Trash can with pull thruough bags

Abstract

A new trashcan with pull through liner bags for storing trash can liners therein. The inventive device includes a refuse chamber coupled to a disposable liner refill unit housing a continuous length of a plurality of separable trashcan liners. Both the liner refill unit and the refuse chamber include a first and second feed aperture which cooperate to allow the trashcan liner to be pulled through the refuse chamber from the disposable liner refill unit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to waste receptacles and is more particularly related to waste receptacle systems having a self-dispensing bag liner unit to facilitate access to the bag liners.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Waste receptacles are a fact of life. Where there are humans, there is waste that needs to be disposed of. Many types and sizes of waste receptacles are available. However, in most circumstances, the liners or bags that are typically used for sanitary reasons to line the inside of the receptacles are separate and not conveniently attached to the receptacle. The separation of the receptacle and the liner leads to energy and exertion used in the procedure necessary to line a receptacle with a bag, or the unsanitary possibility of foregoing the liner altogether.

The use of trashcans is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,339, for example, discloses a trashcan with a liner dispenser wherein the liner dispenser is a roller adapted for receiving a roll of trash bags and which is disposed in the interior of a base portion of the trashcan. The '339 patent and other known prior art trash cans have significant disadvantages compared to the present invention. The roller in the '339 patent may become jammed, making it difficult to dispense the trashcan liner. Alternatively, the '339 patent teaches inserting a new roll of bags when the old roll is exhausted. This may prove to be time-consuming and severely limits the number of bags that can be dispensed on each roll. Because the bags are wrapped around the roller, fewer bags can be placed in the dispenser and require more frequent maintenance than may be desired. The present invention includes a refuse chamber and a liner refill unit, which houses a continuous helically, wound string of separable trash can liners. Because there is no roller taking up space in the liner refill unit, more bags can be housed in the unit while still affording a trash can assembly of a reasonable height dimension. Once the string of continuous but separable trashcan liners has been exhausted, the refill liner unit is disposed of and a new refill liner unit can be installed.

In this respect, the trashcan, with pull through bags, according to the present inventions, is a substantial improvement over the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the invention being submitted is to increase the ease of access to the liner bags used to line a trashcan. The waste receptacle is constructed and arranged with an opening in its bottom to facilitate the pull through of a fresh liner bag from a detachable disposable liner refill unit that releasably attaches to the bottom of the waste receptacle and that contains a continuous length of a plurality of separable trashcan liners arranged in a stack, thereby decreasing the time and effort of applying a sanitary liner bag to the interior of a trash receptacle.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a trashcan with a supply of liner bags that is easily manufactured and marketed. The disposable liner refill unit can be produced using decorative styles and fashionable designer colors, making them more appealing to the public.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an environmentally friendly unit by providing a biodegradable cardboard detachable liner refill unit.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, especially when considered in conjunction with the claims and drawings in which the numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the trash can with pull through liner bags wherein the trash receptacle unit is shown separated from the refill liner unit;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the present invention wherein the trash receptacle is coupled with the refill liner unit;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the refill liner unit;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view along line 6-6 of FIG. 4 wherein the liner bag is in first position;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view wherein the liner bag has been pulled through the refuse chamber;

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view wherein the liner bag is in a second position with the top of the liner bag wrapped over the flange of the waste receptacle;

FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view wherein the liner bag is full and the top is tied off;

FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view wherein the liner bag is being lifted out from the refuse chamber; and

FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view wherein the second liner bag has been pulled through to the first position shown in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF A PERFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring specifically to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 generally designates a new trashcan with pull through liner bags.

The trashcan with pull through liner bags 10 generally comprises a refuse chamber 12 and a liner refill unit 14. The refuse chamber 12 includes an annular sidewall 16, a top end 18 and a bottom end 20. The annular sidewall has an inside and outside surface 22, 24. The top end 18 is open and has a flange 25 surrounding the perimeter of the outer surface 22 proximate the top end 18. The bottom end 20 is closed off by a closed bottom surface 26 but includes a first feed opening 28, the perimeter 30 of which is at the center of the bottom surface 26. The bottom end 20 also includes a lip 32 extending from the bottom end 20 outside the chamber 12. The diameter of the lip 32 is less than the diameter of the sidewall 16.

The liner refill unit 14 includes a perimeter wall 34 and a shoulder 36 disposed between the perimeter wall 34 and the liner bag housing 38. The liner bag housing 38 includes a second feed opening 40 at its center. A continuous string of a plurality of separable polyethylene liner bags is housed in the liner bag housing 38. A top of a liner bag is protruding through opening 40 and is generally designated as 42.

The refuse chamber 12 is releasably coupled to the refill liner unit 14 to form a unit shown in FIG. 2. When the lip 32 of the refuse chamber 12 is inserted into the shoulder 36 of the liner refill unit 14, the refuse chamber 12 is frictionally secured to the liner refill unit 14.

When the refuse chamber 12 is coupled to the liner refill unit 14, the first feed opening 28 aligns with the second feed opening 40 to allow the top 42 of a liner bag 44 to be pulled through both the first and second feed openings 28, 40.

FIG. 4 illustrates the liner bag 44 in a first position where the liner bag 44 is substantially housed in the liner refill unit 14, but the top 42 of a first liner bag 44 extends through the first and second feed openings 28 and 40 of the refuse chamber 12 and the liner refill unit 14. The top 42 of the liner bag 44 is then grasped and lifted toward the top end 18 of the refuse chamber 12.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the top 42 of the liner bag 44 is lifted proximate the top end 18 of the refuse chamber 12, the bag top is opened up and draped over the flange 25 surrounding the top end 18 of the refuse chamber 12 and the liner bag is covering the inner surface 24 of the refuse chamber 12. The bottom 46 of the liner bag 44 extends through the first and second feed openings 28 and 40 and is attached to the top end of a second liner bag.

FIG. 8 shows the top 42 of the liner bag 44 tied off by a tie 48 common to most commercially available liner bags. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, when the liner bag 44 is lifted from the refuse chamber 12, the next liner bag in the continuous string of separable liner bags is pulled through the first and second openings 28 and 40 and is ready to cover the inner wall 24 of the side wall 16 of the refuse chamber 12. In the bag-converting operation, the plurality of bags join to one another in a chain and perforations may be provided to allow ease of separation of a filled bag to the one next in line in the liner refill unit 14.

It is contemplated that the refill unit 14 will be sold through retail outlets such as grocery, hardware and home improvement stores to residential and commercial purchasers for attachment to a reusable trash receptacle 12.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment is provided to meet the disclosure requirements of the patent laws. It is not intended to be limiting. The scope if the invention is defined exclusively by the following claims.

Claims

1. A trash receptacle unit comprising:

a) a refuse chamber for holding refuse, said refuse chamber having (i) a first end having an open top; (ii) a second end having a bottom surface including a first feed aperture formed therethrough; (iii) a continuous upstanding side wall having an inner and outer surface, said side wall extending between the first and second end of the refuse chamber; (iv) a flange following a perimeter of the open top proximate the first end; and (v) a lip segment extending from the second end of the refuse chamber; and

b) a liner refill unit having (i) a housing segment housing a continuous length of a plurality of separable plastic trash can liners, said housing segment further including a top surface with a second feed aperture formed therethrough; (ii) a perimeter wall; and (iii) a shoulder extending between the housing segment and the perimeter wall; wherein, when the lip segment of the refuse chamber is inserted into the shoulder, the refuse chamber is removably coupled to the liner refill unit, the first feed aperture aligns with the second feed aperture, and a trash can liner can be pulled through the first and second feed aperture to line the inner surface of the side wall of the refuse chamber.

2. The trash receptacle in claim 1 wherein the liner refill unit is generally circular, wherein said perimeter wall is generally cylindrical and the shoulder and housing segment are generally circular.

3. The trash receptacle in claim 1 wherein the second feed aperture is located at the center of said top surface of the housing segment.

4. The trash receptacle in claim 1 wherein the first feed aperture is located at the center of said bottom surface of the refuse chamber.

5. A trash receptacle unit comprising:

a) a replaceable liner housing unit containing a supply of separable plastic trash can liners in a helically wound string;

b) a trash can; and

c) a means for securing the replaceable base unit to the bottom of the trash can, with access to the trash can liners through cooperating aligned openings in a bottom surface of the trashcans and in the base unit.

6. The trash receptacle in claim 5, wherein the replaceable base unit is generally disc-shaped.

7. The trash receptacle in claim 5 wherein the means for securing the replaceable base unit to the bottom of the trash can includes a lip segment extending from a bottom of the trash can and a shoulder disposed in the replaceable base unit wherein the lip segment is inserted into the shoulder segment removably securing the base unit to the trash can.