Garbage can

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6334542
  • Patent Number
    6,334,542
  • Date Filed
    Monday, September 11, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, January 1, 2002
    23 years ago
Abstract
A garbage can has a main body which is provided with a cover, a garbage holder, and a synchronization mechanism assembly enabling the cover and the garbage holder to work synchronously. The synchronization mechanism assembly comprises a motor having a spindle, a drive gear mounted on the spindle of the motor, a toothed piece of the garbage holder, a transmission gear engaged with the drive gear and a toothed piece of the cover, and a control chip for controlling the operation of the motor. As the motor is started, the drive gear is actuated to turn so as to drive the garbage holder via the toothed piece of the garbage holder. The transmission gear is also driven by the drive gear in motion such that the cover is driven by the transmission gear via the toothed piece of the cover.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to a garbage collector, and more particularly to a garbage can.




2. Description of Related Art




There are a variety of garbage cans available in the market place today for the consumer to choose from. These conventional garbage cans are generally rather simple in construction and are provided with very little feature to make them easy and convenient to use. In order to enhance the marketability and the competitiveness of a garbage can, the garbage can should be provided with a semiautomatic device enabling a synchronous motion of the cover and the garbage holder of the garbage can.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore the primary objective of the present invention to provide a garbage can with a synchronization mechanism to enable the cover and the garbage holder of the garbage can to work at the same time, so as to give an added convenience to the use of the garbage can.




The objective and the features of the present invention will be readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 2

shows an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows a sectional schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 4

shows another sectional schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 5

shows a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in use.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 1-5

, a garbage can of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has a main body


10


which is provided in the hollow interior thereof with a container


101


and a space located under the container


101


for disposing a garbage holder


12


which is provided in two opposite outer walls thereof with a retaining recess


13


. The main body


10


is provided in two opposite inner walls thereof with a retaining projection


102


corresponding in location to the retaining recess


13


of the garbage holder


12


. The garbage holder


12


is pivotally disposed in the main body


10


such that the retaining projections


102


of the inner walls of the main body


10


are retained in the retaining recesses


13


of the outer walls of the garbage holder


12


.




The main body


10


is further provided in the hollow interior thereof with a synchronization mechanism assembly to enable a garbage can cover


11


and the garbage holder


12


to work synchronously. The synchronization mechanism assembly comprises the cover


11


, the garbage holder


12


, a motor


17


, a drive gear


16


, and a transmission gear


15


. The main body


10


is provided with a battery set (not shown in the drawings) as the power source of the motor.




The cover


11


is joined with the open top of the container


101


and is provided a toothed piece


14


.




The garbage holder


12


is provided with a toothed piece


14


.




The motor


17


is mounted on a motor mount


103


and is provided with a spindle


171


. The motor


17


is connected with a control chip set (not shown in the drawings) by a circuit (not shown in the drawings).




The drive gear


16


is mounted on the spindle


171


of the motor


17


such that the drive gear


16


is meshed with the toothed piece


14


of the garbage holder


12


.




The transmission gear


15


is mounted in the interior of the main body


10


such that the transmission gear


15


is engaged with the drive gear


16


and the toothed piece


14


of the cover


11


.




The cover


11


is provided with a retaining piece


111


which is retained by a touch switch knob


20


of the main body


10


at the time when the cover


11


is joined with the open top of the container


101


in which the paper towels and the like are kept. The cover


11


is further provided with a torsion spring


19


. The touch switch knob


20


is connected with a switch device


18


which is connected with the control chip set.




In use, the touch switch knob


20


is first pressed to trigger the torsion spring


19


to lift open the cover


11


, thereby causing the toothed piece


14


of the cover


11


to drive the transmission gear


15


which in turn drives the drive gear


16


. In light of the drive gear


16


being meshed with the toothed piece


14


of the garbage holder


12


, the garbage holder


12


is driven to move out of the main body


10


partially. In the meantime, the switch device


18


transmits a timing signal to the control chip set, which in turn transmits a signal to start the motor


17


to actuate the spindle


171


to turn. As a result, the drive gear


16


is driven to actuate the toothed piece


14


of the garbage holder


12


and the transmission gear


15


. The garbage holder


12


is therefore driven back into the interior of the main body


10


. The cover


11


is synchronously driven to cover the open top of the container


101


. While the cover


11


and the garbage holder


12


are opened up, the user of the present invention has access to the paper towel and the like, which are kept in the container


101


. The used paper towel is thrown into the garbage holder


12


.



Claims
  • 1. A garbage can comprising:a main body having a hollow interior which is provided in the top portion with a container for holding paper towels, said main body further having a touch switch knob and a torsion spring connected with said touch switch knob; a cover pivoted to said main body such that said cover is movably joined with an open top of said container, and that said cover is actuated by said torsion spring to lift open, and over having a toothed piece; a garbage holder mounted pivotally in the interior of said main body such that said garbage holder is located under said container, said garbage holder having a toothed piece; a motor mounted in the interior of said main body and provided with a spindle, said motor being connected with a battery set serving as a power source of said motor; a drive gear mounted on said spindle of said motor such that said drive gear is engaged with said toothed piece of said garbage holder; a transmission gear pivotally mounted in the interior of said main body such that said transmission gear is engaged with said drive gear and said toothed piece of said cover; and a switch device connected with said touch switch knob and a control chip set whereby said control chip set is disposed in said main body to control the operation of said motor; said drive gear being actuated by said motor to drive said garbage holder via said toothed piece of said garbage holder at such time when said motor is started, said transmission gear being driven by said drive gear in motion such that said transmission gear drives said cover via said toothed piece of said cover.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
4765548 Sing Aug 1988 A
4883189 Lobbert Nov 1989 A
4981275 Sheu Jan 1991 A
5163574 Sosan Nov 1992 A
5538338 Biggers Jul 1996 A
5779032 Iimura et al. Jul 1998 A
6000569 Liu Dec 1999 A
6010024 Wang Jan 2000 A