Self-sealing holder for containers

A holder for open containers employs a pair of confronting parallel surfaces one of which supports a resilient material adapted to exert pressure against the open mouth of the container thereby to seal and hold the container in place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a new and improved apparatus for holding 
and sealing partially filled containers when not in use and more 
particularly to a holder for soda bottles or the like having means for 
automatically resealing the open bottle. 
The problem of resealing a container partially filled with a liquid under 
pressure, for example a carbonated beverage (soda), so as to retain the 
effervescense of the pressurized liquid has resulted in the development of 
various types of special purpose caps which can be snapped on to the 
opened bottle in order to provide a substantially air tight seal. A basic 
defect in the type of solution to the problem, especially in restaurants 
and other commercial establishments, is that a loose cap is subject to 
being misplaced or lost and is sometimes rather difficult to snap on or 
off the opened bottle. This results in wasted beverage, lost time and 
inefficient utilization of manpower, all of which is undesirable for a 
well regulated business establishment. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a versatile, inexpensive, simple and 
efficient solution to the aforesaid problem and comprises a novel 
self-sealing holder for bottles or other containers which is capable of 
sealing said containers without the necessity of saving the original 
bottle cap or using some other loose cap which is subject to being 
misplaced etc., as described above. The invention basically comprises a 
holder having two spaced apart confronting surfaces for supporting an open 
container or bottle and including at least one resilient surface which 
automatically forms an air-tight seal about the open end of the container 
when it is inserted in the holder. 
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a simple and 
inexpensive holder or support for bottles or other containers with means 
for automatically sealing the open end thereof in a substantially 
air-tight manner. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a selfsealing bottle holder 
which can be readily adjusted to accomodate different size bottles. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a self-sealing holder for 
containers which eliminates the need to use individual caps or the like 
which are subject to being misplaced or lost. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a self-sealing holder 
which can accept relatively wide mfg. tolerances in the container size and 
still provide a good sealing action. 
As will become evident from the following detailed description of the 
invention, the novel apparatus has many useful applications. It can be 
mounted as a counter top or under the counter unit. It can be part of a 
subassembly built into a refrigerator. The holder can be designed in 
various shapes and sizes, i.e. round, square, rectangular, as a single 
line unit or as a double line (i.e. back-to-back) unit etc.. It can be 
used to hold and seal containers of both liquid and solid substances, for 
example, soda, wine, paint, milk, vitamin pills, spices etc.. The device 
can be secured to various surfaces or it can be made portable for use at 
picnics etc. by providing a handle therefor. 
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become 
apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction 
with the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, a self-sealing holder for 
soda bottles or other containers is fabricated from a unitary generally 
U-shaped frame 1 made of a material that is relatively strong and 
inexpensive, for example, a piece of one quarter inch plexiglass or heavy 
gauge stainless steel. The frame 1 consists of a back plate 2 and two 
opposed confronting surfaces, a top plate 3 and a base member 4. 
A pad 5 made of a resilient yieldable material is mounted on the base 
member 4 by any suitable fastening means such as an adhesive material or 
screws. In order to facilitate the replacement of a worn out pad, the 
rectangular pad 5 may be fixed to the base member by means of a U-shaped 
pad holder 6 having channels for receiving the pad, as shown in detail in 
FIG. 2. The pad may be made of rubber coated or plastic coated 
polyurethane foam, sponge rubber, foamed plastic or other resilient 
readily deformable substance. The pad also may consist of a spongelike 
base covered by a strong thin layer of resilient or other material that is 
smooth and exhibits good resistance to friction and wear. The top surface 
of pad 5 may contain a grid-like pattern of parallel slits which allows 
for a variation in the size of the containers to be supported and provides 
good operation of the device by preventing tilting of the pad which would 
otherwise upset the seal of an adjacent container. The slits are not 
essential to the proper operation of the invention. In fact, the bottom 
resilient pad may be omitted altogether and still obtain the benefits of 
the invention. The main function of the bottom resilient member is to 
provide additional resiliency to compensate for small variations in the 
height of the bottles or containers to be supported. 
A pad 7 also made of a resilient yieldable material is secured to the top 
plate 3 by any suitable securing means. In a manner similar to that of the 
bottom pad, the top resilient pad 7 may be fixed to the top plate by means 
of a channeled U-shaped pad holder 8, shown in detail in FIG. 2. The top 
and bottom pad holders may be made of metal, plastic or other suitable 
rigid material. 
In operation, the open end of a soda bottle or other opened container is 
forced up into the resilient pad 7 at a slight angle. The bottom end of 
the bottle is then rotated into the base member 4 until the bottle is in a 
vertical position with the bottle top contacting pad 7 and the bottom 
contacting pad 5, whereupon the bottle is released. The bottle will now be 
held firmly in a vertical position by the forces exerted by the resilient 
pads 7 and 5. Simultaneously, the top resilient pad 7 forms an air-tight 
seal about the open end of the bottle thereby preserving the carbonation 
in the case of a partially filled soda bottle. 
In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of a bottle from the 
holder, a modification of the bottom pad and holder, as shown in FIG. 3, 
may be utilized. In FIG. 3, the bottom resilient member consists of a 
relatively thick spongy material 9 supported on the base member 4. The top 
surface of the spongy material 9 supports a relatively thin, flat unitary 
piece 10 composed of laminations 11, 12, and 13, in the order named. The 
flat lamination 11 consists of a rigid plate made of sheet metal or the 
like which rests directly on the surface of the sponge member 9. Next 
comes a thin layer of resilient sponge rubber material 12 sandwiched 
between the plate 11 and a further rigid plate 13. The lamination 13 is 
composed of a smooth material such as Teflon which allows the bottle to 
slide easily along its surface and thus facilitates the insertion and 
removal thereof from the holder. Lamination 13 may be only 1/8 to 1/4 inch 
thick. The members 9 and 12 are restrained from expanding laterally by 
means of a frame made up of four side wall 14 extending from the base 
member 4 to a height somewhat below the interface between laminations 12 
and 13 in the unstressed condition of the apparatus (minus any bottles). 
In this way the side walls 14 will not interfere with the insertion of a 
bottle into the holder apparatus. The side walls retain the thick spongy 
material in place and improve the resiliency of the apparatus by 
preventing lateral expansion thereof. The various laminations may be 
secured together by means of an adhesive substance, screws, or other 
suitable means. Best results are obtained when the spongy member 9 is 
thicker than the resilient member 12. The resilient laminated bottom 
support structure of FIG. 3 allows for a relatively wide variation in the 
length of a bottle to be accomodated in the holder. The rigid plate 11 
assists in maintaining a good seal about the open end of the bottle 
because it restricts the amount of bottle tilt possible. The thin spongy 
layer 12 cooperates with the smooth layer 13 in reducing the resistance 
when a bottle is inserted and also helps compensate for bottle tilt. 
In the case where the expected variation in bottle height is not too great, 
the members 9 and 11 may be omitted and the bottom resilient support will 
the consist merely of a 2-part member composed of laminations 12 and 13 
secured to the base member. In this modification the side walls 14 are not 
required since there is relatively little lateral expansion of the thin 
spongy lamination 12. 
Referring now to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the invention is shown in 
which the top plate 3 consists of a ringshaped member 15 which supports 
about its periphery a thin membrane 16 composed of a resilient material, 
e.g. surgical rubber sheet or a rubber latex membrane. When a soda bottle 
or the like is inserted into the holder, it deforms the resilient membrane 
16 upward in the manner indicated by the dashed line, thereby forming an 
air-tight seal about the open end of the bottle while simultaneously 
exerting a downward force to hold the bottle in place. It has been found 
that with this construction it is possible to maintain an effective 
air-tight seal even in the case where the bottle is not supported in a 
precisely vertical position, i.e. when the bottle is inadvertently 
inserted and left in the holder so as to form a small angle to the true 
vertical position. In other words, the embodiment of FIG. 4 provides a 
greater compensation for bottle tilt than does the embodiment of FIG. 1. 
Alternatively, the ring-shaped top plate and resilient membrane of this 
embodiment may consist instead of two thin flat metal rings sandwiching a 
thin resilient membrane therebetween and fastened together to form a 
single unitary member. This construction provides a superior support 
structure for the membrane 16. A modification of the "sandwich" 
arrangement comprises two thin flat resilient membranes sandwiched 
together between the two metal rings. The membrane arranged to contact the 
container is made of a more resilient material than that of the other 
membrane. The metal rings and membranes may be held together by a 
plurality of screws spaced about the periphery of the metal rings. 
FIG. 5 illustrates diagrammatically another modified form of the top 
resilient support member which is especially useful for holding and 
sealing relatively wide-mouthed containers, such as jars or paint cans. 
Although this embodiment is designed to be mounted directly on a table top 
having a hard, smooth surface, it is clear that it could be constructed 
similar to the device of FIG. 1 which has its own individual base support 
member 4. The apparatus of FIG. 5 comprises a vertical bracket 17 having a 
pair of horizontal support flanges 18 extending therefrom for mounting the 
bracket to a table top work surface. A rigid top plate 19 extends from the 
bracket 17 to form a parallel confronting surface to the surface of the 
table top when the bracket is mounted thereon. The plate 19 includes a 
plurality of partition walls 20 extending approximately parallel to the 
vertical walls of bracket 17 to subdivide the top plate into a series of 
separate compartments. Each compartment contains a yieldable member 21 
consisting of a resilient material such as sponge or foam rubber or other 
suitable resilient plastic material molded into a generally rectangular 
shape with an interior air pocket 22 formed therein. The partition walls 
20 provide lateral support for resilient members 21. The top plate 19 
preferably has vertically extending front and back lips, not shown, to 
provide additional lateral support for the members 21. The bottom surface 
of each member 21 is exposed to provide a resilient yieldable contact 
surface for sealing the open end of a container placed in the holder 
apparatus. As mentioned above, the device of FIG. 5 provides exceptionally 
good sealing action for widemounted containers because the internal air 
pocket provides a more readily deformable contact surface than a solid 
spongy material. Another modification of this arrangement is to mold a 
first resilient material about a second very spongy material so that in 
place of the air pocket there is formed a core of spongy material. In this 
case the resiliency of the internal core material is preferably greater 
than the resiliency of the surrounding material. This allows one to chose 
each of the resilient materials to best satisfy the particular 
requirements, e.g. the outer surface should have good wearing qualities 
whereas the core material will be chosen primarily for its resilient 
characteristics. 
FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates a modified form of the embodiment of 
FIG. 5 that is suitable for mounting on a wall and contains its own base 
member. As desired, the base member may or may not include a resilient 
bottom layer 23, which if present may, for example, be of the type 
described with reference to the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 or 3. The holder 
may be mounted to a wall by means of flange 24. The optional bottom 
resilient member also may be constructed out of a molded resilient 
material having air pockets in a manner similar to the top resilient 
support member 21. 
In the embodiments of FIGS. 5 and 6, the bottom wall surface of the top 
resilient member 21 is preferably thinner than its side or top walls so 
that, in a manner analogous to that of the "ring" embodiment of FIG. 4, 
the bottom surface can readily form about the lip of the bottle to make a 
tighter seal. The apparatus shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 provides better sealing 
action for wide-mouthed containers than does the device of FIG. 4 because 
a greater reverse pressure is needed in this case to obtain a good sealing 
action. In the devices of FIGS. 5 and 6 a greater reverse pressure is 
obtainable because the air within the air pocket is compressed, whereas in 
the device of FIG. 4 there is only normal atmospheric air pressure exerted 
on the upper surface of the deflected thin membrane 16. It will obvious 
that the improvements derivable from the apparatus of FIGS. 5 and 6 are 
not limited to a rectangular shaped top resilient member 21, but various 
other shapes can be readily devised to accomodate containers of different 
configurations etc.. Other modified forms of the bottom reslient member 
also are contemplated and fall within the scope of my invention. For 
example, where it is desired to seal heavy containers it is possible to 
mount a spongy resilient material on a flat plate that rolls on a track, 
similar to the operation of a drawer in a filing cabinet. This apparatus 
makes it relatively easy to slide a heavy container in and out of the 
holder since the container is supported on the movable bottom resilient 
member. Another possible modification is to use a plastic or sheet metal 
box with a plurality of springs fixed therein as the bottom resilient 
member. A thin teflon surface or the like is placed over the springs to 
form a smooth base support for the container. 
Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawing, there is illustrated a 
self-sealing holder for soda bottles that includes a rectangular shaped 
base member 25 with a vertically extending back plate 26. The base and 
back plate may have other desired shapes than that illustrated in FIGS. 7 
and 8. A top plate 27 is mounted approximately parallel to the base member 
25 by means of a vertically extending leg member 28 that is supported on a 
vertical leg 31, as shown. The top plate 27 consists of a horizontal 
extension 29 of the leg 28 and a circular plate 30. It is preferable to 
form legs 28, 29 and circular plate 30 as a unitary structure. The back 
plate 26 may comprise one or more of the legs 31 (FIG. 8) depending upon 
the number of bottles to be supported in the holder. The base member 25 
has one or more pegs 32 extending from a side edge thereof. These pegs are 
arranged to mate with corresponding holes in the side edge of the base 
member of a further holder (not shown) whereby the holding capacity of the 
apparatus can be expanded at will. The opposite side edge of the base 
member may contain one or more holes, not shown, which are adapted to mate 
with corresponding pegs in the base of yet another bottle holder. 
A pad 33 made of a resilient yieldable material is fixed to the top plate 
30 by any suitable fastening means. The pad may be made of sponge rubber 
or a foamed plastic base covered with a strong, thin layer of resilient 
material such as a plastic skin having good wear properties. Other readily 
deformable resilient substances are suitable for the top pad, including 
plastic coated polyurethane foam. 
In order to adjust the holder for bottles of different size, the vertical 
leg members 31 and 28 contain mating teeth 34 and a wing nut arrangement 
35 for clamping the two vertical legs together. The toothed legs 31 and 28 
and the adjustable clamping member 35 provide a means for adjusting the 
spacing between the horizontal confronting surfaces of the base 25 and the 
top plate 27 so that the holder can be readily adjusted to accomodate 
bottles having substantially different linear dimensions. A soda bottle 36 
is shown supported in place in the self-sealing bottle holder. The bottle 
holder may be secured to a counter top by means of screws or other 
suitable fasteners, now shown. 
The operation is similar to that described above for FIGS. 1 and 2. The 
open end of the soda bottle is forced up against the resilient top plate 
33 at a slight angle and then the bottom end is rotated into the base 
member until the bottle is in a vertical position, whereupon it is 
released. The bottle is held in positon by the force exerted by the 
resilient member 33, which simultaneously forms and air-tight seal about 
the open end of the soda bottle to preserve the effervescence of any soda 
left therein. In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the 
bottle from the holder, it may be desirable to cut away a small 
wedge-shaped portion at the front of the base, as indicated by the dashed 
line 37 in FIG. 7. As in the embodiments described earlier, it is also 
possible to secure a resilient member to the base if it is desired to 
increase the sealing pressure and provide a greater tolerance in the 
height of the bottles to be accomodated in the bottle holder. However, in 
many cases a single resilient top plate is sufficient to achieve the 
objects and advantages of the invention. The top plate also may be 
modified to use the ring and resilient membrane support shown in FIG. 4 or 
the air pocket arrangement of FIGS. 5 and 6. 
If one were to use the ring and thin resilient membrane of FIG. 4 in order 
to seal a container holding a liquid under pressure, for example a 
partially filled soda bottle, it has been found that the gas pressure 
sometimes caused to bubble to form in the membrane 16. The bubble could be 
eliminated by making the resilient membrane thicker, but it has been found 
that this solution reduces the sealing action about the mouth of the 
bottle. In accordance with a further feature of the invention, as shown in 
FIG. 9, I provide a pair of rigid rings 38 that sandwich together a 
laminated resilient structure consisting of a heavy rubber latex member 
39, a circular polyurethane foam cushion 40 and a thin rubber latex 
membrane 41. This laminated structure prevents the formation of a bubble 
and still provides excellent sealing action for the carbonated soda or the 
like. The apparatus of FIGS. 7 and 8 can be readily modified to use the 
ring and laminated membrane structure of FIG. 9 in place of the top plate 
30 and resilient pad 33 of said apparatus. 
FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate diagrammatically another modification of the 
invention wherein I provide means for tilting the top plate upwards to 
further facilitate the insertion of the container into the holder. FIG. 
10A illustrates a bottle in the process of being inserted in the holder, 
whereas FIG. 10B shows the bottle supported in place to provide the 
desired sealing action. In this Figure, the top plate 42 may consist of a 
ring and resilient membrane structure of the type described above. A 
support member 43 is pivotally mounted at point 44 to a support bracket 45 
that is in turn fixed on a base plate 46. A spring 47 is secured at its 
upper end to the member 43 and at its lower end to a further support 
member 48 mounted on the bracket 45. The member 43 has a portion 49 
extending therefrom to engage the bottom part of the bottle. To operate 
the apparatus, a bottle is pressed into the resilient membrane as shown in 
FIG. 10A and is rotated towards the bracket 45. The spring 47 causes the 
member 43 to snap into the position shown in FIG. 10B with the bottom end 
abutting bracket 45. The spring holds the member 43 in position thus 
sealing the resilient membrane of the top plate 42 about the open end of 
the bottle, as shown. The bottle is removed by grasping the bottom end and 
rotating it away from the bracket 45. Other techniques for automatically 
rotating the top plate so as to expedite the insertion and removal of a 
container from the holder will become apparent from the foregoing 
description of the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 10. 
In view of the foregoing it will be evident that the present invention 
accomplishes the objects and advantages enumerated above. It also will be 
apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications 
may be made in the invention without departing from the true spirit and 
scope thereof and therefore the invention is not to be limited to the 
apparatus illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, 
but only to the extent indicated in the accompanying claims.