WO2005089577A1

WO2005089577A1 - A portable container for holding waste materials

Info

Publication number: WO2005089577A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000369
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Mark Stephanos
Original assignee: Emc International Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2004-03-16
Filing date: 2005-03-16
Publication date: 2005-09-29

Abstract

Provided is a container (10) having a compartment (30) for holding cigarette butts and ashes. The container has a cutting arrangement (92) in is top section (16) for cutting a cigarette butt (12) so that only cut parts of the butts are held in the compartment (30).The lid (37) can be arranged as a pusher to be moved for causing the butt to be cut. An extinguishing station (34) is also provided for extinguishing a lit cigarette. A disposal bag (66) can be retained in the compartment for receiving the butts and ashes. The container has a removable base (18) which can be removed for emptying the container. The container may be formed as a part of a cigarette pack (20).

Description

A PORTABLE CONTAINER FOR HOLDING WASTE MATERIALS TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a portable containerfor holding waste materials, and in particular but not limited thereto, the portable container includes an extinguishing station forextinguishinga litcigarette or cigar, a compartment having a removable liner therein for holding the waste materials and an inlet port for insertion of said waste materials into the liner. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Smokers of cigarettes or cigars inevitably create waste materials in the forms of ashes and butts and used matches that need to be disposed of. At homes and in buildings where smoking is permitted, ash trays are generally provided for the smokers to deposit the waste products and the ash trays require frequent emptying and cleaning for repeated use. In buildings where smoking is prohibited by law or business practice, smokers must venture outdoor to smoke. For convenience, many of these smokers smoke by the front or a side entrance or on a footpath. Ashes from the lit cigarettes and cigars are tapped off to fall onto the ground. Butts of the lit cigarettes or cigars are also dropped to the ground and then generally extinguished by trampling them with one's foot. The ashes apart from being unsightly, also generate unpleasant odour. Wind can blow the ashes about and thereby resulting in unwitting inhalation by persons nearby. The butts are made of a material that remains undecomposed for many years. To minimise environmental and health risks, some building owners provide ash trays in selected locations next to their buildings. The provided ash trays have a limited success as only the smokers immediate next to one of the ash trays have a direct access to use them. Most of the other smokers continue to tap ashes and drop butts on the ground. Smokers also generally dispose of the waste materials of lit cigarettes and cigars, and used matches on the ground of public places including parks, sports and play grounds, walk paths, beaches and the like. In a grassed area, bush or forest, a lit or incompletely extinguished cigarette or cigar or matches thrown on the ground may cause a fire which may result in serious environmental damages, injuries and/or deaths. Accordingly, the exposed ashes and butts and used matches represent an environmental and health hazard, and may cause fires leading to environmental damages, and resulting in injuries and deaths. The butts comprises filter element and/or tobacco surrounded by paper or like material. If left in the environment, they do not commence to decompose for a considerable long time. Even after they commence to decompose, complete decomposition takes an even longer time. OBIECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable container for holding smoker's waste materials to alleviate or at least reduce to a certain level one or more of the above problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect therefore the present invention resides in a portable container for holding waste materials including butts of cigarettes and/or cigars, the container comprising a housing having an upper section, a base, wall means extending from said base towards said upper section, and a first compartment within said wall means for depositing said waste materials. A cutting arrangement is provided in said upper section for cutting a butt before depositing into said first compartment. Preferably, also arranged in said upper section are an extinguishing station for extinguishing a lit cigarette or cigar, and a port in communication with said first compartment for insertion of the waste materials therethrough and into the first compartment for holding therein. It s further preferred that said port is associated with said cutting arrangement arranged to cut said butt which is inserted into or being inserted through the port. In preference, said port has a wall surrounding a passage for insertion of said butt and the cutting arrangement having cutting means extending radially inwardly from said surrounding wall into said passage. The cutting arrangement may have a pusher for pushing said butt to thereby cause said butt to be cut by the cutting means. It is preferred that the pusher is positionable between a first position allowing said butt to be inserted through said port and a second position for causing said butt to be cut by the cutting means. The pusher may be spring biassed to return to said first position. The cutting means may be formed of one or more cutting teeth or blades. Said first chamber may be lined with a layer of a substantially fire resistant material. Alternatively, at least parts^' of the base and parts of the wall means bordering said first compartment are constructed of a substantially fire resistant material. It is preferred that said upper section includes an ash retention arrangement for retaining any spilled waste materials while attempting to deposit them into the first compartment in a confined region. In one form the retention arrangement has retention walls extending around said region and the extinguishing station and the port are in said region. Advisedly, the retention walls extends above the extinguishing station and the port. Said upper section may havea plate member incorporating the extinguishing station and the port. The plate member may also serves as an ash retaining surface for said retention arrangement. The plate member and/or the base may be arranged to be movable to provide an opening for disposing the waste materials from the first compartment. A disposal bag with an open top is preferably arranged in the first compartment to receive said waste materials and the bag together with the waste materials held therein can be removed through said opening. Typically, closing means is arranged for closing said open top. This arrangement allows the waste materials to remain within the bag during disposal thereof. It is preferred that said wall means having a top peripheral edge and the extinguishing station and/or the port are arranged at the same level as or below the top peripheral edge. Advantageously, said plate member is arranged below said top peripheral edge whereby providing a barrier for ashes to escape from said plate member. Said retention walls may be connected to or formed as an extension of said wall means. In preference, said extinguishing station has a grate or mesh for a smoker to snub the lit end of the cigarette or cigar thereat for extinguishing the lit cigarette or cigar. The extinguishing station may have a guide recess for guiding the lit end of the cigarette or cigar to the grate or mesh. Preferably, the guide recess includes a frusto-conical portion arranged with its smaller end inwardly of its larger end, and the grate or mesh is fixed to the smaller end. More preferably, the guide recess further includes a cylindrical portion extending upwardly from the larger end of the frusto-conical portion. The housing may have a second chamber arranged adjacent to the first chamber configured for accommodating a number of cigarettes or cigars or a cigarette pack. The housing may also have a third compartment configured for accommodating a lighter or a number of matches or a box of matches. The upper section may also have a lid member positionable between a closed position to coverthe extinguishing station and the port and an open position for accessing the extinguishing station and the port. In one form the wall means have an aperture in communication with said first compartmentand the upper section is arranged to be movable in and out of the first compartment through said aperture. Preferably, said upper section is pivotal ly connected to the wall means for pivotal movement in and out of the first compartment. Desirably, at least parts of the wall means bordering said first compartment are arranged in a collapsible form so that said parts of the wall means may be selectively collapsed for storage and expanded during use. The plate member may be pivotal ly connected with the wall means so as to be pivotal ly movable to lie on the collapsed wall means and to be pivotally movable to extend across said first chamber in using of the container. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention can be readily understood and put into practical effect the description will hereinafter refer to the accompanying drawings which illustrate non limiting embodiments of the present invention and wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figures 2 and 3 the use of a second embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figure 5 is a prospective view of a fourth embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figure 6 shows an alternate form of the embodiment shown in Figure 5; Figures 7 and 8 respective show a side mounted top section in the storage and the in use positions of a fifth embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figure 9 is a section view of a sixth embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figure 10 is a partial view showing details of the port in the container shown in Figure 9; Figure 11 is a perspective view of a cigarette pack adapted to store a container according to the present invention; Figures 12 and 13 are perspective views of a cigarette pack adapted to store a form of the collapsible containers according to the present invention; Figures 14 to 16 are perspective views showing a cigarette pack incorporating a form of the collapsible containers according to the present invention; Figure 17 is a perspective view of a gift set incorporating a form of the containers according to the present invention; Figure 18 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the container according to the present invention; Figures 19 and 20 are respective front and side views of the container shown in Figure 18; Figure 21 is a partial cut-away view of the container shown in Figure 18; Figure 22 shows a butt being inserted into the container shown in Figure 18; Figure 23 shows a side opening of the container shown in Figure 18 for receiving ashes of a cigarette; and Figure 24 is a partial cut-away view of another further embodiment of the container according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings and initially to Figure 1 , there is shown a first embodiment of the container 10 for storing wastes materials in the forms of cigarette butts 12 and ashes 14 and matches (not shown) according to the present invention. The container 10 is constructed of a substantially fire resistant material and has a top section 16, a base 18 and wall means 20 which extends upwardly from the base 18 in a direction towards the top section 16. In this embodiment, the container 10 is box-shaped and has a substantially rectangular cross-section. It should be noted that the container 10 as shown is merely an example and the scope of the described invention can be extended to any shape including cylindrical, spherical, or conical. The wall means 20 in this case has a front wall 22, a back wall 24, and opposed side walls 26 and 28. A compartment 30 for storing butts 12 and ashes 14 is arranged within the walls 22, 24, 26 and 28. The top section 16 in this embodiment extends from a top edge periphery 42 of the wall means 20 and has a plate 32 formed with an extinguishing station 34 for extinguishing a I it cigarette by snubbing against a metal lie mesh 38 in the station 34, and a port 40 for insertion of matches, the extinguished cigarette or butt 12 and for tapping in ashes of a lit cigarette 36 into the compartment 30. Details of the port 40 will be described with reference to Figures 9 and 10. A lid 38 is provided to close said extinguishing station 34 and the port 40. The lid 38 when closed assists in causing any lit or incompletely distinguished butts 12 to be distinguished shortly due to exhaustion of oxygen in the compartment 30. The lid 38 in this embodiment is an extension of the back wall 24 and joined thereto by means of a fold line 44 allowing the lid 38 to moved about the fold line 44. The extinguishing station 34 has a guide recess with a frusto-conical portion

46 with its smaller end adapted to support the mesh 38 and its larger end connected to a cylindrical portion 48. The guide recess guides the lit end of a cigarette to contact the mesh 38 for extinguishing thereat. The recess also assists in limiting ashes formed during extinguishing to be within the recess and to fall through the mesh 38 into the compartment 30. The container 10 in this embodiment retains all waste materials in the compartment 30, and the container 10 is disposed of when it is substantially full of the waste materials. Thus, it alleviates any fire risk due to lit cigarette butts. It also substantially reduces unpleasant odour and sight cause by the ashes and the butts. Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, the embodiment of the container 10 as shown therein is intended to be reusable. The wall means 20 of this container 10 are constructed of a relatively durable, fire resistant material such as metal or thermoplastic. The upper section 16 has its extinguishing station 34 and port 40 substantially as described in the Figure 1 embodiment. A hinge arrangement 50 connects the lid 38 to the wall means 20. As such, the lid 38 is pivotal ly movable about the hinge arrangement 50 between a closed position as shown in Figure 2 and an open position (not shown). The base 18 in this embodiment is also connected to the wall means 20 by means of another hinge arrangement 52, and has a tab 54 configured to pressed against the wall means 20 as shown in Figure 2 for maintaining said base 18 in a closed position. The base 18 can be moved to an open position as shown in Figure 3 by simply pushing or pulling the base 18 downwardly to disengage the tab 54. As can be seen in Figure 3, when the base 18 is in the open position the waste materials including butts 12, ashes 14 and used matches (not shown) can be disposed of in a bin (not shown). The embodiment of the container 10 shown in Figure 3 has its base 18 integrally formed with the wall means 20. The upper section 16 has its plate member 32 and lid 38 (not shown for clarity) hingedly connected to the wall means 20 by means of a hinge arrangement 50, whereby both the lid 38 and the plate member 32 are pivotal ly movable relative to the wall means 20. The plate member 32 in this case has side clips 31 configured to secure the plate member 32 in a closed position by clamping against the wall means 20. The plate member 32 can be moved from its closed position unclamping thereof and positioning to an open position for disposing waste materials in the compartment 30. The embodiment of the container 10 in Figure 5 has its wall means 20 configured with a partition 56 separating the interior thereof into the first compartment 30 and a second compartment 60. The second compartment 60 is arranged to accommodate a number of cigarettes 36 as shown or a cigarette pack. The lid 38 of the upper section 16 in this case is adapted to cover both compartments 30 and 60. The embodiment of the container 10 shown in Figure 6 is similar to the embodiment shown in Figure 5 except that the plate member 32 is recessed from the top peripheral edge 42 of the wall means 20. This arrangement confines and retains any spill of the ashes to be within a retention region between the plate member 32 and the upper edge 42. In Figures 7 and 8, the side wall 26 of the container 10 has an aperture 62 and the upper section 16 is arranged to selectively supported in and out of the aperture 62. In this embodiment, the upper section 16 has a tab 64 allowing a smoker to hold the tab 64 while moving the section 16 in and out of the aperture 62. As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the container 10 with an openable plate member 32 and/or base 18 such as that shown in Figures 2 to 4, can be arranged to receive a disposable bag 66 in the compartment 30. The bag 66 has an open top portion which can be folded back about the top peripheral edge 42of the wall means 20 and is maintained in position by the plate member 32 of the top section 16. Following positioning of the plate member 32 to an open position, the bag 66 can be removed from the compartment 30 for disposal of the waste materials therein. The open top of the bag 66 can be closed to prevent the waste materials therein from escaping into the environment. The port 40 has a tubular wall 84 surrounding a passage 86 through which a butt 12 passes before dropping into the bag 66 in the chamber 30. Cutting means 90 in the form of radially inwardly directing cutting teeth are arranged in the passage 86 and extending from the tubular wall 84. As can be seen in Figure 10, a cigarette butt 12 being inserted through the passage 86 are cut by the cutting means 90. The cut cigarette butts 12 fall into the bag 66 for disposal. It should be understood that although the cut butts 12 as shown are split into halves, it is within the scope of the described invention to arrange the cutting means 90 to cut cigarette butts into smaller pieces. The cut butts 12 will decompose at a much faster rate due to exposure of their interior and therefore much larger surface area to the elements. In Figure 11 , the upper section 16 is formed as a portion of a disposable enclosure 68 which can be inserted into the first compartment 30 in a direction as shown by the arrow. The enclosure 68 is kept in the chamber 30 for storing waste materials of lit cigarettes and used matches. A flap 70 is provided on the enclosure for closing the extinguishing station 34 and the port 40. To dispose of the waste materials, the enclosure 68 with the flap 70 in the closed position is simply lifted out of compartment 30 and thrown in a bin. The embodiment of the container 10 as shown in Figures 12 and 13 has its side walls 26 and 28 formed to be foldable so that the container 10 can be expanded for use as shown in Figure 13. Conveniently, a number of the containers 10 in the folded configuration are provided in a pack 72of cigarettes as shown in Figure 12. When one is smoking, one of the folded containers can be removed from the pack 72 and then expanded to the form shown in Figure 13. It will be noted that the plate member 32 is pivotal ly connected to the wall means 20. When it is stored in the pack 72 the plate member 32 is folded back onto the back wal I 24. When the container 10 is expanded the plate member 32 is moved into the interior of the wall means 20. The plate member 32 in this embodiment has upstanding flanges 74 with one of the flanges 74 connected to the wall means 20 so that when the plate member 32 is in the interior of the wall means the extinguishing station 34 and the port 40 are recessed from the top peripheral edge 42 of the wall means 20. As shown in Figures 14 to 16, the embodiment of the container 10 is combined with a pack 72 of cigarettes. I this case, the wall 22 of the wall means 20 is a common wall of the pack 72 and the container 10. The side walls 26 and 28 are foldable as described earlier. In Figure 1 7, the container 10 is formed as a gift set and has a second compartment 60 for accommodating a pack 72 of cigarettes and a third compartment 80 for accommodating a cigarette lighter 82 or a box of matches. Referring now to Figures 18 to 20, the embodiment of the container 10 as shown has a top section 16, a base 18 and wall means 20 between the top section and the base. The top section 1 6 has a port 40 into which the waste material for depositing into the compartment 30 can be inserted. Two strips of raised lands 1 7 are provided to facilitate flipping or lifting a lis 37 open. As shown more clearly in Figure 21 , the base 18 is removal form the wall means for emptying the waste material in the compartment 30. The top section 16 has a cutting arrangement 92 for cutting a cigarette butt 12 inserted therein through the port 40. In this embodiment , the cutting arrangement as shown has two spaced support blades or anvils 93 below a slot 94 and a cutting blade 95 above the slot

94. Following insertion of a butt 12 into the port 40, the butt is supported on the support blades 93. The cutting blade 95 is fixed to the lid 37 which serves as a pusher. The lid 37 is movable between the position as shown to a cut position where the blade 95 cuts the supported butt 12. The pusher 37 can thus be pushed downwardly against spring bias as shown in Figure 22. This embodiment of the container 10 has, a back wall 24 formed of a slidable plate that is retained by upturned edge flanges 26A and 26B of the side walls 26 and 28, and the base 18. A tab 96 is provide on the back wall 24 to facilitate a user to move the back wall 24 between a closed position and an open position as shown in Figure 23. In the open position, the compartment 30 is revealed for receiving ashes and other waste materials. Figure 24 shows another form of the cutting arrangement 92 for the container 10. In this form, the cutting arrangement has the cutting blade 95 positioned about the same level as the support blades 93. As such, the butt 12 inserted through the port is supported by the blades 93 as well as the cutting blade

95. The pusher lid 37 carries a pusher block 97 having a curved end 98. As the lid 37 is pushed downwardly, the end 98 engages the butt 12 and causes it to be cut by the blade 95 and the cut portions of the butt to move into the compartment 30. Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A portable container for holding waste materials including butts of cigarettes and/or cigars, the container comprising a housing having an upper section, a base, wall means extending from said base towards said upper section, and a first compartment within said wall means for depositing said waste materials, and a cutting arrangement is provided in said upper section for cutting a butt before depositing into said first compartment.

2. The container according to claim 1 wherein further arranged in said upper section are an extinguishing station for extinguishing a lit cigarette or cigar, and a port in communication with said first compartment for insertion of the waste materials therethrough and into the first compartment for holding therein.

3. The container according to claim 2 wherein said wall means having a top peripheral edge and the extinguishing station and/or the port are arranged at the same level as or below the top peripheral edge.

4. The container according to claim 2 or 3wherein said port being associated with said cutting arrangement arranged to cut said butt which is inserted into or being inserted through the port.

5. The container according to claim 4 wherein said port having a wall surrounding a passage for insertion of said butt and the cutting arrangement having cutting means extending radially inwardly from said surrounding wall into said passage.

6. The container according to claim 4 wherein said cutting arrangement having one or more support member for supporting the butt that has been inserted through the port, and cutting means for cutting the butt.

7. The container according to claim 6 wherein the cutting arrangement having a pusher for pushing said butt to thereby cause said butt to be cut by the cutting means.

8. The container according to claim 7 wherein the pusher is arranged to be positionable between a first position allowing said butt to be inserted through said port and a second position for causing said butt to be cut by the cutting means.

9. The container according to claim 8 wherein the pusher is spring biassed to return to said first position.

10. The container according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the cutting means is fixed secured relative to the one or more support member, or is secured to the pusher.

1 1. The container according to any one of claims 5 to 10 wherein the cutting means is formed of one or more cutting teeth or blades.

12. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein said first chamber is lined with a layer of a substantially fire resistant material, and/or at least a part of the base and at least a part of the wall means bordering said first compartment are constructed of a substantially fire resistant material.

13. The container according to any one of claims 2 to 12 wherein said upper section includes an ash retention arrangement for retaining any spilled waste materials while attempting to deposit them into the first compartment in a confined region.

14. The container according to claim 13 wherein the retention arrangement has retention walls extending around said region and the extinguishing station and the port are in said region.

15. The container according to claim 14 wherein the retention walls extends above the extinguishing station and the port.

16. The container according to any one of claims 1 3 to 15 wherein said upper section having a plate member incorporating the extinguishing station and the port, and the plate member is arranged to serve as an ash retaining surface for said retention arrangement.

17. The container according to claim 16 wherein the plate member and/or the base may be arranged to be movable to provide an opening for disposing the waste materials from the first compartment.

18. The container according to claim 1 7 wherein a disposal bag with an open top is arranged in the first compartment to receive said waste materials and the bag together with the waste materials held therein can be removed through said opening.

19. The container according to claim 18 wherein closing means is arranged for closing said open top.

20. The container according to any one of claims 16 to 19 wherein said plate member is arranged below said top peripheral edge whereby providing a barrier for ashes to escape from said plate member.

21. The container according to any one of claims 14 to 21 wherein said retention walls being connected to or formed as an extension of said wall means.

22. The container according to any one of claims 2 to 21 wherein said extinguishing station has a grate or mesh for a smoker to snub the lit end of the cigarette or cigar thereat for extinguishing the lit cigarette or cigar.

23. The container according to claim 22 wherein the extinguishing station having a guide recess for guiding the lit end of the cigarette or cigar to the grate or mesh.

24. The container according to claim 23 wherein the guide recess includes a frusto-conical portion arranged with its smaller end inwardly of its larger end, and the grate or mesh is fixed to the smaller end.

25. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 24 wherein the housing having a second chamber arranged adjacent to the first chamber and configured for accommodating a number of cigarettes or cigars or a cigarette pack.

26. The container according to claim 25 wherein the housing having a third compartment configured for accommodating a lighter or a number of matches or a box of matches.

27. The container according to any one of claims 2 to 26 wherein the upper section having a lid member positionable between a closed position to cover the extinguishing station and the port and an open position for accessing the extinguishing station and the port.

28. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 27 wherein the wall means have an aperture in communication with said first compartment and the upper section is arranged to be movable in and out of the first compartment through said aperture.

29. The container according to claim 28 wherein said upper section is pivotally connected to the wall means for pivotal movement in and out of the first compartment.

30. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 29 wherein at least a part of the wall means bordering said first compartment is arranged in a collapsible form so that said part of the wall means may be selectively collapsed for storage and expanded during use.

31. The container according to claim 30 wherein a plate member is arranged to be pivotally connected with the wall means so as to be pivotally movable to lie on the collapsed wall means and to be pivotally movable to extend across said first chamber in using of the container.