Conventional wine bottle racks in one form may comprise a rack or frame having opposed apertures for supporting wine bottles and racks of this type are described in AU 77131/75, AU 21905/83, AU 74187/96 and AU 34302/97 which corresponds to International Patent Publication WO 98/03098.

In another form wine bottle racks are known having a single aperture for supporting a neck of a wine bottle in a cantilever fashion and racks of this type are described in AU 34985/78, AU 83629/82, AU 12078/88,75963/91 and 31578/97.

It is also known to provide modular wine bottle racks comprising a plurality of separate bottle holders assembled together so that there were provided a plurality of blind holes or recesses which are each adapted to accommodate an associated wine bottle.

Racks of this type are described in AU 66293/81, AU 53681/90 and AU 51915/96.

In another conventional arrangement of the above type there were provided separate bottle holders formed from polystyrene or other plastics material, each having an internal bottle socket or blind hole for accommodating a body of a wine bottle. Each of the bottle holders had external planer surfaces for nesting on adjacent bottle holders. However, this arrangement was unstable in use and could only be utilised for supporting a limited number of bottles.

In regard to the prior art as discussed above, one particular disadvantage was that the conventional bottle racks could only be used for storage of wine and could not be utilised for display purposes in a winery or merchandising outlet, because the labels

were often obscured or hidden from view.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a bottle holder which can not only be used for storage purposes but also display or ornamental purposes.

A preferred object of the invention is to provide a bottle holder which can be moved from a display orientation to a storage orientation by a change in position of the bottle holder. None of the prior art has this feature.

The bottle holder of the invention has a web and a pair of angled end portions wherein each end portion is located on opposed sides of the web.

Preferably the web is planar or plate like and has support means for supporting a bottle in use such as an elongate slot. The slot may also have a lateral dimension or width that progressively decreases from one end of the slot to another end. It will be appreciated that the bottle support means may also include an elongate cavity or recess. However the slot is preferred.

One end portion may extend from the web so that the included angle between the web and the said one end portion is an acute angle which is more desirably between 60-85° and more preferably 70°.

The other end portion may extend form the web so that the included angle between the web and said other end portion is between 100-130° and more suitably 115°. There also may be included in the said other end portion a recess which may adopt an arcuate configuration for supporting a neck of a bottle.

The invention also provides a method for making the aforementioned bottle holder including the steps of: (a) cutting a plate of flat stainless steel or other suitable material to form a blank, having a body part which has a bottle retaining slot and a recess located in one of a pair of end

portions adjacent the body part; and (b) bending each of the end portions so that they are angularly inclined to the body part.

The cutting of the plate may be achieved in any suitable manner such as by machining or using milling cutters. Preferably laser cutters are used. The bending may be carried out using conventional metal bending apparatus such as a brake press.

It will also be appreciated that the bottle holder of the invention may be attached to a wall or portable base or a support frame so that bottles may be displayed in a flexible and aesthetic manner.

The invention also includes within its scope a bottle rack having a plurality of bottle holder components wherein each of the bottle holder components corresponds to a bottle holder as described above. Suitably each of the bottle holder components are attached or more preferably are integral with each other.

There also may be provided a method of making the bottle rack as described above from a single plate wherein each of the method steps (a) and (b) are carried out to form a rack having a plurality of bottle holder components as described above.

Reference may now be made to a preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in the attached drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bottle holder of the invention; FIG. 2 is a side view of the bottle holder of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the bottle holder of FIG.

1; FIG. 4 is a plan view of the bottle holder of FIGS. 1,2 or 3 at a stage in manufacture before formation of the angled end portions; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a support bracket for the

bottle holder of the invention; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bottle holder of the invention when supporting a wine bottle in an ornamental or near vertical orientation; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the bottle holder of the invention when supporting a wine bottle in a storage or horizontal orientation; FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a support frame to which is attached a plurality of bottle holders of the invention using the support bracket of FIG. 5; FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the bottle holder of the invention to that shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 10 is a plan view of the bottle holder of FIG. 9 at an intermediate stage in manufacture prior to formation of the angled end portions; FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a bottle holder rack of the invention incorporating a plurality of bottle holders integral with each other; and FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the bottle holder rack of FIG. 11.

In the drawings as best shown in FIGS. 1-3, there is shown bottle holder 10 having web 11 and angled end portions 12 and 13. Web 11 includes slot 14 having a width or lateral dimension which progressively decreases from end portion 12 to end portion 13 as shown. Thus slot 14 has a maximum width as shown at 15 which gradually tapers to a minimum value at 16. End portion 13 also includes a recess 17.

FIG. 1 shows the bottle holder 10 in its normal operational position when supporting a wine bottle as shown in FIG.

7, wherein end portion 12 is angled at an acute angle to web 11 as

best shown in FIG. 2. The other end portion 13 is angled at an obtuse angle to web 11 as also best shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 also shows that each of the end portions 12 and 13 are oriented in an opposed relationship or are located on opposite sides of web 11.

FIG. 4 shows the bottle holder 10 in the form of a blank 18 prior to bending of ends 12A and 13A to form the angled end portions 12 and 13 as shown in FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 5 shows a support bracket 19 having a body 20 and flanges 21 and 22 which each incorporate attachment apertures 23.

The support bracket 19 is used in the embodiment of FIG. 8.

FIG. 6 shows a wine bottle 24 being supported in a near vertical orientation for display or ornamental purposes wherein neck 25 of bottle 24 is supported in recess 17 and base 26 of bottle 24 is supported by edge 15A of slot 14.

FIG. 7 shows a similar view to that shown in FIG. 6 and illustrates that the bottle holder 10 of the invention can be used to support a wine bottle 24 in both a vertical orientation for the purposes of display or ornamentation or a lower than horizontal position for appropriate storage, wherein wine may contact a cork 27 of bottle 24.

In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 8 there is provided a support frame or panel 28 having a arcuate orientation as shown which is supported on a base frame 29 wherein panel 28 locates in notch 30 of each side member 31 of base frame 29. There also provided cross members 32 interconnecting side members 31.

As shown in the FIG. 8 embodiment the end portion 12 of each bottle holder locates in recess 33 formed by body 20 being spaced from parcel 28 by virtue of flanges 21 and 22 being attached to panel 28 by fasteners (not shown) extending through attachment apertures 23.

FIG. 9-10 show an alternative embodiment of a bottle holder 10 wherein angled end portions 12 of a bottle holder 10 is

provided with keyhole apertures 34 having an enlarged aperture 35 and elongate aperture 36 whereby a head of a support screw (not shown) could be inserted through apertures 35 and the shank of the support screw could be located in elongate aperture 36 so as to support the bottle holders 10 to a wall if such was considered appropriate.

A blank 18A is shown in FIG. 10 of the holder 10 shown in FIG. 9 wherein parts 12A and 13A are coplanar with web 11.

FIGS. 11-12 show a bottle rack or assembly 37 formed from a multiplicity of bottle holder components 10A, 10B and 10C of the invention which are integral with each other whereby the rack 37 may be formed form a single plate or blank of metal. In FIGS 11-12 each of holder components 10A, 10B and 10C are separated by slots 38 if required. The rack 37 may also incorporate a common angle end portion 12B. Also each of angled end portions 13 could be spaced from each other by gaps 39 as shown or alternatively may be connected to each other.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that either a bottle holder of the invention or a bottle rack of the invention provides a facility for storage and/or presentation of bottles and in particular wine bottles which has not been achieved previously.