GB2410676A

GB2410676A - Rubbish bin removable from its base

Info

Publication number: GB2410676A
Application number: GB0402675A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald Albert Morgan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-02-07
Filing date: 2004-02-07
Publication date: 2005-08-10
Also published as: GB0402675D0

Abstract

A rubbish bin (1) comprises a base member (3), and a container member (5) in the form of a hollow cylinder which sits removably on the base member (3). The base member has a raised central portion (9) which extends into the bottom of the container member (5) and contains a locking mechanism. That mechanism comprises arms extendable into slots (57) in the wall of the container member to lock the base member thereto. The bin may also include a top member (7) allowing access to the container member (5).

Description

24 1 0676

RUBBISH BIN

This invention relates to a rubbish bin which is particularly suitable for taking kitchen rubbish.

Currently, kitchen rubbish bins are used with a rubbish bag or bin liner. These rubbish bins comprise a container for rubbish surmounted by a lid which fits over the top of the container. This lid has an opening flap by means of which rubbish can be inserted into the bin or the bin can be closed. In order to avoid soiling the container, it is usual to place a plastics sack therein with the top of the sack folded over the top edge of the container and can be secured there by the lid.

The problem with such an arrangement lies in the difficulty of extracting the plastics sack from the container when it is full. This may be due to the weight of the sack and the lack of suitable means to raise it with or may be due to the sack swelling out and being in frictional contact with the container or both.

The present invention seeks to provide a rubbish bin in which the problem with conventional rubbish bins as described above are reduced or substantially obviated.

According to the invention, a rubbish bin comprises a base member, a container member in the form of a hollow cylinder which sits removably on the base member.

Preferably a top member is provided which sits on the top of the container member, the top member being arranged to allow access to the container member.

The base member may have a raised potion which extends into the bottom of the container member so as to locate the container member on the base member The rubbish bin may include locking means for locking the container member on to the base member. l

The base member may be is hollow beneath the raised portion and contains the locking mechanism of the locking means.

The locking mechanism may comprise a plurality of arms, one end of each arm protruding through a slot in a side of the raised portion and cooperating with an aligned slot in the container member, each arm being movable between a locked position in which the said one end of the arm is located in the associated aligned slot in the container member and an unlocked position in which the said one end of the arm is withdrawn from the associated aligned slot in the container member.

There may be two arms each extending through opposite sides of the raised portion or there may be three arms extending through the sides of the raised portion at positions in which each arm is at 90 to at least one other arm.

The arms may be actuated by a lever which also has its operating part extending through a slot in a side of the raised portion.

Where there are three arms, one arm may be located for sliding movement across the centre of the base portion and the other two arms may be pivoted for movement therewith and the non-protruding end of the lever may be pivoted to the non-protruding end of the said one arm and to the base member between its ends.

The hollow cylinder of the container member may have a square or circular cross section.

The container member may have clip means for retaining the upper end of a plastics sack therein.

Access to the container member may be obtained by removing the top member or the top member may be provided with an openable lid.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a rubbish bin, partly exploded, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, and Figure 2 is an underneath view of the base member of the rubbish bin of figure 1 with its surrounding flange removed for clarity.

Referring to the drawings, a rubbish bin 1 comprises a base member 3, a container member 5 which is in the form of a hollow cylinder and a top member or lid 7 through which access is obtained to the container member.

This may be achieved by lifting off of the top member 7 or the top member can be provided with a pivotal flap (not shown).

In the embodiment shown, the rubbish bin is of a generally square cross section t apering 9 radually inwards from t he bottom towards t he top. I t m ay however be of any other suitable shape such as circular with the same taper.

The b ase member 3 i s 9 enerally m oulded from a s beet o f s uitable p lastics material and comprises a raised centre portion 9 with a surrounding flange 11.

This leaves a hollow space under the raised centre portion 9 which is used to house a locking mechanism 13 to be described hereafter.

The container member 5 is, as previously stated, a tapered hollow cylinder tapered inwardly towards its upper part. At the bottom, it is of internal dimensions complementary to the raised portion 9 of the base member 3 so that it sits on the flange 11 of the base member 3 with a relatively snug fit around the raised potion 9. It has a peripheral extension 15 which forms what looks like a plinth and which covers the flange 11 of the base portion 3 when in situ thereon.

At its upper part, the container member 5 has a pair of indentations 17 which form lifting handles which can be used either to carry the bin as a whole or to raise the container member 5 off the base member 3. Also, on the inside of the upper part of the container member 5 may be provided clamping means of any suitable sort for the retention of a plastics sack therein The top member 7 continues the tapering shape of the rubbish bin 1 and has an enlarged lower part 19, connected by a shoulder 21 to rest of the top member 7 and this lower part 19 is dimensioned such that it can surround the upper part of the container member 5 with the top edge of the container member located on the inside of the shoulder 21. If it is desired that the lower part 19 of the top member 7 continue the line of the container member 5, as shown in the drawing, then the upper part of the container member will be set back to allow this.

The container member 5 is locked to the base member when in use by a locking mechanism 13 as can be seem particularly from figure 2. This locking mechanism comprises three arms 23, 25 and 27 and an actuating lever 29.

The arm 23 is located in the middle of the base member 3 and is arranged to slide backwards and forwards horizontally (as seen in the drawing). To this end it is provided with a pair of slots 31 through which pass headed elements 33, such as screws so as to retain the arm 23 in position against the surface of the base member 3 while at the same time determining its line of motion.

The right hand end 35 of the arm 23 is of reduced width and passes through a slot 37 to cooperate with an aligned slot (not shown) in the lower part of the container member 5. Movement of the arm 23 is controlled by means of the lever 29 which is pivoted at 39 to the arm 23, pivoted to the base member 3 at 41, and protrudes at its other end 43 through an elongate slot 45 to provide an actuating handle. Movement of the lever 29 clockwise will move the arm 23 to the right towards its locking position and movement of the lever anticlockwise will move the arm 23 to the left away from its locking position.

The two other arms 25 and 27 are pivoted to the arm 23 at 44 and 46 and their free ends 47 and 49 protrude through slots 51 and 53 in the sides of the centre portion. Because of the nature of the construction and the angle of the arms 25 and 27, as the arm 23 moves to the right (in the drawing), the ends 47 and 49 of the arms 25 and 27 outwards into their locking positions while movement of the arm 23 to the left will retract them.

As can be seen from figure 1, the end 49 of the arm 27 co-operates with a slot 57 at the bottom of the container member 5 and a cut back 59 is provided to give access to the actuating lever 43. The ends of the arms 23 and 25 also co-operate with slots (not shown) in the container member 5.

The use of the above described rubbish bin will now be described: Starting o ff w ith t he b in i n t hree p feces, n amely b ase m ember 3, c ontainer member 5 and top member 7, the container member 5 is placed on the base member so that the central portion 9 enters the bottom end of the container member so as to locate the container member 5 thereon. It is important that the container member 5 is placed on the base member with the correct orientation so that the slots for the locking operation are aligned.

Then the locking mechanism 13 is actuated by moving the actuating lever 29 anticlockwise so as to extend the arms 23, 25 and 27 so as to lock the container member 5 on to the base member 3. A plastics sack or bin liner can then be inserted into the container member with its upper edges folded over the upper edges of the container member 5 or with its upper edges held by grippers if provided. The rubbish bin is ready for use and can be closed by the top member 7 placed on the container member 5. Alternatively, if the top member 7 is provided with an opening flap for access, the top member 7 can remain on the container member while the bin is in use When the sack or bin liner needs to be emptied, the top member 7 is removed from the container member 5 and the top of the sack or bin liner is tied up.

Then the base member 3 is unlocked from the container member 5 by actuating the locking mechanism by moving the actuating lever 29 anticlockwise. The container member 5 can then be lifted off the base member 3 using the handles 17 leaving the sack or bin liner behind on the base member 3 ready for disposal.

It will be appreciated that the above described embodiment provides an arrangement in which the bin can be emptied without the necessity of pulling the sack or bin liner out of the bin, making emptying of the bin very simple and easy.

lt will be appreciated that many additions to or modification of the above described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, although the tapered shape of the container member 5 is useful in making it particularly easy to remove from around the sack or bin liner, the bin would also operate successfully if the sides of the container member were not tapered. Other locking arrangements could be used for locking the container member 5 to the base member 3, particularly types that can be operated with a foot pedal.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A rubbish bin comprising a base member, a container member in

the form of a hollow cylinder which sits removably on the base member.
2. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 1, wherein a top member is provided which sits on the top of the container member, the top member being arranged to allow access to the container member.
3. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base member has a raised potion which extends into the bottom of the container member so as to locate the container member on the base member
4. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 3, including locking means for locking the container member on to the base member.
5. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 4, wherein the base member is hollow beneath the raised portion and contains the locking mechanism of the locking means.
6. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 5, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a plurality of arms, one end of each arm protruding through a slot in a side of the raised portion and cooperating with an aligned slot in the container member, each arm being movable between a locked position in which the said one end of the arm is located in the associated aligned slot in the container member and an unlocked position in which the said one end of the arm is withdrawn from the associated aligned slot in the container member.
7. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 6, wherein there are two arms each extending through opposite sides of the raised portion.
8. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 6, wherein there are three arms extending through the sides of the raised portion at positions in which each arm is at 90 to at least one other arm.
9. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein the arms are actuated by a lever which also has its operating part extending through a slot in a side of the raised portion.
10. A rubbish bin as claimed in claim 9, wherein, where there are three arms, one arm is located for sliding movement across the centre of the base portion and the other two arms are pivoted for movement therewith and the non-protruding end of the lever is pivoted to the non-protruding end of the said one arm and to the base member between its ends.
11. A rubbish bin as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hollow cylinder of the container member has a square cross section.
12. A rubbish bin as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the hollow cylinder of the container member has a circular cross section.
13. A rubbish bin as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the container member has clip means for retaining the upper end of a plastics sack therein.
14. A rubbish bin as claimed in any receding claim, wherein the access to the container member is obtained by removing the top member.
15. A rubbish bin as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the top member is provided with an openable lid.
16. A rubbish b in s ubstantially a s d ascribed h erein w ith reference to t he drawings.