Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~WO 95103238 PCT/AU94/00007
1
TITLE
AN INSERT FOR A RUBBISH BIN
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
THIS INVENTION relates to an insert for a bin,
and particularly relates to an insert which can be fitted
to existing rubbish bins to divide the bin into separate
compartments which can enable the bin to be used for
recycling, and where the insert does not fall out when
the bin is emptied.
BACKGROUND ART
Outside domestic rubbish bins commonly comprise
"wheelie bins" which are large ( usually 240 - 360 litre )
plastic bins fitted with a hinged lid. The bin is
mounted on a pair of wheels to allow it to be transported
from the house (or other building) to the kerb side for
emptying. The wheelie bins are emptied by a garbage
truck which is fitted with an arm or hook which lifts the
'bin up, inverts the bin to empty the contents and
vigorously shakes the bin to ensure that all the contents
are removed.
Due to the reduction in available space to dump
rubbish, and the ever higher costs in doing so, many
local and state authorities now require that rubbish is
recycled. This requires the rubbish to be separated into
similar components such as glass, plastic, metal, paper
products and the like. To maximise the efficiency of
recycling, there are considerable advantages in having
the householder initially sort the rubbish into
recyclable portions, and then to place the portions into
the rubbish bin in separate compartments.
A disadvantage with this is that there are
millions of bins which have not been fitted with
compartments, and it is uneconomical to destroy these
bins for new bins. However, dividing the bin into
compartments is not a simple matter. Attempts have been
made to attach a bracket to the inside of the bin and
adjacent the bottom wall. The bracket could provide a
support for a dividing wall in the bin. However, gluing
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such bracket to the bottom of the bin has not been
successful as an adhesive with at least a five year life
(the average life of a bin being 7 to 9 years) has not
been found. The inside of a bin very often contains
moisture, greases, mould and solvents and these are found
to attack the adhesive. The plastic wall of the bin is
also of a type to not readily accept an adhesive. The
bin must also be spotlessly clean to maximise adhesion.
Attempts have also been made to rivet or
otherwise fasten a bracket to the inside of the bin.
However this requires careful alignment of the bracket
which is not easy task when considering the length of the
bin. Also, fastening generally requires a hole to be
drilled through the bin bottom and this can result in
seepage or oozing of liquids from the bin.
Another consideration with attaching a dividing
wall inside a bin, is that the wall must be securely
mounted, and must not fall out when the bin is emptied.
As bins have to sustain rough handling and vigorous
shaking when being emptied, it is important that the
dividing compartment is securely held in place.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been developed to
provide an insert assembly which can be fitted to rubbish
bins and which can allow an internal divider to be easily
fitted and securely held to the bin.
It is therefore an object of the invention to
provide an insert assembly for a bin which may overcome
the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the consumer
with a useful or commercial choice.
In one form, the invention resides in an insert
assembly for a bin, the insert assembly comprising a
sleeve which is insertable into the bin and which can be
positioned adjacent a bottom wall of the bin, the sleeve
including a first engaging means,
a bin dividing panel insertable into the bin to
divide the bin into a plurality of separate zones, the
panel being extendible from adjacent the bottom wall of
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the bin and being engageable with the first engaging
means to prevent sideways movement of the panel in at
least one direction in the bin,
' second engaging means in use being adjacent the
mouth of the bin to hold the panel against sideways
movement in at least one direction, and, means to prevent
the panel from being removed from~the bin upon emptying
of the bin.
The bins may comprise plastic bins which are
usually 240 litres or more in volume, and which are being
widely used for collecting and emptying rubbish.
The sleeve may be shaped to snugly fit within
the bin and conform to the internal cross-section of the
bottom wall of the bin. Thus, if the bottom wall of the
bin is substantially rectangular, it is preferred that
the sleeve is also substantially rectangular. By having
the sleeve fitting snugly into the bottom of the bin,
there is minimised the possibility of rubbish lodging
between the sleeve and the wall of the bin. It can be
appreciated that it may be necessary to provide a number
of different sleeves depending on the particular type and
size of bin. The sleeve may include side walls which may
be joined together and preferably the sleeve does not
include a bottom wall. The sleeve may be simply dropped
into the bin without any need to secure it by fasteners,
adhesive and the like.
The first engaging means may be provided on the
side walls) of the sleeve. The engaging means may
comprise a pair of ribs or flanges which are spaced apart
by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the bin
dividing panel. In this manner, the bin dividing panel
may be positioned between the pair of ribs or flanges. A
second pair of ribs or flanges may be provided on an
opposite wall of the sleeve to accommodate the other side
of the bin dividing panel. The first engaging means may
be positioned such that the bin dividing panel divides
the bin into two equal zones, or into unequal zones. It
is preferred that a number of engaging means are provided
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to allow the bin dividing panel to be fitted in a number
of positions thereby allowing the bin to be divided into
various zones depending on the recycling needs.
Suitably, each wall of the sleeve is provided with at
least one engaging means.
The bin dividing panel may be substantially
continuously formed, or may comprise a mesh, grid-like
arrangement or other type of arrangement. Thus, for
recycling large objects, the panel may be mesh or grid-
shaped, while for recycling small objects, it may be
preferred to have the panel being substantially solid.
In order to minimise the thickness of the panel (which
can reduce the effective internal volume of the bin), but
also to provide the panel with sufficient rigidity, the
panel may be formed with strengthening ribs, or have a
configuration to provide it with sufficient rigidity.
Suitably, the panel extends from adjacent the
bottom of the bin to adjacent the top of the bin such
that when the lid of the bin is closed, the panel may
almost touch the internal lid of the bin. This
arrangement minimises the possibility of separated
materials being mixed together.
The second engaging means may be located on an
upper portion of the bin dividing panel, and may be
engageable with an upper part of the bin. Suitably, the
second engaging means comprises at least one clip which
can be separately attached to the panel and also attached
to the bin. The at least one clip may include a nose
portion which can be pushed through an aperture in an
external part of the bin thereby locking the panel to the
bin. In this arrangement, the means to prevent the panel
from being released from the bin comprises the second
engaging means. However, the first engaging means may
also comprise an arrangement to prevent the panel from
being removed from the bin.
CA 02167499 2004-06-18
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Therefore, in accordance with the present
invention, there is provided an insert assembly for a
bin, the insert assembly comprising a sleeve which is
insertable into the bin and which can be positioned
adjacent a bottom wall of the bin, the sleeve including a
first engaging means; a bin dividing panel insertable
into the bin to divide the bin into a plurality of
separate zones, the panel being extendible from adjacent
the bottom wall of the bin and being engageable with the
first engaging means to prevent sideways movement of the
panel in at least one direction in the bin; second
engaging means in use being adjacent the mouth of the bin
to hold the panel against sideways movement in. at least
one direction, and, means to prevent the panel from being
removed from the bin upon emptying of the bin.
Also in accordance with the present invention,
there is provided a bin containing an insert assembly,
the insert assembly comprising a sleeve which is
insertable into the bin and which can be positioned
adjacent a bottom wall of the bin, the sleeve including a
first engaging means; a bin dividing panel insertable
into the bin to divide the bin into a plurality of
separate zones, the panel being extendible from adjacent
the bottom wall of the bin and being engageable with the
first engaging means to prevent sideways movement of the
panel in at least one direction in the bin; second
engaging means in use being adjacent the mouth of the bin
to hold the panel against sideways movement in at least
one direction, and, means to prevent the panel from being
removed from the bin upon emptying of the bin.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An embodiment of the invention will be
described with reference to the following drawings in
CA 02167499 2004-06-18
which
FIGURE 1 shows the various components of an
insert assembly according to an embodiment of the
invention;
5 FIGURE 2 shows detail of the second engaging
means;
FIGURE 3 is a section view of a bin containing
the insert assembly according to Figure 1.
nc~cm unr»
Referring to the figures, and particularly
FIGURE 1 there is illustrated an insert assembly for a
bin. The insert assembly comprises a sleeve 10, bin
dividing panel 11, first engaging means 12A, 12B and
second engaging means 13A, 13B.
Sleeve 10 is substantially rectangular in shape
when viewed in plan and is formed from injection moulded
plastics material. The sleeve is formed from four
substantially vertically extending side walls 14A - 14D
which are integrally joined adjacent their longitudinal
ends. The sleeve has rounded corners (e.g. 15) to
conform with the particular internal shape of the bin.
It should be appreciated that the shape of sleeve 10 will
of course depend upon the shape of the internal walls of
the bin. Sleeve 10 is configured such that it can be
simply inserted into the open mouth of the bin and
dropped down. The sleeve then ultimately falls to or can
be positioned to fit against the bottom wall of the bin.
The side walls 14A - 14D then extend adjacent respective
side walls of the bin. The sleeve is dimensioned to be a
snug fit in the bin to prevent debris from lodging
between a respective outer wall 14A - 14D, and the wall
of the bin. Each wall 14A - 14D is tapered inwardly and
includes a small horizontal peripheral lower lip 16.
The first engaging means 12A, 12B is positioned
on opposed side walls 14B - 14D, and comprises pairs of
spaced ribs 16A, 168, 16C, 16D which extend vertically in
use from adjacent an upper edge of the respective_wall to
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adjacent the peripheral lip of the respective wall. Each
rib is inwardly curved adjacent lower edge thereof as
illustrated in FIGURE 1. Ribs 16A - 16B and 16C - 16D
are spaced apart and are positioned in a parallel '
relationship relative to each other. The spacing between
the ribs corresponds to the thickness of the bin dividing "
panel 11 such that the panel can slide between a pair of
ribs. This prevents the panel from sideways movement in
both directions. In the illustration of FIGURE 1, the
ribs are positioned on the respective side wall such that
the panel divides the bin into two substantially equal
volumes. However, to allow the bin to be divided into
non-equal volumes, further engagement means are provided
on each wall. In this manner, the bin can be divided
into a plurality of zones of different volumes, and
indeed it is possible for more than one bin dividing
panel to be inserted into the bin. The first engagement
means is also positioned such the bin dividing panel 11
can either extend into a north-south manner, or an east-
west manner. The position of the divider will depend to
some extent on how the bin is emptied, and the sleeve
allows for the various different orientations of the
panel.
The bin dividing panel is formed from a sheet
of plastic material. To minimise the thickness of the
sheet (and thereby maximise the useable material volume
of the bin), the panel has a single wall provided with an
arrangement of concave and convex portions 18, 19, which
provide rigidity to the panel without effectively
increasing the non-useable volume in the bin. A
peripheral strengthening rib 20 is provided around the
side walls and the top wall of panel 11. Panel 11 is
sized to extend from adjacent the bottom wall of the bin
to adjacent the top wall of the bin and is also sized
such that it fits snugly against the internal wall of the
bin again to minimise the separated components from
mixing together. The bottom area of panel 11 is of
narrower length than the top end, due to the internal
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configuration of a bin. The narrower bottom portion of
the bin is caused by the requirement to add an axle and
wheels to the external body of the bin. The bottom end
' of panel 11 can be captured between a pair of adjacent
ribs as illustrated in FIGURE 1 to maintain the panel in
a particular position in the bin. In the embodiment
described, the ribs do not prevent the panel from being
pulled out, but merely prevents the panel from moving
sideways.
Adjacent an upper part of panel 11 is provided
a second engaging means in the form of a pair of plastic
clips 20A, 20B. Clips 20A, 20B are formed separately
from panel 11 and can be snap-fitted to an upper edge of
panel 11 and adjacent opposed longitudinal edges thereof.
Clips 20A, 20B include a nose portion 21A, 21B which is
of an "arrowhead" configuration. The nose portion can be
manually pushed through a hole provided on a horizontal
flange 23 ex-~: ~:~ding around the bin. Once the arrowhead
portion is pushed through the hole, the clips cannot be
readily removed and this causes the bin dividing panel 11
to be retained within the bin even when the bin is
emptied. The clips also prevent lateral movement of the
panel 11 within the bin. The clips are positioned such
that they lie within or underneath the lid of the bin
when the lid is closed. Thus, the proper sealing of the
lid is not affected by the positioning of the clips.
In use, an existing bin can be retrospectively
fitted with the insert assembly according to the
invention. The bin can be maintained in a upright
position, and does not need to be made spotlessly clean
(as is required with adhesives). The sleeve 10 can be
simply dropped into the bin, and all that is required is
that a pair of holes be drilled in the horizontal flange
around an upper portion of the bin to accommodate the
clips. The bin dividing panel can then be lowe°wd into
the bin and the clips can be snap-locked through the
drilled holes which converts the bin to a bin which can
be used for recycling purposes. The insert assembly does
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not require any holes to be drilled through the internal
wall of the bin (thereby allowing seepage and odours to
escape), does not require any separate fasteners to be
aligned and attached, and does not require any gluing
step to keep the bin dividing panel within the bin.
It should be appreciated that various other '
changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments
as described without departing from the spirit and scope
of the invention as claimed.
