APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ENTERING TO A COLLECTING CONTAINER

This invention relates to the apparatus defined in the preamble of claim 1 for preventing access to a collection box.

By access we mean later actual entry into the collection box, as well as the possibility to reach the materials inside the collection box by hand or with some kind of instrument.

Fairly large collection boxes are placed in some public locations for people to fill for example with used clothes, which are then passed on, generally for charitable use. Collection boxes are equipped with feed hatches through which clothes can be placed in the box. The boxes are emptied using separate unloading hatches, which are kept locked. The problem with these kinds of large collection boxes is that the feed hatches allow people to reach the clothes inside the box, either directly or using various kinds of instruments. Clothes are stolen from these boxes and sometimes spread around by vandals. Boxes built according to known technology can also be entered through the feed hatch. For instance homeless people have been known to sleep or live in such boxes. This causes the plastic bags, in which the clothes are usually packed, to break, while the clothes are trodden down and compacted, which makes the box significantly more difficult to empty. The clothes may also become unusable. Another risk is that people who have entered the collection boxes through the feed hatch may become trapped inside.

Known solutions exist for preventing access to the clothes and entry into the box through the feed hatch. The idea behind these solutions is to block the hatch opening when feed hatch is in the filling position, i.e. open. The opening is blocked using equipment in which a lever attached to the feed hatch pulls a blockage device onto the opening when the hatch is opened. The blockage device and lever are placed behind the feed hatch, inside the box. This kind of equipment does not,

however, block the opening properly in all hatch positions so it is still possible to reach for clothes and enter the box. Another problem is that the equipment takes up space inside the box, thus diminishing the box's capacity. A further problem is that the equipment can become stuck, particularly when the box is nearly full of clothes. This means that the equipment is fairly unreliable. The retrofitting of such equipment into existing collection boxes may also be difficult and cannot necessarily be carried out in situ at the box' s location; instead, the box has to be brought to a workshop for the retrofitting to take place.

The object of this invention is to remove the problems described above and to create a reliable, affordable and easy- to-install apparatus for preventing access to collection boxes. The apparatus of the invention is characterised by what is disclosed in the characterisation part of claim 1. Other embodiments of the invention are characterised by what is disclosed in the other patent claims.

Other embodiments of the invention are also presented in the descriptive section of this application. The invention included in the application can also be defined in ways other than those used in the patent claims below. The content of the invention may also consist of several separate inventions, particularly if the invention is seen from the point of view of expressions or implicit operational elements, or from the perspective of benefits or groups of benefits a- chieved. In that case, some of the definitions given in the patent claims below may be superfluous in terms of separate inventions. Similarly, the details presented in conjunction with each invention' s application example can also be used in other application examples.

The benefit of the invention lies in the fact that it very reliably prevents access to the clothes in the box and entry into the box itself. Another benefit is that all the parts of the apparatus are placed within the structure of the feed

hatch, so that it does not take up space within the box and that it will not get stuck, even when the box is full. A further benefit is that the apparatus is easy to retrofit into existing collection boxes, so that installation can be carried out in situ. Another benefit is that the apparatus is simple to install at a low cost.

In the following, the invention is described in detail using an embodiment example, by referring to the attached drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows a collection box which is using the apparatus according to the invention, as a cross-section from the side;

Figure 2 shows the feed hatch of the collection box, with the apparatus according to the invention installed and with the hatch in the filling position, i.e. open, from the side;

Figure 3 shows the feed hatch of the collection box, with the apparatus according to the invention installed and with the hatch in a nearly closed position, from the side;

Figure 4 shows the feed hatch of the collection box, with the apparatus according to the invention installed and with the hatch in a completely closed position, from the side and

Figure 5 shows a simplified diagram of the collection box' s feed hatch, with the apparatus according to the invention installed, from the direction of arrow A shown in Figure 3.

The figures are in simplified diagrammatic form and are not to scale, and the proportions of the various parts in relation to each other are not necessarily accurately correct. Figure 1 shows a collection box 1, which is using the apparatus according to the invention, as a cross-section from the side. At the top of the front side of the collection box 1

there is an opening 2, through which clothes are placed in the box. The opening 2 consists of an indentation from the front side of the box 1. The sloped panel 3 at the base of the indentation blocks visibility of and contact with the interior of the box 1, while side panels 4 do the same on the sides of the indentation. The feed hatch 5 for the box is attached with hinges 6 to the back of the sloped panel 3.

Figure 2 shows the feed hatch 5 of the collection box in the filling position, i.e. open. In cross-section, the feed hatch 5 is shaped like a scoop, consisting of a front panel 5a and a back panel 5b, which are placed at an angle of more than 90 degrees in relation to each other. The size of the angle can vary within certain limits. Attached in between and on both sides of the front panel 5a and the back panel 5b are support devices I ₁ which strengthen the structure of the feed hatch 5. The feed hatch 5 works by being turned on the hinges 6, by using a handle 13 attached to the exterior of the front panel 5a. The hinge or hinges 6 are placed on the outside of the corner formed by the front panel 5a and the back panel 5b, lengthwise along the length of the feed hatch 5. When the feed hatch 5 is opened into the filling position, the front panel 5a turns outwards until it is nearly horizontal, while the back panel 5b turns upwards until it is nearly vertical, simultaneously blocking the box opening 2 almost completely.

Without any blocking devices, however, the feed hatch 5 could still be turned into a position in which the user could reach the clothes inside the box 1 or enter the box 1. To prevent this, the collection box 1 according to the invention includes a sheet-like blockage device 8, which is attached at its first end, i.e. at its top edge to the side panels 4 of the box opening 2, using hinges or swivels 9. The blockage device 8 is connected to the front panel 5a of the feed hatch 5 with an essentially rigid connecting shaft 10 such that the first end of the connecting shaft 10 is attached to the second end, i.e. to the lower edge of the blockage device 8 with a swivel joint 11 and the second end of the connecting shaft 10 is

attached to the upper inside edge of the front panel 5a of the feed hatch 5 with a swivel jointl2.

As the blockage device 8 is connected to the feed hatch 5 with an essentially rigid connecting shaft 10, the blockage device 8 turns on its swivel joints 9 in relation to the feed hatch 5 when the feed hatch 5 is turned on its hinges 6. The blockage device 8, the connecting shaft 10, the feed hatch 5 and the swivel joints (9, 11, 12) are dimensioned and placed in relation to each other suitably so that when the feed hatch is open, the blockage device 8 turns essentially into a vertical position within the scoop-like feed hatch, and when the feed hatch is closed, the blockage device turns backwards and up in relation to the feed hatch 5 and essentially into a horizontal position, out of the feed hatch. In the situation depicted in Figure 2, when the feed hatch 5 is open, the blockage device has turned within the feed hatch 5 to cover the box opening 2, thus preventing access to the interior of the collection box 1.

Figure 3 shows the feed hatch 5 in a nearly closed position, from the side. The blockage device 8 is still in such a position as to block the box opening 2, preventing access into the collection box 1. Bags of clothes placed within the feed hatch 5 will, however, fit between the front panel 5a of the feed hatch 5 and the blockage device 8, in order to fall into the box.

Figure 4 shows the feed hatch 5 with the opening 2 in a com ^¬ pletely closed position, again from the side. Now the blockage device 8 is open within the collection box 1, having turned backwards into an essentially horizontal position, to allow any remaining bags of clothing to fall into the collection box 1 along the surface of the back panel 5b of the feed hatch, which back panel 5b is at this time has turned slightly below the horizontal plane into a diagonal position. The front panel 5a of the feed hatch 5 is leaning against the support device 14 attached to the top of the collection box

1, closing the opening 2 completely. When the feed hatch 5 is completely closed, the vertical distance from the free back edge of the blockage device 8 to the top surface of the back panel 5b of the feed hatch is greater than the vertical distance between the hinged front edge of the blockage device 8 and the top surface of the back panel 5b of the feed hatch.

Figure 5 shows a simplified diagram of the feed hatch 5 and the blockage device 8 from the direction of the arrow (A) in Figure 3, i.e. from the back, seen inside the box 1. The feed hatch 5 is in the same position as in Figure 3, i.e. nearly closed. The front panel 5a of the feed hatch 5 is in a nearly vertical position, the back panel 5b is in a nearly horizontal position, and the blockage device 8 is in a nearly vertical position, covering the opening 2. The blockage device 8 is attached to the side panels 4 with rod-like joints 9, which are for instance ordinary threaded rods . The threaded rods 9 are welded onto the top part of the blockage device 8 such that they reach cross-wise to outside the blockage device 8. The threaded rods 9 are placed so that they move through holes made in the side panels 4, and where the holes are, bushings 15 are placed on the threaded rods 9, which bushings 15 have outside diameters to match the diameters of the holes. Nuts 16a and lβb are also placed on the threaded rods 9, either side of the side panels 4 such that the distance between the nuts 16a and 16b is greater than the thickness of a side panel 4. The purpose of the nuts lδaand 16b is to keep the blockage device 8 from moving sideways. In order to keep the nuts 16a, 16b from moving on the threaded rods 9, they are locked in place with locking nuts 17a and 17b. The nuts 16a...17b are shown on a larger scale in Figure 5 for clarity.

The protrusion of the, as joints functioning threaded rods 9 cross-wise along the blockage device 8 is adjusted so that the blockage device 8 is easy to put in place. This means that the total length of the width of the blockage device 8 plus the protrusion of one threaded rod 9 is smaller than the horizon-

tal distance between the inner edges of the side panels 4 of the box opening 2.

At the beginning of the installation process, the external nuts Iβa, 17a are off the threaded rods 9, while the inner nuts 16b, 17b are threaded and locked onto the rods at a suitable distance from each other, which distance is suitably smaller than the horizontal distance between the inner edges of the side panels 4 of the box opening 2. First, the first threaded rod 9 is pushed through the hole in the first side panel 4 far enough that the second threaded rod 9 can be fitted into the hole in the other side panel 4. Once both threaded rods 9 have been placed in the holes in the side panels 4, the blockage device is centred horizontally in relation to the feed hatch 5 and the outer nuts 16a, 17a are threaded and locked into place on each threaded rod 9. This keeps the blockage device 8 from coming off its swivel joints. This structure allows for the solution in accordance with the invention to be retrofitted into existing collection boxes, with the construction and installation taking place at the location of the collection boxes so that the boxes do not have to be moved at all for installation.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited only to the embodiment example described above, but can be varied within the scope of the patent claims presented below. The feed hatch could for example have a different structure than that which is described above. The support devices on the sides of the feed hatch could be replaced with a different structure to support the hatch, such as suitable metal panels. Similarly, the back panel of the feed hatch can be equipped with a weight to ensure proper closure of the hatch.

It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that the structure of the blockage device can vary from the description given above. For large feed hatches the blockage device can be strengthened and for instance bent inwards at the middle to

increase hatch capacity. Instead of a continuous sheet of metal, the blockage device can consist of a close-knit metal mesh.

Further it is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the threaded rods used as swivel joint shafts for the blockage device do not have to be adjusted using nuts, but can instead be dimensioned exactly for each place of use, while the sideways locking can be carried out for instance using only outer nuts or some other suitable method.

In addition it is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the solution in accordance with the invention can be used for any lidded boxes or containers, such as waste bins or storage containers used for various kinds of materials or goods .

It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that the feed hatch does not have to be scoop-like in shape, but that even a one-part hatch with only a front panel can be equipped with the structure described in the invention.