Server for wine bottles and the like

A server for chilled wine and similar beverages or foods includes a generally cylindrically-shaped side wall into which a bottle or other container may be placed. The side wall is constructed of a heat conductive material such as aluminum, copper, alloys thereof, etc., of sufficient thickness to conduct heat as needed in its long direction. The cooler also includes an ice receptacle which holds the ice either in contact with the side wall or an extension or appendage thereof. The side wall acts to present the wine container with a surface which is at or below the temperature of the wine. This substantially eliminates the transfer of heat by radiation to the wine container. The server also minimizes conductive and/or convective heat transfer between the wine bottle and the surroundings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a server construction for efficiently and 
conveniently maintaining the temperature of chilled wine or other beverage 
or food in a container. 
The conventional way to either chill wine or maintain the coldness of wine 
while the wine bottle sits on a table, counter, etc., is to place the wine 
bottle in an ice bucket filled with ice and water. Typically, a cloth 
napkin is also placed over the wine bottle. This method, although 
effective, is messy because the bottle and bottle label are made wet, 
become slippery, and may drip on the table or counter top when removed 
from the ice bucket. Also, the ice bucket is quite bulky and cumbersome to 
handle. 
A number of proposals have been made for improving the above-described 
methods of serving chilled wine, and some of these are discussed in U.S. 
Pat. Nos. 2,564,165 and 2,068,384. These proposals, however, generally 
either are not very effective in maintaining wine in the chilled condition 
over desired extended periods, or have the same disadvantages as does the 
conventional wine cooler or ice bucket, or both. Chilling wine, of course, 
can easily be accomplished by placing the bottles in the refrigerator some 
hours before serving. What has been needed is a convenient, attractive, 
immediately effective, and mess-free arrangement for maintaining the wine 
at the table or bar at the refrigerator temperature over periods of time 
of up to two hours. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved server for 
chilled wine bottles and similar beverage containers. 
It is also an object of the invention to provide a server which will cool 
or maintain the low termperature of a beverage bottle without making the 
bottle wet. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a compact attractive 
server for beverage bottles. 
The above and other objects are realized in a specific illustrative 
embodiment of a server which includes a housing open at the top for 
receiving a bottle to be cooled and having a side wall shaped to conform 
to and surround the side exterior of the bottle. The height of the side 
wall is at least about the same as the height of the enlarged portion of a 
typical beverage bottle so that when the bottle is placed in the housing, 
the side wall substantially surrounds the bottle. The side wall is made of 
a heat conductive material such as aluminum, copper, silver, etc., of 
sufficient thickness to conduct heat as needed in its long direction. The 
server also includes a receptacle for holding ice in contact either with 
the side wall or with heat conductive material which is joined to the side 
wall. The side wall is thus cooled by the ice in the receptacle to thereby 
present to the bottle a surface area at or below the desired serving 
temperature. Radiative heat transfer to the bottle is thus generally 
prevented, and the trapped air layer between the side wall and the bottle 
inhibits conductive or convective heat transfer to the bottle. In this 
manner, the bottle may be maintained at close to a refrigerator 
temperature for fairly long periods of time or, if the bottle is initially 
warmer than refrigerator temperatures, it can be slowly cooled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Various embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying 
drawings and will be described herein. The common features of the 
embodiments are the employment of a housing having a side wall for 
surrounding a bottle to be maintained cool or cooled, and the provision of 
an ice receptacle for holding ice either in contact with the side wall or 
with a heat conducting material which is connected to the side wall. 
Advantageously, the side wall is made of a thick piece of heat conducting 
material such as aluminum, copper, silver, etc., which facilitates 
conducting heat originating either from the bottle or from the surrounding 
environment to the ice to thereby cool the bottle or interfere and inhibit 
ambient heat from reaching the bottle. In this fashion, a bottle of wine 
or similar beverage may be effectively maintained at a cool temperature 
without the attendant mess associated with the conventional ice bucket. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a side, cross-sectional view of a 
server housing 4 which includes a fairly thick-walled cylindrical shell 8 
which is open at the top to allow placement therein of a bottle of wine 12 
or similar beverage container. The housing 4 also includes a bottom wall 
16 which is joined to the bottom of the cylinder 8 to form a water-tight 
container. The cylinder 8 and bottom wall 16 are made of a heat conducting 
material such as aluminum, copper, silver, etc., for purposes to be 
described hereinafter. 
A support structure 20 is disposed at the bottom of the cylinder 8 to 
provide support for the bottle 12. This support structure could take a 
variety of forms including that of an annular disc 24 whose perimeter is 
joined to the interior surface of the cylinder 8 as shown in FIG. 1. The 
disc 24 could be further supported (or alternatively solely supported) by 
rod-like elements 28 extending from the bottom wall 16 upwardly to the 
bottom surface of the disc 24. Advantageously, the support structure 20 is 
also made of a heat conducting material. 
In use, ice 32 is placed in the bottom of the housing 4 as shown and a 
bottle to be cooled or whose temperature is to be maintained cool is 
placed in the housing on the support structure 20. If the temperature of 
the bottle 12 is greater than that of the housing 4, then heat fom the 
bottle will radiate to the cylinder 8 and be conducted downwardly to the 
ice 32. Similarly, ambient heat will in large degree be intercepted by the 
cylinder 8 and likewise conducted downwardly to the ice 32. 
Illustrative dimensions for the housing 4 of FIG. 1 are as follows: 
______________________________________ 
Outside diameter of cylinder 8: 
4 inches 
Thickness of wall of cylinder 8: 
.125 inches 
Height of the housing 4: 
11 inches 
Distance from support disc 24 to top of 
housing 4: 73/4 inches 
Distance between bottom wall 16 and 
support disc 24: 3 inches 
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For a server made in accordance with the present invention and having the 
above-defined dimensions, it has been found that for a bottle of wine 
which extends about 33/4 inches above the top of the housing 4 when placed 
in the housing and has an initial temperature of about 40 degrees 
Fahrenheit, the averge rise in temperature for the contents of the bottle 
is about 1 degree F. in the first hour and another degree F. in the second 
hour. This result was accomplished with an ambient room temperature of 
about 70 degrees F. 
For best results, the height of the housing 4 should be sufficient so that 
the cylinder 8 substantially surrounds the bottle or at least the enlarged 
portion of a typical bottle (excluding the neck). Of course, the server 
still will inhibit the rise in temperature of a bottle of wine placed in 
the server even if the cylinder 8 leaves a portion of the bottle exposed 
above the top thereof. 
FIG. 2 is a side, cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the server 
of the present invention. This embodiment includes an inner, generally 
cylindrical side wall 50 made of a heat conducting material. A cylindrical 
shell of insulation material 54, such as polyurethane or polystryrene 
foam, is formed about the inner side wall 50. An outer cylindrical 
protective sleeve 58, made of a decorative material such as silver or 
stainless steel, is formed about the insulation material 54. 
The inner cylinder 50 includes a bottom wall 62, constructed of a heat 
conducting material, and the outer sleeve 58 includes a bottom wall 66. 
Disposed between the inner bottom wall 62 and the outer bottom wall 66 is 
a layer of insulation material 70 such as cork or some sturdy foam 
material suitable for supporting the interior structure of the server and 
the wine bottle. 
A support structure similar to that of FIG. 1 is disposed in the bottom of 
the inner cylinder 50, and includes having a table-top 80 with a central 
opening 82 formed therein, and legs 84 for supporting the table-top. Ice 
86 is placed through the opening 82 below the table-top 80 to be in 
contact with the inner bottom wall 62 and inner side wall 50. 
Provision of the insulation material 54 and 70 provides additional 
interference and inhibition to the transfer of ambient heat to the bottle 
78 and thereby aids in maintaining the low temperature of the bottle. 
FIG. 3 shows a sectioned view of a server in which a bottle 100 rests 
directly on the table or counter top within the cooler housing 104. The 
housing 104 includes an interior side wall 106 formed in a generally 
cylindrical shape to surround a bottle 104 placed within the side wall. 
The housing also includes an outer side wall 108 which circumscribes and 
is spaced from the inner side wall 106, and a bottom wall 112 which 
extends between the lower perimeters of the inner side wall 106 and the 
outer side wall 108 to form a cavity between the walls for holding ice 
116. 
The housing 104 of the server of FIG. 3 could be constructed of a heat 
conducting material, as in the previously described embodiments, or it 
could be constructed of glass to provide a more decorative server which 
would allow viewing the bottle through the housing or of stainless steel 
for durability. Glass would not conduct heat as readily as heat conducting 
material such as aluminum, copper, silver, etc., but when the ice 116 is 
placed in the cavity between the inner and outer side walls 100 and 108 to 
substantially fill the cavity, then the FIG. 3 server would substantially 
prevent heat loss from the bottle 104 and prevent ambient heat from 
transferring to the bottle. 
Because the housing of FIG. 3 is open both at the top and the bottom so 
that the bottle may rest directly on the table or counter top, the height 
of the housing can be substantially reduced. This, of course, is because 
there is no need for a compartment below the bottle to hold the ice. 
FIG. 4 is a side, sectioned view of a variation of the server shown in FIG. 
3. Here, a housing 200 is formed in the shape of a hollow cylinder with a 
side wall 204 made of a heat conducting material. Formed to circumscribe 
the outside of the side wall 204 is an ice receptacle also having a side 
wall 212 and a bottom wall 216. The height of the side wall 212 of the ice 
receptacle is not as great as that of the side wall 204 and so ice in the 
receptacle is maintained in contact only with the lower portion of the 
side wall 204. However, since the side wall 204 is thick and made of a 
heat conductive material, heat from the bottle or surroundings is readily 
conducted to the ice in the receptacle. 
FIG. 5 is a side, cross-sectional view of a two-piece server which includes 
a cylindrical shell 250 open at the top and bottom, and having an 
outwardly and downwardly extending flange 254. Again, the cylinder 250 is 
thick and is constructed of a heat conducting material. The other piece of 
the server is an annular trough 258 having a generally U-shaped 
cross-section as indicated in FIG. 5. The cylinder 250 and trough 258 are 
sized so that the cylinder may be placed within a central opening in the 
trough, with the flange 254 extending into the trough 258 to contact ice 
262 placed in the trough. Heat intercepted by the cylinder 250 will be 
conducted downwardly through the flange 254 to the ice 262 to maintain at 
a low temperature a bottle placed in the cylinder. 
FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment of a server which includes a 
cylindrical shell 300 open at the top for receiving a bottle of wine or 
other beverage. The shell 300 is constructed of a thick heat conducting 
material. Projecting outwardly from the exterior surface of the shell 300 
along a generally vertical line 304 and curving about a portion of the 
side wall of the shell 300 to again join to the exterior surface of the 
shell is an outer wall 304. The outer wall 304, which in FIG. 6 is 
substantially the same height as the shell 300, defines a space 312 
between the outer wall and the shell for receiving ice. A bottom wall 316 
joins the bottoms of the outer wall 308 and a portion of the shell 300 to 
support and maintain ice in the space 312. The outer wall 308 can have a 
variety of shapes to hold ice into contact with a portion of the shell 300 
to thereby cool the shell as previously described. 
It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only 
illustrative of the application of the principles of the present 
invention. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be 
devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intended to 
cover such modifications and arrangements.