Patent Application
20100320211
Many facilities such as, for example, parks, schools, stadiums, golf courses, municipalities, theaters, and shopping malls place waste bins at numerous locations to encourage patrons of the facility to properly dispose of their waste. However, despite increased public awareness regarding the ecological benefits of recycling, many facilities provide very few if any recycling bins for their patrons. Many facilities cite additional costs associated with purchasing, maintaining, and emptying recycling bins as a justification for providing few, if any, recycling bins to their patrons.
Embodiments are described herein by way of example and not by way of limitation in the accompanying figures. For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference labels have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
References in the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment generally may be incorporated into or otherwise implemented by other embodiments regardless of whether explicitly described.
For ease of discussion, the present description and claims use positional terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “top”, “bottom”, “front”, and “back” to refer to various aspects of the disclosed waste bin. Such positional terms were chosen from the perspective of an observer standing in front of the door of the waste bin. One skilled in the art should appreciate that such positional terms are merely presented for ease of discussion and are not intended to limit the waste bin or the scope of the appended claims.
As shown in
The one or more waste bin walls 250 may comprise a left waste bin wall 252, a back waste bin wall 254, and a right waste bin wall 256 that each extend perpendicularly upward from the waste bin base 210 to form three sides of the waste bin body 200. The left waste bin wall 252, the back waste bin wall 254, and the right waste bin wall 256 may each comprise a substantially planar, quadrangular panel having substantially the same height, width, and thickness. The left waste bin wall 252 may be joined to the back waste bin wall 254 at roughly a 90 degree to form a rounded back left corner 272 of the waste bin body 200. Similarly, the right waste bin wall 256 may be joined to the back waste bin wall 254 at roughly a 90 degree angle to form a rounded back right corner 274 of the waste bin body 200. Accordingly, the waste bin walls 250 may define a waste bin body 200 having a generally cuboidal outer shape with a squarish, horizontal cross section. However, the waste bin body 200 in other embodiments may have a different number of waste bin walls 250, may have waste bin walls 250 of unequal dimensions, may have non-planar waste bin walls 250, may have waste bin walls 250 that are not generally quadrangular in shape, and/or may have waste bin walls 250 that are not generally perpendicular to the waste bin base 210.
The waste bin walls 250 beside defining sides of the waste bin 100 also define a liner access opening 280 between the waste bin lid 300 and waste bin base 210. The liner access opening 280 is sized to permit insertion and removal of a litter liner 600′ and a recyclables liner 600″ into and from the waste bin body 200 while the waste bin lid 300 is mounted to the waste bin body 200. See,
The cover 300 may be positioned to at least partially cover the liner access opening 280 in order to prevent removal of the litter liner 600′ and the recyclables liner 600″ from the waste bin body 200. The cover 300 may also be positioned such that the cover 300 permits removal of the litter liner 600′ and the recyclables liner 600″ from the waste bin body 200. As shown in
The door 310 may further include an upper hinge pin 320 positioned proximate an upper, left corner 318 of the door 310 and lower hinge pin 330 positioned proximate a lower, left corner 319 of the door 310. As shown in
The door 310 may include a latch 350 to latch the door 310 to the right waste bin wall 256 in a closed position. Moreover, the latch 350 may include a lock 352 to secure the door 310 in the closed position and to prevent unauthorized removal of the liners 600′, 600″ via the liner access opening 280 when locked. The door 310 may further include a plurality of cups 360 in the back surface 314 of the door 310 which add strength to the door 310.
Referring now to
The male connector 430 comprises a ledge 432 and walls 434. The waste bin lid 400 may be mounted to the waste bin body 200 such that the ledge 432 rests upon an upper end 202 of the waste bin walls 250 that is distal from the waste bin base 210. Further, the waste bin walls 250 may receive and/or otherwise engage the male connector walls 434 to prevent lateral movement of the waste bin lid 400 mounted to the waste bin walls 250. In one embodiment, the waste bin lid 400 may include one of more mounting holes (not shown) in the ledge 432 through which fasteners (e.g. screws, rivets, etc.) may affix the waste bin lid 400 to the waste bin walls 250 and may prevent removal of the waste bin lid 400 from the waste bin body 200.
The waste bin lid 400 further includes a litter chute 440 to deliver litter to the litter liner 600′, and a recyclables chute 460 to deliver recyclables to the recyclables liner 600″. As shown, the litter chute 440 may include an upper wall 442, a lower wall 444, and a central wall 446 which connect a litter lid opening 448 in the left face 414 of the waste bin lid 400 to a litter drop opening 450 positioned over the litter liner 600′. Thus, litter placed in the litter lid opening 448 is delivered to the litter liner 600′ via the litter chute 440 and litter drop opening 450. Similarly, the recyclables chute 460 may include an upper wall 462, a lower wall 464, and a central wall 466 which connect a recyclables lid opening 468 in a right face 416 of the waste bin lid 400 to a litter drop opening 470 positioned over the recyclables liner 600″. Thus, recyclables placed in the recyclables lid opening 468 are delivered to the recyclables liner 600″ via the recyclables chute 460 and recyclables drop opening 470. Besides delivering litter and recyclables to respective liners 600′, 600″, the chutes 440, 460 may help prevent people from removing litter and especially recyclables from the waste bin 100 via the openings 448, 468. Furthermore, the lower walls 442, 462 of the chutes 440, 460 may help prevent litter and/or recyclables from falling out of the waste bin 100 in the event the waste bin 100 is tipped over.
The waste bin lid 400 may also include, on the waste bin top 430, litter indicia 480 associated with the litter lid opening 448 and recyclables indicia 490 associated with the recyclables opening 468. The litter indicia 480 may include an imprint, decal, or other markings that indicate litter is to be deposited in the waste bin 100 via the litter lid opening 448. Similarly, the recyclables indicia 490 may include an imprint, decal or other marking that indicates recyclables are to be deposited in the waste bin 100 via the recyclables lid opening 468.
As shown in
Referring back to
In one embodiment, each liner recess 640, 660 comprises an elongated track 642, 662 to receive liner projections 610. The elongated tracks 642, 662 help guide the liners 600′, 600″ into position under the drop openings 450, 470 as the liners 600′, 600″ are received via the liner access opening 280. In one embodiment, the elongated litter liner track 642 and the elongated recyclables liner track 662 are positioned such that a center line 644 of the elongated litter liner track 642 runs substantially parallel with a center line 664 of the elongated recyclables liner track 662 and the center line 644 of the elongated litter liner track 642 runs substantially perpendicular to the liner access opening 280. Moreover, to ease insertion and removal of the liners 600′, 600″, the liner recesses 640, 660 extend through the front face 222 of the waste bin base 210, proximate the liner access opening 280. Accordingly, the liner projection 630 are permitted to pass through the front face 222 as the liners 600′, 600″ are inserted into or removed from the waste bin body 200 via the liner access opening 280. Furthermore, each liner recess 640, 660 in one embodiment has a width 644, 664 that generally tapers from a broader width proximate the liner access opening 280 to a narrower width distal from the liner access opening 280.
The liners 600′, 600″ and the waste bin body 110 may be arranged such that a collection worker is unable to insert both the litter liner 600′ and the recyclables liner 600″ into the waste bin body 110 if the liners 600′, 600″ are not aligned with their respective drop openings 450, 470 in the waste bin lid 400. In particular, the liner projections 630 may extend sufficiently beyond a bottom liner surface 620 to prevent insertion of both the liner 600′, 600″ into the waste bin body 200 if the litter liner projection 630 and the recyclables liner projection 630 rests upon the upper surface 212 of the waste bin base 210 instead of in their respective liner recesses 640, 660 in the waste bin base 210.
Thus, if a collection worker does not place the litter liner projection 630 and the recyclables liner projection 630 respectively into the litter liner recess 640 and the recyclables liner recess 660 in the upper surface 212 of the waste bin base 210, then a collection worker may be unable to insert the liners 600′, 600″ into the waste bin body 200 through the liner access opening 280. In particular, as the liners 600′, 600″ are inserted into the waste bin body 200, the elongated tracks 642, 662 engage the liner projections 630 and urge the liners 600′, 600″ into proper position under the litter drop opening 450 and the recyclables drop opening 470. Similarly, the elongated tracks 642, 664 may help guide the liners 600′, 600″ during removal. In particular, the elongated tracks 642, 662 may help maintain the liners 600′, 600″ aligned with the liner access opening 280 during removal. Accordingly, the liner recesses 642, 662 may make a collection workers job easier as the tracks 642, 662 ensure proper alignment of the liners 600′, 600″ during insertion of the liners 600′, 600″ into the waste bin body 200 and during removal of the liners 600′, 600″ from the waste bin body 200.
As shown in
As mentioned above, the waste bin body 200, the waste bin base 210 and the waste bin lid 400 may each have a squarish, horizontal cross section. The squarish, horizontal cross sections of the waste bin body 200, waste bin base 210 and waste bin lid 400 may result in a waste bin 100 having a generally cuboidal outer shape that is non-conducive to rolling regardless of whether standing upon its base 210 or lying upon a side. However, while the waste bin 100 has been described as having a generally cuboidal outer shape, the waste bin body 200, waste bin base 210 and/or waste bin lid 400 may be constructed to have a different geometric cross section that results in a waste bin having a non-cuboidal outer shape that is still non-conducive to rolling.
Moreover, in one embodiment, the waste bin base 210, the waste bin walls 250, and cover 300 may each include an advertisement recess 284 upon an outer surface. The advertisement recesses 284 provide locations to which decals, posters, and/or other advertisement materials may be affixed to the waste bin 100. Thus, rights to place advertisements upon the waste bin 100 may be sold or leased to various organizations in order to raise revenue.
Referring now to
The method further includes the program facilitator at block 720 collecting requests from several facilities that desire to deploy the waste bins 100 at their facilities. Such requests may indicate a number of waste bins 100 that are desired to be deployed as well as any preferences regarding types of advertisements to be placed upon the waste bins 100. Such preferences may be of a general form (e.g. advertisements suitable for all ages) or more specific in nature (e.g. no religious, political, or adult oriented advertisements).
At block 730, the program facilitator selects a financial sponsor for a facility. In particular, the financial sponsor is selected from the plurality of secured financial sponsors based upon criteria specified by the financial sponsor and the facilitates. Ideally, a financial sponsor is paired with a facility in a manner that creates a synergistic relationship between the facility and the financial sponsor. Namely, the advertisements are not only unobjectionable to the facility but of interest to the persons that frequent the facility.
After selecting the financial sponsor for a facility, the program facilitator at block 750 places or permits placement of advertisements upon the waste bins 100 per criteria of the selected financial sponsor and the facility. Such advertisements may be created or otherwise supplied by the financial sponsor. In other embodiments, the program facilitator may create advertisements per criteria specified by the financial sponsor and/or facility to receive the waste bins 100. The program facilitator at block 760 then deploys the waste bins 100 with the advertisements to the facility.
At 770, litter is periodically removed from each waste bin 100 deployed to the facility by removing a litter liner 600′ from each waste bin 100 via a door 310 of each waste bin 100, Similarly, recyclables at block 780 are periodically removed from each waste bin 100 deployed to the facility by removing a recyclable liner 600″ from each waste bin 100 via the door 310 of each waste bin 100. In one embodiment, the program facilitator removes or arranges for other parties to remove the litter and recyclables from the waste bins 100. In other embodiments, the facility removes and/or arranges for other parties to remove the litter and recycles from the waste bins 100.
At block 790, the financial sponsor is charged for costs associated with periodically removing recyclables from each waste bin 100 deployed to the facility. In one embodiment, the program facilitator invoices the financial sponsor for such costs as they occur. In other embodiments, the financial sponsor pays for such costs upfront or in installments over the course of the agreement. In yet other embodiments, the facility invoices the financial sponsor for such costs. In yet another embodiment, the parties that remove the litter and/or recyclables invoice the financial sponsor for such costs. It should be appreciated that costs associated with the waste bins 100 that are charged to the financial sponsors may include costs associated with deploying the waste bins 100 to the facility, costs associated with collecting the litter and recyclables from the waste bins 100, costs associated with transferring collected recyclables to a recycling facility, costs associated with manufacturing and/or acquiring the waste bins 100, costs associated with creating and/or placing advertisements on the waste bins; and/or overhead costs of the program facilitator associated with executing the recycling method.
Many modifications and variations of the disclosed embodiments are possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, aspects of the disclosed embodiments may be practiced in a manner other than as described above.
