EP1661827B1 - Semi-buried receptacle for collecting refuse - Google Patents

Abstract

The container has a lift-up door (4) in the upper part of a lid (3) and two units formed of a buried tank (1) and an upper body (2) above the ground. The two units are encased and overlap above the ground-level on a height limited to form a protective belt (6). The body is located towards the exterior of the container, in a zone of overlapping between the two units, when the upper part of the tank is placed inside the container.

Description

The invention relates to a semi-buried container with a large storage volume that can be used for collecting waste and that can be placed, for example, on motorway areas.

Waste collectors come in different forms depending on where they are installed.

The collectors arranged completely above the ground are known in different variants, from the smallest size in the form of a hoop fixed to a metal support supporting a plastic bag, to the largest, the removable bucket transportable by truck specialized and having a capacity of several cubic meters.

As the production of waste is constantly increasing, collection is becoming more and more expensive. In this problem, large volume storage systems make it possible to reduce the number of pickups to be carried out and thus the collection costs, and all the more so because the storage container is larger.

In the field of storage of large volumes of waste, that is to say volumes greater than 1000 liters, it is known to place completely buried collectors for the temporary storage of waste collected by multiple small urban vehicles. Nearly completely buried containers whose storage portion is below ground level and the collection terminal is erected on the surface are also known, such devices are frequently used for the collection of glass in the city.

For the positioning of fixed collectors, in urban areas, on motorway areas, on tourist sites or in nature, the collector must be as discreet as possible while fulfilling its storage function. On some busy sites it has been found clever to place semi-buried containers, large enough to ensure a large storage and having a raised part, above the ground, important enough for the device to be practical and functional both for the the person who deposits the garbage only for the employees in charge of the collection.

These semi-buried containers are usually provided with an external decoration to integrate favorably into the landscape, the bulk of the storage volume being invisible. These containers have many advantages because they are economical to install and they require reduced maintenance, they are also resistant and reliable.

Due to the incorporation into the soil of a large part of the container the storage is naturally sheltered from the heat, in particular in summer the temperature is always lower inside the storage relative to the surface, which allows pickups less frequent. The closure design of these systems prevents stray animals from accessing, smells are confined and insects are not attracted.

The known partially buried containers consist of a single-block cylinder forming a shell in which are placed bags or removable containers for the collection of waste.

These receptacles, also called carrying bags, have a total opening of the remote bottom for the evacuation of an internal plastic cover containing the waste. Which plastic cover is usually a disposable PVC bag.

The carrying bag is traditionally made of polypropylene webs assembled with means for lifting the bag out of the container.

The carrying bags are usually extracted from the top of the container, after tilting of the upper part forming a lid, by means of a lifting tool placed on a suitable collection truck.

During this waste recovery operation, it is very common for the collection truck, which must come closer to the container, hit it accidentally. This type of incident is unfortunately very common and very expensive for municipalities or companies in charge of waste management. It also happens that containers are accidentally hit by motorists.

• si le choc n'est pas trop violent le conteneur se déforme localement et le cylindre reste étanche vis-à-vis de l'eau, en dehors d'un aspect esthétique le problème n'est pas trop grave tant que le couvercle supérieur fonctionne et que l'ensemble reste hermétique, le remplacement du conteneur, bien que souhaitable n'est pas indispensable,
• si le choc est modérément violent ou très violent le conteneur se perce, la fonction de confinement des déchets n'est plus assurée, de plus l'eau de pluie ou de ruissellement s'infiltre dans le cylindre occasionnant des problèmes de salubrité. Le remplacement de l'ensemble est donc indispensable.

When a monoblock cylindrical container is hit several problems can arise depending on the violence of the impact:

• if the shock is not too violent the container deforms locally and the cylinder remains watertight, apart from an aesthetic appearance the problem is not too serious as the top cover works and that the assembly remains hermetic, the replacement of the container, although desirable is not essential,
• if the shock is moderately violent or very violent the container pierces, the function of confinement of waste is no longer ensured, moreover rainwater or runoff seeps into the cylinder causing health problems. Replacement of the whole is therefore essential.

In both situations the manager must ensure the replacement of the entire collector, extract the soil and therefore expensive work so that the collection station is again usable.

This problem of replacing a semi-buried container following surface shocks is sufficiently frequent to pose a real problem to the communities or companies in charge of these devices which may be led to prefer them more visible surface containers, capacity of reduced storage, but easier replacement.

This is also the case when the container is equipped with explosion protection means, as described in the document GB-A-2387526 constituting the preamble of claim 1. When there is an explosion, there is destruction of the container and separation of the upper part, the purpose being to damp the breath effect as much as possible.

The object of the invention is to solve this problem by proposing a container in two elements, one of which can be easily changed for a a small fee compared to the cost of extracting a monobloc assembly and replacing it completely.

The invention relates to a semi-buried cylindrical waste collection container according to claim 1.

Thus, advantageously according to the invention, the container is more resistant to moderate impacts. Said moderate impacts do not affect the overall structure of the semi-buried container. In case of violent impact, the upper part of the container can yield and disengage from the buried part without affecting the latter.

Consequently, the refurbishment or operation of the collection device no longer requires the complete replacement of all but only of its upper part, which upper part can be easily arranged without the need to carry out important work and financially expensive.

According to an important variant of the invention the semi-buried container can be internally segmented into several collection spaces and thus allow the selective sorting of waste.

• La figure 1 est une vue en coupe d'un conteneur semi enterré selon l'invention.
• La figure 2 illustre sur une vue en coupe les moyens de raccordement de la partie haute du conteneur avec la partie basse, au niveau du sol.
• La figure 3 présente une variante de l'invention avec une cloison intérieure et deux espaces de collecte des déchets.
• La figure 4 montre un collecteur en vue de dessus selon la variante de l'invention dans laquelle deux espaces de collecte des déchets sont aménagés.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of non-limiting examples.

• The figure 1 is a sectional view of a semi-buried container according to the invention.
• The figure 2 illustrates in a sectional view the connecting means of the upper part of the container with the lower part, at ground level.
• The figure 3 presents a variant of the invention with an inner partition and two waste collection spaces.
• The figure 4 shows a collector in plan view according to the variant of the invention in which two waste collection spaces are arranged.

As shown in figure 1 , the semi-buried container according to the invention comprises a buried tank 1, of cylindrical shape, closed at its lower end so as to form a sealed container in case of leakage of the compression bags inserted into the container.

The containers according to the invention represent high waste storage capacities ranging from 1000 to 10,000 liters and preferably from 3000 to 5000 liters. The large capacity of the container makes it possible to reduce the collection frequencies and to save on collection costs significantly.

The tank 1 is preferably made of rigid plastic, such as for example high density polyethylene, however the use of a metallic material is however possible.

The portion above the ground formed by the upper body 2 is closed in its upper part by a lid 3 pivotable around joints, not shown in the figure, so as to allow access to the bag of contention waste collect.

Which bag of contention or carry bag, of classic design, is not represented on the figure 1 . Usually this bag has loops in its upper part, immediately under the lid, or various means for the lifting and extraction out of the container by the waste collection tool is feasible. In a conventional manner this bag is a flexible bag in polypropylene 240 g / m ² which has a maximum payload of 1500 kg.

The carry bag has a simplified and secure bottom opening system for extracting an inner container, usually a plastic bag containing the waste.

It is arranged in the main cover 3 a hinged door 4 also articulated so that people can deposit the waste in the container.

This swing door exists in different configurations, all conceivable variants can be applied to this opening.

In order to conceal the waste collector and to integrate it better in the surrounding landscape is provided on the outer face of the upper body 2 a decor 5, optionally removable, or possibly easy to replace.

Such a decoration 5 may be for example wooden boards fixed by screws on two hoops at the periphery of the upper body, a metal coating or a printed plastic, etc.

The upper body 2 is fitted with the buried tank 1, at ground level, the two elements of the container are superimposed to form a protective belt 6 of sufficient height to give the storage assembly a sort of circular shield.

More specifically, it is provided that the circular protection shield is formed by at least two thicknesses of material, that is to say at least by the superposition of the walls of the tank 1 and the upper body 2.

The upper wall of the tank is folded back on itself at two angles at 90 ° towards the interior of the container, as illustrated on the drawings. Figures 1 and 2 to form an internal reinforcement 7 and a protective belt comprising three thicknesses of material.

It can be imagined other possibilities of folding and other configurations with a greater number of thicknesses.

In the overlap zone between the two elements the upper body 2 is located towards the outside of the container and the upper part of the tank 1 towards the inside of the container.

Preferably the upper part of the tank is at least 10 mm above the ground and preferably more than 30 mm, advantageously this dimension is fixed at 100 mm so as to form a protective belt of this height surrounding the container above the ground.

This overlap zone forming the protective belt 6 between the vessel 1 and the upper body 2 is more precisely detailed on the figure 2 .

The upper edge of the tank 1, above the ground, is folded towards the inside of the container at 90 ° forming a bearing surface 9. This geometry allows the lower part of the upper body 2 to rest on the surface. 9 and leads to the superposition of the two elements in both a horizontal plane and a vertical plane.

The tank and the upper body are fixed together by fasteners 8, screws or rivets placed at the level of the protective belt, substantially halfway up the reinforcement 7 or on the horizontal part at the level of the bearing surface. 9 between the two elements.

As illustrated on the Figures 1 and 2 the upper body 2 externally covers the upper part of the tank 1, in this way runoff water and water at ground level can not infiltrate into the buried part of the container.

According to this container design a very violent shock against the container causes the rupture of the fasteners 8 and the tilting of the upper body. The rigid low part constituted by the tank 1 is not affected by the shock, in particular because of the presence of the reinforcement 7 which avoids damaging deformation.

The tank 1 of the container remaining intact, only the upper part is to be replaced, the cost of such an operation is much lower than that of the complete change of the container and in particular to that of the extraction of the buried part.

An important variant of the invention is to segment the tank 1 by means of at least one internal partition extending over the entire height of the container so as to create several waste collection spaces.

This segmentation of the tank is carried out by one or more internal partitions perpendicular to the section of the container so as to form different collection spaces of large volumes, this variant can be used in the context of the selective sorting of waste so as to facilitate the subsequent recycling.

For example, it may be envisaged to create a container with storage space for paper and cardboard, space for packaging and space for glass.

A segmentation of the tank with a single internal partition so as to form two collection spaces is represented on the Figures 3 and 4 .

The internal partition 10 allows the separation between the collection spaces and facilitates the recovery of the contention bags 11 and 12 containing the waste of each category.

In the same way as in the main variant having a single space of contention each container part has a main cover, a door and a means for easy extraction of the bag for the recovery of waste .

An armature 13 allows the support of the compression bag in the upper part of the container and the overhead doors 14 and 15 allow users to deposit the waste in the different parts of the container.

To facilitate the selective sorting of waste information to users can be arranged on the overhead doors or on the walls of the container. It is also possible to differentiate collection spaces by appropriate colors.

In this variant each space inside the container is configured in the same way as the container of the main variant having a single interior space. In case of degradation of the upper part of the container the upper body can be replaced by the corresponding modular element.

In this variant with segmentation of the interior volume the partitions can be arranged in different ways to delimit interior spaces larger or smaller, for reasons of convenience of manufacture the interior spaces are preferably equal however unequal internal volumes are possible without departing the the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

Several other variants are possible as to the overall dimensions of the container, for the height above the ground or for the volume of the buried tank without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

In a conventional manner the reinforcement 7 is manufactured during the molding of the tank, it may however be envisaged, although it is less functional and probably more expensive, to make a tank top part slightly offset, without folding, and to position a piece U inverted above, pressing on the ground, on the top of the tank and on the inner part of it.

The inverted U-shaped part acting as a support and as a reinforcement that can be fixed either on the tank, or on the upper body, or both on the two elements. The protective belt then comprises in this variant four thicknesses.

The fasteners 8 may be self-drilling screws or rivets placed in various places and more or less important, however, if the weight of the upper body 2 is large, it may be envisaged to dispense with these elements and have, for example, a simple interlocking structure between a portion on the tank and its complementary portion on the upper body to keep the assembly properly positioned.

One of the objectives of the invention is to facilitate the tilting of the upper body in case of impact, it is desirable that the attachment between the two elements is not too strong so that the tank is not damaged. Thus the positioning, the number and the strength of the fasteners is studied so that the break is easy.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention represented by the figure 1 the upper edge of the tank 1 is slightly offset towards the outside of the container before folding at 90 ° inwards, this configuration is favorable so that the two elements are in the extension of one another and that the two elements have the same diameter. Thus, the carrying bag can be easily removed from the container. However, the upper body may have a larger or smaller diameter than the tank, and thus the support surface be more or less important, without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

For reasons of cost and durability the two elements that are the tank and the upper body are made of a rigid plastic material, nothing prevents however that the two elements are made of different materials, for example metal and plastic, or even that the tank is sealed in the ground and manufactured, for example, cement.

According to the invention the lid and the swing door 4 are pivotable but other modes of opening are possible.

Claims (5)

1. Semi-buried receptacle for collecting refuse with a cylindrical shape comprising a lid (3) in its upper part, of the type consisting of two elements, a buried container (1) and an upper body (2) above the ground, said two elements are fitted together and overlap one another above the ground over a limited height to form a protective belt (6), in the overlapping area between said two elements the upper body (2) is positioned outside of the receptacle whilst the upper part of the container (1) is positioned inside the receptacle, the upper part of the container (1) and the lower part of the upper body (2) are joined together by fasteners (8), characterised by a swing flap (4) in the upper part of the container, by fasteners (8) which break easily under the effect of shock, and in that the upper part of the wall of the container (1) is folded over on itself twice by 90° angles towards the inside of the receptacle so as to form a bearing surface (9) for the upper body (2) and to form an internal reinforcement (7) within the receptacle.
2. Semi-buried receptacle for collecting refuse according to claim 1 in which the upper part of the container (1) is located at least 10 mm above the ground and preferably more than 30 mm.
3. Semi-buried receptacle for collecting refuse according to claim 1 in which the overlap between the two elements (1, 2) forming the protective belt (6) is formed by at least three thicknesses of material.
4. Semi-buried receptacle for collecting refuse according to claim 1 in which at least one internal partition (10) delimits at least two compartments for the collection of refuse, said compartments being able to be used for collecting at least two categories of refuse for the selective sorting of the refuse.
5. Semi-buried receptacle for collecting refuse according to claim 4 in which each compartment is set up in an identical manner with a storage bag (11, 12) of its own.

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