AU704504B2 - Dispenser for sanitising fluid - Google Patents

Description

2 DISPENSER FOR SANITISING FLUID The present invention relates to systems for odour control and more particularly to deodorant dispensers for use with sanitary napkin disposal bins.

A deodoriser dispenser which is to be affixed to the underside of a lid is disclosed in Australian patent no, 644282. The dispenser comprises a first chamber which accommodates deodoriser powder and a second chamber which receives powder from the first chamber when the lid is tilted. Holes are provided in the bottom of the second chamber to allow the powder to be dispensed from the second chamber to the interior of the container when the lid is closed.

The two chambers are arranged side by side when the lid is closed and thus in a horizontal orientation. The first chamber of the dispenser is large and contains the bulk of powder. It is also provided with an opening with a cap which can be removed to refill the first chamber.

The disadvantage with the above described dispenser is that it cannot be easily removed from the lid for refilling and powder which is dispensed from the second chamber tends to fall mainly when the lid is closed and thus over a small area of the container.

Furthermore the dispenser is intended for use on the lid of a large garbage bin (wheelie bin) and cannot be used practically on smaller bins because the two chambers that are required makes it difficult to make the dispenser small enough for small bins. This problem is compounded for smaller bins which only have small fragile lids which are not easily adapted for a large dispenser device to be attached thereto.

The present invention provides an alternative device for dispensing a sanitising fluid including a support comprising an elongate member which is for connection to the underside of a receptacle lid to extend therebelow away from the lid and a container removably connected to a lower end of the elongate member and oriented with an outlet at an upper end thereof to dispense sanitising )379B/703 fluid over a predetermined area when the lid is being opened or closed.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a bin lid for a container for dispensing a sanitising fluid the bin lid comprising a top wall which is arranged to be pivotally connected to a bin receptacle, a support extending from a lower face of the bin lid and a lower end with an attachment means adapted for connection with a container having an outlet oriented downwardly to dispense fluid over a predetermined area when the lid is being opened or closed.

Preferably the support is connected to the underside of the lid.

The support preferably comprises a bracket having an elongate member which is directed to the interior of the receptacle.

The container may be connected to a lower end of the elongate member.

According to one embodiment the container is connected to the elongate member so that its opening is directed to the side of the receptacle to which the lid is pivoted.

The elongate member may extend downwardly 25 perpendicular to the bottom of the lid.

The support may be removably connected to the lid.

It is preferred that the container is removably connectable to the support.

The support is preferably connected to the underside of the lid close to the end of the lid which is pivotally connected to a wall of the receptacle.

The elongate member preferably extends downwardly at an acute angle with respect to the free end of the lid.

It is preferred that the elongate member extends downwardly from the lid at approximately According to one embodiment the container is frusto trapezoidal in shape.

It is preferred that the container decreases in 379B/703 cross-sectional area from its top to its bottom end.

The one side wall with the opening is preferably perpendicular to the top wall.

The side wall directly opposite the one side wall is preferably inclined inwardly from the top wall to the bottom wall.

The elongate member preferably includes a fixing means which is arranged to fix the container thereto.

It is preferred that the top wall is able to be opened to fill the container with sanitising fluid.

Preferably the sanitising fluid is deodorant powder.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 15 Figure 1 shows a side perspective view of a dispenser according to a first embodiment of the present invention when connected to the underside of a bin lid; Figure 2 shows a front perspective view of the dispenser shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a side schematic view of a dispenser attached to a closed bin lid; S: Figure 4 shows a side schematic view of a dispenser connected to an open bin lid.

Figure 5 shows a side view of a dispenser according 25 to another embodiment of the present invention connected to the underside of a bin lid; and Figure 6 shows a top view of the dispenser shown in Figure A bin lid 10 is shown in Figure 1 which is effectively planar and bent downwardly at its pivot connection end 11 and upwardly into a stepped section 12 at its free end. The pivot end 11 has lateral axle portions 13 which allow the lid to be connected to pivot sockets of a receptacle.

As shown in Figure 3 the pivot end extending portion of the bin lid extends downwardly at greater than with respect to a main body 14 of the lid.

A bracket 20 is connected to the underside of body section 14 of the lid 10 close to bend 15 which separates pivot end 11 and the body section 14.

The bracket 20 is rectangular and planar and at its upper end 21 has side wall gussets 22 which are connected to the underside of lid 10 along with the upper end 21 of bracket 20. The upper end of the bracket 20 may be permanently affixed to the underside of lid 10 or can be removably attached by providing a guide plate which is permanently affixed to the underside of the lid 10 and providing a peripheral rim portion formed by the gussets 22 and upper end 21 which enables the bracket 20 to be slidably received by the guide plate.

The lower end of the bracket 20 is adapted to receive a dispenser container 30 which consists of a 15 small box having a rectangular top wall 31, rectangular bottom wall 32, parallel side walls 33, rectangular back :wall 35 which is perpendicular to the top and bottom .walls 31, 32 and a front wall 34 which is inwardly inclined from the top wall 31 to the bottom wall 32 at an angle between 40 and 700 preferably 450 with respect to the top wall 31.

The bottom wall 32 is much smaller than the top wall 31. The front wall 34 is provided with a line of holes 36 at its upper end to allow deodorant powder inside the ".25 container to be dispensed.

The top wall 31 is in the form of a lid which can be opened and closed to allow refilling of the container The above described dispenser is specifically designed so that deodorant powder within the container can be dispensed over a wide arc as the lid 10 is opened and then closed.

As shown in Figure 3 when the lid 10 is closed it is angled downwardly at approximately 200 with respect to a horizontal axis so that its free end 12 rests on the upper rim 40 of the bin. In this closed position the bracket 20 is angled at approximately 650 with respect to the horizontal axis and therefore 450 with respect to the S lid -6- In the closed position the container 30 has its front wall 34 angled at approximately 300 with respect to the bracket 20 and thus approximately 350 with respect to the horizontal axis.

The container is therefore designed so that when the lid has only been lifted a small distance powder will start to dispense from the container and as the lid is lifted say through 600 the container also moves through 600 so that the outlet 36 moves from being oriented above powder in the container to being acting bottom of the container when the lid is fully opened. Thus powder moves from the bottom of the container (now acting as the top) to the outlet 36 when the lid is full opened allowing powder to be dispensed through the outlet as the 15 lid is closed until the outlet reaches a position where the front wall 34 is no longer acting as a base wall and powder again begins to collect at the bottom of the container near bottom wall 32.

Because the container is located close to the side wall of the bin where the pivot point is located the lid 10 only has to be lifted a slight distance before powder is dispensed through outlet 36. At this point powder will still be dispensed close to this side wall of the bin and then throughout the rest of the bin as the lid [.25 is fully opened and the outlet sweeps through an arc which takes the outlet 36 close to the opposite side wall of the bin.

*"*According to a second embodiment of the present invention a dispenser 50 has a shape similar to the dispenser shown in Figures 1 and 2 except at its lower end it is provided with vertical grooves 51 at the back of each side wall 53.

The grooves 51 extend upwardly approximately for one third of the length of the side wall 53 and are adapted to receive guides 54, 55 located on each side of the bracket The dispenser is slid downwardly so that the grooves 51 receive the guides 54, 55 and the top walls of the guides 54, 55 abut against the upper walls of the grooves 53. A locating protrusion 56 is positioned in the middle of the bracket so as to be just above the level of the top of the lid 58 of the dispenser 50 thus providing a stop for preventing easy removal of the dispenser 50 from the bracket The dispenser described above ensures that a metered generally constant amount of powder is dispensed from the container 30 each time the lid is opened.

According to one form of the invention the bin lid and bracket 20 may be integrally formed as a single article, which for example may be a moulded plastics material. Thus as shown in Figure 5 the bracket 60 is connected to the underside of a bin lid 61 with side 15 gussets 62 providing strength to the overall structure.

S

oo )379B/703 8 THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. A device for dispensing a sanitising fluid including a support comprising an elongate member which is for connection to the underside of a receptacle lid to extend therebelow away from the lid and a container removably connected to a lower end of the elongate member and oriented with an outlet at an upper end thereof to dispense sanitising fluid over a predetermined area when the lid is being opened or closed.

2. A device as claimed in claim i, wherein the support comprises a bracket having the elongate member which is directed to the interior of the receptacle.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elongate member includes a planar wall.

s 15 4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the container is connected to the elongate member so that its :opening is directed to the side of the receptacle to So which the lid is pivoted.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the elongate member extends downwardly at an angle of less than 900 with respect to the lid.

6. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the support is connected to the underside of the lid close to the end of the lid which is pivotally ar. 25 connected to a wall of the receptacle.

7. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding "claims, wherein the elongate member extends downwardly from the lid at approximately 450 8. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container is frusto trapezoidal in shape.

9. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container decreases in crosssectional area from its top to its bottom end.

10. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the top wall of the container is able to be opened to fill the container with sanitising fluid.

11. A bin lid for a container for dispensing a 5 0379B/703

Claims (1)

12. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 4, or 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings. Dated this 15th day of February 1999 PORTLAWN PTY LTD By their Patent Attorney 15 GRIFFITH HACK 4. a *SO *O ~111 ABSTRACT A device for dispensing a sanitising fluid comprising a support for attachment to a lid of a waste receptacle and a container for sanitising fluid having a top wall, side wall and bottom wall, the side wall being inclined with respect to a horizontal axis when the lid of the receptacle is closed and having an outlet therein and wherein in use fluid is dispensed from the outlet over a predetermined area when the lid is being opened and closed. b.oo *6 t 4. ee