NZ280624A - Bottle rack with vertically offset front and rear opening networks engaged between side supports joined by feet and handles - Google Patents

Description

280624 PATENTS FORM 5 Number 280624 PATENTS ACT 1953 Dated December 7,1995 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION A BOTTLE STORAGE SYSTEM We, PAUL LAURENCE DUXFIELD of 9 Ellwood Place, Churton Park, Wellington, New Zealand and SHANE ANDREW MERCER of 8 Tombane Terrace, Papakowhai, 20 Wellington, New Zealand, both New Zealand citizens, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement.

This invention relates to a modular wine cellar system. 28 0 624 Background to the Invention To correctly store wine, the bottle containing the wine should be laid on its side in 5 a horizontal or near horizontal position. When wine is being stored, particularly in domestic situations, it is highly desirable that each individual bottle be separated from the contiguous bottles to facilitate the insertion and withdrawal of individual bottles from the storage system. The bottles should also be stored in a manner that the labels on the bottles can be read and also so the labels are protected as much as possible from inadvertent 10 damage when the bottle is being placed into or withdrawn from the cellaring system.

It is also desirable that bottle storage systems be able to be expanded when required, be able to store a variety of sizes and shapes of bottles and be cost effective.

Known bottle storage systems often consist of custom made racks or shelves which are stackable so more than one rack can oe placed on top of an existing rack or racks to allow the number of bottles to be held in the system to be increased, or decreased, as required. It is also known to produce wine racks and bottle storage systems which consist of individual shelves which can interlock to provide an expandable facility. Other known 20 methods of storing wine bottles is to utilise a number of pipes such as ceramic or plastic pipes or the like which are of a length and diameter to enable individual bottles to be stored in the pipe. Bottle storage systems composed of pipes, utilise various methods to group and maintain the pipes in the group to provide a bottle storage system that can accept a multiple of bottles. 280 624 Previously known bottle storage systems suffer from various disadvantages such as the comparatively high cost of those systems that rely on a modular arrangement to expand the capacity of the system. In addition, known systems also tend to lack stability if the height of the system is increased in an endeavour to increase the capacity of the system. When a rack type of system is utilised, it is often not possible to increase the capacity of the system.

Further disadvantages with known bottle storage systems is that installation and removal of the system can be difficult and some systems do not readily allow the bottle to tilt from the horizontal position, so the bottles are liable to become inadvertently dislodged as a result of vibrations, particularly those resulting from earth movements. Another disadvantage with many of the known bottle storage systems is that it is difficult to remove a bottle from the system without scratching or defacing a label on the bottle.

A yet further disadvantage with the known forms of bottle storage systems is that the size of the cavity to receive a bottle is often limited thereby making it difficult to store the larger bottles.

Object of the Invention It is therefore an object of this invention is provide an improved wine bottle storage system that will overcome or at least minimise the above recited disadvantages.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, one form of the invention comprises a bottle storage unit including: .

I:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\S21398.002 .3 ■ \ ■ ' \\ \ /> ^ 280624 two substantially rectangular rack members each comprising a series of cavities wherein the pattern of cavities formed in the first rack member is substantially the same as the pattern of cavities in the second rack member, and two rack support members, each comprising a front upright and a rear upright which are adapted to be located substantially parallel to each other, wherein an edge of one rack member is directly connected to the front 10 upright of the first rack support member and the corresponding edge of the second rack member is directly joined to the rear upright of the first rack support member and the opposite edges of the first and second rack members are directly connected to the front and rear uprights respectively of the second rack support member, and wherein a first foot member and a first header member are adapted by a socket and spigot arrangement to respectively join the lower and upper end of the front upright of the first rack support member to the lower and upper end of the rear upright of the first rack support member and a second foot member and a second header member are adapted by a socket and spigot arrangement to respectively join 20 the lower and upper ends of the front and rear uprights of the second rack support member in a manner that the cavities of the said first rack member will be vertically offset from the cavities of the second said rack member.

Preferably each rack member is formed from contiguous sections of material 25 each formed into a substantially zig zag shape with apexes of one section Joined to apexes of a contiguous sectioi)/ ' /., s;v i • ( ' 1 '• . 1 ' «• " l:\RMWWDOCS\WPSKARE\PNW\S213W.002 \\ 4 ' 28 0S2i Preferably at least one header member includes a support arm by which the header member can be secured to a support surface.

Preferably each rack member is formed by a series of substantially identical 5 sections with the apexes of such sections joined together in a manner that a substantially rectangular rack is formed.

Preferably at least two of the bottle storage units are combinable into an assembly bottle storage assembly by a jointing member having a bridge and a series 10 of spigots adapted to enter into the bottom of contiguous uprights of a first unit and into the top of cor -guous uprights of a second unit in. a manner that the first said unit can be joined to and supported above the second said unit.

Short description of the Drawings Preferred forms of the invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein; Figure 1 is a view in an exploded form of a free standing embodiment of the wine bottle storage system.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the bottle storage system depicting various alternative arrangements.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments As illustrated in Figure 1, the free standing version of the bottle storage Niu, I:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\S21398.002 '■ - , 5 :; 1 JA >! 1 %, \ *\ v s. ' 2.8 H 624 are composed wire or the iike of a suitable gauge which is bent into sections of a zig zag configuration. The rack is built up by placing a first section alongside another section so the apexes of one section contact the apexes of the second section. The apexes are then joined such as by welding or other known method. This action is 5 repeated until a rack of the desired size is constructed. While it is preferred construction to utilise the overlapped and welded wire it is to be understood the wire need not be joined at all overlaps but at selected overlaps only. Other methods of securing each section to the contiguous section to form an integrated rack will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance it is also envisaged that each 10 rack can be formed by a metal stamping or any other suitable means. 3 and the sides of the rear rack 2 are joined to rear uprights 4. The front upright 3 and rear upright 4 are preferably of the same length, but the front rack is joined to the 15 uprights 3 in a manner that when the bottle storage system is assembled, the front rack will be slightly higher than the rear rack. Preferably the froof and rear uprights are formed of metal tubing. position by two foot member 6, each of which may consist of a length of square tubing 20 or the like which is provided with two spigots 7 of a size and shape that they can enter into and engage in the ends of the uprights. The spigots are spaced apart an appropriate distance so that when the spigots are engaged in the tubing, the front rack 1 will be spaced from the rear rack 2 by an amount that will allow bottles to be inserted through the holes in the front and rear racks and be supported by the racks. 25 While the spigot and socket arrangement to J&tn the feet to the uprights is a preferred The sides of the front rack 1 are joined, such as by welding, to front uprights The combined uprights and racks are preferably supported in a working l:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\S21398.002 280 62 ' arrangement, it will be apparent other methods of permanently or temporarily joining the feet to the uprights can also be employed. form a free standing unit as indicated in Figure 1. As illustrated, a header unit 8 which can be formed from curved tubing or the like is provided with spigots 9 which are of a size and shape that they can engage into the open end of the uprights 3 and 4 so that a mechanical connection is formed between the header unit 8 and the uprights 3 and 4. The distance between the spigots 9 is preferably the same as the 10 distance between the spigots 7 to maintain a constant distance between the front and rear racks 3 and 4.

The embodiments depicted in Figure 2 illustrate various alternative accessories and ancillary equipment. If for instance, instead of being free standing, it 15 is desired the unit be support, such as by a wall, the design of the header unit can changed. In the embodiment illustrated, the header unit 10 may comprise a bridge 11 of, for instance rectangular section tubing, which includes spigots 12 of a size and shape that they can engage within the bore of the uprights 4. The spigots 12 are preferably spaced apart the same distance as the spigots 7. Support arms 13 project 20 inwardly from one end of the bridge 11 of the header unit 10 with the arms being provided with mounting holes 14 or the like so that screws or other fixing means as will be known in the art can be passed through the mounting holes 14 and into a support surface such as a wall.

Figure 2 also illustrates a method of joining two modules to form a double height bottle storage system. In this version, a jointing device 20 which comprises a Means are also provided to join the upper ends of the uprights 3 and 4 to I:\RM'WWDOCS\SVPSHARE\FNWS21398.002 7 280624 bridge 21 and a number of spigots 22 which extend on either side of the bridge 21. The spigots 22 are of a size and shape that they can engage within the bores of the uprigh ts 3 and 4 as illustrated. The jointing device 20 preferably also includes support arms 23 which have mounting holes 24 so that the joiner unit can be attached to a 5 supporting wall by means of screws or the like which are passed through the mounting holes 24 and into the support.

It will thus be seen that by utilising various combinations of header units, foot units or jointing units a cellar system can be configured either into a free standing 10 unit or into a unit which can be supported against a wall or into a unit which can be joined to similar units to increase the capacity of the system.

While it is preferred the uprights and the various component parts, except for the wire racks, be formed from tubing, it will be understood that those elements 15 can be of any desired cross section and may be constructed of solid material such as metal, plastics or the like.

Having been apprised of the general concept of the invention as embodied in the preferred forms hereinbefore described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the 20 art that various modifications and amendments can be made to the preferred embodiments and yet still come within the general concept of the invention. All such amendments and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as defined in the appended claims. l:\RMWWDOC5\WPSHARE\FNW\S2' ^ n 8, 28062

Claims (6)

1. A bottle storage unit Including: 5 two substantially rectangular rack members each comprising a series of cavities wherein the pattern of cavities formed in the first rack member is substantially the same as the pattern of cavities in the second rack member, and two rack support members, each comprising a front upright and a rear 10 upright which are adapted to be located substantially parallel to each other, wherein an edge of one rack member is directly connected to the front upright of the first rack support member and the corresponding edge of the second rack member is directly joined to the rear upright of the first rack support member 15 and the opposite edges of the first and second rack members are directly connected to the front and rear uprights respectively of the second rack support member, and wherein a first foot member and a first header member are adapted by a socket and spigot arrangement to respectively join the lower and upper end of the 20 front upright of the first rack support member to the lower and upper end of the rear upright of the first rack support member and a second foot member and a second header member are adapted by a socket and spigot arrangement to respectively join the lower and upper ends of the front and rear uprights of the second rack support member in a manner that the cavities of the said first rack member will be vertically 25 offset from the cavities of the second said rack member. / - . ' ' l:\KM\VWDOCS\WPSHARE^N\V\S21398.002 : : 9 , . ' " ? 28062/

2. The bottle storage unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein each rack member is formed from contiguous sections of material each formed into a substantially zig zag shape with apexes of one section joined to apexes of a contiguous section. 5

3. The bottle storage unit as claimed in claim 1 or in claim 2, wherein at least one header member includes a support arm by which the header member can be secured to a support surface.

4. The bottle storage unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, 10 wherein each rack member is formed by a series of substantially identical sections with the apexes of such sections joined together in a manner that a substantially rectangular rack is formed.

5. A bottle storage assembly including at least two units as claimed in any one 15 of the preceding claims, including a jointing member having a bridge and a series of spigots adapted to enter into the bottom of contiguous uprights of a first unit and into the top of contiguous uprights of a second unit in a manner that the first said unit can be joined to and supported above the second said unit. 20

6. A bottle storage system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. RUSSELL MeVEAGH WEST WALKER ■ U tUJUAoULjzj per /' ATTORNEYS FOR THE APPLICANT l:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\S21398.002