GB2262278A - Waste bins - Google Patents

Abstract

A waste bin 1 for medical waste comprises a lower part 2 and an upper part 3, each of which is formed by folding from a separate cardboard blank. The lower part 2 has an open top and incorporates a bottom wall and four side walls 5 defining an inner space for receiving a liner to be supported by the side walls 5. The upper part 3 has an open bottom and incorporates four side walls 6 overlapping the side walls of the lower part so as to trap the upper portion of the liner therebetween. The upper part 3 also has a lid 7 which is pivotable between open and closed positions and which, when open, permits introduction of waste into the bin. The trapping of the upper portion of the liner between the side walls of the two parts of the bin reliably prevents the liner from becoming dislodged in such a way as to allow leakage in use of the bin. Furthermore the bin itself may be designed to be disposable with the waste. <IMAGE>

Description

"Waste Bins" This invention relates to waste bins and is more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with bins for medical waste.

Much soft waste which is disposed of in hospitals, such as swabs and dressings, for example, is of such a nature that it is important that such waste is disposed of safely and hygienically without risk of infection to cleansing operatives or hospital staff.

Where a waste bin of non-disposable type is used to receive such waste, it is usual for the waste to be received either directly in the bin or in a removable bag supported by a holder, the bag being removable with the waste when the bin is to be emptied to avoid the need to re-expose the waste during emptying. However, in the one case, the bin must be cleaned after emptying and, in the other case, there is a risk that the bag may split during emptying to expose the waste. For this reason it is more convenient and labour saving to make use of a bin which is disposable with the waste.

It is an object of the invention to provide a waste bin which may be disposed of with the waste and which protects operatives from contamination by the waste.

According to the present invention, there is provided a waste bin comprising a lower part having an open top and incorporating a bottom wall and side walls formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and defining an inner space for receiving a liner to be supported by the side walls, and an upper part having an open bottom and incorporating side walls formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and overlapping the side walls of the lower part, the upper part also having a lid which, when open, permits introduction of waste into the bin.

Such an arrangement enables a plastics liner to be disposed within the inner space for receiving the waste and to be supported by having an upper portion turned over the upper edges of the side walls of the lower part of the bin, and the upper part of the bin to be placed on top of the lower part to conceal the turned-over portion of the liner from view. The liner is provided to prevent leakage of any liquid waste from the bin, and the trapping of the upper portion of the liner between the side walls of the two parts of the bin reliably prevents the liner from becoming dislodged in such a way as to allow leakage in use of the bin.

Preferably the lid forms an extension of one of the side walls of the upper part and is pivotable between open and closed positions.

The lid may be lockable in its closed position, for example by means of a tab engaging in a slot, so that, when the bin is to be disposed of, the lid may be locked in its closed position to prevent subsequent spillage of the contents of the bin.

The side walls of each of the upper and lower parts may be formed from a single sheet of material by folding along a series of parallel lines and by joining opposite edges of the sheet either with an adhesive or by stitching or stapling.

Furthermore the bottom wall of the lower part may be formed by interlocking flaps forming extensions of the side walls of the lower part.

The invention also provides a waste bin formed from flexible sheet material by folding and comprising an upper part having side walls and folded-in portions forming extensions of upper portions of at least some of the side walls which are folded inwardly of the side walls to form inclined guide surfaces which slope inwardly towards a mouth through which waste may be introduced into the bin.

The guide surfaces serve to partially close off the top opening of the bin, and to guide waste downwardly and inwardly through the mouth into the interior of the bin.

Preferably the upper part of the bin also has a lid forming an extension of one of the side walls and pivotable into a position in which it closes off the mouth.

In a preferred embodiment the upper portion each of the side walls, other than the side wall of which the lid forms an extension, is formed with an extension folded inwardly to form a respective guide surface which adjoins the guide surface of at least one other folded-in portion.

In this case each folded-in portion may be interlocked with at least one other folded-in portion, for example by means of a tab engaging in a slot.

At least some of the side walls may be formed with hand holds.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a preferred waste bin in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bin; Figures 2 and 3 are respectively top and bottom views of the bin; and Figures 4 and 5 show the blanks for forming the upper and lower parts of the bin respectively.

Referring to Figure 1, the bin 1, which is provided for soft medical waste, comprises a lower part 2 and an upper part 3, each of which is formed by folding from a separate cardboard blank. The lower part 2 has an open top and incorporates a bottom wall 4 (see Figure 3) and four side walls 5. The upper part 3 has an open bottom and incorporates four side walls 6, two of which are provided with hand holds 8, and a lid 7 hinged to one of the side walls 6. The side walls 5 of the lower part 2 have a height which substantially corresponds to the height of the bin and define an interior space which receives a plastics liner (not shown) which is supported by having its upper portion turned over the upper edges of the side walls 5.After fitting of the liner to the lower part 2, the upper part 3 is slid over the upper portion of the lower part 2 so that the side walls 6 of the upper part 3 overlap the side walls 5 of the lower part 2, as shown in Figure 1, with the upper portion of the liner trapped therebetween.

As is best seen in Figure 2, three of the side walls 6 of the upper part 3 have extensions which are folded inwardly to form inclined guide surfaces 11 which slope inwardly towards a mouth 10 through which waste is introduced into the bin. The guide surfaces 11 partially conceal the waste, and two of the guide surfaces 11 have flaps 12 extending downwardly from their lower edges on opposite sides of the mouth 10. The guide surfaces 11 are interlocked by means of tabs 13 extending into slots 14, and additionally by means of extensions (not shown) of the flaps 12 extending beneath the front guide surface 15.

The front guide surface 15 is also provided with a locking slot 16 within which a tab 17 on the lid 7 is engageable to lock the lid in a closed position in which it is recessed into the top of the upper part 3.

Figure 4 shows the cardboard blank for the upper part 3 from which the side walls 6 are formed by folding the blank along a series of parallel lines 17 and bonding the opposite edges of the blank together by applying adhesive along an overlap 18 After forming of the side walls 6, a portion 19 forming an extension of one of the side walls 6 is folded inwardly along a double fold line 40 and is then folded outwardly at a slight angle along a fold line 41 so as to form the front inclined guide surface 15. Two further portions 38 and 39 forming extensions of two further side walls 6 are then folded inwardly along double fold lines 42 and outwardly along fold lines 43 at slight angles to form the two further inclined guide surfaces 11, the guide surfaces 11 being interlocked by the tabs 13 extending within the slots 14.

The downwardly extending flaps 12 are formed by further folding the portions 38 and 39 along fold lines 44. The lid 7 is itself formed by folding an extension of the fourth side wall 6 inwardly along a double fold line 45 and outwardly along a fold line 46 so that, when closed, the lid 7 is recessed within the top of the upper part 3.

The double fold lines 40 and 42 provide a gap between the insides of the side walls 6 and the folded-in portions 19, 38 and 39 to accommodate the side walls 5 of the lower part 2.

Respective cutouts 47 in two of the side walls 6 and in the portions 38 and 39 forming extensions of these side walls are provided to form the hand holds 8 which are above the lid 7 when the lid 7 is recessed within the top of the upper part 3 and locked in position by engagement of the tab 17 in the slot 16, so that the hand holds 8 can be employed for carrying the bin when closed.

As may be seen in the bottom view of the bin shown in Figure 3, the bottom wall 4 is formed from four interlocking flaps 20, 21, 22 and 23 forming extensions of the side walls 5 of the lower part 2 and interlocking in a manner indicated by broken lines in Figure 3. Such an arrangement is capable of supporting a high degree of loading applied to the bottom wall.

The form of the interlocking tabs 20, 21, 22 and 23 will be better appreciated by referring to Figure 5 which shows the cardboard blank for the lower part 2.

The side walls 5 are formed by folding the blank along a series of parallel lines 24 and by bonding the opposite edges of the blank together by applying adhesive along an overlap 25. To form the bottom wall 4 the flap 21 is first turned inwardly along a fold line 26, and the two flaps 20 and 22 are then turned inwardly along the fold lines 27 and 28 so as to overlap the flaps 20 and 22 with one another and so as to engage portions of the flaps 20 and 22 beneath a cutaway edge 29 of the flap 21. Finally the flap 23 is folded inwardly along the fold line 30 so as to overlap the flaps 20 and 22, and an end tab 30 of the flap 23 is tucked beneath the cutaway edge 29 of the flap 21. It is to be noted that two of the side walls 5 are provided with cutouts 48 for alignment with the cutouts 47 in the side walls 6 of the upper part so that the cutouts 48 also form parts of the hand holds 8 and the upper and lower parts are held together during carrying of the bin by means of the hand holds 8.

Claims (11)

1. A waste bin comprising a lower part having an open top and incorporating a bottom wall and side walls formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and defining an inner space for receiving a liner to be supported by the side walls, and an upper part having an open bottom and incorporating side walls formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and overlapping the side walls of the lower part, the upper part also having a lid which, when open, permits introduction of waste into the bin.

2. A bin according to Claim 1, wherein the lid forms an extension of one of the side walls of the upper part and is pivotable between open and closed positions.

3. A bin according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the lid is lockable in its closed position by means of a tab engaging in a slot.

4. A bin according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the side walls of each of the upper and lower parts are formed from a single sheet of material by folding along a series of parallel lines and by joining opposite edges of the sheet.

5. A bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the bottom wall of the lower part is formed by interlocking flaps forming extensions of the side walls of the lower part.

6. A waste bin formed from flexible sheet material by folding and comprising an upper part having side walls and folded-in portions forming extensions of upper portions of at least some of the side walls which are folded inwardly of the side walls to form inclined guide surfaces which slope inwardly towards a mouth through which waste may be introduced into the bin.

7. A bin according to Claim 6, wherein the upper part of the bin also has a lid forming an extension of one of the side walls and pivotable into a position in which it closes off the mouth.

8. A bin according to Claim 7, wherein the upper portion of each of the side walls, other than the side wall of which the lid forms an extension, is formed with an extension folded inwardly to form a respective guide surface which adjoins the guide surface of at least one other folded-in portion.

9. A bin according to claim 8, wherein each foldedin portion is interlocked with at least one other foldedin portion.

10. A bin according to any preceding claim, wherein at least some of the side walls are formed with hand holds.

11. A waste bin substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.