TRASH CONTAINER HOLDER

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to trash container holders that may be temporarily or permanently attached to supports such as trees, campers, and porches.

Description

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to trash container holders that may be temporarily or permanently attached to supports such as trees, campers, and porches.

Outdoor activities such as camping and barbequing are enjoyed by many people. Most such outdoor activities usually involve collecting trash or garbage generated during the activity. Traditionally, conventional trash cans and garbage bags may be used a trash receptacles at outdoor activities, however they may take up a large amount of space in a vehicle and may be cumbersome to handle. Additionally, trash can type trash containers may be blown over or away by gusts of wind during the outdoor activity spilling the garbage in the process.

In a exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a trash container holder is provided. The trash container holder for supporting a trash container, the trash container holder including a bracket, a coupler attached to the bracket, and a support assembly adapted to couple to the coupler and support the trash container.

In a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, yet another embodiment of a trash container holder is provided. The trash bag holder for removably supporting a trash bag above a ground surface, the trash bag holder including a bracket constructed of a first and second plates being coupled together in an angular relationship, the first and second plates includes interior and exterior surfaces, a pair of tubes coupled to the bracket, each tube coupled to the interior surface of one of the first and second plates, a support assembly including a hoop having first and second perpendicularly extending ends adapted to removably couple to pair of tubes, the hoop adapted to support the trash bag, an a plurality of clips adapted to couple the trash bag to the hoop.

In still a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, yet another embodiment of a trash container holder is provided. The trash bag holder for removably supporting a trash bag above a ground surface, the trash bag holder including a bracket including an upper vertically extending surface, a lower vertically extending surface, and a horizontal surface extending between the upper and lower vertically extending surface, a coupler including a pair of tubes coupled to the lower vertically extending surface of the bracket, a support assembly including a hoop having first and second perpendicularly extending ends adapted to removably couple to pair of tubes, the hoop adapted to support the trash bag, and a plurality of clips adapted to couple the trash bag to the hoop.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description of the drawings particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a representative view of a trash container holder mounted to a tree;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the exemplary trash container holder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a representative view of another embodiment of a trash container holder shown mounted to a fifth wheel camper; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the exemplary trash container holder shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention described herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Rather, the embodiments selected for description have been chosen to enable one skilled in the art to practice the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, one exemplary embodiment of a trash container holder 12 is represented. Trash container holder includes bracket 18, support assembly 17, strap 28, and clips 16. In this exemplary embodiment, trash container holder 10 is shown removably coupled to a tree by strap 28. Conventional trash container or trash bag 14 is shown supported by support assembly 17. It should be understood that trash container holder 10 may be coupled to any suitable support structure such as a tree, a porch, a light pole, or a fence pole. Additionally, bracket 18 may include an aperture or apertures to accept fasteners to permanently mount trash container holder 10 to any suitable structure. Trash container holder may also be attached to a suitable structure by an adhesive or welding.

Bracket 18 includes a pair of plates 20 and 22 coupled or formed together in a angular relationship. In the exemplary embodiment, bracket 18 is formed from a piece of angle iron, however any suitable material such as aluminum, wood, fiberglass, or plastic may be used. Additionally, plates 20 and 22 may be formed to define any suitable angle. In the exemplary embodiment, the angle between plates 20 and 22 is about 90 degrees. The interior surface of plates 20 and 22 is coupled to a pair of longitudinally extending tubes 27 and 26. Tubes 27 and 26 may be welded to plates 20 and 22, attached by adhesive, or any other suitable means of attachment. In the exemplary embodiment, bracket 18 also includes a pair of extensions 24 and 25. Extensions 24 and 25 may be used to support addition trash containers or trash bags. For example, additional trash bags may be wrapped around extensions 24 and 25 for later use.

Support assembly 17 includes hoop 12 and perpendicularly extending ends 13 and 15. Ends 13 and 15 are inserted into tubes 26 and 27 of bracket 18 to assemble trash container holder 10. Clips 16 may be used to couple trash bag 14 to hoop 12. In the exemplary embodiment, hoop 12 is circular in shape however any suitable shape may be used such as a square, a rectangle, or a triangle. Support assembly 17 may be constructed of steel, plastic, brass, stainless steel, galvanized steel, copper, aluminum, or any other suitable material. Clips 16 may be constructed of plastic, steel copper, galvanized steel, aluminum, brass, or any other suitable material. Additionally, clips 16 may be a spring tension design, a plastic compression design, or any other suitable design.

Strap 28 removably couples bracket 18 to a vertical support surface such as tree 11, shown in FIG. 1. Strap 28 is positioned between tubes 26 and 27 and the interior surfaces of plates 22 and 20. Tubes 26 and 27 are rigidly coupled to plates 22 and 20, however a gap is maintained between tubes 26 and 27 and the interior surfaces of plates 22 and 20 to allow strap 28 pass through. Strap 28 may include a fastening or locking device to secure strap 28 around a support. Suitable fastening devices may include Velcro, snaps, buckles, pins, or any other suitable fastener mechanism. Additionally, strap 28 may be constructed of a fabric such as nylon, webbing, chain, elastic material, or any other suitable material.

Another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is represented in FIGS. 3 and 4. Trash container holder 30 is similar to trash container holder 10 with the exception that bracket 32 of trash container holder 30 is configured to be attached to a fifth wheel king pin 46, as shown in FIG. 3. Bracket 32 includes upper surface 38, lower surface 34, and horizontal surface 36 extending between upper surface 38 and lower surface 34. Bracket 32 may be referred to as a “Z” bracket and may be constructed of any suitable rigid material such as steel, aluminum, copper, brass, wood, fiberglass, plastic, galvanized steel, or stainless steel. Bracket 32 also includes tubes 40 and 42 coupled to lower surface 34. Tubes 40 and 42 accept ends 13 and 15 of support assembly 17. Bracket 32 is coupled to king pin 46 by strap 28 as shown in FIG. 3.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, variations and modifications exist within the spirit and scope of the invention as described and defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A trash container holder for supporting a trash container, the trash container holder including:

a bracket;

a coupler attached to the bracket; and

a support assembly adapted to couple to the coupler and support the trash container.

2. The trash container holder of claim 1, wherein trash container is a trash bag.

3. The trash container holder of claim 2, wherein the support assembly includes a hoop having first and second perpendicularly extending ends adapted to removably couple to the coupler.

4. The trash container holder of claim 3, wherein the coupler includes a pair of tubes adapted to receive the first and second perpendicularly extending ends of the support assembly.

5. The trash container holder of claim 4, further comprising a clip adapted to removably secure the trash container to the hoop of the support assembly.

6. The trash container holder of claim 1, further comprising a strap adapted to removably couple the bracket to one of a tree, a post, a porch, a camper, a fifth wheel king pin, a light pole, and a boat dock.

7. The trash container holder of claim 6, wherein the strap includes an adjustment mechanism to permit mounting the bracket, the adjustment mechanism selected from the group comprised of Velcro, a buckle, a plurality of snaps, and a ratchet mechanism.

8. The trash container holder of claim 1, wherein the bracket is constructed of angle iron having a pair of interior surfaces and a pair of exterior surfaces.

9. The trash container holder of claim 8, wherein the coupler includes a pair of tubes coupled to the interior surfaces of the angle iron.

10. The trash container holder of claim 1, wherein the bracket includes an upper vertically extending surface, a lower vertically extending surface, and a horizontal surface extending between the upper and lower vertically extending surfaces.

11. The trash container holder of claim 10, wherein the coupler includes a pair of tubes coupled to the lower vertically extending surface of the bracket.

12. The trash container holder of claim 11, further comprising a strap adapted to removably couple the upper vertically extending vertical surface of the bracket to a fifth wheel king pin.

13. The trash container holder of claim 1, further comprising a pair of extensions adapted to support additional unused trash containers.

14. The trash container holder of claim 1, wherein the bracket includes an aperture adapted to receive a fastener to permanently mount the trash container holder.

15. A trash bag holder for removably supporting a trash bag above a ground surface, the trash bag holder including:

a bracket constructed of a first and second plates being coupled together in an angular relationship, the first and second plates includes interior and exterior surfaces;

a pair of tubes coupled to the bracket, each tube coupled to the interior surface of one of the first and second plates;

a support assembly including a hoop having first and second perpendicularly extending ends adapted to removably couple to pair of tubes, the hoop adapted to support the trash bag; and

a plurality of clips adapted to couple the trash bag to the hoop.

16. The trash bag holder of claim 15, further comprising a strap adapted to removably couple the trash bag holder to vertical support.

17. The trash bag holder of claim 16, wherein the strap is positioned between the pair of tubes and the interior surfaces of the first and second plates to secure the bracket to the vertical support.

18. A trash bag holder for removably supporting a trash bag above a ground surface, the trash bag holder including:

a bracket including an upper vertically extending surface, a lower vertically extending surface, and a horizontal surface extending between the upper and lower vertically extending surface;

a coupler including a pair of tubes coupled to the lower vertically extending surface of the bracket;

a support assembly including a hoop having first and second perpendicularly extending ends adapted to removably couple to pair of tubes, the hoop adapted to support the trash bag; and

a plurality of clips adapted to couple the trash bag to the hoop.

19. The trash bag holder of claim 18, further comprising a strap adapted to removably couple the upper vertically extending surface of the bracket to a fifth wheel king pin.

20. The trash bag holder of claim 19, wherein the upper vertically extending surface includes an aperture adapted to receive a fastener to couple the trash bag holder to a vertical support.