Washable trash-can cover that is secured to the can by its handles

Abstract

A washable flexible trash can cover includes a tear-resistant water repellent flexible washable material substantially circular in shape, including an elastic perimeter which thereby gathers the perimeter inwardly for snugly fitting the material over the open ends of trash cans of varying perimeters, and two slits provided on opposing ends of a diameter of the washable material through which trash can handles can pass and clamp down over the cover, securing the cover snugly to the cans while permitting normal access to the handles. The material can be made of non-toxic biodegradable cloth. The material can be made of tear-resistant nylon. The elastic perimeter preferably includes an elastic band attached to the material by folding the perimeter of said material over said band and sewing, gluing or adhering the folded over perimeter to the material. The material can be made from material that is non-toxic when incinerated. The material can be fabric impregnated with insecticide. The material can be fabric impregnated with insect repellant. The material can be reusable after washing. The cover can include retaining means.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to co-pending Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/821,984 filed Aug. 10, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates after market flexible trash can tops.

BACKGROUND

Trash cans are a regular, often unpleasant, part of daily life. Trash cans are typically sold with plastic lids which are not very flexible, and frequently get lost or damaged. The lids cannot be washed in a washing machine, or dried in a drier. Lids are not provided with insect repellant. The lids are not biodegradable. The lids are not easy to store. The lids are not made of material that is non-toxic when incinerated.

The following represents a list of known related art:

		Date of Issue/
Reference:	Issued to:	Public.:
US Pat 7051895	Toussant, et al.	May 30, 2006
US Pat 7011228	Ordiway	Mar. 14, 2006
US Pat 6585415	Malaspina	Jul. 1, 2003
US Pat 6341713	Kilmer	Jan. 29, 2002
US Pat 5709312	Lake	Jan. 20, 1998
US Pat 5562229	Callahan	Oct. 8, 1996
US Pat 5553733	Rosenthal	Sep. 10, 1996
US Pat 5325986	Richardson, et al.	Jul. 5, 1994
US Pat 5318821	Bradley, Jr.	Jun. 7, 1994
US Pat 5305907	Richardson, et al.	Apr. 26, 1994
US Pat 5165567	Richardson, et al.	Nov. 24, 1992
US Pat 5033232	Vaughn	Jul. 23, 1991
US Pat 4043368	Forte, Sr.	Aug. 23, 1977
US Pat 3396885	Giondi	Aug. 13, 1968
US Pat 3376995	Hunt	Apr. 9, 1968
US Pat 3352449	Jackson	Nov. 14, 1967
US Pat 2821230	May	Jan. 28, 1958
US Pat 1421628	Watkins	Jul. 4, 1922
US Pat 6988632	Hardy, et al.	Jan. 24, 2006
US Pat 6921202	Raterman	Jul. 26, 2005
US Pat 6598341	Weder	Jul. 29, 2003
US Pat 6584704	March	Jul. 1, 2003
US Pat 6508282	Garofalo, et al.	Jan. 21, 2003
US Pat 6385905	Weder	May 14, 2002
US Pat 6349845	Duncan	Feb. 26, 2002
US Pat 6276551	Miller, II	Aug. 21, 2001
US Pat 6164824	McGlew, et al.	Dec. 26, 2000
US Pat 6145696	Duncan	Nov. 14, 2000
US Pat 6108974	Herzog-Mesrobian, et al.	Aug. 29, 2000
US Pat 6100514	Davis	Aug. 8, 2000
US Pat 6062412	Jacobsmeyer, Jr.	May 16, 2000
US Pat 6061836	Peters	May 16, 2000
US Pat 6036047	Dobbie	Mar. 14, 2000
US Pat 5989656	Soloman	Nov. 23, 1999
US Pat 5924241	Hodge	Jul. 20, 1999
US Pat 5915580	Melk	Jun. 29, 1999
US Pat 5896698	Nurse	Apr. 27, 1999
US Pat 5865407	Effa	Feb. 2, 1999
US Pat 5687469	Weder	Nov. 18, 1997
US Pat 5524384	Weder, et al.	Jun. 11, 1996
US Pat 5356046	Burke	Oct. 18, 1994
US Pat 5239775	Landau	Aug. 31, 1993
US Pat 5195271	Bradley, Jr.	Mar. 23, 1993
US Pat 5169025	Guo	Dec. 8, 1992
US Pat 5083644	Collins, III	Jan. 28, 1992
US Pat 5056679	Lonczak	Oct. 15, 1991
US Pat 5026115	Barnes	Jun. 25, 1991
US Pat 5010987	Evans	Apr. 30, 1991
US Pat 4979548	Howard; III et al.	Dec. 25, 1990
US Pat 4954384	Hartwell	Sep. 4, 1990
US Pat 4947794	Baldwin	Aug. 14, 1990
US Pat 4914860	Richardson	Apr. 10, 1990
US Pat 4844286	Jacobson	Jul. 4, 1989
US Pat 4822178	Taylor	Apr. 18, 1989
US Pat 4782873	Messner, et al.	Nov. 8, 1988
US Pat 4607674	Noble	Aug. 26, 1986
US Pat 4601391	Gibbs, et al.	Jul. 22, 1986
US Pat 4538385	Kandarian	Sep. 3, 1985
US Pat 4514995	Curtis, et al.	May 7, 1985
US Pat 4293015	McGough	Oct. 6, 1981
US Pat 4246945	Sterling	Jan. 27, 1981
US Pat 4216620	Weder, et al.	Aug. 12, 1980
US Pat 4178977	Sur et al.	Dec. 18, 1979
US Pat 4177847	Spindler	Dec. 11, 1979
US Pat 3981340	Anderson, et al.	Sep. 21, 1976
US Pat 3916967	Carlisle, et al.	Nov. 4, 1975
US Pat 3915329	Zaks	Oct. 28, 1975
US Pat 3862614	Kovac	Jan. 28, 1975
US Pat 3727659	Shuford	Apr. 17, 1973
US Pat 3507312	Petersen	Apr. 21, 1970
US Pat 3168209	Brookins, et al.	Feb. 2, 1965
US Pat 2432662	Gardner	Dec. 16, 1947
US Pat 2209778	Krasowski	Jul. 30, 1940
US Pat 2302259	Rothfuss	Nov. 17, 1942
US Pat 2201779	Lathrop	May 21, 1940
US Pat 2080108	Brandstein	May 11, 1937
US Pat 1697751	Blake	Jan. 1, 1929
US Pat 1520647	Hennegan	Dec. 23, 1924
US Pat 1368864	Turner	Feb. 15, 1921
US Pat 1237914	Kunath	Aug. 21, 1917
US Des Pat D457936	Garofalo, et al.	May 28, 2002
US Des Pat D429047	Hirtel	Aug. 1, 2000
US Des Pat D421729	Sedora et al.	Mar. 21, 2000
US Des Pat D522789	Kahn	Jun. 13, 2006
US Des Pat D515765	Toronjo, III	Feb. 21, 2006
US Des Pat D436035	Natke	Jan. 9, 2001
US Des Pat D396772	Hanzok	Aug. 11, 1998
US Pub 20040086205A1	Raterman	May 6, 2004
US Pub 20030082320A1	Toussant, et al.	May 1, 2003
US Pub 20030010415A1	Szuszkiewicz	Jan. 16, 2003
US Pub 20050076980A1	Hamdan	Apr. 17, 2005
US Pub 20030226846A1	Horwath	Dec. 11, 2003

The teachings of each of the above-listed citations (which does not itself incorporate essential material by reference) are herein incorporated by reference. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

Thus, while the foregoing body of art indicates it to be well known to have a trash can lid, the art described above does not teach or suggest a flexible, foldable, washable trash can lid which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) can be purchased after-market, sold separately from the trash can; (2) is foldable and flexible to store into a small space; (3) fits snugly around the trash can; (4) has slits through which trash can handles fit; (5) can be secured by folding trash can handles through slits and clamping down; (6) can be treated with insect repellant; (7) can be treated with insecticide; (8) can be biodegradable; (9) can be used to cover things besides trash can such as wheelbarrow full of leaves so that the leaves won't blow away; and (10) can be non-toxic when incinerated among others.

SUMMARY AND ADVANTAGES

A washable flexible trash can cover includes a tear-resistant water repellent flexible washable material substantially circular in shape including an elastic perimeter gathering said perimeter inwardly for snugly fitting said material to trash cans of varying perimeters, and two slits provided on opposing ends of a diameter of said washable material through which trash can handles can pass and clamp down over said cover, securing said cover snugly to said can. The material can be made of non-toxic biodegradable cloth. The material can be made of tear-resistant nylon. The elastic perimeter preferably includes an elastic band sewn to said material by folding the perimeter of said material over said band and sewing the folded over perimeter to said material. The material can be made from material that is non-toxic when incinerated. The material can be fabric-treated with insecticide. The material can be fabric treated with insect repellant. The material can be reusable after washing.

The washable flexible trash can top of the present invention presents numerous advantages, including: (1) can be purchased after-market, sold separately from the trash can; (2) is foldable and flexible to store into a small space; (3) “fits” snugly around the trash can; (4) has slits through which trash can handles fit; (5) can be secured by folding trash can handles through slits and clamping down; (6) can be treated with insect repellant; (7) can be treated with insecticide; (8) can be biodegradable; (9) can be used to cover things besides trash can such as wheelbarrow full of leaves so that the leaves won't blow away, and (10) can be non-toxic when incinerated. Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Further benefits and advantages of the embodiments of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a washable flexible trash can cover.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a washable flexible trash can cover in use.

FIG. 3 shows a close up detail of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED-DESCRIPTION

Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention, mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like reference materials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding, or similar components in differing figure drawings. The figure drawings associated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensional accuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus on clarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a washable flexible trash can cover 10 includes a tear-resistant water repellent flexible washable material 12 substantially circular in shape including an elastic perimeter 14 gathering said perimeter inwardly for snugly fitting said material 12 to trash cans C of varying perimeters, and two slits 16 provided on opposing ends of a diameter of said washable material 12 through which trash can handles H can pass and clamp down over said cover 10, securing said cover 10 snugly to said can C. The material 12 can be made of non-toxic biodegradable cloth. The material 12 can be made of tear-resistant nylon. The elastic perimeter 14 preferably includes an elastic band 18 sewn to said material 12 by folding the perimeter of said material over said band and sewing the folded over perimeter to said material. Elastic band 18 may also be attached using fabric adhesives as an alternative to sewn seams, with fabric adhesives including fabric glues, hem tape, and heat activated adhesive strips. The material 12 can be made from material that is non-toxic when incinerated. The material 12 can be fabric impregnated with insecticide. The material 12 can be fabric impregnated with insect repellant. The material 12 can be reusable after washing.

In the preferred embodiment, the cover 10 includes a waterproof material, washable and reusable, such as sport nylon for example, nylon or other strong thread, elastic, bias tape or other binding material, a sewing machine to sew it all together, Velcro™ type patch, button or snap. Alternatively, the cover 10 can be made of disposable material. The cover 10 is round, gathered gently with elastic around the outer edge for snug fit to the can C so water from rain cannot enter the can C. The handles H of the can C go through bound slits 16 on either side of the cover 10 and clamp down to keep the cover 10 from blowing away. All material is soft for safe handling by users and sanitation workers.

In operation, when the trash can C is full, pull gently on the perimeter 14 of the cover 10 and fit it over the can C top. Pull handles H of the can C through the slits 16 provided. Push handles H down against can sides to secure lid. When the can C is emptied by sanitation workers they can remove it easily and safely and just toss the cover 10 into the can C so it does not get lost. Optional retention means, such as a Velcro™ type patch, button, or snap (not shown) on one handle opening may be included to keep cover 10 attached to can C after cover 10 is removed from the open end of can C.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications and changes may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. It will, of course, be understood that modifications of the invention, in its various aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some being apparent only after study, others being matters of routine mechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, function or property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodiments are possible, their specific designs depending upon the particular application. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiments herein described but should be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A washable flexible trash can cover, comprising:

A tear-resistant water repellent flexible washable material substantially circular in shape, including an elastic perimeter which thereby gathers said perimeter inwardly for snugly fitting said material over the open ends of trash cans of varying perimeters; and

Two slits provided on opposing ends of a diameter of said washable material through which trash can handles can pass and clamp down over said cover, securing said cover snugly to said cans while permitting normal access to said handles.

2. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said material is made of non-toxic biodegradable cloth.

3. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said material is made of tear-resistant nylon.

4. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said elastic perimeter comprises an elastic band sewn to said material by folding the perimeter of said material over said band and sewing the folded over perimeter to said material.

5. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said elastic perimeter comprises an elastic band encompassed within said material by folding the perimeter of said material over said band and connecting the folded over perimeter to said material with adhesive.

6. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said material is made from material that is nontoxic when incinerated.

7. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said material is fabric impregnated with insecticide

8. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said material is fabric impregnated with insect repellant.

9. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said material is reusable after washing.

10. The washable flexible trash can cover of claim 1, wherein said cover further includes retention means for maintaining said flexible cover connected to a trash can after removing said cover from said trash can open end.