Patent Publication Number: US-2020288864-A1

Title: Floating wall wine rack

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/792,322 filed Jan. 14, 2019, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates, in general to racks for storing and/or displaying wine bottles, and more specifically, to modular wine racks. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Wine bottles are typically placed in storage racks that are attached directly to a wall, but floor to ceiling racks for holding wine bottles are limited because standard lengths often do not fit the intended vertical spaces and often require customization by the manufacturer to fit the intended space. In addition, current wine storage racks are not easily configured to add and/or remove one or more wine bottle support arms, and adjust the racks to desired positions according to an individual&#39;s preferences. 
     As such, there is a need in the industry for a vertically mounted modular wine rack storage apparatus that addresses the limitations of the prior art, which provides the user to option to use stock sizes and allows the user to modify the vertical wine rack storage apparatus to accommodate the user&#39;s desires and spaces, and thereby avoid the costs and time associated with customization. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention&#39;s vertical connection system is designed to attach to an upper support structure, such as ceiling, and a lower support structure, such as a floor, which serves to hold a panel in a vertical orientation to allow the panel to hold one or more wine bottles. It will be appreciated that there are endless number of ways that such attachments can occur, and further that known attachment mechanisms can be used to attach the present invention to a wall in place of attachment to the upper support structure and/or the lower support structure. The present invention&#39;s vertical connection system is designed in a manner that gives the illusion of floating wine bottles. 
     The present invention&#39;s vertical connection system is further designed to be height adjusted on the user&#39;s site to accommodate an endless number of possible height requirements. In this regard, the present invention&#39;s vertical connection system includes height adjustment mechanisms that easily permit the user to install the vertical a connection system in accordance with the user&#39;s height requirements. 
     The present invention is constructed in a way that allows for interchangeable wine bottle support arms of differing orientations dependent on user requirements to be connected to the panel, and there are a variety of support arms commercially available that will work with the present invention. Specifically, for example, the present invention can be used with pins to create single, double or triple deep wine bottle configurations. 
     The present invention system allows for a large number of shapes and bottle support configurations. Further, the present invention&#39;s system can be used to create room dividers or against walls. Additionally, multiple panels can be installed adjacent to each other to provide a desired width for the user. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded two dimensional view of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded two dimensional view of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a view of the panel  100  of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention is modular wine bottle storage apparatus mounted to an upper surface, such as for example a ceiling or counter, and a lower surface, such as for example a floor, and configured to vertically secure a panel having a plurality of interchangeable wine bottle support arms. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a wine bottle storage apparatus comprises a panel  100 , a first vertical frame  110  coupled to one side of the panel  100  and a second vertical frame  111  coupled to the opposite side of the panel  100 . Preferably the first vertical frame  110  and the second vertical frame  111  are identical and interchangeable. The panel  100  preferably is comprised of transparent material, such as for example, acrylic or glass. As shown in the  FIG. 1 , the vertical frames  110  and  111  are shown as the same length as the side of the panel  100 . However, the length of the vertical frames  100  and  111  may vary in accordance with the rigidity of the panel  100 , and may be less than the same length as the side of the panel  100 . Furthermore, the panel  100  further comprises multiple pre-drilled holes that are suitable to receive a racking mechanism to store and display wine bottles is a manner that is substantially parallel to the ground. Additional, the panel  100  is preferably manufactured in predetermined heights and widths, such as for example heights of 3 feet, 4 feet, 8 feet and 10 feet, and widths of 1.5 feet (e.g, one bottle width), 2.5 feet (e.g., two bottle width) and 3.5 feet (e.g., 3 bottle width). Finally, the first and second vertical frames  110  and  111  are preferably constructed from C-channel. 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 1 , the wine bottle storage apparatus further comprises top frame  120  and a bottom frame  121 , each comprising a portion  122  that extends from either end of the respective frames  120  and  121 . Preferably, the top frame  120  and the bottom frame  121  are identical and interchangeable. The top frame  120  is attachable to an upper surface, such as for example a ceiling or under counter, and the bottom frame  121  is attachable to a lower surface, such as for example a floor. The top frame  120  and a bottom frame  121  are preferably constructed from steel and the portions  120  comprise C-channels welded to the top frame  120  and a bottom frame  121 . As shown in the  FIG. 1 , the top and bottom frames  120  and  121  are shown with the same length as the width of the panel  100 . However, the length of the top and bottom frames  120  and  121  may be less than the same length as the width of the panel  100 , and may not be one continuous frame, but rather a two pieces. 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 1 , the wine bottle storage apparatus further comprises a top height adjustment mechanism  125  and a bottom height adjustment mechanism  126 . Preferably, the top height adjustment mechanism  125  and the bottom height adjustment mechanism  126  are identical and interchangeable. The top height adjustment mechanism  125  further comprises a top bracket  130  and extenders  140 . The bottom adjustment mechanism  126  further comprises a bottom bracket  131  and extenders  141 . The extenders  140  and  141  preferable comprise steel tubing that mates with the C-channels. The top bracket  130  further comprises an intermediate frame portion  132 , a first end portion  135  that extends above the intermediate frame  132  at both ends of the intermediate frame  132  and a second end portion  136  that extends below the intermediate frame  132  at both ends of the intermediate frame  132 . Similarly the bottom bracket  133  further comprises an intermediate frame portion  131 , a first end portion  137  that extends above the intermediate frame  131  at both ends of the intermediate frame  132  and a second end portion  138  that extends below the intermediate frame  131  at both ends of the intermediate frame  132 . Preferably, the intermediate frames  132  and  133  are preferably constructed from C-channels and the first end portions  135 ,  137  and the second end portions  136  and  138  comprise C-channels welded to the ends of the intermediate frames  132  and  133 . As shown in the  FIG. 1 , the intermediate frames  132  and  133  are shown with the same length as the width of the panel  100 . However, the length of the intermediate frames  132  and  133  may be less than the same length as the width of the panel  100 , and may not be one continuous frame, but rather a two piece frame. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , an assembled modular wine bottle storage apparatus in accordance with the present invention is shown. In this regard, the first vertical frame  110  is attached to one side of the panel  100  and the second vertical frame  111  is attached to the opposite side of the panel  100 . The intermediate frame  130  is attached to the top of the panel  100  and the intermediate frame  131  is attached to the bottom of the panel  100 . In this regard, the end portions  136  mate with the top portion of the frames  110  and  111  and the end portions  137  mate with the bottom portion of the frames  110  and  111 . The extenders  140  mates with the end portions  135  and the portion  122  to connect the top frame  120  to the intermediate frame  130 . Similarly, the extenders  141  mates with the end portions  138  and the portion  122  to connect the top frame  121  to the intermediate frame  131 . Once constructed, the assembled modular wine bottle storage apparatus is positioned into place and the top frame  120  is attached to an upper surface, such as for example a ceiling or under counter, and the bottom frame  121  is attached to a lower surface, such as for example a floor. 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 2 , arms  200  of differing orientations dependent on user requirements are connected to the panel  100  to hold and display a wine bottle. Preferably, the present invention is used with pins screwed into the panel  100  using pre-cut tapped holes to create single, double or triple deep wine bottle configurations. 
     An important aspect of the present invention is that the top height adjustment mechanism  125  and/or the bottom height adjustment mechanism  126  are adjustable to accommodate the user&#39;s height requirements. For example, with reference to  FIG. 3 , a user may wish to accommodate the wine rack of the present invention in an installation where the floor to ceiling height is 9 foot 6 inches. In this example, the user could use an 8 foot panel  100  and make-up for the difference—1 foot and 6 inches—by adjusting (e.g., cutting) the length of the extenders  140  and  141  to accommodate the remaining 1 foot 6 inches of extra space. Alternatively, the present invention can be configured with just one of the top height adjustment mechanism  125  or a bottom height adjustment mechanism  126  to accommodate the extra space. If a top height adjustment mechanism  125  is used, the bottom frame  121  is attached to bottom of the panel  100 . Similarly, if a bottom height adjustment mechanism  126  is used, the top frame  120  is attached to top of the panel  100 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , a user may wish to accommodate the wine rack of the present invention in an installation where the floor to counter height, for example, a height of 5 foot 6 inches. In this example, the user could use a 4 foot panel  100  and make-up for the difference—1 foot and 6 inches—by adjusting (e.g., cutting) the length of the extenders  140  and  141  to accommodate the remaining 1 foot 6 inches of extra space. Alternatively, the present invention can be configured with just one of the top height adjustment mechanism  125  or a bottom height adjustment mechanism  126  to accommodate the extra space. If a top height adjustment mechanism  125  is used, the bottom frame  121  is attached to bottom of the panel  100 . Similarly, if a bottom height adjustment mechanism  126  is used, the top frame  120  is attached to top of the panel  100 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 5 , the panel  100  preferably is comprised of transparent material, such as for example, acrylic or glass. Furthermore, the panel  100  further comprises multiple pre-drilled holes  300  that are suitable to receive a racking mechanism to store and display wine bottles is a manner that is substantially parallel to the ground. Preferably, the present invention is used with pins screwed into the panel  100  using pre-tapped threaded holes  300  to create single, double or triple deep wine bottle configurations. 
     All directional references used herein (e.g., upper, lower, upward, downward, left, right, leftward, rightward, top, bottom, above, below, vertical, horizontal, clockwise, and counterclockwise) are only used for identification purposes to aid the reader&#39;s understanding of the present invention, and do not create limitations, particularly as to the position, orientation, or use of the invention. 
     While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other changes in the form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.