GB2271554A - Bottle holders - Google Patents

Abstract

A milk bottle holder 1 comprises a holding portion 2, 3, 4 for holding milk bottles which is open at at least one side to permit the bottles to be manually grasped for removal from the holder, and a top protector portion in the form of flaps 13, 14 which are pivotable from protection positions in which the flaps 13, 14 are positioned immediately above the tops of the bottles to removal positions in which the flaps 13, 14 are pivoted away from the tops of the bottles to permit removal of the bottles from the holder. The flaps serve to prevent birds from perforating the tops of the milk bottles when in the protection position, and thereby avoid contamination of the milk. <IMAGE>

Description

"Bottle Holders" This invention relates to bottle holders, and is concerned more particularly, but not exclusively, with holders for milk bottles.

In areas where milk bottle deliveries are made directly to the home, it is the general practice for the milk bottles to be placed on the ground or in a suitable holder in the open air at an entrance to the home. Even where a suitable holder is provided to receive the milk bottles, it is the general practice for the tops of the milk bottles to remain unprotected by any part of the holder. This, and the fact that the metal milk bottle tops are easily perforated, means that it is not unusual for the tops to be perforated by birds to gain access to the milk within the bottles. Furthermore it has recently been established that such action by birds can lead to contamination of the milk within the bottles, and this can in turn lead to transmittal of diseases to persons drinking the milk, particularly young children.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bottle holder which is adapted to prevent access to the tops of the bottles.

According to the present invention there is provided a bottle holder comprising a holding portion for holding one or more bottles, the holding portion being open at at least one side to permit the or each bottle to be manually grasped for removal from the holder, and a top protector portion which is pivotable from a protection position in which the top protector portion is positioned immediately above the top of the or each bottle to a removal position in which the top protector portion is pivoted away from the top of the or each bottle to permit removal of the or each bottle from the holder.

Where the holder is used for milk bottles, the top protector portion may serve to prevent birds from perforating the tops of the milk bottles when in the protection position, and to thereby avoid contamination of the milk.

The top protector portion is preferably adapted to be pivoted from the protection position to the removal position on being contacted by the top of a bottle which is being removed from the holder. This enables the bottle to be removed from the holder in a single manual operation, without requiring prior pivoting of the top protector portion.

Furthermore the top protector portion is preferably adapted to fall back to its protection position when any applied force holding it in its removal position is released. This ensure that the top protector portion cannot inadvertently be left in its removal position in which it does not serve to protect the top of the or each bottle.

For example the arrangement may be such that the top protector portion, when in its protection position, extends substantially horizontally and, when in its removal position, is inclined at such an angle that it will tend to fall back to its protection position under the action of gravity.

The top protector portion advantageously comprises two flaps which are pivotable in opposite directions about respective parallel axes between their protection positions and their removal positions.

The holding portion may comprise a base and two side walls fixed to the base, the top protector portion being pivotally connected to upper parts of the side walls remote from the base. In addition, in order to accommodate more than one bottle, the holding portion may include at least one partition member extending between the side walls. The or each partition member may have a part adapted to the shape of the bottle sides which are generally curved.

Furthermore the holder may have a handle by which the holder may be carried. The handle preferably extends between the side walls and is pivotable with respect thereto.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a milk bottle holder in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holder with the top protector flaps in their protection positions; and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the top of the holder with one of the top protector flaps in its removal position.

The illustrated milk bottle holder 1 is provided to receive four milk bottles, such as the bottle lA shown in broken lines in Figure 1. The holder will be described as though fabricated from wood, although it will be appreciated that the holder could also be fabricated from other materials, and in particular that it could be moulded from plastics material.

Referring to Figure 1, the holder 1 comprises two shaped side walls 2 and 3 between which a rectangular base 4 is held by extending into grooves in the side walls and being pinned or glued therein. The base 4 is supported above the level of the ground by the side walls 2 and 3 so as to leave a gap below the base 4. The base 4 has four small holes 5 extending therethrough for drainage of moisture from the bottoms of the bottles. A partition 6 also extends between the side walls 2 and 3 between the two pairs of bottles and is accommodated in suitably shaped grooves in the side walls. The partition 6 comprises a vertically extending rectangular part 7 and a horizontally extending part 8 having edges with curved portions 9 adapted to conform to the shapes of the sides of the bottles.

Additionally two retaining rods 10 and 11 extend between the side walls 2 and 3, and are held at their ends in circular recesses in the side walls so as to retain the two pairs of bottles in position on the base 4. A handle 12 of similar form to the retaining rods 10 and 11 similarly extends between the side walls 2 and 3 and has its ends accommodated in circular recesses in the side walls. The holder 1 may be carried by grasping the handle 12, and the fact that the handle 12 is freely pivotal in the circular recesses in the side walls 2 and 3 means that the holder 1 may swing freely when held by the handle 12.

In order to protect the tops of the bottles resting on the base 4 of the holder 1, the holder 1 has a top protector portion consisting of two pivotal top protector flaps 13 and 14 which are shown in their protection positions in Figure 1. Each end of each flap 13 or 14 is pivotally connected to the adjacent side wall 2 or 3 by a screw 15 extending freely through an aperture in the side wall into the flap. Furthermore each end of each flap 13 or 14 extends into a shaped recess 16 in the corresponding side wall defining a horizontal shoulder 17 (as best seen in Figure 2) against which the corresponding flap rests when in its horizontal, protection position, as shown in Figure 1. It will be appreciated that, when in the protection positions, the two flaps 13 and 14 lie immediately above the tops of the two pairs of bottles, and thereby prevent access to the tops of the bottles, and the contents within the bottles, by birds or other animals.

A bottle may be removed from the holder simply by grasping the bottle through the open side of the holder and lifting the bottle upwardly away from the base 4 so that the top of the bottle contacts the corresponding top protector flap 13 or 14 and pivots the flap upwardly into a removal position, as shown for the flap 13 in Figure 2.

Each of the recesses 16 in the side walls defines an inclined shoulder 18, as best seen in Figure 1, against which the flap rests when in the removal position.

However the shoulders 18 are inclined to the vertical in such a manner that, immediately any applied force is removed tending to hold the corresponding flap in its removal position engaging the shoulder 18, the flap falls back to its protection position. Thus, once a bottle which is being introduced into or removed from the holder no longer contacts the flap, the flap will return automatically to its protection position. Thus, after both removal of bottles from the holder and introduction of bottles into the holder, the flaps will automatically serve to protect the tops of any bottles within the holder, and there is no danger of the tops of the bottles being left exposed by the flaps inadvertently being left in their removal positions.

Claims (11)

1. A bottle holder comprising a holding portion for holding one or more bottles, the holding portion being open at at least one side to permit the or each bottle to be manually grasped for removal from the holder, and a top protector portion which is pivotable from a protection position in which the top protector portion is positioned immediately above the top of the or each bottle to a removal position in which the top protector portion is pivoted away from the top of the or each bottle to permit removal of the or each bottle from the holder.

2. A bottle holder according to Claim 1, wherein the top protector portion is adapted to be pivoted from the protection position to the removal position on being contacted by the top of a bottle which is being removed from the holder.

3. A bottle holder according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the top protector portion is adapted to fall back to its protection position when any applied force holding it in its removal position is released.

4. A bottle holder according to Claim 3, wherein the arrangement is such that the top protector portion, when in its protection position, extends substantially horizontally and, when in its removal position, is inclined at such an angle that it will tend to fall back to its protection position under the action of gravity.

5. A bottle holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the top protector portion comprises two flaps which are pivotable in opposite directions about respective parallel axes between their protection positions and their removal positions.

6. A bottle holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holding portion comprises a base and two side walls fixed to the base, the top protector portion being pivotally connected to upper parts of the side walls remote from the base.

7. A bottle holder according to Claim 6, wherein the holding portion includes at least one partition member extending between the side walls.

8. A bottle holder according to Claim 7, wherein the or each partition member has a part adapted to the shape of the bottle sides which are generally curved.

9. A bottle holder according to any preceding claim, having a handle by which the holder may be carried.

10. A bottle holder according to Claim 9 when appended directly or indirectly to Claim 6, wherein the handle extends between the side walls and is pivotable with respect thereto.

11. A bottle holder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.