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(11) | EP 0 277 100 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Dust-bin able to be housed inside kitchen furniture and slidingly extractable therefrom |
| (57) The dust-bin (1), able to be withdrawn from a piece of furniture or other receiving
space, comprises: a framework (13) bearing a housing (3) for a garbage-collection
bucket (5), said housing (3) being provided with a cover (7) hinged thereto; on the
sides of the framework, structural shapes (19) capable of sliding on guides (23) fastened
on the bottom (25) of the piece of furniture or receiving space of the dust-bin (1)
for the withdrawal therefrom; and an opening device comprising an inclined profile
(39) cooperating with a tappet (47) during the relative sliding to cause the opening
of the cover (7) and allow the closing thereof. |
[0001] Dust-bins are known that can be housed inside kitchen furniture - in particular inside pieces of furniture located under the sink or a workbench (and under an eventual drawer) - and apt to be withdrawn and opened upon the opening of the door of said piece of furniture. In order to allow the automatic opening of the dust-bin through the withdrawal thereof from the piece of furniture, means are commonly used including ropes or chains to be fastened to fixed parts of the piece of furniture at positions to be precisely determined. The length of said ropes or chains and their point of anchorage to the fixed part must be chosen from time to time according to the configuration and dimensions of the piece of furniture, in order to achieve the timely and regular lifting of the cover of same dust-bin. This brings about a particularly arduous and troublesome installation of the dust-bin inside the piece of furniture.
[0002] When the dust-bin is connected to the door of the piece of furniture, in order to have the withdrawal thereof simultaneously with the opening of the same piece of furniture, the weight of the dust-bin and of its content, as well as the stresses due to the compacting action on the same content, cause significant efforts upon the hinges of the door which is thus subject to a rapid wear. Solutions which comprise cam means or the like, operating between the part fixed to the piece of furniture and the part mobile with the door and the dust-bin, may result complex and unsatisfactory.
[0003] It is the object of the invention to provide an extractable dust-bin which allows an easy and prompt mounting thereof inside pieces of furniture of different dimensions and shape and has not the above mentioned drawbacks due to the stresses on the components of the same piece of furniture, nor mounting complications.
[0004] A dust-bin extractable from a piece of furniture or other receiving space, with guide means for the withdrawal and a device for the opening of the dust-bin door during the withdrawal, according to the invention comprises:
- a framework bearing a housing for a garbage collection bucket, said housing being provided with a cover hinged thereto;
- on the sides of the framework, structural shapes capable of sliding on guides fixed to the bottom of the piece of furniture or receiving space of the dust-bin;
- and in said opening device, an inclined profile cooperating with a tappet during the relative sliding in order to cause the opening of the cover and allow the closing thereof.
[0005] Said framework and the relevant structural shapes may be realized in a single block of plastic material.
[0006] In practice, the opening device is provided with a hollow wedge-shaped element with a slot running along the upper inclined surface, into which slot the lower end of a stem is inserted and engaged, this stem carrying a transverse peg for its engagement thereto; said stem, at the opposite end, is articulated to an appendix of the cover, and a notch for guiding said stem is formed in an appendix of the framework supporting said housing. Said wedge-shaped element has a datum point that is a reference point for its Positioning relative to said guides, and these are able to be positioned by a suitable datum point on the bottom of the piece of furniture.
[0007] Said hollow wedge-shaped element may have an invitation shaping that is a flare in its rear part for guiding said stem into said slot upon the withdrawal, while said framework and said housing are extractable from the guides fixed on the bottom of the piece of furniture or space, by lifting said framework by its front part, prior to the insertion of the peg of said stem into said slot.
[0008] The invention will be better understood by following the description and the attached drawing, which shows a practical, non limitative exemplification of the same invention. In the drawing:
Fig. 1 shows a section taken on a vertical median plane, parallel to the sliding direction of the dust-bin;
Fig. 2 shows a view taken on line II-II of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the guiding and opening means and
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the dust-bin supporting framework.
[0009] According to what is illustrated in the attached drawing, a dust-bin 1 comprises a housing 3 made of steel or the like, wherein a movable bucket is located. The housing 3, and thus the bucket 5, are closed by a cover 7 hinged at 9 to an upper frame 11 of said housing 3.
[0010] The housing 3 is born by a framework 13 having - to this end - an edge 15 (Fig. 4) external to housing 3 and an edge 17, divided into four portions in the drawing embodiment, internal to the same housing 3.
[0011] The framework 13 also has two integral structural shapes 19 with approximately "U" cross-section joined one to the other by a cross-piece 20 and each carrying, at the rear end with respect to the direction of the dust-bin withdrawal, a wheel 21; the wheels 21 slide within corresponding guides 23 - formed by a "C" structural shape - of a framework fixed on the bottom 25 of the piece of furniture wherein the dust-bin 1 is located. Each guide 23 carries, in turn, a wheel 27 (Fig. 3) at the front end, with respect to the direction of dust-bin withdrawal, of said guides 23. The two pairs of wheels 21, 27 allow the sliding of structural shapes 19, and thus of framework 13, onto guides 23 thereby allowing the withdrawal of dust-bin according to f1 (Fig. 1); the wheels angularly engage he sliding assembly, against the upsetting trend thereof.
[0012] The guides 23 are joined together by means of cross-pieces 28 and 29 (Fig. 3), which allow also the fastening of guides 23, and thus of the framework formed by them and by the cross-pieces, to the bottom 25 by means of screws 31 and 33.
[0013] On the bottom 25, between the two guides 23, a hollow wedge-shaped element 35 is applied, in the upper wall 39 of which a slot 37 is formed; wall 39 forms an inclined internal, that is, lower surface and an inclined external, that is, upper surface; slot 37 gives rise, internally and in the highest zone, to an invitation that is to a flare 38. When the dust-bin 1 is withdrawn, by pulling it according to f1 by means of a handle 2 (Fig. 1), after a first initial idle travel, a stem 41, engaged on top into an eyelet 43 formed in an appendix 45 of the cover 7 of dust-bin 1 is caused to be inserted through the invitation or flare 38 into the slot 37 and engages the element 35 by a transverse peg 47. As the dust-bin 1 move forwards according to f1, the stem 41 is pulled downwards according to f41 by the interaction of peg 47 with the hollow wedge-shaped element 35. In correspondence with the lowering of stem 41, the dust-bin cover 7 rotates around hinge 9 while rising according to f7 (Fig. 1). To allow stem 41 to maintain the vertical disposition, and then force it to move according to f41 during the withdrawal of dust-bin 1, an appendix 49 is provided on the framework 13 with a notch 51 for the sliding engagement of said stem 41.
[0014] On the surface for the coupling with bottom 25, the element 35 is provided with a ledge or abutment 53 (Fig. 1) which is brought against the edge of cross-piece 28 upon the mounting as illustrated in Fig. 1. In this way, the relative position is established between guides 23 and element 35. Upon this said relative disposition depends the extent of the travel according to f1 which the dust-bin 1 must perform before stem 41 and peg 47 engage slot 37 of element 35, that is, before the beginning of the opening movement of cover 7 according to f7. The movement of dust-bin 1 and cover 7 with respect to the piece of furniture wherein said dust-bin is housed, is therefore completely defined when the position of guides 23 is determined with respect to the front corner S (Figs. 1, 3) of bottom 25. Since a standard distance of cross-piece 28 from corner S, able to guarantee a full lifting of cover 7 without any interference with the remaining portions of the piece of furniture wherein the dust-bin 1 is housed, is easily recognizable, the mounting of dust-bin 1 and relevant guides 23 is particularly simple and rapid as it does not require any attempt for determining the point of application to the piece of furniture of the means that are provided for the opening of the dust-bin.
[0015] In addition, the anchorage of guides 23 and element 35 to bottom 25 is easily and safeley obtained by cross-pieces 28, 29 and relevant screws 31, 33, besides by screws 34 for the fastening of element 35.
[0016] The guide system made up of structural shapes 19 and guides 23 allows an easy withdrawal of dust-bin 1 with the relevant framework 13. In fact, it is sufficient to hold the dust-bin 1 slightly lifted by means of handle 2 during the withdrawal, so that peg 47 will be not engaged with slot 37 of element 35 but will move thereabove, thereby allowing the complete withdrawal of dust-bin 1 from the piece of furniture by causing the wheels 21 to go through corresponding openings 24 (Fig. 3) provided in the upper sides of "C" structural shapes of guides 23.
1. Dust-bin extractable from a piece of furniture or other housing space, with guide
means for its withdrawal and a device for the opening of the dust-bin cover during
the withdrawal, characterized in that it comprises: a framework (13) bearing a housing
(3) for a garbage-collection bucket (5), said housing (3) being provided with a cover
(7) hinged thereto; on the sides of the framework (13), structural shapes (19) capable
of sliding on guides (23) fixed on the bottom (25) of the piece of furniture or space
receiving the dust-bin (1); and in said opening device, an inclined profile (39) cooperating
with a tappet (47) during the relative sliding in order to cause the opening of the
cover (7) and allow the closing thereof.
2. Dust-bin according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said framework
(13) and relevant structural shapes (19) are realized in a single block of plastic
material.
3. Extractable dust-bin according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said
opening device is provided with a hollow wedge-shaped element (35) with a slot (37)
running along the upper inclined surface (39), into which slot (37) the lower end
of a stem (41) carrying an engagement transverse peg (47) is caused to be inserted
and engaged, said stem (41) being articulated, at the opposite end, to an appendix
(45) of the cover (7), and a guide notch (51) for said stem (41) being provided in
an appendix (49) of the supporting framework (13) of said housing (3).
4. Extractable dust-bin according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said
wedge-shaped element (35) has a datum point for its positioning with respect to said
guides (23).
5. Dust-bin according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said hollow
wedge-shaped element (35) has an invitation shaping that is a flaring (38) at the
back for guiding said stem (41) into said slot (37) upon the withdrawal.
6. Dust-bin according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said framework
(13) and said housing (3) are extractable from the guides (23) fastened on the bottom
(25) of the piece of furniture or space by lifting said framework front part prior
to the insertion of the peg (47) of said stem (41) into said slot (37).