BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Used cigar and cigarette butts and filters are the most littered items found on county highways. Cigarette filters are not biodegradable. The acetate (plastic) filters can take many years to decompose. Typically, after that butt gets casually flicked onto the street, nature trail, or beach, wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic lifeforms. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with several trillion butts littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up. Smokers do not realize that their actions in disposing the used filters have such a lasting, negative impact on the environment. The purpose of the invention disclosed herein is to provide an outdoor receptacle for receiving such cigar and cigarette refuse.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
The inventor has been unable to discover any pertinent prior art to address the problems of cigarette refuse, particularly addressing the collection of cigar and cigarette butts and filters. Of course, there are numerous types of refuse receptacles, but they are generally placed to receive all types of refuse, including bottles, cans, paper, and other types of refuse. The receptacles are generally emptied into larger receptacles that end up being emptied in landfills, where subsequent rains can cause the harmful chemicals to be leached from the butts and filters and into the ecosystem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a receptacle for receiving cigar and cigarette butts and filters (the “butts”), consisting of a hollow base section for retaining discarded butts. The hollow section supports a grill section that provides a conduit for the butts while rejecting other refuse. The receptacle is designed to be placed at the side of roadways, such as at stop signs, and at the bottom of freeway exit ramps, to provide a means for drivers to dispose of their butts rather than discarding them freely on the roadsides. The base section includes an access door to permit removal of the butts from the receptacle to permit proper disposal of the butts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIG. 1 discloses a front perspective view of the receptacle of the invention.
FIG. 2 discloses a side view of the receptacle of the invention with a cut-away side plate.
FIG. 3 discloses a plan view of the elements of the base section of the receptacle of the invention.
FIG. 4 discloses a plan view of the elements of the hood section of the receptacle of the invention.
FIG. 5 discloses a side perspective view of the receptacle of the invention including a trash receptacle.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to the drawings, and particularly FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the receptacle of the present invention enumerated generally as 10 is seen to include a base section 20, a hood section 50, which includes a grill 60. The hood section provides a conduit for the butts to the base section while blocking the passage of larger refuse. In the preferred embodiment, base section 20 has a generally rectangular foot print, with perpendicular side walls. The base section 20 includes a rectangular base plate 22, having holes 24 drilled adjacent each corner for mounting receptacle 10 to a selected structure. In this preferred embodiment, base plate 22 is square, having equal sides (I1) of 14 inch, and holes 24 drilled on 12 inch centers, and is formed from 14 gauge mild steel, 0.25 inches thick. It is anticipated that the receptacle will be mounted on a concrete pad, having mounting bolts embedded within the pad. In that manner receptacle 10 could not be blown over during periods of high winds and storms. Base section 20 includes rectangular base front plate 26 and rectangular base rear plate 28, each having a width w1 of 14 inches. Face plate 26 is 18 inches high (h1), and rear plate 28 is 23.5 inches height (h2), having an upper edge e1. Side plates 30 are generally trapezoidal, and attached in mirror image between front plate 26 and rear plate 28 to form a rectangular conduit. Side plates 30 are 14 inches wide (w1) with leading edge e2 being 24 inches high, and the trailing edge e3 being 24 inches tall. As shown in FIG. 2, the angle a1 created by the opposing sides is approximately 115 degrees (115°) from the vertical. Face plate 26, rear plate 28, and side plates 30 are formed from 14 gauge mild steel, 0.125 inches thick, and assembled by welding. As an alternative to welding rear plate 28 to form a solid receptacle, rear plate 28 could be hinged to either of side plates 30 so as to provide a door, thus providing access to the interior of the receptacle to allow removal and disposal of the butts. A locking system 36, as would be well known to one of ordinary skill, is then affixed to the side plate 30 opposing the hinges 34 to enable the secure retention of the butts.
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, hood section 50 is affixed to the top surface of the hollow base section 20, having a side-walls of generally trapezoidal shape. Two mirror image hood side plates 52 are connected by hood bottom plate 54 and hood top plate 56. The leading edge e3 and trailing edge e4 of hood side plates 52 are parallel, with leading edge e3 being about 18 inches and trailing edge e4 being about 8 inches, while the angle between the opposing edges e5 and e6 form an angle a2 of about 20 degrees (20°). Hood bottom plate 54 is generally trapezoidal, symmetrical about its horizontal axis, with leading edge e7 and trailing edge e8 in parallel. Leading edge e7 is about 34 inches in length, trailing edge e8 is about 14 inches, and equilateral sides s1 are about 24 inches. Hood bottom plate 54 is constructed to include a square orifice 58 of approximately 12 inches on each side, adjacent and parallel to trailing edge e8 of bottom plate 54, orifice 58 for providing an access from hood section 50 to base section 20. Hood top plate 56 is also generally trapezoidal, symmetrical about its horizontal axis, with leading edge e9 and trailing edge e10 in parallel. Leading edge e9 is about 41 inches in length, trailing edge e10 is about 14 inches, and equilateral sides s2 are about 31.5 inches. When assembled, hood side plates 52, hood bottom plate 54, and hood top plate 56 form a generally trapezoidal conduit with leading edges e7 and e9 of hood bottom plate 54 and hood top plate 56 respectively in parallel, the conduit for guiding the butts to orifice 58 and hence base section 20, and are formed from 14 gauge mild steel, 0.125 inches thick, and assembled by welding. When mounted on base section 20, the trailing edge e8 of hood bottom plate 54 abuts the top edge e1 of rear plate 28, and is welded to base section 20. When mounted on base section 20, hood top plate 56 has an angle of about 135 degrees (135°) to the horizontal. Hood section 50 projects somewhat horizontally from face plate 26 of base section 20 to permit vehicles to drive relatively close to receptacle 10 for disposal of the butts. It should be understood that the physical dimensions of receptacle 10 are not a limitation of the invention, and that receptacle 10 may be scaled to any dimension.
Grill 60 is attached in the hood at a selected angle to the horizontal. As shown in FIG. 4, grill 60 is symmetrically trapezoidal about its vertical access, having its top edge e12 being about 19.5 inches, and its bottom edge e11 approximately 37 inches, and with a height h5 of about 12.5 inches. The grill elements 62 are vertical so as to not retain other refuse on grill 60. In the preferred embodiment, the grill is mounted such that grill bottom edge e11 abuts leading edge e7 of hood bottom plate 54, and at angle a3 of about 45° to the horizontal, which angle was found to be optimum for receiving the butts while rejecting other refuse. However, it was determined that the angle of the grill could vary between 35° to 55° to the horizontal and still be effective. Concomitantly, the grill was selected such that the vertical components of the grill are about 2 inches to 3 inches apart. Such grill elements 62 spacing would reject most bottles, cans, and wadded papers, and such grill elements 62 may be either cylindrical or rectangular. The grill may be manufactured from stainless steel, plastic, or some other nonflammable material. In this preferred embodiment, a grill was used rather than a screen, so that horizontal elements of the screen would not impede butts passing through the screen, or that other materials would not be retained on the screen. However, the present invention should not be limited to the use of a grill, and an appropriately sized screen could be utilized, so that the definition of a grill could include a screen, and the screen size would have a mesh of about 2 inches to 3 inches. Only basic experimentation would be required by someone of ordinary skill to determine the optimal size mesh of the screen required to pass the majority of butts while rejecting most other materials.
A second preferred embodiment is described in FIG. 5, wherein receptacle 10 described above additionally includes a secondary receptacle 70, substantially rectangular, that is attached to face plate 26 to receive refuse which is rejected by the grill. In the preferred embodiment, the orifice for receiving rejected materials abuts the lower edge e8 of hood lower plate 54. Secondary receptacle 70 may also include an access door 78 to permit removal of the rejected material, such access door 79 having handle 79 and hinges 75.
While the present description contains much specificity, this should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as examples of some preferred embodiments thereof. For example, the receptacle has been described as being of generally rectangular shape. The geometric shape should not be a limitation on the invention. Thus a cylindrical receptacle with cylindrical conduits are also contemplated to be within the scope of the invention. And, although welding is considered to produce a more sturdy structure, the parts of the invention could easily be designed by one of ordinary skill in the mechanical arts to be bolted together. Concomitantly, the receptacle may be constructed having a weighted base, such that it could withstand high winds without toppling over, and so that it may be easily relocated. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should not be determined by the specific embodiments illustrated herein. The full scope of the invention is further illustrated by the claims appended hereto.
Patent Application
20070221234
