Garbage container

A garbage container has a housing with a rear wall, opposite side walls extending forwardly therefrom and a lid hingedly connected to the top of the rear wall and extending forwardly therefrom so as to rest on the top of the side walls in a closed position. A waste supporting platform is located within the housing and is pivotally connected adjacent its front edge to the opposite side walls for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis. A front wall extends upwardly from the front edge of the platform and has a top edge level with the top of the side walls in the closed position. A connecting member is pivotally connected to a rear portion of the platform and to a rear portion of the underside of the lid to cause upward opening movement of the lid to pivot the platform upwardly about its pivotal connection to the side walls with resultant forward pivotal movement of the front wall to facilitate access to the interior of the container.

This invention relates to garbage containers of the kind which are 
generally used for domestic purposes. 
It is well known to provide a domestic garbage container with a lid which 
can be opened by operation of a foot pedal. However, most garbage 
containers of this type do not provide sufficiently adequate access to the 
interior of the container as is often desirable. 
Is is therefore an object of the invention to provide a domestic garbage 
container with improved access to its interior when the lid is open. 
According to the invention, a garbage container has a housing with a rear 
wall, opposite side walls extending forwardly therefrom and a lid hingedly 
connected to the top of the rear wall and extending forwardly therefrom so 
as to rest on the top of the side walls in a closed position. A waste 
supporting platform is located within the housing and is pivotally 
connected adjacent its front edge to the opposite side walls for pivotal 
movement about a horizontal axis. A front wall extends upwardly from the 
front edge of the platform and has a top edge level with the top of the 
side walls in the closed position. A connecting member is connected to a 
rear portion of the platform and to a rear portion of the underside of the 
lid to cause upward opening movement of the lid to pivot the platform 
upwardly about its pivotal connection to the side walls with resultant 
forward pivotal movement of the front wall to facilitate access to the 
interior of the container. 
The container may also have a pedal member mounted within the housing below 
the platform for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis intermediate to 
the front and rear ends of the pedal member, the connecting member also 
being pivotally connected to a rear portion of the pedal member, and the 
pedal member having a front portion adjacent to the front of the housing 
moveable downwardly by a human foot to cause upward movement of the rear 
portion of the pedal member with consequent upward movement of the 
connecting member to effect the upward pivotal movement of the lid and 
platform and forward pivotal movement of the front wall.

Referring to the drawings, a domestic garbage container has a housing 10 
with a rear wall 12, opposite side walls 14, 16 extending forwardly 
therefrom and a lid 18 connected by a hinge 20 to the top of the rear wall 
12 so as to rest on the top of the side walls 14, 16 in the closed 
position. 
A waste supporting platform 22 is located in the housing 10 at a location 
which is just less than half the height of the housing 10. The platform 22 
extends over substantially the whole area of the interior of the housing 
10 between the side walls 14, 16 and from the rear wall 12 to the front 
edges 24, 26 of the side walls 14, 16 respectively. A front wall 28 
extends upwardly from the front edge 30 of the platform 22 and has a top 
edge 32 level with the top of the side walls 14, 16 in the closed 
configuration. A pair of corner members 34, 36 are secured to the platform 
22 and front wall 28 at opposite sides thereof for strengthening purposes. 
In the closed configuration, the outer surface of the front wall 28 is in 
the same vertical plane as the front edges 24, 26 of the side walls 14, 
16. 
The platform 22 is pivotly connected adjacent its front edge 30 to the side 
walls 14, 16 adjacent their front edges 24, 26 by pivotal mountings 38, 40 
respectively. The pivotal mounting 38 is shown in detail in FIG. 4 and 
comprises a bolt 42 whose shank 44 passes through an aperture in side wall 
14 into threaded engagement with a nut 47 anchored in an aperture in the 
corner member 34. Corner member 34 can thus pivot about the shank 44. The 
pivotal mounting 40 is of similar construction. 
A shelf 46 located below platform 22 is secured at opposite side edges to 
the side walls 14, 16. The front edge 48 of shelf 46 is in the same 
vertical plane as the front edges 24, 26 of the side walls 14, 16 and the 
outer surface of the front wall 28. The rear edge 50 of shelf 46 is spaced 
from the rear wall 12, and a back wall 52 extends upwardly from the shelf 
rear edge 50 to a height such that the platform 22 can rest on the top of 
the wall 52 when the container is in the closed configuration. 
A shelf-like pedal member 54 is located below the shelf 46 and extends for 
substantially the whole width of the container between the side walls 14, 
16 and also extends for substantially the whole distance from the front 
edges 24, 26 of the side walls 14, 16 to the rear wall 12 except that the 
rear edge of the pedal member 54 is somewhat spaced from the rear wall 12. 
The pedal member 54 is mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal 
axis intermediate its front and rear edges by two pivotal mountings 56, 
58, similar to the pivotal mountings 38, 40, and secured in the side edges 
of the pedal member 54 and the respective side walls 14, 16. In the closed 
configuration of the container, the pedal member 54 is substantially 
horizontal, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. 
A rigid elongated connecting member 60 is pivotally connected at its lower 
end at 62 to the rear of the pedal member 54 and is pivotally connected at 
its upper end at 64 to the rear underside of the lid 18. Intermediate its 
ends, the connecting member 60 is also pivotally connected to the rear of 
the platform 22, the pivotal connection being formed by the connecting 
member 60 passing through a slot 64 in the rear edge of the platform 22 
and having transverse platform-engaging rods 66, 68 above and below the 
platform 22. 
In the closed configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the member 54 and 
platform 22 are substantially horizontal, with the platform 22 resting on 
the top edge of shelf back wall 52, and the lid 18 is closed to give the 
container a neat appearance as clearly indicated in FIG. 1. 
To open the container, the forward portion of the pedal member 54 is 
pivoted downwardly by a foot 70 (FIG. 5) resulting in upward movement of 
the rear portion of the platform 54. The connecting member 60 is thereby 
moved upwardly, as indicatead particularly in FIG. 5, to both open the lid 
18 and pivot the platform 22 upwardly about pivotal mountings 38, 40 and 
consequently to pivot the front wall 28 forwardly, as shown particularly 
in FIG. 2. Access to the interior of the container is clearly facilitated 
by the forward pivotal movement of the front wall 28. If desired, two 
separate waste receptacles may be placed side by side on the platform 22, 
see FIG. 2. 
When the foot 70 is removed from the pedal member 54, the weight of the 
platform 22 and the lid 18 return the pedal member 54, the platform 22 and 
front wall 28 and lid 18 to the closed configuration. The closing movement 
may be controlled to a suitable low speed by a damper 76 pivotally 
connected at 78 at its upper end to the rear of platform 22 and at its 
lower end at 80 to a lower part of the interior of the rear wall 12, see 
FIG. 3. 
The shelf 46 may be used for any suitable purpose, such as for example the 
temporary storage of old newspapers. 
The advantages of the invention will be clear from the foregoing 
description of a preferred embodiment. Other embodiments will be readily 
apparent to a person skilled in the art, the scope of the invention being 
defined by the appended claims.