Garbage container with secure, threaded lid

Abstract

A secure lid garbage container with pre-slotted, internally molded cavities into which casters can be inserted or exchanged is provided. The garbage container has an elongated body that defines a cavity for holding garbage that is accessible through an end of the body. The body has an end with a circumference that can be engaged by a lid so as to close access to the cavity through the end. A threaded engagement is present and is configured with both the lid and the end. The threaded engagement is configured so that attachment of the lid to the end is made by completely rotating the lid around the circumference of the end at least one time.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates generally to garbage containers. More particularly, the present application involves a garbage container with a threaded connection that creates a tight and secure fit to prevent unwanted opening of the garbage container by wind or animals. The threads are large, prominent, and relatively coarse, and circumscribe the lid and trash can top at least two times, creating a trashcan / lid assembly which can be easily opened by a human hand to insert trash, but is extremely difficult to open by animals. The garbage container additionally offers pre-slotted, internally molded cavities into which casters can be inserted or exchanged.BACKGROUND[0002]Removing trash and waste material and storing it for pickup is an extremely common household chore. Crafty animals like raccoons, skunks, possums, and even dogs can wreak havoc on garbage containers and create a monumental mess. Inclement weather conditions can also produce high winds that k...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0026]An additional aspect of the invention is to provide pre-slotted, internally molded cavities into which casters can be inserted or exchanged and secured with simple bolt or cotter pin, thereby allowing a user of the invention to insert wheels mounted upon metal brackets, i.e., a caster, of different sizes, with different treads, either air-filled or solid, and with varying degrees of rotational abilities, and to replace old or worn out casters without having to replace the entire unit.

Problems solved by technology

The threads are large, prominent, and relatively coarse, and circumscribe the lid and trash can top at least two times, creating a trashcan / lid assembly which can be easily opened by a human hand to insert trash, but is extremely difficult to open by animals.

Crafty animals like raccoons, skunks, possums, and even dogs can wreak havoc on garbage containers and create a monumental mess.

Inclement weather conditions can also produce high winds that knock garbage containers over and scatter debris everywhere.

Traditional garbage containers have used many different mechanisms to secure the lid, with limited success.

Although these locking arrangements work well for their intended purposes, they are problematic in that they do not effect a tight seal between the lid and the body of the garbage can.

As such, odor from within the garbage can may be noticeable from the outside.

Current lid closure arrangements are susceptible in some manner to either animal or wind incursion because their locking mechanism can be manipulated to varying degrees, and, in some cases, are inadequate to satisfactorily affix the lid to the can.

Additionally, their closing arrangements may be problematic in that odor from within the body of the garbage container can escape through the aforementioned closing arrangements.

As such, there is a need for a trashcan / lid assembly which allows a person easily and quickly remove the lid to insert trash, but has physical characteristics which minimize the escaping of noxious odors from the trashcan, reduce the likelihood that the lid will be separated from the trashcan should it blow over, and diminish the chances that a determined animal will be able to remove the lid.

Another major problem facing the users of garbage containers is that a full garbage container can be quite heavy and difficult to move.

The disadvantages of each of these approaches follows.

While it may not appear on its face that storing a dolly can be burdensome, one only has to think of the average two-car garage, filled with two cars and an assortment of storage boxes, tools, and garden machines, so realize that storing a dolly for use once or twice a week is undesirable.

With a dolly, a person also has to balance a sometimes extremely heavy garbage container over the axis described by a line between the two wheels, thus requiring additional strength on the part of the human and raising the likelihood of an accidental spilling of the garbage container, which at best results in an unpleasant picking up of the garbage and at worst can result in serious injury to the human as he / she tries to grab the falling garbage container and / or is hit by the garbage container as it falls off the dolly.

It should be noted, however, that some such wheeled stands lack adequate retention straps or other devices to secure the garbage container upon the wheeled stand, such that a person using such a device also runs the risk that the garbage container will fall off.

A further disadvantage of wheeled stands is that in the event of a wheel becoming jammed with dirt or otherwise ceasing to function, there is no easy and fast way to replace the wheel.

There are also garbage containers with built-in wheels, but, as with the wheeled stands, none of these supply a mechanism by which a nonfunctional wheel can be easily and effectively removed and replaced.

These types of garbage containers also lack the ability to change the size and rotational abilities or lack thereof of its wheels.

The threads are large, prominent, and relatively coarse, and circumscribe the lid and trash can top at least two times, creating a trashcan / lid assembly which can be easily opened by a human hand to insert trash, but is extremely difficult to open by animals.

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