The invention relates to document destruction lids for use on containers. More particularly, the invention discloses a document destruction lid having a security structure for preventing and/or reducing retrieval of documents placed in the container.
Lids for containers are designed for a number of purposes, but mainly exist to keep the contents in the container separated from the outside environment. Some lids, such as document destruction lids, have a slot for feeding documents into the container for later shredding or disposal. Many of the disposed documents may contain private or confidential information. If the slot in the document destruction lid is too large or if the lid is not securely fastened to the container, these documents can be retrieved and possibly made public. Therefore, a need exists for a document destruction lid with a security structure that is securely attached to the container.
The document destruction lid according to the invention comprises a skirt extending around a periphery of the lid for securing the lid to a container. A vertical sidewall extending downward from a top surface of the lid, having a height greater than or equal to 70% of a height of a lip of the container. A security structure for depositing the documents extends from a top surface of the lid. The security structure comprises a front wall, a horizontal slot, a rear wall extending upwards from the top surface of the lid opposite the front wall, and a top surface joining the front wall to the rear wall. The front wall and rear wall are angled away from each other to make document retrieval difficult while still allowing easy disposal of the documents.
A spacing between hinges 104 is preferably 19.27″ and each hinge 104 is preferably ˜1.6″ in width. Document destruction lid 100 preferably has a total width of ˜29.05″, a total height of ˜6.64″, and a total length of ˜33.80″ with all corners rounded. With these dimensions, document destruction lid 100 preferably has a weight of 5.75-6.5 lbs.
The dimensions of document destruction lid 100 can be varied to accommodate a wide variety of containers 101. Document destruction lid 100 is preferably formed using thermoforming from a resilient and durable plastic material so there are no parting lines susceptible to breakage.
A rear portion of top surface 102 is preferably flat whereas a front portion of top surface 102, in the vicinity of security structure 108, comprises reinforcing ribs 114. As shown in
Skirt 106, when attached to container 101, covers 70% or more of the container flange.
Key lock 112 is located on the front center face of skirt 106 as depicted in
Having the key lock 112 on the skirt 106 keeps the skirt 106 close to the container flange 302 of container 101. This makes it more challenging to feed a hand or a tool under skirt 106 to pry document destruction lid 100 up to fish out documents from container 101.
The front wall 602 of security structure 108 preferably comprises one or more reinforcing ribs 604 flanking document slot 110. As shown in
Front wall 602 and rear wall 608 are angled towards each other at 20°-30°, but more preferably 25°, and are separated at top surface 612. The separation between the bottom of front wall 602 and rear wall 608 is preferably ˜2.12″. A vertical distance from skirt 106 to the top of front wall 602 or rear wall 608 is preferably 2.56″-3.05″.
Front wall 602 is angled 2°-10°, but more preferably 5°, from vertical towards in the direction of rear wall 608. This angle increases the chances that document fed through document slot 110 start on a downward path.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/039,583, filed Jun. 16, 2020, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporate by reference in their entirety.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5184720 | Packer | Feb 1993 | A |
8783494 | Lee | Jul 2014 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
3204628 | Jun 2016 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20210387800 A1 | Dec 2021 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
63039583 | Jun 2020 | US |