The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 16, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 28, 1997
Donald C Presnell, Stephens City, VA (US);
Harold E Ruckman, Winchester, VA (US);
Kirstin J van Duelmen, Winchester, VA (US);
Rubbermaid Commercial Products Inc., Winchester, VA (US);
Abstract
A refuse container (10) includes an open-top receptacle (12) that is selectively closed by a removable hood (14). The hood (14) carries a roll-back door (22) that is operatively connected to a foot pedal (16) by a pair of lifters (18). The container (10) is designed so that the door (22) rolls back to an open position when the foot pedal (16) is depressed. The connection between the foot pedal (16) and the door (22) allows the hood (14) to be removed from the receptacle (12) without requiring the user to disconnect the linkage. As such, the linkage is automatically disassembled when the hood (14) is removed and automatically reassembled when the hood (14) is placed on the receptacle (12). The connection generally includes an engagement bar (70) that projects from an upper end of each lifter (18). The door (22) has a pair of arms (88) that each have a slot (84) therein. When the hood (14) is placed on the receptacle (12), the slots (86) engage the engagement bars (70). When the pedal (16) is depressed, the lifters (18) force the engagement bars (70) into the slots (86) causing the arms (88) to pivot about pivot pins (92) thus rolling the door (22) back into the hood (14).