The present invention addresses the general field of containers utilized for collection and disposal of dirt and wide variety of refuse.
The present invention is the result of countless, frustrating attempts at holding back the billowing dust, resulting from the process of emptying dirt-containing vacuum canisters, into the typical garbage container. Although the origins of this invention are directly related to common vacuum systems, it is likely that the same invention, possibly implementing improvements foreseeable by a person of ordinary skill in the art, may be utilized with other refuse collecting containers.
The following is intended to be a brief summary of the invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention:
The disclosed herein invention represents a receptacle assembly for collecting of dirt and dust from vacuum canisters and other refuse gathering containers. The assembly comprises of five components: (1) container, for collecting the dirt and dust, having a closed bottom and an open top, providing access to the internal chamber of the container; (2) the flexible membranes (the top and the bottom), for preventing the entrapped dirt/dust from exiting said container; (3) the lid for holding the said membranes in position to cover the open top of the container; (4) the living hinge system, for releasably locking the lid to the open top of the container; (5) the mortise and tenon joint system, for releasably attaching said membranes to the lid. Wherein said assembly permits the end-user to insert a vacuum canister into the container, through the membranes held by the lid, and dispose inside the container the dirt/dust of said canister, while preventing the entrapped dust from exiting the internal chamber of the container.
The components shown in the drawings are not to scale. In the interest of clarity, some of the components might be shown in a generalized form and could be identified utilizing commercial designations. All components, including its essential features, have been assigned reference numbers that are utilized consistently throughout the descriptive process outlined herein:
The following description references to the above-defined drawings and represents only an exemplary embodiment of the invention. It is foreseeable, and recognizable by those skilled in the art, that various modifications and/or substitutions to the invention could be implemented without departing from the scope and the character of the invention:
As shown in
(1) The container 110, shown in
(2) The membranes, sub-divided into top membrane 140 and the bottom membrane 150, shown in
(3) The lid 120, shown in
(4) The living hinge system 130, for releasably locking the lid 120 to the open top 118 of the container 110;
(5) The mortise and tenon joint system 160, for releasably attaching said membranes 140/150 to the lid 120.
To complete the above-defined assembly 100, the end-user 300 must invert the lid 120, and expose the internal surface 122 of the top wall 121, and locate attached thereto a plurality of mortises 163 (flexible plastic pins). Next, the end-user 300 must attach to the lid 120 the top membrane 140.
To do so, the end-user 300 must align the top membrane's mortises (located in the perimeter surface 142 of the membrane 140) with the corresponding tenons of the lid 120. Once aligned, the end-user 300 must push the membrane 140 inside the lid 120, engaging the mortise and tenon joints 160, and thereby completing the membrane 140 to lid 120 attachment process.
To improve the functionality of the assembly 100, the end-user 300 may attach an addition membrane (the bottom membrane 150) to the lid 120, by using the above-defined mortise and tenon joint system 160. Before attaching the bottom membrane 150 to the lid 120, the end-user must rotate the bottom membrane 150 by 90°, thus placing the top membrane's pyramid-shaped cutouts 143 on the center surface 151 of the bottom membrane 150, as shown in
Once the membranes 140/150 are attached to the lid 120, the end-user 300 may use the living hinge system 130 to cover the open top 118, and lock the lid 120 to the container 110. To lock the lid 120 in place, the end-user 300 must place the lid 120 (containing the membranes 140/150) on the open top 118 of the container 110, and push down on the L-shaped hinges 132, until the short sections of said hinges are wedged underneath the ridge of the container 131, as shown in
Once the lid 120 is firmly locked to the top end of the container 110, the end-user 300 may begin the process of emptying into the container 110 the dirt from the vacuum canister 200, or other refuse collecting canisters. To ensure the proper results, the end-user 300 must partially insert the canister 200, through the membranes 140/150 of the lid 120, into the chamber of the container 119, as shown in
Once in position, the end-user 300 may open the canister 200 and release the dirt contained therein, allowing it to fall to the bottom of the container 110. The lighter dirt particles and the accumulating dust, will be trapped inside the chamber 119, between the bottom plate of the container 116 and by the membranes 140/150 tightly enclosing the canister's 200 eternal walls.
The present Non-Provisional U.S. Patent Application claims the priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/562,153 filed on Sep. 22, 2017, titled Universal Dust Trapping Lid With a Receptacle for Collecting Dirt from Vacuum Canisters and Other Refuse Collecting Containers, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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