CA2270818A1

CA2270818A1 - Garden refuse container and method of using same

Info

Publication number: CA2270818A1
Application number: CA002270818A
Authority: CA
Inventors: John Crawford
Original assignee: Quality Craft Importers Ltd
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-04-30
Filing date: 1999-04-30
Publication date: 2000-10-30

Abstract

Garden refuse container for lawn debris and plant cuttings and the like and method of using the container.
The container assumes a generally rectangular form when opened and laid flat on a ground surface. A weighted end maintains the container in its position on the ground and keeps the end of the container open and on the ground surface thereby assisting loading the refuse by way of raking or otherwise. A zipper extends around the remaining three sides and, when operated, the zipper closes the container while the flexible weighted member assumes a configuration encircling an open end of the container. The refuse may be compressed and, if desired, transferred to an ordinary plastic lawn bag for eventual disposal. Ropes may be provided on each edge of the container to assist in transporting the garden refuse.

Description

TIThE
GARDEN REFUSE CONTAINER AND METHOD OF USING SAME
INTRODUCTION
This invention relates to a garden refuse container and, more particularly, to a bag made of flexible material which assists in loading, compressing and unloading typical garden cuttings and other material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In gardening, lawn and plant clippings must be disposed following the lawn or plant cutting operation.
Since burning of such material has been effectively terminated by way of laws because of environmental pollution and health concerns, the material is generally disposed of in hard containers or lawn bags Which are transported to the local dump by publicly retained garbage collection companies. The number of such containers is often restricted and the plant material may be difficult to load into flexible lawn bags. The material of the lawn bags may rip if branches or brambles are part of the plant material and compression of the material within the bag is likewise difficult if the aforementioned materials are present. If the material is manually handled by loading it into a flexible bag, the user can injure himself by Way of scratches or cuts made by the sharp material.
SU1~ARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention; there is provided a garden refuse container made from a flexible material which material is in a generally rectangular form when laying flat, said generally rectangular form being defined by two sides and a first and second end, said two sides and said first end having a closure member attached and said second end including a flexible weighted member, said closure member being operable to close the sides and first end into a bag with said flexible weighted member of said second end generally encircling and defining an open end of said bag.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of loading refuse into a flexible bag like container having a generally rectangular form when laid flat and further having two sides and first and second ends, the method comprising positioning refuse on said flexible bag while said bag is lying flat and connecting said sides and said first end to form a generally bag like container containing said refuse, said container having an open mouth portion defined by said second end and a flexible weighted member extending around the circumference of said open mouth portion.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a refuse container made from a flexible material which material is in a generally rectangular form when laying flat, said generally rectangular form being defined by two sides and a first and second end, said two sides and said first end having a closure member attached and said second end including a flexible weighted member, said closure member acting to close the sides and first end into a bag With said flexible weighted member of said second end generally encircling said second end of said bag and defining an open end of said bag, said container further comprising handlers provided on each side of said container and extending between said first and said second end.
According to still yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a refuse container made from a flexible material which material has a generally tapered configuration when laying flat, said generally tapered configuration being defined by two sides and a first and second end, said first end being larger than said second end, said two sides and said first end having a closure member attached and said second end including a flexible weighted member, said closure member being operable to close the sides and first end into a bag with said flexible weighted member of said second end generally encircling and defining an open end of said bag.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Specific embodiments of the invention Will now be described, by way of example only, with the use of drawings in which:
Figure lA is a plan view of the container according to the present invention in its loading configuration and laying flat on the ground surface;
Figure 1B is a side view of the container of Figure 1 taken along 1B of Figure lA;
Figure 2 is a view of the container according to the present invention in its partially closed configuration;
Figure 3 is a view of the closed container according to the present container with the refuse within the container and with the container being compressed;
Figure 4 is a view of the container with an ordinary plastic lawn bag being installed over the open end;
Figure 5 is a view of the container with the plastic lawn bag containing the refuse previously held by the container according to the present invention;
Figure 6 illustrates the closed plastic lawn bag now containing the garden refuse;
Figure 7A is a diagrammatic plan view of the container according to a further aspect of the invention in its loading configuration; and Figure 7B is a diagrammatic isometric view of the container according to Figure 7A in its operating position.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, the refuse container according to the invention is generally illustrated at 10 in Figure 1. The container 10 is illustrated in its open or loading position with a first end 11, two sides 12, 13 and a second end 14. A flexible and longitudinal weighted member 20 extends across the second end 14 and is conveniently sewn into the material of which the container 10 is made. Such material is generally a tough plastic type material such as a woven polyethylene fabric as is commonly used for tarpaulins.
A closure member, conveniently a zipper 21 in two(2) portions, extends about the two sides 12, 13 and the first end 11. It also extends along the longitudinal axis 22 a predetermined distance as is illustrated where the two(2) portions are joined together. A two headed zipper head 23 a.s mounted to the zipper 21. One head 24 is used to connect the zipper 21 and the other head 25 may be used to open the zipper 21 after it is closed by the first head 24.
OPERATION
In operation, garden refuse 30 will be loaded onto the top of the container 10 by raking or otherwise while the container 10 is lying flat on the ground surface 31 until the desired amount of refuse intended to be positioned on the container 10 is reached. It will be noted that the flexible weighted member 20 will maintain the second end 14 in contact with the ground surface 31 during the raking operation until the refuse 30 is loaded onto the top of the container 10. The weighted member 20 will, thereby, ease the loading operation.
When the approximately correct amount of refuse is loaded onto the top surface of the container 10, the zipper head 24 will be moved along the zipper 21 thereby commencing the closing operation of the container 10 as best seen in Figure 2. The zipper head 24 is moved in the direction indicated until the zipper 21 completely connects both sides 12, 13 and the first end 11. During this operation, the weighted member 20, being flexible, will assume a generally circular configuration around the second end or mouth 14 of the container 10.
The container 10 may then be dragged to a compost location in the yard or nearby and then dumped.
Alternatively, the container 10 may be stood on its' first end 11 and the bag is compressed from the outside as seen by the arrows in Figure 3 until the refuse is suitably compressed and made to occupy minimal space. It will be particularly noted that since the container 10 is reusable, the container material can be relatively expensive and thereby made tougher than the ordinary plastic of a known plastic lawn bag which rips and is perforated easily.
The compression operation, therefore, will generally not tear the container 10.
Following compression of the container 10, a plastic lawn bag 32 of the known variety may be slipped over the first end 11 as is illustrated in Figure 4 after the zipper 21 has been opened. Thereafter, the lawn bag 32 is stood on its end 33 and the container 10 is slipped out from Within the lawn bag 33 as viewed in Figure 5, leaving the refuse 30 in the lawn bag 32, which lawn bag 32 is then closed with ties or other closure members 34 as is well known and left for garbage pickup as seen in Figure 6.

_ 7 _ While the container 10 has been described as being stationary while garden refuse is loaded onto the top surface of the container 10, it is clear that the container could be partially closed thereby forming a more funnel 5 like configuration and that refuse or other material could be conveniently loaded into the funnel of the container 10.
Likewise, the container 10 could be partially filled and the zipper head 24 could only partially close the container 10 thereby allowing the container 10 to be dragged by the 10 closed first end 21 from location to location in the yard of the user.
Yet a further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figures 7A and 7B. This embodiment assists in moving the container generally illustrated at 100 about the yard of the user. The container of Figures 7A and 7B is similar to the container of the Figure 1 embodiment.
However, grommets 101, conveniently twelve(12) in number, six(6) per side, are added to the edges 102 of container 100. Two(2) sections of rope 103 are provided, each section being laced through the grommets 101 as illustrated. Knots 104 are provided at the end of each section of rope 103, the knots 104 being larger than the holes within the grommets 101.
In operation, the user loads the top surface of the container 100 with trash and other refuse and then pulls the ropes 110 (Figure 7B). This causes the ropes 103 to tighten and to move the weighted end 111 upwardly as the container 100 is pulled by the user. An "envelope" shape is thereby formed as defined by the weighted end 111 and the ropes 103 at the sides of the container 100. This envelope retains the refuse 112 on the top surface of the container 100 as the container is pulled about the yard by the user until the dumping position is reached.
Rather than the container 10 taking a rectangular form when laid flat as is illustrated in Figures lA and 1B, the container 10 is contemplated also to have the first end 21 made larger that the second end 14 so that the container tapers to the second end 14. This tapered configuration will allow the refuse to slide out somewhat easier than is the case where the container 10 is rectangular and does not 10 taper.
Although ropes 103 have been described with reference to the embodiment of Figures 7A and 7B, a flat synthetic web material could be used which material is similar to the material of an automobile seat belt. Such material is contemplated to be approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch in width. The ends of the webbing could be sewn to the container 10 thus eliminating the knots 104 and proving a sleeker and more compact design. In this instance, the number of grommets 101 could be reduced and slots might be used in place of the round grommets 101 to allow passage of the web material.
While specific embodiments according to the invention have been described, such descriptions are for the purpose of illustration only and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. Many modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates and the invention, therefore, should only be limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. Refuse container made from a flexible material which material is in a generally rectangular form when laying flat, said generally rectangular form being defined by two sides and a first and second end, said two sides and said first end having a closure member attached and said second end including a flexible weighted member, said closure member being operable to close the sides and first end into a bag with said flexible weighted member of said second end generally encircling and defining an open end of said bag.

2. Refuse container according to claim 1 wherein said closure member is a zipper.

3. Refuse container according to claim 1 wherein said flexible weighted member is a longitudinal bar-like continuous mass.

4. Refuse container according to claim 3 wherein said closure member is a zipper.

5. Refuse container according to claim 4 wherein said zipper has two heads and said container has a longitudinal axis generally extending equidistant between said first and second sides.

6. Refuse container according to claim 5 wherein said zipper extends a predetermined distance from said first end along said longitudinal axis.

7. Container as is claim 6 wherein said flexible material is woven polyethylene fabric material.

8. Container as in claim 1 and further comprising handlers positioned along each of said sides of said container.

9. Container as in claim 1 wherein said handlers are ropes.

10. Container as in claim 8 wherein said handlers are threaded through holes provided in each of said sides of said container.

11. Container as in claim 10 wherein said handlers are ropes, one rope to each side of said container, each of said ropes having an end portion at each end, one of said end portions being adjacent said second end and the other of said end portions being adjacent said first end.

12. Refuse container made from a flexible material which material is in a generally rectangular form when laying flat, said generally rectangular form being defined by two sides and a first and second end, said two sides and said first end having a closure member attached and said second end including a flexible weighted member, said closure member being operable to close said sides and first end into a bag with said flexible weighted member of said second end generally encircling and defining an open end of said bag and handlers provided on each of said sides of said container and extending from said first to said second end.

13. Refuse container as in claim 12 wherein said handlers are rope sections, one section to each of said sides of said container, holes in said sides to allow entry of said rope sections and end portions formed on each end of said ropes, one of said end portions being adjacent said first end and the other of said end portions being adjacent said second end.

14. Method of loading refuse into a flexible bag like container having a generally rectangular form when laid flat and further having two sides and first and second ends, the method comprising positioning refuse on said flexible bag while said bag is lying flat and connecting said sides and said first end to form a generally bag like container containing said refuse, said container having an open mouth portion defined by said second end and a flexible weighted member extending around the circumference of said open mouth portion in a first position and being substantially flat in a second position.

15. Method as in claim 14 and further comprising dragging said container to a refuse location and emptying said container at said location.

16. Method as in claim 14 and further comprising compressing said bag like container from one of said first and second ends.

17. Method as in claim 16 wherein said bag like container is compressed from said first end.

18. Method as in claim 17 and further comprising dragging said container to a refuse location and emptying said container at said location.

19. Method as in claim 16 and further comprising pulling a plastic lawn bag having an open end and a closed end over said open second end of said bag like container and subsequently standing said lawn bag on said closed end.

20. Method as in claim 19 and further comprising removing said container from within said lawn bag.

21. Method as in claim 15 wherein said container is dragged by handlers positioned on each of said sides of said container.

22. Method as in claim 21 wherein said handlers raise the second weighted end of said container from said substantially flat position and form a fence along said sides when said container is pulled by said handlers.

23. Method as in claim 22 wherein said handlers are ropes threaded through holes on said edges of said container, each of said ropes having end portions, one of said end portions raising said first Weighted end.

24. Method as in claim 22 wherein said handlers are webs threaded through holes on said edges of said container, each of said webs having end portions, each of said end portions being sewn to said container, one of said end portions raising said first weighted end.

25. Refuse container made from a flexible material which material has a generally tapered configuration When laying flat, said generally tapered configuration being defined by two sides and a first and second end, said first end being larger than said second end, said two sides and said first end having a closure member attached and said second end including a flexible weighted member, said closure member being operable to close the sides and first end into a bag with said flexible weighted member of said second end generally encircling and defining an open end of said bag.