GB2442225A

GB2442225A - Recycling bins made by folding flexible sheet material

Info

Publication number: GB2442225A
Application number: GB0619174A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Bartle
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-09-29
Filing date: 2006-09-29
Publication date: 2008-04-02
Also published as: GB0619174D0

Abstract

A recycling bin 1 comprises a bin body 2 having a top and side walls 6 formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and defining an inner space for receiving objects to be recycled, such as mobile phones. The top is closed off by a top wall 3 extending between the side walls 6, and the top wall 3 has an aperture 7 extending therethrough through which objects may be inserted into the bin and an engaging lip 10 for engaging a receiving tab 11 on one of the side walls 6. Hinged anti-tamper flaps 9 may be displaceably disposed in the aperture 7. When the bin 1 is to be closed off for transportation a lid 4 may be secured in the closed position overlying the top wall 3 by tabs 17. The sheet of flexible material may be a cardboard blank.

Description

"RecvcinQ Bins" This invention relates to recycling bins and is more

particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with bins for recycling mobile telephones.

Over recent years the increase in mobile telephone users has increased significantly such that according to present estimates a quarter of the world's population owns a mobile telephone. This has resulted in a problem concerning environmentally safe disposal of unwanted mobile telephones. If not disposed of correctly, mobile telephones may leak toxic substances, such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, into the water supply. Local governments often incinerate their waste and thereby instantly release these toxic elements into the atmosphere.

There are presently various schemes in operation that offer money to mobile telephone owners in exchange for their old telephones. In order to increase participation in such schemes it would be advantageous to have mobile telephone recycling bins in mobile telephone retailers or other places where members of the public can conveniently dispose of their telephones. Due to the high value of mobile telephones, there are particular requirements for the design of such bins. For example, the bins should be secure to prevent thieves from stealing the deposited telephones while in use or in transit. It would also be advantageous for the containers to be relatively compact and easy to transport.

It is an object of the invention to provide a recycling bin which may be easily and inexpensively made.

According to the present invention, there is provided a recycling bin comprising a bin body having a top and side walls formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and defining an inner space for receiving objects to be recycled, the top being closed off by a top wall extending between the side walls, the top wall having an aperture extending therethrough through which objects may be inserted into the bin and an engaging portion for engaging a receiving portion of at least one of the side walls.

Where such a bin is to be used for the recycling of mobile telephones, the telephones to bestoredintheinnerspaceinthebinCanbcilyj.toth.b dropping them through the aperture in the top wall. Thus, the mobile telephones can be contained in the bin and yet be largely concealed from view. Also, since the recycling bin is assembled by folding a single sheet of flexible material, the unassembled bin can be easily delivered to its location in a compact flat pack and assembled with minimal user skill.

Preferably, the top wall is also formed from the sheet of flexible material by folding and more preferably is pivotable between open and closed positions.

Preferably, the top wall comprises anti-tamper flaps along opposite edges of the aperture which tend to prevent easy removal of objects from the bin.

The anti-tamper flaps act as a deterrent to potential thieves that might otherwise attempt to remove mobile telephones from the bin by pushing their hand through the aperture.

Preferably, the bin frther comprises a lid for overlying the top of the bin and is pivotable between open and closed positions, and more preferably, the lid is formed from the sheet of flexible material by folding.

The lid preferably allows access to the aperture in the top wall when the lid is in the open position and such access is prevented in the closed position. It is also desirable for the lid to comprise of at least one locking formation for engagement with at least one of the side walls to lock the lid in the closed position.

Once the bin has been filled or is ready for transportation, the lid would be closed. The feature of the lid locking in the closed position prevents the contents of the bin being tampered with or spilling out while the bin is in transit.

The side walls are preferably formed from a single sheet of flexible material by folding along a series of parallel lines and by joining opposite edges of the sheet with an adhesive, or by stitching or stapling.

Furthermore, it is preferable for the bin to have a bottom wall formed by interlocking flaps and the interlocking flaps are formed by folding of the lower part of the sheet of flexible material.

At least some of the side walls may be formed with hand holds. Preferably, the hand holds are situated above the lid and top wall. The latter feature ensures that access to the phones through the hand holds is restricted for both the open and closed positions of the lid.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a preferred recycling bin in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bin with its top opened out; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the bin with the lid closed; Figure 3 and 4 are respectively top and bottom views of the bin, with its top opened out; and Figure 5 shows the blank for forming the bin.

Referring to Figure 1, the bin 1 comprises a bin body 2 formed by folding a single cardboardblank. The bin body2basatop wall 3,alid4,abottom wall5(see Figure 4) and four side walls 6. Two of the side walls 6 are provided with hand holds 8. The top wall is connected to one of the side walls 6 and the lid 4 is connected to another of the side walls 6. The side walls 6 of the bin body 2 define an interior space into which the mobile telephones to be recycled are deposited.

The top wall 3 comprises a rectangular extension of the side wall and has a square aperture 7. The square aperture is made sufficiently small so that the contents of the bin cannot be easily accessed after depositing them. Foldable anti-tamper flaps 9 extend along opposite edges of the aperture 7. One end of the top wall 3 is folded inwardly so astoformalip lO as shown in Figure 1.

The top wall 3 is folded outwardly along a fold line, so that, when closed, the top wall is recessed from the top of the bin body. The top wall 3 is secured in position by pushing it downwards until the lip 10 engages a receiving tab 11 extending inwardly from the opposite side wall. The receiving tab 11 is provided within the side wall and is folded inwardly from the bottom side of an aperture.

In use a mobile telephone may be deposited in the bin by dropping it through the square aperture 7. The anti-tamper flaps 9 incline inwardly such that, should a person try to push their hand fully through the square aperture 7 and then attempt to remove a mobile telephone, the bottom edges of the anti-tamper flaps 9 act to trap the hand as it is being withdrawn.

As is best seen in Figure 5, the side walls 6 are formed by folding the cardboard blank for the bin body 2 along a series of parallel fold lines 18 and bonding the opposite edges of the blank together by applying adhesive along an overlap 19. After forming of the side walls 6, a pair of reinforcement portions 43 forming extensions of two of the side walls 6 are folded inwardly along fold line 42 to rest against the side walls 6.

The lid 4 is formed by folding an extension of a further side wall 6 outwardly along a fold line 46 so that, when closed, the lid 4 is recessed within the top of the main body part 3. The free sides of the lid 4 are provided with tabs 17 to lock into respective slots 17a, l7b in the two reinforcement portions 43 and a slot 17c in the top wall 3. This arrangement firmly locks the lid 4 in the closed position so as to prevent anyone from opening the lid 4 after it has been closed.

In use, once the recycling bin 1 has been filled or is ready to be transported, the lid 4 would be closed. The arrangement of the tabs 17 locking the lid 4 in the closed position effectively prevents any tampering or access to the contents of the bin 1 by unauthonseci persons.

Respective cutouts 47 in two of the side walls 6 and in the reinforcement portions 38 and 39 are provided to form the hand holds 8 that enable easy lifting of the bin 1. The hand holds are situated above the lid 4 and top wall 3. The latter feature ensures that access to the contents of the bin 1 through the hand holds is restricted for both the open and closed positions of the lid.

As may be scen in the bottom view of the bin shown in Figure 4, the bottom wall 4 is formed by folding four interlocking flaps 20, 21, 22 and 23 that are extensions of the side walls 6 situated at the bottom of the bin body 2 and interlock in a manner as indicated by broken lines in Figure 4. Such an arrangement is capable of supporting a high degree of loading applied to the bottom wall.

The form of the interlocking tabs 20, 21, 22 and 23 will be better appreciated by referring to Figure 5 which shows the lower part of the cardboard blank for the bin. To form the bottom wall 4 the flap 21 is first turned inwardly along a fold line 26, and the two flaps 20 and 22 are then turned inwardly along the fold lines 27 and 28 so as to overlap the flaps 20 and 22 and so as to engage portions of the flaps 20 and 22 beneath a cutaway edge 29 of the flap 21. Finally the flap 23 is folded inwardly along the fold line 30 so as to overlap the flaps 20 and 22, and an end tab 30 of the flap 23 is tucked beneath the cutaway edge 29 of the flap 21.

It will be appreciated that the skilled person could make various modifications to the embodiment described above without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the bin might be provided without a lid. The lid may be an external lid with downwardly extending side walls, that is connected to the bin and is an entity separate from the flexible sheet of material from which the bin is made. In another embodiment the bin does not have a bottom wall and is adapted to support a waste disposal bag attached to the side walls of the bin.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A recycling bin comprising a bin body having a top and side

walls formed from a sheet of flexible material by folding and defining an inner space for receiving objects to be recycled, the top being closed off by a top wall extending between the side walls, and the top wall having an aperture extending therethrough through which objects may be inserted into the bin and an engaging portion for engaging a receiving portion of at least one of the side walls.
2. A recycling bin according to claim 1, wherein the top wall is also formed from the sheet of flexible material by folding.
3. A recycling bin according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the top wall is pivotable between open and closed positions.
4. A recycling bin according to claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the engaging portion of the top wall engages the receiving portion such that the upper wall is prevented from moving in a downward direction beyond the receiving portion.
5. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the engaging portion of the top wall is a lip formed from the top wall by folding.
6. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the receiving portion comprises a receiving flap folded inwardly from one of the side walls.
7. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the top wall comprises anti-tamper flaps along opposite edges of the aperture which tend to prevent easy removal of objects from the bin.
8. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the top wall is recessed from the top of the bin.
9. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the bin further comprises a lid for overlying the top of the bin and is pivotable between open and closed positions.
10. A recycling bin according to claim 9, wherein the lid is formed from the sheet of flexible material by folding, and the lid allows access to the aperture in the top wall when the lid is in the open position and such access is prevented in the closed position.
11. A recycling bin according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the lid comprises at least one locking fonnation for engagement with at least one of the side walls to lock the lid in the closed position.
12. A recycling bin according to claim 11, wherein the lid comprises locking formations comprising at least one side wall engaging locking tab and a further locking tab for engaging with a slot in the top wall.
13. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the side walls are formed from a single sheet of material by folding along a series of parallel lines and by joining opposite edges of the sheet.
14. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein the bin body has a bottom wall that is formed by interlocking flaps and the interlocking flaps are formed by folding of the lower part of the sheet of flexible material.
15. A recycling bin according to any preceding claim, wherein hand holds are formed at least one of the side walls, the hand holds preferably being situated above the top wall.
16. A recycling bin substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.