Abstract:
A wearable beverage carrier having a cylindrical portion with an open end configured for removably receiving a beverage bottle and a closed end configured for restricting movement of the beverage container, an elongated support portion having a proximal end extending from the open end of the cylindrical portion; and a loop portion located at the distal end of the elongated support portion and configured for receiving the belt. Additionally, the wearable beverage carrier includes an absorbent pad removably coupled to the closed end of the cylindrical portion and is located inside the cylindrical portion between the beverage container and the closed end of the cylindrical portion.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/603,583 filed on Aug. 23, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to carriers for holding beverage containers, and more particularly to a holster style carrier worn by a human for carrying beverage bottles.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Beverage servers at wine tastings, bars, cocktail lounges, house parties and the like are limited in their pouring and service activities, as they do not have free hands for other functions. For servers in commercial settings this results in a loss in productivity. For example, a wine server at a catered event is unable to assist in the clearing of glassware and dish ware when returning to the kitchen to drop off empty wine bottles and pick up full bottles. The same holds true for a host at a private house party attempting to entertain guests while also keeping the guests&#39; glasses full with fine and drink.  
         [0004]     One solution to this problem employed by some servers is to place the bottles into the pockets of the servers&#39; pants, apron, or garment. While this method helps to free up the servers&#39; hands, this method results in reduced range of server movement, inefficiency, poor accessibility, limited and uncomfortable storage capability, and increased potential for slippage, droppage, drippage and mess.  
         [0005]     This method is particularly problematic when a server is attempting to carry several bottles of expensive wine in the server&#39;s pants pockets. The server must engage in inefficient and awkward movements to extract a bottle, de-cork the bottle, pour the wine, and replace the bottle into the pant pocket before removing the second bottle and repeating the process.  
         [0006]     The present invention seeks to solve these problems by providing a human wearable beverage container carrier.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     One aspect of the present invention includes a human wearable carrier for beverage bottles, such as wine, liquor or water bottles. One or more holster shaped carriers are placed on an adjustable belt worn around the server&#39;s waist or over the server&#39;s shoulder. This permits immediate, easy and natural access to multiple beverage containers while freeing the server&#39;s hands for other ancillary functions.  
         [0008]     In another aspect of the present invention, a server is able to carry the open beverage bottles in a safe efficient manner and to carry one or more holsters to substantially increase efficiency and mobility, and to decrease unnecessary movement and wasted effort.  
         [0009]     Other objects and advantages, which are set forth in the description of the Detailed Description of the Invention. The features and advantages described in the specification, however, are not all inclusive, and particularly, many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings and specification herein. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a frontal view of the carrier of the best mode of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the carrier depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of the carrier depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is front view of a dual carrier system employing the carrier depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is front view of a single carrier system employing the carrier depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the carrier depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a side view of an alternate embodiment carrier of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is a rear view of the alternate embodiment carrier depicted in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is an exploded view of the alternate embodiment carrier depicted in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     Overview  
       [0019]     The preferred embodiment is a holster shaped carrier  10  as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . Carrier  10  includes cylindrical portion  12 , loop portion  14 , elongated support portion  16 , removable absorbent pad  20 , and lacing  22 . A bottle  18  is guided into cylindrical portion  12  by elongated support portion  16 , which facilitates easy insertion of bottle  18 . Loop portion  14  is used for inserting a belt  24  to support carrier  10  when worn by a human  26  as shown in  FIGS. 4-5 .  
         [0020]     Removable absorbent pad  20  is placed inside cylindrical portion  12  to absorb any liquid that drips from bottle  18 . Removable absorbent pad is round in shape to fit within cylindrical portion  12  and is made of any absorbent, washable materials, such as sheepskin, sponge, foam or the like.  
         [0021]     Carrier  10  may be secured to the body in several ways. First, carrier  10  may be secured at the waist by belt  24 , which passes through loop portion  14  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . By securing carrier  10  around the waist, a second carrier may be added to belt  24  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Alternatively, carrier  10  may be secured by placing belt  24  over the shoulder as shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0022]     The preferred composition of carrier  10  and belt  24  is leather of any grade, but with sufficient thickness and rigidity to hold beverage bottles and similarly heavy objects. While the preferred composition of the device is leather, it may also be composed of rubber, plastic or naugahyde, if of sufficient thickness, rigidity and strength to hold beverage bottles and similarly heavy objects.  
         [0023]     Carrier  10  consists of four pieces of material, a left body piece  30   a , right body piece  30   b , back piece  31  and a bottom piece  32  as shown in  FIG. 6 . Body pieces  30   a  and  30   b , and back piece  31 , when folded and fastened into place, form cylindrical portion  12 , loop portion  14 , and elongated support portion  16  of the carrier  10 . Bottom piece  32  forms the bottom (i.e., closed end) of cylindrical portion  12  and is the material against which removable absorbent pad  20  is placed and against which the bottom of bottle  18  rests when in cylindrical portion  12  to prevent bottle  18  from passing completely through cylindrical portion  12 .  
         [0024]     Left body piece  30   a , right body piece  30   b , back piece  31  and bottom piece  32  contain along the outer edges  36  of each piece a series of evenly spaced holes  34  through which lacing  22  is inserted to fasten the four pieces together to form carrier  10 . Alternately, stitching, glue, rivets or the like may be used in place of lacing  22 . Additionally, left body piece  30   a  and right body piece  30   b  are fastened to back piece  31  by narrow stitching  33 .  
         [0025]     To construct carrier  10 , left body piece  30   a , right body piece  30   b , back piece  31  and bottom piece  32  are cut or stamped from the chosen material into the patterns shown in  FIG. 6 . Holes  34  are then punched or stamped along the edges  36  of the various pieces. Additionally, holes  38  are punched on top tab  40  of back piece  31 . Next, top tab  40  of back piece  31  is folded along line  42  and fastened in place with lacing  44 . Alternately, other fasteners such as stitching, glue, rivets or the like in place of holes  38  and lacing  44 .  
         [0026]     Next, edges  35  of body pieces  30   a / 30   b  and back piece  31  are stitched together by narrow stitching  33 . Next, edges  36  of left body piece  30   a  and right body piece  30   b , and edges  36  of body pieces  30   a / 30   b , back piece  31  and bottom piece  32  are fastened together by inserting lacing  22  through holes  34 . Lastly, removable absorbent pad  20  is inserted into cylindrical portion  12  through the open end until is rests against bottom piece  32 , and belt  24  is inserted through loop portion  14 .  
         [0027]     The four piece configuration of carrier  10  results in efficient use of construction materials when the material is cut from a animal hide. Preferably, to the extent possible, back piece  31  is constructed from the same portion (i.e., area) of the hide as belts  24 . The body pieces  30   a / 30   b  and bottom piece  32  are then cut from other portions of the hide. By using four small pieces, rather than one large and one small piece as shown for example in the alternate embodiment below, hide waste is minimized and cut choices are maximized. The use of narrow stitching  33  is more cost effective yet does not degrade the aesthetics of the carrier  10 , as narrow stitching  33  is not on a highly visible portion of carrier  10 .  
         [0028]     An alternatively constructed carrier  110  is depicted in  FIGS. 7-9 . This alternate construction utilizes only two pieces of material (e.g., leather) thereby requiring fewer cuts of the material, however more material is wasted.  
         [0029]     Carrier  110  consists of two pieces of material, a body piece  130  and a bottom piece  132  as shown in  FIG. 9 . Body piece  130 , when folded and fastened into place, forms cylindrical portion  112 , loop portion  114 , and elongated support portion  116  of the carrier  110 . Bottom piece  132  forms the bottom of cylindrical portion  112  and is the material against which removable absorbent pad  120  is placed and against which the bottom of bottle  118  rests when in cylindrical portion  112 .  
         [0030]     Both body piece  130  and bottom piece  132  contain along the outer edges  136  of each piece a series of evenly spaced holes  134  through which lacing  122  is inserted to fasten the two pieces together to form carrier  110 . Alternately, body piece  130  and bottom piece  132  are fastened together by stitching, glue, rivets or the like.  
         [0031]     To construct carrier  110 , body piece  130  and bottom piece  132  are cut or stamped from the chosen material into the patterns shown in  FIG. 9 . Holes  134  are then punched or stamped along the edges  136  of body piece  130  and bottom piece  132 . Additionally, holes  138  and on top tab  140  of body piece  130 . Next, top tab  140  of body piece  130  is folded along line  142  and fastened in place with lacing  144 . Alternately, holes  138  and lacing  144  are replaced with other fasteners such as stitching, glue, rivets or the like  
         [0032]     Next, edges  136  of body piece  130  and bottom piece  132  are fastened together by inserting lacing  122  through holes  134 . Lastly, removable absorbent pad  120  is inserted into cylindrical portion  112  and belt  124  is inserted through loop portion  114 .  
         [0033]     From the above description, it will be apparent that the invention disclosed herein provides a novel and advantageous a human wearable carrier for beverage bottles. The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary methods and embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion that various changes, modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.