Refuse Container Having Safety Lid

Abstract

A box-type refuse container having lid means hinged to its rear wall with a swinging arm connected to the lid on one end and connected to a latch plate on the other end with the latch plate being mounted for reciprocation in a confining bracket and having slots on its upper surface which can be fitted over a portion of the confining bracket for retaining the lid in an open position so that the weight of the lid serves to latch the lid in the open position. The pivotal connection between the latch plate and the swinging arm is beneath the confining bracket so that the entire container can be pivoted about a central axis parallel to the axis of lid movement so that the lid can open as the container is rotated for emptying but will be returned to a closed position as the container is returned to its normal position. The lid is manually liftable in a normal position so that the latch plate is disengaged from the confining bracket and the lid can then consequently be closed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of containers and is, more specifically, in the field of metal containers of the type commonly employed for storing refuse or the like. Even more specifically, the instant invention is directed to a metal boxlike container of substantially large size having lid means which is latchable in an open position but which is closeable if desired in an open position but which is closeable if desired in an open position but which is also designed to be employed with mechanical handling apparatus of the type which lifts the container and pivots it about a horizontal laterally extending axis for dumping the contents of the container. Most such containers are designed so that they may be emptied into specially designed trucks or other conveyances and returned to their original position following such emptying. Presently known containers in this field have suffered from a number of faults which have gone uncorrected until the advent of the instant invention. Specifically, the presently known containers have employed lids which, when in an open or partially opened position, are subject to damage by strong winds. Such damage is largely caused in many of the prior known devices of this sort because of the fact that the lids are latched or popped open at only a single spot along the one edge of the lid and the forces imparted by the wind consequently cause severe twisting and torsional strain on the lid by virtue of the manner in which the lid is latched.

Additionally, previous known designs have proven to be hazardous and unsafe due to failure of the previous known latch means and many injuries have been occasioned by virtue of the lid falling upon unwary persons depositing trash or other material in the container. Needless to say, a heavy lid falling on the arm or hand of the individual using the container can cause an extremely severe injury.

It s is normally desirable to have the lids on the refuse containers closed following the dumping of the contents; however, it is desirable that the lid be subsequently openable to be safely maintained in an open condition while the container is being used for receiving subsequent deposits of refuse. The instant invention allows the lid to be safely maintained in an open position but permits the lid to close upon completion of an emptying movement in the manner discussed previously.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved refuse-type container with latchable lid means for holding the lid in an open position.

Obtainment of the object of this invention is enabled through the provision of a container formed of front and rear walls connected by sidewalls and having lid means hingedly pivotable along the top edge of the rear wall. A swinging arm extends from the pivot axis of the lid means and is pivotally connected to the rearmost end of a latch plate having a number of locking slots along its upper edge. The latch plate is mounted for reciprocation within a confining bracket including a lock rod over which the locking slots can be received for latching the lid in an upper position. However, the geometric relationship of the swinging arm and the latch plate etc. is such that the entire container can be lifted upwardly and pivoted about a central horizontal axis to dump the contents so that the lid is unlatched and upon return of the container to the ground, the lid assumes a closed position.

The instant invention provides a uniquely safe and rigid lid construction in which the weight of the lid tends to maintain the lid in latched condition but in which the latching connection to the lid is solely through the hinge connection and the lid is not subjected to the torsional strain found in many of the prior art devices having latch means connected to only one edge of the lid.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view having a portion of the container removed to illustrate the cooperation between the container and the lid;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of one half of the container illustrating one of the lid means associated therewith; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Attention is initially invited to FIG. 1 of the drawings which illustrates the preferred embodiment comprising a boxlike container having front and rear walls 20 and 22 respectively which are vertically oriented and which are connected by facing sidewalls 24 and 26 in a well-known manner.

All of the walls are provided with reinforcing channels 28 and are connected along their lower edges to a floor panel 29. Moreover, the sidewalls 24 and 26 are provided with reinforced lifting sleeves or brackets 30 only one of which is illustrated in FIG. 1; however, the other sleeve is externally mounted on wall 26 in horizontal alignment with the sleeve on wall 24. Sleeves 30 are conventional in design and are for the purpose of receiving a conventional lifting apparatus which can lift the container upwardly and rotate the container about a horizontal axis to empty the contents from the container. Such devices are conventional and are well known in the art.

Lid means in the form of first and second lid members 32 and 34 are hingedly mounted for pivotal movement along the top edge of the rear wall 22. Each of the lid members is provided with hinge brackets 36 welded to the top surface of each lid and extending rearwardly from the lid where they are welded to a torsion rod 38. Each of the torsion rods 38 is mounted for rotation in support brackets 40 which are welded to the rear wall 22.

The external ends of the torsion rods 38 are weldingly connected to a right-angle swinging arm 42 which extends in a generally downward direction along the sidewalls 24 or 26 as the case may be. An elongated latch plate 44 has its rearmost end pivotally connected to the lower end of swinging arm 42 and extends forward from the pivotal connection through a confining bracket 46 of U-shaped construction. The forward end of the latch plate 44 is provided with a laterally extending handle or projection 48. A plurality of latch slots 49 extend inwardly from the upper edge of latch plate 44 and are formed with a mouth portion 50 which extends inwardly to a centrally located trough portion 52 which defines the bottom of the slot. It should be noted that the trough portion 52 is spaced forwardly of the mouth portion 50 as shown in FIG. 2. Confining bracket 46 is in the form of a U-shaped member in which the upper leg constitutes a lock rod 54 which is dimensioned to be received within the trough 52 of the latch slot 49. To be thus received, it is necessary that the latch plate be in the solid line position shown in FIG. 2. However, the latch plate can be moved to an unlatching position in which its lower edge rests upon a horizontal latch plate supporting surface formed of the lower leg 56 of the U-shaped member forming the confining bracket 46.

Attention is invited to FIG. 2 which illustrates the manner in which latch slot 49 is received over the lock rod 54 to retain the lid 32 in an open position. It should be noted that the entire weight of the lid serves to urge the latch plate 44 to the left so as to retain the latch plate in its latched condition with lock rod 54 positioned in trough 52. The latching force is exerted through the hinge brackets 36 which are of rugged construction and there is no torsional or twisting force applied to the lid as occurs in the case of many of the prior known devices. Should it be desired to lower the lid, it is merely necessary that the lid be lifted upward slightly so as to move latch plate 44 upwardly and to the right so that the plate will fall from the locking solid line position to the dashed line unlatched position in which the lid is then freely movable to its lowered position. Additionally, the lid can be unlatched by manually pulling upon the laterally projecting handle 48 to move the latch late to its unlatched position. Handle 48 also serves to move the latch bar to a latching position to hold the lid in an open position following opening movement of the lid.

When it is desired to empty the container, the container is lifted upwardly by known means and pivoted about a central laterally extending axis extending generally through the sleeves 30 so that the container is rotated in a clockwise direction at least 90.degree. so as to empty the container. Such rotation will result in opening movement of the lid if it is a not already open and a consequent unlatching of the latch plate 44. Upon return of the container to its vertical position, the lid will automatically assume its closed position. However, it is a simple matter to lift the lid and engage one of the latched slots with the lock rod for retaining the lid in its open condition such as the position of the right lid 34 as viewed in FIG. 1.

Claims

We claim:

1. A boxlike container having facing front and rear walls connected by facing side walls, lid means hingedly connected to said rear walls for permitting opening and closing of said container by pivotal movement of said lid means about a pivot axis, a swinging arm fixedly connected to said lid means and extending externally along one of said sidewalls, a latch plate pivotally connected at its rearward end to said swinging arm and having its forward end mounted for reciprocation in a confining bracket extending from said one of said sidewalls, said bracket including a horizontal latch plate supporting surface engageable by the lower edge of said latch plate in a nonlatching position as said lid is moved between open and closed position and a horizontal lock rod located above said latch bar, a plurality of latch slots extending inwardly from the upper edge of said latch plate with each of said slots extending between a mouth portion on the upper edge of said latch plate and a bottom trough located centrally within said latch plate and spaced a greater distance from the rearward end of said plate than is the mouth portion of each respective slot and dimensioned to receive said locking rod when said latch plate is in a latching position so that said lid can be locked in an open position and the weight of the lid tends to urge the latch plate in a direction to retain the lock rod in said trough but wherein movement of said lid in an opening direction causes said latch plate to move with respect to said lock rod so that said slot no longer receives said lock rod and the latch plate is moved by gravity to its nonlatching position and said lid is consequently free to close.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the pivotal connection between said latch plate and said swinging arm is closer to the bottom of the container than is said bracket.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said bracket is U-shaped and said horizontal latch plate supporting surface comprises one of the legs of said U-shaped member and said lock rod comprises the other leg of said U-saped member.

4. The invention of claim 3 additionally including a laterally extending handle member on the forward end of said latch plate.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein said lid means comprises first and second lid members individually pivotable and each individually having its own respective swinging arm, latch plate and confining bracket.

6. The invention of claim 2 as additionally including a laterally extending handle member on the forward end of said latch plate.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said lid means comprises first and second lid members individually pivotable and each individually having its own respective swinging arm, latch plate and confining bracket.

8. The invention of claim 2 wherein said swinging arm is connected to the end of a rotary torsion arm attached of said lid and mounted for rotation on brackets fixed to the rear wall.

9. The invention of claim 8 wherein said bracket is U-shaped and said horizontal latch bar supporting surface comprises one of the legs of said U-shaped member and said lock rod comprises the other leg of said U-shaped member.

10. The invention of claim 9 additionally including a laterally extending handle member on the forward end of said latch plate.