Abstract:
A bottle retainer includes a base having an affixing portion and a retaining portion. The affixing portion is adapted to mount the bottle retainer to a surface and the retaining portion is adapted to slidably receive at least one bottle. The retaining portion may further include obstructions for engaging the bottle, whereby accidental disengagement is prevented. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to a retainer for holding bottles and more particularly to a retainer that holds medication bottles. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Prescription drugs, over-the-counter formulas, vitamins, herbal remedies, medicinal supplements and the like (collectively, “medications”) play an ever-increasing role in the daily lives of many people, especially the elderly population. As the pharmaceutical industry evolves, medications are increasingly essential to improving the quality of life for many individuals. Additionally, in many instances, medications lengthen and improve lives, and people depend on these medications for their continued survival. For example, it is not uncommon for a senior citizen to have a blood pressure medication, take at least one vitamin supplement, and resort to various herbal alternatives. As people grow older and their schedules become fraught with doctor visits, etc., the task of organizing these and other medications often becomes burdensome, confusing, and, in particular instances, overwhelming. 
   The benefits of these various medications are not only received by the elderly population. At one time or another, most people require some medication such as aspirin to fight a headache, or a cold tablet to ward off a cold. The multitude of similar appearing bottles are easily misplaced and often confused. 
   It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a bottle retainer that enables an individual to more easily manage these and other medications. 
   There have been various prior art attempts to help an individual organize their various medications. Rather than include the prescription bottle as part of the solution, most prior art attempts have required an individual to remove the tablets from the pill container and sort their various medications by placing them in containers corresponding to the day or date prescribed. While medication sorters and organizers of this type are beneficial, taking medication from a container and inserting it into another is time-consuming. Additionally, liquid and powder based solutions are not conducive to such a technique. Moreover, this can be dangerous. The bottles themselves, in conjunction with the labels attached thereto, generally contain very important information relating to dosage instructions, the prescribing doctor and hospital, the pharmacy information, important interactions with other drugs, and instructions in case of an emergency. The prior art attempt circumvents this important information and because the patient is not required to handle the bottle on a repeated basis they may accidentally lose the bottle, or, even, throw it out. Because the user removes the pill from its original packaging to place it into the pill sorter, medications are often confused, and the dosage instructions are more easily ignored. To alleviate the disadvantages of the prior art, it would be more beneficial, therefore, to generally have the package nearby, and more readily accessible. 
   There still exists little to no art that offers convenient storage for the bottles and residual pills. Individuals could secure medications, in their original container, within a bottler retainer. This would allow an individual to keep the containers within view and in an organized fashion thereby allowing the individual to be reminded of the important necessity to take their medication. Additionally, the holder could ensure medications are kept in a proper storage environment away from pets, children, and others. The present invention was developed in light of these and other drawbacks. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   To address these and other drawbacks, the present invention provides a bottle retainer that utilizes a base having an affixing portion and a retaining portion. The affixing portion being adapted to affix the bottle retainer to a surface and the retaining portion adapted to slidably receive at least one bottle. Additionally, the retaining portion may further include obstructions for engaging the bottle whereby accidental disengagement is prevented. 
   Other aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the drawings and the detailed description below. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a perspective view of another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2A  illustrates a perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2B  illustrates a perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1A  illustrates an exemplary embodiment in accordance with the present invention. The bottle retainer  10  generally includes a base having an affixing portion  14  extending downward from a retaining portion  16 . As illustrated, the portions  14 ,  16  meet to form substantially an L-shape. In an exemplary embodiment the union of the affixing  14  and retaining  16  portions substantially forms a right angle, although this angle may be modified to further accommodate different angled surfaces for ease of installation, the modification of this feature should be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, in another embodiment the affixing portion  14  may alternately extend upward to form an affixing portion. 
   In an exemplary embodiment, retaining portion  16  is further configured to slidably receive at least one bottle  18 . For illustration purposes only, this may be accomplished by forming an opening  20  having bifurcate arms  22  at either side, wherein the arms  22  are positioned to accept the bottle body and engage the bottle cover thereby suspending the bottle over the opening  20 . As seen in the illustrations, the center arms  22 , may be shared by the openings  20  located on either side. It is within the purview of this invention, therefore, that there will be n+1 arms, wherein n represent the number of bottles, unless however, the retainer is designed for a single bottle and would require two arms. In an exemplary embodiment the opening  20  is substantially U-shaped wherein the back of the opening is further adapted to substantially abut the bottle resting therein, though, as illustrated in other embodiments herein, the opening  20  may be configured to not substantially abut the bottle. The affixing portion  14  is further configured to affix the bottle retainer  10  to a surface; the features of which will be further described hereinbelow. 
   The size of the openings  20  may vary dependant upon the needs of the particular user. The invention, therefore, may not be limited to the sizes disclosed in this specification or the attached drawings. In a preferred form, an embodiment of the invention has openings of varying sizes. As illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the bottle retainer  10  has openings to accommodate smaller, medium, and large sized bottles. In an even more preferred form the openings are further configured to receive bottles of at least four varying sizes. It is within the purview of the present invention, therefore, to include all various combinations of sizes. 
   Though not necessary to implement the invention, in certain embodiments as illustrated in  FIGS. 1B and 2B , the bifurcate arms  22  may further include at least one obstruction  30 , or stopper, at or near the margins of the arms  22 , the obstruction being configured to engage the bottle wherein the bottle must be lifted over the obstruction  30  to slidably engage or disengage the bottle. The obstruction  30  may be in the form of a bump, knob, projection, raised or lowered dimple, tit or any other suitable means for restricting movement of the bottle. Moreover, having the obstruction  30  present further helps to secure the bottles within the bifurcate arms  22  thereby preventing accidental engagement or disengagement as the obstruction  30  secures the bottle so that the bottle may only release once a small amount of force is applied to the bottle. In an exemplary embodiment, as illustrated, an obstruction is located at the end of each bifurcate arm such that two obstructions act upon each bottle. In alternate embodiments, however, as seen in  FIG. 2B , the central arms may secure the bottles by implementing a single obstruction  30 A adapted to engage multiple bottles. 
   Affixing the bottle retainer  10  may yield a variety of forms and the affixing material may be located at a variety of positions within the system. The bottle retainer  10  may be affixed to nearly any surface, preferably a smooth flat surface. The affixing portion  14  extending from the retaining portion  16  of the bottler holder  10  may be further described having a front side  32  and a back side  34 , the back side being configured to mount bottle retainer  10  to a surface. In an exemplary embodiment, the affixing portion  14  is approximately 1 1/16inches in height as this is the requisite amount of material to provide the necessary stability required from the retainer, while it sufficiently minimizes the production costs associated with the invention. 
   The holder  10  may be mounted by driving a screw, a nail, or the like, from the front side  32  through to the back side  34  and further driving the like into the surface thereby securing the holder  10 . Preferably, at least two screws are used, but including more or less is not outside the scope of the present invention. Alternately, rather than using a nail or screw, the back of the affixing portion  14  of the bottle retainer  10  may further include an adhesive or magnetic material  36  configured to affix the bottle retainer  10  to the surface. One skilled in the art will readily realize numerous alternative methods for attaching portion  14  to a surface. 
   In an exemplary embodiment the bottle retainer  10  is made of plastic such as rigid polystyrene, as it is readily available, easily formed, and economically priced as their exist a wide range of plastic processors. In an even more preferred embodiment, the bottled holder will be manufactured by using an injection molding technique as is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Other techniques readily known to one of ordinary skill, however, are not disclaimed and where appropriate should be incorporated herein. 
   The bottle retainer  10  may be placed in a variety of locations. As an example, the bottle retainer  10  may be secured in concealed locations, such as inside a cabinet, or in visible locations, such as on a counter, a refrigerator, etc. 
   The bottle retainer  10  may be further adapted to enable a user to configure various reference insignia about its surface, which may help to remind a user of medication times, dosages, and the like. Moreover, the present invention can be further modified by adding a timer or an alarm thereby enabling a user to seek a refill or at least make them aware that the medications contained therein are running low. 
   While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the foregoing preferred an alternative embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that the method and apparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby. This description of the invention should be understood to include all novel and non-obvious combinations of elements described herein, and claims may be present in this or a later application to any novel and non-obvious combination of these elements. The foregoing embodiments are illustrative, and no single feature or element is essential to all possible combination that may be claimed in this or a later application. Where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element of the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.