Abstract:
A bottle drying stand for a standard bottle having a side wall, transitioning through a shoulder to a bottle mouth. The stand includes a peripheral side wall resting upon a base rim. The upper end of the side wall forms a support rim sized for the inverted bottle to rest upon at its shoulder. A drip cup extends inwardly and downwardly from the support rim, and the mouth of the bottle is received therein. The drip cup includes a cup opening for airflow, preferably coaxial with the bottle mouth. The side wall of the stand also includes wall openings permitting airflow inward to communicate with the cup opening.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is related to co-pending design Ser. No. 29437867. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention relates in general to drying racks for dishes and bottles. In particular, the present invention relates to an improved bottle drying stand having excellent airflow for drying, reduced contact with the bottle for improved sanitation, as well as integrated drip retention. 
         [0004]    Dish and bottle drying racks are well known. These typically take the form of a wire support structure resting upon a drip tray. For bottles in particular, it is common for the support structure to have a plurality of fingers or tines, each of which would serve to support a single bottle. The bottle would be inverted and the mouth of the bottle placed over the tine such that the tine supports the bottle from within. This arrangement presents several drawbacks. The bottle will be dried by airflow through the mouth of the bottle allowing moisture-laden air to exit the bottle. The tine partially blocks the mouth of the bottle, reducing this airflow. The tine also contacts the bottle at the mouth, and typically at least one other spot within the bottle interior. This presents the possibility of contaminating the bottle after it has been washed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    An object of the present invention is to provide a bottle drying stand which provides an integrated arrangement for drying and drip retention. 
         [0006]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle drying stand which provides excellent airflow to the bottle interior. 
         [0007]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle drying stand which support the bottle without contact to the mouth or interior of the bottle. 
         [0008]    These and other objects are achieved by a bottle drying stand for a standard bottle having a side wall, transitioning through a shoulder to a bottle mouth. The stand includes a peripheral side wall resting upon a base rim. The upper end of the side wall forms a support rim sized for the inverted bottle to rest upon at its shoulder. A drip cup extends inwardly and downwardly from the support rim, and the mouth of the bottle is received therein. The drip cup includes a cup opening for airflow, preferably coaxial with the bottle mouth. The side wall of the stand also includes wall openings permitting airflow inward to communicate with the cup opening. This stand provides a stable support, efficient drying airflow, eliminates contact with the bottle mouth and interior, and is suitable for simple mass production techniques. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The objects and features of the invention noted above are explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals denote like elements, and in which: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a bottle drying stand according to the present invention together with a supported bottle; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a top isometric view of a stand as in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view thereof; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a detail cross-sectional view of the stand and supported bottle along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a top isometric view of a second embodiment of a bottle drying stand according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , a bottle drying stand according to the present invention is generally designated by reference numeral  10 . As shown, the stand  10  is supporting a bottle  12  in the operative, inverted position. This bottle  12  is of the usual type known for reuse, and would commonly be employed as a baby feeding bottle, a water bottle, etc. The bottle  12  would generally include a base  14  with a peripheral sidewall  16  extending therefrom. This sidewall may be cylindrical as shown, possibly with curving contours for gripping, or could have a prismatic form. As an example of a prismatic form, baby bottles commonly have a hexagonal longitudinal cross-section for the sidewall  16 . As is best shown in  FIG. 4 , the bottle  12  will have a cylindrical open mouth  18  at its longitudinal end, with this open mouth having a reduced diameter compared to sidewall  16 . To accommodate this, a shoulder section  20  is formed as a transition between the sidewall  16  and mouth  18 . Again as noted, this bottle  12  is of the usual prior art types. 
         [0016]    The stand  10  includes a peripheral side wall  22  extending between a lower base edge  24  and a support rim  26 . As show, the base edge  24  is a true edge, and the stand  10  is open at the bottom. While this is preferred, it is possible to form the stand  10  with an enclosing full base (not shown), or a partial base in the form of one or more tabs (not shown) extending laterally inward and/or outward from the base edge  24 . 
         [0017]    The support rim  26  is sized so as to be larger than the anticipated range of sizes for the bottle mouth  18 , yet smaller than the anticipated range of sizes for the bottle sidewall  16 , such that the support rim  26  will be sized to engage with the bottle  12  at the shoulder  20  to support the bottle  12  in the inverted position shown. The support rim  26  is preferably circular as shown, but could take various geometric shapes as desired so long as it continues to engage the shoulder  20  in a manner to support the inverted bottle  12  in a stable manner. 
         [0018]    The bottle stand  10  further includes a drip cup  28  extending downward and inward from the support rim  26 . Drip cup  28  is formed as a concave member opening upward at support rim  26 , and is sized to receive the mouth  18  of bottle  12  without contact. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the bottle  12  will be fully supported on the stand  10  by the shoulder  20  resting upon the support rim  26 . This is the operative, drying position of bottle  12 . In this position, a portion of the shoulder  20  and the entirety of the mouth  18  will be received within the drip cup  28 . As may be envisioned, when a bottle  12  is washed and then placed in the operative position on stand  10 , water which drips from the open mouth  18  of the bottle  12  will be captured within the drip cup  28  thus saving the user&#39;s counter top from mess, and eliminating the need for a separate drip pan beneath the stand  10 . 
         [0019]    In order to increase the rate of drying, it is preferred that there be good airflow communicating with the mouth  18  of bottle  12 . Some airflow is achieved between the shoulder  20  and the support rim  26 . This is minimal, however, in the preferred arrangements where the shoulder  20  and support rim  26  are both circular. Greater airflow would be achieved where the shoulder  20  is circular but the support rim is a geometric shape, as this would create gaps between the two. 
         [0020]    In the preferred embodiment, airflow to the bottle mouth  18  is improved by providing one or more cup openings  30  extending through the drip cup  28 . While not shown in the Figures, the cup opening or openings could be located near the support rim and be sized such that the bottom (non-apertured) portion of the drip cup still has depth sufficient to retain the anticipated water dripping from bottle  12 . It is preferred, however, that the cup opening  30  be located centrally at the lower longitudinal end of the drip cup  28 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . This location will allow airflow directly to and from the mouth  18  of the bottle for fastest drying. 
         [0021]    Simply providing the cup opening  30  in this central lower location would allow the water dripping from bottle  12  to fall through, or flow through, the cup opening  30  onto the supporting counter or surface for the stand  10 . It is greatly preferred for the drip cup  28  to retain its ability to capture and retain the water dripping from the bottle  12 . To this end, it is preferred that the diameter (or polygonal equivalent) of the cup opening  30  be less than that of the anticipated range of bottle mouths  18 , as best illustrated in  FIG. 4 . With this sizing, water dripping from the rim of the mouth  18  will fall outside the periphery of the cup opening  30  and within the drip cup  28 . 
         [0022]    Further, the peripheral edges of the cup opening  30  are raised longitudinally to form a cup lip  32 . As such, the drip cup  28  will continue to form a reservoir to hold water dripping from the bottle  12 , but instead of a wide circular reservoir, it will be generally annular in shape by surrounding the cup opening  30 . The height of the cup lip  32  will be chosen to provide an adequate reservoir capacity to hold all water dripping from the bottle  12 , but also sufficiently low to reduce the possibility of contact between the cup lip  32  and the bottle mouth  18 . In this regard, it is noted that the smaller diameter of the cup lip  32  would allow the cup lip to be received slightly within the bottle mouth  18  in the operative position and thus avoid contact, as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0023]    This central placement of the cup opening  30  allows for maximum air transfer from and to the bottle mouth  18  through the drip cup  28 . The drip cup  28  is, however, located within the side wall  22 . While this may be sufficient for some situations, it is preferred that the stand  10  further include free air transfer through the side wall  22  to allow maximum airflow communication between the environment and the bottle mouth  18 . 
         [0024]    To this end, it is preferred that the stand side wall  22  include one or more wall openings  34 . These might take the form of apertures extending through the side wall  22  ( FIG. 5 ). It is preferred, however, that the wall openings  34  be formed as notches extending upwardly from the base edge  24 , with the remaining lower portion of the side wall  22  thereby defining spaced legs supporting the stand  10 . 
         [0025]    As shown and described, the bottle drying stand  10  may be readily formed as a monolithic unit by mass-produced, injection-molded plastic processes. In use, the stand  10  will support the bottle  12  in a stable manner as shown. Water dripping from the inverted bottle  12  will not fall from through the cup opening  30 , but will rather be captured within the drip cup  28 . This will eliminate the need for a separate drip tray beneath the stand  10 , and will maintain the counter or support surface for the stand  10  in a clean, dry condition. The wall openings  34  and cup opening  30  will provide excellent air transfer to the mouth of the bottle  18 , ensuring the quickest drying. The structure of the stand  10  will ensure that the bottle mouth  18  is received within the stand  10  and supported using only the support rim  26 , with the bottle mouth remaining spaced from the drip cup  28  and cup lip  32 . This will prevent contamination of the cleaned bottle  12  by the stand  10 . 
         [0026]    The embodiment described above meets all the desired criteria for an improved bottle drying stand. As noted, some modifications are possible while still meeting these criteria. One further possible modification would be to provide for drying more than a single bottle. To this end, each stand  10  could have the side wall  22  formed in a manner to permit interconnection with one or more identically formed stands  10 , as is known in the art. A different solution could alternatively be to simply form the stand  10  in a larger (that is wider) form similar to a tray as shown in  FIG. 5 . This would allow multiple drip cups  28  to be formed within the single stand, as shown. 
         [0027]    From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all ends and objects set forth above together with the other advantages which are inherent within its structure. 
         [0028]    It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. 
         [0029]    Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth of shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.