Patent Publication Number: US-2007108143-A1

Title: Arrangement of rack and corkscrew

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to racks for bottles. In particular, the invention relates to racks for wine bottles that have self storage for wine accessories.  
      2. Description of Related Art  
      Many different types of wine racks are known. Corkscrews for wine bottles are also known. However, wine has become a popular pastime, and is still becoming even more popular, and this popularity has fueled an ever increasing variety of wine accessories. For example, a portable wine rack may be desired for bringing an assortment of wines to a family picnic. It is also desired to keep the wine accessories, such as a corkscrew, foil cutter and reusable stopper, together with the wine rack.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An arrangement includes a rack and a corkscrew. The rack is configured to be capable of holding plural bottles. The rack includes a holder formed in the rack. The corkscrew has a size and shape to render it detachably attachable to the holder.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
      The invention will be described in detail in the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures.  
       FIG. 1  is a front view of a rack according to the invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a back view of the rack according to the invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a side view of the rack according to the invention.  
       FIG. 4  is an enlargement of a portion of  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 5  is a detailed view of holder  22  as depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 6  is a view of a corkscrew according to the invention.  
       FIG. 7  is a view of an aperture formed in the rack depicted in  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 8  is a view of an alternative aperture formed in the rack depicted in  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 9  is a view of an assembled rack in a folded configuration.  
       FIG. 10  is a view of an assembled rack in a mostly folded configuration.  
       FIG. 11  is a view of an assembled rack in a deployed configuration.  
       FIG. 12  is a view of an assembled rack in a deployed configuration with bottle.  
       FIG. 13  is a front view of a rack in a folded configuration.  
       FIG. 14  is a top view of a rack in a folded configuration revealing hinges among other features.  
       FIG. 15  is a side view of a rack in a folded configuration. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      In  FIG. 3 , a rack  2  includes a back piece  4  and a front piece  6 .  FIGS. 9-12  depict the rack in various stages of deployment ranging from collapsed for packaging to open for use in storing, for example, wine bottles.  
      In  FIG. 1 , back piece  4  includes a back body  10  in which is disposed a caddy  20  and in which is formed an aperture  32  adapted for use as a handle and plural apertures  38  adapted for receiving a corresponding plural bottles, for example, bottles of wine. The back body  10  has a top edge  12  and a bottom edge  14 . Feet of resilient material are attached to the bottom edge  14 .  
      The back body  10  has formed therein an aperture for receiving the caddy  20 . The caddy  20  has formed therein plural holders. A first holder  22  is adapted for receiving a corkscrew or similar bottle opener. A second holder  24  is adapted for receiving a foil cutter as may be used to cut off the protective foil wrapper formed over corks on traditional wine bottles. A third holder  26  is adapted for receiving an adjustable bottle stopper. In one example, the caddy  20  may be separately formed and press fitted into a corresponding aperture in back body  10 . Alternatively, the caddy  20  may be integrally formed with the back body  10  so that the caddy is just a region on a surface of the back body  10 . In still another alternative, the caddy  20  may be separately formed and attached to the back body with rivets, screws, adhesive or other similar methods of attachment.  
      In  FIG. 2 , front piece  6  includes a front body  40 . The front body  40  has a top edge  42  and a bottom edge  44 . Feet of resilient material are attached to the bottom edge  44 . The front body  40  has formed therein an aperture  52  adapted for use as a handle, and plural apertures  48  adapted for receiving a corresponding plural bottles, for example, bottles of wine. Front body  40  further has a dimple  50  formed therein. Dimple  50  provides a concave region on the side of front body  40  that confronts back body  10  so that a caddy  20 , which has a greater depth, can be accommodated in back piece  4  when rack  2  is in a fully collapsed position (see  FIGS. 9-10  and  14 - 15 ).  
      The top edges of back body  10  and front body  40  are hinged together by one or more hinges  16  (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Many different types of hinges may be used. For example as depicted in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the hinges  16  may be formed of a first hinge part  52  and a second hinge part  54  linked by a hinge pin  56 . The first part of the hinge  16  is integrally formed with the back body  10  so as to have a channel for a hinge pin, and the second part of the hinge  16  is integrally formed with the front body  40  so as to have a channel for a hinge pin. The hinge pin is inserted in the channels provided in the first and second hinge parts. Other hinge mechanisms might be used, for example, a piano hinge or a resilient and flexible strip of material might be attached by rivets, screws, adhesive or other similar methods of attachment to the top edge  12  of back body  10  and to the top edge  42  of front body  40 . In any case, the top edge  12  of back body  10  is hinged to the top edge  42  of front body  40 .  
      The bottom edges of back body  10  and front body  40  are coupled by extension mechanism  18  (see  FIG. 3 ) that is comprised of hinges  60 ,  62  and  66  and hinge members  64  (visible in  FIG. 2 ) and  68  (visible in  FIG. 1 ). Many different types of extension mechanisms may be used. For example, as depicted in  FIG. 3 , extension mechanism  18  includes hinges  60 ,  62  and  66 . Hinge  60  and hinge  62  are linked by member  64 . Hinge  62  and hinge  66  are linked by member  68 . With extension mechanism  18 , the base of rack  2  may be expanded to be fully extended in order to provide stability to rack  2  when used to store bottles (see  FIGS. 11 and 12 ). At other times, the base of rack  2  may be folded so that back piece  4  and front piece  6  are parallel, or nearly parallel, in order to facilitate packing rack  2  into a smaller format, or for easy carriage using handgrip apertures  32  and  52  (see  FIGS. 9 and 10 ). Back piece  4  and front piece  6  are splayed at an angle, depicted in  FIG. 3  as ANGLE, defined to have a vertex where the top edges of the front and back pieces are hinged. In the fully extended position of extension mechanism  18 , the ANGLE of rack  2  is maximized, and in the folded position of extension mechanism  18 , the ANGLE of rack  2  is minimized, possibly to zero or even negative. There are many other extension mechanism that have a fully extended position and a fully folded position that would have equivalent functionality.  
      In an embodiment of the invention, an arrangement includes a rack  2  ( FIG. 3 ) and a corkscrew  78  ( FIG. 6 ). Rack  2  is configured to be capable of holding plural bottles. Rack  2  includes a first holder  22  ( FIG. 1 ) formed therein. The corkscrew  78  has a size and shape to render it detachably attachable to the first holder  22 .  
      In a first variant of the embodiment, rack  2  includes a back piece  4  having a top edge  12  and a bottom edge  14  and a front piece  6  having a top edge  42  and a bottom edge  44 . The top edge of the front piece is hinged to the top edge of the back piece. Rack  2  further includes an extension mechanism  18  coupled between the bottom edge of the back piece and the bottom edge of the front piece.  
      In an example of the first variant of the embodiment, the extension mechanism is capable of selectively expanding between a first extent and a second extent. Back piece  4  and front piece  6  are splayed at a first splayed angle defined to have a vertex where the top edges of the front and back pieces are hinged when the extension mechanism is expanded to the first extent. Back piece  4  and front piece  6  are splayed at a second splayed angle defined to have a vertex where the top edges of the front and back pieces are hinged when the extension mechanism is expanded to the second extent. The first splayed angle is less than the second splayed angle.  
      In a second variant of the embodiment, first holder  22  includes a first recess and a first restraint. The first recess is formed in the holder conformal to the size and the shape of the corkscrew  78 . The first restraint is capable of holding the corkscrew in the first recess. Such restraint may be spring clips, bolts, etc.  
      As depicted in  FIG. 6 , corkscrew  78  has two parts. First part  84 , with worm  86  attached can be pulled out of the surrounding second part  88 . By flipping the first part  84  in an end-to-end fashion, the first part is again inserted into the second part  88 . The second part  88  functions as a torque amplifier to enable an operator to have better control of inserting the worm  86  into the cork of a bottle, for example, a wine bottle.  
      In an example of the second variant of the embodiment, the first restraint includes flexible resilient tabs  80  ( FIG. 5 ) fixed to a perimeter of the first recess of holder  22 . The flexible resilient tabs are sized and positioned within the first recess to permit the corkscrew to be pressed into the first recess manually. The flexible resilient tabs are sized and positioned within the first recess to render the corkscrew held within the first recess with sufficient force to prevent it from falling out of the first recess. The flexible resilient tabs are sized and positioned within the first recess to permit the corkscrew to be manually urged out of the first recess. See  FIG. 5  where finger pull areas  82  are reserved within the first recess of holder  22  so that corkscrew  78  does not block access to finger pull areas.  
      In a third variant of the embodiment, rack  2  includes a back piece  4  and a front piece  6 . The front piece has a plurality of apertures  48  formed therein sized to accommodate a corresponding plurality of bottles. The front piece includes restraints  94  ( FIG. 7 ) disposed to protrude into each aperture in the front piece in a way that provides friction between the restraint and a bottle that might be passed through the aperture. The back piece has a plurality of apertures  38  formed therein sized to accommodate a corresponding plurality of bottles. The back piece includes restraints (similar to  94  of  FIG. 7 ) disposed to protrude into each aperture in the back piece in a way that provides friction between the restraint and a bottle that might be passed through the aperture. Each aperture in the front piece corresponds to an aperture in the back piece. Many types of frictional restraints may be used.  
      In an example of the third variant of the embodiment (see  FIG. 7 ), the restraint in each aperture of the back piece includes plural (in this example 2) round rubbery washers fixed to the back piece and disposed to partially protrude into the aperture. The restraint in each aperture of the front piece also includes plural round rubbery washers fixed to the front piece and disposed to partially protrude into the aperture.  
      In a fourth variant of the embodiment, the arrangement further includes a foil cutter. The rack includes a second holder  24  formed in the rack. The foil cutter has a size and shape to render it detachably attachable to second holder  24 . The means to render the foil cutter detachably attachable to second holder  24  is any one of the means that renders the corkscrew detachably attachable to the first holder  22 .  
      In a fifth variant of the embodiment, the arrangement further includes a reusable bottle stopper. The rack includes another holder  26  formed in the rack. The reusable bottle stopper has a size and shape to render it detachably attachable to holder  26 . The means to render the reusable bottle stopper detachably attachable to holder  26  is any one of the means that renders the corkscrew detachably attachable to the first holder  22 .  
      In an example of the fifth variant of the embodiment, the arrangement further includes a foil cutter. The rack includes a third holder  24  formed in the rack. The foil cutter has a size and shape to render it detachably attachable to third holder  24 . The means to render the foil cutter detachably attachable to third holder  24  is any one of the means that renders the corkscrew detachably attachable to the first holder  22 .  
      In yet another embodiment of the arrangement that includes the rack and the corkscrew, the rack includes a back piece having a top edge and a bottom edge, a front piece having a top edge and a bottom edge and an extension mechanism. The top edge of the front piece is hinged to the top edge of the back piece. The extension mechanism is coupled between the bottom edge of the front piece and the bottom edge of the back piece.  
      In a first variant of this embodiment, the front and back pieces are formed of stainless steel, polished brass, bright plated steel (e.g., chrome plated steel) or equivalent. A caddy  20  (see  FIG. 1 ), formed of a resilient material such as, but not limited to, rubber, is press fitted into an aperture in the back piece to be firmly held in the aperture.  
      A first holder  22  ( FIG. 1 ) is formed in caddy  20 . The corkscrew has a size and shape to render it detachably attachable to the first holder. A first recess  22  formed in the caddy conformal to the size and the shape of the corkscrew so that the resilient material of the caddy  20  makes the corkscrew attachable to the caddy  20  with modest urging and equally detachable from the caddy with modest pulling. Such resilient fit and friction form a restraint capable of holding the corkscrew in first recess  22 .  
      In a second variant of this embodiment, the back piece has plural apertures formed therein sized to accommodate a corresponding number of bottles. In this variant, the back piece includes a restraint  98  (see  FIG. 8 ) disposed to protrude into each aperture in the back piece in a way that provides friction between the restraint and a bottle that might be passed through the aperture. Similarly, the front piece has plural apertures formed therein sized to accommodate a corresponding number of bottles, and each aperture in the front piece also includes a restraint  98  disposed to protrude into each aperture in the front piece in a way that provides friction between the restraint and a bottle that might be passed through the aperture. In this variant, restraint  98  is a resilient channel shaped member adhered to or snapped on lower side of the apertures in the front and back pieces. For example, a properly sized rubber channel may be snapped over the metal front and back pieces in such a way to cover at least the lower portion of the aperture. In fact, the rubber channel could be made as a ring that extends around the circumference of the aperture. In another example, a flexible resilient channel may be fixed to the metal front and back pieces by application of an adhesive. Alternatively, a material in liquid form, that can be cured to become the resilient material that forms restraint  98 , may be painted, screened, sprayed, etc. onto the metal front and back pieces and cured, for example, RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) rubber may be applied in liquid form.  
       FIGS. 13, 14  and  15  depict the rack in folded configuration from a front view, a top view and a side view, respectively.  
      Having described preferred embodiments of a novel arrangement of a rack and a corkscrew (which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments of the invention disclosed which are within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
      Having thus described the invention with the details and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desired protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.