This invention relates to a lidded waste container that is resistant to opening by wild animals such as raccoons, foxes, opossums and the like.
Many attempts have been devised to address the common problem of wild animals gaining access to refuse containers stored outside. Raccoons are especially adept at learning how to open refuse container by cleverly making use of their dexterous paws. Prior are solutions vary from simple catches and snaps, to strapping down the container's lid using bungle cords, to sophisticated locking mechanisms. Many of these attempts assume that the container has one or more surfaces or edges that can be snagged or gripped by the paws of an animal and hope to lock the container dosed despite a creature's ability to find a “paw” hold with which to pry the container open.
A container according to the invention comprises an open-topped container body and a lid pivotally attached to the rear side of the body. The lid has an opening mechanism provided by an elongated tongue that projects downwardly from the front underside of the lid and, when the lid is closed, extends through a slot on the front wall of the body.
In some embodiments, the lid has a smooth flat top and no handles or grips other than the tongue. In other embodiments, when the lid is closed, its outer edges are recessed below and fully concealed by a railing surrounding the top opening of the body. The tongue thus provides the only opening mechanism for the lid.
Opening the lid requires two hands, one hand to push up on the tongue to lift the front of the lid until a gap is formed between the lid and the body, and a second hand to be inserted into the gap where it can then lift the lid to a fully opened position. Wild animals are unable to use two hands to open the lid in this manner.
The invention thus provides a lidded waste container that is resistant to opening by wild animals without requiring additional safeguards be taken to secure the container such as by using a bungle cord, latch assembly or locking mechanism.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
An refuse container lid opening device having a drop-down tongue according to the invention, indicated generally at 100 in
When the lid 120 is closed, as shown in
Two hands are required to operate the tongue 125 and open the lid 120 of the container 100. As shown in
In
The present invention thus provides a refuse container that is resistant to being opened by wild animals thereby avoiding the need to secure the lid with bungie cords, latch assemblies or other locking mechanisms, that is otherwise easy to open by human users, and that will still fall open when overturned for trash collection. The invention advantageously hides edges or surfaces which can easily be gripped by an animal and capitalizes on the need for two hands to open the container.
Certain embodiments of an animal resistant waste container have thus been described and illustrated herein in detail. These embodiments are merely exemplary implementations of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention to their particular details. Alternative embodiments of the invention not expressly disclosed herein will be evident to persons of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the invention can be embodied in other types of storage containers that need to be animal resistant, such as the outdoor food storage lockers commonly found at camping grounds.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/058,453 filed Jul. 29, 2020, and it claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/058,454, filed Jul. 29, 2020.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63058453 | Jul 2020 | US | |
63058454 | Jul 2020 | US |