Bottle with cork having cap to allow for inverted storage

Abstract

An improved container for wine that allows for inverted storage includes a cylindrical bottle, with a bottom defining a first plane, sidewalls, shoulders, and a neck, a cork within the neck, and a cap, wherein the cap is received over the neck of the bottle by an annular extension and retained in a frictional engagement. The cap is also shaped in the form of a cylinder and has the same diameter as the bottle and has a top surface that also defines a plane that is parallel with the plane defined by the bottom of the bottle. The outside walls of the cap engage the shoulders of the bottle at the location the shoulders extend from the sidewall of the bottle and thereby the walls of the cap provide support to the shoulders when the bottle is in an inverted position. This bottle may be stored in either an upright position or in an inverted position. When the bottle is in the inverted orientation wine is allowed to come into contact with the cork. The invention is also directed to a method of use of the improved bottle described to allow for the storage of wines.

1 . An improved container comprising a bottle, said bottle having a bottom, sidewalls, shoulders, and a neck, 
 a cork, and    a cap, said neck of said bottle having a smooth inner diameter and a dimension to receive said cork, and said cap having an annular sleeve to receive the exterior surface of said neck, said annular sleeve extending downward from a lower surface of a top portion of said cap, and said cap further comprising a cap sidewall that extends from said lower surface to said bottle shoulder, and said top portion of said cap having a top surface, said top surface having at least three regions that form a plane, said plane being substantially parallel with a plane formed by the bottom of said bottle, and said three regions are in axial alignment with the bottom of said bottle,    wherein said annular sleeve and said cap sidewall support said top portion of said cap and    whereby said bottle may be positioned in either an upright position or in an inverted position resting on said three regions and remain stable in either orientation.    
   
   
       2 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein said three regions are located on a flat planar surface.  
   
   
       3 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein the sidewalls of said bottle and said cap form a cylinder.  
   
   
       4 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein said bottom surface is round and said sidewalls form a cylinder, and said top surface of said cap is round and said sidewalls of said cap form a cylinder, and the circumference of said sidewall of said cap and said sidewall of said bottle are approximately equal.  
   
   
       5 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein the bottom surface of said bottle is a polygon and the top of said cap is a polygon and the sidewalls of said cap and said bottle form a cylinder, and the dimension of said polygons of the top of the cap and the bottom of the bottle are approximately the same.  
   
   
       6 . The container recited in  claim 5  wherein said polygon is a square.  
   
   
       7 . The container recited in  claim 5  wherein said polygon is a hexagon.  
   
   
       8 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein said annular sleeve engages the exterior surface of said neck in a sealing arrangement whereby liquid placed in said container is retained.  
   
   
       9 . The container recited in  claim 1  further comprising means to retain said cap on said bottle and wherein a bottom surface of said cap further comprises a resilient material wherein the terminal end of said bottle neck and said resilient material create a liquid tight seal.  
   
   
       10 . The container recited in  claim 1  further comprising a liquid in said container.  
   
   
       11 . The container recited in  claim 10  wherein said liquid is wine.  
   
   
       12 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein said cork is a natural cork.  
   
   
       13 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein the bottle is symmetrical.  
   
   
       14 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein the location of the center of gravity of bottle filled with liquid is on an axis running through the cork near the midpoint of the bottle.  
   
   
       15 . The container recited in  claim 1  wherein the center of gravity of said bottle when filled with liquid is located higher than on a conventional Bordeaux bottle.  
   
   
       16 . The container recited in  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of legs extending from the top of said cap wherein said legs define a plane, and the bottle may rest when in an inverted position on said legs.  
   
   
       17 . A method of storing wine wherein a bottle, a cork and a cap as recited in  claim 1 , is filled with wine and is oriented with the top surface of said cap on a flat surface wherein said wine in said bottle is allowed to come into contact with the bottom surface of said cork.