EP3162736B1

EP3162736B1 - Semi-underground waste container with lid and lifting loop

Info

Publication number: EP3162736B1
Application number: EP16397530.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Harri Joki; Harri HELIN; Jaakko MURTO
Original assignee: Molok Oy
Current assignee: Molok Oy
Priority date: 2015-10-30
Filing date: 2016-10-28
Publication date: 2019-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 2036-10-28
Also published as: ES2717348T3; FI20155778A; FI126494B; EP3162736A1; DK3162736T3

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for a semi-underground waste container, also referred to as quick system device in this disclosure.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a semi-underground waste container comprising such a device and a kit for retrofitting a semi-underground waste container, also referred to as quick system kit in this disclosure.

Background

Present day consumption habits produce large amounts of waste, whereas at the same time, space, especially tightly populated areas, is running low. Therefore, semi-underground waste containers are increasing their share among waste containers.
A semi-underground waste container is based on a vertical structure in which generally over 50 % of the container is located underground. The containers occupy a minimal surface area that allows practical waste collection solutions even in small and confined spaces. Semi-underground waste containers enable use of larger containers.
Furthermore, gravity compacts the waste by its own weight inside the containers. Therefore, semi-underground waste containers enable less frequent waste collection. The large waste capacity reduces emptying traffic in the area and minimizes environmental load. Increasing intervals between emptyings reduce fuel costs and emissions.
US 2015210470 A1 discloses a semi-underground waste container with a flexible liner inside a container body. The liner is arranged to a container lid comprising a lifting loop and a hatch for wastes.
WO 9951511 A1 discloses a semi-underground waste container with a lifting bag. The container has a lid comprising openings for wastes and a lifting loop.
FI 10408 U1 discloses an underground waste container comprising a lid with a drop-hole opening. A lifting loop is arranged to a lifting device.
FR 2946327 discloses a device for a semi-underground waste container according to the preamble of claim 1.

Summary

According to the invention, there is provided a device for a semi-underground waste container according to claim 1. The device comprises, among other features, a frame structure that is arranged to be positioned on the edges of a container body of the semi-underground waste container, a lifting bag fixed beneath the frame structure and arranged to be placed inside the container body for receiving waste, a lid comprising a drop-hole opening and arranged on top of the frame structure, a hinge structure, wherein the hinge structure is connected between the frame structure and the lid for enabling opening of the lid, and a lifting loop that is attached on top of the frame structure. The lifting loop extends through an opening of the lid. The quick system device is arranged to be lifted when emptying the lifting bag.
According to an embodiment, the lid is openable relative to the frame structure and the container body of the semi-underground waste container by tilting. According to an embodiment, the frame structure comprises protrusions arranged to be positioned on the edges of the container body of the semi-underground waste container. According to an embodiment, the frame structure comprises fixing devices for an additional liner arranged to be positioned inside the lifting bag.
According to an embodiment, a maximum opening angle α of the lid is approximately 60°.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a semi-underground waste container comprising a device according to claim 1.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a kit for retrofitting a semi-underground waste container, wherein the kit comprises a device according to claim 1.

Description of the Drawings

In the following, various embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Fig. 1: shows a present day quick system device;
Fig. 2: shows a frame structure with a lifting bag according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 3a: shows a terrestrial portion of a semi-underground waste container comprising a quick system device with a lid partly open according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 3b: shows the semi-underground waste container of fig. 2 with the lid closed;
Fig. 4a: shows a quick system device with a lid partly open according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 4b: shows a quick system device with the lid closed according to an embodiment of the invention; and
Fig. 4c: shows a quick system device with the lid open according to an embodiment of the invention.

Description of Example Embodiments

Semi-underground waste containers or underground waste containers comprise at least a container body, a lid and a reusable lifting bag. Semi-underground waste containers are emptied through the bottom of the lifting bag, using a hydraulic arm and a lifting chain that lifts the bag from the container body. Nowadays, for lifting there are typically strapping bands arranged in the upper part of the lifting bag. Before attaching the lifting chain to strapping bands the lid of the container has to be temporarily transferred aside and the strapping bands have to be found in order to attach them to the lifting chain. When the lifting chain is attached to the bands the bag is lifted and positioned over the collection vehicle. The trigger mechanism is released to open the bottom of the bag and waste falls into the truck. After emptying, the bottom of the bag will be closed and the bag will be lifted back into the container. However, instead of strapping bands there could be a quick system with a lifting loop on top of the lid. The metal lifting loop is fixed to the top of the frame structure that is a part of the quick system. A lid is non-openable and fixed on top of the frame structure and the metal lifting loop extends through an opening of the lid. The frame structure is fixed to the upper part of the lifting bag. The lifting chain will be attached to the metal lifting loop for lifting. When the lifting chain is attached to the lifting loop the whole quick system including the bag, the loop, the lid and the frame structure, is lifted for emptying, and returned back inside the container as explained above.
Semi-underground waste containers comprising strapping bands for emptying purposes may, however, take unnecessary time when emptied, because the lid has to be removed and also because the strapping bands have to be located for emptying. In addition, regular lid transfers may damage the lid. However, this structure is preferable, when large sized waste has to be fed into the waste container and the waste drop-hole opening with or without a lid is too small, because the lid can be temporarily moved aside. Whereas, semi-underground waste containers comprising a quick system with a lifting loop, a non-openable lid and frame structure may be faster to empty, because there is no need to move the lid aside for emptying and because the metal lifting loop is easily accessible. However, this structure does not allow large sized waste to be fed into the waste container, because the lid cannot be temporarily moved aside or opened and the waste feeding slot and/or drop-hole opening with a lid may be too small for large sized waste.
In the following, several embodiments of the invention will be described in the context a quick system device of a semi-underground waste container and a semi-underground waste container comprising a quick system device. It is to be noted, however, that the invention is not limited to shown embodiments only.
In embodiments of the invention, a quick system device for a semi-underground waste container comprises a frame structure, a lifting bag and a lid. The frame structure is, for example, a metal frame structure arranged to be fixed to the upper part of the lifting bag. When the lifting bag is inside the waste container and more particularly inside the container body, the frame structure supports the lifting bag to its place. The frame structure may comprise, for example, protrusions or other suitable structure, which support the lifting bag inside the container body. When the bag is inside the container body, protrusions are on the edges of the container body. For example, if the container body is a rectangle, when seen from above, the frame structure may comprise at least one protrusion for each side of the container body, or if the container body is a circle, when seen from above, the frame structure may comprise protrusion, for example, for 4 to 8 points in the circle. The quick system device further comprises a lifting loop and a hinge structure. The lifting loop and/or the hinge structure may, however, be a part of the frame structure. The lifting loop extending through an opening of the lid, when the lid is closed, is arranged to be used for lifting the bag from the container for emptying. The hinge structure is attached between the lid and the frame structure so that the whole lid is openable i.e. tiltable to a predetermined opening angle. Thus, the whole lid is openable in addition to a drop-hole lid of a drop-hole opening of the lid. The opening angle may preferably be, for example 20 to 60°, for example, 45°, 50° or 55°. Preferably the angle is so big that large sized waste, for example, bigger refuse sacks, for example a 60 litres sack, can be fed to the container, but so small that the lid would preferably not open up to the vertical position in order to avoid the wind from catching the lid. When the lifting bag is lifted for emptying by means of the lifting loop of the quick system device, the lid, the frame structure and the hinge structure are also lifted.
The lifting bag may be any type of structure inside a semi-underground waste container that is arranged to be lifted from the container for emptying and arranged to be opened from the bottom when emptied. The lifting bag may be made of, for example, woven polypropylene, plastic, durable plastic, aluminum and stainless steel or combination of them.
The frame structure may be formed to be suitable for any shape or size of a semi-underground waste container body. When seen from above, the shape of a semi-underground waste container body may be circular, rectangular, oval, pentagon, hexagon etc. The lid may also be formed to be suitable for the shape and size of container body of the semi-underground waste container.
Some of the users may want to use an additional temporary liner inside the lifting bag, for example, a sake of hygiene. The idea of the temporary liner is to change the liner in connection with emptying. Previously the liner was placed to the lifting bag so that the upper part of the liner was bent over the upper edges of the container body like a regular trash bag in a trash can of a house. In the case of a container with a lifting bag with strapping bands and removable lid, there was no connecting place for the liner inside the container, therefore the liner was bent over the edges of the container body. Whereas, in the case of a container with prior art quick system with an integrated lid, it was not possible to attach the liner to the quick system device, because the lid was integrated, non-openable, and a drop-hole opening of the lid is too small and/or inconvenient to be used for placing the liner to the lifting bag and attaching it to the frame structure of the quick system. Therefore the liner is also in this type of containers bent over the edges of the container body. However, the quick system device according to embodiments of the present invention enables fixing of the additional liner to the quick system device through the space between the openable lid and the frame structure. The frame structure may, for example, comprise fixing devices for the liner. Fixing devices may be, for example, hooks, clamps, fixing pins or any other device suitable for fixing the liner to the quick system device so that it locates inside the lifting bag of the semi-underground waste container.
Figure 1 shows a simplified structure of a prior art quick system 10. The quick system 10 comprises a frame structure 11, a lid 16 (shown by broken line) and a lifting bag 12 (only part of the bag is shown). The lifting bag 12 is arranged to be fixed to the frame structure 11. The frame structure 11 is arranged to be located on the edges of a container body 13 (only upper part of the container body is shown) of a semi-underground waste container and the bag inside the container, when the quick system 10 is in the use position. The frame structure 11 comprises protrusions 14 supporting the quick system 10 on the edges of the container body 13. Further, a lid (not shown) is arranged above the quick system 10 and the container body 13.
Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a quick system device 20 according to an embodiment of the invention. The quick system device 20 comprises a frame structure 21, for example, a metal frame structure, a hinge structure 22, a lifting bag 23, a lid 24 and a metal lifting loop 26. The quick system device 20 of a semi-underground waste container is a frame structure arranged to be fixed to the upper part of the lifting bag 23. The hinge structure 22 supports the lid when the lid is opened. The frame structure 21 comprises protrusions 25, which support the frame structure 21 on the container body (not shown) so that the lifting bag 23 is inside the container. When the bag 23 is inside the container, protrusions 25 are on the edges of the container body. The frame structure device 20 is shown in a partly open state. For emptying, the quick system device 20 with the frame structure 21, the lifting bag 23 and the lid 24 is lifted by means of the metal lifting loop 26 of the frame structure 21 extending through an opening 28 of the lid 24. In figure 2, there is also shown an opening device 29 that is arranged to be used for opening the bottom of the bag 23 for emptying.
Figure 3a shows a semi-underground waste container 30 according to an embodiment of the invention. The quick system device comprises a frame structure 31, a hinge structure 32, a lifting bag 33 and a lid 34. The frame structure 31 may have, for example, a similar form as the frame structure 11 of the quick system 10 shown in figure 1. The hinge structure 32 is attached between the lid 34 and the frame structure 31 so that the lid is openable to a predetermined opening angle. The semi-underground waste container 30 is in the open state enabling feeding of large sized waste into the waste container 30 through the space that is an opening between the lid 34 and the frame structure 31 and the upper part of the container body 35. In figure 3a, there is also shown a drop-hole opening 36 that is arranged to be used for feeding normal or small size waste in a regular use state of the semi-underground waste container 30. The frame structure 31 comprises protrusions 37, which support the frame structure 31 on the container body 35.
The quick system device further comprises a lifting loop (39 of fig. 3b) extending through an opening in the lid and used for lifting the bag 33 from the container 30.
Figure 3b shows the semi-underground waste container 30 of fig. 3a with the lid 34 closed. When the lid 34 is closed, the semi-underground waste container 30 is in a closed state. The lifting loop 39 is shown in this figure 3b.
Emptying of the semi-underground waste container 30 is performed in the closed state i.e. with the lid 34 closed. For emptying, the quick system device is lifted by means of the lifting loop 39 of the quick system device.
Figure 4a shows a cross-sectional view of a quick system device 40 in a closed state according to an embodiment of the invention. The quick system device 40 comprising a frame structure 41 with protrusions, a hinge structure 42, a lifting bag 43, a lid 44 and a lifting loop 45 is arranged on the top edges of the container body 46.
Figure 4b shows a cross-sectional view of the quick system device 40 of figure 4a in a semi-open state according to an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 4c shows a cross-sectional view of the quick system device 40 of figure 4a in an open state according to an embodiment of the invention. In figure 4c it is also shown an opening angle α.
Furthermore, a quick system device according to the invention may be used as a quick system kit for replacing a quick system of a semi-underground waste container or a lifting bag with strapping bands and a regular lid of a semi-underground waste container.
It is obvious that the present invention is not limited solely to the above-presented embodiments, but it can be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

A device (20, 40) of a semi-underground waste container (30), comprising:
a frame structure (31) arranged to be positioned on the edges of a container body (35) of the semi-underground waste container (30), a lifting bag (33) fixed beneath the frame structure (31) and arranged to be placed inside the container body (35) for receiving waste, a lid (34) comprising a drop-hole opening (36) with an openable drop-hole lid and arranged on top of the frame structure (31), and a lifting loop (39) that is attached on top of the frame structure (31) and extends through an opening of the lid (34), and wherein the device (20, 40) is arranged to be lifted when emptying the lifting bag (33), characterised in that the device (20, 40) further comprises a hinge structure (32), wherein the hinge structure (32) is connected between the frame structure (31) and the lid (34) for enabling opening of the whole lid (34) in addition to the drop-hole lid of the drop-hole opening (36).
A device (20, 40) according to claim 1, wherein the lid (34) is openable relative to the frame structure (31) and the container body (35) of the semi-underground waste container (30) by tilting.
A device (20, 40) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the frame structure (31) comprises protrusions (37) arranged to be positioned on the edges of the container body (35) of the semi-underground waste container (30).
A device (20, 40) according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the frame structure (31) comprises hooks or clamps for fixing an additional liner inside the lifting bag (33).
A device (20, 40) according to any of the claims 1 to 4, wherein a maximum opening angle α of the lid (34) is approximately 60°.
A semi-underground waste container (30) comprising a device (20, 40) according to any of the claims 1 to 5.
A kit for retrofitting a semi-underground waste container (30), wherein the kit comprises a device (20, 40) according to any of the claims 1 to 5.