AU2004100069A4 - Waste management housing - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: Waste management housing The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: Freehills Carter Smith Beadle Sydney 004577307 004338086 1 Waste management housing Introduction This invention relates to a waste management housing of the type, which can be used to collect waste materials of different types, which need to be kept separate from each other.

Background of the invention In many different industries and localities waste materials are generated and need to be kept separate from each other in order that they can be processed efficientlyin an environmentally responsible manner.

One example where this type of requirement occurs is in motor vehicle or engine maintenance facilities where fluids such as waste oils need to be kept in one waste facility whereas other waste materials such as packaging materials, replaced parts, and cleaning materials need to be kept in a separate waste container.

One area where careful waste management is essential is on an airport apron where aircraft engines are maintained and serviced between flights. This requirement to keep waste materials separate occurs, but there is a further requirement that waste materials are not able to be blown around the apron where they might be sucked into jet engines and the like. Also, apron configurations change from time to time and there is a general requirement to keep aprons free of structures which might obstruct the movement of aircraft or airport vehicles. Typically, waste materials on airport aprons are managed in wheeled waste bins but such bins tend to be untidy and often waste materials which should be kept separate are all disposed of in the same containers.

Summary of the invention Accordingly to the invention there is provided a waste management housing comprising, a transportable housing having a plurality of waste compartments, each compartment being adapted to receive waste materials of a different type, at least one of the waste compartments having a closable door through which waste receptacles can be admitted to and removed from the housing.

004338086 2 Preferably, the housing has at least a first compartment adapted to receive solid waste materials, and a second waste compartment adapted to receive liquid waste materials.

A housing may have a lower region adapted to store waste materials, and an upper region located above the lower region, the upper region having a plurality of openings therein into which waste materials are passed in use.

The second waste compartment may comprise a waste tank having a waste receiving port in an upper region thereof, and a support rack located above the tank adapted to receive inverted liquid containers which will drain over time into the tank through the port. The upper region of the housing is preferably sized to receive said inverted liquid containers.

The housing preferably has a third compartment located adjacent the second compartment and adapted to receive used liquid containers which have been emptied into the second compartment. The upper region of the housing can be configured to enable said liquid containers to pass from said support rack into said third waste compartment without being removed from the housing.

The lower region may comprise a metal frame to which sheet metal panels are attached to fully enclose and encapulate waste compartments. The upper region may comprise a roof, side walls, and end walls, the side walls and end walls having a lower edge which engaged with the upper peripheral edge of the lower region of the housing.

The end walls of the upper region may be upwardly diverging, and the roof may have a pitched configuration. The openings in the upper region are preferably formed through said end walls. The upper region may be moulded from a plastics or like material.

The first and third waste compartments are preferably sized to received wheeled waste containers and the door in the housing is preferably sized to allow said wheeled containers to be moved into and from said first and third waste compartments. The housing may be adapted to be fixed in position once it is being located in its chosen location, or the housing may be adapted to be moved from location to location depending on requirement.

004338086 3 The openings in the upper region will preferably have doors therein which are biased into a closed position. The upper region may also have a viewing window therein to enable the contents of at least some of the waste compartments to be viewed. The upper region will preferably have at least one vent therein near or at the uppermost part thereof, the vent being adapted to be used to insert a fire hose in the event of waste material catching fire within the housing.

These and further features of the invention will be made apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment thereof given below by way of example.

In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, but the specific features shown in the drawings may be construed as limiting on the invention.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a waste management housing according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a side view of the housing depicted in figure 1; Figure 3 shows a end view of the housing depicted in figure 1; Figure 4 shows the opposite end view of the housing depicted in figure 1; Figure 5 shows a plan view of the housing depicted in Figure 1; Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the housing depicted in figure 1 with the enclosing panels of the housing removed.

Detailed description of the embodiments A waste management housing (10) according to the invention comprises a rectangular box-like lower region and a roof or upper region (14) mounted to the lower region The lower region (12) is of generally rectilinear configuration having doors (16) in the front section thereof for providing access to waste compartments (18) located with the housing. There are three such waste compartments (18) in the housing, as best seen in figure 6 of the drawings. The first waste compartment (20) is located on the left hand side of the housing and is adapted to contain general waste materials such as cleaning materials, paper, packaging and the like. Typically the first waste compartment 004338086 4 will have a 120 litre wheeled garbage bin (22) located therein which will be lined with a disposable plastic bag in use to ensure that this general waste material can be disposed of efficiently.

The second waste compartment (23) comprises a 751 tank (24) for liquids which has a sloping lower floor (26) and an open top into which liquids can drain. It will be noted from of the drawings that a rack (30) is mounted above the tank the purpose of the rack (30) being to support inverted oil cans to allow such cans to drain into the tank Such oil cans might contain waste oils, all the residues of new oils used in engine maintenance. The rack (30) comprises a series of guides which will support inverted oil cans, being envisaged that the rack (30) will hold approximately 12 inverted cans. The tank will accept waste drips from about 2500 empty cans.

The third waste compartment (32) is located between the first and second waste compartments and is designed to receive the oil cans after they have been inverted and drained above the second waste compartment. The third waste compartment (32) also contains a 120 litre wheeled bin to allow the oil cans which had been draining on the rack to be pushed from the rack (30) into the third waste component Thus once the oil cans have drained it will be simple matter to push the empty cans off the empty rack into the wheeled bin located in the third waste compartment A pull lever (33) can be used to cause the cans to move from the rack (30) into the component (32).

Clearly, providing three waste compartments (18) alongside each other in the manner described greatly facilitates keeping waste materials separate. Oil will be allowed to drain over time into the tank (24) and the oil cans themselves will be kept separate from general waste materials to allow for separate handling and recycling of the material from which the oil cans are made. The oil itself will be drained via safety drain cock from the tank (24) from time to time and processed in external oil processing facilities designed to process used oils.

The upper region (14) will generally be constructed of a glass fibre material or other plastics material by means of a moulding or like process. The upper region (14) will engage with the upper edge of the lower region preferably with an overlapping lip (34) which will ensure that rainwater does not enter the housing at the interface between 004338086 the lower and upper regions. The upper region (14) has sidewalls end walls (38) and a sloping roof The front side wall (36) has a pair of openings (42) and (43) therein through which waste materials are passed in order to enter the waste compartments. The opening (42) is closed off by a spring loaded door the doors being clearly marked to indicate which type of waste materials should be passed through that door. This will ensure that the correct waste materials are passed through the correct door (44) by persons using the facility. The opening for cans, is also clearly marked.

The door (44) located in the front side is transparent to allow the contents of the different waste compartments to be viewed, so that the wheeled bins (20) can be taken out and replaced as and when they have been filled.

It is also envisaged that the tank (24) will have an oil level sight gauge (50) which will allow the capacity of the tank to be monitored from time to time. The oil level sight gauge will be located on the front side of the tank and viewed through opening (43) to allow the tank to be viewed. The tank (24) will also have a drainage port (35) located in the operatively lower most side thereof so that the contents of the tank can be drained as and when necessary. Alternatively the tank may be designed to be removed and replaced when full.

Optionally the floor of the housing defines a well, as indicated at numeral (51), which will contain spilled materials or liquids that might spill from either the tank or the bin in the event of an accident. This will ensure that inadvertent spillage does not contaminate the ground on which the housing is located.

A vent (52) is located at the uppermost point near the apex of the roof (40) which will allow any volatile gasses or the like to escape from the housing. This will prevent the build up of potentially combustible gasses within the housing. Also, vent (52) may be used to admit a fire hose in the event the contents of one or either of the waste compartments catching fire.

It will be appreciated that the housing described herein will facilitate efficient handling of waste materials in many locations where different types of waste materials are generated. One application which the applicant has considered particularly pertinent 004338086 6 is a waste handling facility for use on airport aprons where engine maintenance or engine monitoring takes place. At such locations waste materials such as oils, packaging materials and general waste is often generated and a facility such as this will ensure that such waste materials are not only handled efficiently but the waste materials that are generated are contained within a housing and therefore not liable to be blown around the airport apron where they might be sucked into aircraft engines. In addition, the housing provides a neat arrangement which will assist in the efficient management of the apron and the correct handling of different waste materials.

Clearly the housing may be used in other applications where it is desired to handle waste materials in the correct manner and keep the location neat and tidy. Parking garages, vehicle maintenance workshops, and like facilities would all benefit from having a neat and efficient waste disposal facility that could accommodate various different types of waste materials, as described herein.

One advantage of the housing described herein is that it may be relocated to any desired location without requiring the construction or dismantling or any capital works.

All that will be required will be for the housing to be lifted and moved to a new location and this will allow for reorganisation of facilities with a minimum of inconvenience. It is envisaged that on some applications, such as airport aprons, it might be desirable for the housing to be located on a low wheeled chassis to enable the entire housing and its contents to be moved from time to time without a need to provide separate lifting apparatus.

It is also possible for the housing to be bolted in position to ensure that the housing will not inadvertently be blown over in an event of high winds or under the influence of aircraft exhaust air streams. A sloping lip (54) is provided at the lower front edge of the housing to assist in wheeling bins into the waste compartment.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.

004338086 7 The foregoing describes embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art can be made thereto, without departing from the scope of the present invention.