GB2141618A - Bottle rack - Google Patents

Abstract

A bottle storage rack (1) includes means to mount said rack (1) on an upright mounting surface, and at least one bore (2), the or each bore (2) extending from a first upright face to a second face substantially parallel to the first face, the arrangement of the bore being such that, in use, when a bottle neck is inserted into said bore the bottle is held firmly with its axis substantially horizontal. Preferably the vertical faces are such that in use they lie perpendicular to the wall or vertical mounting surface of the rack. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bottle rack This invention relates to a device for the storage of bottles and especially bottles containing wines or spirits.

Conventionally wine bottles are stored in racks on a series of horizontal rows. The bottles are stored parallel to each other with each bottle being supported on its underside along part of its length extending from the base of the bottle. The necks of the bottles face in the same direction and project from the rack. The problem with such racks is that they stand on a horizontal surface and can take up a great deal of space. Also it is very difficult to see the labels on any of the bottles to identify the bottle without removing it from the rack.

According to this invention there is provided a bottle storage rack including means to mount said rack on an upright mounting surface, and at least one bore, the or each bore extending from a first upright face to a second face substantially parallel to the first face, the arrangement of the bore being such that, in use, when a bottle neck is inserted into said bore the bottle is held firmly in a substantially horizontal plane.

Preferably the upright faces are such that in use they lie perpendicular to the wall or upright mounting surface of the rack. Preferably the rack includes a plurality of bores and conveniently six or twelve bores may be included on the rack.

The rack may typically be made of plastics or any wood such as beech and mahogany.

The rack may be substantially U-shaped in cross-section, the sides of the U forming the upright faces and the base of the U being mounted parallel to the upright mounting surface. This arrangement is particularly useful if the bottle rack is to be made of moulded plastics. However, it is preferable that the rack is a solid piece with the bores extending from one face to another. This arrangement is particularly preferable when the rack is made of wood since the rack may then be made into a very attractive piece of furniture.

Typically the bottles will be inserted into the bores up to their shoulders and in use bottles in adjacent bores will be inserted in opposite directions into the bores on the rack. This will serve to balance the rack.

Such a rack is very useful since it is much smaller than a conventional rack and may be mounted on the wall and so does not take up as much floor space or horizontal working surface as a conventional rack.

Also since only the necks are supported the labels of the bottles are not covered and so the bottles may be identified without having to remove the bottles from the rack.

In order to achieve the holding of the bottle in a substantially horizontal plane the bore does not lie perpendicular to the faces of the rack so that it does not lie in a horizontal plane when the rack is in use. This means that the bore has an upper end and a lower end. In use a bottle is inserted into the upper end of the bore so that when supported by the user the bottle lies with its neck facing substantially downwards. When the bottle has been fully inserted into the bore so that the top of the bottle extends up to or out of the lower end, the bottle may be released. The bottle neck bears on the top surface of the lower end of the bore and on the bottom surface of the upper end of the bore so that the bottle is held in a substantially horizontal position so that the cork is always kept damp.

This is especially important in the storage of wines.

Preferably the bores are arranged so that the upper end of one bore is adjacent the lower end of the adjacent bore. This means that the entry and exit ends of adjacent bores are on opposite sides of the rack so that bottles are held in adjacent bores on opposite sides of the rack. This balances the rack.

The diameter of each bore is typically 2.5-5 cm. The angle of the bore from the horizontal is inversely proportional to the depth of the bore, that is, the distance between the two opposing faces. Preferably the depth of the bore is between 2 and 5 cm. The bore could be shorter than this but the angle of the bore to the horizontal would be too large. If the angle of each bore to the horizontal is large the total length of the rack has to be increased, which wastes wall space.

An example of a bottle rack in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the wine rack in use; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a kitchen showing a possible mounting surface for a wine rack; Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the mounting means for the bottle rack; and Figure 4 is a schematic view showing the neck of a bottle in a bore.

A bottle rack 1 is a solid piece of wood with six bores 2 extending through it. The rack 1 is approximately 3 cm deep and the diameter of each bore 2 is approximately 3.5 cm. Each bore 2 extends between two parallel faces 3.

The face 4 of piece 1 is perpendicular to the faces 3 and lies parallel to the mounting wall 5. Mounted on the face 4 is a fixed dovetail bracket 6. Mounted on the wall is a wall mounted dovetail bracket 7 for mounting the rack 1 onto the wall.

Each bore 2 lies in a plane at an angle to the horizontal. A bottle 8 is inserted into the upper end 9 of a bore until the end of the bottle 10 extends out of the lower end 11 of the bore. The top of the bottle bears on the top surface of the lower end of the bore and the bottom of the neck bears on the lower surface of the upper end 9 of the bore so that the bottle 8 is held substantially horizontal so that the cork 1 2 is kept moist. To balance the rack the lower end of a bore lies adjacent the upper end of the adjacent bore so that the bottles inserted into adjacent bores are inserted in opposite directions.

Claims (11)

1. A bottle storage rack including means to mount said rack on an upright mounting surface, and at least one bore, the or each bore extending from a first upright face to a second face substantially parallel to the first face, the arrangement of the bore being such that, in use, when a bottle neck is inserted into said bore the bottle is held firmly in a substantially horizontal plane.

2. A bottle storage rack according to claim 1, in which the upright faces are such that in use they lie perpendicular to the upright mounting surface of the rack.

3. A bottle storage rack according to claims 1 or 2, which includes a plurality of bores.

4. A bottle storage rack according to claims 1, 2 or 3 which is made of plastics or any wood.

5. A bottle storage rack according to any one of the preceding claims which is substantially U-shaped in cross-section, the sides of the U forming the upright faces and the base of the U being mounted parallel to the upright mounting surface.

6. A bottle storage rack according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is a solid piece with the bores extending from one face to another.

7. A bottle storage rack according to any one of the preceding claims in which the or each bore lies in a plane at an angle to the horizontal, a bottle being inserted in the rack through the upper end of the bore so that in use the bottle neck bears on the top surface of the lower end of the bore and on the bottom surface of the upper end of the bore so that the bottle is held in a substantially horizontal position.

8. A bottle storage rack according to claim 7, in which the bores are arranged so that the upper end of one bore is adjacent the lower end of the adjacent bore.

9. A bottle storage according to any one of the preceding claims in which the diameter of each bore is 2.5-5 cm.

10. A bottle storage rack according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the depth of the bore is between 2 and 5 cm.

11. A bottle storage rack according to claim 1 arranged substantially as herein described.

1 2. A bottle storage rack arranged substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.