For many years now, it has been widely accepted that recycling of plastics bottles is a far more environmentally friendly way of disposing of the bottles compared to the heretofore widely used alternatives of incineration or landfill. Using various techniques, certain plastics materials can be recycled and reused for alternative packaging purposes thereby reducing the total amount of waste that is disposed of using incineration and landfill measures. In this way, pollution caused by the disposal of plastic bottles may be significantly reduced. Recycling is therefore becoming an increasingly desirable way of disposing of the plastics bottles.

Several countries around the world have seen the introduction of initiatives to promote and facilitate the recycling of materials including plastic bottles. One such initiative consists of the provision of dedicated recycling stations where envirunmentally atmare individuals may deposit their recyclable materials including plastic bottles in a central depository. Another known initiative consists of the provision of dedicated recycling containers to individual households and thereafter carrying out separate collections of the household recyclable waste material on a household by household basis. Although these initiatives have been highly effective in reducing the amount of recyclable bottles in particular that are sent to landfill and incinerated each year, there are difficulties and problems associated with the known methods.

One of the main problems associated with the known initiatives for the recycling of plastic bottles is that the plastic bottles are relatively bulky in size and difficult to break down into smaller sized pieces. Therefore, the relatively bulky materials take up a significant amount of space in the communal recycling container or the individual household container and thus the containers often become full in a relatively short period of time. This often leads to the containers overflowing which is a nuisance and is also an environmental hazard in its own respect. This is highly undesirable and in order to

reduce the incidence of the containers overflowing, the containers must be emptied on a frequent and regular basis. This requirement for frequent and regular collection leads to an increase in the cost of providing the recycling service in the first place which dissuades parties from entering into or continuing such schemes. It is desirable therefore to reduce the size of the plastic bottles before they are placed into the recycling container as this allows more material to be packed into the container thereby reducing the onerous collection requirement and thus reducing the overall cost of the service.

One commonly known way of reducing the size of the plastics bottles is to expel as much air out of the bottles as possible by squeezing the bottles between ones lower arm and torso or alternatively using ones hands and thereafter resealing the container by replacing the bottle cap. This prevents the plastic bottle from resiliently expanding out into its previous form prior to the air being expelled. Although this goes some way to decreasing the amount of space taken up by the bottle in the recycling container, the bottles still occupy a significant amount of space in this state and do not pack as tightly together as would be wished. The smaller that each individual plastics bottle may be made prior to packing, the more bottles that may be stored in the recycling containers.

This has the direct effect of reducing the instances of the containers overflowing and reducing the frequency with which the containers have to be emptied. Various devices have been provided for crushing metals and other like materials but these are unsuitable for plastics as the plastics tend to resiliently expand outwards back to their original shape once they have been removed from these devices.

It is an object therefore of the present invention to provide a device and a method of using that device that overcomes at least some of the problems with the known methods of disposing of plastics bottles. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle collapsing device that is simple to use and yet inexpensive to manufacture.

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device comprising an elongate body having a throughbore, one end of the elongate body comprising a gripping member for releasably securing the device to an opening in a

plastics bottle, one end of the throughbore being in communication with the end of the elongate body having the gripping member thereon, the other end of the throughbore being in communication with the exterior of the elongate body thereby forming, in use, a fluid exhaust passageway between the bottle and the surrounding atmosphere.

By having such a device, the device may be secured to the opening of a plastics bottle and thereafter the plastics bottle may be crushed by pressing down on the body portion.

The air contained inside the bottle will be expelled from the bottle through the fluid exhaust passageway between the bottle and the surrounding atmosphere as the bottle is crushed. In order to reduce the bottle size as much as possible, the bottle may be heated simultaneously as it is crushed and or before it is crushed in this manner. This will cause the size of the bottle to be reduced even further. Once crushed in this manner the closure for the bottle may be replaced if desired. This device is seen as useful in particular for private household owners who may use the device in an uncomplicated intuitive., manner to reduce the size of their plastic bottles before recycling. Furthermore, the simple construction results in a device that is both inexpensive and simple to manufacture as well as being easy to use.

In one-, embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the gripping member further comprises an inner plug portion and an outer socket portion, the inner plug portion further comprising a hole for communication between the exterior of the gripping member and the throughbore, the inner plug portion and the outer socket portion being arranged to secure the opening of the plastics bottle therebetween. This is seen as a particularly simple configuration of gripping member that is relatively inexpensive to construct. The gripping member will form a strong connection with the bottle to be crushed and the device is unlikely to become disengaged from the bottle as it is crushed.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the inner plug portion tapers towards an outermost end thereof. This construction of gripping member allows the gripping member to be easily inserted into an opening in a plastics bottle and furthermore will allow a number of different widths of bottle to be accommodated using the one gripping member. A

gripping member dimensioned in this way will form a good internal connection with the opening of the bottle.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the inner plug portion is frusto-conical in shape. This is seen as a particularly useful configuration of inner plug to form a good fit with a number of different sizes of circular openings of bottles. The frusto-conical shape will form a tight fit with a number of different diameter circular openings and the same device may be used for a number of different sized diameter bottle openings.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the outer socket portion is formed from a resiliently deformable material By having the outer socket portion formed from a resiliently deformable material, the outer socket can deform outwardly to allow a more : secure connection of bottle opening between the inner plug and outer socket portions, thereby reducing any tendency of the bottle being crushed to fall off to one side or the other.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the gripping as the bottle is crushed member further comprises a cap and a depending skirt, the cap further comprising a hole for communication between the exterior of the gripping member and the throughbore, the depending skirt further comprising a threaded portion for engagement of a complimentary threaded portion formed on the opening of the bottle. This is seen as a particularly useful configuration of gripping member to have. The gripping member will form a very secure connection with the bottle opening thereby preventing inadvertent disengagement of the device from the bottle. The bottle will be maintained in position in a secure and safe manner.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the throughbore extends the length of the elongate body.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which there is provided at least one venting aperture formed along the length of the elongate body, one end of the venting aperture being in communication

with the exterior of the elongate body and the other end of the venting aperture being in communication with the throughbore. By having additional venting apertures, it will ensure that there are sufficient vents to allow the air to escape from the bottle as the bottle is being crushed. This will facilitate the crushing of the bottle.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which there is provided a gripping member mounted on each end of the elongate body. In this way, a pair of gripping members of different dimensions may be provided to accommodate different sizes of bottle openings. This will increase the usefulness of the device..

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which there is further provided a limb connected to and extending outwardly from the elongate body intermediate the ends of the elongate body, the limb comprising an additional gripping member mounted on its end remote from the elongate body, the limb further comprising a limb throughbore, one end of which is in communication with the end of the limb having the gripping member mounted thereon, the other end of which being in communication with the exterior of the device thereby forming, in use, a fluid exhaust passageway between the bottle and the surrounding atmosphere. Essentially therefore, there is provided an additional limb and gripping member to accommodate another size of bottle opening. It is envisaged that each of the gripping members of the device may be the same type as the other gripping members yet be of different dimensions or alternatively different types of gripping members may be used, some of which having the inner plug and outer socket arrangement and the others having a threaded arrangement.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which there is provided a plurality of limbs each of which is connected to and extending outwardly from the elongate body, each limb comprising an additional gripping member mounted on its end remote from the elongate body, each limb further comprising a lirnb throughbore, one end of which is in communication with the end of the limb having the gripping member mounted thereon, the other end of which being in communication with the exterior of the device thereby forming, in use, a fluid exhaust passageway between the bottle and the surrounding atmosphere.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the gripping members are dimensioned to receive different sized openings of bottles.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the gripping member is detachably mounted on the end of the elongate body. This is seen as useful as the one device may have a set of interchangeable heads each being of different shapes and sizes with different gripping members. In order to crush a bottle, the operator of the device simply selects the correct sized gripping member for that bottle and connects the gripping member to the device.

Similarly, worn or broken gripping members may be replaced in a simple manner.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the gripping member is further provided with an annular seal to form. a substantially airtight seal between the gripping member and the exterior of the bottle opening : This may further facilitate the crushing of bottles by strengthening the connection between the device and the bottle.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the device further comprises means to generate a heated fluid and means to deliver a heated fluid into the bottle. By delivering a heated fluid into the bottle, the device may also be used to provide the heat to the bottle to make the bottle malleable. This will obviate the need to provide alternative ways of heating the bottle and the one device can carry out the entire operation of heating and crushing the bottle.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the means to generate a heated fluid further comprises an electrical heating element for heating air and the means to deliver the heated fluid further comprises a fan for directing air heated by the element into the bottle. This is seen as a simple and cost effective way of heating the bottle.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which the means to generate a heated fluid comprises a water

reservoir and a heating element to generate steam from the water contained in the water reservoir. This is further seen as a simple and cost effective way of heating the bottle.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a method for collapsing a plastics bottle using the hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device, the method comprising the steps of:- attaching a gripping member of the hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device to an opening of a plastics bottle ; heating the plastics bottle to a temperature sufficient to soften the plastics material ; placing downward pressure on the hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device, thereby collapsing the bottle ; and detaching the gripping member of the hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device from the collapsed bottle.

By collapsing a bottle in this manner, the bottle will be crushed up to a fraction of its previous size. The bottles may then be packed into a recycling container in a far more efficient manner thereby reducing the amount of times that the recycling container must be emptied and also reducing the chance of the container overflowing. This helps to reduce the overall cost of collection and furthermore is more environmentally and ecologically friendly than the previously known methods.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a method in which the plastics bottle is heated by delivering a heated fluid through the opening of the bottle to the interior of the bottle. This is seen as a particularly efficient way of making the bottles more malleable and will enable the bottles to be crushed to a fraction of their size without the bottles re-expanding once the pressure from the bottle is released. The bottles will therefore stay in the collapsed state.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method in which steam is delivered through the opening of the bottle to the interior of the bottle.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a method in which heated air is delivered through the opening of the bottle to the interior of the bottle.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a method in which the step of heating the plastics bottle to a temperature sufficient to soften the plastics material further comprises immersing the plastics bottle in a heated liquid. This is seen as a useful and inexpensive alternative to forcing steam or heated gas into the bottle as all that is required is a container of hot water which may be obtained freely and does not require the purchase of additional expensive equipment.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will now be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only in which:- Figure 1 is a side view of the device used in accordance with the present invention ; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an alternative embodiment of the device used in accordance with the present invention; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the device shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the device in use; Figures 6 (a) and 6 (b) are perspective views of plastic bottles shown before and after collapsing in accordance with the invention; Figure 7 is a side view of an alternative construction of device;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of another alternative construction of device; Referring to the drawings and initially to Figures 1 and 2 thereof there is shown a hand- held plastics bottle collapsing device, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, comprising an elongate body portion 3 having a throughbore 5 extending the length of the body. A pair of gripping members 7,9 are each mounted on opposite ends of the elongate body, the gripping members being suitably dimensioned to releasably secure the device to an opening of a plastics bottle. Each of the gripping members 7,9 further comprises an inner plug portion 11 a, 11 b respectively and an outer socket portion 13a, 13b respectively. The inner plug portions 11 a and 11b and their respective outer socket portions 13a and 13b are arranged to secure the opening of a plastics bottle therebetween. The inner plug portions are frusto-conical in shape and are dimensioned to receive a variety of different sizes of openings of bottles. A pair of venting apertures 15 are formed along the length of the body portion intermediate its ends, one end of the venting apertures being in communication with the throughbore, the other end of the venting apertures being in communication with the exterior of the body portion, thereby providing additional venting to the device. Finally, the gripping members 7, 9 are of different sizes so that each gripping member is dimensioned to receive a different sized bottle opening to the other.

In use, an operator of the device having a bottle (not shown) that he or she wishes to collapse selects the gripping member 7,9 that is most appropriate to use for the collapsing of the bottle. The choice of gripping member will depend on the size of the opening of the bottle and the gripping member providing the closest fit is selected. The operator then introduces the device to the opening of the plastics bottle by inserting the inner plug portion 11 a, 11 b of the chosen gripping member into the opening of the bottle.

At the same time the outer socket portion 13a, 13b of that gripping member surrounds the exterior of the opening so that the opening of the bottle is secured therebetween.

The plastic bottle is then heated to make the plastic material more malleable. The heating step may be achieved by immersing the bottle in hot water. Alternatively, the bottle may be heated by introducing steam or other heated fluid into the bottle prior to or subsequent to attaching the device to the bottle. Once the device has been firmly attached to the heated bottle, the operator grasps the elongate body of the device in

their hand and pushes the device downwards, thereby collapsing the bottle in on itself.

The air contained in the bottle will escape out of the bottle by way of the throughbore 5, which forms a fluid exhaust passageway between the interior of the bottle and the surrounding atmosphere, as well as the venting apertures 15, to allow the bottle to collapse. By collapsing the bottle in this manner the bottle will remain in a collapsed state even when the operator exerted pressure is removed from the device and the device is detached from the bottle.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, there is shown an alternative construction of hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device where like parts have been given the same reference numerals as before. In this embodiment, the gripping members 7,9 each comprise a cap 17a, 17b respectively, and a downwardly depending skirt 19a, 19b respectively. Each cap 17a, 17b comprises a hole 21a, 21b respectively for communication between the exterior of the gripping member 7,9 and the throughbore 5.

The depending skirts 19a and 19b each comprise a threaded, portion 23a, 23b respectively on, ; an inner face thereof. The operation of the device is similar to that described above with the exception that in order to secure the device to a bottle, the threaded portion 23a or 23b, chosen depending on the size of the bottle opening to be engaged, is used to engage a complimentary threaded portion on a bottle opening. The threaded portion 23a or 23b securely engages the bottle opening in this manner to allow the bottle to be collapsed in a simple fashion.

Referring to Figure 5 of the drawings there is shown a perspective view of the device in operation. Once the device has been connected to the opening (not shown) of the bottle 25, the bottle 25 is then placed in a container 27 of hot liquid. This helps to soften the plastic bottle and allows it to become more malleable. Once the bottle has been sufficiently softened, the operator grasps the device in the manner shown and pushes downwardly thereby collapsing the bottle in on itself. The bottle and the device are then removed from the heat source and as the bottle cools down it will harden once again but this time will harden in the compacted configuration and will not be prone to re- expansion.

Referring to Figures 6 (a) and 6 (b) of the drawings, there are shown a pair of perspective views of different sized bottles before and after they have been reduced using the

device. It can be seen that the bottles in a collapsed state are significantly smaller than in their non-collapsed state.

Referring to Figure 7 of the drawings there is shown another still alternative embodiment of hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device in which like parts have been given the same reference numerals as before. In this embodiment, the device is provided with a single gripping member 9 at one end of the elongate body 3. The device further comprises a heated fluid provider, indicated generally by the reference numeral 29. The heated fluid provider comprises a means to generate a heated fluid (not shown) and means to deliver the heated fluid (not shown) to the interior of a bottle. The means to generate a heated fluid comprises an electrical heating element (not shown) and the means to deliver the heated fluid comprises a fan (not shown) for directing heated gas provided by the electrical heating element towards the interior of the bottle. The heated gas is delivered through the device along the throughbore into the bottle (not shown).

The heated gas in the bottle will cause the plastics material to soften and will allow the bottle to be crushed in a simple manner. The heated fluid may be delivered into the bottle in a controlled manner on the actuation of an appropriate switch 30 on the device.

Referring now to Figure 8 of the drawings there is shown a perspective view of another alternative construction of hand-held plastics bottle collapsing device where like parts have been given the same reference numerals as before. The device 1 comprises a plurality of limbs 31,33, 35,37 connected to the elongate body portion 3 intermediate its ends. Each of the limbs 31,33, 35 and 37 has a suitable gripping member 39,41, 43 and 45 respectively, mounted on the free end thereof. The gripping members 7,9, 39, 41,43 and 45 are all of different sizes and each is dimensioned to receive a bottle opening of a particular size. Each limb is further provided with a limb throughbore (not shown) one end of which is in communication with the end of the limb having the gripping member mounted thereon and the other end of which is in communication with the exterior of the device thereby forming a fluid exhaust passageway between the interior of the bottle and the surrounding atmosphere. In the embodiment shown, the limb throughbores are all in communication with the main throughbore 5 so that the air from the bottle may escape via the limb throughbore and in turn the main throughbore.

It will be understood that many of the embodiments shown and in particular the embodiments shown in Figures 7 and 8 have been shown with a particular type of gripping member. It will be understood of course that another type of gripping member could be used on either of these embodiments. Indeed, in the embodiment shown in Figures 1,3 and 8 of the drawings, there could be a mixture of the two types of gripping members described. It is envisaged that the outer socket 13 could surround the entire bottle opening or alternatively could surround part of the bottle opening It is not absolutely necessary that the outer socket is annular and it would be possible for the outer socket to comprise a number of legs that are positioned around the circumference of a bottle opening to be engaged. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the outer socket portion will be formed using a resiliently deformable material so that the socket may accommodate a bottle opening being introduced between the inner plug and the outer socket.

In the embodiments described, the device has been shown as double ended in the majority of cases. It is envisaged of course that the device could be single ended and would not require a second gripping member on the other end of the elongate body. It is further envisaged that the gripping member could be formed using a detachable member that could be releasably secured to the end of the elongate body and that a number of interchangeable heads could be provided to allow for different sizes of bottle openings to be accommodated. The operator of the device could simply connect the required gripping member to the elongate body when necessary. The manner of the connection of the gripping member interchangeable head with the elongate body is not described further in this specification as it is not deemed to be essential to the present invention but would be readily understood by the person skilled in the art.

In some of the embodiments described in the specification, the device has a heated fluid provider. This heated fluid provider has been described as a heated gas provider whereby a gas is heated using an electrical element and thereafter delivered into the bottle through the bottle opening. There are many different ways in which this could be achieved other than by relying on an electrical element and associated fan. For example, there could be provided a steam generating device whereby steam could be delivered into the bottle through the bottle opening. This of course would require a water reservoir to be provided. Again, it is not necessary to describe the exact nature of the gas heating

and steam generating devices as there are numerous different ways in providing such features. What is important is not the manner in which the gas or the steam is produced but in fact the ability of the device to perform such a function. The person skilled in the art would readily understand that numerous different configurations of heating sources could be used with the device.

Throughout this specification the term plastics bottle has been used for reasons of consistency. It will be understood that the term bottle is also intended to cover any plastics container having an opening for discharging the content of the container therefrom. Generally speaking, bottle will include not only the commonly known soft drink beverage containers but also will include plastics containers for detergents, powders as well as : liquid detergents and other similar type containers, all of which have a discharge opening formed therein. The term is not intended to include solely cylindrical shaped containers but also includes containers of various different shapes and sizes.

Furthermore, the term plastic is primarily intended to mean deformable plastics materials and more specifically is intended to include thermoplastics materials that become malleable when subjected to a heat source.

In this specification the terms"comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising"as well as the terms"include, includes, included and including'2 are all deemed totally interchangeable and should be afforded the widest possible interpretation.

The invention is in no way limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the claims.