As is shown in Figure 2, such a wine bottle A may be inserted into an orifice of the device 1 until the collar B is just past the step 8a. The weight of the bottle A will then incline the bottle so that the top of the collar B engages the top of the step 8a, thus preventing the bottle from falling out. To remove the bottle, the main body of the bottle must be raised to free the collar B from the step 8a.

An array of the devices illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 may be mounted on a wall or the like by means of screws with the top face 4 of one device abutting the bottom face 4 of the adjoining device.

In each device, the distance between the top or bottom face 4 and the nearest orifice-defining element 6 is chosen to be at least one half the diameter of the largest bottle which is to be supported by the array of devices so that, when such an array is formed, insertion of bottles into the respective orifices of one device does not hinder the insertion of bottles into the orifices of the adjoining device.

The second device, illustrated in Figures 3 to 5, is also integrally injection moulded from a plastics material such as ABS or polystyrene and comprises a generally rectangular front face 9. A respective hole 10 is provided towards each side edge of the front plate 9. Each said hole 10 is provided towards each side edge of the front plate 9. Each said. hole 10 is provided with a circular peripheral rearwardly-extending flange 11 to define a respective orifice adapted to accommodate the neck of a wine bottle. The orifices may be so configured that the gripping of the neck of a bottle is facilitated and/or may be lined with a material having a coefficient of friction chosen for this purpose.

A square opening 12 is provided in the centre of the front face 9 and is bounded by a peripheral rearwardly-extending flange 1 3.

An outer rearwardly-extending peripheral flange 14 surrounds the front face 9 and respective generally planar protrusions 15, 1 6 extend rearwardly from the middle region of the rear edge of the top and bottom edges of the outer peripheral flange 14. These two protrusions 15, 16 serve to support an element 17 defining a generally vertically-extending square section channel at the rear of the device.

The channel-defining element 10 comprises: an upper first portion extending above the top protrusion 1 5 and having a front face and two side faces to define respective sides of the channel; a middle portion having two side faces 12 extending from the underneath of the upper protrusion 1 5 to the top of the lower protrusion 1 6 and a rear vertical web 1 8 extending between the rear edges of the said two side faces to define the rear extent of the channel; and a lower portion extending beiow the lower protrusion 1 6 and comprising a front face and two side faces.

The rear web 1 8 has a hole 19 and one way of attaching the device to an upright surface such as a wall is to pass a securing means such as a screw (not shown) through the opening 12 in the front face 9 of the device and through the hole 1 9 in the rear web 1 8 of the channel-defining means 1 7 and thus into the wall. However, an alternative way of attaching the device to a wall, which is to be preferred if several devices are to be used in conjunction with one another, is to pass a squaresection tube 20 (see Figure 5), preferably made of metal, through the channels of the several devices form an array as shown in Figure 5.

It will be apparent that the extent to which the upper portion 1 5 of the channel-defining element 1 7 extends above the upper protrusion 1 5 and the extent to which the lower portion extends below the lower protrusion 1 6 will be so chosen that, when two devices are brought into abutment with one another in the manner just described, a sufficient distance will be provided between the bottle-accommodating orifices of the two devices for bottles to be inserted simultaneously into the respective orifices of the devices without sterically hindering one another.

A screw 21 or other fastening means may be passed through the square opening 12 in the front face 9 of each device and thence through the metal tube, emerging through the hole 1 9 in the rear web 18 of the channel-defining element 17.

The screw or the like may be so chosen as to be sufficiently long to terminate in a wall to secure the entire array to the wall, or a separate fastening means may be used to secure the tube to the wall.

The above described device can be considered to be a modular unit provided with means to engage a corresponding modular unit to enable an assembly to be created. Of course other engaging means can be provided, such as a male element engageable with a female element on a corresponding device.

It has been found that a bottle-holding device in accordance with the invention can be easily and relatively cheaply moulded in comparison with the construction of known bottle-holding devices and, in addition, bottle-holding devices in accordance with the invention have been found to offer the advantage that they occupy relatively little space when bottles are not held within the devices. This is to be contrasted with many known devices in which substantially the same amount of space is occupied whether the device is holding bottles or not. Clearly, in a confined space such as a cramped flat or a small cellar, this advantage can be important.

Claims (21)

1. A device for supporting at least one bottle, the device comprising a means defining at least one orifice adapted to engage the neck of a respective bottle so that the bottle is thereby supported and a means for securing the device to an upright surface such as a wall.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the orifice is provided with a step means adapted to engage a collar on the neck of the bottle.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the step means is created by having the orifice defining means formed as two co-axial annular portions of differing diameters.

4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the surface bounding the or each orifice has a coefficient of friction so chosen as to enhance engagement between the neck of the bottle and the orifice.

5. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shape of each orifice is so chosen that a wedging action is created when the neck of a bottle is inserted into the orifice.

6. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device is injection moulded from a plastics material such as ABS or polystyrene.

7. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the said means for securing comprises one or more holes for the passage of a fastening means, such as a screw, to be used to attach the device to the said upright surface.

8. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device comprises a plurality of orifice-defining means.

9. A device according to claim 8, wherein the orifice-defining means are so located on each device that an array of abutting devices may be formed in which respective bottles may be supported in all the orifices of the devices simultaneously.

10. A device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein six of the said orifices are provided in the device, so spaced from one another that six bottles may be supported by the device simultaneously.

1 A device according to claim 10, the device being generally rectangular, wherein the six orifices are arranged as a two by three orthogonal array.

12. A device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein a distance of at least approximately half the diameter of each of the bottles to be supported by the device is provided between each end of the device and the nearest adjacent orifice.

13. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the device comprises two orifices, so spaced from one another that two bottles of the desired type may be accommodated respectively within the two orifices simultaneously.

14. A device according to claim 13, wherein the device either may be attached to a tube which may be secured to the said upright surface, or may be attached directly to the said upright surface.

1 5. A device according to claim 14, wherein the device is provided with a channel adapted to accommodate the metal tube and is provided with an appropriate hole for a screw or the like to be used to secure the device to a tube which is accommodated within the said channel.

1 6. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device comprises a modular unit provided with means to engage with a corresponding modular unit to enable an assembly to be fabricated.

1 7. A bottle-holding device substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

1 8. A bottle-holding device substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

1 9. An array of bottle-holding devices and a tube substantially as shown in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

20. A combination of one or more bottles and their contents with a bottle-holding device in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.

21. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.