It is known to provide a refuse container which is adapted to be stored below ground level, and which can be raised to ground level by hand or foot operated levers so that rubbish can be disposed of into the container. Further operation of the hand or foot operated levers returns the refuse container under¬ ground , and a lid is placed over the container to leave a generally neat appearance without the requirement for an unsightly refuse container stored above ground level. It is also known to employ a counterbalance weight having a weight approximately equal to the refuse container, so that when the operator is lifting the refuse container, he does not have to overcome the entire weight of the container. The arrangement is such that as the refuse container rises the counterbalance weight falls, and vice versa. Examples of such underground refuse containers can be found in United States Patent Specifications Nos. 224,636' (1980) , 300685 (1884), 330201 (1885), 2528056, and 3800973.

However these known arrangements of underground refuse container suffer from a number of disadvantages including complexity of operating mechanisms, and difficulty of operation of the hand or foot levers, particularly by ladies, due to the amount of force required to raise the dustbin, and/or the length of avel of the levers or other devices used. One particular disadvantages of these previous known arrangements is that the force required to raise the refuse container to ground level varies according to whether the refuse container is full or empty.

It is one object of the present invention to provide apparatus for raising and lowering a refuse container arranged to be kept underground, which is of simple and reliable construction, and allows easy operation by an operator, particularly by a lady operator or other person unable to exert any substantial force in lifting the refuse container. However the raising and lowering apparatus provided in accordance with the invention also has application independently in uses other than for raising and lowering a refuse container, and in such aspects it is an object of the invention to provide apparatus for raising and lowering a general load, where only a small operating force is available to effect the raising or lowering, and where- the load

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to be raised or lowered is variable.

In accordance with the present invention in a first aspect there is provided apparatus for raising and lowering a refuse container arranged to be kept below ground level, comprising a movable support for the refuse container, counterbalance means for applying an upward force to the container support to counterbalance the refuse container in operation, actuating means operable by normal effort of a single operator to impart a raising or lowering movement as required to the container support, and weight compensating means for varying the effective upward force applied to the container support by the counterbalance means to compensate for differing weights of refuse in the refuse container. The counterbalance means may comprise any means for applying a counterbalancing force to the container support in operation, for example hydraulic or electrical, and in some arrangements the counter¬ balance means may comprise one or more springs which when compressed apply a counterbalancing upward force to the container support. However in preferred arangements of the invention, the counterbalance means comprise a counterbalance weight for applying the upward force to the container support, the

arrangement being such that as the refuse container is raised to ground level, the counterbalance weight is lowered, and vice versa.

Thus, in accordance with this preferred arrangement, there is provided apparatus for raising and lowering a refuse container arranged to be kept low ground level, comprising a movable support or the refuse container, a counterbalance weight for applying an upward force to the container support to counterbalance the refuse container in operation, means coupling the support to the counterbalance weight in such a manner that raising of one results in lowering of the other, actuating means operable by normal effort of a single operator to impart a raising or lowering movement as required to the container support, and weight compensating means for varying the effective upward force applied to the container support by the counterbalance weight to compensate for differing weights of refuse in the refuse container.

Conveniently the counterbalance weight and the container support are coupled to each other by a system of lines and pulleys, the container support and the counterweight both hanging freely by lines whereby they are raised and lowered. Conveniently the line is

formed by a cable, but the line may be constituted by any suitable form of elongate flexible coupling means such as rope, cable, tape, strap, or even chain.

The said movable support for the refuse container conveniently comprises a flat horizontal load platform on which the refuse container stands, but in other rangements the movable support may comprise a hook or other form of coupling for coupling a line to the load, or may even be constituted by the end of a rope or the like adapted to be tied to a load.

The said actuating means may comprise any suitable form of lever wheel or like device to be operated by a human operator, by hand or foot, but preferably the actuating means comprises a pair of foot-pedals arranged in such a manner that as one foot-pedal is depressed the other rises , and vice versa, the arrangement being such that operation of one foot-pedal causes raising of the refuse container, and operation of the other pedal causes lowering of the refuse container.

The said weight compensating means may be under the direct control of the operator, so that for example the operator selects a reduced upward force on the container support when the container is less full, and selects an increased upward force applied to the container support when the container is more full.

However, it is an important preferred feature of the present invention that the weight compensating means may be automatic, and there may be provided means for sensing an imbalance between the weight of the load on the container support, and the effective upward force provided by the counterbalance means, and means for varying the effective upward force in response to this imbalance, in such a manner as to correct the imbalance. The said weight compensating means may comprise any form of adjustment, for example means for increasing or decreasing the spring pressure available in a sprung form of counterbalance means, for example by varying the compressed length of a spring, or means for varying the area over which a hydraulic pressure is applied to counterbalance the weight of the load. However, it is a particularly preferred feature of the present invention that the weight compensating means may be a simple mechanical device for varying the effective upward force applied to the container without the application of any force to the apparatus other than the operating force of the operator.

In a particularly preferred form, the said weight compensating means comprises a conical or frusto- conical rotor rotation of which raises and lowers the said container support, and a line coupled to the

container support or to the counterbalance means and wound about the conical or frusto-conical rotor, the said weight compensating means comprising means for varying the position along the axis of the rotor at which the line is wound.

In one arrangement the said position varying means comprises -a movable position element (such as a pulley on a rod positioned parallel to a hypotenuse of the conical rotor) which is movable to different positions along the general direction of the axis of the rotor and acts to guide the line onto the conical surface of the rotor at the axial position of the position element, the position element being urged, at least at one stage of operation, in one direction along the general direction of the rotor axis by a biasing force the magnitude of which is dependent upon the axial position of the element, and in the opposite direction along the general direction of the rotor axis by a force which is dependent upon the weight of the load on the said container support.

In an alternative preferred arrangement the conical or rusto-conical rotor is mounted on a main frame of the apparatus, and the position varying means comprises a control means for moving the conical or frusto-conical rotor in a direction along its axis relative to the main frame, the axial position of the

line being constant relative to the main frame and the conical rotor being moved relative to the line position to achieve the required variation of winding position. Preferably there is provided biasing means for urging, at least at one stage of operation, the conical- or frusto-conical rotor in one direction along the general direction of the rotor axis by a biasing force the magnitude of which is dependent upon the axial position of the rotor, and a control means for urging, at least at one stage of operation, the rotor in the opposite direction along the general direction of the rotor axis by a force which is dependent upon the weight of the load on the said container support. It is also particularly preferred that the conical or frusto-conical rotor has an axial channel therein in which when the channel is facing vertically downwards the line lies in a vertical plane including the axis of the rotor, to allow the required axial movement between the line and the conical or rusto-conical rotor, there being provided a further line connected to the other of the said container support or counterbalance means, the said further line being wound about a further, constant diameter, rotor which is coupled for rotation with the conical or frusto-conical rotor, the said constant diameter rotor including a slot

corresponding to the channel in the conical or frusto-conical rotor, the said second line being adapted to -lie in its said slot when the first line lies in its said channel. In many preferred arrangements, the said conical or frusto-conical rotor may have a substantially even conical surface about which the line is wound, but it is to be appreciated that in some arrangements the rotor may have a stepped, grooved, or otherwise shaped surface (for example, defining paths for the line to be wound along), so long as the overall effect is that the diameter of the rotor varies along the direction of the axis of the rotor so that the effective force applied to rotate the rotor by the line wound around it varies with the axial position at which the line is wound around the rotor.

The particular form of weight compensating means which has been set out above also has application in other fields where it is required to raise and lower a variable load.

Thus in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for raising and lowering a load comprising a movable support for the load, counterbalance means for applying an upward force to the load support to counterbalance the load in operation,

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actuating means operable by normal effort of a single operator to impart a raising or lowering movement as required to the load support, and weight compensating means for varying the effective upward force applied to the load support by the counterbalance means to compensate for differing loads, the weight compensating means comprising a conical or frusto-conical rotor rotation of which raises and lowers the load support, and a line coupled to the load support or to the counterbalance means and wound about the conical or frusto-conical rotor, and means for varying the position along the axis of the rotor at which the line is wound. The various preferred features of the weight compensating means which have been set out hereinbefore in connection with apparatus for raising and lowering a refuse container, are equally applicable in connection with the aspect of the present invention set out above.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1(a) is a side view of apparatus for raising and lower a load, illustrated for an example

where the load is a refuse container arranged for storage underground;

Figure 1(b) is a section along the lines BB in Figure 1(a); Figure 1(c) is a section along the lines AA in Figure 1(a);

Figures 2(a), (b) and (c) are respectively side end and plan views of the apparatus shown in Figure 1(a), shown on an enlarged scale, and with various supporting cables omitted for clarity;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the main components of the raising and lowering apparatus shown in the preceding Figures;

Figures 4(a) and (b) are plan and side views respectively of the apparatus shown in the precedig Figures, when arranged iri situ for the purpose of raising and lowering an underground refuse container; -Figure 5 is a perspective view of the appearance at ground level of a cover for an apparatus embodying the invention;

Figure 6 is a side view, partly cut away and partly in cross section, of a further modified embodiment of the invention, but operating generally in similar manner to the preceding embodiment; Figure 7 is a cross section taken along the lines Y-Y In figure 6;

Figure 8 is a cross section taken along the lines X-X in figure 6;

Figure 9 is a plan view from above of the apparatus of figure 6; Figure 10 is a detail side view, partly in section, of a drum 20' shown in figure 6; and

Figure 11 is an end view taken in the direction Z shown in figure 10.

Referring firstly to Figures 1(a), (b), and (c) , there is shown partly diagrammatically a raising and lowering apparatus embodying the invention indicated generally at 21, for raising and lower a load platform 9 by means of a cable 17 passing over a pulley 22 secured to a fixed point 23. The cable 17 leads to a further pulley 24 of the main apparatus. A counterbalance weight 8 is suspended from a second cable 18 which also passes into the main body of the apparatus. Overall, the counterweight 8 is such as to approximately balance the weight of the platform 9 when carrying its load, and the arrangement is such that as the load platform 9 rises the counterweight 8 falls, and vice versa.

Considering now the main body of the apparatus 21, chiefly with reference to Figures 1(a), 2(a) and 3, the apparatus has a main frame 1 in which is mounted a main shaft 2 which carries a conical drum 16 and a

fixed diameter drum 20 which are fixed relative to each other but rotate relative to the frame 1. The cable 17 from the load platform^ is led around the pulley 24 to a further pulley 25 rotatably mounted on a balance rod 3 (to be described more fully herein¬ after) and thence to a pulley 26 which guides the cable 17 onto the fixed diameter drum 20.

The cable 18 supporting the counterweight 8 is wound a small number of turns, for example once, around a feed pulley 13 which is mounted on the balance rod 3 in such a manner as to allow rotation about the rod 3, but to be fixed against movement along the rod 3. The counterbalance cable 18 then passes to the conical drum 16, where it is fixedly attached to a position element constituted by a bush 14 which is slidable along a runner 15 positioned approximately along the surface of the cone 16, along a hypotenuse of a section through the cone 16 containing the central axis of the cone. The balance rod 3 is mounted in apertures in the frame 1 such that it can slide along its length from left to right in Figure 1(a), and the rod 3 is biassed to the left in Figure 1(a) by tension spring 27 acting between an edge 28 of the frame 1, and a screw threaded end piece 19 which may be screwed into or out of the main rod 3 to provide an adjustment of the

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tension in the spring 27. Movement of the rod 3 along its length to the left and right is normally prevented by a brake 7 consisting of a pair of rigid flat bars 29 and 30 which have elongate holes 31 and 32 through which the rod 3 passes. The bars 29 and 30 are inclined to each other and are urged together by a tension spring 33 at their upper end. At the lower end of the bars 29 and 30, the feet are maintained apart by grooves or ridges (not shown) in the frame 1. Between the upper ends of the bars 29 and 30 is a cam 34 which may be raised or lowered by a brake lever 10. When the cam 34 is not between the upper ends of the bars 29 and 30, the upper ends of the bars are urged together by the spring 33, and the oval holes 31 and 32 jam the rod 3 preventing longitudinal motion thereof. When the cam 34 is forced between the upper ends of the bars 29 and 30, the bars are forced apart and the rod 3 is free to move along its length.

Thus considering the operation of the balance rod 3, when the brake 7 is released, the force of the load on the pla ^' tform 9 tends to pull the rod 3 towards the right in Figure 1(a) , whereas the spring 27 tends to pull the rod 3 towards the left in Figure 1(a). The brake lever 10 is capable of pivoting movement about a pivot 35, and in such movement operates two brakes 7 and 6. The brake 7 has been

described, and the brake 6 consists of a sprung metal strip positioned around an extension of the fixed diameter drum 20, and supported by a bracket 36. In its relaxed position, the brake 6 clamps onto the fixed diameter drum 20 and holds the drum against rotation. However the upper ends of the sprung strip 6 are bent outwardly in two flanges 37 and 38 (Figure 2(b) and Figure 3) and between these flanges is a wedge cam 39, fixedly secured to the brake lever 10. The brake lever 10 is biassed upwardly by a tension spring 40, so that in its rest position, the cam 39 is held clear of the flanges 37 and 38, and the brake 6 is clamped to the drum 20. When the brake lever 10 is forced downwardly, the brake 6 opens and frees the drum 20.

Operation of the apparatus is by two foot-pedals 4 and 5 arranged so that when one pedal is raised the other is lowered, and vice versa. Fastened to the lower ends of the pedals 4 and 5 are lines which in the present example are formed by narrow straps 11 and 12. Each strap 11 and 12 passes along a path leading initially up and over a freely rotating pulley 41 on the brake lever 10, and then downwardly to wrap around a narrow diameter drum 42 which is fixedly mounted relative to the drums 20 and 16, and rotates on the main shaft 2. The paths of the straps 11 and 12 are

shown in Figure 1(c) to be off-set along the axis of the shaft 2, and the windings are arranged so that whon the foot-pedal 4 is in the raised position, its strap 11 is fully wound on the narrow diameter drum 42, and at the same time the foot-pedal 5 is lowered and its strap 12 is fully unwound from the narrow diameter drum 42, and vice versa. Depression of the foot-pedal 4 causes the strap 11 to unwind from the drum 42 and to produce rotation of the drum 42, in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter.

Referring now briefly to Figures 4(a), 4(b) and Figure 5, the raising and lowering apparatus may conveniently be installed and mounted beneath a canopy 44 set into the ground, with the load platform 9 movable down into a shaft set in the ground (not shown) . Similarly the counterbalance weight 8 is sunk into the same, or a different, shaft and can rise and fall on the cable 18. The cable 17 for the load platform (which is shown diagrammatically in Figure 1(a) as a single cable) is in practice conveniently provided by three cables 17' shown in plan view in Figure 4(a), and led around a number of pulleys 22', which in Figure 1(a) are shown diagrammatically as a single pulley 22. Thus in practice the load platform 9 is supported by three cables 17' for stability.

As shown in Figure 5, the canopy 44 has a cover 45 which opens in two hemispherical halves. Operation of the foot-pedals 4 and 5 is arranged to automatically open the cover 45 as appropriate, by means not shown, but which will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

There will now be described with reference mainly to Figures 1(a) and 2(a) and 3 the operation of the apparatus embodying the invention. The starting point of the cycle will be assumed to be that the load platform 9 is in the fully raised position, with the refuse container (not shown) at ground level, and with the counterbalance weight 8 at its lowest position. At this time refuse is added to the container, thus increasing its weight, but no movement of the load platform 9 takes place, since the drum 20 is locked in stationary position by the brake 6. When the operator wishes to lower the platform 9, he .begins to depress foot-pedal 4, and the first action produced by this depression is that the brake lever 10 is lowered by a first stage until the cam 35 forces the bars 29 and 30 apart to release the rod 3 from the brake 7. This stage is shown in Figure 3 but is not shown in Figures 1(a) and 2(a), which show a later stage yet to be described. With the brake 7 released, the rod 3 is pulled to the right in Figure 1(a) against the spring

27 by the effect of the increased weight on the load platform 9 (since last operation) . The apparatus is arranged in such away that while this is happening the runner 15 is lying in a vertical plane through the axis of the main shaft 2, so that the bush 14 is free to slide to the right in Figure 2(a) under the effect of the feed pulley 13, which has been pulled to the right when the balance rod 3 moves to the right. Thus during this initial movement of the pedal 4 downwardly the rod 3 ha.s moved to the right and the bush 14 has located itself at a required position along the runner 15.

Further downward movement of the pedal 4 moves the cam 34 downwardly again to the position shown in Figures 1(a) and 2(a) and in this position the rod 3 is clamped relative to the frame 1 so the axial position of the feed pulley 13 and bush 14 are fixed for the remainder of the .operation. Further movement of the pedal 4 downwardly forces open brake 6 and allows free rotation of the drums 20 and 16. The brake lever 10 then comes to the end of its travel by movement to the bottom of a slot 45 in the frame 1, and from then on further movement downwardly of the pedal 4 produces rotation of the pulley 41 as the strap 11 unwinds from the narrow diameter drum 42. This unwinding of the strap 11 from the drum 42 produces

rotation of the main drums 20 and 16, and also winds the strap 12 of the pedal 5 on to the narrow drum 42. The effects of these rotations are that the cable 18 of the counterweight 8 is wound on to the conical drum 16 at the selected axial position, thus lifting the counterweight 8; the cable 17 of the load platform 9 is unwound from the fixed diameter drum 20, thus allowing the load platform 9 to sink; and the strap 12 is wound upon the drum 42, thus causing the foot- pedal 5 to rise.

When the platform 9 has sunk to its lowest position, pressure is released from the pedal 4 and the brake lever 10 returns to its upper stable position under the tension in the spring 40. This causes the wedge cam 39 to rise from the flanges 37 so that the brake 6 clamps the drum 20. Also the cam 34 passes upwardly through a position where it opens the bars 29 and 30, but passes immediately to a uRper position where again the bars 29 and 30 clamp the rod 3.

When it is desired to raise the load platform 9, pressure is applied to the pedal 5, which is now in the upper position, which produces a corresponding series of events causing the brake 6 to be released, and causing the strap 12 to unwind from the drum 42, to produce rotation of the drum 16 and 20 in the

opposite direction to that which has been described. This in turn produces raising of the load platform 9 by the cable 17 being wound on to the drum 20, and produces lowering of the counterweight 8 by the cable 18 being unwound on the conical drum 16.

There will now be described with reference to figures 6 to 11 a modification of the apparatus described with reference to the preceding figures. The modification relates only to the main raising and lowering mechanism, the arrangements for the load platform 9 and counter balance weight 8 being the same. Furthermore, the general principle of operation of the modified apparatus is similar to that described hereinbefore, so that elements of the modified apparatus which correspond in function to elements of the preceding apparatus, will be indicated by the same reference numeral, but with the addition of a prime symbol. In the following description, only the significant differences between the two embodiments will be described in detail, and reference should be made to the earlier description in respect of elements which have the same function in the two embodiments.

The chief difference between the two embodiments is that in the embodiments shown in figures 6 to 11, a conical drum 16' is mounted on a main hexagonal cross

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section shaft 2' so as to be slidable along the shaft 2' , but to be secured against rotation relative to the shaft 2'. A cable 18' enters through a main frame 1' of the apparatus 21' (figure 6) the cable 18' being secured to a counterbalance weight in the same manner as in the embodiment of figure 1 (a) . Thus the chief difference between the two embodiments shown (as will be described in more detail hereinafter) is that in the embodiment of figure 1 (a) the conical drum 16 is fixed, and the position of the cable 18 is varied along the axis of the conical drum 16. In the embodiment of figure 6, the position of the cable 18' is fixed relative to the frame 1' , and the conical drum 16' is moved axially along the shaft 2' . Considering now the detail of construction and operation of the embodiment of figures 6 to 11, the conical drum 16' is supported on the shaft 2' by an end plate 115 and by an end piece 101, both of which have hexagonal apertures which are a sliding fit on the shaft 2' . The shaft 2' is rotatable in bearings 114 and 117 in the main frame 1'. A drill hole 120 in the drum 16' allows the cable 18' to be secured therein with a nipple (not shown) on the end of the cable 18' . The drum 16' is stepped at 121 throughout its length, each step being sufficient to allow three wraps of the cable 18' . The drum 16* has a channel

116 cut to the centre of the drum so as to allow the drum 16" to be moved axially along the shaft 2' when the channel 116 is at the vertical bottom position. During such movement, the cable 18* passes sideways along the channel 116.

The axial movement of the drum 16' is controlled by a U-shaped control lever 100 which is pivotable about a pivot rod 106 mounted on lugs 105 which are stamped out of the top of the frame l ¹ . The extremes of movement of the lever 100 are shown in dotted lines at 122 and 123 in figure 6. The lever 100 is urged to the left in figure 6 by a bias spring 27' , and the movement to the right of the drum 16' is effected by the effect of a pulley 25' mounted at the upper part of the lever 100, and operated by the effect of three cables 17' secured to the load platform of the apparatus, as will be described hereinafter.

The lower end of the lever 100 carries a steel support 102 (figure 7) which pivots in pivots 103, and is clamped around the end piece 101 of the drum 16' in such a manner as to provide a bearing allowing rotation of the drum 16' in the steel support 102.

As a result of movement of the conical drum 16' along the shaft 2' the cable 18' will wind about steps 121 of greater or lesser diameter, and the position of the cable 18' is accommodated accordingly by a slot 107 in the frame 1' , particularly shown in figure 9.

Considering now the operation of the load platform, three cables 17' enter the apparatus 21' after passing over a guide pulley 24' , and then pass around pulley 25' mounted in the lever 100. The cables 17' then pass around a pulley 26' supported by a clamp 108 fixed relative to the frame 1'. The cables then pass to a main fixed diameter drum 20' and are wound upon this drum along paths guided by a spiral rib 119. The extremes of the paths which can be followed by the cables 17' are indicated by two paths 17' in figure 6.

The fixed diameter drum 20' is fixedly secured to the hexagonal cross section part of the shaft 2' by an end plate 120, the remainder of the shaft 2' at the right hand end in figure 6 having a circular cross section, to be mounted eventually in the bearing 117. The drum 20' has a particular feature absent from the drum 20 in figures 1 to 5 of the specification, namely that a slot 104 is cut in the drum 20' at a particularly chosen angle relative to the channel 116 in the drum 16' . The slot 104 is shown particularly in figures 10 and 11, and occurs at the right hand end of the drum 20'. In the particular example shown, the slot 104 is at an angle of 19° to the channel 116 in the drum 16' .

The purpose of the slot 104 is to allow the load platform cables 17' to pass into the slot 104 at a

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particular timed phase of the rotation of the conical drum 16' . It will be appreciated that when the counterbalance cable 18' is aligned directly from the centre of the shaft 2' vertically through the channel 116 (when that channel is vertical) the counterbalance cable 18' exerts no rotational force on the drum 16' about its axis. Only when the cable 18 ^r is in its normal position (part wound around one of the steps 121) does it exert a moment giving a rotational force about the axis of the shaft 2' . Therefore the path of the load cable 17' around the drum 20' has to be planned to take account of this period when the counterbalance cable 18' is aligned along the channel 18' of the drum 16'. This is achieved by the slot 104 in the drum 20'. When the load platform cables 17' are lying completely in the slot 104, there is again virtually no rotational force exerted on the drum 20' by the cables 17' , and this is arranged to occur at the same time that the cable 18' lies in the channel 116 of the drum 16'.

Two further points should be noted. Firstly the slot 104 does not pass exactly through the axis of the shaft 2 ^r , so that there remains a small residual rotational effect of the load cables 17' even when they are fully in the slot 104. This effect is small, and is taken care of by the clamping effect of a brake 6' which corresponds exactly to the brake 6 in

the preceding embodiment of the invention. Secondly, it should be noted that as the conical drum 16' is rotated (by the effect of the foot pedals 4' and 5' which correspond to the foot pedals 4 and 5 in the proceding embodiment), the force exerted by the cable 18' in a rotational sense on the drum 16' gradually increases as the moment applied increases with increase of horizontal displacement of the cable 18' from the axis of the shaft 2'. A corresponding increase takes place at the same time of the rotational effect of the cables 17' on the drum 20', as a corresponding increase in horizontal displacement of the cable 17' from the axis of the shaft 2' takes place. In each case, the increasing horizontal displacement of the cable from the axis of the shaft is produced by the turning of the channel 116 and of the slot 104. Thus at all stages the increasing effect of the counterbalance weight matches the increasing effect of the load platform. Referring briefly to figures 10 and 11, there are shown a drill hole 112 for the three cables 17', and a hole 113 to receive a screw (not shown) for securing the cables 17'. Similarly a hole 118 is provided to secure cables 11' and 12' operated by pedals 4' and

The remainder o f the appa ratus shown in f igures 6 to 8 co rresponds closely to the componen ts of the

previous embodiment. Foot pedals 4' and 5' are linked by cables 11' and 12' to a small diameter drum 42' to achieve required rotation of the shaft 2' by the operator for raising and lowering the load. The pedal cables 11* and 12' pass to the drum 42' via a pulley 41' mounted on a brake lever 10' which is pivotted at 35' and biased upwardly by spring 40'. The brake lever 10' has a wedge cam 39' (circular in section) which opens and closes a brake 6* operating on part of the drum 20'. All these components operate in the same manner as in the previous embodiment.

Similarly the effect of the load cables 17' in passing around the pulley 25' on the lever 100, is to move the drum 16* along the shaft 2 ¹ to take account of any additional load put on the load platform, or taken from the load platform.

Thus , to summarise one typical cycle of operation of the apparatus, if the load platform 9 is in the upper position, and additional material has been added to the load platform, then when the upper foot pedal 5' is depressed, the first step will be the release of the brake 6'. At this stage the channel 116 of the drum 16' will be vertical and as soon as the brake 6' is released, the increased tension in the cables 17' passing around the pulley 25' , will pull the lever 100 to the right in figure 6. This will move the drum 16 to the right so that the counterbalance cable 18' will

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be presented with a wider diameter step 121 to be wound around. The lever 100 stops moving to the right when the increased tension in the cables- 17' balances thebias spring 27'. Further depression of the pedal 4* -produces rotation of the shaft 2' so that the counterbalance cable 18' begins to be wound about the drum 16', and the load cables 17' begin to be unwound from the fixed diameter drum 20'. This continues until the load platform has been completely lowered, and the counterbalance weight 8 has completely risen, at which stage the brake 6' is again applied to the drum 20' . Depression of the other pedal 4' , causes reversal of this procedure.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the present invention, at least in preferred embodiments thereof, provides a number of advantages over previously known arrangements. In its general application, there is provided a mechanism for use where a varying load is to be raised and lowered on a platform attached by a cable and pulley to a counterweight, and where the manual effort required to operate the apparatus remains minimal and constant notwithstanding different loadings on the platform. Where the apparatus is applied to t e particular use of raising and lowering an underground refuse container, there can be provided a refuse arrangement

which has the neat appearance of a below- ground container for rubbish, and which is convenient and easy to fill and empty. Advantages include minimal foot pressure and relatively short length of travel needed for the operating pedals. The operator does not need to lean over or bend down. The cover can be arranged to be raised and lowered automatically. Access to the load platform is available only when the shaft is occupied by the platform and the container, to reduce danger of falling into the shaft. The design allows for cleaning of the inner container if rubbish is inadvertently spilled over the sides of the dustbin, and a simple lock can be provided to make the container child and vandal proof.