GB2211397A - A support structure for a container e.g. dustbin - Google Patents

Abstract

A support structure (11) for an upwardly open container (12) such as a dustbin or the like has a base (14) with an upwardly open socket or an at least partially surrounding upstanding rim (10, 17). The bottom of the container (12) is provided with projections or a projecting annular lip for releasable interengagement with cooperating engagement means (17, 18, 19). The base is massive or hollow and adapted to receive a massive filling so that its weight constitutes at least a substantial part of the overall weight of the container and support structure combination to prevent tipping by wind or animals whilst allowing ready release of the container for emptying. <IMAGE>

Description

A SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR A CONTAINER The present invention relates to a support structure for an upwardly open closable container, such as a dustbin or the like, and is particularly intended to provide a support structure in the form of a holder for domestic dustbins to prevent them from being blown away by the wind, particularly when empty or only partly full, and also to make it difficult for dogs, foxes or other animals to upset them and scatter their contents.

A large majority of domestic dustbins are now made of a lightweight plastics material, which makes them very susceptible to being displaced by high winds, leading to the disadvantage of scattered dustbin contents which, among other things, is unhygienic and inconvenient, and in some cases can result in the dustbin being blown a considerable distance from its intended location. In order to mitigate the disadvantage of scattered contents some dustbin manufacturers fit lids with an inter-engaging lip or projections which can cooperate with corresponding projections on the dustbin itself so that the lid cannot be disengaged from the dustbin except by a predetermined deliberate movement, such as a partial rotation of the lid, in order to separate the engagement of the projections on the lid and those on the rim of the dustbin.Such arrangements are, however, rarely sufficient to withstand the forces exerted on the dustbin when it is blown over by a strong wind and strikes the ground, sometimes many times as the dustbin is turned over and over or rolled along by the wind.

The present invention seeks, therefore, to provide a support structure and retainer for an upwardly open closable container such as a dustbin or the like, which can retain a dustbin or like container against the action of the wind and which, at the same time, can assist in making it difficult for a dog or fox to tip the dustbin and scatter its contents.

According to one aspect of the present invention, therefore, a support structure for an upwardly open closable container such as a dustbin or the like, comprises a base having an upwardly open socket or recess for receiving the bottom of the container and releasable inter-engagement means for retaining the bottom of the container in place in the said socket or recess.

The support structure of the present invention also incorporates appropriate inter-engagement means on the container itself, and these may be integrally formed with the container or attachable thereto.

In one embodiment of the present invention the inter-engagement means on the container itself are formed as a projecting annular lip around the wall of the container at or adjacent the bottom thereof. This lip may be continuous, around the whole of the bottom, or discontinuous in the sense that it forms a plurality of straight or arcuate part-circumferential ridges projecting laterally of the container at or adjacent the bottom thereof.

Alternatively, the inter-engagement means may be attachable to the container, and for this purpose may be formed as one or a plurality of projections on a band which can be secured to the bottom of the container for retention purposes. Of course, the projections need not be on a band, but may be bolted, screwed or glued to the container, or affixed in any other way.

The base itself may be formed in one of a number of ways in order to be sufficiently secure to retain the dustbin or other container.

In one embodiment, the base is formed as a relatively thin lightweight member with means for securing it to soft ground, such as by means of a pin or stake. Alternatively, the base may be of relatively massive form (that is having substantial mass) and this may be achieved either by making the base solid and of dense material such as heavy metal or mass concrete or the base may be set in mass concrete. Alternatively the base may be formed as a hollow container for receiving a removable mass. The removable mass may be in liquid form, such as water, or in particulate form such as sand or aggregate.

Furthermore, the base may be permanently set in its site, in which case it may be embedded in concrete or may be formed as a concrete floor or pad with appropriate inter-engagement members for cooperation with inter-engagement members on the container.

If the projecting members on the container are in the form of individual radial projections, the cooperating inter-engagement means on the base may take the form of open slots or channels into which the container inter-engagement members may be fitted, for example by a partial rotation. Alternatively, one of the inter-engagement means on the base may be in the form of a pivoted or slidable displaceable member which can be moved between a release position and an engagement position, possibly spring-biased in the closed position, and is preferably provided with a foot-operated pedal for displacing it between these two positions.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the base part of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a container suitable for use with the base illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of an attachment band for attachment to an otherwise unadapted container; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a part of an alternative form of base.

Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a support structure generally indicated 11 for a container of the type illustrated in Figure 3. As will be seen this is a conventional upwardly open dustbin 12 apart from the fact that near the closed bottom there is an annular circumferentially extending ridge 13 in the form of a lip.

The base 11 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is illustrated as a relatively flat circular body 14 having a central aperture 15 for receiving a stake 10 by means of which the disc 14 can be fixed securely to the ground. The disc 14 is substantially flat and has an upstanding ridge 10 around its perimeter for an arcuate distance less than one half of the circumference. The ridge 10 has an inwardly facing lip 17 which defines a channel 18, again facing radially inwardly of the ridge 10.

Centrally located on the arc of the perimeter of the disc 14 opposite that occupied by the ridge 16 is a latch generally indicated 19 and comprising an upstanding support 20 from the disc 14 and an L-shape pivoted latch member generally indicated 21 having two limbs 22, 23 joined at an elbow 24 and pivoted by means of a pivot pin 25 passing through the free end of the limb 23 and the upstanding support 20.

The elbow 24 carries a foot pedal 26 and is urged by a spring 27 to turn in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1. The free end of the limb 22 carries an inclined surface 28 which is engaged by the lip 13 of the container 12 as this is introduced first into the groove or channel 18 under the lip 17, with the container 12 inclined slightly, and then pressed downwardly to engage the inclined surface 28 and cause the latch 19 to turn about the pivot 25 against the action of the spring 27 until, when the lip 13 has passed the inclined surface 28, it can snap into position over the lip 13 as illustrated in Figure 1.In this position the container 12 is secured firmly in position against any wind or animal interference, but can be removed readily for emptying, if desired, simply by pressing with one foot on the pedal 26 to cause the latch 21 to turn in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 displacing the free end of the arm 22 away from the lip 13 so that the container 12 can be lifted out from the base by a reverse motion from that by which it was introduced, inclining slightly and lifting out from the groove or channel 18.

To accommodate the relatively large number of dustbins which have already been produced and have no appropriate lip 13, an adaptor may be provided as illustrated in Figure 4. The adaptor comprises a flat slightly flexible band 29 having two free ends 30, 31 bent at a right angle to the general length of the band 29 at that point, and spanned by a clamp screw 32 having a butterfly nut 33 by which the band 29 can be tightened securely onto the bottom of a container 12. At two diametrically opposite points of the band 29 there are fixed two arcuate shoes 34, 35 which extend circumferentially for a short distance and project radially outwardly of the circle defined by the band 29. One shoe, for example the shoe 34 can be introduced into the channel 18 when the container 12 is fitted to the base 14, and the other, the shoe 35, will then engage the latch 19 in the same way as the peripheral lip 13 of the container illustrated in Figure 3.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown) the disc 14 is replaced by a hollow chamber which, instead of being secured to the ground by a stake 16 through the aperture 15, is sufficiently massive, or can be rendered sufficiently massive by the introduction of water or sand through an opening such as the opening 15 (which in this embodiment constitutes an entrance into the interior of the chamber rather than an opening right through the solid base) and this provides sufficient security against displacement by the wind.

Figure 5 illustrates a further embodiment in which, instead of a peripheral lip 13 the container may be provided with two or more small projections similar to the shoes 34, 35 on the band 29. In this embodiment the base 40 has an upstanding peripheral wall 41 with, on opposite diametrical points on its rim, two generally hook shape projections 42 defining a short slot 43 which, as illustrated in Figure 5, may be wider at its interior end 44 than at the mouth by the provision of an enlarged projection 45 at the free end of the hook-like member 42.

Introduction of a container into the base is then achieved by lowering it straight down onto the base 40 and turning it about a vertical upright axis until the shoes 34, 35 (or corresponding integrally formed projections in an embodiment having such) engage into the slot 43 and are retained there by the resilience of the hook-like member 42.

Claims (17)

1. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container such as a dustbin or the like, comprising a base having an upwardly open socket or recess for receiving the bottom of the container, and releasable inter-engagement means for retaining the bottom of the container in place in the said socket or recess.

2. A support structure as claimed in Claim 1 in which the said releasable inter-engagement means include elements projecting from the container at or adjacent the lower end thereof.

3. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 2, in which the said elements comprise at least two radially outwardly extending projections at or adjacent the lower end of the container.

4. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 1, Claim 2 or Claim 3, in which the container is generally circular in cross-section and the element constituting the inter-engagement means comprises an annular lip at or adjacent the lower end of the container and passing entirely around a cylindrical wall thereof.

5. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 1, Claim 2 or Claim 3, in which the projections constituting the inter-engagement means are attached to the container by a band passing around the container at or adjacent the lower end thereof.

6. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the inter-engagement means are integrally formed with the container.

7. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the said base is adapted to be secured to the ground.

8. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 6, in which the base has a mass substantially greater than that of a full container whereby to serve as a ballast element there for.

9. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 8, in which the base is made from a solid, massive material such as concrete, or incorporates massive elements.

10. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 8 or Claim 9 in which the base is formed as a hollow member and adapted to be filled with bulk material such as water or sand.

11. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10, in which the said releasable interengagement means include a resiliently biased detent member engageable over the said projecting lip or one of the said radial projections.

12. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 11, in which the said resiliently biased element is provided with a foot pedal to allow displacement thereof by the foot of a user for release of the container from the base, a resilient biasing member returning the foot pedal to an engaged position upon release thereof.

13. A support structure for an upwardly open closable container, as claimed in Claim 12, in which the foot pedal is attached to a cranked, L-shape detent member having an inclined surface against which the inter-engagement means contacts upon introduction of the container into the base.

14. A support structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

15. A combination comprising a support structure as claimed in any preceding Claim and an upwardly open container adapted to be received thereon.

16. An upwardly open container adapted to be received oh a support structure as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 14.

17. An upwardly open container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.