Abstract:
A number of panels and shelves are formed of wires which are arranged to intersect. These panels and shelves are secured together to form a rack for holding bottles, which rack is supported by four corner posts. The vertical placement of the shelves is adjustable along the height of the corner posts by means of adjustable support collars which fit around each post and are captured by each corner of a shelf. A plurality of A-frames are removably secured to the shelves to form areas or compartments in which the bottles or the like may be stored. The A-frames are positioned next to each other so as to support an inverted pyramid of bottles between them.

Description:
[0001]    Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120, this application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the previously-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/666,695, filed Sep. 21, 2000 and currently pending in the U.S. Patent &amp; Trademark Office. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to storage and display racks and more particularly—but not exclusively—to wire wine racks which may be easily and quickly assembled and disassembled without the need for tools.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    For convenience of expression, the inventive rack will hereinafter be called a “wine rack”; although, it should be apparent that the inventive rack has many uses other than for storage of wine. The wine rack may have almost any convenient size and shape. In general, the dimensions of a wine shelf might be in the nature of 14″×48″ and, perhaps 84″ tall. An example of such racks may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,546,887 and 2,622,741.  
           [0004]    Regardless of the assembled size, it is desirable to have a rack which may be shipped broken down into its component parts in a relatively small box. Also, it should be very easy to quickly assemble the rack into its useable form or to disassemble it for storage. Once it is assembled, it should be secure and stable.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    A particularly useful form of construction which meets these criteria is a rack made of a plurality of preferably cold rolled steel wires which intersect each other and are preferably welded together at each point where the wires intersect. In the preferred embodiment, the wires form an orthogonal matrix to form shelves and panels.  
           [0006]    Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a rack having the features described above. Here an object is to provide such a rack which is especially adapted for wine or bottle storage but which may also be used for other purposes. For example, four rack shelves might provide for wine storage while a fifth shelf might store other things such as glasses, napkins, nuts, chips, and the like. Hence, flexibility of design and usage is desirable.  
           [0007]    In keeping with an aspect of the invention, these and other objects are provided by a series of wire panels and shelves which easily fit together without the need for tools. The shelves may be assembled in either a flat and completely horizontal position for general storage or on a slant for wine bottle storage. Once the shelves are in position, a suitable number of A-frames may be secured to each shelf in order to receive rows of bottles between the slanting sides of the A-frame, forming space-efficient storage compartments. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a front view of an assembled inventive wine rack having two exemplary sets of A-frames on each of three shelves;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two feet attached to vertical corner posts of a wine rack;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a side elevation of plastic shelf supporting collars which are positioned on a corner post;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a first step in assembling a rack;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a wine rack with a plurality of shelves in place on the vertical corner posts and at the start of a back panel installation;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a wine rack with a back panel being snapped into place;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 7 is a perspective view giving a detail of a hook used to hold the back panel in its final position;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 8 is a side elevation view showing two corner posts ready to receive a side panel;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 9 is a side elevation showing an assembly of the corner posts and A-frames;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 10 is a front elevation of an A-frame which provides support for bottles stored on a rack shelf;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 11 is a front elevation which shows a pyramid of bottles stored in an A-frame mounted on a shelf;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 12 is a back elevation of substantially the same equipment that is shown in FIG. 11 with the back panel in place to prevent either the bottles from falling off the back of the shelves; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 13 shows a full shelf having two sets of A-frames, arranged to support 62 bottles. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1 shows the inventive wine rack having four exemplary shelves  22 - 28  and a top panel  30 . A suitable space  32  is provided to receive any additional shelves or stacked items such as ice buckets, napkins, glasses, etc., as the user of the shelves may elect. As here shown, two sets of bottle supporting A-frames  34 ,  36  have been secured to shelf  24  in order to receive wine bottles. Similar A-frames are shown secured to the other shelves  26 ,  28 .  
         [0022]    The entire wine rack  20  is preferably made of shelves and panels comprising two layers of cold rolled steel wire or rods which intersect each other in an orthogonal matrix and are preferably welded together at each crossing or intersection. These wires are shown and are hereinafter described as being in the preferred orthogonal orientation; however, the wires may have many different orientations such as diagonal or even simple spaced wires parallel to each other. The method of assembly (or disassembly) should be apparent from a study of the following specification and the drawings explained therein.  
         [0023]    The corner posts  38 - 44  (FIG. 4) are, in effect, hollow tubes or pipes having circumferential grooves or channels, such as  46  (FIG. 3) formed periodically along the length of the posts. These grooves may appear at one inch intervals for most corner posts.  
         [0024]    A plastic collar  48  (FIG. 3) has at least one internal ridge which fits into a selected one or more of the circumferential grooves or channels on the corner posts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,342 discloses an adjustable shelving system with a type of collar that can be used in connection with the present invention. Then, a second collar  50  slips over the collar  48  in order to lock it into place. The collars on the front corner posts  38 ,  42  may be placed in circumferential channels which are an inch or two lower than the vertical positions of the collars on the rear posts, thereby providing slanting shelves (see shelf supports at  24 - 28  in FIG. 8) for supporting wine bottles with their corks in a higher position. Or, they may be placed in the same relative vertical positions on both the front and rear posts, thereby providing horizontal shelves. A number  52  may appear between grooves on the corner posts to assist in positioning the collars, these numbers  52  preferably extend along the entire length of the corner posts (see FIG. 13).  
         [0025]    To begin the assembly, the collars  48 ,  50  are put into place and feet  54 ,  56  (FIG. 2) are attached to the bottom of the corner posts  38 - 44 . Then, the corner couplers  53  of shelf  22  are fitted over the plastic collars  48 ,  50 . Both the collars and corner couplers  53  may be simple, tapered, ring-shaped members with the couplers  53  fitting over the tapered collars  48 ,  50  and resting on a circumferential stop  58 . The nesting taper of the collar  50  and coupler  53  carries most of the shelf weight.  
         [0026]    Any suitable number of shelves  24 - 30  (FIG. 5) are added to the corner posts  38 - 44  in a similar manner, either filling it completely or leaving space  32  for uses other than the storage of bottles.  
         [0027]    The rack is now ready for a back panel  60  to be installed. For this, both the top and the bottom of the panel have upwardly facing open hooks thereon. FIG. 7 shows the bottom hook  62 . The top of the panel also has upwardly facing hooks  64  (best seen on the side panel (FIG. 8)).  
         [0028]    As shown in FIG. 5, first the hooks  62  on the bottom of back panel  60  are hooked under an edge of a shelf, such as bottom shelf  24 , for example. Then, the back panel is bowed outwardly (FIG. 6) in order to lower the upwardly facing hooks on the top of the back panel  60  so that they may be slipped under an edge of a shelf, such as top shelf  30 . The bowed back panel is released and its resilience drives the upwardly facing hooks to be captured under the shelf.  
         [0029]    The construction of the back panel is preferably an orthogonal matrix of wires which may be welded together at each cross point. Any other suitable geometric configuration may also be used. This arrangement provides a back panel having a number of rectangular openings such as  66  (FIG. 1). The only requirement is that these openings should be small enough to prevent the wine bottles from falling off the back of the shelves.  
         [0030]    The shelves are now ready to receive their side panels (FIGS. 8, 9). As here shown, the shelves slant downwardly from  70  on rear post  44  to  72  on the front post  42 . This way, corks will remain wet when the wine bottles are laid on the rack with their neck pointing toward the rear of the rack (i.e., toward rear corner post  42 ). For example, the shelf supports may be located as follows:  
                                                           POSITION ON REAR   POSITION ON FRONT           SHELF   POST   POST                           Shelf 26   56″   55″           Shelf 28   71″   70″           Shelf 30   86″   85″                      
 
         [0031]    Of course, other spacings could also be provided. Or, the shelves could also be level and horizontal if the collars of FIG. 3 are positioned at the same height on the front and rear posts.  
         [0032]    The side panels  68  (FIGS. 8, 9) are installed in approximately the same manner that is shown in FIGS. 5, 6 for the back panel. FIG. 9 shows the side panel  68  in place on the rack. Again, the side panel is here shown, by way of example, as an orthogonal matrix of wires preferably welded together at each cross point, although other configurations could also be used.  
         [0033]    The shelves are now ready to receive the bottle supporting A-frames  34 ,  36  (FIG. 10). These frames are formed by resilient wire arms  71  bent at an acute angle  74  at an apex with two free ends  76  opposite the apex. A number of cross members  76 - 82  extend across and are welded to each wire arm  71  to form the A-frame  34 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 1 and 9 show a front view and side view, respectively, of an exemplary wine rack, here having three shelves  24 - 28  for storing wine bottles. A plurality of A-frames  34 ,  36 , are secured to the shelves in a side-by-side relationship. A pyramid of bottles may be supported under each set of the A-frames and an inverted pyramid may be supported between two sets of A-frames (FIG. 13).  
         [0035]    The lower portion or free ends  76  of the wire members  71  are adapted to fit between and grasp the individual wire members which form the shelf surface or matrix on each individual shelf. A pair of cross members  78  which extend across the lower free ends  76  of each arm of the A-frames capture and hold between them an individual wire member on the shelf surface to secure the A-frame to the shelf. To install the A-frames shown in FIGS.  11 - 13 , the bent wires  71  are spread apart and the pair of cross members  78  on the free ends of the wires  71  are fitted over the wires that form the shelves. Then, the A-frame wires  34  are released whereupon the resilience of the wires  71  cause them to return to normal with the shelf wire captured between the cross members  78 . When the cross members are disposed on the outside of the A-frame (FIG. 13), the two arms are squeezed together, inserted into the shelf wiring, and released. Then, each of the cross members  78  captures a shelf wire adjacent the free ends of A-frame wires  34 .  
         [0036]    FIGS.  11 - 13  show a rear view of a shelf  114  with an A-frame in place. The bottom of a wine bottle  116  is shown. By an inspection, it is seen that, the width of the space between the A-frame arms is adequate to receive a first row  121  (FIG. 11) comprising a fixed number (here four) of bottles  116 . The second row  122  includes one less (three) bottle. In a similar manner, the third row  124  includes one less (two) bottle. Finally, the top “row”  126  is a single bottle completing the pyramid  128  of bottles. It is obvious from an inspection of FIGS.  11 - 13  that the dimensions of the A-frame are such that the entire pyramid is held securely in place.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11, except that it is taken looking through back panel  60 . The spacing between the wires of the matrix forming the back panel is such that a wire is always in a position to prevent a bottle from sliding through and protruding behind the back panel.  
         [0038]    From FIG. 13, it is seen that the space  138  between two adjacent A-frame sides  132  and  134  is adapted to receive an inverted pyramid  140  of bottles, while the A-frames also form end zones  142 ,  144 .  
         [0039]    Those who are skilled in the art will readily perceive various modifications which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the appended claims are to be construed to include all equivalent structures.