Patent ID: 6973944
Filing Date: 2005-12-13
Classification: A47L,B65B,B65D,B65F

Abstract:
1. Collapsible apparatus for recovering and dispensing packaging material comprising, in combination: a receptacle having a lower end, with the receptacle being permeable to air and collapsible; a disc defining the lower end of the receptacle, with the disc having a surface that is horizontal, with the packaging material gravitationally resting on the surface of the disc when the packaging material is received in the receptacle; a collection tube having an inlet and an outlet, with the disc having a hole, with the collection tube being slideably received in the hole, with the outlet when the collection tube is received in the hole of the disc being inside the receptacle, with the inlet when the collection tube is received in the hole of the disc being outside the receptacle; a fan mounted to the disc and including fan blades inside a fan passageway, with the fan passageway extending through the disc from outside the receptacle to inside the receptacle, with the fan when operating forcing air from outside the receptacle through the fan passageway and into the collection tube, with the air being forced toward the outlet of the collection tube and creating a vacuum at the inlet of the collection tube, with the inlet of the collection tube adapted to collect the packaging material and with the packaging material being pulled through the collection tube by the vacuum created when the fan is operating, with the outlet adapted to deposit the packaging material in the receptacle for storage and future discharge; and a discharge passage extending through the disc from inside to outside the receptacle, with the discharge passage having a discharge valve moveable between an open position and a closed position, with the discharge valve in the open position allowing discharge of stored packaging material from inside the receptacle to outside the receptacle, with the discharge valve in the closed position effectively blocking the discharge passage to retain the packaging material in the receptacle.