Garbage can

• US 20010020619A1
• Filed: 02/23/2001
• Published: 09/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hailo-Werk Rudolf Loh GmbH & Co. KG
• Original Assignee: Hailo-Werk Rudolf Loh GmbH & Co. KG
• Inventors: Pfeifer, Rudolf, Muller, Gerhard, Weller, Ernst Friedrich
• Granted Patent: US 6,626,317 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 220/263
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 1/16 Lids or covers B65F1/1421 takes precedence; pedal or hand-lever operated for containers in general B65D
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 1/163 Pedal-operated lids
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 220/908 Trash container

Abstract

The present invention relates to a garbage can consisting of a container holding garbage, and a lid which can be opened by pressing down a foot lever located in the lower front area of the garbage can, with the lid consisting of two wedge-shaped lid segments (10, 11) of approximately the same size, each of which has its own external swing axis (12, 13) and which swing upward like double-winged doors when foot lever (15) is pressed down. After the lid is opened, the garbage entry opening is fully accessible. Several garbage cans of this type can be seamlessly combined into a larger unit.

Claims

1. A garbage can consisting of a container to hold the garbage, and a lid which can be opened by pressing down a foot lever located in the front lower area of the garbage can, said garbage can characterized in that the lid consists of two wedge-shaped lid segments of about equal size, each of which have their own swing axis, and which swing upward like double-wing doors when said foot lever is pressed down.

2. The garbage can of

claim 1

, characterized in that said swing axes of the lid segments run approximately parallel to the external edge of the garbage can.

3. The garbage can of

claim 2

, characterized in that the mechanism for opening said lid segments includes a rod which is operatively connected to said foot lever, with at least one vertically positioned bar for each lid segment, with the upper end of each said bar being attached in an articulated manner to the bottom of each said lid segment.

4. The garbage can of

claim 3

, characterized in that said bars are connected at each of their upper ends in an articulated manner with a short lever arm, which in turn is connected rigidly with said lid segments.

5. The garbage can of

claim 4

, characterized in that the articulation point of said bar in relation to said lever arm is positioned at a certain distance from said swing axis of the lid segments.

6. The garbage can of

claim 5

, characterized in that said bars have a crimp in each of their upper ends pointing inward away from the lid segments.

7. The garbage can of

claim 6

, characterized in that said bars are positioned by guide slots in the garbage can casing, so said bars are movable in a direction perpendicular to their lengthwise axis.

8. The garbage can of

claim 7

, characterized in that a rod connected with said foot lever has at least one operating section, the end of which is connected in an articulated manner with both of the vertically positioned bars, so that the end of the operating section connected to both of the bars is lifted when said foot lever is pressed down.

9. The garbage can of any of claims 3 through 8, inclusive, characterized in that a damping device is provided for, by means of which the reverse motion (falling motion) of said bars and thus of lid segments is braked after the release of the foot lever.

10. The garbage can of

claim 9

, characterized in that said damping device includes at least one rack-and-pinion mechanism or similar gear elements.

11. The garbage can of any of claims 3 through 8, inclusive, characterized in that at least one spring mechanism is provided, preferably a recuperating spring or the like, in order to assist in moving the bars back to the closed position from the opened position.

12. The garbage can of any of claims 1 through 8, inclusive, characterized in that the garbage can generally has a partial circle-shaped, preferably quarter circle-shaped contour, and the lid segments each have an approximately eighth-circle shaped contour.

13. The garbage can of any of claims 3 through 8, inclusive, characterized in that the garbage can generally has a partial circle-shaped, preferably quarter circle-shaped contour, and the lid segments each have an approximately eighth-circle shaped contour, and that a damping device is provided for, by means of which the reverse motion (falling motion) of the bars and thus of the lid segments is braked after the release of the foot lever.

14. The garbage can of

claim 13

, characterized in that said damping devise includes at least one rack-and-pinion mechanism or similar gear elements.

15. The garbage can of

claim 11

, characterized in that the garbage can generally has a partial circle-shaped, preferably quarter circle-shaped contour, and the lid segments each have an approximately eighth-circle shaped contour.

16. The garbage can of

claim 15

, characterized in that the garbage can generally has a partial circle-shaped, preferably quarter circle-shaped contour, and the lid segments each have an approximately eighth-circle shaped contour, and further characterized in that the garbage can has a pedestal on which the container holding garbage rests, and which frames this container, and upon said pedestal there is a foot-operated pedal hoop positioned in a swinging manner, said pedal hoop having a partial ring-shaped section, which encompasses the garbage can at some distance to the base area, and said pedal hoop attached to the pedestal by two bearing in the pedestal, allowing for the swinging of the pedal hoop, and two rods constrained by said bearings which extends inside and through the garbage can towards the rear corner of the partial circle-shaped garbage can, and in the rear corner, said rods are connected to vertically positioned bars which open and close the said lid segments.