Bottle Support

Background of the Invention

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a bottle support, especially for a wine bottle, for horizontal storage, display or transportation.

2. Description of the Related Art

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a conventional wine bottle rack 100 comprising two wooden plates 101 with a plurality of apertures 102 formed therein. As the wine bottles 103 have to be placed through the apertures 102 so that the wine bottles 103 can be held between the wooden plates 101, which need to be placed on a flat plane, it is likely that the wine bottles 103 cannot be stably held since the wine bottle rack 100 might be knocked down by accident, resulting in damage to the wine bottles 103. In addition, as wine bottle rack 100 is generally rather cumbersome and occupies space, it cannot be moved around easily or be placed on a table, nor can it be used for packaging wine bottles in a container during transportation, which is sometimes rather inconvenient to use at home or outdoors.

Figure 2 discloses an alternative wine bottle rack 200 according to US4,496,124 for supporting a single bottle 201 comprising a base surface 202, with a plate 203 extending upwardly from the base surface 202 at an angle to the vertical. The plate 203 is provided with an opening 204 which supports a wine bottle 201 by its neck 205. The combined centre of gravity of the wine bottle 201 and the plate 203 is above a point within the base surface 202, and the base surface 202 is the sole support for the plate 203 and the bottle 201. Again, similar to the wine bottle rack 100 in the previous paragraph, it is possible that the wine bottle rack 200 might be knocked down by accident, causing damage to the wine bottle 201, as such configuration offers only limited stability when holding the wine bottle 201 and it needs to be placed on a flat plane. Further, since the wine bottle rack 200 is also

cumbersome, it cannot be moved around easily, be placed on a table or be packed in a container during transportation, which is sometimes rather inconvenient to use at home or outdoors.

Figure 3 shows a conventional packaging of wine bottles for transportation. Usually, modular wine racks 300, which contain a plurality of partition boards 301 and apertures 302 formed therein and spaced apart from one another, may be placed inside a container 304. Although such configuration can effectively prevent breaking of wine bottles 303 during transportation, each container can only accommodate a limited number of wine bottles since they need to be spaced apart, which in turn, occupy more space.

From the above, it is necessary for the industry to provide a bottle support which is portable, integral with the bottle, simple to use, does not take up too much space, easily packaged, transportable in a compact container and aesthetically pleasing.

Summary of the Invention

It is the objective of the present invention to provide a bottle support which is portable, integral with the bottle, flexible, simple to use, does not take up too much space, easily packaged, transportable in a compact container and aesthetically pleasing.

According to the present invention, the bottle support for a bottle comprises a ring collar and two legs. The ring collar, which is elastic and has an outer surface and an inner surface, can be fit to the bottle of different size, while the two legs are attached to the outer surface of the ring collar. Each of the two legs has an outer edge and an inner edge, while the inner edges of the legs face each other and the outer edge of each leg is tangential to the outer surface of the ring collar. In addition, the length of the two legs is defined such that when the bottle is placed over a plane, the two legs support the ring collar and the bottle above the plane, and an angle formed between the outer edge of each leg, respectively, and the plane is less than or equal to 90 degrees.

The foregoing objectives, features, functions, and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the description is only to describe the preferred embodiments of the invention, but not to limit the invention in any form. Any modification or changes in the same spirit of the invention should be within the scope of protection for this invention.

Descriptions of the Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a conventional wine bottle rack;

Fig. 2 shows an alternative wine bottle rack according to US4,496,124;

Fig. 3 shows a conventional packaging of wine bottles for transportation;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a bottle support according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 shows a side view thereof;

Fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional view thereof showing an additional base, taken along line 6-6 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 shows an alternative form of the base according to the present invention; and

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view showing the packaging of wine bottles using the bottle supports according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Figs. 4 and 5 show a perspective view and a side view of a bottle support according to the present invention, respectively. The bottle support 10 comprises a ring collar 11 and two legs 14. The ring collar 11, which has an outer surface 111 and an inner surface 112, can be fitted to a bottle 13, while the two legs 14 are

attached to the outer surface 111 of the ring collar 11. Preferably, the ring collar 11 can be made of an elastic material so that the ring collar 11 is flexible and expandable to fit any cylindrical bottle 13 of a different size. Each of the two legs 14, which are preferably integrated with the ring collar 11, has an outer edge 141 and an inner edge 142, while the inner edges 142 of the legs 14 face each other and the outer edge 141 of each leg 14 is tangential to the outer surface 111 of the ring collar 11. In addition, the length of the two legs 14 is defined such that when the bottle 13 is placed over a plane, such as a table surface or any outdoor ground surface, the two legs 14 support the ring collar 11 and the bottle 13 above the plane, and an angle θ formed between the outer edge 11 of each leg 14 and the plane, respectively, is less than or equal to 90 degrees.

Additionally, to protect the bottom of the bottle 13, the bottle support 10 can further comprises a cylindrical body, namely a base 12. The base 12, which can also be made of an elastic material, includes an open end 121 for receiving a bottom of the bottle 13 (referring to Fig. 6), an outer circumferential surface 122, an inner circumferential surface 123, as well as a bottom 124, which has an inner side 1241 and can alternatively be formed with a hole 125' in the centre of the bottom 124 (referring to Fig. 7), for abutting the bottom of the bottle 13, and an outer side 1242. To better protect the bottom of the bottle 13 against possible damage upon accidental collision, such as accidentally falling off a table, the thickness of the bottom of the base 12 should be large enough and is preferably the same as that of the ring collar 11 to withstand the collision force.

As an alternative design, as shown in Fig. 7, the base 12' can further comprise a plurality of first protrusions 126' extending axially from the outer side 1242' of the bottom 124' and along the outer circumferential surface 122' of the base 12'. Preferably, eight first protrusions 126', which may exceed the open end 121' of the base 12', are disposed equidistantly from • one another along the outer circumferential surface 122'. In addition, in a way similar to the first protrusions 126', the base 12' can further comprise a plurality of second protrusions extending axially from the inner side of the bottom and along the circumferential inner

surface of the cylindrical body (not shown in figures), which may offer a better holding effect and make it easier to take off the base when the bottle is received in the base. Similarly, the plurality of second protrusions may also exceed the open end of the base.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the packaging of wine bottles using the bottle supports according to the present invention. As the bottle support 10 can offer a better cushion effect, multiple bottles 13 each fitted with the bottle support 10 can be stacked and packaged one above the other in a container 15, which will significantly reduce the size of the container 15 and thus the cost of transportation. In addition, because of its configuration, it is also suitable to be used for bottles stored in a wine cellar to make sure that the cork of each bottle keeps partial contact with the liquid inside the bottle at one end so as to keep the outside air from entering the bottle and oxidising the liquid inside the bottle.

As shown above, the invention provides a bottle support which is portable, integral with the bottle, flexible, simple to use, does not take up too much space, easily packaged, transportable in a compact container and aesthetically pleasing. Not only can it be used indoors such a table surface, but also can it be used anywhere outdoors including in a wine cellar and for a cylindrical bottle of a different size. In addition, because of its simple configuration, it can be manufactured inexpensively and effectively, without in anyway impairing its ability to provide a sturdy and stable support of a bottle and avoid the breakage resulting from a collision or by accident. While the invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognise that the invention can still be practiced with modifications, within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.