BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin and, more particularly, to a static-control automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin includes a base member, a lid member, a lid and a control. The control includes first and second sensor wires and the two sensor wires define a sensing region. There is a drop height between the first and second sensor wires so that the sensing region can provide a great effect.
Other objectives, advantages, and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a partial, exploded perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is another partial, exploded perspective view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 shows a combination of a control and a base member of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is another cross-sectional view of the automatic opening-and-closing lid shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 10.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1 through 5 show an automatic opening-and-closing lid for a garbage bin in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The automatic opening-and-closing lid includes a base member 10, a lid member 20, a lid member 30 and a control 40. The lid member 20 is mounted on the base member 10 and prevents the base member 10 from being exposed. The lid member 30 is pivotally installed onto the base member 10 and can automatically open/close by controlling the control 40.
The base member 10 has a first side 101 and a second side 102, and an opening 11 is defined between the first and second sides 101 and 102 and allows users to throw garbage into the garbage bin therefrom. Two receptacles 12 are formed at the first side 101 and respectively communicate with the opening 11. An abutted portion 121 is provided in each receptacle 12, and two ends of the abutted portion 121 are respectively abutted with two inner sides of the related receptacle 12. A receiving portion 122 is formed on the center of each abutted portion 121. A space 13 and first and second annular flanges 14 and 15 are defined at the periphery of the opening 11, and the space 13 is provided between the two receptacles 12. The first and second annular flanges 14 and 15 causes the periphery of the opening 11 to be stepped, and a horizontal position of the first annular flange 14 is higher than that of the second annular flange 15. A horizontal position of the bottom of the space 13 is substantially equal to that of the second annular flange 15. A plurality of coupled columns 16 is disposed on the periphery of the opening 11 and at the corners of the base member 10 for coupling the base member 10 to the lid member 20. A limiting portion 17 is provided at the first annular flange 14 and proximal to one of the receptacles 12.
The lid member 20 includes an opening 21 formed on the center thereof and two receptacles 22 defined at a side thereof and in communication with the opening 21. The opening 21 corresponds to the opening 11, and the receptacles 22 respectively correspond to the receptacles 12. A touch portion 23 and a blocked portion 24 are respectively provided at two sides of the periphery of the lid member 20, and the touch portion 23 is proximal to the receptacles 22.
The lid 30 is installed between the openings 11 and 21 of the base member 10 and the lid member 20 and is able to pivot with respect to the base member 10 and the lid member 20. A first pivotal ear 31 and a second pivotal ear 32 are respectively formed on two ends of a side of the lid 30. Two elastic elements 33 are pivotally connected to the first and second pivotal ears 31 and 32 respectively. A pivoting portion 321 projects from a side of the second pivotal ear 32 opposite to the first pivotal ear 31 and is formed with first and second blocked sections 322 and 323 selectively abutting against the limiting portion 17. The first and second pivotal ears 31 and 32 are installed to the receptacles 12 and 22 of the base 10 and the lid 20 members and abut with the abutted portions 121. Each elastic element 33 has a leg abutted with the inner wall of the related one of the first and second pivotal ears 31 and 32 and the other leg inserted into the receiving portion 122 of the related one abutted portion 121. A lug 34 extends outwardly from the middle of the other side of the lid 30 opposite to the first and second pivotal ears 31 and 32 and is selectively disposed in the blocked portion 24 of the lid member 20.
The control 40 is set in the base member 10 and includes a power source 41 having a positive port 411 and a negative port 412, a control panel 42 disposed above the power source 41, a switch member 43, a driving member 44, a driven member 45 and first and second sensor wires 46 and 47. The power source 41, the switch member 43 and the driving member 44 are stored in the space 13. The switch member 43 corresponds to the touch portion 23 of the lid member 20 so that users can operate the touch portion 23 to drive the switch member 43 for choosing between lifting the lid 30 manually or automatically by static-control. The control panel 42 is adapted to electrically connect the power source 41 to the switch member 43, and a static signal is transmitted to the control panel 42 via the first and second sensor wires 46 and 47 to drive the driving member 44 to rotate. Then, the driven member 45 is driven by the driving member 44 and includes an axle 451 inserted through a driven hole 311 of the first pivotal ear 31 so that the axle 451 can drive the driven hole 311 to rotate for lifting the lid 30.
Referring to FIG. 6, the first sensor wire 46 has a first section 461 having a first end and a second end and a second section 462 having a first end and a second end. The first end of the first 461 is connected to the control panel 42, the first end of the second section 462 is connected to the positive port 411 of the power source 41 and the second ends of the first and second sections 461 and 462 are coupled to each other. The first sensor wire 46 is annularly disposed around the base member 10 and provided in the first annular flange 14. An end of the second sensor wire 47 is electrically connected to the negative port 412. The second sensor wire 47 is annularly disposed around the base member 10 and provided in the second annular flange 15. The positive port 411 is electrically connected to the switch member 43, and the switch member 43 is electrically connected to the control panel 42.
Referring to FIG. 7, a plurality of projections 141 and 151 is respectively provided at the first and second annular flanges 14 and 15 and prevent the first and second sensor wires 46 and 47 from detaching from the first and second annular flanges 14 and 15 automatically. The first and second sections 461 and 462 of the first sensor wire 46 are coupled to each other.
Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the automatic opening-and-closing lid of the present invention is closed in a normal condition. Each elastic element 33 has a leg abutted with the inner wall of the related one of the first and second pivotal ears 31 and 32 and has the other leg inserted into the receiving portion 122 of the related one abutted portion 121. In this embodiment, the elastic element 33 is in the form of a torque spring. The first blocked section 322 of the second pivotal ear 32 is abutted with the limiting portion 17 of the base member 10. The lug 34 is disposed in the blocked portion 24 of the lid member 20. The driving member 44 drives the driven member 45 to rotate (shown in FIG. 4). The driven member 45 further drives the lid 30 to close the openings 11 and 21 of the base and lid members 10 and 20. In the meanwhile, the weight of the lid member 20 and the rotational force of the driving member 44 are larger than the elastic force of the elastic elements 33 so that the lid 30 is able to overcome the elastic elements 33 and is maintained in the close position.
Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the first and second sensor wires 46 and 47 are disposed in the first and second annular flanges 14 and 15 respectively. Because of a drop height which is defined between the first and second annular flanges 14 and 15, there's a drop height defined between the first and second sensor wires 46 and 47. A sensing region is provided around the first and second sensor wires 46 and 47. A horizontal position of the first sensor wire 46 is higher than that of the second sensor wire 47 so that the sensing region could be larger than that of a conventional static-control lid for achieving a greater sensor effect. Thus, users do not need to close the garbage bin excessively. Further, the first and second sensor wires 46 and 47 are annularly disposed around the base member 10 so that users can throw garbage into the garbage bin from any direction, and the lid 30 can be driven to life via static-control.
Further referring to FIG. 4, if users are close to the garbage bin for throwing garbage, the balance-magnetic sensing region is interfered by static of the users. Then, the control panel 42 receives a signal from the sensing region. The control panel 42 controls the driving member 44 to drive the driven member 45 to rotate. Thus, the driven member 45 drives the lid 30 to pivot so that the lid 30 is lifted. While the driven member 45 is rotated, the elastic elements are released to lift the lid 30 with respect to the base and lid members 10 and 20. The elastic element 33 connected to the axle 451 assists the axle 451 to rotate. Thus, the driving member 44 does not need to output excess torque for reducing rotation loading of the driving member 44 and extending the service life of the driving member 44. It can prevent the driven member 45 from getting broken teeth under excessive torque. While lifting the lid 30, the second pivotal ear 32 is pivoted with respect to the base member 10, and the second blocked section 323 is abutted with the limiting portion 17 and restricts the lid 30 from continuing to rotate, so that the lid 30 can be positioned to a predetermined position.
The control panel 42 is adapted to set the time for maintaining the lid 30 open, so that users can throw garbage into the bin from the openings 11 and 21 during this time. Till time is up, the driving member 44 would drive the driven member 45 to rotate for controlling the lid 30 to close the openings 11 and 21.
While several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
Patent Grant
8253363
