Gravity feed bottle display and dispensing rack

Claim 1

A rack for storing and presenting, for serial dispensing, a plurality of bottles suspended from the rack in a line extending longitudinally essentially parallel to the rack, the rack having a forward end and a rearward end, the bottles including a generally vertical body portion having a given surface contour configuration, a neck extending upwardly from the body portion, and a cap portion above the neck, the cap portion having a predetermined surface contour configuration, the rack comprising: a dispensing station located adjacent the forward end of the rack such that the line extends through the dispensing station; a track extending along an incline upwardly and rearwardly away from the dispensing station toward the rearward end for supporting the plurality of bottles along the line, with the bottles biased by gravity forwardly along a path of travel toward the dispensing station, the track being adapted to engage the neck of each bottle at a suspension location placed at an elevation in the dispensing station; and a gate at the dispensing station, the gate including stop means placed in the path of travel for engaging the forwardmost bottle of the plurality of bottles to retain the plurality of bottles in the rack; the stop means including at least one first engagement surface extending downwardly from the elevation of the suspension location along a first essentially vertical direction for engaging the generally vertical body portion of the forwardmost bottle at a corresponding at least one lower stabilizing location spaced away from the suspension location, vertically below the elevation of the suspension location, and at least one second engagement surface extending upwardly from the elevation of the suspension location along a second essentially vertical direction for engaging the cap portion of the forwardmost bottle at a corresponding at least one upper stabilizing location spaced away from the suspension location, vertically above the elevation of the suspension location, and resilient biasing means for resiliently biasing the first engagement surface into engagement with the generally vertical body portion of the forwardmost bottle at said corresponding lower stabilizing location and for resiliently biasing the second engagement surface into engagement with the cap portion of the forwardmost bottle at said corresponding upper stabilizing location such that the forwardmost bottle is maintained suspended at the dispensing station in an essentially vertical orientation against the force of gravity, including the forward force of the remaining bottles suspended along the line behind the forwardmost bottle, and is selectively released from the dispensing station by pulling the forwardmost bottle forward through the gate, against the resilient bias of the resilient biasing means.