Patent Publication Number: US-8113112-B2

Title: Foot sensor rubbish bin

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a rubbish bin, and more particularly to a foot sensor rubbish bin. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A conventional sensor rubbish bin is installed with a sensor on a lid or an outer periphery thereof, so that when the user wants to throw the rubbish into the rubbish bin, he only needs to move his hand close to the sensor, the lid of the rubbish bin will automatically open for putting of the rubbish. However, since the sensor is installed on the lid or the outer periphery of the rubbish bin, so that when a person approaches the rubbish bin but doesn&#39;t want to put the rubbish, the lid of the rubbish bin will still open, thus causing energy waste. Therefore, this conventional sensor rubbish bin doesn&#39;t comply with the requirements of environmental protection, thus needing improvements. 
     The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a foot sensor rubbish bin which can be easily controlled to open and close without using the user&#39;s hands, thus reducing the energy waste and complying with the requirements of environmental protection. 
     To achieve the objective of the present invention, the foot sensor rubbish bin comprises a base connected to an outer barrel. An upper lid is pivoted to the outer barrel. A drive assembly is received in the base and comprises a power supply device electrically connected to a motor and a control circuit board. The control circuit board controls the power supply device and the motor. The drive assembly further includes a gear cluster drivingly connected to the motor. The gear cluster drives one end of a linkage push rod, and the other end of the linkage push rod extends into the outer barrel adjacent to the upper lid, characterized in that: the base is defined with a recess in an outer periphery thereof, a sensor is disposed in the recess and electrically connected to the control circuit board. The rubbish bin is controlled to open and close by extending the user&#39;s foot into the recess of the base, which provides the user with much convenience. Moreover, the position of sensor can avoid the unnecessary interference, thus reducing the energy waste and complying with the requirements of environmental protection. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an assembly perspective view of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an assembly perspective view of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an illustrative view showing an open condition of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an illustrative view showing a close condition of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a bottom of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 8  is an illustrative view showing a power supply device being disposed at an outer side of a base of the foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , a foot sensor rubbish bin in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a base  10 , an outer barrel  20 , a partition plate  30 , a drive assembly  40 , a linkage push rod  50 , an inner barrel  60  and an upper lid  70 . 
     The base  10  is defined with a recess  11  in an outer periphery thereof. The recess  11  is provided with a sensor  111 . 
     The outer barrel  20  is disposed on the base  10 . 
     The partition plate  30  is disposed between the base  10  and the outer barrel  20  to define a chamber  12  between the base  10  and the partition plate  30 . The partition plate  30  is defined with a through hole  31  and provided with a clamping member  32  adjacent to the through hole  31 . 
     The drive assembly  40  is received in the chamber  12  of the base  10  and includes a slide rail  41 , a teeth bar  42 , a gear box  43 , a motor  44 , a control circuit board  45  and a power supply device  46 . The slide rail  41  has one end located adjacent to the recess  11  and the other end located away from the recess  11 . The teeth bar  42  is slidably disposed on the slide rail  41  and provided with a limit switch  411  on each of opposite ends thereof. The gear box  43  is disposed adjacent to the slide rail  41  and interiorly provided with a gear cluster  431  to be meshed with the teeth bar  42 . The gear box  43  is electrically connected to the motor  44 . The motor  44  drives the gears of the gear cluster  431  in such a manner that when the gears of the gear cluster  431  rotate, the teeth bar  42  will slide along the slide rail  41 . The control circuit board  45  is electrically connected to the power supply device  46 , and the sensor  111 . The respective limit switches  411  are electrically connected to the power supply device  46 . The power supply device  46  is provided for holding batteries. 
     The linkage push rod  50  includes a swing arm  51  and a push rod  52  pivotally connected to the swing arm  51 . The swing arm  51  has one end pivoted to the teeth bar  42  of the drive assembly  40  and the other end pivoted to the push rod  52 . The push rod  52  penetrates the through hole  31  of the partition plate  30  and extends into the outer barrel  20  while being clamped by the clamping member  32 . The swing arm  51  of the linkage push rod  50  is driven by the teeth bar  42  to pivot. The push rod  52  is limited and guided to move up and down by the clamping member  32 . The push rod  52  has a free end engaged with a push spring  521 . 
     The inner barrel  60  is received in the outer barrel  20  in such a manner that the push rod  52  of the linkage push rod  50  is located between the outer barrel  20  and the inner barrel  60 . 
     The upper lid  70  is pivoted to the outer barrel  20  in an openable and closable manner. 
     When the user X needs to put the rubbish into the rubbish bin of the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 1 , he will extend his foot into the recess  11  of the base  10  to actuate the sensor  111  in the recess  11  to send a signal to the control circuit board  45 . When receiving the signal, the control circuit board  45  will control the power supply device  46  to supply power. When the power supply device  46  supplies power, the motor  44  of the drive assembly  40  will drive the gear cluster  431  to make the gears of the gear cluster  431  to pivot. When the gears pivot, the teeth bar  42  meshed with the gears will be driven to slide along the slide rail  41 . When the teeth bar  42  slides away from the recess  11 , the linkage push rod  50  will be pushed by the teeth bar  42  to make the swing arm  51  pivot upward and the push rod  52  move upward. Since the push rod is limited by the clamping member  32 , the push rod  52  is guided by the clamping member  32  to move, thus avoiding excursion and ensuring smoother movement. When the push rod  52  moves upward, the push spring  521  at the top end of the push rod  52  will push and open the upper lid  70 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , so that the user can put the rubbish into the opened rubbish bin. When the upper lid  70  opens, and the teeth bar  42  touches the limit switch  411  of the slide rail  41 , the limit switch  411  will control the power supply device  46  to stop supplying power, so that the drive assembly  40  will stop working, avoiding damage to the drive assembly  40  and energy waste due to non-stop operation of the drive assembly. 
     The control circuit board  45  can be set with different functions, such as the control circuit board  45  can be set in such a manner that after the teeth bar  42  touches the limit switch  411 , the control circuit board  45  will start timing, when the predetermined time is due, the control circuit board  45  will control the motor  44  of the drive assembly  40  to rotate counterclockwise, when the motor  44  rotates counterclockwise, the teeth bar  42  will move toward the recess  11 , when the teeth bar  42  moves toward the recess  11 , the teeth bar  42  will pull the linkage push rod  50  to make the swing arm  51  of the linkage push rod  50  pivot downwards to drive the push rod  52  to move downwards, so that the push spring  521  of the push rod  52  will move away from the upper lid  70  to close the upper lid  70 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     In addition, the control circuit board  45  can be set in such a manner that when receiving a first signal, the control circuit board  45  will control the motor  44  of the drive assembly  40  to rotate clockwise, when receiving a second signal, the control circuit board  45  will control the motor  44  of the drive assembly  40  to rotate counterclockwise, so that the rubbish bin of the present invention is controlled to open and close by the foot of the user. It can be found that the above two control methods both provide the user with much convenience. Moreover, since the user extends his foot into the recess  11  of the base  10  while using his hands to carry objects or the rubbish to be thrown, the user can both use his hands and feet, thus improving working efficiency. Since the sensor  111  is disposed at the recess  11  of the base  10 , the user can not only completely control the opening of the rubbish bin, but also avoid the unnecessary interference, thus reducing the energy waste and complying with the requirements of environmental protection. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the power supply device  46  opens toward the bottom side of the base  10  to facilitate replacing the batteries, further improving use convenience of the rubbish bin. 
     Further referring to  FIG. 8 , the power supply device  46  is disposed at an outer side of the base  10  and holds a battery pack  461 . The power supply device  46  is further provided with a cover  462  to be opened to replace the battery pack  461  and a power switch  463 . If the rubbish bin will be out of use for a long time, the power switch  463  can be used to turn off the power supply device  46 , avoiding the energy waste. 
     While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.