STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND
There is a need for an environmentally appealing and functionally satisfying trash container for disposal of garbage or trash that avoids disposal of environmentally unfriendly plastic or synthetic trash bags into garbage and trash cans, bins or garbage vehicle compartments. Plastic trash bags, some with openings that can be secured at one end as by a pull strap that can be tightened or tied together, have the undesirable impact of unnecessarily disposing of plastic or other environmentally detrimental material into the waste disposal cycle. There is a need to conveniently and efficiently provide for the disposal of waste that eliminates putting a plastic or synthetic trash bag into garbage and trash cans or into other garbage disposal containers or vehicles.
The present disclosure provides an efficient and effective assembly. It comprises an exterior container configured to easily receive and hold an environmentally friendly disposable trash container such as one made of paper including a grocery shopping bag. The exterior container can be placed in an open position whereby such a grocery sack or bag can be placed within it and held in position by retaining means. The exterior container can be conveniently carried as by handles that extend above its top edge, to transport the exterior and the interior container filled with garbage or trash, to a trash disposal can, bin or dumpster. The subject exterior trash container can be conveniently folded flat and carried, transported and stored in a small and confined storage base.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the exterior trash container in the open position, with the interior container not installed within the exterior container, and with the handles shown draped downwardly;
FIG. 2 is an isometric exploded view of the exterior container shown in the folded position, with the bottom platform shown exploded upwardly in line with an insertion path within the exploded container;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the exterior container of FIG. 1 in the open position;
FIG. 4 is a left side elevation of the exterior container of FIG. 1 in the open position;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the exterior container of FIG. 1 in the open position;
FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the exterior container of FIG. 1 with dashed lines showing creased lines along which the bottom sheet folds as it is moved from the open position of FIG. 1 to the folded position of FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a section view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 3 showing the view of the front exterior container wall and its interior layer to the left, the exterior layer to the right, and the front wall panel between the two, with the welt strip secured to the inner and outer wall layers at the top;
FIG. 8 is an exploded view showing at the bottom thereof the exterior container in the open position, with the interior container shown there above in the open position, and with the explosion lines showing the downwardly location of the interior container then installed within the exterior container;
FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the trash container assembly showing the interior container in the installed position relative to the exterior container, and showing one of the exterior container retention members overlapping the top bulge of one of the sidewalls of the interior container to block inward movements to the interior container wall away from the adjacent exterior container wall to hold the interior container top in the open position to for the reception of items of trash;
FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the exterior container in the open position, with each of the handles extended upwardly so that the bights of the handles can contact each other to permit easy grasping of both handles by the hand of an operator and with the bights of each of the handles shown in a centrally located position above the top of the walls of the exterior container; and
FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the encircled area 11 of FIG. 10 showing an enlargement of mount for an end of a handle strap and showing a rectangular link extending through a loop of that handle mount, and further showing the end of a handle strap with the end folded back on itself against the strap and secured thereto, with one of the elongated ends of the link extended through that loop so that the handle can be easily moved from the downwardly extended position of FIG. 1 to the upwardly extended position of FIG. 2, through the double pivoting action of the link relative to the loop of the mount base and relative to the loop at the end of the handle strap.
DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE
The trash container ensemble or assembly 20 generally comprises a first foldable exterior container 23 and a removable interior container 26. First, the exterior container 23 will be described in the open position such as depicted in FIGS. 1, 3-6, and 8-10. The exterior container 23 comprises a base 29 which comprises a bottom sheet 30 which can be of flexible fabric such as canvas, and of a generally rectangular configuration. The base 29 further comprises a removable bottom floor platform 31 which will be further described hereafter. The exterior container member 23 further comprises a generally vertical front wall 32, and a generally vertical rear wall 35. The exterior container 23 also comprises a generally vertical left side wall 38 and a generally vertical right side wall 41, each of which is vertically divided into two sections as will be later described.
With reference to FIG. 7, the front wall 32 comprises an interior rigid panel 44 comprised of material such as medium density fiber board (“MDF”), particle board, or plastic such as polypropylene, including fluted polypropylene. Panel 44 extends from near the top to near the bottom of the wall 32. To the interior of the front wall 32 extending from near its top to near its bottom is an interior layer 47 which can be of fabric such as canvas. Layer 47 has an inwardly facing surface 48. To the exterior of the panel 44 extending from near its top to its bottom is a front layer 50 which can be of fabric such as canvas. A strip of welt 53 extends along the upper edge of the rigid panel 44 and downward to the outside of layers 47 and 50 and is secured to layers 47 and 50 as by stitching. Similarly, at the bottom of the front wall 32 a strip of welt 54 is stitched to the lower edges of the interior layer 47 and exterior layer 50, as well as to the edge of the bottom sheet 30, so that the rigid panel 44 is held securely between the two layers 47 and 50 to be sandwiched between them in an envelope formed between layers 47 and 50 and welt strips 53 and 54. The rear wall 35 has the same sort of structure as the front wall 32 with a rigid panel like panel 44 held between an interior layer 55 and an exterior layer 56. A welt strip 57 is secured as by stitches to the upper edges of the layers 55 and 56 in the same fashion as in FIG. 7, and a welt strip 58 is likewise secured to the bottom ends of layers 55 and 56 and the adjacent edge of bottom sheet 30 to secure such rigid panel in an envelope formed between the layers 55 and 56 and welt strips 57 and 58.
Turning now to the exterior container left side wall 38 and right side wall 41, each is divided into two sections to facilitate the folding of the exterior container 23. Since the configuration of the left side wall 38 is the same as the right side wall 41, they will be described in conjunction with each other. Each side wall 38 and 41 has a first forward section 66 and a second rearward section 68. Each side near wall 38 and 41 has an exterior layer 70 and an interior layer 72, which can be of fabric such as canvas 70, and extends from near the bottom to near the top of the walls 38 and 41. The layers 70 and 72 have vertical stitching 76 extending from near their top edges to their bottom edges, to form an envelope or cavity between the layers 70 and 72 to either side of the stitching 76. The top and bottom edges of the layers 70 and 72 are secured together as by stitched welt strips 79 and 81, in the fashion such as described as to FIG. 7, to close the said envelopes at their tops and bottoms. Within each such envelope or cavity of side wall sections 66 and 68 is a rigid panel of the same material as earlier described for panel 44, that is MDF, particle board, or plastic, which extends from near the top to near the bottom of the side wall sections 66 and 68. Thus each such rigid panel is secured within the envelope or cavity formed within each forward side wall section 66 and rear wall section 68.
The side wall stitching 76 forms a vertical fold line in the side walls and allows flexing or hinging movement between each of the front and rear side wall sections 66 and 68, respectively, such as depicted in FIG. 2, to allow for the outer container 23 to fold flat, as will be later described.
As discussed earlier, the base 29 comprises bottom floor platform 31 seen in
FIGS. 2 and 5. Floor platform 31 has a generally rectangular shape with a pair of longer edges 78 and pair of shorter edges 79. One of its shorter edges 79 has a semicircular notch 81. Platform 31 can preferably have a thickness of about 1/16 inch, and generally a thickness within about 1/32 inch to 1/8 inch. Its upper and lower surfaces are substantially flat. As shown in FIG. 5, when the platform 31 is installed in the open position, its longer edges 78 extend adjacent to the lower edges of the interior wall layers 47 and 55 and the shorter edges 79 extend adjacent the interior sidewall layers 72 to press outwardly against those layer to apply force to hold the exterior container 23 in the open position of FIGS. 1, 5 and 6. In that position the lower surface of floor platform 31 rests against the upper surface of the base bottom sheet 30.
At the top the exterior container 23 along the upper interior edges of each of the front walls 32 and 35, are retention members such as tabs 85. The proximal edge 89 of each tab 85 is secured as by stitching to the front and rear wall interior layers 47 and 55, respectively and to their respective welt strips 53 and 57. Each tab 85 has a distal end depicted in the drawings as a distal edge 92 that extends downwardly and is unsecured. Each tab 85 as depicted has a pair of side edges 94. The tabs 85 can be of semi-rigid material such as vinyl, leather, or 600D polyester with a polyethylene backing. The tabs 85 are preferably movable by the operator's fingers to be spaced away from the respective front and rear wall 32 and 35. Preferably the tabs have a configuration and structure to be biased for movement toward the inwardly facing surfaces 48 and 55a of interior layers 47 and 55, respectively. It is preferable that the tabs be connected to the interior surfaces of walls of the exterior container which inner surfaces face oppositely from each other as shown in the drawings. Thus, the tabs could be connected the interior surfaces of the side walls 38 and 41.
The exterior container 23 further comprises a pair of handles 100. Each handle 100 comprises a flexible strap 101 such as of canvas or polyester, having a pair of ends 103 shown more clearly in FIG. 11. The handles 100 can be secured to the front and rear exterior container walls 32 and 35 in various ways.
A description of handle 100 secured to front wall 32 suffices to describe that for handle 100 to the rear wall 35. As shown, handle mounts 105 such as of canvas or polyester, have a strap forming a proximal base section 107 and a strap forming a distal section 109 that curls downwardly and outwardly to form a loop 111, with the lower portions of sections 107 and 109 stitched together and to the exterior front wall layer 50. A coupling link 114 can be a metal or plastic rectangular rod configuration having a pair of longer side rods and a pair of shorter end rods, with the proximal longer rod passing through the base loop 111 (FIG. 11).
The handle straps ends 103 curl inwardly and are secured as by stitches to the strap 101 to form a loop 117. The distal longer side rod of link 114 passes through the strap loop 117. The said mount loop 111 and handle strap loop 117 fit about the coupling link 114 to allow for flexible double pivotal movement of handle strap 103 relative to the mounts 105, and also to allow the straps 103 to drape downwardly alongside and in contact with the outer surfaces of walls 32 and 35 as seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 6, to make for more compact folding in the position of FIG. 2.
As depicted, the handle strap 101 length is such that each handle 101 when mounted as shown has a curled bight 118 in a generally U-shaped configuration of the handle strap101 for grasping by an operator's hand. The length of the handle strap 101 should preferably be such to allow for each handle strap 103 to be extended upwardly so that each strap bight 118 extends above the central part of the exterior container, such as seen in FIG. 10, to contact each other. Preferably the vertical height of the bights 118 above the tope edges of the walls of container 23 is from about 6 1/2 inches to 9 1/2 inches. Such positioning allows a single hand of the operator to grasp around the bights 118 of both of the handle straps 103 and carry the exterior container 23 when it is in the open position of FIGS. 1, 3-6 and 8-10.
Attention is now directed to the interior container 26. The interior container 26 is shown isolated in FIG. 8 positioned above the exterior container 23 within which it fits. Interior container 26 is comprised of biodegradable material such as paper or food materials. The interior container 26 preferably can have the dimensions of a standard size grocery sack composed of paper. The interior container 26 has a front wall 120 and a rear wall 123. Container 26 also has a left sidewall 126 and a right sidewall 129 the forward and rearward ends thereof being joined integrally with the front wall 120 and 123, respectively. Each of the sidewalls 126 and 129 have a crease line 132 and 135, respectively, such that container 26 can be folded and compressed. Interior container 26 has a bottom as with a standard grocery sack so that container 26 is an integrated structure in which items of trash or garbage can be placed. The dimensions of the interior container 26 are correlated to the exterior container 23 so that interior container 26 can be inserted within exterior container 23 as illustrated in FIG. 8 whereby the interior container front and rear walls 120 and 123, respectively, fit adjacent to and alongside the exterior container front wall inner surface 47 and the inner surface of rear wall 35. Likewise, the left and right interior container walls 132 and 135 fit against the interior surfaces of the left sidewall 38 and right sidewall 41 of exterior container 23. In that position the flat bottom surface of inner container 26 rests against the upper surface of the inserted floor platform 31 and above the outer container bottom sheet 30. In such position the upper edges 140 and 143 of interior containers front wall and rear wall 140 and 143 respectively fit between the respective retention tab 85 at the top of the exterior container to hold the front wall 120 and rear wall 123 of interior container 26 away from each other to easily allow trash or garbage to be inserted within the inner container 26.
When the inner container becomes filled to the degree of disposing of the trash or garbage within it, the handle straps 101 can be moved to the position shown in FIG. 10 so that a single hand of the operator can grasp about the bights 118 of handle straps 101 so the operator can lift the exterior container 23 and the interior container 26 including the items of trash or garbage contained therein. The operator can then carry the trash or garbage to a suitable disposal container, such as a can, bin, receptacle, dumpster or vehicle compartment so that the inner container 26 is also disposed along with the items of trash or garbage within it. Thus, through use of the trash container 20 items of garbage and trash can be environmentally disposed without the need to have a plastic bag or other harmful synthetic material bag disposed therewith.
The folding of the exterior container 23 from the FIG. 1 position can be accomplished with ease. First the operator's hand can be extended downwardly within the container, and a finger or thumb inserted along the platform notch 81 so that the platform 31 can be grasped between the finger and thumb and pulled upwardly to remove the platform from the interior of container 23. Then the container can be folded from front to rear so that the sidewall sections 66 and 68 fold inwardly along fold line 76 to allow compression of exterior container 23 to the position shown in FIG. 2. During the folding process the bottom base sheet 30 folds generally along the dashed straight line and diagonal dashed lines seen in FIG. 6. This allows base sheet 30 to be folded so that in the FIG. 2 folded position the base sheet 30 is folded upwardly to be within the front and rear walls 32 and the sidewalls 38 and 41. In such position the base sheet 30 does not protrude beyond the bottom edges of the front wall 32, rear wall 35 and sidewalls 38 and 41. In such folded position the floor platform 41 can be inserted downwardly such as shown in FIG. 2 to be inserted within the folded container 23. In the folded position exterior container 23 is substantially flat as seen in FIG. 2. In that position container 23 can be easily stored in narrow spaces between appliances, walls and furniture such as cabinets and in narrow spaces in vehicles such as cars and vans.
In a preferred embodiment the width of the front and rear exterior walls 32 and 35 is about 13″, while the width of the left and right sidewalls 38 and 41 is about 8″ with each of the sidewall sections 66 and 68 having a width of about 4″, and the height of the walls 32 and 35 and of sidewalls 38 and 41 being about 17½″. In such a preferred embodiment the width or depth of bottom floor platform 31 will be slightly less than the width of the front walls 32 and 35, such as about 12-¾″. In such an embodiment the length of the shorter edges 79 of floor platform 81 will be slightly less than width of sidewalls 38 and 41 such as about 7-¾″. The platform notch can be of the shape of a semi-circle having a diameter of about one inch, or a radius of about ½ inch. In the folded position of FIG. 2 the width of the exterior container from its outside surfaces of the front wall 32 and rear wall 35 is about ¾ inch. In the folded position of FIG. 2 the exterior container thickness from the outer surfaces of its front and rear walls is about 5/8 inch. The ratio of the thickness of the open exterior container of FIG. 1 from the outer surface of the front wall to the outer surface of its rear wall to that in the FIG. 2 folded position is about 12.8 to 1, and preferably the ratio is at least 3 to 1.
Preferably the floor platform 31 has a composition such as of polypropylene to allow for some flexibility in its bending during the process of installing and removing it from the exterior container 23.
Patent Grant
11801995
