Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6193091
-
Patent Number
6,193,091
-
Date Filed
Friday, August 13, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, February 27, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 220 909
- 220 2386
- 220 2383
- 220 2388
- 232 432
- 232 431
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
A recycling bin designed to accept different materials, the bin having a base, a rear wall, a front wall, a pair of side walls and a cover, a plurality of containers being mounted in the recycling bin, locating means for separating each container from an adjacent container and maintaining each container in a desired position, flap means located within an upper portion of the front wall to provide access to an upper portion of each of the containers, and said back wall being hinged along a bottom edge to thereby provide access to the containers. The front and back walls are preferably arranged to accept information display panels such as advertising and which panels can only be accessed upon the unlocking of the recycling bin.
Description
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recycling bin designed to accept different types of material for recycling.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The collection of materials such as paper, glass and metal for recycling is becoming more common in our society. Thus, many communities have containers for the individual households into which various materials may be deposited and collected on a periodic basis. Generally, there is one type of container for glass products such as bottles and the like. Processed separately are various types of plastics. Similarly, many different grades of paper are recycled as are various metals such as employed in beverage containers.
The use of public recycling bins is also known in the art. Generally, these bins are not widely used as they tend to be unattractive units and have a certain cost associated therewith for the manufacture thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a recycling bin which is economical to manufacture and which can accept information display panels such as may be used in advertising.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recycling bin comprising a base, at least one wall extending upwardly from the base to define an enclosed bin, and a cover for the enclosed bin; a plurality of containers mounted in the recycling bin; locating means for separating each container from adjacent containers and maintaining each container in a desired position; flap means located within an upper portion of the at least one wall to provide access to an upper portion of the containers; and a hinged wall portion within the at least one wall to thereby provide access to the containers.
Preferably, the container is formed to have a rectangular configuration with a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of end walls, with the flap means being located within an upper portion of the front wall.
A preferred construction is one wherein the back wall is hinged at a bottom edge thereof to permit opening and to thereby provide access to the containers for emptying of the same.
In order to provide a revenue source, the recycling bin preferably includes display frames designed to receive at least one information display. The display frames may be associated with any of the walls with a preferred embodiment incorporating display frames with at least one of the front or back walls. The display frames are arranged such that access thereto is prohibited without the rear wall being opened.
The recycling bin also preferably includes locating means for locating and maintaining the containers in a desired position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof, in which:
FIG.
1
. is a front perspective view of a recycling bin according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a front elevational view thereof;
FIG. 3
is a side sectional view taken through the line
3
—
3
of
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 4
is a sectional view taken along the line
4
—
4
of
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 5
is a sectional view taken along the line
5
—
5
of
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 6
is a sectional view taken along the line
6
—
6
of
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 7
is a detailed sectional view showing the latching mechanism for the bin; and
FIG. 8
is a detailed sectional view showing the hinging mechanism for opening the back wall of the recycling bin.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated a recycling bin generally designated by reference numeral
10
.
Recycling bin
10
has a pair of U-shaped side frames generally designated by reference numerals
12
and
12
′. In this respect, reference numerals with a prime are utilized for similar components as the recycling bin is substantially symmetrical about a vertical axis extending from the front to the rear of the recycling bin.
U-shaped side frame
12
includes a front vertical frame member
14
, a rear vertical frame member
16
, and a top horizontal frame member
18
which extends between front vertical frame member
14
and rear vertical frame member
16
and merges arcuately therewith.
Front vertical frame member
14
includes a front leg extension
20
while rear vertical frame member
16
similarly has a rear leg extension
22
. Preferably, both front leg extension
20
and rear leg extension
22
are screw threadably engageable with their respective vertical frame members so as to provide adjustability thereto. Each of front leg extension
20
and rear leg extension
22
have pads
24
and
26
respectively associated therewith.
Recycling bin
10
is of a generally rectangular form and includes a back wall panel
30
, a first end panel
32
, a second end panel
32
′, and a front wall panel
38
. As may be seen in
FIG. 3
, front wall panel
38
extends upwardly a greater distance than back wall panel
30
and extending between front wall panel
38
and back wall panel
30
is a sloping top wall panel
36
. A bottom wall or base
40
extends between the panels.
Both U-shaped side frames
12
and
12
′ are secured to respective end panels
32
,
32
′ by means of attachment means
44
.
Back wall panel
30
, as may be best seen in
FIG. 3
, is hingedly connected to base
40
by means of a hinge member
50
. At its upper end, back wall panel
30
includes latching means
52
.
Mounted interiorly of recycling bin
10
are a plurality of containers
56
, each having a cover member
58
. Cover
58
, as may not be shown best seen in
FIG. 3
, is preferably hingedly connected to the side walls of the container at pivot point
60
. Containers
56
have side walls which taper inwardly to thereby have a slightly inverted frustraconical configuration.
Mounted on base
40
, as may be best seen in
FIGS. 4 and 5
, are a plurality of lower dividers
64
, each lower divider
64
having a V-shaped configuration defined by a first lower divider wall
66
and a second lower divider wall
68
.
Extending horizontally within recycling bin
10
, from an area adjacent the top of back wall panel
30
to front wall panel
38
are upper dividers having a generally inverted V-shaped configuration defined by a first upper divider wall
76
and a second upper divider wall
78
.
Mounted in the upper portion of front wall panel
38
are a plurality of flaps
84
,
85
and
87
each connected by means of a hinge
82
to thereby permit access to individual containers
56
to deposit material therein. Flap
84
is circular to indicate that recyclable containers are to be deposited therein, while flap
85
is designed to receive recycled paper and flap
87
is designed to receive garbage.
As aforementioned, back wall panel
30
is hingedly connected to base
40
as is most clearly seen in FIG.
8
. Hinge
50
includes a pair of hinge plates
88
and
90
, hinge plate
90
being connected to base
40
and hinge plate
88
being connected to an L-shaped bracket
92
. Bracket
92
in turn is connected to a display panel frame
94
. Display panel frame
94
has a U-shaped bottom portion as designated by reference numeral
96
to receive an information panel therein. A transparent panel
98
is provided as the facing panel.
As also may be seen in
FIG. 8
, there is provided a container positioning member generally designated by reference numeral
100
. Container positioning member
100
has a first portion
101
connected to display panel frame
94
with a second portion
103
extending rearwardly of display panel frame
94
and forming a somewhat V-shaped configuration with respect to first portion
101
. Second portion
103
terminates in a slightly inwardly tapered flange
105
. Container positioning member
100
functions to maintain containers
56
in the desired position with respect to back wall panel
30
when the same is opened. Container positioning member
100
prevents the misalignment of the containers and possible subsequent jamming thereof.
It will also be appreciated that second portion
103
could be bent inwardly or outwardly for different size containers.
As described above, back panel
30
also includes latch means
52
, which latch means
52
are shown in detail in FIG.
7
. Thus, as may be seen, top wall
36
has a downwardly extending lip portion
102
from which extends inwardly an L-shaped portion
104
. A lock support plate
106
is secured to an upper portion of display panel frame
94
and includes a U-shaped portion designed to abut inwardly extending L-shaped portion
104
. In turn, there is provided a locking mechanism generally designated by reference numeral
110
which includes a locking head
112
, a shaft
114
extending rearwardly thereof and a flange
116
which, when in a locked position, engages the rear side of L-shaped portion
104
.
In addition to the information display panel in the rear wall, the front wall panel
38
may likewise include information display means. As may be seen in
FIG. 3
, there is thus provided a front display panel frame
118
similar to display panel frame
94
and having a transparent cover
120
. Access to the information display panel
118
is only from interiorly of the container while the display panel associated with the rear wall can likewise only be accessed when the rear wall is hingedly opened.
It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
- 1. A recycling bin comprising a base, a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of side walls, said walls extending upwardly from said base to define an enclosed bin, and a cover for said enclosed bin;a plurality of containers mounted in said recycling bin; divider means for separating each container from adjacent containers; individual flaps located within an upper portion of said front wall to provide access to an upper portion of each of said containers, each of said flaps having a different configuration to identify different material to be placed therein; and a hinged wall portion within said rear wall to thereby provide access to said containers.
- 2. The recycling bin of claim 1 wherein said divider means for separating said containers comprise triangularly shaped members located on said base.
- 3. The recycling bin of claim 1 wherein said rear wall is hinged at a bottom edge thereof to permit opening said hinged wall portion to thereby provide access to said containers.
- 4. The recycling bin of claim 3 further including a display frame designed to receive at least one information display, said display frame being mounted on said rear hinged wall, said display frame including means permitting access to receive said information display, said means permitting access being non-accessible when said rear wall is in a closed position.
- 5. The recycling bin of claim 3 wherein said hinged rear wall includes means for locating said containers in a desired position.
- 6. The recycling bin of claim 3 wherein said rear wall includes locking means for locking said rear wall in a closed position.
- 7. The recycling bin of claim 3 wherein each of said containers has inwardly and downwardly tapering side walls to thereby have a bottom portion which is sized to be smaller than a top portion thereof, and positioning members located on said rear wall to maintain said containers in a desired position when said rear wall is opened.
- 8. The recycling bin of claim 1 wherein said front wall includes a display frame designed to receive at least one information display, and access means to place an information display in said display frame, said access means being located interiorly of said bin to prevent unauthorized access to said information display.
- 9. A recycling bin comprising a base, a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of side walls, said side walls extending upwardly from said base to define an enclosed bin, and a cover for said enclosed bin;a plurality of containers mounted in said recycling bin; divider means for separating each container from adjacent containers, individual flaps located within an upper portion of said front wall to provide access to an upper portion of each of said containers, a hinged wall portion within said rear wall to thereby provide access to said containers; and container positioning members mounted on said rear wall.
- 10. Recycling bin of claim 9 wherein said rear wall is hinged to the bottom edge thereof to permit opening said hinged wall portion to thereby provide access to said containers.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
4006067A |
Aug 1991 |
DE |