Lined Waste Receptacles

Abstract

A waste bin construction consists of a waste bin in the form of a generally upwardly open container (30) having a base and one or more side walls (3). Running down a side wall is a vent tube (31) having one open end at or near the base and the other at or near the upper rim of the container. The lower end of the tube is connected to a housing (32) for the receipt of a deodorising block, over which air drawn through the vent tube (31) passes when a bin liner is lifted out of the container (30). The tube (31) and housing (32) may be retrofitted to an existing bin.

Description

This invention relates to lined waste receptacles, specifically (but not exclusively) to domestic waste bins which are conventionally used with a plastics “bin liner”.

The use of lined bins, the latter usually also consisting of plastics, is widespread in domestic kitchens. It is also well-known that such arrangements suffer from two specific and identified disadvantages:

The first is that there is a tendency for waste placed into such a lined bin, particularly organic kitchen waste, sooner or later to start smelling. This is aesthetically undesirable and while, if the smell becomes too unpleasant to tolerate, the liner and its contents can clearly be removed and disposed of and a fresh liner inserted, very often the odour is unpleasant, but not sufficiently so to merit such action. Lids for bins are known in a variety of constructions and these serve to limit the emission of odours, but not, of course, to suppress them entirely.

The second problem with such bins is the well-known one of extracting the liner, particularly if the bin is of relatively large size and the amount of waste material in it is substantial. The waste material in itself tends to press the plastics liner against the normally plastics interior surface of the bin itself, and, as the bag is raised, suction occurs to press the liner more firmly against the interior surface of the bin. The frictional forces between liner and bin surface then make it very difficult to extract the liner, and the extra pull required by the person doing so can lead to tearing of the liner itself, either where gripped by the person seeking to extract it, or, more seriously, rupture elsewhere, which may lead to soiling of the interior of the bin, thus defeating the object of putting a bin liner in it in the first place.

Various of solutions to the second problem have been proposed. US-A-2004/0084456, U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,876 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,518 all disclose the use of a vent tube extending from near the open top of the bin to a position on the base of the bin, enabling the liner to be more easily removed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,759 discloses a carrier frame for lifting the bin liner out, the side members of which are formed as vent tubes.

Location of such a vent tube enables air to penetrate to the bottom of the bin between the liner and the floor of the bin itself so counteracting any suction as the liner starts to be extracted. The effect may be enhanced by the provision of air around the wall(s) of the bin from lateral perforations in the vertical portion of the vent tube, but usually the flow through the vent tube itself is sufficient to enable considerably easier extraction of the bin liner without risk of damage to it.

According to the present invention, there is provided a waste bin construction consisting of a waste bin in the form of a generally upwardly open container having a base and one or more side walls, and which includes, running down the side wall(s), a vent tube having one open end at or near the base and the other at or near the upper rim of the container, and characterised by a housing located adjacent the end of the vent tube and located at or near the base of the bin, and comprising a receptacle for the receipt of a deodorising block.

The housing may vary widely in design, but, for example, is conveniently in the form of a perforated wall housing, for example of generally circular form, having a recess in it for the receipt of a deodorising block. In one embodiment, the housing may have a skirt around its edge which may rest upon the floor of the bin, the skirt having a cutout portion or aperture into which the vent tube may fit. Preferably the recess for the receipt of a deodorising block has perforated walls, and it may be provided with a suitable cover, e.g. to prevent direct contact between the plastics of the bin liner and the deodorising block.

The major advantage of such a construction is that, for most of the time, the deodorising effect is relatively muted and deodorising block consumption accordingly small, but when the liner is removed, the airflow down the vent tube and emerging at the lower end of the tube serves to evaporate material from the deodorising block and thus release, at precisely the point in time at which it is aesthetically desirable, a pleasant deodorising/antiseptic/fresh smell which, of course, counteracts any smell arising from the contents of the liner. The composition of the deodorising block may, if desired, include other components, e.g. antiseptic agents.

The housing may be located on the base of the bin adjacent a side wall of the container, or it may be located on the base of the bin but away from the side wall(s), in which case the vent tube has a section running across a part of the base of the container. Alternatively, the housing may be located on a side wall of the bin, relatively near its base.

A major advantage of the invention as described above is that it may be retrofitted to an existing bin. For example, a bin conversion kit may be sold consisting of a tube, optionally with perforations along its sides, and of length adequate to extend most of the way up the bin wall(s) and a receptacle adapted to fit the end of the tube and to receive a deodorising block. In the case where the housing is to be placed on the base of the bin away from the side wall(s), the kit may include an elbow joint piece for fitting to the end of the tube, and a short length of tube designed to fit the joint piece and the housing. The main tube which runs vertically when fitted may be made of a number of interfitting sections, thus reducing the overall package size needed for such a kit. Means may be provided for attaching the tube(s) to the interior of the bin, for example by way of an adhesive strip which can be covered, until it is desired to stick the tube(s) on to the interior surface of the bin, by a conventional protective release sheet or foil. As an alternative, double-sided adhesive pads may be used to stick the tube in place. If it is desired to have the tube removable, e.g. for very occasional cleaning purposes, the double-sided adhesive pads may include, between the two adhesive faces, a splittable burr fastener.

In order to enable the customer to match the length(s) of the tube(s) easily and simply to his or her particular bin, the conversion kit may also include means for cutting what will normally be oversize tube lengths to fit the bin in question. Tubes of extruded plastics material, for example generally oval section plastics conduit, may easily be cut to appropriate lengths with a small hacksaw. If the main tube is made up of several interfitting sections, by making them differing lengths and with some extras, a selection of sections may be chosen which, when fitted together, measure slightly less than the height of the bin, so enabling the top of the tube to be at or near the upper rim, and its lower end to be at or near the bin base, and avoiding the need to cut any tube section to length.

The invention is illustrated by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cutaway view of part of a bin showing one way of putting the invention into practice;

FIG. 2 is a part-sectional view of the components shown in FIG. 1, in vertical section; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective cutaway view of an alternative embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, in which like reference numbers are used for like components, the invention is shown applied to a standard plastics waste bin 1 of conventional type, shown cut away in FIG. 1. As seen there, the bin generally consists of a floor 2 and four side walls 3. The invention naturally works just as well in the case of a single-walled, i.e. cylindrical or slightly frusto-conical, bin.

Located on one wall 3 is a vertical tube 4 with an open top 7. At its lower end, tube 4 is connected by a moulded plastics elbow 8 to a short horizontal tube 9. Tube 9 passes through an aperture in the skirt of a moulded deodorising block holder 10 located on floor 2. Holder 10 has apertures 12 in its skirt and upper face. Its upper face also has a recess 13 for the receipt of a deodorising block 14. The side wall of recess 13 has perforations 15. The recess is capped by a lid 17.

The assembly of tube 4, elbow 8, tube 9 and holder 10 is kept in place by three double-sided adhesive burr fastener pads 20, one side of each of which is adhered to wall 3 or floor 2 of the bin.

When a bin liner full of waste is extracted from the bin, this can be done without the usual suction and sticking as air is drawn in through the open end 7 of tube 4 and penetrates around the sides of the liner (via holes 5) and to the increasing (as the liner is lifted) space below it (via tube 9 and apertures 12). It also flows through apertures 15, past the block 14 and, as a result, fragrance and deodorising components reach the bin and the space around it as the liner is finally lifted clear to provide a fresh smell. Thus the twin problems of odour and difficulty of liner extraction are alleviated. If desired, lid 17 may be perforated to enhance the dispensing of components from block 14 when a bin liner is removed.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment installed in a cylindrical bin diagrammatically indicated at 30, and where a section of the wall has been omitted from FIG. 3 to enable a vent tube 31 and deodorising block holder 32 to be seen. Vent tube 31 is made up of three interfitting sections. A clip 33 is adhesively mounted on the bin wall and holds the upper end of tube 31 in place. A double-sided adhesive pad holds holder 32 in place. Holder 32 has a recess 35 for the receipt of a deodorising block, and a lid 36 may cover recess 35. The lower end of tube 31 is a press fit into a socket 37 formed in holder 32.

When a full bin liner is withdrawn, air flows down tube 31, into the interior of recess 35, round the deodorising block, and via perforations 38 in the walls of holder 32, into the space inside bin 30.

Claims

1. A waste bin construction consisting of a waste bin in the form of a generally upwardly open container having a base and one or more side walls, and which includes, running down the side wall(s), a vent tube having one open end at or near the base and the other at or near the upper rim of the container, and wherein a housing adjacent the end of the vent tube located at or near the base of the bin, the housing comprising a receptacle for the receipt of a deodorising block.

2. A waste bin construction according to claim 1 wherein the housing is in the form of a perforated wall housing having a recess in it for the receipt of a deodorising block.

3. A waste bin construction according to claim 2 wherein the housing is circular and includes a skirt around its edge which rests upon the floor of the bin, the skirt having a cutout portion or aperture into which the vent tube may fit.

4. A waste bin construction according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the receptacle for the deodorising block has perforated walls, and is provided with a cover to prevent direct contact between the plastics of a bin liner placed in the bin and the deodorising block.

5. A bin conversion kit for adapting a waste bin to constitute a waste bin according to any one of the preceding claims, the kit consisting of a tube of length adequate to extend most of the way up the bin wall(s) and a housing adapted to receive a deodorising block and having a socket for the receipt of the tube.

6. A bin conversion kit according to claim 5 and including a substantially right angled elbow joint piece for fitting to the end of the tube, and a short further length of tube designed to fit the joint piece and extend across the floor of the bin to the housing.

7. A bin conversion kit according to claim 5 or 6 and including means for attaching the tube(s) to the interior of the bin.

8. A bin conversion kit according to claim 7 wherein the means for attaching the tube(s) are double-sided adhesive pads which may be used to fix the tube(s) in place.

9. A bin conversion kit according to claim 8 wherein the double-sided adhesive pads include, between the two adhesive faces, a splittable burr fastener.