Medical garbage can
The design of the automatic sensor-operated medical waste bin utilizes an infrared sensor module and a synchronous belt assembly to automatically seal and separate the waste bags, solving the problem of bacteria and virus splashing during waste bin use and ensuring safe and hygienic use.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202423322153.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-31
- Publication Date
- 2025-11-18
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-12-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing hospital trash cans are prone to the splashing and spread of bacteria and viruses during use, affecting the health of medical staff and patients. Furthermore, traditional flip-top trash cans may cause blood or needles to fly out when stepped on.
The medical waste bin features an automatic sensor-activated horizontal opening mechanism. It utilizes an infrared sensor module to detect foot signals, driving a synchronous belt assembly to control the movement of the collar and the flip-top, thereby automatically sealing and separating the waste bags to prevent waste from flying out.
It effectively prevents medical waste from splashing during disposal, avoids the spread of bacteria and viruses, ensures the health of medical staff and patients, and improves the safety and hygiene of the trash can.
Smart Images
Figure CN223560368U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model relates to the field of medical waste disposal container technology, and in particular to a medical waste bin. Background Technology
[0002] Medical waste refers to waste generated by medical institutions during medical treatment, prevention, healthcare, and other related activities that possess direct or indirect infectiousness, toxicity, or other hazards. Specifically, it includes infectious, pathological, damaging, pharmaceutical, and chemical waste. This waste contains a large number of bacteria and viruses and exhibits characteristics of spatial pollution, acute viral transmission, and latent infectiousness. Hospitals typically employ a classified collection method for the unified recycling of different types of medical waste.
[0003] However, the trash cans currently used in hospitals usually only have the function of simple waste storage. For example, when using ordinary open trash cans, medical waste will generate bacteria and viruses and emit odors that will spread into the air. Alternatively, foot-operated flip-top trash cans can be used, but when using foot-operated flip-top trash cans to collect medical waste generated from blood draws or injections, the force of stepping on them can easily cause blood to splatter or needles to fly out, which can easily lead to bacterial infections or the spread of diseases. This is not only detrimental to the patient's recovery but also affects hospital hygiene and seriously affects the health of patients and doctors. Utility Model Content
[0004] In order to address the technical deficiencies mentioned in the background art, the purpose of this utility model is to provide a medical waste bin that uses an automatic sensor-operated horizontal pull to open the bin. At the same time, it can automatically isolate the waste at the bottom when opening, thereby preventing waste from flying out and causing pollution, and ensuring the health of doctors and patients.
[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:
[0006] The utility model provides a medical garbage can, including the barrel and the cover of barrel body, the barrel cover one end is hinged with the barrel body through the hinge, the bottom of barrel body is equipped with the detection cavity for placing the foot, infrared ray sensing module for detecting the foot is arranged in the detection cavity, the front side of barrel body is equipped with the thimble for the encasing garbage bag, and the thimble is slidably connected with the barrel body through the pull -out slide rail on both sides, and the thimble is slidably connected in the barrel body through the pull -out slide rail, the front side of barrel body is equipped with the flap plate below the thimble still, and the flap plate is rotatably connected on the barrel body, the barrel body is equipped with the closing roller for the closing of garbage bag below the thimble still, and the closing roller is movably connected on the barrel body, the pull -out slide rail, flap plate and closing roller are synchronous transmission through the synchronous belt drive assembly, the synchronous belt drive assembly is connected with infrared ray sensing module through electric signal, and the pull -out slide rail is driven to slide through the synchronous belt drive assembly, so that the thimble translates and slides out from the barrel body, and flap plate and closing roller are driven to turn over and move respectively to seal the garbage bag.
[0007] Preferably, the bottom of the barrel is provided with a detection cavity for placing the foot, and an infrared ray sensing module for detecting the foot is arranged in the detection cavity, and the infrared ray sensing module is connected with the synchronous belt drive assembly through electric signal.
[0008] Preferably, the pull-out slide rail is composed of a fixed plate, a slide rail plate and a connecting plate, the fixed plate is fixed on the inner side wall of the barrel in parallel along the width direction of the barrel; one side of the slide rail plate is slidably connected with the fixed plate, and the other side is slidably connected with the connecting plate through the slide rail; the connecting plate is detachably connected with the thimble, and the connecting plate is provided with limiting blocks for limiting sliding distance at both ends of the slide rail.
[0009] Preferably, the flap plate is provided with an arc-shaped notch adapted for inserting fingers at one end close to the thimble, the other end of the flap plate away from the thimble is connected with a rotating shaft, both ends of the rotating shaft are connected with the barrel, and the rotating shaft is drivingly connected with the synchronous belt drive assembly.
[0010] Preferably, the turning angle of the flap plate is 0°-180°.
[0011] Preferably, the closing roller is arranged at the same height with the rotating shaft, and the closing roller abuts against the flap plate when sliding out to the maximum distance from the barrel.
[0012] Preferably, the barrel body comprises an outer shell plate, an inner shell plate and a bottom plate, the outer shell plate is provided with a plurality of outer shell plates which are vertically spliced with each other to form a barrel body, and the adjacent two outer shell plates are clamped with each other by setting up a stand; the inner shell plate is correspondingly arranged on the two sides and the back side of the outer shell plate, and a sliding groove is horizontally arranged on the inner shell plate corresponding to the position of the pull-out slide rail and the closing roller; the bottom plate is arranged close to the bottom end of the outer shell plate, and a mounting groove for mounting an infrared sensing module is arranged on the bottom plate.
[0013] Preferably, the synchronous belt driving assembly comprises a driving motor, a gear set, a pulley set and a synchronous belt, the driving motor is fixed on the inner shell plate, and the output end of the driving motor is in transmission connection with the gear set; the gear set is rotatably connected to the driving motor and the fixed plate respectively; the pulley set is provided with a plurality of groups, and the plurality of groups of pulley sets are arranged on the two sides of the outer shell plate, the closing roller, the flip plate and the rotating shaft respectively, and the pulley sets are in transmission connection through the synchronous belt.
[0014] In summary, the beneficial effects of the present application are:
[0015] The medical garbage can of the present application usually adopts an automatic induction type horizontal pull to open the garbage can, uses a sleeve ring to wrap a garbage bag, and enables the sleeve ring to slide horizontally along the pull-out slide rail to the inside and outside of the barrel body, so that the garbage can can be automatically opened and closed according to the needs, and at the same time, when the garbage can is opened, the closing roller can separate the part of the garbage bag that has been filled with garbage in the lower layer and perform a closing treatment, so as to avoid the needle or other medical waste from flying out, and also to avoid the spread of bacteria or viruses into the air, so as to ensure the health of medical staff and patients. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0016] Figure 1 is a structural schematic view of the medical garbage can of the present application;
[0017] Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the medical garbage can of the present application;
[0018] Figure 3 is a state diagram when the medical garbage can of the present application is opened;
[0019] Figure 4 is a sectional view when the medical garbage can of the present application is opened;
[0020] Figure 5 is a half-sectional view of the medical garbage can of the present application;
[0021] Figure 6 is Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the structure at a in the figure.
[0022] Explanation of reference numerals in the figure:
[0023] 1, barrel body; 11, outer shell plate; 12, inner shell plate; 121, chute; 13, bottom plate; 131, mounting groove; 14, stand; 2, barrel cover; 3, collar; 4, pull slide rail; 41, fixed plate; 42, slide rail plate; 421, slide rail; 43, connecting plate; 431, limiting block; 5, flip plate; 51, arc-shaped notch; 52, pivot; 6, closing roller; 7, synchronous belt driving assembly; 71, driving motor; 72, gear set; 73, pulley set; 74, synchronous belt; 8, detection cavity; 9, infrared sensor module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art belong to the scope of protection of the present application.
[0025] Those skilled in the art should understand that in the disclosure of the present application, the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "longitudinal", "transverse", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer" and the like are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements indicated must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, therefore the above terms cannot be understood as a limitation of the present application.
[0026] In the description of the present application, if there are words such as "several" and the like, the meaning is one or more, the meaning of more than two, greater than, less than, more than, etc. is not included in the number, the above, below, within, etc. is understood to include the number. If it is described as first, second, third, it is only used for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features or the sequence of indicated technical features.
[0027] The following will be described in detail with reference to the drawings Figures 1-6 The embodiments of the medical garbage can of the present application will be further described in detail.
[0028] A medical garbage can, such as Figure 1 , 2As shown, including barrel 1 and cover barrel cover 2 is arranged on barrel 1, one end of the barrel cover 2 is hinged to the barrel 1 through the hinge, the front side of the barrel 1 is provided with a sleeve ring 3 for wrapping the garbage bag, the two sides of the sleeve ring 3 are slidably connected with the barrel 1 through the pull slide rail 4, and the sleeve ring 3 is slidably connected in the barrel 1 through the pull slide rail 4; The front side of the barrel 1 below the sleeve ring 3 is also provided with a flip plate 5, which is rotatably connected to the barrel 1; The barrel 1 below the sleeve ring 3 is also provided with a closing roller 6 for closing the garbage bag, and the closing roller 6 is movably connected to the barrel 1; The pull slide rail 4, the flip plate 5 and the closing roller 6 are synchronously driven through the synchronous belt driving assembly 7; The pull slide rail 4 is driven to slide through the synchronous belt driving assembly 7, so that the sleeve ring 3 translates and slides out of the barrel 1, and the flip plate 5 and the closing roller 6 are synchronously driven to flip and move to seal the garbage bag.
[0029] Specifically, when the medical waste is put into the garbage can, the pull slide rail 4 is driven to slide through the synchronous belt driving assembly 7, so that it drives the sleeve ring 3 to drive the garbage bag to slide out of the barrel 1 quickly, and synchronously drives the flip plate 5 provided on the front side of the barrel 1 to start flipping, and drives the closing roller 6 to move synchronously in the process of sliding the sleeve ring 3, that is, when the sleeve ring 3 slides out of the barrel 1, the closing roller 6 also slides to the maximum stroke position and abuts against one end of the flip plate 5, at this time, the closing roller 6 and the flip plate 5 seal the garbage bag, and the garbage bag is divided into two parts under the action of the closing roller 6 and the flip plate 5, the garbage bag between the closing roller 6 and the sleeve ring 3 is the upper half, which can be used to place the discarded needle or blood tube, and vice versa, the remaining part is the lower half which has loaded medical waste; After the medical waste is put into the upper half of the garbage bag, the sleeve ring 3 starts to move back to reset, the closing roller 6 and the flip plate 5 reset synchronously, until the reset is completed, the garbage in the upper half of the garbage bag falls into the lower half, thereby effectively preventing the blood from splashing or the needle from flying out when the garbage is put in, thereby avoiding the phenomenon of bacterial infection or disease transmission.
[0030] It is worth noting that the barrel cover 2 is in a closed state under normal circumstances, when it is necessary to take out the sleeve ring 3 to replace the garbage bag, the barrel cover 2 can be opened by manually flipping it, so as to facilitate the quick taking out of the sleeve ring 3 or the garbage bag full of garbage; In addition to the manual flip way, the barrel cover 2 can also be opened by the foot pedal type in the prior art, therefore, the driving structure of the barrel cover 2 is not limited in the utility model; Similarly, since the foot pedal type control barrel cover 2 opening is a known technology, the control structure is not described in detail, the barrel cover 2 is arranged on the top of the barrel 1, so that the garbage can of the utility model can still be used normally in the case of power failure, thereby improving the practicability of the medical garbage can.
[0031] In the embodiment, as shown in Figure 2 The bottom end of the barrel body 1 is provided with a detection cavity 8 for placing the feet, and an infrared sensing module 9 for detecting the feet is arranged in the detection cavity 8. The infrared sensing module 9 is connected with the synchronous belt driving assembly 7 through an electrical signal. The garbage can can be opened without contacting the garbage can through the infrared sensing module 9, thereby saving time.
[0032] Specifically, since the hands of the medical staff cannot operate to open the garbage can in time when the medical staff is injecting or drawing blood from the patient, the detection cavity 8 for controlling the garbage can to be opened by the feet is arranged at the bottom end of the barrel body 1 in the utility model. When it is necessary to open the garbage can, the feet only need to be inserted into the detection cavity 8. At this time, after the infrared sensing module 9 in the detection cavity 8 senses a signal, the infrared sensing module 9 immediately sends a signal to the synchronous belt driving assembly 7 to drive the sleeve ring 3 to move out of the barrel body 1, and the part of the garbage bag loaded with garbage is sealed and divided, so as to avoid the needle flying out or bacteria, viruses and the like spreading into the air, thereby ensuring the health of the doctor and the patient. The infrared sensing module 9 can accurately identify the human body. Only when the feet are inserted into the detection cavity 8 and identified by the infrared sensing module 9, the signal can be sent. Other articles cannot trigger the infrared sensing module 9, thereby effectively avoiding the problem that the infrared sensing module 9 is mistakenly triggered to cause the garbage can to be opened.
[0033] In the embodiment, as shown in Figure 1 The pulling slide rail 4 is composed of a fixed plate 41, a slide rail plate 42 and a connecting plate 43. The fixed plate 41 is fixed on the inner side wall of the barrel body 1 in parallel along the width direction of the barrel body 1. One side of the slide rail plate 42 is slidably connected with the fixed plate 41, and the other side is slidably connected with the connecting plate 43 through a slide rail 421. The connecting plate 43 is detachably connected with the sleeve ring 3, and the connecting plate 43 is provided with limiting blocks 431 for limiting the sliding distance at both ends of the slide rail 421.
[0034] Specifically, the sliding distance of the sleeve ring 3 is controlled by the three-section pulling slide rail 4, so that the size of the opening of the garbage bag can be adjusted according to the actual use requirement. The three-section pulling slide rail 4 can make the sleeve ring 3 completely move out of the barrel body 1, thereby facilitating the replacement of the sleeve ring 3. The pulling slide rail 4 is a common product in the known technology and is widely used in furniture, so it is not described herein.
[0035] In the embodiment, an arc-shaped notch 51 adapted for the insertion of a finger is arranged at one end of the flap plate 5 close to the sleeve ring 3. The other end of the flap plate 5 away from the sleeve ring 3 is connected with a rotating shaft 52. The rotating shaft 52 is connected with the barrel body 1 at both ends, and the rotating shaft 52 is drivingly connected with the synchronous belt driving assembly 7.
[0036] Specifically, the role of the turnover cover plate is to avoid affecting the bagging capacity of the garbage bag when the sleeve ring 3 moves out of the barrel body 1, so the movable turnover cover plate 5 is arranged below the sleeve ring 3, wherein the turnover angle of the cover plate 5 is 0°-180°, and the opening angle of the cover plate 5 depends on the amount of garbage in the garbage bag; when there is a small amount of garbage in the garbage bag, the turnover angle of the cover plate 5 is larger, and vice versa.
[0037] Notably, in order to adjust the sealing position of the garbage bag, the closing roller 6 is arranged at the same height as the rotating shaft 52, and the closing roller 6 is in abutment with the cover plate 5 when it is slid out of the barrel body 1 to the maximum distance; the specific position of the closing roller 6 is arranged at a position close to the top end in the barrel body 1, so that the space of the garbage bag can be utilized as much as possible, and the bagging capacity of the upper half of the garbage bag is larger.
[0038] In the embodiment, the barrel body 1 comprises an outer shell plate 11, an inner shell plate 12 and a bottom plate 13, the outer shell plate 11 is provided with a plurality of outer shell plates 11 which are vertically spliced to form the barrel body 1, and the adjacent two outer shell plates 11 are clamped to each other through the setting of the stand column 14; the inner shell plate 12 is correspondingly arranged on the two sides and the back side of the outer shell plate 11, and the inner shell plate 12 is horizontally provided with a sliding groove 121 corresponding to the positions of the pull-out slide rail 4 and the closing roller 6; the bottom plate 13 is arranged close to the bottom end of the outer shell plate 11, and the bottom plate 13 is provided with a mounting groove 131 for mounting the infrared sensing module 9.
[0039] Specifically, in order to save transportation space, the garbage can in the utility model is assembled in a manner of splicing a plurality of outer shell plates 11 and stand columns 14, and the bottom plate 13 and the barrel cover 2 are used to seal the two ends of the outer shell plate 11, so as to form a relatively sealed barrel body 1 structure, and in order to further improve the appearance of the garbage can and hide the synchronous belt driving assembly 7, a plurality of inner shell plates 12 are arranged in parallel on the inner side of the outer shell, the synchronous belt driving assembly 7 is arranged in the cavity between the inner shell plate 12 and the outer shell plate 11, and in order to avoid the inner shell plate 12 affecting the sliding of the closing roller 6 and the pull-out slide rail 4, the sliding groove 121 is arranged on the inner shell plate 12 corresponding to the position thereof, which can not only quickly position and install the position, but also guide the sliding direction of the closing roller 6 and the pull-out slide rail 4; in addition, the position of the detection cavity 8 is reserved between the bottom end of the outer shell plate 11 and the bottom plate 13, and the mounting groove 131 is arranged on the bottom plate 13 to mount the infrared sensing module 9, so as to complete the opening and closing of the garbage can by using automatic sensing.
[0040] In the embodiment, the synchronous belt driving assembly 7 comprises a driving motor 71, a gear set 72, a pulley set 73 and a synchronous belt 74, the driving motor 71 is fixed on the inner shell plate 12, and the output end of the driving motor 71 is in transmission connection with the gear set 72; the gear set 72 is rotatably connected to the driving motor 71 and the fixed plate 41 respectively; the pulley set 73 is provided with multiple groups, and the multiple groups of pulley sets 73 are arranged on the two sides of the outer shell plate 11, the closing roller 6, the flap plate 5 and the rotating shaft 52 respectively, and the pulley sets 73 are in transmission connection through the synchronous belt 74 arranged thereon.
[0041] Specifically, the driving motor 71 can realize forward and reverse rotation, when rotating forward, the driving motor 71 drives the pull-out slide rail 4 to slide out to complete the moving-out of the sleeve ring 3, and when rotating reversely, the driving motor 71 drives the pull-out slide rail 4 to contract to complete the moving-in of the sleeve ring 3 and reset; the gear set 72 comprises a driving gear and a driven gear, the driving gear is in meshing connection with the driven gear, the driving gear is rotatably connected to the output end of the driving motor 71, the driven gear is rotatably connected to one side of the fixed plate 41, and one side of the driven gear is sleeved with the synchronous belt 74, under the action of the driving motor 71, the driving gear drives the driven gear to rotate, thereby driving the synchronous belt 74 to transmit, and the other end of the synchronous belt 74 is sleeved on the pulley set 73, the pulley set 73 comprises a fixed pulley and a movable pulley, the fixed pulley is fixed on the fixed plate 41, the outer shell plate 11 and the flap plate 5 respectively, the movable pulley is arranged on the two sides of the closing roller 6 and the rotating shaft 52, the fixed pulley and the movable pulley are synchronously rotated through the transmission of the synchronous belt 74, thereby enabling the pull-out slide rail 4 to slide, the sleeve ring 3, the rotating shaft 52, the flap plate 5 and the closing roller 6 to synchronously move, and a series of actions such as opening the garbage can in a flat way and synchronously completing the closing are completed.
[0042] The working principle of the utility model:
[0043] When medical waste needs to be discarded, only the foot is put into the detection cavity 8 at the bottom of the garbage can, after the foot signal is detected by the infrared sensing module 9, a signal is sent to the synchronous belt driving assembly 7, the sleeve ring 3 is driven by the synchronous belt driving assembly 7 to slide out of the can body 1 along the pull-out slide rail 4, and the flap plate 5 arranged at the front side of the can body 1 is started to turn synchronously with the synchronous belt 74, and the closing roller 6 is driven to move synchronously in the process of sliding of the sleeve ring 3, that is, when the sleeve ring 3 slides out of the can body 1, the closing roller 6 also slides to the maximum stroke position and abuts against one end of the flap plate 5, at this time, the closing roller 6 and the flap plate 5 seal the garbage bag, the garbage bag is divided into upper and lower parts under the action of the closing roller 6 and the flap plate 5, wherein the lower part is the part loaded with garbage, and the upper part is a hollow part for putting garbage, after the medical waste is put into the upper part, the sleeve ring 3, the pull-out slide rail 4, the flap plate 5 and the closing roller 6 start to reset, after resetting, the medical waste in the upper part falls into the lower part, and preparation is made for the next sealing.
[0044] The embodiments of the specific implementation are the preferred embodiments of the present application, not limited by the protection scope of the present application, wherein the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals. Therefore, any equivalent changes made according to the structure, shape and principle of the present application should be covered within the protection scope of the present application.
Claims
1. A medical waste bin, comprising a bin body and a lid disposed on the bin body, wherein one end of the lid is hinged to the bin body via a hinge, characterized in that, The bottom of the bin has a detection cavity for placing feet, and an infrared sensor module for detecting feet is installed inside the detection cavity. A collar for fitting garbage bags is provided on the front side of the bin, and a pull-out rail is slidably connected to both sides of the collar and the bin body. A flip-top plate is also provided on the front side of the bin below the collar, and the flip-top plate is rotatably connected to the bin body. A sealing roller for sealing the garbage bag is also provided inside the bin below the collar, and the sealing roller is movably connected to the bin body. The pull-out rail, flip-top plate, and sealing roller are synchronously driven by a synchronous belt drive assembly. The synchronous belt drive assembly is electrically connected to the infrared sensor module. The synchronous belt drive assembly drives the pull-out rail to slide, causing the collar to slide out of the bin body and simultaneously causing the flip-top plate and sealing roller to flip and move to seal the garbage bag.
2. The medical waste bin according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pull-out slide rail consists of a fixed plate, a slide rail plate, and a connecting plate. The fixed plate is fixed parallel to the inner wall of the barrel along the width direction of the barrel. One side of the slide rail plate is slidably connected to the fixed plate, and the other side is slidably connected to the connecting plate through a slide rail. The connecting plate is detachably connected to the collar, and the connecting plate is provided with limiting blocks at both ends of the slide rail to limit the sliding distance.
3. The medical waste bin according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flip cover has an arc-shaped notch at one end near the collar for inserting a finger, and a rotating shaft is connected to the other end of the flip cover away from the collar. The two ends of the rotating shaft are connected to the barrel body, and the rotating shaft is connected to the synchronous belt drive assembly.
4. The medical waste bin according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flip angle of the cover plate is 0°-180°.
5. The medical waste bin according to claim 3, characterized in that, The closing roller is set at the same height as the rotating shaft, and when the closing roller slides out of the barrel to the maximum distance, it abuts against the flip cover.
6. The medical waste bin according to claim 3, characterized in that, The barrel body comprises an outer shell plate, an inner shell plate, and a bottom plate. Multiple outer shell plates are arranged perpendicularly to each other to form the barrel body, and adjacent outer shell plates are interlocked by uprights. The inner shell plates are respectively disposed on the sides and back of the outer shell plates, and transverse grooves are provided on the inner shell plates at positions corresponding to the pull-out slide rail and the closing roller. The bottom plate is disposed near the bottom end of the outer shell plates, and a mounting groove for installing an infrared sensor module is provided on the bottom plate.
7. The medical waste bin according to claim 1, characterized in that, The synchronous belt drive assembly includes a drive motor, a gear set, a pulley set, and a synchronous belt. The drive motor is fixed to the inner shell plate, and the output end of the drive motor is connected to the gear set for transmission. The gear set is rotatably connected to the drive motor and the fixed plate respectively. Multiple pulley sets are provided, and the multiple pulley sets are respectively provided on both sides of the outer shell plate, the closing roller, the flip cover plate, and the rotating shaft, and the pulley sets are connected to each other by a synchronous belt.