U.S. patent application number 11/792252 was filed with the patent office on 2008-04-10 for lined waste receptacles.
Invention is credited to James Albert Daniels.
Application Number | 20080083756 11/792252 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35709342 |
Filed Date | 2008-04-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080083756 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Daniels; James Albert |
April 10, 2008 |
Lined Waste Receptacles
Abstract
A waste bin construction consists of a waste bin in the form of
a generally upwardly open container (30) having a base and one or
more side walls (3). Running down a side wall is a vent tube (31)
having one open end at or near the base and the other at or near
the upper rim of the container. The lower end of the tube is
connected to a housing (32) for the receipt of a deodorising block,
over which air drawn through the vent tube (31) passes when a bin
liner is lifted out of the container (30). The tube (31) and
housing (32) may be retrofitted to an existing bin.
Inventors: |
Daniels; James Albert;
(London, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BREINER & BREINER, L.L.C.
P.O. BOX 320160
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22320-0160
US
|
Family ID: |
35709342 |
Appl. No.: |
11/792252 |
Filed: |
December 5, 2005 |
PCT Filed: |
December 5, 2005 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB05/04668 |
371 Date: |
June 18, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/495.04 ;
220/495.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65F 1/068 20130101;
B65F 7/00 20130101; B65F 1/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/495.04 ;
220/495.01 |
International
Class: |
B65D 35/14 20060101
B65D035/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 4, 2004 |
GB |
0426671.4 |
Aug 30, 2005 |
GB |
0517639.1 |
Claims
1. A waste bin construction consisting of a waste bin in the form
of a generally upwardly open container having a base and one or
more side walls, and which includes, running down the side wall(s),
a vent tube having one open end at or near the base and the other
at or near the upper rim of the container, and wherein a housing
adjacent the end of the vent tube located at or near the base of
the bin, the housing comprising a receptacle for the receipt of a
deodorising block.
2. A waste bin construction according to claim 1 wherein the
housing is in the form of a perforated wall housing having a recess
in it for the receipt of a deodorising block.
3. A waste bin construction according to claim 2 wherein the
housing is circular and includes a skirt around its edge which
rests upon the floor of the bin, the skirt having a cutout portion
or aperture into which the vent tube may fit.
4. A waste bin construction according to any one of claims 1 to 3
wherein the receptacle for the deodorising block has perforated
walls, and is provided with a cover to prevent direct contact
between the plastics of a bin liner placed in the bin and the
deodorising block.
5. A bin conversion kit for adapting a waste bin to constitute a
waste bin according to any one of the preceding claims, the kit
consisting of a tube of length adequate to extend most of the way
up the bin wall(s) and a housing adapted to receive a deodorising
block and having a socket for the receipt of the tube.
6. A bin conversion kit according to claim 5 and including a
substantially right angled elbow joint piece for fitting to the end
of the tube, and a short further length of tube designed to fit the
joint piece and extend across the floor of the bin to the
housing.
7. A bin conversion kit according to claim 5 or 6 and including
means for attaching the tube(s) to the interior of the bin.
8. A bin conversion kit according to claim 7 wherein the means for
attaching the tube(s) are double-sided adhesive pads which may be
used to fix the tube(s) in place.
9. A bin conversion kit according to claim 8 wherein the
double-sided adhesive pads include, between the two adhesive faces,
a splittable burr fastener.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to lined waste receptacles,
specifically (but not exclusively) to domestic waste bins which are
conventionally used with a plastics "bin liner".
[0002] The use of lined bins, the latter usually also consisting of
plastics, is widespread in domestic kitchens. It is also well-known
that such arrangements suffer from two specific and identified
disadvantages:
[0003] The first is that there is a tendency for waste placed into
such a lined bin, particularly organic kitchen waste, sooner or
later to start smelling. This is aesthetically undesirable and
while, if the smell becomes too unpleasant to tolerate, the liner
and its contents can clearly be removed and disposed of and a fresh
liner inserted, very often the odour is unpleasant, but not
sufficiently so to merit such action. Lids for bins are known in a
variety of constructions and these serve to limit the emission of
odours, but not, of course, to suppress them entirely.
[0004] The second problem with such bins is the well-known one of
extracting the liner, particularly if the bin is of relatively
large size and the amount of waste material in it is substantial.
The waste material in itself tends to press the plastics liner
against the normally plastics interior surface of the bin itself,
and, as the bag is raised, suction occurs to press the liner more
firmly against the interior surface of the bin. The frictional
forces between liner and bin surface then make it very difficult to
extract the liner, and the extra pull required by the person doing
so can lead to tearing of the liner itself, either where gripped by
the person seeking to extract it, or, more seriously, rupture
elsewhere, which may lead to soiling of the interior of the bin,
thus defeating the object of putting a bin liner in it in the first
place.
[0005] Various of solutions to the second problem have been
proposed. US-A-2004/0084456, U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,876 and U.S. Pat.
No. 6,634,518 all disclose the use of a vent tube extending from
near the open top of the bin to a position on the base of the bin,
enabling the liner to be more easily removed. U.S. Pat. No.
6,079,759 discloses a carrier frame for lifting the bin liner out,
the side members of which are formed as vent tubes.
[0006] Location of such a vent tube enables air to penetrate to the
bottom of the bin between the liner and the floor of the bin itself
so counteracting any suction as the liner starts to be extracted.
The effect may be enhanced by the provision of air around the
wall(s) of the bin from lateral perforations in the vertical
portion of the vent tube, but usually the flow through the vent
tube itself is sufficient to enable considerably easier extraction
of the bin liner without risk of damage to it.
[0007] According to the present invention, there is provided a
waste bin construction consisting of a waste bin in the form of a
generally upwardly open container having a base and one or more
side walls, and which includes, running down the side wall(s), a
vent tube having one open end at or near the base and the other at
or near the upper rim of the container, and characterised by a
housing located adjacent the end of the vent tube and located at or
near the base of the bin, and comprising a receptacle for the
receipt of a deodorising block.
[0008] The housing may vary widely in design, but, for example, is
conveniently in the form of a perforated wall housing, for example
of generally circular form, having a recess in it for the receipt
of a deodorising block. In one embodiment, the housing may have a
skirt around its edge which may rest upon the floor of the bin, the
skirt having a cutout portion or aperture into which the vent tube
may fit. Preferably the recess for the receipt of a deodorising
block has perforated walls, and it may be provided with a suitable
cover, e.g. to prevent direct contact between the plastics of the
bin liner and the deodorising block.
[0009] The major advantage of such a construction is that, for most
of the time, the deodorising effect is relatively muted and
deodorising block consumption accordingly small, but when the liner
is removed, the airflow down the vent tube and emerging at the
lower end of the tube serves to evaporate material from the
deodorising block and thus release, at precisely the point in time
at which it is aesthetically desirable, a pleasant
deodorising/antiseptic/fresh smell which, of course, counteracts
any smell arising from the contents of the liner. The composition
of the deodorising block may, if desired, include other components,
e.g. antiseptic agents.
[0010] The housing may be located on the base of the bin adjacent a
side wall of the container, or it may be located on the base of the
bin but away from the side wall(s), in which case the vent tube has
a section running across a part of the base of the container.
Alternatively, the housing may be located on a side wall of the
bin, relatively near its base.
[0011] A major advantage of the invention as described above is
that it may be retrofitted to an existing bin. For example, a bin
conversion kit may be sold consisting of a tube, optionally with
perforations along its sides, and of length adequate to extend most
of the way up the bin wall(s) and a receptacle adapted to fit the
end of the tube and to receive a deodorising block. In the case
where the housing is to be placed on the base of the bin away from
the side wall(s), the kit may include an elbow joint piece for
fitting to the end of the tube, and a short length of tube designed
to fit the joint piece and the housing. The main tube which runs
vertically when fitted may be made of a number of interfitting
sections, thus reducing the overall package size needed for such a
kit. Means may be provided for attaching the tube(s) to the
interior of the bin, for example by way of an adhesive strip which
can be covered, until it is desired to stick the tube(s) on to the
interior surface of the bin, by a conventional protective release
sheet or foil. As an alternative, double-sided adhesive pads may be
used to stick the tube in place. If it is desired to have the tube
removable, e.g. for very occasional cleaning purposes, the
double-sided adhesive pads may include, between the two adhesive
faces, a splittable burr fastener.
[0012] In order to enable the customer to match the length(s) of
the tube(s) easily and simply to his or her particular bin, the
conversion kit may also include means for cutting what will
normally be oversize tube lengths to fit the bin in question. Tubes
of extruded plastics material, for example generally oval section
plastics conduit, may easily be cut to appropriate lengths with a
small hacksaw. If the main tube is made up of several interfitting
sections, by making them differing lengths and with some extras, a
selection of sections may be chosen which, when fitted together,
measure slightly less than the height of the bin, so enabling the
top of the tube to be at or near the upper rim, and its lower end
to be at or near the bin base, and avoiding the need to cut any
tube section to length.
[0013] The invention is illustrated by way of example with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cutaway view of part of a bin
showing one way of putting the invention into practice;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a part-sectional view of the components shown in
FIG. 1, in vertical section; and
[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective cutaway view of an alternative
embodiment.
[0017] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, in which like
reference numbers are used for like components, the invention is
shown applied to a standard plastics waste bin 1 of conventional
type, shown cut away in FIG. 1. As seen there, the bin generally
consists of a floor 2 and four side walls 3. The invention
naturally works just as well in the case of a single-walled, i.e.
cylindrical or slightly frusto-conical, bin.
[0018] Located on one wall 3 is a vertical tube 4 with an open top
7. At its lower end, tube 4 is connected by a moulded plastics
elbow 8 to a short horizontal tube 9. Tube 9 passes through an
aperture in the skirt of a moulded deodorising block holder 10
located on floor 2. Holder 10 has apertures 12 in its skirt and
upper face. Its upper face also has a recess 13 for the receipt of
a deodorising block 14. The side wall of recess 13 has perforations
15. The recess is capped by a lid 17.
[0019] The assembly of tube 4, elbow 8, tube 9 and holder 10 is
kept in place by three double-sided adhesive burr fastener pads 20,
one side of each of which is adhered to wall 3 or floor 2 of the
bin.
[0020] When a bin liner full of waste is extracted from the bin,
this can be done without the usual suction and sticking as air is
drawn in through the open end 7 of tube 4 and penetrates around the
sides of the liner (via holes 5) and to the increasing (as the
liner is lifted) space below it (via tube 9 and apertures 12). It
also flows through apertures 15, past the block 14 and, as a
result, fragrance and deodorising components reach the bin and the
space around it as the liner is finally lifted clear to provide a
fresh smell. Thus the twin problems of odour and difficulty of
liner extraction are alleviated. If desired, lid 17 may be
perforated to enhance the dispensing of components from block 14
when a bin liner is removed.
[0021] FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment installed in a
cylindrical bin diagrammatically indicated at 30, and where a
section of the wall has been omitted from FIG. 3 to enable a vent
tube 31 and deodorising block holder 32 to be seen. Vent tube 31 is
made up of three interfitting sections. A clip 33 is adhesively
mounted on the bin wall and holds the upper end of tube 31 in
place. A double-sided adhesive pad holds holder 32 in place. Holder
32 has a recess 35 for the receipt of a deodorising block, and a
lid 36 may cover recess 35. The lower end of tube 31 is a press fit
into a socket 37 formed in holder 32.
[0022] When a full bin liner is withdrawn, air flows down tube 31,
into the interior of recess 35, round the deodorising block, and
via perforations 38 in the walls of holder 32, into the space
inside bin 30.
* * * * *