Abstract:
A device and method for storing, transporting and displaying bottled products in a generally inverted position. Bottled products are placed within a device which either totally inverts or substantially inverts a bottled product in a holder. The bottled product holder can be used for storing bottled products, for the transportation of bottled products in a generally inverted manner, or for the display a of bottled products at the point of sale. Various embodiments made from an assortment of materials comprise stands and holders which capture the top and neck portion of bottled products to hold the products in a generally inverted position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of provisional application Serial No. 60/368,939 filed Apr. 2, 2002. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not applicable.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0004]    This invention relates in general to wine bottle handling, and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for the storage, transportation, and display of bottled products in a generally inverted position.  
           [0005]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0006]    A wide range of products are currently packaged and sold in various styles and shapes of bottled containers. Although carbonated beverages and wine are perhaps the most prevalent items packaged in bottles, other items such as condiments and automotive supplies are also packaged in bottles. Despite this wide range of products, there is a common need to store, transport, and display each of these bottled products.  
           [0007]    Certain types of products have unique problems associated with their storage, transportation, and display. This is particularly true of wine bottles. The integrity of the taste of a wine is almost always dependant upon the ability of the wine to ferment and cure properly within its bottle. A large majority of these wine bottles use a cork to seal the top of the bottle after the wine has been placed within the bottle. While cork seals are generally good for sealing wine bottle, the ability of the cork seal to remain operable depends in great part upon the moisture content of the cork seal. For example, if a wine bottle with a cork seal is stored for extended periods in an upright position with the cork seal at the top of the bottle and the bottom of the bottle resting on flat surface, the cork seal will dry out after a certain period of time. Once the cork seal becomes dry, the sealing ability of the cork seal may be compromised resulting in wine becoming less tasteful and in some cases completely unpalatable. Wine connoisseurs are well aware of this effect and take care to buy wine in bottles that appear to have maintained their sealed condition.  
           [0008]    There are a number of variations on the style of wine racks which have been developed and invented. U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,731 issued to Dardashti discloses one type of wine rack which acknowledges the need to place bottles in a position to keep the cork seal moist. That invention consists of a wine rack made from a wire frame that can be shipped to an end user in a disassembled state. However, the wine rack is unable to be used for transportation of wine bottles and is generally unsuitable for display of wine at a point of sale location.  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,072 issued to Sauer also discloses a wine storage device in which the wine bottles are transported in an inverted position. However, this invention has very limited capacity and is able to transport only two bottles of wine. Additionally, the device is unsuitable for either long term storage or display of wine at the point of sale.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,936 issued to Lamoureaux discloses a wine rack for use in storing or displaying wine bottles. However, the invention does not incorporate the ability to store or display the wine bottles in a manner which would ensure the cork seal will be kept moist by remaining in contact with the contents of the wine bottle. The invention has no capability for transportation of the wine bottles. As a result, the invention is not suitable for storing or transportation of wine bottles or other bottled products.  
           [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,110 issued to Regan shows a shipping with the ability of holding two tier of necked bottles. The lower tier is placed in an upright position, while the upper tier is placed in an inverted position. While the invention may be suitable for shipping and possibly storing bottled products, the device has no capability to display the bottled products.  
           [0012]    Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,209 issued to Todd discloses a device to hold bottles in an inverted position to allow the remnants of bottle&#39;s contents to move toward the top of the bottle. The invention requires an adjustment mechanism to allow for the storage of various bottle shapes and sizes. However, the device is unsuitable for either shipping or display of large numbers of bottled products at retail points of sale.  
           [0013]    There is thus a need for a device and method which can be used to store or display inverted bottled products.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0014]    This invention is a device for storing, shipping, and displaying bottled products, including wine and carbonated beverages, in an inverted position. The invention generally comprises a base portion with a number of openings designed to captivate the top and upper neck portion of bottles. Other components of the invention assist the base in retaining the bottles in either a perpendicular inverted position or in an angled position. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a side view of the second embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a section view of a third embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5A is a partial top view of the third embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6 is a section view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one type of installation of the present invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 8 is a second perspective view showing one type of installation of the present invention.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one type of manufacturing style for making the base of the present invention.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 10 is a section view of one type of manufacturing style for making the base of the present invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 11 is a section view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 12 is a top view of a sixth embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 13 is a section view of the sixth embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a seventh embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a seventh embodiment of the present invention shown without the bottled products.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 16 is a section view of the present invention wherein the base is made from a polystyrene product.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 17 is a section view of the present invention wherein the base is made from a formed plastic product.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 18 is a section view of the present invention showing possible sizes and shapes of the plurality of openings. 
     
    
       [0034]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0035]    Referring now to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention is shown. A bottled product holder A comprises a base  1  having a top surface  2  and a bottom surface  3 . A plurality of openings  4  are generally cylindrical and are located in the base such that the openings are in the top surface  3  of the base  1 . In one embodiment of the present invention, all of the plurality of openings  4  are the same size and there is an equal distance between the axes of any two adjacent openings. The horizontal distance between each of the plurality of openings is adjusted to allow for the inverted placement of a bottle in the hole and is adjusted to match the diameter and shape of the bottle to be placed into the plurality of openings. The axes of all of the plurality of openings is perpendicular to the top surface  2  of the base  1 .  
         [0036]    The base  1  may be made of any material as long as the material is capable of supporting a bottle in an inverted position. Examples of suitable materials would be wood, solid plastic, plastic which has been formed by injection molding or thermal vacuum forming, or any rigid metal. Additionally, the base  1  may be hollow or solid as long as the base has the ability to retain the bottles in an inverted position.  
         [0037]    In operation, a plurality of bottles  5  are placed into the plurality of openings  4  in the top surface  3  of the base  1 . Although FIG. 1 shows all of the bottles being the same size and shape, it will be understood that the plurality of openings  4  may be adjusted in diameter and location to accommodate a variety of different sizes and shapes of bottles.  
         [0038]    In an alternative embodiment, the base  1  may have the ability for attachment to a shelf or other supporting means. For example, FIG. 1 shows a base  1  having a proximal end  6  and a distal end  7 , with a mounting slots  8  located near the proximal end  6  and the distal ends  7  of the base  1 . The slots  8  allow for the attachment of the base  1  to another flat surface to prevent the tipping or sliding of the base in relation to the flat surface. In other embodiments, the base  1  may be attached to the flat surface with adhesives or fastening devices.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is identical to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the exception that that the plurality of openings  10  are not perpendicular to the top surface  11  of the base  12 , but are instead at an angle θ other than ninety degrees to the top surface  11 . The angle θ is dependent upon the size and shape of the bottle  9  to be placed within the plurality of openings  10 . In most cases, the angle θ will be between 30 degrees and 90 degrees.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is the same in all respects as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 except for the design of the base  13  in FIG. 3. The base  13  is thinner than the base  1  in FIG. 1 and the base  12  in FIG. 2. While the bottles are still inverted, the plurality of openings  14  in the base  13  do not act to completely support the bottles in an inverted position. Instead, a plurality of neck tubes  15  are installed into each of the plurality of openings  14  and the upper rim  16  of the neck tubes  15  contact the neck of the bottle to support the bottle in the inverted position. As shown in FIG. 4, the neck tubes  15  may be installed to the base  13  at an angle between 30 degrees and 90 degrees to the base similar to the embodiment in FIG. 2.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A show another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the same as the embodiment shown FIG. 3 with the exception of the difference in the number of openings and the manner of attachment of the base  16  to a flat surface  19 . In this embodiment, each of a plurality of bases  16  have a neck tube  24  and the bases  16  are held in a sliding arrangement between a hold down device  18  and a flat surface  19 . Each of the bases have the ability to slide to various locations beneath the hold down device  18 .  
         [0042]    The base  16  has a single opening  17  rather than the FIG. 1 embodiment which shows a plurality of openings  4 . The base  16  is attached to a flat surface by a hold down device  18 . The hold down device  18  comprises two parallel bars  20  and two end bars  21 . The spacing between the two parallel bars  20  is adjusted and determined by the size and shape of the bottle to be placed in the base  16 . The two end bars  21  attach to the flat surface  19  by installing fasteners  22  through the mounting holes  23  in each of the two end bars  21 . It will be understood while FIG. 5 shows screw type fasteners  22  to attach the hold down device  18  to the flat surface  19 , other fastening means such as rivets, adhesives, and hold down clips may also be used to attach the hold down device  18  to the flat surface  19 . It will also be understood that while FIG. 5 shows only three bases  16 , any number of bases  16  may be located beneath the hold down device  18 .  
         [0043]    As shown in FIG. 6, the neck tubes  24  may be installed at an angle to the base, similar to the neck tubes  15  shown in FIG. 4. In most cases, the angle θ will again be between 30 degrees and 90 degrees.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show one manner of grouping a number of bottled product holders A onto a shelf  26  to display a number of bottled products in an inverted position. In this application, each of the bottled product holders A are placed side by side and are attached to the shelf  26 . As previously indicated, bolts screws, rivets, or adhesives may be used to attach the bottled product holders A to the shelf  26 . While the bottled product holders A are shown mounted perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the shelf  26 , it will be appreciated that the bottled product holders may also be mounted parallel to the longitudinal length of the shelf  26  or in any combination of both perpendicular or parallel arrangement.  
         [0045]    In each of the above embodiments, the base of the bottled product holder A is configured to retain a bottle in an inverted position. It is important to note that the manner of manufacturing the base may be varied in anyway so long as the characteristics described in the previous embodiments are retained. For example, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show how the base  27  may be manufactured using a plastic injection process. The base  27  is generally hollow and has four sides  28  which attach to a top surface  29 . The top surface  29  has a plurality of openings  30  which have been formed into the top surface  29 . The diameter, depth, spacing, and shape of the plurality of openings  30  are adjusted as needed to match the size and shape of the bottle to be inserted into the plurality of openings  30 . The base  27  may be attached to a flat surface by screws, bolts, rivets, latches, clips, connectors, or adhesive. The base  27  may also be manufactured using a thermal vacuum process and is generally similar in all other respects to the base  27  in FIG. 9.  
         [0046]    In each of the above embodiments which do not use neck tubes, the plurality of openings in the base do not require that an insert be placed into the plurality of openings into which the top and neck of the bottle is placed. However, in some circumstances, it may be desirable to protect the surface of the bottle with a soft material which reduces the chance that the bottle surface may be damaged or scratched. In that situation, a soft plastic ring  33  as shown in FIG. 11 may be inserted into each of the plurality of openings  34  in the base  35 . When the bottle is inserted into one of the openings  34 , the top rim  36  of the bottle and the neck  37  of the bottle contact the soft plastic ring  33 .  
         [0047]    In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, at least three retention devices  38  are inserted into the plurality of openings  39  in the base  40 . The retention pads  38  are made from a soft material such as rubber and protrude into one of the plurality of openings  39 . The amount of protrusion of the retaining pads  38  into the opening is such that the top of the bottle  41  to be placed into the opening will be able to slip past the retention pads  38  when installing the bottle  41  into the opening  39 , but will nevertheless be gripped by the retention pads  38  once the top of the bottle  41  reaches the bottom  42  of the opening  39 . The gap G between the bottom of the retention pads  38  and the bottom  42  of the opening  39  is sized to be just enough to hold the top rim  43  of the bottle  41  between the bottom of the retention pad  38  and the bottom  42  of the opening  39 . The retention pads  38  may be attached to the base  40  by adhesives alone or by placing slots  44  at intervals within the opening  39  which allow the retention pad  38  to slide into the slot  44 . Adhesives may or may not be used to keep the retention pad within the slot  44 .  
         [0048]    The bottle  41  in FIG. 13 is shown placed in a vertically inverted position, however, as in the previous embodiments, the opening  39  may be at an angle to the top surface  41  of the base  40  such as to display the bottles  41  in an inverted position which is at an angle to the top surface  41  of the base  40  similar to FIG. 2.  
         [0049]    In another embodiment as shown in FIG.&#39;s  14 ,  15 ,  16 , and  17 , the plurality of openings  46  in the base  47  are not just cylindrical holes used to accept a top  49  of a bottle and a neck  50  of the bottle, but are instead sized and shaped to accept the top of the bottle  49 , the neck of the bottle  50 , any upper rim of the bottle, and at least some portion of the main body  52 B of the bottle  51 . In the previous embodiments, the bottle  51  was retained in its inverted position through contact of the top  49  of the bottle  51  and the neck  50  of the bottle  51  with the bottom of the opening, the side of the opening, and the upper edge of the opening in the base. In the present alternative embodiment, the bottle  51  is generally supported through surface contact between some portion of the main body  52 B of the bottle  51  and the interior surface  53  of the openings  46  in the base  47 . Because at least some of the shape of the openings  46  conforms to the upper portion of the main body  52 B of the bottle  51 , the bottle  51  is held in a generally inverted position within the openings  46 . The bottom of the openings  46  may be either open or closed. Again, however, while FIG. &#39;s  14 ,  15 ,  16 , and  17  show the bottles  51  inverted in a perpendicular position, the openings  46  may be oriented such that the bottles  51  are displayed in a generally inverted position, but at some angle to the top surface  56  of the base  47 . It is understood that in the present embodiment, the base  47  may be placed upon a shelf or upon a stand, and the bottled products are then displayed by placing the inverted bottles into the formed openings of the base  47 .  
         [0050]    It will be appreciated that the base  47  for this embodiment may be manufactured in a number of ways. For example, the shape of the neck of the bottle may be molded into a polystyrene-type material as shown in FIG. 16. Or, the base  47  may be made from molded plastic wherein the shape of the upper portion of the bottled product to be displayed is formed into the molded plastic as shown in FIG. 17. It is also appreciated that the design of the base  47  may be varied as long as the base  47  comprises an upper surface  57  and a plurality of openings  46  sized, shaped, and located in the upper surface  57  such that shape of the plurality of openings  46  are sufficient to hold the bottled products in a generally inverted manner.  
         [0051]    While this embodiment shows how the bottled product holder A can be used for displaying bottles, the same concept is also applicable to the storing and transporting of bottled products. In that situation, the base  47  is placed within a shipping carton (not shown) and the bottled products are placed within the plurality of openings  46  in the base  47  in an inverted position. The shipping carton may then be sealed and shipped to its retail destination. Once at its destination, the retailer unseals the shipping carton and then displays the bottled products in the bottom remaining portion of the shipping carton.  
         [0052]    When bottled products are displayed in the bottled product holder A, the manufacturer of the bottled product can invert the label or markings on the bottled product. In this manner, the purchasing customer will be able to read the label or markings on the bottle without removing the bottle from the bottled product holder A. The inversion of the labels on the bottled product may be used to enhance the fact that a wine producer is protecting the integrity of the wine in the bottle, or the inversion may be a unique marketing effect used to promote a particular aspect of other products such as carbonated beverages. The bottles shown in FIG. 18 show one example of placing inverted labels on bottles.  
         [0053]    In each of the above inventions, information about the bottled product being displayed in the bottled product holder A may be provided by means of an information card  56  (FIG. 1 through FIG. 4) placed onto the base. The information included may be characteristics regarding the contents of the bottled product or may include other related information such as recipes, sales promotions, contest, coupons, or other types of sales incentives related to the bottled product being displayed. In all cases, the information card  56  may be either permanently attached to the base or may consist of a pad of multiple copies of the information card  56  which may be torn off and retained by the customer.  
         [0054]    In all of the above embodiment, the plurality of openings in each base are of only one size and shape. Nevertheless, the scope of the present invention also includes a base wherein the size shape and location of each of the plurality of openings may be different as shown in FIG. 18.  
         [0055]    While the above description describes various embodiments of the present invention, it will be clear that the present invention may be otherwise easily adapted to fit any configuration where a device for storing, shipping or displaying a bottled product in a generally inverted position may be utilized.  
         [0056]    In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.