Vacuum relief chute for a trash receptacle or the like
A receptacle has sidewalls and a bottom defining an open ended volume. The open end of the receptacle is located at the top of the receptacle. The receptacle relieves a vacuum using a vacuum relief chute that extends from the top of the receptacle towards the bottom of said receptacle and defines an open passage therein.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/611,047 filed Sep. 17, 2004, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
FIELD OF INVENTIONThe field of the invention is trash receptacles, including kitchen trash bins, and compacting machines that use bags or other liners within the outer container.
BACKGROUNDA vacuum often forms between a bag and a receptacle, or stacked receptacles (such as five gallon plastic paint buckets) that can be difficult to overcome when removing the bag from the receptacle or receptacles from a stack. Overcoming the vacuum during removal causes stress on the bag, receptacle, and person doing the removing, which can result in damage or injury. This invention seeks to address the vacuum problem while minimizing the cost of such receptacles, which are often inexpensive. Its further goal is to retain the overall functionality of such a receptacle.
SUMMARYThis is accomplished by insuring no vacuum can form in the bottom of the receptacle in the first place. The various embodiments described herein accomplish this by connecting the bottom of the receptacle to atmosphere.
To that end, the inventive receptacle has sidewalls and a bottom defining an open ended volume. The open end of the receptacle is located at the top of the receptacle. The receptacle relieves a vacuum using a vacuum relief chute that extends from the top of the receptacle towards the bottom of said receptacle and defines an open passage therein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)
The invention described herein relieves the vacuum build-up in a trash receptacle 10 using one of several embodiments. The receptacle 10 of each embodiment has several common features, including a bottom panel 12 opposite an open top 20, and sidewalls 14 having inner faces 16, and outer faces 18. The sidewalls 14 and bottom 12 define an inner volume 26 for receiving a bag 11, as opposed to the outer volume 28 located outside of the inner volume 26. Further, the receptacles shown are all rectangular, and have corners 24, although it should be understood that other receptacles could be round or polygonal.
The chute 30 is located in a corner 24 of the receptacle, which is a convenient location but multiple chutes 30, or chutes 30 located at positions other than the corners 24, may be preferable.
In both of the double wall versions of the embodiments, the walls could have spaced-apart reinforcements 67 between them to keep them from permanently deforming. Such reinforcements are shown in
Although the invention has been shown with a rectangular receptacle, the vacuum relief chutes herein could be used in circular or other shaped receptacles. Further, lids and the like could be used with the receptacle in any of the known manner of lids and tops used in receptacles.
Claims
1. A trash receptacle for receiving a bag comprising:
- a bottom surface and sidewalls extending substantially perpendicularly therefrom to define an inner volume of the receptacle, at least one of the sidewalls having a chute connecting the inner volume to an outer volume outside the inner volume.
2. A receptacle for receiving a bag comprising:
- sidewalls and a bottom defining an open ended volume, the open end being a top of the receptacle;
- a vacuum relief chute extending from the top of the receptacle towards the bottom of said receptacle, said chute defining an open passage.
3. The receptacle of claim 2 wherein the passage opens at either of two ends of the chute, located at the top and near the bottom of the receptacle respectively.
4. The receptacle of claim 3, wherein the chute is located at a corner of the receptacle.
5. The receptacle of claim 4, wherein multiple chutes are located at multiple corners of the receptacle.
6. The receptacle of claim 4, wherein the chute is located along a sidewall of the receptacle.
7. The receptacle of claim 3, wherein the end of the chute located at the top of the receptacle is outside of the inner volume, and the end of the chute located at the bottom of the receptacle is within the inner volume.
8. The receptacle of claim 7, wherein the chute passes through the sidewall.
9. The receptacle of claim 3, wherein at least one of the sidewalls of the receptacle comprises an inside wall joined by a joining member to an outside wall, the inside wall and outside wall being spaced apart from each other to define the chute therebetween.
10. The receptacle of claim 9, wherein multiple joining members define multiple chutes between the inner wall and outer wall.
11. The receptacle of claim 2, wherein the vacuum relief chute is formed between parallel sidewalls, an interior one of which has an open discontinuity along a portion thereof.
12. The receptacle of claim 3, wherein the chute is formed by a protrusion adjacent the inner wall of the receptacle, and the passage is defined between the protrusion and the inner wall.
13. The receptacle of claim 3, wherein the chute is removable.
14. The receptacle of claim 13, wherein the chute is defined by a removable insert that engages the sidewall.
15. The receptacle of claim 2, wherein a second identical receptacle can be substantially held within the receptacle of claim 2.
16. A receptacle for receiving a bag comprising:
- sidewalls and a bottom defining an open ended volume, the open end being a top of the receptacle;
- a vacuum relief ridges extending from the top of the receptacle towards the bottom of said receptacle, said ridges defining open channels therein.
17. A receptacle for receiving a bag comprising a means for relieving a vacuum buildup in the bottom of said receptacle when a bag is removed therefrom.
18. A receptacle for receiving a bag comprising:
- at least one sidewall and a bottom defining an open ended volume inside the receptacle and a volume outside the receptacle;
- a vacuum relief element joining the open ended volume inside the receptacle to the volume outside the receptacle.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 14, 2005
Publication Date: Mar 23, 2006
Applicant: Anderson Associates (Lancaster, PA)
Inventor: Luke Anderson (Lancaster, PA)
Application Number: 11/226,890
International Classification: B65D 90/00 (20060101);