WO2005111348A1

WO2005111348A1 - Improvements to bin locks

Info

Publication number: WO2005111348A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000628
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Walsh
Original assignee: Lock Focus Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2004-05-14
Filing date: 2005-05-02
Publication date: 2005-11-24

Abstract

The specification discloses a lock for use with a refuse bin or the like having a hinged lid, the lock configuration (10) having a lock body (11) to be installed on an inside wall of the bin adjacent its open upper end normally closed by the lid, and a latch tongue (15) to be mounted on the bin lid to engage or disengage from the lock body (11) in use, the lock construction further including a weighted member (61) movable within a housing of the lock body (11) under gravitational forces within defined patterns such that if the bin is tipped in a direction to discharge its contents through its open upper end with the lid locked to the bin, then the weighted member (61) moves under applied gravitational forces to delatch the latch tongue (15) from a retaining latch arm (47) located within the lock body (11).

Description

IMPROVEMENTS TO BIN LOCKS The present invention relates to locks for or container of any type, but is particularly adapted for use with refuse bins intended to collect materials and eventually dispose of same. In the following description, reference will be primarily made to the application of the lock construction to refuse collection bins, however, it will be apparent that the lock construction may be used with other bins and containers. Bins of the aforementioned kind commonly are mounted on wheels for ease of movement especially when filled and include a pivoted lid to retain the material placed in them. Such bins are often used for collection and disposal of many different kinds of materials such as domestic, commercial and medical waste materials, and security based waste materials including documents that need to retain a certain level of secrecy. In many applications including the collection of security materials and medically based waste materials, the lid needs to be locked to the receptacle portion of the bin to prevent unwanted access to the materials within the bin. Conventionally this is achieved by the use of chains and padlocks which are acceptable for the level of security needed, however, such chains and locks prevent any form of automation of the pick up and disposal process for the collected materials. Such bins necessarily need to be manually picked up and removed bodily with the contents still retained in the receptacle portion, and the bin is replaced by a new bin for refilling. This is a labour intensive process and is therefore necessarily quite costly. In other applications, typically involving the collection of domestic waste and non secret or dangerous commercial waste materials, the bins utilized are not locked and can be readily picked up by automated handling machinery on refuse collection vehicles with the waste material being dumped into the holding compartment of the collection vehicle and the bin is then left for reuse. The automated bin handling equipment picks the bin up, at least partially inverts the bin whereupon the lid swings by gravity away from the upper opening of the bin, and the refuse material is then tipped into the holding compartment of the collection vehicle. The process is quite effective, not labour intensive and therefore not particularly expensive. There is, however, a practical difficulty with such bins in that during use they are often stored or kept in relatively public places with non owners or authorized users of particular bins being able to and commonly placing rubbish in bins that they are not entitled to use to the consternation of the rightful user of the bin. The potential for such disputes would be minimized by providing a lockable lid, however, conventionally available locks would prevent the use of automated handling and pick up equipment currently in use. In some applications where automation of collection or emptying the bin is not an issue, it may also be desirable to provide a lock structure as part of the bin or container rather than necessarily having to use separate padlocks, chains or the like. The objective of a first aspect of this invention is to provide a lock configuration for use with waste collection bins which will allow the bin to be used with conventional bin handling equipment when the contents are emptied into a collection vehicle. In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention aims at providing a lock configuration that may be used to security lock a lid of a refuse bin in a closed position. Accordingly, the present invention provides a lock configuration including a latch engagement member cooperable with a latch retaining member to retain the latch engagement member in a first latched position when interengaged, said latch engagement member and said latch retaining member being adapted for mounting to either a receptacle or to a closure member for a said receptacle, the lock configuration further including a weighted member arranged to move under gravitational forces and restraining means to restrain movement of said weighted member within predefined patterns whereby, in use, when the receptacle is tipped in at least one particular defined direction, the weighted member moves to a position to delatch the latch engagement member from said first latched position. Preferred features and aspects of this invention may be as defined in claims 2 to 18 as annexed hereto, the subject matter of which claims are hereby included in the disclosure of this specification by this reference thereto. By arrangements as set out in the foregoing, it is possible to provide latchable or lockable closures for refuse bins and the like that can be readily processed or picked up by conventionally available handling equipment on collection vehicles without the need of labour intensive processes currently undertaken. It is of course intended that the invention would also provide a receptacle and closure in combination with a lock configuration as defined above. In accordance with another aspect of this invention, there is provided a lock structure for a bin receptacle having an upper access opening closable by a closure member pivoted to said bin receptacle with the lock structure being adapted to lock said closure member to said bin receptacle, said lock structure including a latching tongue adapted to be secured to the closure member in use to extend into the bin receptacle in a closed position of said closure member, the lock structure further including a lock body securable to an inside wall of the bin receptacle, said lock body housing a pivotable latch arm and being arranged in use to receive said latching tongue in said closed position of the closure member whereby the latch tongue engages and latches with the latch arm in a first latched position, said lock body further including a key actuated lock device adapted to be accessed externally of the bin receptacle having at least a first lock device condition retaining said latching tongue in said first latched position, and a second lock device condition which frees said latch arm from said latching tongue by key operation. Preferred features of this aspect may be as defined in claims 22 to 27 annexed hereto, the subject matter of which claims are hereby included in the disclosure of this specification by this reference thereto. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a lock configuration usable with refuse bin and lid in a manual manner; Fig 2 is a perspective view of the parts shown in Fig 1 assembled into a lock configuration; Fig 3 is a front face elevation view of the lock configuration shown in Figs 1 and 2 but with the front cover plate removed showing the lock configuration in a latched or locked condition; Fig 4 is a view similar to Fig 3 but showing the lock configuration in a delatched or unlocked condition; Fig 5 is a front face elevation view of a lock configuration according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention where the lock configuration is capable of opening automatically when being emptied and Fig 5 showing this embodiment in a latched and locked (but not deadlocked) position; Fig 6 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of Fig 5 also illustrating the lock configuration in a typical position of use; Fig 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the lock latch plate and a protective cowl normally secured to the bin lid when installed; Fig 8 is a partial face view of a region of one face of the weighted member used in the lock configuration of Fig 5; Fig 9 is a section view along C-C of Fig 8; Fig 10 is a section view along d-d of Fig 8; Fig 11 is a view similar to Fig 5 showing the lock configuration having been inverted by, for example tipping the bin to which it is installed, thereby freeing the lock latch plate; Fig 12 is a section view along line B-B of Fig 11 ; Fig 13 is a view similar to Fig 5 showing the lock configuration in a deadlocked position; Fig 14 is a view similar to Fig 5 with the cover plate removed showing the lock configuration in a latched or locked condition but not a deadlocked position; Fig 15 is a view similar to Fig 14 showing the lock configuration having been moved to an unlocked condition by key operation; Fig 16 is a view similar to Fig 14 showing the lock configuration having been delatched by tipping of the bin to which it is installed; and Fig 17 is a rear perspective view of the lock configuration showing the internally directed face of the lock body, that is the face directed towards the inside of the bin when the lock configuration is installed. Referring first to Figs 1 to 4 of the annexed drawings, a first preferred embodiment is shown where the lock configuration 10 is capable of manual operation but not of automatic operation by tipping of a refuse bin or the like to which it might be mounted. The lock configuration 10 includes a first lock body 11 which in use is installed on the inwardly facing wall surface 12 of a bin receptacle 13 adjacent its open upper end in a similar manner to that shown with the embodiment of Figs 5 to 17. A second latch section 15 is provided secured to the underneath surface of a bin lid (not shown) which normally would be hinged via a hinge structure connecting the lid to the bin receptacle 13 such that the lid will open about a generally horizontal pivot axis. A latch section 15 includes an L-shaped latch plate 20 with a first leg 21 configured to facilitate connection of the latch plate 20 to the bin lid, and a second downwardly depending leg or tongue 22 with a V- shaped end 23 and a latch recess 24 spaced upwardly from the V-shaped end 23, the function of which will be understood from the following description. The latch tongue 22 is adapted, in use to extend into the first lock body 11 (as shown in Figs 5 and 6) when the lock configuration is latched or locked. The latch section 15 also includes a cowling or housing piece 25 with an inclined or angled inwardly facing surface 26 that at least partially covers and protects the latch tongue 22 from damage or from collecting unwanted debris when material collected in the bin receptacle 13 is tipped therefrom. Any debris collected on the latch tongue 22 might be inadvertently introduced into the lock body 11 and obstruct the correct working of same as outlined in the following description. The lock body 11 includes a first closure wall part or cover plate 27 which in use is located adjacent to the inwardly facing surface 12 of the bin receptacle 13, and a second casing part 28 whereby the parts 27, 28 together define an internal enclosure or space 36 housing operational parts of the lock configuration. The second casing part 28 has a wall portion 29 which in use faces inwardly of the bin enclosure 13, an upper wall portion 30 extending adjacent to an upper edge zone 31 of the bin (Fig 7) at its upper opening, and two side wall portions 32, 33 downwardly extending from the upper wall portion 30 with the lower ends of the side wall portions 32, 33 being connected via a lower curved wall portion 34. The upper wall portion 30 has an opening 35 formed therein to allow the latch tongue 22 to enter the internal space 36 within the lock body 11. As is shown in the drawings, a key operated lock barrel 37 of any conventional structure is mounted in and extends through a lower central region of the closure wall part 27, the front face 38 of the lock barrel 37 with the key access opening passing through an opening in the wall of the bin receptacle 13. A locking plate 39 is provided cooperable with the lock barrel 37. The locking plate 39, as illustrated, is restrained for sliding movement in a lateral (or horizontal as represented in the drawings) direction by cooperation of ridges 40 on the inner surface of the wall portion 29 engaging within guide slots or grooves 41 in the locking plate 39. The central portion 43 of the locking plate 39 also slides within a groove 102 formed in the rear of the mounting flange 104 of lock barrel mounting cylinder 101. Rotation of the lock barrel operational part in response to key rotation causes the locking plate 39 to move laterally and be positioned either centrally or to the left or to the right as shown in the drawings as will be further explained hereinafter. The locking plate 39 has a central portion 43 typically including an upright groove or recess 98 engaged by a drive pin on the key barrel to effect said lateral movement when the key barrel is rotated. The locking plate further includes laterally spaced upwardly extending arms 44, 45, one of which includes a hooked portion 46 at its distal or upper end. A latch arm 47 is provided that extends generally in an upright direction with an upper end 48 projecting into an upper compartment 49 located beneath the access opening 35 through the upper wall portion 30 of the lock body section 11. The upper compartment 49 has fixed walls 50 and a plate member 51 that separates the compartment 49 from the space 36 containing the remainder of the lock operational members. The latch arm 47 projects beyond the plate member 51 such that the compartment 49 provides a further barrier to the ingress of debris that might damage or block the proper working of the lock operational members. The plate member 51 is angled upwardly and an opening 97 in the side wall of the compartment 49 is provided to allow debris that might be collected therein to be flushed therefrom. The upright latch arm 47 is pivoted on a fixed pivot pin 52 to move about a substantially horizontal pivot axis perpendicular to the page in the annexed elevation drawings. Pivoting of the latch arm 47 in a clockwise direction is limited by an engagement surface 80 on the latch arm 47 engaging with a fixed abutment pin 81 integrally formed with the body section 11 of the device. The pivot pin 52 is located generally midway along the length of the latching arm 47 and just below the upper isolation compartment 49. The upper end of the latch arm 47 includes a latch pin 53 that is restrained for movement in a guide slot 54 that thereby limits the extent of pivotal movement of the latch arm 47 about the pivot pin 52. The latch pin 53 also is adapted, at one end of the possible movement of the latch arm 42, to engage with the latching recess 24 in the latch tongue 22 and thereby retain the latch tongue 22 substantially within the compartment 49. At the other end of the possible movement of the latch arm 42, the latch pin 53 is freed from the latching recess 24 to allow the latch tongue 22 and the bin lid to swing towards an open position. The lower end 55 of the latch arm 47 includes means for cooperation with a compression spring 56 that tends to urge the latch arm 47 towards an upright latching position, for example as shown in Figs 3, 5, 13, 14 and 15. Intermediate the lower end 55 and the pivot opening 99 for the pivot pin 52, an emergency pin 58 is provided that laterally extends through a slot 59 in the inner wall 29 of the lock body section 11 such that the pin 58 can be accessed by a person who might become inadvertently locked in the bin receptacle 13 to actually manually delatch the lock to allow escape from the bin from the inside. The drawings also illustrate a stub shaft 100 provided to pivotally support a blocking member 57 utilized in the embodiment of Figs 5 to 17. The member 57 has at one end a bearing pivot engaged over the stub shaft 100 and is freely pivotable thereon. The blocking member 57 has at its free end an enlarged head region 17 with end surfaces 18, 19 adapted in one position to engage surfaces 14, 9 of a recessed zone 8 at the lower end 55 of the latch arm 47. The surfaces 18, 19 and 14, 9 are configured such that the blocking member 57 is retained in engagement with the latch arm 47 until the latch arm 47 pivots under some external force clockwise about the pivot pin 52 to positively disengage the blocking member 57 as described hereinafter. Once disengaged the blocking member 57 freely drops away from its blocking position by pivoting about the stub shaft 100. The blocking member 57 is intended to swing about the stub shaft 100 under gravitational forces and the enlarged head region 17 provides sufficient weight to assist with such movement unless the head region 17 is engaged in the recessed zone 8 of the latch arm 47. As depicted, Figs 1 to 4 show an embodiment for manual opening, locking or latching of a lid of a bin. The parts illustrated in these drawings are interchangeable with the parts shown in Figs 5 to 17 being an automatic opening version of the lock. The manual version (Figs 1 to 4) does not require a blocking member 57 or associated parts as described above but does need a spring urging means such as the torsional spring 103 shown in Figs 1 , 3 and 4 to spring load the latch arm 47 to the upright position. As illustrated, the torsion spring 103 is operable between the pivot pin 52 of the latch arm 47 and stub shaft 100 for the blocking member 57 no longer is required. The use of common parts for the manual and automatic embodiments is to reduce inventory costs but this usage of common parts does not need to occur if only one version is to be made. As illustrated in Fig 3, the latch arm is mounted vertical by the spring 103. In this position, two arms of the latch arm 47 pass into the isolation compartment 49 on either side of the slide plate 51. The slide plate 51 is also mounted allowing some sliding movement to allow the arm 47 to pivot between its limits of movement defined by the slot 54. In this upright position, the tongue 22 of the latch plate 20 can force the arm 47 to the left against the spring force to engage the recess 24 with the pin 53 to latch the lid of the bin closed. In this latched / locked position, if the key actuated lock barrel 37 is in a locked position the locking plate 39 is in its left most position with the arm 44 engaging or adjacent the angled surface 80 of the arm 47. With use of a key, the lock barrel 37 can be actuated to drive the locking plate 39 to its right most position and in doing so, the arm 44 contacts the pin 58 on the latch arm 47 to pivot the arm 47 to the open position as shown in Fig 4. If it is desired to have an automatically operating lock, then the spring 103 is omitted and the blocking member 57 described above is included as shown in Figs 5 to 17. In this second embodiment, there is also housed within the compartment 36, or more particularly in a zone 60 in the upper right hand side of the compartment 36, a weighted member 61 that is arranged to move under gravitational forces within the zone 60 with this movement being restrained by various means as will be described in the following. The weighted member 61 has an extension zone 87 that has pivot bearing means pivoted on pivot pin 52, ie the same pivot pin on which the latch arm 47 pivots. The compression spring 56 is mounted to the member 61 such that it extends therefrom and cooperates with the latch member 47 as discussed earlier. Further the weighted member 61 also has an outer circumferential shape which includes various circumferential abutment surfaces 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 86 and 89 which in various positions of the member 61 abut various members or surfaces within the compartment 36 to thereby restrict movement of the member 61. The abutment surface 89 is a ledge on the extension zone 87 of the member 61 that cooperates with a ledge 90 on the latch member 47 wherein when the member 61 rotates in a clockwise direction around the pivot pin 52, the latch member 47 also rotates in a similar clockwise movement such that the latch pin 53 is moved to the left out of engagement with or out of a position capable of engaging with the latching recess 24 in the latch plate 20. In a lower region, the member 61 includes a recessed portion 93 with a hook formation 94 formed therein that, in one position (see Fig 5), engages with the hook formation 46 on the arm 45 of the locking plate 39 controlled by the key operated lock barrel 37. In the position illustrated in Fig 5, the abutment surface 86 on the member 61 is engaged with an abutment surface 85 in the flange 104 of the lock barrel housing 101 and the locking plate 39 has been moved to the extreme left, the hook portions 46 and 68 are interengaged such that the member 61 is totally restrained from movement regardless of the physical orientation of the lock. In this position, the latch arm 47 is retained in the latching position as illustrated by action of the compression spring 56. Of course, the internally located safety pin 58 can still be operated against the spring force applied by the spring 56 to release the latch from the inside. The condition illustrated in Fig 5 can only be released externally of the bin by key actuation to move the latching plate 39 to the right. As is further shown in the annexed drawings, the weighted member 61 includes a central guide track in the form of a groove 67 that is generally open facing the wall portion 29 of the casing part 28 of the lock body 11 and is V- shaped when viewed from the face 90 of the member 61 adjacent the wall portion 29. A circular opening 91 extends from the base of the groove 67 through to the opposite face 92 of the member 61 that is located generally adjacent the closure wall part 27 of the lock body 11. The opening 91 has a diameter slightly larger than that of a ball 70 typically made from steel or other reasonably heavy material such that the ball can pass through the opening 91. The diameter of the opening 91 is less than the width of the groove 67 and is located generally at the apex of the V such that a wall zone 94 is located beneath the opening 91 (see Fig 8) with a depth from the face 90 being sufficient to locate the ball 70 therein without the ball 70 extending beyond the surface level of the face 90. On either side of the opening 91 and wall zone 94 are wall zones 95, 96 each having a depth from the surface of the face 90 less than the diameter of the ball 70. The inner surface 71 of the wall portion 29 is also provided with a groove 72 which is also V-shaped and in certain positions of the member 61 (eg Figs 5, 13, 14 and 15) the grooves 67 and 72 are located in overlying positions. In these overlying positions, the ball 70 may roll into the arms of the V occupying both the grooves 67 and 72 if the bin is tipped in a direction for this gravitational rolling motion to occur. If the ball 70 is located in one of the arms of the V in this manner, the member 61 is physically prevented from moving from the position where the grooves 67 and 72 overlie one another. Formed in the front closure wall 27 is a generally upright groove 73 that is curved radiused generally on the pivot pin 52. As shown in Fig 3, the groove 73 extends in front elevation view from the apex of the V-shaped groove 72 upwardly therefrom. When the ball 70 is in a position to pass through the opening 91 and gravitational forces permit this to occur, the ball can partially move into the groove 73 and thereby allow the member 61 is pivot about the pivot pin 52 under gravitational forces. A possible alternative arrangement to the above described arrangement is for the groove 67 to be formed as a slot extending fully between the faces 90 and 92 of the member 61. In such an arrangement, the ball 70 would have a diameter greater than the distance between the faces 90 and 92 and would be engaged in one of the grooves 72 or 73 depending on the orientation of the bin. Operation of the lock configuration described above and illustrated in the annexed drawings may be as follows. Firstly, it is intended that the lock body 11 be installed on the inner surface of the front wall of the bin or receptacle 13 opposite to the hinge position of the lid such that the lid when opening lifts initially upwardly and then pivots rearwardly away from the lock body 11. The latch plate 20 is connected to the inside of the lid such that the latch tongue 22 enters and leaves the upper opening 35 in the upper wall portion 30 of the lock body 11 in a generally vertical direction. In normal operation when emptying a bin or receptacle of this type, it would be tipped forwardly over the edge of the lid to which the lock body 11 is connected to a position beyond the horizontal such that the lid swings freely (if not locked) away from the bin upper opening to allow the contents within the bin to be discharged therefrom. If the lock is deadlocked by use of a key to the position shown in Figs 5 or 13, the bin lid will remain closed and locked to the bin receptacle 13 until the key is used to move the locking plate 39 to the central or right hand positions as shown in the drawings to essentially free the hook formation 94 on the member 61 from the hook formation 46 on the arm 45 of the locking plate 39. With the lock configuration disposed in a locked state (but not deadlocked) or an unlocked state but still latched (eg Figs 5 and 14), if the bin is tipped forwardly in a normal tipping direction indicated by arrow 74 (Fig 6), the ball 70 moves to and through the opening 91 to be received partially in the groove 73 and can move along the groove 73 allowing the member 61 to move under gravitational forces to the position illustrated in Fig 16. In so doing the abutment surface 89 on the member 61 engages the ledge 90 on the latch arm 47 to move same to a delatched position (Fig 16). Once the latch tongue 22 is freed, the bin lid 22 is free to pivot about its hinge connection either by gravity or by pressure of the bin's contents being discharged therefrom when the bin has been tipped to a certain stage, eg beyond the state where the member 61 is disposed horizontally such that it can move gravitationally to the position shown in Fig 16. Thus the bin can be locked (although not deadlocked) and can still be handled by normal collection vehicle bin handling machinery. In the case of bins where the contents need a higher level of security, ie confidential documents, medical waste and the like, the bin might be left in a deadlocked condition with the collection truck operator being given a servant key to move the lock to a simple latched / locked (but not deadlocked) condition so that conventional collection vehicle handling equipment can still be used. If the bin happens to be tipped in a reverse direction, ie opposite to the arrow 74 (Fig 6) either accidentally or intentionally with a view to trying to defeat the lock, the ball 70 remains in the groove 72 and thereby prevents the member 61 from moving to a position where it will delatch the latch arm 47. Similarly, if the bin happens to be tipped sideways ie in either direction perpendicular to the arrow 74 (Fig 6), then the ball 70 may roll along each leg of the groove 72 but will be retained therein, thereby preventing the ball 70 from entering the groove 73 which would allow the members 61 to move to a position where it could delatch the latch arm 47. It will be apparent therefore that the bin lid will be delatched (from the locked or latched positions) only if it is tipped in the normally desired tipping direction ie as indicated by arrow 74 (Fig 6). Because bins of the type used to collect refuse are relatively flexible, it has been found in some cases where the bin is tipped to the side (left in Fig 1), the compression spring 56 alone is not sufficient to stop the latch arm 47 pivoting against the spring force to free the latch tongue 20. To avoid this occurring, the blocking member 57 has been provided such that it will swing into its blocking position as described previously under gravitational forces if the bin is tipped in this direction. Fig 7 of the annexed drawings illustrates how the lock is delatched via key operation only. In this mode of operation, the key via the lock barrel moves the locking plate 39 to its far right position (Fig 15) and in doing so the left hand upright arm 44 of the locking plate 39 engages with the latch arm 47 or in this embodiment the emergency pin member 58 on the latch arm 47 to move the latch arm 47 to the delatched position (Fig 15). For those skilled in the art, many possible variations of the described lock configuration might be utilized. For example, the grooves 72, 73 might be formed by slots in the wall members in which they are formed. It would however, be preferable to cover the slots to minimize the ingress of debris into the compartment 36 from internal regions of the bin receptacle 13. The locking plate 39 is shown movably mounted in a cross wise or horizontal manner but it might equally be arranged for movement in a vertical or upright direction. It may also be found that some automatic bin handling equipment may tend flex the sides of the bin to an extent where the tongue 22 of the latch plate 20 might join in a lid closing position even though it is otherwise freed by appropriate movement of the lock configuration parts. To avoid such problems potentially occurring, the tongue 22 might be mounted such that its laterally movable but spring loaded to a normal home operating position. The lock structure may be made from fabricated metal parts or alternatively many of the parts may be made from moulded plastic material having the necessary performance characteristics.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A lock configuration including a latch engagement member cooperable with a latch retaining member to retain the latch engagement member in a first latched position when interengaged, said latch engagement member and said latch retaining member being adapted for mounting to either a receptacle or to a closure member for a said receptacle, the lock configuration further including a weighted member arranged to move under gravitational forces and restraining means to restrain movement of said weighted member within predefined patterns whereby, in use, when the receptacle is tipped in at least one particular defined direction, the weighted member moves to a position to delatch the latch engagement member from said first latched position.

2. A lock configuration according to claim 1 wherein said restraining means are such as to cause the weighted member to move to a position to delatch the latch engagement member when the receptacle is tipped in only one defined direction.

3. A lock configuration according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the weighted member and said restraining means together result in movement of the weighted member to delatch the latch engagement member only after said receptacle is at least partially inverted.

4. A lock configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 3 further including a key actuated lock device having at least a first lock device condition retaining said latch engagement member in said first latched position and a second lock device condition which frees said latch engagement member from said first latched position by key operation.

5. A lock configuration according to claim 4 wherein the key actuated lock device has a third lock device condition where the weighted member is prevented from any movement while the latch engagement member is in said first latched position.

6. A lock configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the latch engagement member includes a latching tongue and said latch retaining member includes a pivotable latch arm located within a housing, the latching tongue, in use, being insertable into the housing to engage with the latch arm in the first latched position.

7. A lock configuration according to claim 6 wherein the latching tongue includes a recessed portion engageable with the latch arm in the first latched position.

8. A lock configuration according to claim 6 or claim 7 wherein the latch arm is urged by spring means towards said first latched position.

9. A lock configuration according to any one of claims 6 to 8 wherein the weighted member is located within said housing, said restraining means being configured to permit the weighted member to engage and pivot the latch arm away from said first latched position.

10. A lock configuration according to claim 9 wherein the restraining means includes a guide track formed in said weighted member retaining a sliding or rolling member for movement in a direction defined by said guide track.

11. A lock configuration according to claim 10 wherein the guide track is a slot or groove formed in the weighted member and the sliding or rolling member is one or more balls.

12. A lock configuration according to claim 11 wherein the slot or groove is V- shaped and retains a single ball.

13. A lock configuration according to claim 12 wherein the weighted member slides between opposed walls, each of said walls having a groove or slot formed in it facing toward the weighted member and adapted to receive the ball partially therein depending on the orientation of the lock configuration.

14. A lock configuration according to claim 13 wherein one of said grooves or slots in a said wall is V-shaped and in one position of the weighted member overlies the V-shaped slot or groove in the weighted member.

15. A lock configuration according to claim 14 wherein the other of said grooves or slots in a said wall has one end adjacent the base apex of the V- shaped groove or slot in said one wall and extends to a second end intermediate legs of the V-shaped groove or slot in said one wall.

16. A lock configuration according to claim 15 wherein said walls are opposite walls of said housing.

17. A lock configuration according to any one of claims 13 to 16 wherein the weighted member has a said V-shaped groove formed in it opening on one face of the weighted member and in one position of the weighted member being adapted to overlie the V-shaped groove or slot on said one wall, the V-shaped groove in said weighted member having a through opening of a size to allow the ball to pass at least partially therethrough and engage in the other said groove or slot.

18. A lock configuration according to claim 17 wherein the weighted member is mounted for pivoting movement, the other of said groove or slot being curved with a centre of curvature being the same as a pivot point for said weighted member.

19. A bin receptacle and closure member therefore including a lock configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A bin receptacle and closure member therefore according to claim 19 wherein the latch retaining member is located on an inside wall surface of the bin receptacle and the latch engagement member is located on an inside wall surface of the latch closure member.

21. A lock structure for a bin receptacle having an upper access opening closable by a closure member pivoted to said bin receptacle with the lock structure being adapted to lock said closure member to said bin receptacle, said lock structure including a latching tongue adapted to be secured to the closure member in use to extend into the bin receptacle in a closed position of said closure member, the lock structure further including a lock body securable to an inside wall of the bin receptacle, said lock body housing a pivotable latch arm and being arranged in use to receive said latching tongue in said closed position of the closure member whereby the latch tongue engages and latches with the latch arm in a first latched position, said lock body further including a key actuated lock device adapted to be accessed externally of the bin receptacle having at least a first lock device condition retaining said latching tongue in said first latched position, and a second lock device condition which frees said latch arm from said latching tongue by key operation.

22. A lock structure as claimed in claim 21 wherein a cowling is provided at least partially shielding said latching tongue, said cowling being secured to said closure member.

23. A lock structure as claimed in claim 21 or claim 22 wherein an upper end of said latch arm cooperable with said latching tongue is located within separate compartment within said lock body.

24. A lock structure according to any one of claims 21 to 23 wherein the latch arm is urged by spring means towards the first latched position.

25. A lock structure according to any one of claims 21 to 24 wherein a weighted member is located within the lock body housing with restraining means being provided to permit the weighted member to engage and pivot the latch arm away from said first latched position when the bin receptacle is tipped to a predetermined degree in only one direction, the restraining means including a V- shaped guide track formed in the weighted member retaining ball means for movement in a direction defined by said guide track.

26. A lock structure according to claim 25 wherein a V-shaped groove or slot is provided in one wall of the lock body housing facing the weighted member and in one position of the weighted member overlies the V-shaped guide track formed in the weighted member.

27. A lock structure according to claim 26 wherein the V-shaped guide track in the weighted member is a V-shaped groove opening on one face of the weighted member and in one position of the weighted member being adapted to overlie the V-shaped groove or slot on said one wall, the V-shaped groove in said weighted member having a through opening of a size to allow the ball to pass at least partially therethrough to engage in a second groove or slot in a second wall of the lock body opposite said one wall.

28. A lock configuration substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A bin receptacle and closure therefore including a lock configuration substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings