Description

Technical Field

The present invention finds application in the field of devices for removing waste or other unwanted objects from roads or other surfaces and has for object a device for the manual collection of waste, such as animal excrements, spoiled food and small sized waste in general.

State of the art

The devices for the manual collection of waste, in particular of organic nature such as animal excrements, rotten fruit or other spoiled food, organic wastes and the like, are generally composed of a collector designed to facilitate the collection of waste and by a container designed to contain the collected waste.

Such devices may be of the completely "disposable" type, or they may provide that only the container was to be disposed together with the waste thereinside.

The collecting devices of the first type usually comprise a box-shaped collector in rigid or semi-rigid material provided with two rotating jaws around a same pivoting axis, so that it can be opened and closed by means of one or both hands.

An example of such a device, designed for the collection of animal excrements, is described in US2009315349 and has a flexible but not elastic collector, made of paper, paperboard or thermoplastic material, that can be gripped with one hand by the user to be opened and then closed in order to collect the excrements.

The main drawback of these solutions is linked to the fact that these collectors generally have a non- variable shape with a permanent bend and are made of non-elastic materials. Therefore, it is not possible to use the devices for subsequent and repeated collecting operations of waste, characterized by multiple movements of opening and closing, if not with the aid of both hands, with the risk of coming into contact with the waste.

A further device of this kind is also described in US5149159. This device is formed by one only laminar layer that serves both as a collector and as container and that at its open end is made of a double layer and W-shaped to be gripped by the user.

Also in this case the body that acts both as a collector and as container is made of a material devoid of elastic return properties, in particular PVC or EVA, not allowing the subsequent and repeated collection of multiple items in a same sequence.

The known devices are also affected by additional secondary inconveniences, such as the reduced practicality and poor ability to remove waste avoiding to leave residues on the surfaces to be cleaned.

For example, there are known collection devices of the disposable type provided initially in a compact configuration in order to facilitate the transport and storage, to be subsequently shaped in the configuration of use only at the time of use.

However, this operation is not always easy, especially when you need to pick up dog waste, in which case the operation is to be performed with one hand while the other held the dog on a leash.

As regards the problem of the cleaning of the surface, the devices present on the market are usually designed with edges which facilitate the crushing and the sliding of the waste on the surface to be cleaned, with consequent spreading and increased dirtying of the same surface, while it would be appropriate a scraping off resulting in complete removal of the waste from the surface.

Scope of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks, providing a device for the manual collection of waste that is particularly economical and effective.

A particular object is to provide a device for the manual collection of waste which allows repeated opening and closing movements of the collector to make subsequent and repeated collecting operations by a single hand in a practical and fast way and without the risk for the user to come in contact with the waste.

A further object is to provide a device for the manual collection of waste that allows to remove waste avoiding the sliding and the spreading on the surface with the resulting increased dirtying thereof and which also allows to simultaneously effect a scraping of the surface such as to improve the cleaning.

Still another object is to provide a device for the manual collection of waste that is lightweight and has flat and compact configuration, but that at the same time is both of practical and immediate use, making the transport easy and not cumbersome for the user. These objects, as well as others which will appear more clearly hereinafter, are achieved by a device for the manual collection of waste that, according to claim 1, comprises a collector adapted to be grasped with a hand by a user to collect waste from a surface, said collector comprising a flexible sheet made of polymeric material, and at least one container solidal with said collector to contain the waste collected thereby.

The sheet comprises at least one or more first raised ribs which extend along respective predetermined directions from a first face of said sheet and are suitable to increase the return elastic reaction of said sheet after its bending around a bending axis transverse with respect of said directions of said first ribs.

Thanks to these features, and in particular to the greater elastic return capacity conferred by the ribs, it will be possible to flex the collector in a sequential and repeated manner to collect even more of one object with one hand without the previously collected objects to fall and without having to help with the other hand, allowing the collection of a greater quantity of waste in conditions of safety and hygiene to the user.

Advantageously, said collector may be realized solely with said sheet of polymer material, preferably thermoplastic and flexible, so as to be lightweight, economical and easily transportable.

Suitably, the sheet may comprise a pair of transverse grooves obtained by permanent deformation of said sheet and which extend parallel to said bending axis and symmetrically to a second symmetry plane passing therethrough.

The grooves will have a convexity facing the side opposite to those of said one or more ribs and dimensions suitable to accommodate the fingers of a user's hand.

The grooves will have the aim of favoring the grabbing of the collector and its bending needed to collect the object, making the use of the device comfortable and safe.

Advantageously, the sheet may comprise a pair of second protruding ribs made by permanent deformation of said sheet and extending transversely to said first ribs close to corresponding grooves and that have a toothed surface for increasing the friction of the fingers inserted into said grooves.

Additionally, the sheet may have transversal edges U-bent on the face provided with said first and second raised ribs to define a pair of fins overlapping respective of said grooves. The fins will aim to slightly compress and counteract the fingers of the hand inserted in the grooves during the movements of opening and closing of the sheet to make more stable the grabbing.

Preferably, in the coincidence of their bend, said fins may present a toothed outer surface to facilitate the scraping of the surface to be cleaned.

Preferably, said container may be a thin film of flexible material adapted to form, in its working configuration, a foldable bag and that in the folded condition will be positioned in a central area of said first face bounded transversely by said first ribs, so that the device in the condition of non-use has appreciably reduced dimensions.

In an alternative embodiment, the collector may comprise a housing for a roll of said containers associated to one of said fins, said sheet having a central hole for the passage one container at a time upon the unwinding of said roll, in order to use the collector for several times.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are obtained in accordance with the dependent claims.

Brief disclosure of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of two forms of preferred but not exclusive embodiments of a device for the manual collection of waste according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the accompanying drawing tables in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of the device in a first embodiment and in a folded condition of non-use;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of Fig. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the device of Fig. 1 according to a variant; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the collector of the device of Fig. 1 in a condition of use;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a first detail of the device of Fig. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a second detail of the device of Fig. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the device of Fig. 1 in condition of use;

FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view of a device in a second preferred embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of the device of Fig. 8;

FIG.10 is a side view of the device of Fig. 8;

FIG. 11 is a top front view of the device of Fig. 8;

FIG. 12 is a perspective exploded view of the device of Fig. 8.

Best modes of carrying out the invention

Two preferred but not exclusive forms of embodiment of a device for the manual collection of waste are illustrated with reference to the figures.

The device may be used to collect organic waste, such as animal excrements, spoiled food, organic residues in general, including human or animal organs, but may also be used in all those operations wherein you need to pick one or more objects without the same to come into contact with the hands.

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the device, globally indicated with 1, in the folded condition before its use and that in particular will be of the disposable type.

The device 1 essentially comprises a collector 2 adapted to be grasped with one hand and to be U-bent in order to collect waste from a surface to be cleaned and a container 3 solidal with the collector 2 and designed to contain the waste collected thereby.

In particular, the collector 2 is made of a flexible sheet 4 preferably in polymeric material, for example thermoplastic, of a single component and a single layer.

In preferred manner the sheet 4 will be parallelogram-shaped with a smaller side parallel to the bending axis Y.

According to an alternative variant, not shown, the sheet 4 may have the shape of ellipsoid with minor axis defining the bending axis Y.

Preferably, the sheet 4 will have thickness s between 0.05mm and 1mm, preferably between 0.2 and 0.30 mm.

Two first raised ribs 6 extending along respective longitudinal directions X are provided on a first face 5 of the sheet 4, i.e. on the face designed to be directed in use through the user's hand, and that are suitable to increase the reaction of elastic return of the sheet 4 after its bending around a bending axis Y transverse and orthogonal to their longitudinal directions X.

The first ribs 6 are formed by permanent deformation of the sheet 4 and are substantially parallel and symmetrical with respect to a first plane of symmetry π perpendicular to the bending axis Y.

According to not shown variations, it may also be provided only one rib 6, or more than two ribs 6 which extend along directions X perpendicular to the bending axis Y or inclined with respect thereto with an angle between 20° and 160°.

Preferably, the first ribs 6 have a height between 0.2mm and 3mm and even more preferably between 0.7mm and 1.5mm.

A pair of transverse grooves 7 extending parallel to the bending axis Y and symmetrically to a second symmetry plan π passing therethrough are also realized on the sheet 4, always by permanent deformation of the base material.

As most clearly visible from Fig. 2, the grooves 7 have convexity facing the opposite side to those of the first ribs 6 and dimensions suitable to accommodate the tips of the fingers of a user's hand.

In this way, once the fingertips are inserted in the grooves 7, it will be sufficient to exert a slight pressure in the internal direction of the sheet 4 to cause it to bent upwards around the bending axis Y making them assume a reverse U-shaped configuration with the consequent catching movement as visible in Fig. 4.

The grooves 7 will be suitably positioned at a minimum distance from the corresponding longitudinal edges 8 of the sheet 4 between 0.5mm and 40mm and will preferably have a semi-cylindrical shape with a radius of the base circumference between 2mm and 10mm. In addition, the grooves 7 may extend for all the transverse width of the sheet 4, or only for part of the same, with the ends spaced apart from the transverse edges 9 of the sheet 4.

The sheet 4 also comprises a pair of second raised ribs 10 realized by permanent deformation of the base material and which extend transversely to the first ribs 6 close to corresponding grooves 7.

The second ribs 10 will preferably have height h greater than 0.5 mm and will have a toothed surface 10', as best seen from the enlarged detail of Fig. 5, in order to increase the friction of the fingers inserted in the grooves 7.

The sheet may comprise, as a preferred but not exclusive embodiment, longitudinal edge portions 11 on the first face 5 provided with raised first ribs 6 and with raised second ribs 10 to define a pair of fins overlapping respective grooves 7, with widths w not necessarily equal and preferably between 5mm and 40 mm, even more preferably between 10mm and 30mm.

Fig. 3 shows a variant of the collector 2 in which the longitudinal edge portions 11 are U- bent on the first face 5.

During flexion of the sheet 4, the fins 11 slightly compress the fingers inserted in the grooves 7 in order to make more stable the grip and moreover they will increase the elasticity of the sheet 4 and its elastic return properties, accompanying the hand in the opening phase and allowing the sheet 4 to remain always adherent to the palm of the hand and to the fingertips, so as to exercise the repeated movements of opening, closing and gripping of the material.

As show by the detail of Fig. 6, in correspondence of the bending cord 12, the fins 11 have a toothed outer surface 13 to facilitate the scraping of the surface to be cleaned. In particular, the indentation 13 may have h' height between 0.05mm and 3mm, preferably between 0.1mm and 1mm.

A secondary effect the indentation 13 will allow to make more stable the yielding deformation, in the field of the permanent deformation, of the bending cord 12.

The container 3 will be a thin film of flexible material adapted to form, in its working configuration, a foldable bag, as shown in Fig. 7.

The container 3 will be fixed to the first face 5 of the foil 4 by gluing or welding.

In the folded state it will be positioned in an area of the first face 5 bounded by the first ribs 6 and the second ribs 10. The container 3 may be made of a flexible material, elastic and thin, with thickness between 0.0010mm and 0,008mm, preferably between 0.0016mm and 0.0026mm, so as to be soft to the touch and allow the easy insertion of the fingers of the hand in the groves 7.

From the same figure it could be observed that the container 3 after its opening will take the shape of a bag with an open edge 14 adapted to allow the insertion of the hand in order to insert fingers into the grooves 7 and with such dimensions as to allow the insertion of large part of the forearm.

After collecting the waste, the bag-shaped container 3 may be turned upside down so that the same envelop the waste and the collector 2, so as to close the bag and dispose in a safe manner together with the collector 2.

Suitably, the container 3 may also be provided with handles or similar elements, not illustrated, suitable to grab the bag and to close it by means of a knot.

Figs. 8 to 12 show a second embodiment of the device 71 which essentially differs for comprising several containers to use the device several times.

In particular, the collector 72 has a sheet 74 shaped in a manner substantially similar to that described previously with a pair of first ribs 76 orthogonal to the bending axis and a pair of second ribs 710 orthogonal to the first.

Two half-cylindrical grooves 77 are also provided for housing the fingers, in correspondence of which the sheet 74 is bent to form the two fins 711.

The collector 72 comprises a housing 715 for a roll 717 of containers, which may be of the same type described above.

The housing 715 may be fixed to one of the fins 711 so as to allow the unwinding of the roll 717 and the removal of one container at a time.

To this end the sheet 74 has a central hole 716 adapted to allow the passage of one container at a time following the unwinding of the roll 717 and which may be suitably shaped to facilitate the separation of the used container.

In this case the container 3, once collected the material, will be separated from the collector 72 and disposed separately.

From the above it appears evident that the invention achieves the intended purposes.

The device according to the invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations all falling within the inventive concept expressed in the accompanying claims. All the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements, and the materials may be different according to requirements, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.