Trash disposal apparatus

Abstract

Trash disposal apparatus including a support collar for attachment to a trash receptacle for simultaneously supporting a plurality of nested trash liner bags within the confines of the receptacle. The collar comprises an inverted U-shaped channel member formed to engage the upper rim of the trash receptacle. Liners are attached to notches in the outer surface of the support collar in a manner which facilitates the removal of the inner most liner from the trash receptacle when filled to capacity and provides a replacement liner which is already properly positioned within the receptacle.

Description

This invention relates generally to waste disposable equipment, and more particularly concerns a collar assembly for supporting a plurality of nested trash liners.

In providing a collar support for trash liners, it is important that the liner bags be securely attached to the support assembly in an opened mouth fashion in order that the liners, themselves, do not interfere with the placement of trash into the receptacle. At the same time, however, it is also important that the method of attaching the liner bags to the collar be such as to ensure the easy removal of the liners when they become filled and to permit the convenient insertion of a replacement liner.

Various trash liner support arrangements are available which, when properly used, are acceptable for use in collecting trash. Nevertheless, each of these support arrangements suffers from one drawback or another which makes it inconvenient and, in general, inefficient to use when the frequent replacement of liners is required. For example, most support arrangements are designed to carry only a single liner at a time. Because of this, it is necessary to stop and attach a new replacement liner each time the liner bag becomes filled. Not only does this require the person changing the liner to constantly carry a supply of replacement liners with him, but, depending upon the complexity of the support assembly, it often requires an appreciable amount of time to effect the change.

Likewise, most prior art arrangements require the person changing the liners to carry closure means with him for sealing the open end of the liner once it is removed from the support. If such closure means are not used, there is a high degree of likelihood that some of the collected trash will spill out of the liner resulting in a condition which is both inefficient and unsanitary.

It is, therefore, the aim of the present invention to eliminate such disadvantage found in the prior art apparatus, and to provide trash disposal apparatus which facilitates the sanitary collection of disposable trash with a minimum of maintenance effort.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an independent support assembly for maintaining a plurality of nested liner bags within a trash receptacle.

A related object is to provide a support assembly of the foregoing type which facilitates the removal of the inner most liner bag from the trash receptacle when it becomes filled to capacity and provides a replacement liner which is already properly positioned within the receptacle.

In addition, it is a further object of this invention to provide a support assembly which is particularly adapted for use with liner bags which comprise a closure device as an integral part of the liner.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing the unpackaging and placement of a support collar constructed in accordance with the present invention on a trash receptacle.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially in the vertical plane of line 2--2 in FIG. 1 and showing the support collar positioned on the trash receptacle with the liner bags in their packaged position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially in the vertical plane of line 2--2 in FIG. 1 and showing the nested trash liners once they have been unfolded and depressed into the trash receptacle;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 and more clearly showing the respective positioning of the nested liners on the support collar;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top view showing one corner on the support collar with a liner bag positioned in place;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view taken substantially in the vertical plane of line 6--6 in FIG. 5 and showing a series of trash liners attached to one corner of the support collar;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative view, partially in cross-section, showing the closure and removal of a liner bag from the trash receptacle; and

FIGS. 8-10 are cross-sectional views showing alternate configurations for collar assemblies constructed in accordance with the invention.

While the invention will be described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to that embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, while the illustrative embodiment described herein relates to a support collar shaped for use with a cross-sectionally rectangular trash receptacle (FIG. 8), it is not intended to limit the invention to such a configuration. To the contrary, the apparatus of the present invention is equally suited for use with receptacles having circular cross-sections (FIG. 9), oval cross-sections (FIG. 10), or any other configurations and it is herein intended to encompass all such alternatives.

In accordance with the present invention Trash Disposal Apparatus is provided which, when used in conjunction with conventional trash receptacles, facilitates the sanitary collection of disposable trash. To this end, the apparatus includes a support collar 20 adapted to engage with and be carried by the upper rim of the trash receptacle 30 for simultaneously supporting a plurality of nested trash liner bags 36 a-c within the confines of the receptacle.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 an illustrative embodiment of the support collar assembly 20 constructed in accordance with the present invention. The collar comprises a pair of spaced-apart side wall members 22 and 23 joined at their upper ends by a top member 25 and shaped to form a square, U-shaped channel 27 suitable for engaging the upper rim 29 of a complimentarily shaped trash receptacle 30. As shown, this receptacle is of the geometrically square variety often found in homes and offices. As previously indicated, however, it is not intended to limit the invention to any particular size or shape. Rather, it is herein contemplated that the support collars 20 will be constructed to conform to the particular size and shape of the receptacle for which it is designed. To this end, there are certain general considerations which must be kept in mind, i.e., the channel width of the collar must be sufficiently wide to fit over the rim of the receptacle, the depth of the U-shaped channel must be sufficient to give stability to the collar arrangement when it is placed on the trash receptacle 30, and the external height of the support collar must be sufficient to enable the individual attachment of a desired number of liner bags. In addition, it is desirable that the support collar 20 be sufficiently rigid to ensure ease in handling when inserting or removing the collar structure 20 from the trash receptacle 30. Although a wide variety of materials could be used for obtaining the desired characteristics, it is presently contemplated that the support collar 20 will be constructed from either a heavy weight cardboard or a plastic material such as polystyrene.

To support the individual trash liner bags, attachment means are provided on the outer perimeter of the support collar 20 for independently engaging the opened ends of a pluality of nested liner bags 36 a-c. In the illustrated embodiment, these attachment means are shown in the form of a plurality of notches 32 located at graduated intervals on each corner 34 of the support collar 20. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this form of attachment means is particularly suited for use with liner bags 36 a-c having a drawstring 38 integrally connected at their opened end. Absent a liner bag arrangement which includes a drawstring suitable for engagement in such notches, alternate attachment means are contemplated in the form of hook projections or double stick tape which also would be positioned at graduated intervals in order to facilitate the removal of each of the independently attached liner bags.

In use, it is contemplated that the support collar 20 will come prepackaged, such as in a cardboard container 40, with a plurality (approximately 7-10) of nested liner bags independently attached with their drawstrings inserted in the respective corner of the collar structure. For packaging purposes, the respective liner bags 36 a-c will be collectively folded and held within the confines of the collar structure by a paper strip or band 42. By maintaining the folded liner bags in this way, the unpackaging and handling of the support assembly prior to placement on the trash receptacle 30 is also facilitated. Once the support structure 20 is properly aligned with the upper rim of the trash receptacle 30, the band 42 can be removed and the support collar 20 can then be lowered into place on the receptacle. Although the bags will generally tend to drop into the receptacle once the packaging band 42 is removed, proper positioning of the liner bags 36 within the receptacle 30 can be ensured by placing one's hand or other object through the center of the support collar 20 and collectively depressing the nested liner bags 36 to the bottom of the receptacle 30. Once positioned, it is not necessary to disturb the support collar 20 until all of the individually attached liner bags 36 have been removed.

Pursuant to the invention, individual liner bags are independently removed as they become filled. Since openings 39 are provided to expose the drawstring 38 at each corner of the liner bags 36, removal of a filled liner bag is accomplished by simply grasping the exposed portions of the drawstring 38 and removing it from the respective corner notches 32 in the support collar. In this way, the liner bag is completely freed from the support collar 20 (FIG. 7) and can be removed simply by lifting it out of the trash receptacle 30. Provided that the filled liner 36 is not the last liner attached to the support collar, removal of the inner most liner does not require any additional effort since, in keeping with the design of the present invention, a replacement liner is already properly positioned within the receptacle. When, however, the last liner 36 c is removed from the support collar, a new supply of liner bags can be inserted in place by simply removing the empty collar and replacing it with a new one having a fresh supply of liner bags. Since it is contemplated that the support collar 20 will be made of a disposable material, the empty collar, itself, can simply be disposed of once the replacement collar is properly positioned on the trash receptacle.

Further, it should be noted that any of the large number of commercially available liner bags can be used in carrying out the present invention. In general, however, it is contemplated that disposable liners constructed of plastic ranging in thickness between 2.0 and 4.0 mills will be used.

Thus, it is apparent from the foregoing that there has been provided, in accordance with the invention, trash disposal apparatus which fully satisfies the objects, aims, and advantages set forth above.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Trash disposal apparatus suitable for attachment to a frame assembly for providing a receptacle for use in the collection of trash, said trash disposal apparatus comprising support means adapted to be positioned upon the upper portion of the frame assembly and suitable for carrying a plurality of trash liner bags; a plurality of attachment means located on the periphery of the support means and separated into spaced groups each of which group is positioned for respectively carrying one of a plurality of trash liner bags in an opened-top, trash receptive manner; and a plurality of trash liner bags independently and detachably secured to the attachment means so as to be positionable in a trash receiving manner with respect to said frame assembly.

2. Trash disposal apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a support collar consisting of a pair of spaced-apart side walls joined at their upper ends to form a U-shaped channel closure shaped to correspond with the upper perimeter of the frame assembly.

3. Trash disposal apparatus suitable for attachment to a frame assembly for providing a receptacle for use in the collection of trash, said trash disposal apparatus comprising a support collar consisting of a pair of spaced-apart side walls joined at their upper ends to form a U-shaped channel closure shaped to correspond with the upper perimeter of the frame assembly and adapted to be positioned upon the upper portion of the frame assembly for carrying at least one trash liner bag; attachment means comprising a plurality of spaced notches cut into the outer surface of the support collar at spaced intervals about its periphery for holding at least one trash liner bag in an opened-top, trash receptive manner; and at least one trash liner bag directly attached to the support means and positioned in a trash receiving manner with respect to said frame assembly.

4. Trash disposal apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said support collar comprises a rectangular shaped channel closure having a plurality of spaced notches located at each corner of the rectangle.

5. Trash disposal apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the plurality of trash liner bags are arranged in nested configuration.

6. Trash disposal apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the trash liner bag comprises a closure device which forms an integral part of the liner.

7. A support collar assembly shaped to engage the upper rim of a trash receptacle and adapted to carry at least one trash liner bag for lining said receptacle, said assembly comprising a support collar consisting of a pair of spaced-apart side wall members joined at their upper ends to form a U-shaped channel closure, shaped to correspond with the upper perimeter of the trash receptacle, and attachment means in the form of a plurality of notches located at spaced intervals on the outer perimeter of the support collar for receiving the liner bags supported by the collar.