CA2275809A1

CA2275809A1 - Recycle box divider

Info

Publication number: CA2275809A1
Application number: CA 2275809
Authority: CA
Inventors: Dusan M. Hoferek
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-06-22
Filing date: 1999-06-22
Publication date: 2000-12-22

Abstract

For a recycle box divider (black box recycle implies recycling cardboard and paper goods and blue box recycle implies recycling glass, metal and plastic goods), it consists of only one flat rectangular piece (A) with clips (1) on both sides of the top which latch onto the lip of the recycle box (black or blue recycle box), and two tabs (2) on the bottom to act as stabilizers to hold the bottom in place as well as offset rails (3) near the centre which run from top to bottom; also to conform to different sized recycle boxes, the larger divider (A) will be available to be re-sized, meaning that two parts will be joined together so that the divider (A) can slide further open or closed so as to make it wider or more narrow. Another smaller rectangular piece (B) can be attached perpendicularly to the larger divider (A) by clipping it onto the guide rail (3) of the larger divider (A). Similarly, the smaller divider (B) will be available to be re-sized, meaning that two parts will be joined together so that the divider (B) can slide further open or closed so as to make it wider or more narrow, again to conform to different sized recycle boxes. Note that none, one, or two of the smaller dividers (B) may be used in conjunction with the larger divider (A) at any time.
When no smaller dividers (B) are in place, but only the larger divider (A) is in place, it divides the recycle box into two halves for separating recycled goods. When one smaller divider (B) is in place along with the larger divider (A) in place, it divides the recycle box into 3 compartments, namely one half and two quarters of the size of the recycle box, which is used for separating recycled goods. Finally when two smaller dividers (B) are in place along with the larger divider (A) in place, it divides the recycle box into 4 compartments, namely four equal quarters of the size of the recycle box, which is used for separating recycled goods.

Description

Recycle Box Divider Technical Field This invention relates to a recycle box. More particularly, this invention relates to a black or blue recycle box divider, where black box recycle implies recycling cardboard and paper goods, and blue box recycle implies recycling glass, metal and plastic goods. Specifically this allows for separating the cardboard goods from the paper goods when black box recycling, and it allows for separating the glass goods from the metal goods and the plastic goods when blue box recycling, thus allowing for quicker pickup since all of the recyclable goods are already separated, as well as keeping the recyclable goods neat, separated and organized, which will allow the black or blue box to efficiently hold the maximum amount of recycled goods.
Background Information Up until now, there has only been one container (known as the blue box) which held all of the recyclable goods such as glass, cans, plastics, cardboard and paper, which was designated to be recycled by being picked up with a recycle truck. It was left up to the user to 'organize' their recyclable goods and then left to the recyclers (recycle truck driver) to sort all of the recyclable goods into the various compartments on the truck. The problem for the user was that if they did not 'organize' their recyclable items within the blue box (organize refers to crushing cardboard boxes, or putting boxes within boxes, or putting paper within boxes, or putting cans within cans, etc.), then the blue box would not efficiently hold the maximum amount of recyclable goods, causing a storage space issue. This compounded the problem for the recyclers (recycle truck driver) since they have to sort all of the recyclable goods which results in longer stops to sort all of the recyclable goods (longer stops result in inefficient work time for the recyclers and an increase in costs).
With the advent of black box recycling (black box recycle implies recycling cardboard and paper goods), this will allow users to separate the paper and cardboard goods (black box) from the glass, cans and plastics (blue box). However the same problem will arise for the user if they do not 'organize' their black box (organize refers to crushing cardboard boxes, or putting boxes within boxes, etc.), resulting in the black box not efficiently holding the maximum amount of recyclable goods and causing problems in terms of delays for the recyclers to have to sort the recyclable goods when loading them into the compartments of the recycle truck. The same problem will persist for the remaining blue box recyclable goods (glass, metals , and plastics), in that if these items are not 'organized' then the blue box will not efficiently hold the maximum amount of recyclable goods and cause the same problems in terms of delays for the recyclers to have to sort the recyclable goods when loading them into the compartments of the recycle truck.

Disclosure of the Invention It is thus a primary object of the present invention to provide a divider for black and for blue recycle boxes.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a divider for black and blue recycle boxes, as above, which is specifically designed to separate the recyclable goods.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a divider for black and blue recycle boxes, regardless of the size of the recycle box, by allowing the divider to be re-sized as needed (made wider or more narrow by sliding it more opened or more closed).
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a divider for black and blue recycle boxes, as above, to expedite the process of picking up the recyclable goods since all of the recyclable goods will be separated.
These and other objects of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof over a black or blue recycle box without dividers, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the means hereinafter described and claimed.
In general, the divider according to the present invention includes a rectangular piece with clips on the top two corners, two tabs along the bottom edge and two rails grooved into the each side from top to bottom, and can slide open to make it wider or it can slide closed to make it more narrow. In this manner, the divider can be latched onto either a black or blue recycle box to divide the recycle box into separate compartments, and another divider can be attached onto the first divider (using the rails) to further subdivide the black or blue recycle box, thus allowing all recyclable goods to be separated.
A preferred exemplary black or blue box divider incorporating the concepts of the present invention is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings without attempting to show all the various forms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied, the invention being measured by the appended claims and not by the details of the specification.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. l is a side view of the larger divider (A) made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention.
Fig.la is a top view of the re-sizable larger divider (A) made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention (the side view is the same as Fig. l).
Fig.2 is a side view of the smaller divider (B) made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention.
Fig.2a is a top view of the re-sizable smaller divider (B) made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention (the side view is the same as Fig.2).
Fig.3 is a rotated top view of the larger divider (A) made in accordance with the concepts of the presentinvention.
Fig.4 is a rotated top view of the larger divider (A) along with a smaller divider (B) attached to it, where both the larger divider (A) and the smaller divider (B) are made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention.
Fig.S is a rotated top view of the larger divider (A) along with two smaller dividers (B) attached to it, where both the larger divider (A) and the smaller dividers (B) are made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention.
Fig.6 is a rotated top view of a black recycle box with a large divider (A) in place, dividing the black box into two compartments.
Fig.7 is a rotated top view of a black recycle box with a large divider (A),and a smaller divider (B) attached to it, in place, dividing the black box into three compartments.
Fig.B is a rotated top view of a black recycle box with a large divider (A),and two smaller dividers (B) attached to it, in place, dividing the black box into four compartments.

Preferred Embodiment For Carr~~ Out The Invention A divider according to the concepts of the present invention is indicated generally by the letter (A) and is comprised of a flat rectangular piece with clips at the top on each side, indicated by the numeral 1, tabs at the bottom, indicated by the numeral 2, and guide rails that run from top to bottom on both sides (slightly offset), indicated by the numeral 3, and re-sizable by sliding further opened (to make it wider) or further closed (to make it more narrow), all of which is preferably molded of a plastic material such as polyethylene or polypropylene. A smaller divider according to the concepts of the present invention is indicated generally by the letter (B) and is comprised of a flat rectangular piece with clips at the top on only one side, indicated by the numeral l, and a lip that slides into the guide rails of the larger divider (A), indicated by the numeral 4, and re-sizable by sliding further opened (to make it wider) or further closed (to make it more narrow), all of which is preferably molded of a plastic material such as polyethylene or polypropylene.
As shown in Fig.4 and Fig.S, the primary purpose of the rails on the Larger divider (A) is to act as a guide for the smaller divider (B) and to have the lip of the smaller divider (B) lock into place within the guide rails, thus holding it onto the larger divider (A).
As shown in Fig.6, the primary purpose of the larger divider (A) is to divide the black or blue recycle box into two compartments, when it is attached to the recycle box using the clips (1) on the top of the divider (A), which latch onto the lip of the recycle box.
As shown in Fig.7, the primary purpose of the larger divider (A) along with one smaller divider (B) is to divide the black or blue recycle box into three compartments, when the larger divider (A) is attached to the recycle box using the clips (1) on the top of the divider (A), which latch onto the lip of the recycle box, and the smaller divider (B) is attached to the larger divider (A) using the guide rails (3) on (A) and the lip (4) on (B).
As shown in Fig.B, the primary purpose of the larger divider (A) along with two smaller dividers (B) is to divide the black or blue recycle box into four compartments, when the larger divider (A) is attached to the recycle box using the clips (1) on the top of the divider (A), which latch onto the lip of the recycle box, and the smaller dividers (B) are attached to the larger divider (A) using the guide rails (3) on (A) and the lip (4) on (B).
It should thus be evident that divider (A) and divider (B) constructed as described hereinabove accomplishes the objects of the present invention and otherwise substantially improves the entire process of black and blue box recycling.

Claims

1. A divider for separating black or blue recycle boxes into compartments, comprising of rectangular flat surface, clips on the top to latch onto the lip of the recycle box, tabs on the bottom for stability, re-sizable by sliding the divider further opened (to make it wider) or further closed (to make it more narrow) and rails offset in the middle running from top to bottom which allow a second smaller divider to be attached to it to further subdivide the recycle box.

2. A divider according to claim 1 wherein the clips at the top are used to latch onto the lip of the recycle box.

3. A divider according to claim 1 wherein the tabs along the bottom are used for stabilizing the said divider.

4. A divider according to claim 1 where the guide rails run from top to bottom and allow a second smaller divider to attach to it, as well as latch onto the lip of the recycle box, used to further subdivide the recycle box.

5. A divider according to claim 1 where the actual divider is comprised of two (2) parts attached together that can slide apart to make the said divider either wider or more narrow.

6. A divider according to claim 1 where the smaller divider is comprised of two (2) parts attached together that can slide apart to make the said divider either wider or more narrow, and can be attached to the larger divider by using the rails on the larger divider.