Trash disposal system

• US 5,083,704 A
• Filed: 08/06/1990
• Issued: 01/28/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: George Rounthwaite
• Original Assignee: George Rounthwaite
• Inventors: Rounthwaite, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Gary L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILANO, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US07/562,826
• Time in Patent Office: 540 Days
• Field of Search: 232/43.1, 232/43.4, 232/43.2, 232/44, 232/1 R, 15/310, 15/314, 15/319, 209/702, 209/706, 209/924, 209/942, 406/19, 406/20, 406/117, 406/147, 406/148, 406/151, 406/168, 43/58, 43/61, 43/64
• US Class Current: 232/43.2
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 1/0093 specially adapted for collecting refuse from arrangements in buildings
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 2210/1125 Colors
• CPC Class Codes: B65F 5/005 by pneumatic means, e.g. by suction conveying materials in bulk pneumatically in general B65G53/04
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 209/942 Operator selects destination of item

Abstract

An automatic trash disposal system (20) employing a trash discharge station (56) located internally of a building structure (22) and having a plurality of dedicated trash disposal ports (60P, 60M, 60G, 60NR) for receipt of different categories of recyclable trash items and/or non-recyclable trash items; a remotely located trash housing (21) exterior of the building structure (22) and housing a plurality of dedicated removable trash receptacles (36, 38, 39, 40); conduits (64P, 64M, 64G, 64NR) coupling the trash disposal ports (60P, 60M, 60G, 60NR) with respective different ones of the remotely located dedicated trash receptacles (36, 38, 39, 40); and, a blower/motor combination (68/79) for drawing a vacuum in the enclosed remotely located trash housing (21) and the conduits (64P, 64M, 64G, 64NR) for vacuum transferal of items of trash inserted into a particular one of the interior trash disposal ports (60P, 60M, 60 G, 60NR) to a particular one of the remotely located dedicated trash receptacles (36, 38, 39, 40). The automatic trash disposal system (20) may be incorporated with and as part of a central vacuum system; and/or, it may be used to remove rodents (90) from within the building structure (22).

Claims

1. Trash handling apparatus for transferring differing items of trash by category from a structure containing a place of trash generation to a remotely located trash pickup point so as to facilitate at least one of disposal and recycling thereof;

said apparatus comprising, in combination;

a) a structure containing a place of trash generation;

b) an enclosed trash housing disposed at or adjacent a trash pickup point and remote from said structure, said housing including;

i) normally closed, externally openable, first door defining means; and

ii) a plurality of dedicated internal locations for removably housing respective ones of a plurality of trash containers each dedicated to receive a different category of trash;

c) a plurality of trash containers removably positioned within respective different ones of said plurality of dedicated internal locations within said trash housing;

d) at least one trash disposal point located remote to said housing and internally of said structure, said trash disposal point including;

iii) a plurality of trash disposal ports respectively dedicated to receive specific ones of different categories of trash; and

,

iv) second door-defining means movable across the face of said plurality of trash disposal ports for permitting opening of any selected one of said disposal ports and closure of the balance of said disposal ports;

e) vacuum-tight conduit defining means extending between said coupling said plurality of disposal ports and said plurality of designated internal locations in said enclosed trash housing;

f) means for drawing a vacuum in said enclosed trash housing; and

,

g) means for selectively activating and deactivating said vacuum drawing means so that when a user desires to discard a particular item of trash, said vacuum discharge means can be activated to create a vacuum in said housing and in said conduit defining means so that upon shifting of said second door-defining means to open a particular one of said plurality of disposal ports dedicated to receive the particular trash item to be discarded, the user can insert that trash item into the now open dedicated trash disposal port, thereby causing such trash item to be vacuum conveyed from said open one of said plurality of disposal ports through said conduit defining means to the respective one of said plurality of dedicated internal locations in said trash housing for discharge into the proper one of said plurality of trash containers whereby said trash is sorted by category so as to permit ease of at least one of recycling and disposal thereof, as required.

2. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said vacuum-tight conduit defining means comprises a plurality of conduits open at their opposite ends and extending between and coupling respective ones of said plurality of designated internal locations in said enclosed trash housing.

3. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said dedicated trash containers, internal locations and disposal ports are visually coded to signify the category of trash to be delivered to each of said containers.

4. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said dedicated trash containers, internal locations and disposal ports are color coded to signify the category of trash to be delivered to each of said containers.

5. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said conduit-defining means extending from said trash disposal point located internally of said structure to said enclosed trash housing located externally of and remote from said structure are buried underground intermediate said structure and said housing.

6. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said plurality of conduits are buried underground intermediate said structure and said housing.

7. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for selectively activating and deactivating said vacuum drawing means includes a power source and means coupling said power source to said vacuum drawing means, said coupling means including a normally open switch which, upon closure, completes an energizing circuit from said power source to activate said vacuum drawing means.

8. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said switch is adapted to be manually actuated by the user.

9. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said switch is actuated by movement of said second door defining means.

10. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 7 further including an additional conduit extending from said enclosed housing into said structure with said additional conduit terminating in a plurality of normally closed central vacuum system inlet ports spaced throughout said structure, said plurality of normally closed central vacuum system inlet ports including switch means coupled to said power source and said means for drawing a vacuum in said housing and operable to complete said energizing circuit from said power source to said vacuum drawing means to activate said vacuum drawing means whenever one of said central vacuum system inlet ports is opened and a portable vacuum hose is inserted therein.

11. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 7 further including an additional conduit extending from said enclosed housing into said structure with said additional conduit terminating in at least one normally open rodent inlet port situated in one or more locations within said structure likely to be rodent infested and readily accessible to rodents;

means for supporting rodent enticing bait within said additional conduit spaced inwardly from each said rodent inlet port; and

, sensing means interposed between each said rodent inlet port and said support means for rodent enticing bait for detecting the presence of a rodent entering said rodent inlet port and for generating an output signal indicative of the presence of a rodent for directly coupling said power source to said vacuum drawing means to activate the latter and cause the rodent to be vacuum conveyed through said additional conduit and to be discarded into one of said remotely located trash containers.

12. Trash handling apparatus as set forth in claim 10 further including a second conduit extending from said enclosed housing into said structure with said second additional conduit terminating in at least one normally open rodent inlet port situated in one or more locations within said structure likely to be rodent infested and readily accessible to rodents;

means for supporting rodent enticing bait within said second additional conduit spaced inwardly from each said rodent inlet port; and

, sensing means interposed between each said rodent inlet port and said support means for rodent enticing bait for detecting the presence of a rodent entering said rodent inlet port and for generating an output signal indicative of the presence of a rodent for directly coupling said power source to said vacuum drawing means to activate the latter and cause the rodent to be vacuum conveyed through said second additional conduit and to be discarded into one of said remotely located trash containers.

13. The method of disposing of trash falling into designated ones of a plurality of different categories at least certain of which are recyclable, said method comprising the steps of:

a) positioning an enclosed housing having a normally closed, externally openable, door formed therein at a location remote from the point(s) where trash is generated and generally proximate to a trash pick-up point;

b) establishing a plurality of discrete, dedicated, internal locations within the enclosed housing with each such location dedicated to receive and hold for subsequent pickup a particular different one of a plurality of different categories of trash;

c) positioning a plurality of removable dedicated trash containers in the plurality of discrete, dedicated, internal locations in the housing with each such trash container dedicated to receive a particular one of a plurality of different categories of trash;

d) creating at least one trash disposal point having a plurality of adjacent, dedicated, normally closed trash disposal ports within a structure where trash is generated;

e) coupling the plurality of adjacent, dedicated, normally closed trash disposal ports to respective different ones of the plurality of dedicated trash containers in the remotely located enclosed housing;

f) coupling a normally inactive vacuum source to the remotely located enclosed housing; and

,

g) providing a user-controlled, switch-actuated, power source for activating the vacuum source so as to draw a vacuum in the enclosed housing and the plurality of conduits when the user opens one of the adjacent dedicated, normally closed trash disposal ports within the structure where trash is generated so as to permit the user to insert any given particular one of different categories of trash in the particular open one of the dedicated trash disposal ports and causing vacuum conveyance of the particular items of trash inserted into such opened disposal port into the proper one of the plurality of dedicated trash containers removably positioned within the enclosed housing for subsequent pickup and either disposal or recycling, as required.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein the user-controlled, switch-actuated power source includes a manually operable switch adjacent the trash disposal point.

15. The method as set forth in claim 14 wherein the switch is closed in response to opening of one of the normally closed trash disposal ports.

16. The method as set forth in claim 13 further including the step of:

coupling one of the plurality of trash containers in the enclosed housing to a vacuum-tight, open-ended conduit extending from such trash container to and through the structure with such conduit forming part of a central vacuum system and terminating in a plurality of normally closed central vacuum system inlet ports each including a switch for completing an energizing circuit to power the normally inactive vacuum source when a normally closed central vacuum system inlet port is opened and a portable vacuum hose is inserted therein.

17. The method as set forth in claim 13 further including the steps of:

coupling one of the plurality of trash containers in the enclosed housing to a vacuum-tight, open-ended conduit extending from such trash container to and through the structure with such conduit terminating in at least one open rodent inlet port formed in the structure in one or more regions thereof prone to rodent infestation;

positioning a rodent enticing bait within the normally open conduit; and

, providing a sensor intermediate the rodent inlet port and the rodent enticing bait for detecting the presence of a rodent entering the rodent inlet port and for producing an output signal upon sensing the presence of a rodent and for coupling the switch-actuated power source to the vacuum source for energizing the latter and causing the rodent to be vacuum conveyed through the conduit and discharged into a remotely located trash container disposed within the enclosed trash housing.

18. The method as set forth in claim 16 further including the steps of:

coupling one of the plurality of trash containers in the enclosed housing to a vacuum-tight, open-ended conduit extending from such trash container to and through the structure with such conduit terminating in at least one open rodent inlet port formed in the structure in one or more regions thereof prone to rodent infestation;

positioning a rodent enticing bait within the normally open conduit; and

, providing a sensor intermediate the rodent inlet port and the rodent enticing bait for detecting the presence of a rodent entering the rodent inlet port and for producing an output signal upon sensing the presence of a rodent and for coupling the switch-actuated power source to the vacuum source for energizing the latter and causing the rodent to be vacuum conveyed through the conduit and discharged into a remotely located trash container disposed within the enclosed trash housing.