WO2009082231A1

WO2009082231A1 - Receptacle wall for use in or as part of a receptacle and receptacle with such a receptacle wall

Info

Publication number: WO2009082231A1
Application number: PCT/NL2008/050847
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan Veenstra
Original assignee: Veenstra, Giedo
Priority date: 2007-12-21
Filing date: 2008-12-22
Publication date: 2009-07-02
Also published as: NL1034855C2

Abstract

A receptacle wall for use in or as part of a receptacle (2) for storing small objects removably by hand. Along a guide surface, with at least one finger of a hand, an object can be advanced and be taken out of the receptacle. Over the guide surface extends a lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75) along which height varies. An upwardly facing surface (9; 79) and the lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75) extend as far as an edge (10; 80) along which they meet. The upwardly facing surface (9; 79) runs up obliquely towards the edge (10; 80) for supporting a thumb of a hand of a user during the advancement of the object.

Description

Title: Receptacle wall for use in or as part of a receptacle and receptacle with such a receptacle wall

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a receptacle wall according to the introductory portion of claim 1. A receptacle wall of the above-indicated type is known from United

States Patent Specification 1,329,771. British Patent Specification 786,634 also discloses such a receptacle wall. Over the lifting trajectory portion along which height varies of the guide trajectory, coins can be slid out of the compartments of the drawer, whereby the coins fall onto the fingers of a user, which are bent during the slide-up movement, and while on the fingers are lifted from the receptacle.

Known from German Utility Model 94 04 014 is a money receptacle which has a guide surface for advancing upwardly therealong an object situated in the receptacle and to be taken out, over which guide surface extends a lifting trajectory portion along which height varies. In this money receptacle, an upwardly facing surface which meets the lifting trajectory portion along an edge runs up obliquely toward the edge, while due to the convex design of the upwardly facing surface the inclination of the upwardly facing surface decreases towards the edge. A drawback of such receptacle walls is that picking up the objects requires skill and concentration and in the long run is fatiguing, especially if large numbers of objects are to be picked up with a high reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a solution whereby objects can more easily be reliably taken out of a receptacle by hand. This object is achieved according to the present invention by providing a receptacle wall according to claim 1.

As the upwardly facing surface, towards the edge, runs up with respect to the prolongation of contiguous portions of the upwardly facing surface located farther from the edge, the upwardly facing surface forms a support for the thumb while the object is being lifted, which prevents the thumb sliding prematurely to the receptacle, or at least to the compartment from which the object is being picked up. A reaction force diametrically counter to the force exerted on the object to be taken out as it is being lifted can be supported more easily. When the object reaches the edge, the thumb, as it slides along the upwardly facing surface over the edge, moves along with the object at a relatively pointed angle by virtue of the configuration of the upwardly facing surface which in the area of the edge inclines upwards towards the edge. The thumb and the object thus traveling fairly parallel, the thumb and the object meet each other gradually and this facilitates grasping the object to be picked up, between the thumb and the fingers with which the object is slid out of the receptacle.

Further, the invention provides a receptacle according to claim 9 which is equipped with a receptacle wall according to the invention. Specific embodiments of the invention are laid down in the dependent claims.

These and further aspects and effects as well as details of the invention will be elucidated hereinafter with reference to the schematic figures in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Fig. 1 is an elevation in cross section of an example of a receptacle with a receptacle wall according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation in cross section of a second example of a receptacle with a receptacle wall according to the invention; Fig. 3 is a side elevation in cross section of a third example of a . receptacle wall according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective elevation of the receptacle wall according to Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the receptacle wall according to Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the receptacle wall according to Figs. 3-5; and

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the receptacle wall according to Figs. 3-6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring presently to Fig. 1, there is shown an upwardly open receptacle 2, having a bottom 4 at a lower side of the receptacle 2. A receptacle wall element 1 is attached to the receptacle 2 in a zone 8. Various manners of attaching the receptacle wall 1 to the receptacle 2 are possible, such as gluing, screwing, clamping, snap-fitting, or the like.

The receptacle wall element 1 has a guide surface 3 which forms a guide trajectory for therealong taking objects located in the receptacle 2 out of the receptacle 2 by hand. The guide trajectory comprises a first lifting trajectory portion 5 along which height varies, and a second lifting trajectory portion 6, joining an upper end of the lifting trajectory portion 5, overhanging with respect to the lifting trajectory portion 5, and along which height varies also.

The receptacle wall element 1 further has an upwardly facing surface 9, the upwardly facing surface 9 and the overhanging lifting trajectory portion 6 extending as far as an edge 10 along which they border on each other. The edge 10 forms a direct, sharp transition, but is preferably blunted or slightly rounded, for instance having a radius of less than 0.5 mm or less than 1 mm to prevent an unpleasant feel of sharpness when touching it with the hand. The upwardly facing surface 9 runs up obliquely towards the edge 10. In this way, the thumb of a hand of a user is effectively supported during advancement of the object out of the receptacle and it is easier upon advancement of the object beyond the edge 10 to grasp it between the thumb sliding along over the upwardly facing surface 9 beyond the edge and the fingers with which the object is advanced over the lifting trajectory.

As the respective portions adjacent to the edge 10 of the upwardly facing surface 9 and of the lifting trajectory portion 6 include an angle of less than 90°, the angle between the direction of movement of the thumb sliding along over the upwardly facing surface 9 beyond the edge and the direction of movement of the advanced object as well as of the fingers advancing the object, is equally directed to a considerable extent. This makes it particularly simple to grasp the object. This effect is achieved to a greater extent according as the portions contiguous to the edge 10 of the upwardly facing surface 9 and of the second lifting trajectory portion 6 include a smaller angle (for instance less than 60°, less than 45° or less than 30°).

For effectively and comfortably supporting the thumb, it is further advantageous if the upwardly facing surface 9, measured transversely to the edge 10, has a width of at least ³A cm and preferably at least 1 cm.

Further, for effectively and comfortably supporting the thumb, it is advantageous that the upwardly facing surface 9, viewed in cross section transversely to the edge 10, is concavely curved. In this way, the thumb remains readily in position near the edge 10 while objects are being lifted along the lifting trajectory portion 5, 6.

Fig. 2 shows another example of a receptacle wall 21 according to the invention. According to this example, the receptacle wall is designed as an accessory 11 which is secured in the receptacle 2. A left-hand specimen of the receptacle walls 11 is placed against an upstanding wall 12 of the receptacle 2 and the two other, receptacle walls 11 are placed on the bottom of the receptacle 2 and divide the receptacle 2 into compartments. The receptacle walls 11 each have a guide surface 13 which forms a first lifting trajectory portion 15 and a second, overhanging lifting trajectory portion 16, in a similar manner to the receptacle wall 1 according to Fig. 1. Some of the guide surfaces 13 are thus part of a partition between the compartments of the receptacle 102.

The guide trajectory 13 according to this example moreover forms a supply trajectory portion 17 joining a lower end of the lifting trajectory portion 15. The supply trajectory portion 17 has an end 10 remote from the lifting trajectory portion 15 which joins the bottom 4 of the receptacle 2 at a small angle (preferably less than 15°). The supply trajectory portion 17 forms a slope running up from the bottom 4, which facilitates taking out objects from the bottom 4.

On the basis of the example represented in Figs. 3-7, it is presently described in more detail how taking an object out of a receptacle according to the invention is carried out. The object to be taken out is advanced with the fingers of a hand along the supply trajectory portion, the first lifting trajectory portion 75 and the second, overhanging lifting trajectory portion and thereby, owing to the overhang of the second lifting trajectory portion, brought more inwardly of the hand in a simple manner.

The upwardly facing surface 11 joins the lifting trajectory portion 16 along an edge. The upwardly facing surface 79 runs at an angle which near the edge 80 is very pointed with respect to the lifting trajectory portion 36, almost parallel to the lifting trajectory portion towards the edge 80. As a result, the object moves along the overhanging lifting trajectory portion 36 in a direction which is almost parallel to the direction in which the upwardly facing surface 79 runs towards the edge 80 and in which the thumb moves when, guided by the upwardly facing surface 79, it passes the edge 40. Transfer of the object from a position between the fingers and the overhanging lifting trajectory portion to a position between those fingers and the thumb therefore proceeds very smoothly, gradually and easily and can thus be carried out very rapidly, reliably and with relatively little tension in the muscles. This is especially of relevance to activities where small objects are to be grasped from a receptacle very frequently, such as grasping change from a cash register drawer.

At the edge, the angle between the upwardly facing surface and the lifting trajectory is smallest and, with increasing preference, preferably smaller than 90°, 60°, 45°, 30°, or 20°. That the portions of the upwardly facing surface and the lifting trajectory that are contiguous to the edge run at an angle relative to each other provides in itself the advantage that by pinching the thumb and the fingers towards each other, reaction forces along the upwardly facing surface and the lifting trajectory portion to the edge where they meet are generated, which reaction forces support the picking up of objects. By means of the technique described, various objects, such as cutlery, pens, pencils, tools, medical instruments, bolts, nuts, buttons, etc, can be reliably taken out of various receptacles. Such receptacles, or at least compartments therein, preferably have a depth of 1-10 cm and a width and length of 3-25 cm. This is for instance particularly welcome in situations of limited physical abilities, as for instance with rheumatism and blindness, in situations of difficult accessibility of tools or (necessarily) blind gripping of tools, as occurs in working situations. But the technique described also provides advantages in medical situations where life and death may come into play, as inter alia in the operating room, ambulance and trauma helicopter, and where enhanced grasping reliability and efficiency of actions are of importance.

It is noted that the above-mentioned examples of embodiments do not limit the invention and that within the scope of the appended claims various alternatives are possible. Thus, depending on the use, guide trajectories with various curvatures and/or with (piecewise) straight parts may be used. Further, the receptacle walls and/or the parts of the receptacle that are provided with the guide surfaces may or may not be designed as profile sections. However, other variants or modifications are also possible. In the example represented in Figs. 3-7 of a receptacle wall 71 according to the invention, the upwardly facing surface 79 has a depression 85 with respect to the adjacent portions 86 of the upwardly facing surface 79. Such a depression forms an indication for the user as to where he needs to place his thumb when taking objects out of the receptacle, and forms a stable support for the thumb once placed. In the receptacle wall 71 according to this example, at least a portion of the lifting trajectory portion 75 that is contiguous to the edge 80 is concavely curved, viewed in horizontal cross section. In this way, the objects, when engaged and being lifted over the lifting trajectory 75, are urged slightly towards the middle of the lifting trajectory, viewed in longitudinal direction of the edge 80, so that taking out objects is facilitated further.

Taking out the objects is moreover facilitated in that the edge 80 is curved such that it projects upwards above adjacent upper edges 87 of wall portions of the receptacle wall 71.

Claims

1. A receptacle wall for use in or as part of a receptacle (2) for storing small objects (41) removably by hand, comprising: a guide surface (3; 13) for, with the receptacle wall in a condition received in the upwardly open receptacle (2), advancing therealong an object situated in the receptacle (2) and to be taken out, with at least one finger of a hand upwardly and out of the receptacle (2), a lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75) along which height varies extending over the guide surface, further comprising an upwardly facing surface (9; 79), with the upwardly facing surface (9; 79) and the lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75) extending as far as an edge (10; 80) along which they meet, characterized in that a portion of said upwardly facing surface (9; 79) contiguous to the edge (10; 80), with respect to a prolongation of an adjacent portion of said upwardly facing surface (9; 79) located further away from the edge, runs up obliquely towards the edge (10; 80).

2. A receptacle wall according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein portions contiguous to the edge (10; 80), of said upwardly facing surface (9; 79) and of the lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75) include an angle of less than 90°.

3. A receptacle wall according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said upwardly facing surface (9; 79), measured transversely to the edge (10; 80), has a width of at least % cm.

4. A receptacle wall according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said upwardly facing surface (9; 79), viewed in cross section transversely to the edge (10; 80), is concavely curved.

5. A receptacle wall according to claim 4, wherein said upwardly facing surface (79) comprises a depression (85) with respect to adjacent portions (86) of the upwardly facing surface (79).

6. A receptacle wall according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least a portion of the lifting trajectory (75) contiguous to the edge (80) is concavely curved, viewed in horizontal cross section.

7. A receptacle wall according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the edge (80) is curved such that it projects upwards above adjacent upper edges of wall portions of the receptacle wall.

8. A receptacle wall according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the guide trajectory comprises a supply trajectory portion (17) joining a lower end of the lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75), which supply trajectory portion (17) has an end remote from the lifting trajectory portion (5, 6; 15, 16; 75), arranged to join a bottom (4) at the lower side of the receptacle (2), and forms a slope running upwards from the bottom (4).

9. A receptacle having a receptacle wall (1; 11; 71) according to any one of the preceding claims.

10. A receptacle according to claim 9, comprising at least two compartments each having at least one of the receptacle walls (11; 71) according to any one of claims 1-8.

11. A receptacle according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the guide surfaces (13) is part of a partition between the compartments of the receptacle (2).