Garbage container with automatic door operator
Patent No. US6859005 (titled "Garbage container with automatic door operator") on Jun 18, 2003. The application was issued on Feb 22, 2005.
What is this patent about?
’005 is related to the field of automated waste management systems, specifically focusing on hands-free garbage containers. The background context addresses the hygiene and convenience challenges faced in high-traffic environments like fast-food restaurants and medical facilities, where manual contact with a trash lid can lead to biological contamination or difficulty when a user's hands are full.
The underlying idea behind ’005 is the use of a motorized linkage system that converts rotational motion into a controlled arcuate sweep to actuate a vertically hung door. By mounting a sensor-driven motor assembly within the lid, the invention replaces the need for physical contact with a mechanical lever-arm assembly that pushes the door inward and upward along a guided path, ensuring the opening is clear for waste disposal without requiring complex external pulleys or cables.
The claims of ’005 focus on a specific mechanical arrangement comprising a motor housing with integrated guide slots and a plurality of arm members. These arms pass through the slots and connect the motor to the access door, translating the motor's output into a pivotable motion that moves the door between open and closed positions based on proximity signals from a sensor mounted on the lid's top surface.
In practice, the system utilizes a motor-driven rod that rotates to swing L-shaped arms through a defined arc. This arcuate path is critical because it allows the arms to exert consistent pressure on the top portion of the door, swinging it toward the rear of the container to open it. The housing's slots serve as physical limits and guides for the arms, ensuring the motion is repeatable and preventing the linkage from binding during rapid cycles of use.
This approach differentiates itself from prior art by integrating the entire drive mechanism—including the motor, guide slots, and power conduit—directly into the lid assembly. Unlike traditional foot-pedal bins or basic top-opening lids, this design is specifically optimized for vertically hung doors common in commercial settings. By routing the power through a dedicated internal conduit, the invention maintains a clean exterior profile while protecting the electrical components from the waste environment.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the early 2000s when ’005 was filed, waste management receptacles for commercial and sanitary environments were typically implemented using manual swing doors or foot-pedal mechanisms. At a time when systems commonly relied on physical contact to actuate access panels, the integration of electronic sensing was often limited to top-loading residential bins rather than the vertically hung, gravity-closed doors standard in high-traffic food service or medical settings. During this era, hardware constraints made the reliable automation of heavy, vertically oriented doors non-trivial, as the mechanical linkage required to translate motor rotation into a smooth arcuate path for a swinging door had to overcome both the weight of the door and the spatial limitations of the container's lid housing.
Prosecution Position
The disclosed invention achieves a technical advancement in automated waste management through a specific mechanical architecture that enables hands-free operation of vertically hung access doors. By integrating a sensor-driven motor with a dual-arm assembly passing through a slotted housing, the system converts rotational motion into a precise arcuate movement that selectively pushes and pulls the door between open and closed positions. This structural configuration overcomes the technical constraint of automating standard gravity-hinged doors without requiring manual force, thereby enabling a touchless interface that prevents biological or chemical cross-contamination. The use of L-shaped arm members connected to a common rod allows for a balanced distribution of force across the door surface, ensuring reliable mechanical actuation within the compact footprint of a container lid.
Claims
The patent contains a total of 20 claims, with claims 1, 8, and 15 serving as the independent claims. These independent claims focus on a garbage container assembly featuring a sensor-activated lid system that utilizes a motor-driven housing and a plurality of pivoting arm members to automatically open and close an access door when an object is detected within a specific range. The dependent claims serve to further define the mechanical structure and electrical routing of the system, specifying details such as the L-shape of the arm members, the internal rod configuration of the motor, the specific placement of slots within the housing, the attachment points on the access door, and the inclusion of a conduit for the power cord.
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US6859005
- Application Number
- US10462881A
- Filing Date
- Jun 18, 2003
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2005
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO , Google Patents