Wine rack and kit and method for its onsite assembly

A kit of fabricated structural elements which are adapted for onsite assembly thereof to form of an open faced wine rack for storing horizontally thereon a plurality of wine bottles of the same or substantially the same sidewall diameters, which structural elements comprise:

• (a) as the sole vertical support collectively for wine bottles stored on the assembled wine rack, a planar rigid monolithic quadrilateral vertical support member which has parallel first and second faces and a plurality of identical round mounting holes therein which are spaced uniformly from each other in a plurality of uniformly spaced rows each of which contain at least three of the mounting holes;
• (b) as the sole horizontal support individually for wine bottles stored on the assembled wine rack, a plurality at least as great as the number of mounting holes in the support member of identical straight rigid round wine bottle support rods whose diameter is greater than that of the mounting holes in the support member and a first end of which is threaded;
• whose length is at least about the length of the sidewall of wine bottles for which the wine rack is adapted to store thereon and whose bending and breaking strengths are sufficient for three thereof which are mounted side-by-side in the same row on the support member will support two of the filled wine bottles;
• (c) a plurality at least as large as the number of mounting holes in the support member of straight round solid metal or high strength plastic mounting rods whose diameter is slightly less than the diameter of the mounting holes in the support member, whose length is at least the sum of its diameter plus the thickness of the support member, each of which is or is adapted to be slip fit positioned in one of the round mounting holes, a first end of each of which is threaded and extends beyond the first face of the support member, a second end of each of which is or is adapted to be connected to an enlarged member which (i) has a flat under face;
• (ii) acts as a stop which prevents the second end of the mounting rod when fitted in one of the mounting holes in the support member from entering the hole;
• (iii) is fitted flush or is adapted to be fitted flush against the second face of the support member so tightly when the wine rack is assembled that the mounting rod cannot rotate within the hole in which it is positioned;
• and, when thus fitted, (iv) maintains the longitudinal axis of the mounting rod perpendicular to both faces of the support member;
• and wherein at least the portion of the second end of each of the mounting rod which projects beyond the first face of the support member is threaded cooperatively with respect to the threaded end portion of the support rods and is adapted to be threaded connected thereto, whereby the enlarged member of the mounting rod and the threaded second end of the mounting rod cooperatively maintain, when the wine rack is assembled, the support rods firmly and immovably mounted against the first face of the support member, and
• (d) optionally, a plurality of installation holes in the support member, at least a portion of which are proximate an upper or lower edge of the support member, for installing the support member in a stable vertical position;
• and wherein
• (i) the support rods are long enough and three thereof side-by-side in the same row of the assembled wine rack are strong enough when mounted on the support member to stabily support two filled wine bottles having the same or substantially the same sidewall diameter;
• (ii) each row of mounting holes in the support member is uniformly spaced from adjacent rows of holes at a distance such that wine bottles of a size for which the wine rack is designed which have the widest sidewall diameter can be stored one above the other on adjacent rows of the assembled wine rack without their side walls touching;
• (iii) each mounting hole in the support member is spaced uniformly from mounting holes on either side thereof in the same row at a distance such that wine bottles of a size for which the wine rack is designed which have widest sidewall diameter can be stored side-by-side in the same row of the assembled wine rack without their sidewalls touching;
• and
• (iv) the diameter of the support rods is large enough that a wine bottle of a size for which the wine rack is designed which has the narrowest sidewall diameter can be supported by two adjacent wine bottle support rods in the same row of the assembled wine rack.