The present invention relates to a bottle-holder and a method for producing it. The invention is applicable for housing and transport of bottles and containers of various types, such as for example wine bottles, alcoholic drinks bottles, bottles for water, oil, drinks, detergents, and so on.

The prior art includes various types of bottle- holders realised in various types of materials, such as cardboard, wood, metal, plastic or others, and which generally exhibit specific conformations for some types of bottles containing comestible liquids or other types.

Known bottle-holders exhibit some drawbacks. Firstly known bottle-holders are generally specifically realised and thus limited to a single type of bottle and a single size, and therefore are applicable to a rather restricted field of application, meaning that they are not very flexible in use.

Furthermore, known bottle-holders often exhibit a rigid conformation which makes them unwieldy both during transport thereof and to store when not in use, with a consequent increase in transport and storage costs. In other terms, the size of the known bottle-holders makes their re-use impractical when there is not sufficient space to store them in a period between one use and another.

Further, various known bottle-holders are made of poor-quality or unaesthetic materials, and will therefore possibly not be used for transport of prestigious bottles; their appearance means that their re-use is not preferred on the part of the users .

For the above reasons, although the bottle-holders can be used various times, in many cases they are thrown away after one or a few uses, with consequent problems such as elimination costs, material waste, environmental problems etc.

It is also notable how the production of known bottle-holders in some cases is laborious and consequently expensive.

The main aim of the present invention is to resolve one or more of the problems encountered in the prior art .

An aim of the present invention is to provide a bottle-holder which exhibits wide flexibility of use with bottles of various types or sizes.

A further aim of the present invention is to make available a bottle-holder which exhibits an optimal size in any situation and/or which enables reduction of transport and storage costs.

A further aim of the present invention is to make available a bottle-holder which exhibits a simple and sturdy structure and/or which is simple and easy to use .

A further aim of the present invention is to make available a bottle-holder which can be re-used various times and which can encourage re-use thereof by the users.

A further aims of the present invention is to provide a bottle-holder which has, a long working life.

A further aim of the present invention is to make available a bottle-holder which exhibits contained production costs.

A further aim of the present invention is to make available a method for realising a bottle-holder which can obviate one or more of the above-cited drawbacks, and/or which enables realising a bottle- holder rapidly and with contained costs.

These aims and others besides, which will more fully emerge from the following description, are substantially attained by a bottle-holder, and by a method for realisation thereof, according to what is expressed in one or more of the accompanying claims, taken either alone or in combination and/or with one or more characteristics described in the present text .

The invention further relates to a bottle-holder according to one or more of the accompanying bottle- holder claims, in which the walls of a plurality of walls realised in a first material are substantially rigid .

The invention further relates to a bottle-holder according to one or more of the accompanying bottle- holder claims, wherein a housing seat is conformed and dimensioned such as to house at least a wine bottle or a plurality of wine bottles.

The invention further relates to a bottle-holder as in one of more of the accompanying bottle-holder claims, wherein the bottle-holder is realised by injection moulding.

The invention further relates to a bottle-holder according to one of more of the accompanying bottle- holder claims, wherein a first plastic material is a thermoplastic polymer or a heat-hardening polymer or a heat-hardening resin and/or is selected for example from among polypropylene (PP) , ABS, polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS) and/or wherein a second plastic material is an elastomer material and/or a thermoplastic elastomer material (TPE) or a rubber and/or is selected from among SBS ( styrene-butadiene- styrene) or SEBS ( styrene-ethylene-butadiene- styrene) .

The invention further relates to a bottle-holder, possibly as in any one of the accompanying claims, taken alone or in combination with the others, and/or in combination with any characteristic of the present description, comprising a body having a plurality of walls realised by moulding of a first plastic material and defining at least a first portion of at least a housing seat for at least a bottle, in which at least two of the walls of the plurality of walls are reciprocally connected by at least an auxiliary connecting portion realised by overmoulding of a second plastic material having a greater resilience than the first plastic material and being deformable such as to enable a varying of the reciprocal position of the walls at least between a first operating condition in which the bottle-holder exhibits a greater size and at least a second operating condition in which the bottle-holder exhibits a smaller size and/or in which at least two of the walls of the plurality of walls are reciprocally further connected by at least a slim connecting portion which is at lest partially foldable and made by moulding in the first plastic material .

The invention further relates to a bottle-holder as in one or more of the accompanying bottle-holder claims or of the above-indicated aspects, in which the bottle holder is foldable between a mounted condition in which the housing seat is defined and a storage condition in which the bottle-holder exhibits a small spatial size.

The invention further relates to a method according to one or more of the appended method claims, in which the step of moulding is performed by injection- moulding .

A detailed description now follows, by way of non- limiting example, of some preferred embodiments of a bottle-holder and a method for realising it, in which :

figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a bottle-holder of the present invention and in a first operating condition thereof;

figure 2 is a perspective view of the bottle-holder of figure 1 in a second operating condition;

figure 3 is a view from above of the bottle-holder of figure 1 in the first operating condition; figure 4 is a view from above of the bottle-holder of figure 1 in the second operating condition;

figure 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a bottle-holder of the present invention, in a closed condition, with some different-sized bottles housed in a housing seat in the bottle-holder;

figure 6 is a perspective view of the bottle-holder of figure 5 in an open condition;

figure 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a bottle-holder of the present invention, in a completely-open condition;

figure 8 is a perspective view of the bottle-holder of figure 7 in a first condition of intermediate mounting;

figure 9 is a perspective view of the bottle-holder of figure 7, in a second condition of intermediate mounting;

figure 10 is a perspective view of the bottle-holder of figure 7 in a condition of complete mounting and with some bottles housed in a housing seat.

The figures illustrate, by way of non-limiting example, some examples of bottle-holders, although the invention is also applicable to different bottle- holders from the ones illustrated.

With reference to the figures of the drawings, 1 denotes in its entirety a bottle-holder of the present invention.

The bottle-holder 1 comprises a body 2 having a plurality of walls 3 realised by moulding of a first plastic material and defining at least a first portion of at least a housing seat 4 for at least a bottle 5. The walls 3 of the plurality of walls can be substantially rigid, in consequence of the typology of the first plastic material used and an appropriate thickness thereof, which can be for example comprised between 1 mm and 3 mm, or between 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm.

The housing seat 4 can be configured such as to house various types of bottles, among which for example wine bottles, alcoholic drinks bottles, liqueur bottles, biottles for oil, water, drinks, detergents etc. The housing seat 4 can be conformed and dimensioned for example such as to house at least a wine bottle 5 or a plurality of wine bottles.

The body 2 is further provided with at least an auxiliary portion 6 defining a second portion of the housing seat 4, the auxiliary portion 6 being realised by over-moulding on at least a portion of at least a wall 3 of the plurality of walls, in a second plastic material having a resilience and/or a degree of deformability which is greater than that of the first plastic material.

The auxiliary portion 6 can be deformable such as to adapt at least the second portion of the housing seat 4 or the housing seat 4 to bottles 5 of various dimensions insertable in the housing seat 4. The housing seat 4 defined by the plurality of walls 3 can be configured and conformed such as to house a plurality of bottles 5 and the auxiliary portion 6, or a plurality of the auxiliary portions 6, can define the second portion of the seating 4, or a plurality of the second portions of the housing seating, deformable such as to adapt at least the second portion of the housing seat 4 or the housing seat 4 to bottles 5 of different dimensions insertable in the housing seat 4.

The body 2 can comprise a plurality of the housing seats 4. At least two of the walls 3 of the plurality of walls can be reciprocally connected by means of at least a portion of auxiliary connection 7 realised by overmoulding in the second plastic material in order to enable varying the reciprocal position of the walls 3 at least between a first operating condition and at least a second operating condition. The portions of auxiliary connection 7 can coincide with the auxiliary portions 6, for example in the first embodiment illustrated in figures 1-4, as in that case the auxiliary portions 6 perform both the functions .

The first and second operating conditions can correspond respectively to respective open and closed conditions of the bottle-holder 1 and/or conditions in which the bottle-holder 1 exhibits a greater size and a smaller size. At least two of the walls 3 of the plurality of walls can further be reciprocally connected by at least a slim connecting portion 8 which is at least partially foldable and is realised by moulding of the first plastic material. The slim connecting portion 8, at least partially foldable, can be for example constituted by a thin film realised in the first material destined to fold and aid the folding of the auxiliary portions 6.

The slim connecting portion 8 can be realised externally of the auxiliary connecting portion 7 such as to cover them and/or in order to reinforce the respective connection between the walls 3.

At least a wall of the plurality of walls 3 can be provided with at least an insertion opening 9 for at least a bottle 5 in the housing seat 4, or a plurality of the insertion openings 9. The insertion opening 9 can be provided with an auxiliary portion 6 configured such as to adapt the insertion opening 9 to the dimensions of the bottles 5 of various sizes insertable in the housing seat 4.

The auxiliary portion 6 can be arranged along the profile of the insertion opening 9, for example it can define a deformable collar about the insertion opening 9, as illustrated in figures from 7 to 10. The bottle-holder 1 can further comprise at least an abutment portion 10 for at least a bottle 5, or a plurality of the rest portions 10, the abutment portion 10 being realised by over-moulding on a zone of at least a wall 3 of the plurality of walls made of the second material and being arranged in the housing seat 4 to support a lower portion of at least a bottle 5 arranged in the housing seat 4.

The bottle-holder 1 can comprise at least a gripping portion 11, or a handle, realised by moulding of the first plastic material and connected to the plurality of walls 3. The gripping portion 11 can be rigidly constrained to at least a wall 3 of the plurality of walls or the gripping portion 11 can be realised on at least a wall 3 of the plurality of walls.

In accordance, for example, with the first embodiment illustrated in figures from 1 to 4, the housing seat 4 can be defined by at least a first profiled lateral wall 3 of the plurality of walls; at least a second profiled lateral wall 3 of the plurality of walls and opposite the first lateral wall 3; at least a first auxiliary lateral portion 6 and a second auxiliary lateral portion 6 of the auxiliary portions each connected to the first lateral wall and the second lateral wall 3 and reciprocally opposite and deformable such as to enable a variation in the distance between the first lateral wall 3 and the second lateral wall 3 at least between a first smaller-size condition (illustrated for example in figure 2) and a plurality of conditions defining different dimensions of the housing seat 4 destined to accommodate bottles 5 of different dimensions (one of which conditions is illustrated in figure 1).

The walls 3 can be shaped in such a way as to be substantially complementarily shaped to a portion of a bottle 5, defining the housing seat 4 of the bottles. The housing seat 4 is further defined by at least a third lower auxiliary portion 6 connected to the first lateral wall 3 and the second lateral wall 3. The first lateral wall 3 and/or the second lateral wall 3 can be further provided with a lower portion of wall 3 destined to support at least a part of a bottle 5 that is housable in the housing seat 4. The lower portion of wall 3 is destined to bear the weight of the bottles housed in the housing seat 4, preventing the weight from unloading on the third auxiliary connecting portion 7.

In accordance with, for example, a second embodiment illustrated in figures 5 and 6, the housing seating 4 can be defined by at least a first profiled lateral wall 3 of the plurality of walls 3; at least a second lateral profiled wall of the plurality of walls 3, opposite the first lateral wall 3 and coupled to the first lateral wall 3 such as to define the housing seat 4. The first and the second lateral wall 3 can be inferiorly connected by means of a lower auxiliary connection portion 7, and can also be connected by a lower wall 3 of the plurality of walls 3 destined to bear a part of the weight of the bottles housed in the housing seating 4.

The lower wall 3 can be connected to the first and to the second lateral wall 3 by means of the lower auxiliary connecting portion, realised in the second material, and/or by means of connecting portions realised in the first material.

At least one from among the first and the second lateral walls 3 can be provided with at least a housing opening, at least an auxiliary portion 6 being provided at the housing opening and being deformable such as to adapt the housing seat 4 to at least a bottle 5 housable in the housing seat 4.

As can be seen in figure 6, the auxiliary portion 6 is at rest when the housing seat 4 is empty, and deforms proportionally to the dimensions of a bottle 5 housed in the housing seat 4, as can be seen for example in figure 5.

In a third embodiment illustrated in figures from 7 to 10, the body 2 can be provided with a plurality of the walls 3 reciprocally connected by means of a plurality of auxiliary connecting portions 7 realised by over-moulding in the second plastic material. The body can be configurable in at least a substantially- flat open condition (figure 7) and in at least a mounting condition (figure 10) in which the walls 3 define at least a housing seat .

In the open condition, the body 2 can be provided with two central walls 3 of the plurality of walls provided each with at least an insertion opening 9 for at least a bottle 5 into the housing seat 4 and between which central walls 3 a mounting opening 12 is defined, the central walls 3 being reciprocally connected on a first side at least by means of an auxiliary connecting portion 7 which is foldable and overmoulded in the second material.

The central walls 3 can be destined to define lateral walls 3 of the bottle-carrier 1 in the mounting condition and/or can exhibit a substantially curved conformation. The body 2 can be further provided with at least two abutment walls 3 of the plurality of walls, each of the abutment walls 3 being coupled on a first side to a respective second side opposite the first side of a wall of the central walls 3 at least by a respective auxiliary foldable connecting portion 7 that is overmoulded in the second material. The body 2 can be further provided with at least two inner walls of the plurality of walls 3, each of the inner walls 3 being coupled on a first side to a respective second side opposite the first side of a respective wall of the abutment walls 3 at least by means of a respective auxiliary connecting portion 7 that is foldable and overmoulded in the second material. The inner walls 3 can be destined to be inserted in the mounting opening 12 such as to bring the body 2 into the mounting condition and/or can be provided with a gripping portion 11 for transport of the bottle-holders 1.

The first plastic material can be a thermoplastic polymer or a heat-hardening polymer, or a heat- hardening resin. The first plastic material can be for example polypropylene (PP), ABS, polycarbonate

(PC) , or polystyrene (PS) . The second plastic material can be an elastomer material and/or a thermoplastic elastomer material (TPE) or a rubber. The second plastic material can be for example SBS

(styrene-butadiene-styrene) or SEBS (styrene- ethylene-butadiene-styrene ) .

The bottle-holder 1 can be for example made by injection moulding.

The invention further relates to a method for production of a bottle-holder 1 in accordance with what is described herein above, comprising at least the steps of moulding, in a first plastic material, at least the plurality of walls and/or the connecting portions; and over-moulding on the plurality of walls 3 of at least the auxiliary portions 6 and/or the auxiliary connecting portions 7 and/or the rest portions in a second plastic material having a greater elasticity than the first plastic material. The step of moulding can be performed for example by injection moulding. The present invention enables obtaining one or more of the following advantages. First and foremost, the invention enables realising a bottle-holder and a method for realising the bottle- holder which obviates one or more of the problems encountered in the prior art. A bottle-holder of the invention is very flexible for housing and transporting bottles of different types or dimensions .

The invention further enables realising a bottle- holder the size of which can be reduced when not in use, thus also reducing transport and storage costs. A bottle-holder of the invention can be re-used various times, has a long working life and thus has reduced costs for elimination, as well as creating fewer environmental problems.

A bottle-holder of the invention further exhibits contained production costs, a simple structure and is easy and handy to use. A method for realising a bottle-holder according to the invention enables rapid production times and acceptable production costs .