Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to wine racks and, more particularly, wine racking devices. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     Traditional wine racks stored bottles of wine in square or circular compartments, to maximize the number of bottles that could be stored against a wall. These compartments extended orthogonally from the wall such that wine bottles were inserted base first, with only the mouth and cork of the bottle visible from the outside. This was problematic to a person trying to select a wine bottle from such a rack, because the label which distinguishes one wine bottle from another is on the body of the bottle, not at the mouth and cork. 
     Another problem with traditional wine racks is that they were not modular. Typical wine racks were built in large units that covered entire walls. This led to much wasted space for users who did not have enough wine to fill the rack. Modular wooden racks using dowels to create a rack, enable the same kind of storage with bottles orthogonal to a wall with only the corks readily visible. However, this assembly method allowed as much wine rack as was needed for the available space. 
     Subsequent art in the wine rack field disclosed racks made of wood, wire, or metal. Some were modular, but others were decorative, with a predetermined number of storage spaces. These racks offered several advantages. The racks were cheaper to produce, lightweight, portable, and easy to install. However, these racks persisted in storing the wine orthogonal to the viewer. These iterations of wine racks did not solve the key problem of making the label visible to a viewer while the bottle was still in the rack. 
     Later model wine racks have utilized horizontal racking, and improved on the label viewing problem. These racks held bottles parallel to the wall by using a pair of arms, one of which had a large depression to hold the body of the bottle, the other with a smaller depression to hold the neck of the bottle. (See the McCain U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,117.) The racks stored wine so that the labels were visible. A disadvantage to this system was that it required two different arms to support a bottle. 
     Several wine rack systems were developed that allowed some modularity, typically by stacking small wine racks next to and on top of each other, thereby creating “one” larger wine rack. These systems suffered from two flaws: first, because each unit in the modular system was itself a small wine rack, the user still often had wasted space. 
     For example, a typical iteration included small racks capable of holding six bottles of wine. If a user acquired only two new bottles of wine, adding a new module wasted the space for the extra four bottles. 
     The second problem is related to the first. Because each module was composed of a complete, smaller rack, the individual parts were not interchangeable and replaceable. If part of one module was misplaced or damaged then the entire module could become unusable. At best, space for one bottle became unusable. The consumer was typically forced to replace the entire module, not just the damaged component, because the individual components were not sold. 
     It is the aim of the present invention to provide a modular wine rack system that stores wine bottles so that a viewer can read the labels. It is an additional aim of the present invention to provide a rack that can be adapted to store wine horizontally, for sales displays, or at an angle, to keep the cork of a partially full bottle moist. It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a wine rack that is modular, replaceable, and inexpensive to manufacture. It is yet an additional object to provide a universal arm with uniform sized depressions that can be used as an element in a wine storage system. Such arms can have one or more depressions so that a pair of arms can support one or more bottles. Further, the depressions could be sufficiently large to support a range of bottle sizes—from magnum to splits. 
     Wine rack systems are created by using appropriate arm supporting elements. These arms can be wall mounted adapted to fit into peg board systems, could be fitted into wall mounted slots or could be combined with vertical posts that are fitted with a base to provide a stand alone wine storage system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A universal arm is provided with indentations to create resting positions for a bottle of wine. Each arm is composed of metal or another substance suitable for supporting one or more bottles of wine. Depending upon the number of bottles to be supported, the arm can have one or more depressions. In addition, each arm has mounting means at one end which may be used to mount the arm onto a pegboard, framework, horizontal slot, or the like. A pair of arms extend substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface and are spaced apart sufficiently to accommodate a wine bottle in the indentations provided. A pair of arms can then receive bottles in the curved depressions. 
     By varying the horizontal distance between the arms a user can alter the orientation of wine bottles stored in the curved depressions. By placing the arms relatively close together, a bottle can be stored substantially horizontally, because the body of the bottle rests in both curved depressions of the arms. However, if the arms are spaced further apart, the neck of the bottle will rest in one of the curved depressions, giving the bottle an orientation tilted substantially downward. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention is capable of storing other bottle types in addition to wine bottles, and if the depression is sufficiently large, various bottle sizes, ranging from magnums to splits, can be accommodated. 
     Further, by not aligning the two arms in the same horizontal plane, the bottles can be stored at a desired angle to ensure that the cork will be kept moist at all times, or alternatively, with the neck slightly raised so that sediment collects at the bottom of the bottle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a support arm according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a support arm. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of another alternative embodiment of a support arm. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of yet another alternative embodiment of a support arm. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of a support arm that incorporates an additional structural member. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of a support arm adapted to hold heavy bottles. 
         FIG. 7  contains a top and side view of a support arm constructed from a flat sheet of material. 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a support arm. 
         FIG. 9  is an isometric view of a support arm illustrating one embodiment of mounting means. 
         FIG. 10  is an isometric view of a support arm detailing an alternative embodiment of mounting means. 
         FIG. 11  is an isometric view of support arms attached to yet another embodiment of mounting means. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a “keyhole” style mounting means. 
         FIG. 13  is an isometric view of a pair of support arms. 
         FIG. 14  is an isometric view of a pair of frames with attached support arms. 
         FIG. 15  is a support arm with a pegboard. 
         FIG. 16  is a support arm with threaded terminus and a threaded receiver. 
         FIGS. 17 and 18  are views of the bottle in 1 st  and 2 nd  positions. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Turning first to  FIG. 1 , a side view of a support arm  10  is shown. In a first embodiment two curved lengths of the arm  10  form two concave resting positions  12  where bottles (not shown) may rest. These resting positions  12  may be nearly any size, diameter, or shape without departing from the spirit of the invention, so long as they are capable of supporting a bottle. It is understood that the depressions are of a uniform size, requiring only a single arm style to fully support a bottle. 
     Although two depressions or resting positions  12  are shown in this embodiment, the invention is not so limited. One, two, three, or even more depressions or resting positions  12  may be included on a support arm  10 , so long as the arm  10  is capable of supporting the weight of the equivalent number of full bottles. For example,  FIG. 2  shows an arm with only one depression and  FIG. 3  shows an arm with three depressions. Additionally, the cross sectional shape of the supporting arm  10  may be a circle, square, oval, or virtually any other shape without departing from the essence of the invention. To facilitate the support of a large number of bottles, alternative embodiments of the support arm may include integrated supports. For example,  FIG. 5  illustrates an arm with an under hanging support arm.  FIG. 6  demonstrates an arm and support constructed from one continuous material, with depressions simply cut out of the top of the material. 
       FIG. 7  details an alternative embodiment of a support arm  20 . The arm  20  may be composed of wood, metal, plastic, or any other material suitable for supporting the weight of full bottles. In this embodiment, the support arm  20  is constructed from, for example, a sheet of metal. A metal arm is bent to form multiple resting positions  22  for bottles. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates yet another alternative embodiment of a support arm  24 . In this embodiment the resting positions  26  are specifically adapted to receive either the body or neck of a bottle. As in other embodiments of the invention, only one arm style is required to fully support a bottle. A first arm  24  can support the neck of a bottle in the small indentation of the resting position  26  while a second arm  24  can support the body of a bottle in the main resting position  26 . 
       FIG. 9  is an isometric view of the support arm  10  depicted in  FIG. 1 . At the end of the support arm  10  are mounting means, in this embodiment, a plate  30 . The plate  30  can be utilized with mounting systems that provide a horizontal slot (not shown) to accommodate product dispensers. Using this mounting system allows the user to easily configure a rack to individual tastes. The user can configure a rack to support bottles (not shown) substantially horizontally by spacing two identical support arms  10  relatively close together so that the body of the bottle is supported in resting positions  12 . Conversely, the user can configure the rack to support bottles angled substantially downward by spacing the support arms  10  further apart, so that the neck of the bottle rests in one of the resting positions  12 . 
     An alternative embodiment is depicted in  FIG. 10 . In this embodiment, the plate  30  of  FIG. 8  is replaced with a hook  40  suitable for insertion into a peg board (not shown) or similar mounting structure. Similar to the prior embodiment, this mounting also provides the user with an opportunity to personalize how wine is stored by spacing support arms  42  to a preferred distance, as well as by vertical separation. 
       FIG. 11  demonstrates yet another method of mounting support arms  50 . In this embodiment, a plurality of support arms  50  are vertically integrated into a mounting frame  52 . The mounting frame  52  may be composed of wood, metal, plastic, or any other suitable material. The mounting frame  52  can then be mounted on a wall or on a freestanding base pedestal with a second similar mounting frame  52  to form a complete rack. 
     As disclosed above, the user can modify the orientation of stored bottles merely by varying the space between mounting frames  52 . It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the mounting frame  52  may be any height, and include any number of support arms  50  without varying from the spirit of the invention. The methods of attaching the support arms  50  to the mounting frame  52 , and the mounting frame  52  to the wall or freestanding base pedestal are well know in the art, and thus are not described here. 
     The mounting means of the present invention are not limited to the preceding examples, and may be virtually any means capable of mounting support arms to a wall or frame. For example, an alternative embodiment of the mounting means is illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 12 . In  FIG. 3 , a small ball  60  at the end of a support arm  62  is sized such that it fits through the wide top portion of a keyhole slot shown in  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 12  is a reverse view of the keyhole slot; the ball  60  located at the end of the arm  62  has entered the slot. The ball  60  will be locked into place, securing the arm  62 , when it slides downward into the narrower part of the slot. 
     Yet another mounting means is shown in  FIG. 4 . One end of a support arm is threaded like a wood screw  80 . It is then screwed into a corresponding hole in a wall or frame. Other suitable mounting means will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

Technology Category: 1