Patent Application
20220017266
Portable Containers
application Ser. No 16/385,995 and application Ser. No. 16/390,304
Portable containers are often formed of lightweight materials such as plastic, which lacks the ballast needed to stabilize the container when items are added, removed, or when lids are lifted off. In these instances, the container has a tendency to tip over, which is inconvenient, messy, and potentially hazardous. Additionally, most portable containers only have handles at the top of the container, while few are located at the bottom.
The present invention generally relates to sloped, portable container design and, more particularly, to pairs of wall-orifice foot-handholds (different x, y wall planes, accessible to both feet of an individual user or two or more feet of two or more users for the purpose of hold-down capacity of the container via weight transference). For such a container, paired, extracted, or cut-out-of-the-wall orifice foot-handholds can be placed directly above the floor (in said x, y, z configurations) or below the floor of the container if containers sidewalls extend past the final floor of the container to create a base portion upon which the container rests. In this scenario, one or more extracted orifice foot-handholds are cut out of the walls of the base portion, and, in some instances, enclosed internally within the bin to prevent contents from contacting user/s hand/s or feet.
The function of the foot-handholds in the same z plane of a container, either above or below a floor within the different walls of the container, provides the strongest hold-down of the containers when one or more users apply two or more feet to the foot-handholds. The handhold function allows for secure handling and maneuvering of the container, which are not usually found on lower sections of most containers.
The configuration of the pairs being in different wall planes will create a triangular touch point to the ground for a single user employing both feet for weight transference and will prevent tipping of can towards user when removing or adding contents, beings, and lids, or when separating nested containers. This triangular touch-point is akin to a tripod stabilizing a camera, whereby when the user is handling it, there is little to no movement of the device. Two users operating a pair of foot-handholds in opposition or near opposition also creates this triangular touch point to the ground and avoids the tipping of containers towards either user. The added handhold element of a foot-handhold combination becomes invaluable when a single user needs to overturn a bin to pour out contents and needs a lower grab point on the container. This may also function as a tie-down location for when it is upright, flipped, or even on its side.
The use of paired foot-handholds in portable containers of all types has significance for the following reasons:
For a trash bag which is vacuumed sealed to the inside of a trash receptacle;
For two or more containers which are nested together and cannot be separated;
For the removal a tight fitting lid from portable buckets and trash receptacles;
For the removal of living beings from portable tubs, such as a dog or cat, farm animal, or a bathing, slippery baby;
For the addition or removal of slippery food items, such as live seafood, from large food safe containers;
For having only one available hand to use when engaging with container contents;
For placing long or top-heavy objects into containers, while trying to balance said objects;
To avoid touching an unsanitary container;
To avoid touching an extremely hot or extremely cold container;
To avoid touching a hazardous or reactive container;
For tying down the container when it is top-heavy;
For having a lower grab-point of the container when flipping a heavy container over;
For two or more people needing to lift a container on their shoulders;
For needing general tie down locations, beyond possible handles on container rims at the top of a container;
For adding poles or through-bars to foot-handhold orifices;
For hanging a container upside down to dry or to remove contents.
To have clamp locations at the bottom of a container and other uses not currently thought of or expressed.
Without foot-handholds that allow a single user to hold the bottom bucket in place with foot or feet, or two users to hold a container down, or one or two users to grip the foot-handholds, a single user is left to stabilized container by placing said container between the user's knees or feet, bang container against other objects to loosen contents or lid, flip container on its side and sit on the container to hold it in place while extracting contents, lids, or beings, or to call upon a second user to help with operation. Needless to say, this can be unsanitary, messy and unsafe, potentially resulting in container damage. For example, a user may be working with hot potash container and may not be able to remove the lid without the aid of her feet to hold down container. Often, when such above scenario exists, a user is forced to place the bucket between her knees and squeeze her knees together in hopes of securing the bucket while removing the lid. The jostling of this activity creates micro movements, which, when lid is lifted, spews a plume of ash rising into the user's face. If done while hot, legs can get burned while squeezing or when embers spill out due to the forceful nature of removing such a tight fitting lid. A user in a very cold climate will not be able to manipulate a container, such a metal bucket, without severe pain to the hands as there may not be enough friction to hold the container if there are no foot-handholds. A user may have to sit on a container to remove a second nested container. In all scenarios, a spill-out potential of contents often occurs, which can be messy and potentially hazardous. Two feet in different x and y planes are the best solution to steadying a container, and the additional benefit of handholds provide a more functional container overall.
For disabled persons, having footholds will prove useful if the disability is related to one or both arms. For users carrying a bag to the outdoor trash bin, being able to step into the footholds to lift the lid with one hand while holding the trash bag with the other becomes integral. In some instances, having footholds frees up both hands for easier use. Nestable containers are the most common shape of portable containers since shipping and storing of two or more container frees up floor or shelf space in trucks, warehouses, homes, and businesses. Because of this, nestable containers are the preferred embodiment that contains foot-handholds. The foot-handhold combination near, directly above, or directly below a container's floor solves the nesting-separation issues created by the friction between two or more nested containers. A single user employing foot-handholds with his feet can separate the containers alone or with a second person employing the foot-handhold the containers with his or her hands. While this is addressed in the original application Ser. No. 16/390,304 Hetzel, the ideal configuration or preferred embodiment is in the foot-handhold pairing being in the same z-axis but in different x- and y-axis in a sloped, portable container. While footholds are shown in x or y planes in the original Hetzel drawings, it was not explicitly stated in the claims or in the specifications, but rather implied. By foot-handholds being in separate wall planes when two feet of a single user are engaged, the user avoids the tipping effect toward the user that occurs when using only a single foot or when using two footholds in the same plane. Additionally, while some footholds can act as handholds, they don't always solve the problem of tipping as in Boover U.S. Pat. No. 5,690247. The addition of various grips, like an upward indent, a two-orifice through-grab, or a handle bar grip, give current Hetzel footholds more function with the addition of hand utility.
Finally, the foot-handhold orifices in the perimeter walls of the base portion of a container, as defined in Hetzel's claims 17-20
The current patents are known to provide a plurality of recesses around the rim of the bottom wall of a container to receive the forward part of the foot or feet of a user above a floor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,054 to Jaicks issued May 19, 1987, where bottom recesses allow a user to hold the container with one or both feet while screwing the lid. However, Jaikes and all other cited patents do not have walls adjacent to the final floor, which extend past the floor to make a base portion below said floor. This appears only in Hetzel's application (pending 6-1016/390,304) figures and claims. Furthermore, Jaikes does not include the handhold element described herein. While Jaicks' design solves this issue, Jaick's patent does not address or detail this issue specifically.
Timm's U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,303 is useful for two users but does not avoid the tipping effect caused by a single operator, as a single user cannot use both feet in this configuration. Hetzel's application (pending 16/16/390,304) addresses two feet of a single user in the claim and all previous figures, and if not obvious, is claimed again. In addition to what was claimed in the previous application, these continuation-in-part footholds now double as handholds in all embodiments. Finally, since Hetzel's application (
What is needed to improve upon Hetzel's above the floor wall foothold design is to add a smaller bottom orifice (7) into the enclosed foot-handholds' floor. This will result is a foothold that doubles as a handle, wherein fingers can go through the foothold's orifice in the sidewall and bend downwards, extending through the smaller enclosed floor orifice which has been cut out of the floor in this region. The fingers and thumb would be able to interlace, wrapping securely around the foot-handhold.
In the case of an upward indent design 7, such as
Thirdly, a bar can be added to a foot-handhold enclosure in lieu of side and floor wall. By removing the sidewall and floor in just the enclosure area, there is now place for a bar to be inserted. The enclosure cavity will contain a bar at the intersection of the floor and wall, in the plane as the floor. This handle can have a grip that can spin around the bar for rotational purposes of the bin. This handle is similar to Ulfner and Bitsch, but for the dual purpose of a hold down and to use as a handle, and not for garbage truck mechanical purposes.
The purpose of the first three new embodiments is to provide a container with foot-handholds that allows a user to stabilize the container with one foot or the preferred embodiment of both feet to avoid container tipping, and at the same time providing a handhold all while not obstructing the nesting of containers.
In the last embodiment offered, the floor of the container is molded above the orifice foot-handholds in such a manner so as to reduce height of the container and not reduce volume within.
When the foot-handholds are simple orifices, they can go below the floor in a base portion upon which a container rests or directly above the floor upon which a container rests. When above a solid container, the wall orifices must be enclosed within the container to avoid spill-out of contents since the orifice is directly above the floor of the container.
In all cases, a plurality of wall orifice foot-handholds are spaced in pairs around the bottom sidewalls of the container as a function of container shape, such that at least two footholds present themselves for use at the same time for both feet of a single operator or two or more feet or two or more operators, located directly above the floor of the container.
This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/390,304 filed on Apr. 22, 2019.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16390304 | Apr 2019 | US |
| Child | 17353761 | US |
