The invention relates to a container, comprising a container body with a deposit opening, a lid for closing off and, alternatively, exposing said opening as well as an electric control for moving the lid between a closed position and an open position, which electric control comprises an electric motor, transmission, power source and control means.

Such a container is disclosed in EP-A 903 305. This known container has a lid that is mounted in a cap that is placed on the container body. An electric motor, which has a motor shaft with pinion, is mounted in the cap. The pinion engages in the toothing that is on the periphery of a quadrant that is fixed to the lid. By activating the electric motor the quadrant, and thus the lid, is moved between the open position and the closed position.

The disadvantage of such a construction is that it is relatively complex and that the motor and the transmission are split between both the cap and the lid. Should, for example, play arise between these components, the correct functioning of the lid can be adversely affected.

The aim of the invention is, therefore, to provide a container that has reliable operation and compact construction with regard to the movable lid. Said aim is achieved in that the electric motor and the transmission are mounted on the lid.

Installation of the electric motor and the transmission in the lid has the advantage that other components of the container are hardly involved or are not involved when operating the motor in connection with opening the lid. Furthermore, the power source can also be mounted on the lid. The lid with motor, transmission, power source and, optionally, also the control means for starting the motor form a compact unit that is easy to fit and, if necessary, to replace. It is clear that the transmission must have a point of reaction on the container body, which point of reaction can optionally also be on a cap in which the lid is mounted such that it can turn.

In this context the transmission preferably interacts with a shaft that cannot be turned with respect to the container body, on which shaft the lid is mounted such that it can turn. The transmission can have a number of gears that produce a reduction, such that the gear with the greatest reduction interacts with the shaft. Furthermore, the transmission can have two pulleys as well as a flexible member running over the pulleys, which pulleys produce a reduction such that the pulley with the greatest speed interacts with the motor shaft.

With the aim of improving the efficiency of the transmission and preventing peak loads for the motor that are too high, pretensioning means are provided for exerting a pretensioning force on the lid, which pretensioning force acts to force the lid into the open position. The pretensioning means can comprise an arm that is connected to the shaft, as well as a pretensioning spring that at one end is connected to the arm and at the other end to the lid. Furthermore, a telescopic guide can be provided, around which the pretensioning spring is fitted.

The electric control can comprise a sensor for activating the electric motor, which sensor is provided on the lid. There can be a sensor both on the inside and on the outside of the lid. The sensor on the outside detects whether there is a moving object in the vicinity, in response to which the control means open the lid. As long as the sensor on the inside still detects the movement of an object, the control means keep the lid in the open position. As soon as no further movement is detected, the control means can then emit a signal to close the lid.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an illustrative embodiment shown in the figures.

• Figures 1 and 2 show the container with lid in the open and closed position, respectively.
• Figures 3 - 6 show details of the mounting of the lid and the associated cap.
• Figure 7 shows the lid in the dismantled state.
• Figures 8a - c show various positions of a control member in plan view.
• Figure 9 shows the control member in side view.

The container shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a container body 1 on which a cap 2 is placed in which the lid 3 is mounted such that it can pivot. In the edge of the cap 2 there is a recess 4, such that the lid 3 can also be grasped and opened by hand.

As shown in Figure 3, the lid 3 is mounted such that it can turn about a shaft to be described in more detail, one flattened end 5 of which protrudes with respect to the rear edge 6 of the lid 3. A recess 7 is provided at the other end of the rear edge 6, as shown in Figure 4. The lid 3 can be fitted in the cap 2 in a simple manner by first of all placing the flattened projection 5 in the correspondingly shaped flattened recess 8 in the cap, shown in Figure 5. The lid 3 is then tilted into the final position in which a pin 9 clicks into the recess 7 (Figure 4) thereof, which pin 9 is permanently pushed under spring pretension into the position in which it is pushed outwards, as shown in Figure 6. As a consequence of the flattened shape of the projection 5 and the recess 8, the shaft to be described in more detail cannot be turned with respect to the cap 2. Such an inability to turn is needed in order to be able to open the lid 3.

Figure 7 shows the lid 3 in the dismantled state with two lid halves 10, 11. The shaft 12, the flattened projection 5 of which can also be seen, is fitted in the one lid half 11 such that it can turn. The recess 7 that has been discussed above is on the other side of the lid half 11.

A transmission indicated in its entirety by 13, which is driven by the motor 14, engages on the shaft. A set of batteries 15 is accommodated in lid half 11.

Furthermore, the control means 16, as well as the sensors 17, 18, are located in the lid half 11. As shown in more detail in Figure 8, the shaft 12 is mounted in the frame 21 such that it can turn. The gear 19 is fixed to the shaft 12, which is also shown in Figure 9. This gear 19 interacts with the further gear 20, which is mounted such that it can turn in the frame 21 that is fixed to the lid half. The gear 21 is coaxially connected to the gear 22, which meshes with the pinion 30. This pinion 30 is coaxially connected to the gear 31, which meshes with pinion 32, which is fixed coaxially to the pulley 24. This pulley 24 is connected by means of a flexible member or cord 25 to the pulley 33 of small diameter on the shaft of motor 14.

The cord transmission 24, 25, 33 together with the gear transmission 19-22, 30-32 provides a reduction such that the lid can be opened gradually even with a motor 14 running at a high speed of revolution. During this operation the lid rotates about the shaft 12 that cannot be turned and which, after all, as a result of its flattened projection 5, is fixed with respect to the likewise flattened recess 8 in the cap 2.

In order to prevent peak loads on the motor 14, a pretensioning spring 26 is provided that interacts with the arm 27 on the shaft 12. Telescopic components 28, 29, form a telescopic guide inside the pretensioning spring 26 to provide stability.

As a consequence of the pretensioning of the spring, the drive provided by the motor 14 when initially lifting the lid from the approximately horizontal position is complemented by the drive of the pretensioned spring 26. When the lid is closed the spring is pretensioned again and made ready for the next action.

Sensor 17 (covered by the semi-transparent cover plate 42 as shown in Figure 1), which activates the control means 16 as soon as the movement and/or presence of an object, hand and the like is detected is on the outside of the lid. Sensor 18 (covered by the semi-transparent cover plate 43 as shown in Figure 2), which ensures that the lid remains in the open position as soon as a movement and/or presence of an object, hand and the like is detected, is on the inside of the lid. If no further detection signal is emitted after some time, the control means 16 emit a signal for closure of the lid.

The sensors 17, 18 are preferably infrared sensors. As a result the lid can be opened without touching it. The sensors 17, 18 are not active at the same time. After the lid has been opened, the sensor 17 on the outside is switched off and the sensor 18 on the inside is switched on. Switching takes place in the opposite direction on closure.

With the aim of being able to leave the lid permanently open, the sensors can be switched off by manually exerting a limited turning movement on the lid when the lid is in the open position. If the lid is then closed manually, the control means return to the normal status and the lid is ready for automatic operation again.

The shaft 12 has a slipping clutch 44. As a result the transmission cannot be forced if the lid is opened manually or if an excessively high load is exerted thereon.

The movements of the lid are furthermore controlled by the switches 34, 35 and 36, as shown in Figures 7 - 8. These switches are operated by the striker 37, which is mounted on the arm 38. This arm 38 is connected via a pivot joint 41 to a drive arm 39, which, in turn, is connected by means of a pivot joint 42 to the lever 40 on the shaft 12. When the shaft is turned, the arm 38, and thus the striker 37, executes the stroke shown in Figure 9.

In the part of this stroke that is at the bottom in the figures the striker 37 is in contact with the first limit switch 34, which stops the drive when the lid is closed. The second limit switch 35 stops the driving movement when the lid is opened.

The switch 36 located opposite the two limit switches 34, 35 ensures the lid is in the open position when it is operated manually. This switch 36 is activated during this operation such that the control device is switched off and the lid no longer closes automatically. The lid can then be closed again by moving it manually in the closing direction.

A significant advantage of installing all components, including the electronic components, in the lid results in it being possible to remove the lid from the container easily. Consequently the container can be cleaned well and there are no places that are difficult to reach.