APPARATUS FOR CAMPACTING DRINK CONTAINERS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for compacting drink containers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Most beverages such as cold drinks are vended in disposable containers, such as plastic bottles and aluminium cans. In many parts of the world, even drinking water is supplied in this manner. Drink containers by virtue of their bulk and the fact that they are practically non destructible in the environment, litter streets and use up land fill. There are attempts to collect empty drinks containers in many parts of the developed world for recycling or for sanitary disposal. Due to the bulk of the drinks containers, many consumers do not participate in such attempts, preferring to throw the containers away rather than store them temporarily, even if by so doing, deposits are forfeited. Even throwing away drinks containers is a burden, as empty bottles and cans quickly fill up bins and dumpsters. At social functions the quantity of empty containers that requires disposal may be considerable, and the space they occupy may be a serious logistical problem. One way for dealing with the problem of disposing bulky drinks containers, is to compact them. This may be achieved by shredding the containers, or by compressing under high external pressures. Systems for accomplishing compaction in this manner are bulky, expensive and dangerous. An alternative method for compacting drinks bottles, particularly suitable for polyethylene tetraphalate (PET) bottles as commonly used for carbonated beverages and other soft drinks, is to suck out the air from within, via a vacuum pump, and several patent applications have been filed for equipment for this purpose. i For example, JP 8107859 to Hisashi describes a nozzle for connecting to a domestic vacuum cleaner. The nozzle being designed to fit into the neck of PET bottles. JP 11267072 to Hiroaki describes a connecting pipe for connecting a vacuum cleaner to a PET bottle. JP 200254049 describes yet another device for connecting to a domestic vacuum cleaner to convert it into a bottle compressor. JP 200000005729 to Yoshiyuki and JP 2000367693 to Takeshi describe yet other nozzles for connecting to suction machine. JP 71443236 to Jiro et al. describes a rather more sophisticated apparatus with compression means and hot air blowers. JP 20030533595 to Junichi et al. describes a small sized compression device that includes some type of slider for applying a sliding force. JP09158228 to Noboru describes a container compressing machine with a piston and air bag. The devices known in the art are either retrofitted to vacuum cleaners or are fairly complicated. They seem to be based on large compressors to which trunk like hose pipes are connected. Thus despite the many developments in this crowded field, there is still a need for a compact and portable device for collapsing drinks containers, and a narrow patent is sought for the present invention which provides such a device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a handheld electrical suction device encased by a casing, for pumping air from an air outlet to an air inlet, comprising: an electrically powered air pump within the casing; a nozzle attached to said air inlet is for engaging a mouth of a collapsible drink container and an ON/OFF switch for controlling supply of power from a power supply to said electrically powered air pump, wherein said ON/OFF switch is positioned such that an operator holding both the device and a disposable drinks container against the nozzle thereof, can comfortably operate said ON/OFF switch. Optionally the power supply is selected from the list of (i) batteries within said casing, and (ii) external batteries rigidly attached to said casing; said battery being selected from the list of one-time batteries and rechargeable batteries. Alternatively, the power supply is a car battery connected to the electrically powered air pump of said suction device by a wire, or a DC power supply connected to a mains power point via a transformer and rectifier. In preferred embodiments the ON/OFF switch is associated with the nozzle such that pressing the mouth of the collapsible drink container against the nozzle toggles said switch from an OFF position to an ON position, thereby activating the suction pump. The nozzle may be configured as a (i) male nozzle that fits into the mouth of the bottle, (ii) as a female nozzle that fit over the mouth of the nozzle, contact it therearound, or as a nozzle that presses against the rim of the mouth of the bottle. The pump may be a rotary pump or a piston pump. Optionally, the handheld device may be wall mountable for one handed use. Although generally manufactured from scratch, in yet other embodiments, the handheld electrical suction device of the invention may be fabricated by attaching a nozzle onto the air inlet of a hand held blower, thereby converting the blower into a suction device for compressing bottles. The term 'battery' as used herein is used loosely and includes any electrochemical voltaic cell or plurality thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be further understood and appreciated from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: Figi 1 is a functional block diagram showing the essential components of the handheld pump of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of one embodiment of the handheld pump of the invention. Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration showing how the nozzle may be configured to externally engage the mouth of the bottle therearound thereby attaining vacuum. Fig. 4 shows a nozzle configured to be pressed against the rim of the mouth of the bottle thereby attaining vacuum. Fig. 5 shows an adaptor for converting a nozzle designed for one type of container mouth, to another type of container mouth. Fig. 6 shows a nozzle with multiple heads. It will be noted that the Figures are schematic illustrations of embodiments, and do not show structure in more detail than is necessary to grasp the concepts described, and should not be taken as being limiting. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference now to Fig. 1, schematically, the present invention is a handheld electrical suction device 10 coupled to a power supply 12, that consists of an air pump 14 encased within a casing 16. The air pump 14 has an air inlet 18 through which air may be sucked, and an air outlet 19 through which air may be blown. Onto the air inlet 18 there is attached a nozzle 20, which is designed to engage the mouth of a collapsible drink container 22, such that when such a collapsible drink container 22 is held against the nozzle 20 and the air pump 14 is operated, air is sucked from the drink container 22, collapsing it thereby. A particular feature of the handheld electrical suction device 10, is an ON/OFF switch 24 for controlling the supply of power from the power supply 12 to the air pump 14, wherein the ON/OFF switch 24 is positioned such that a two-handed operator holding the handheld electrical suction device 10 in one hand and the disposable drinks container 22 in the other hand, can comfortably operate the ON/OFF switch 24. The incorporation of the accessible ON/OFF switch 24 is an improvement to the Japanese bottle collapsing solutions referred to hereinabove, that include domestic vacuum cleaners to which a nozzle is connected by a long flexible hose, in that the operator handling the nozzle and drink container cannot easily switch off the vacuum cleaner, as he cannot easily access switch, not having a free hand. In consequence, the vacuum cleaner operates more or less continuously, at least for far longer time periods than would be necessary for collapsing bottles, for which a pulse mode of operation is more suitable. Where an air pump operates continuously, a mains power source is required, and it is a particular feature of preferred embodiments of the present invention in that the air pump 14 is powered by a battery type power supply. In consequence, long trailing wires and / or long trunk like air conduits are not required, providing convenience and safety advantages. The battery power supply may be internal to the casing, or may be an external battery rigidly attached to the casing, providing greater interchangeability for example. It will be appreciated that battery may be a one-time (disposable) battery, or a rechargeable battery. Optionally, the hand held electrical suction device 10 may be connected to and powered by a car battery. Such a system may be useful for municipal garbage collectors, park wardens and the like. In some embodiments, the power supply is a DC power supply connected to a mains power point via a transformer and rectifier, and even where a battery is provided, the option of powering from the mains is preferably provided. Referring now to Fig. 2, there is shown a hand held electrical suction device 100 wherein the ON/OFF switch 124 is associated with the nozzle 120, such that pressing the mouth of a collapsible drink container 122 against the nozzle 120 toggles the switch 124 from an OFF position to an ON position, thereby activating the suction pump. The nozzle is preferably formed at least in part of a rubbery material, such as silicone for example, to provide a fairly hermetic seal, by simply pressing the bottle there against. Referring now to Fig. 3, the nozzle 320 may be configured to externally engage the mouth 323 of the bottle 322 therearound. As shown in Fig. 4 however, the nozzle 420 may be configured to press against the rim 425 of the mouth 423 of the bottle 422. With reference to Fig. 5, an adaptor 530 (or series thereof) may be provided to allow the hand held electrical suction device 10 of the invention to cope with a number of different shaped / sized container openings, such as the opening of a polyethylene tetraphalate (PET) bottle, the opening 523 of an aluminium can 522 and the like. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 6, the nozzle 620 may have a number of nozzle heads 62 IA, 62 IB, 621C with valve means 627A, 627B, 627C, such that pressing the mouth 623 of a bottle 622 against the nozzle head 62 IB not only actuates the air pump, but also opens the valve 627B. The air pump is typically a rotary pump powered by an electrical motor, but could be a piston pumps for example. Generally, the hand held electrical suction device 10 of the invention will be purpose built, but it could be fabricated by attaching a nozzle onto the inlet of a handheld blower, thereby converting the blower into a suction device for compressing bottles. Suitable blowers for this purpose include the "fast fill raft inflator" and EZ models manufactured by Interdynamics Inc., of Brooklyn New York, for example. It will be noted that by describing the device of the present invention as being handheld, does not preclude the possibility of the user wearing an embodiment thereof on a shoulder strap. Indeed, such a possibility offers many advantages in that the operator may hold a bottle thereto with one hand, leaving the other hand free. Similarly, the hand held electrical suction device may fit into a wall mounted holder for storage purposes, and be operated whilst thus held. Such an option provides the possibility that the handheld device be supported by the wall to which it is fixed, enabling a user to hold a bottle there against to suck the air there out, thereby compacting same. In this manner, the user can operate the device one handed. Thus although the portability of the device is a particular feature thereof, it will be noted that an embodiment of the device may be provided with a means of fixing to a wall, and may be operated in one place, such as in the kitchen, without taking advantage of the small size thereof, to actually move the hand held device around. Specific features described and / or illustrated with reference to one embodiment may be implemented and featured with other embodiments, thus it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to what has been described hereinabove merely by way of example. Rather, the invention is limited solely by the claims which follow, in which the word "comprising" and variations thereof, such as "comprises", "comprised" and the like, indicate that the components listed are included, but not necessarily to the exclusion of further components, not specified.
