Structure of a garbage-box

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6752476
  • Patent Number
    6,752,476
  • Date Filed
    Friday, June 15, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 22, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Mai; Lanna
    • Tran; Hanh V.
    Agents
    • Lei; Leong C.
Abstract
A structure of a garbage-box having a container body and a collection container, a moving door module being provided to the garbage inlet of the container body, characterized in that a sensor is provided to a top plate of the container body to sense the approaching of a person to open the moving door on the container body, another sensor is located within the container body, a pair of corresponding inverted L-shaped guiding rail seat are provided at the inner wall of the container body, the transmission shaft is pivotally mounted to the two guiding rail seats, the two ends of the transmission shaft are respectively mounted with a zigzag gear to drive flexible moving door, the bottom end of the flexible moving door, corresponding to the micro-touch switch, is provided with a pushing block so as to sense the opening of the flexible moving door.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




(a) Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a garbage-box, and in particular, to a garbage-box having a garbage inlet in combination with a flexible moving door, such that the door can automatically close the garbage inlet or automatically open the garbage inlet.




(b) Description of the Prior Art





FIG. 1

shows a conventional large size garbage-box having a hollow container body


10


.

FIG. 1A

illustrates the operation of the door of the conventional garbage-box. The top face of the container body


10


is provided with a garbage inlet


11


, and a door


12


is pivotally mounted to the garbage inlet


11


. The lower section of the container body


10


is provided with a collection container


15


which can be withdrawn from the front lateral side of the container body


10


. In operation, the moving door


12


is pushed away and garbage is thrown into the collection container


15


of the container body


10


via the garbage inlet


11


. This conventional garbage-box has the following drawbacks.




(1) The collection of garbage is not convenient. The operator has to first open the moving door


12


and the hands of the operator will come into contact with the garbage-box


10


. This is inconvenient and not hygienic.




(2) The moving door cannot be closed under normal operating condition. As the moving door


12


needs a space in order to rotate, if the garbage has been stacked up to the garbage inlet


11


, the moving door


12


cannot be opened, or after the moving door is opened, it cannot be closed. Therefore, this conventional garbage structure is inconvenient in operation. In a more serious situation, the bad smell of the garbage will pollute the environment.




(3) The height of the garbage pile cannot be determined. There is not detection device to measure or to detect the height of stacked garbage. Thus, the piled garbage may cause the moving door


12


from closing and opening, and the overflow of garage will affect the environment. Therefore, the clearing of the garbage is different.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure of a garbage-box, having a container body and a collection container, a moving door module being provided to the garbage inlet of the container body, characterized in that, a sensor is provided to the top plate of the container body to sense the approaching of a person to open the moving door on the container body, a further sensor is located within the container body higher than the height of the collection container so as to detect the height of the stacked garbage, on the moving door module, a pair of corresponding inverted L-shaped guiding rail seats are provided at the inner wall of the container body, the guiding rail seat is provided with a corresponding guiding slot, and the top and bottom section of the vertical section of the corresponding guiding slot are provided with a micro-touch switch, and one lateral side of the guiding rail is provided with a servo motor which can drive a transmission shaft, and the transmission shaft is pivotally mounted to the two guiding rail seats, and the two ends of the transmission shaft are respectively mounted with a zigzag gear to drive a flexible moving door, the bottom end of the flexible moving door, corresponding to the micro-touch switch, is provided with a pushing block so as to sense the opening of the flexible moving door, thereby an improved structure of a garbage-box with a large garbage inlet is formed.




Other object and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a schematic view of a conventional garbage-box and the application thereof.





FIG. 1A

illustrates the operation of the door of the conventional garbage-box.





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of the structure of the garbage-box of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is a sectional view of the present invention, illustrating the relationship of the elements of the garbage-box of the present invention.





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of the garbage-box of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION




Referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, there is shown an improved structure of a garbage-box having a garbage inlet


260


on the container body


20


, and a collection container


30


. On the top of the garbage inlet


260


, a moving door module


40


having a flexible moving door


50


. The garbage inlet


260


can be automatically closed or opened.




Again, referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the container body


20


is provided with a bottom plate


21


, and the front and rear edge are respectively provided with a front and rear lateral plates


22


,


23


. The front lateral plate


22


is provided with a through hole


220


allowing the collection container


30


to pass through. The bottom plate


21


is further provided with two lateral plates


24


, and the bottom edge of the lateral plate


24


is provided with sliding rail


25


for the sliding of the collection container


30


. The top edges of the lateral plates


22


,


23


,


24


are joined by a top plate


26


having a garbage inlet


260


to form the container body


20


of the garbage-box. An ashtray is provided at the top plate


26


, and a sensor


27


also provided thereto so as to detect the approaching of a person or a button


28


for direct control of the garbage inlet


260


is provided to the top plate


26


. Another sensor


29


is mounted on an inner surface of the rear lateral plate


23


at a height higher than the position of the collection container


30


to detect the height of the stacked garbage.




A pair of corresponding inverted L-shaped guiding rail seats


41


are respectively mounted onto the two lateral plats


24


, and the guiding rail seat


41


is provided with a corresponding guiding slot


42


, and the guiding rail seat


41


corresponding to the top and bottom end of the vertical section of the corresponding guiding slot


42


is provided with the micro-touch switches


43


,


44


. A servomotor


45


is provided to one lateral side of the guiding rail seat


41


, and the transmission shaft


47


of a belted wheel


470


drives the servomotor


45


via a belt


47


. The transmission shaft


47


is pivotally mounted to the two guiding rail seats


41


. The two ends of the transmission shaft


47


are provided with the zigzag gear


48


to drive the flexible moving door


50


.




The flexible moving door


50


is formed from a plurality of combination rods


51


. The lateral side of the combination rod


51


is provided with a protruded round stripe


52


and an engaging slot


53


so that the adjacent rods


51


can be mounted together and rotatable. The bottom edge of the combination rod


51


has a recessed slot


54


to accommodate the zigzag gear of the transmission shaft


47


.




A pushing block


55


is provided to the combination rod


51


at the bottom end of the flexible moving door


50


. This pushing block


55


corresponds to the micro-touch switches


43


,


44


so as to detect the opening or closing of the flexible moving door


50


. Therefore, an improved garbage-box having a large garbage inlet


260


is obtained.




As shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, in operation, if a user approaches the garbage-box the sensor


27


detects the user and the servomotor


45


is initiated to move the transmission shaft


47


. The zigzag gear


48


of the transmission shaft


47


drives the flexible moving door


50


. The door


50


slides downward along the guiding slot


42


of the guiding rail seat


41


and stops when the push block


55


touches the micro-touch switch


44


for the user to discard garbage.




When the user leaves the garbage-box, the servomotor


45


moves in a reverse direction and the flexible moving door


50


moves upward to close until the push block


55


touches the other micro-touch switch


43


. The user can control the door


50


by using the control button


28


on the garbage-box. The sensor


29


within the container body


20


detects the height of the stacked garbage.




The advantages of the present invention are as follows:




(1) The garbage inlet of the garbage-box is extended. As the door


50


can be closed or opened along the inner wall of the container body, the space required for the top plate


26


is greatly reduced. Thus, the garbage inlet


260


on the top plate


26


can be enlarged, allowing the user to conveniently discard garbage.




(2) Longevity of Motor. As a zigzag gear


48


is utilized in the transmission shaft


47


to direct control the door


50


. The transmitted force is great and the speed is fast. Thus, the power needed is lesser and the cost of operation is reduced. Further, the longevity of the motor is extended.




While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiment, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that modifications and improvements may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiment, but only by the scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A structure of a garbage-box having a container body and a collection container, a flexible moving door module being provided to the garbage inlet of the container body, wherein a sensor is provided to a top plate of the container body to sense the approaching of a person to open the moving door module on the container body, a further sensor is located within the container body at a position higher than the height of the collection container so as to detect the height of the stacked rubbish, on the moving door module, a pair of corresponding inverted L-shaped guiding rail seats are provided at the inner wall of the container body, each guiding rail seat is provided with a corresponding guiding slot, and the top and bottom section of the vertical section of the corresponding guiding slot are provided with a micro-touch switch, and one lateral side of the guiding rail is provided with a servo motor which can drive a transmission shaft, and the transmission shaft is pivotally mounted to the two guiding rail seats, and the two ends of the transmission shaft are respectively mounted with a zigzag gear to drive flexible moving door module, the bottom end of the flexible moving door, corresponding to the micro-touch switch, is provided with a pushing block so as to sense the opening of the flexible moving door, thereby an improved structure of a garbage-box with a large garbage inlet is formed.
  • 2. The structure of a garbage-box of claim 1, wherein the top face of the container body is provided with controlling buttons for direct controlling.
  • 3. The structure of a garbage-box of claim 1, wherein the flexible moving door module is formed from a plurality of combination rods, the two lateral sides of each rod are formed into corresponding protruded rounded engaging stripe and engaging slot such that the adjacent combination rod is pivotally combined and is rotatable, and the bottom edge of the combination rod is formed into a recess to accommodate the zigzag gear of the transmission shaft.
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623642 Wallen, Sr. Apr 1899 A
2531444 Lane Nov 1950 A
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3129040 De Rose Apr 1964 A
3204866 Brighton et al. Sep 1965 A
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6085825 Swink et al. Jul 2000 A
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Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
0310548 Apr 1989 EP
910748 Sep 1997 JP