Patent Application
20180295958
Tools for Up-Cycling Beverage Cans into Art Objects, Toys, and Other Items, by David Allen Tucker, application Ser. No. 15/293,276, filed Oct. 14, 2016.
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The present invention relates to up-cycling a beverage can into a collection box or piggy bank or ballot box.
For decades, if not centuries, people have used all kinds of cans and jars as receptacles for collecting charitable donations or ballots or as piggy banks. The typical receptacle is either open at the top, or has a removable top, or is closed with a slot in the top for inserting coins or bills or ballots. The open or openable design is deficient because it is a security risk. Anyone entrusted with the receptacle can secretly remove the ballots or funds—often with no evidence of tampering with the receptacle or its contents. Also, any piggy bank that can be easily opened will fail in its purpose as a deferred-gratification enforcement mechanism. Using a well-sealed receptacle with a slot in it is superior because tampering is evident and potentially expensive. Slots are located at the top of the receptacle for the obvious reason of maximizing the ease with which it can be filled up.
Current collection boxes have limitations. Either they are made of paper (which is flimsy and cheap-looking and presents security risks and generates trash) or they are manufactured from more durable materials (which makes them expensive and sends the wrong message about your need for the donor's small change). An inexpensive aluminum beverage can could be used as a collection box or a piggy bank, but it has limitations. First, while the beverage spout hole is adequate for accepting rolled-up dollars or IOUs, it is typically manufactured at the wrong size for accepting dollar-coins, quarters and nickels. It will accept smaller coins like pennies and dimes, but these coins and bills can be easily shaken out; and the donor's knowledge of that limitation could make him or her reluctant to give. Second, feeding the beverage spout hole feels like putting trash into a can, which might inhibit donations as well. Of course one might want to punch a slot in the top of the beverage can, but it is difficult to do so without serious tools and without damaging either the can or its appearance. The metal of the beverage can is strongest at its top and bottom, making slot-making there difficult.
There is a need for a collection box which is durable, inexpensive, tamper evident, environmentally sound, professional-looking, recyclable, fun, and cute. It would also be desirable to have a collection box for which the act of donating sends a psychological message about the cause for which one is raising funds. It would be desirable to have a collection box in which the act of putting money into it did not feel like filling a trash can.
I invented a better receptacle for serving as a collection box, piggy bank or ballot box (hereinafter, a “secure enclosure”). In its ideal configuration, the secure enclosure is made from an empty but mainly-sealed aluminum beverage can 5, a can slot 6 located in a Goldilocks zone 1 in the side of the can 5, and a slot cover 2 that has a rear anchoring plug 4 and a slot cover opening 3. See
To make the secure enclosure, a pushpin is first used to make two starter holes in the Goldilocks zone 1 for inserting anchoring plugs 4 of slot cover 2, and then those anchoring plugs 4 are pushed inside the starter holes until the slot cover 2 sits firmly against the can. A slot-maker 7 (See
In main part, my new secure enclosure is inventive because of: (a) the placement of the slot cover in the Goldilocks zone, which is counter-intuitive, (b) the use of the slot-cutting tool, and (c) the slot cover. It is counterintuitive to think that a side-facing slot would be superior to a top-facing one, but it is. This is because of my insights that (i) in a modern US can, the area just above the Goldilocks zone is rigid enough to support the can's structure without dents or creases in the main body of the can as the slot-cutting tool and the plugs do their work and (ii) the area within the Goldilocks zone is soft enough for the slot-cutting tool to penetrate and tear easily. All other areas of the can would be too rigid for the slot-cutting tool and plugs to function well or they would be too malleable or they would be near the bottom of the can. Trying to put a slot anywhere else in the side of the can would lead to undesirable and unaesthetic dents and creases in the can. Also, using the Goldilocks zone for slot placement makes the user present the can and its messaging (such as stickers on the side of the can) toward the potential donor. The slot-cutting tool is also inventive in its own right, but it has been claimed and explained in my prior patent application (application Ser. No. 15/293,276), which is incorporated herein by this reference as if set out in full. Basically, the slot-cutting tool functions well in its purpose of making slots in aluminum cans and is exceedingly simple to use and manufacture. The slot cover is inventive as well because it is a new and simple messaging method that makes the can (and therefore donations or deposits) more attractive. It also hides the jagged sharp edge where the slot-maker did its work.
So, my invention is superior to the current state of the art for collection boxes and piggy banks because an aluminum can is inexpensive, inexpensive-looking, readily available, recyclable after use, sturdy, attractively colored, attractively shaped, easily handheld, tamper evident, lightweight, stackable, fireproof, and waterproof, and because it is filled with a beverage you'll get to enjoy before using it. It is also particularly suitable for charitable fundraising by the beverage company which makes the can. The slot located in the Goldilocks zone is superior because it is easy and fast to make, and it is positioned away from where liquids are likely to pool.
The slot cover located in the Goldilocks zone is a beneficial improvement because it makes the fundraising can look like a cleanly-manufactured product (as opposed to trash); it helps with messaging for your fundraiser (e.g., a cross, football, baseball bat, Star of David); it doesn't bend or dent the can when being made; it is easy to make and apply; it makes the can look more fun and attractive; it makes the act of giving fun (e.g., coin slide configuration;
Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds. To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims and/or this specification.
Various other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
The description given above in the Brief Summary of the Invention section is hereby and herein incorporated by this reference as if stated at length. In the drawings, similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views.
The secure enclosure is made from an ordinary aluminum beverage can 5. See
The slot cover 2 is preferably made of a wood product or inexpensive plastic or some combination of both. It has a centrally located slot cover opening 3 in its long, horizontal direction suitable for passing coins or folded paper money or small ballots. On its rear side, it has at least one anchoring plug 4. These are designed so that when you push them into a pinhole in the can made from a pushpin, it will gently enlarge the hole. Like a sex toy, the plug is narrower at the point where the plug meets the back of the slot cover 2 so that the elasticity of the aluminum will cause the pushed-away aluminum material to pull back against the plug's shaft, thereby securing the slot cover 2 against the can. In lieu of or in addition to the anchoring plugs 4, adhesive could be used to secure the slot cover 2 against can 5.
To make the secure enclosure, one preferably first drains some or all of the liquid from the can. I like to poke an unobtrusive hole in the top with a pushpin (usually a hole concealed under the can's tab when the tab is in its normal position). Occasionally I speed the drainage by poking a small vent hole with a pushpin in the soft aluminum side of the can near the bottom.
I then insert the slot-maker 7 into the can 5 at its Goldilocks zone 1 and drag it horizontally to make a can slot 6 suitable for inserting change, folded dollars, and/or small folded ballots. Slot-maker 7 has a barrier 10 that prevents over-insertion when cutting point 12 is inserted. Slot-maker 7 also has a bottom cutting surface 11 approximately 2 to 3 mm in width between its handle 9 and its cutting point 12. This bottom cutting surface 11 acts to peel a section of can away, thereby forming the can slot 6 (which is the actual opening in the can's metal). If slot-maker 7 is not sufficiently sharp and rigid to penetrate the can 5 easily, I will first make a starter hole with a pushpin.
It is highly desirable, but not strictly necessary, to put a slot cover 2 over can slot 6. To do so, you first prick a starter hole in the Goldilocks zone 1 where an anchoring plug 4 is to be inserted. Then place anchoring plug 4 gently against that starter hole and make another starter hole in the appropriate position where the other anchoring plug 4 will land when the slot cover 2 is fully inserted in its preferred position. Gently push one anchor plug into its hole. Bend-in the slot cover slightly and insert the other plug in its hole. If properly done, the cover will snugly fit against the can; if not, use a liquid or gel adhesive to obtain a snug fit. Once the cover is in place, use slot-maker 7 and pushpin as described above to make the can slot 6 in the can underneath the slot cover 2. In lieu of anchoring plugs, the slot cover 2 could be adhered to the can 5 with a double-sided adhesive backing strip (e.g., double-sided tape or a thin foam with peel-off stickers that protect the adhesive when not in use).
Once fundraising is accomplished the can is opened by removing the slot cover with pliers. One can then scissor off the top from the Goldilocks zone 1 using the horizontal slot (i.e., the can slot) as a starting point. Alternatively, one can fold the can in half while holding it by its two ends, then bend it back and forth several times, and then twist the can so the aluminum wall tears from the can's center.
