Apparatus for holding a container at an angle
A device for holding a container, where the container in turn is used to hold objects to be disposed of, is disclosed. The device is designed to hold the container in a tilted or angled orientation so that objects placed within the container move away from the entry location due to gravity and thereby provide for more efficient use and safer use of the container. By tilting the container to one side, and in particular, towards the side furthest from the entry location of the container, the objects placed into the container fall away from the entry location to allow for more objects to be placed into the container. In one embodiment the device may be a wire-type cage configuration with rotatable legs. In another embodiment the device may itself be a solid or partially solid container with a rotatable leg section.
The present invention relates to an apparatus to hold a container where the container encloses disposed of objects, such that the container, as held by the container holder, is safer and may be used more efficiently. More particularly this invention relates to a device that holds a container at an angle so that items placed into the container are compelled by gravity to move away from the area directly proximate to the input location or opening, thereby allowing for a more efficient and safer use of the container. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the device is configured to hold a sharps container at an angle so that disposed of objects placed into the sharps container fall away from the sharps container opening. Because the sharps objects do not become tangled directly below the sharps container opening, the users will not be injured by a sharps object that may be extending out of the sharps container opening, and the sharps container will hold more disposed of sharps items, thereby increasing the safety, utility and efficiency of the sharps container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONDisposal containers are used in many varied settings, including offices, schools, and laboratories. These containers are often used to hold disposable medical waste, or disposable devices or instruments that themselves may contain disposable medical waste. For several reasons, including safety for the users, such containers are generally configured with a top or cover having an opening through which the objects or things to be disposed of are placed. The container cover may often times be sealed to the container to prevent users from having ready access to the disposed of objects and possibly become injured or infected by the disposed of device and/or medical waste.
Because the entry point for the container (a) is often limited to one opening, (b) is often limited in size, and the container cover (c) is sealed to the container, all waste placed into the container, or objects placed into the container tend to fall into a position directly below or adjacent to the opening. As more objects are placed into the container, and each falls directly below the opening, the objects tend to fall into each and become tangled with each other similar to a pile of sticks. As the objects become tangled directly below the opening, they create a hazard by preventing future objects from being readily placed into the container opening. Moreover, because the objects tend to become tangled and clog the space directly proximate to the container opening, a substantial volume of the container remains unused. In the normal usage, the use of the container is potential unsafe, and is very inefficient.
Certain prior art exists that could have application to use as a container holder. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,923, issued to Krentel teaches a knock down display rack having a top container support, a container and a base. Krentel is designed and configured for use as a retail display rack. Nothing in Krentel suggests usage of the rack to hold containers into which disposed of objects are to be placed. As such, Krentel does not address the needs for a laboratory environment container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,735, issued to Clinton discloses a device for supporting a flexible bag into which objects may be placed. The Clinton device is configured out of a rigid wire-like material, but appears to be limited to holding a flexible bag. Moreover, there is no suggestion that the Clinton device has any capability of tilting a bag or container, which possibly could be placed within the wire cage device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,246, issued to Chaffin et al., teaches a container drain support that includes a base with support to receive and position various shaped containers. Chaffin et al. does not, however, disclose that a container into which disposed of objects could be safely placed in the container support such that the container could be more safely and more efficiently use. Indeed, the only suggestion of Chaffin et al. is to provide a device to hold containers upside down so that gravity assists in getting out of the container all of the product which was in the container, which is the opposite of the problem identified for current containers holding disposed of objects.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,502, issued to Marsh shows a terrestrial wall mounted medical waste disposal container with a flexibly pivoted top closure lid. Marsh does not, however, disclose any means to hold the disposal container at any angle that would permit more efficient use of the volume within the container.
Accordingly, none of the above prior art patents, nor any other device within the knowledge of the applicant, addresses the needs of a laboratory environment container holder to make use of such containers safer and more efficient.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus to hold such containers which in turn hold objects to be disposed of, such that the objects fall into a position away from the entry point in the container and allow for a safer and more efficient use of the total container volume. Such improvements and results have not been seen or achieved in the relevant art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe above noted problems, which are inadequately or incompletely resolved by the prior art are completely addressed and resolved by the present invention.
A preferred aspect of the invention is a device for holding a container that is used to hold objects to be disposed of, comprising a wire cage, a set of legs connected to the wire cage such that the wire cage is tiltable to one side thereby holding the container at an angle.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device for holding a container that is used to hold objects to be disposed of, is a wire cage, wherein the wire cage holds the container at an angle greater than approximately 15 degrees from a vertical orientation.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container holding device is designed to hold a sharps container, and the container holding device is held at a desired tilt angle by a rotatable element attached to a wall or other vertical element.
In yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container holding device, further includes a motor to shake the container holding device and container held in the holding device.
In still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a device for holding a container at an angle, where the container is used to hold objects to be disposed of, comprising at least three ring elements, said ring elements shaped to encircle the perimeter of the container, at least two U-shaped reinforcing elements attached to the at least three ring elements whereby said at least two U-shaped reinforcing elements and the at least three ring elements form a cage device shaped to hold the container, a set of legs rotatably connected to the cage device whereby the cage device holding the container may be tilted to one side at a stable angle.
The invention will be best understood by reading the following detailed description of the several disclosed embodiments in conjunction with the attached drawings that briefly described below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFor the purpose of illustrating the invention, the attached drawings show several embodiments and aspects of several embodiments that are presently preferred. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and instrumentality shown in the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is an apparatus for holding a disposable waste container to make the container safer and more efficient to use. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is an apparatus designed to hold a disposable waste container at an angle such that waste or objects holding or covered in waste that are placed into the container move by gravity to a point furthest away from the container opening. Another preferred embodiment of the present invention further includes a small motor to gently vibrate or shake the disposable waste container to urge the waste or waste containing devices into a more compact orientation within the container volume.
In one preferred embodiment, the present invention may be configured similar to a wire cage construction. As shown in
There are several different means of effectively connecting the horizontal ring elements 20 to the vertical band elements 30. In one embodiment, the connection points 25 may be a solder material. Another embodiment, illustrated in
For ease of storage and shipment, the leg section 50 may be rotatable about an axis along the top most horizontal ring element 20 as shown in
To maintain the rotatable leg section 50 in place at a preferred angle with respect to the vertical band elements 30, a leg section retainer 55 may be employed as shown in
The length of the leg section retainer 55 sets the angle of tilt 40. If the leg section retainer 55 is shorter, then the angle of tilt 40 is smaller or more acute from a pure horizontal reference. Similarly, if the leg section retainer 55 is longer, then the angle of tilt 40 is larger, and the container 10 is tilted further from an upright position. The leg section retainer 55 may be configured, in a preferred embodiment, to be telescoping, so that the user may determine an appropriate tilt angle 40 for the container 10, by setting a desired leg section retainer 55 length. In preferred embodiments, the tilt angle 40 for the container, as shown in
When the tilt angle 40 is smaller, the container holder 10 and container 90 are in a more upright position, and will have a tendency to return to an approximate upright position because the center-of-gravity of the container holder 10 and container 90 is located over the bottom of the container, and not over the side of the container. This is considered to be an unstable configuration. When the tilt angle 40 is larger and the center-of-gravity of the combined container holder 10, container 90 and any contents in the container is located over the side of the container in a tilted configuration, then the container 90 is in a more stable configuration, in that the container within the container holder will tend to remain in the tilted configuration.
To further increase the stability of the container holder, non-slip container feet 60 may be placed at the bottom of the leg section 50 as shown in
The inventive container holder is configured to allow easy placement of a container 90 into the container holder 10. The container 90 is simply slid into the wire cage 10 formed by the horizontal ring elements 20 and vertical elements 30. Similarly, once the container 90 is full, or when a user otherwise wishes to remove and replace the container 90 with an empty container 90, the container can simply be lifted out of the container holder 10. There are no locks to undo, no latches to remove or unseat before removing a container from the container holder 10.
As shown in
By comparison, as shown in
As shown in
The container holder as shown in
As previously noted, in another preferred embodiment, a small electric motor 80 may be attached to the container holder 10. As shown in
The above detailed description teaches certain preferred embodiments of the present inventive container holder for allowing safer and more efficient use of a container to hold disposable objects. While preferred embodiments have been described and disclosed, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that modifications and/or substitutions are possible and such modifications and substitutions are within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. It is likewise understood that the attached claims are intended to cover all such modifications and/or substitutions.
Claims
1. A device for holding a container that is used to hold objects to be disposed of, comprising:
- a wire cage;
- a set of legs connected to the wire cage such that the wire cage is tiltable to one side thereby holding the container at an angle.
2. The device for holding a container of claim 1, wherein the set of legs are rotatably connected to the wire cage.
3. The device for holding a container of claim 1, wherein the wire cage holds the container at an angle greater than approximately 15 degrees from a vertical orientation.
4. The container holding device of claim 1, wherein the wire cage and legs are constructed of stainless steel.
5. The container holding device of claim 1, wherein the wire cage is constructed of stainless steel.
6. The container holding device of claim 1, further comprising a leg retaining element connected at one end to the set of legs and connectable at the other end of said leg retaining element to the wire cage.
7. The container holding device of claim 6, wherein the leg retaining element is retractable and extendable to permit varied tilt angles of the container holding device.
8. The container holding device of claim 1, wherein the wire cage is constructed of a powder coated metallic material.
9. The container holding device of claim 1, wherein the set of legs are constructed of a powder coated metallic material.
10. The container holding device of claim 1, wherein the wire cage is constructed of approximately 3/16 inch diameter wire elements.
11. The container holding device of claim 1, wherein the set of legs may be laterally extended to prevent the container holding device from tipping, thereby increasing lateral stability.
12. The container holding device of claim 1, further comprising a motor to shake the container holding device and container.
13. A sharps container holding device comprising a container holding section and means to hold the container holding section and the sharps container within the container holding section at a set tilt angle.
14. The sharps container holding device of claim 13, wherein the means to hold the container holding section is a rotatable element attached to a side of the container holding device.
15. The sharps container holding device of claim 13, wherein the means to hold the container holding section is a wall mounted rotatable element.
16. The sharps container holding device of claim 13, wherein the container holding section is a solid thermoplastic container.
17. The sharps container holding device of claim 13, wherein the container holding section is a perforated thermoplastic container.
18. The sharps container holding device of claim 13, wherein the container holding section is a wire cage.
19. A device for holding a container at an angle, where the container is used to hold objects to be disposed of, comprising:
- at least three ring elements, said ring elements shaped to encircle the perimeter of the container;
- at least two U-shaped reinforcing elements attached to the at least three ring elements whereby said at least two U-shaped reinforcing elements and the at least three ring elements form a cage device shaped to hold the container;
- a set of legs rotatably connected to the cage device whereby the cage device holding the container may be tilted to one side at a stable angle.
20. The container holding device of claim 19, further comprising a motor to shake the container holding device and container thereby urging the disposed of objects to the lowest point within the container.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 25, 2005
Publication Date: Jan 25, 2007
Inventor: John Woodcock (Downingtown, PA)
Application Number: 11/188,517
International Classification: A47F 5/12 (20060101);