Patent ID: 7597365

Claim:
A low profile locking mechanism for a refuse container lid comprising: an enclosed first housing for mounting on a side wall of a refuse container, the enclosed first housing including: an actuator arm extending through a top wall of the first housing, the actuator arm having a first counterweighted end, a first locking bar end opposite the first counterweighted end, a first pivot opening for pivotal rotation about a first shaft, and a locking tab offset from the first pivot opening between the counterweighted end and the locking bar end; a second shaft disposed through the housing, the second shaft having rotational movement about an axis and translational movement along the axis, wherein the second shaft includes a first locking tab having a first opening therein and the housing includes a second locking tab having a second opening therein for locking the second shaft against translational movement when a locking member is placed into the openings of the first and second tabs; and an L-shaped locking arm enclosed in the housing and pivotally attached to the second shaft for engaging the locking tab of the actuator arm to prevent rotation of the actuator arm, the locking arm having a first end, a second end distal from the first end, and a second pivot opening between the first end and the second end; wherein the locking arm is pivoted by gravity about the second shaft from a locked position to an unlocked position upon tilting the container at least about 25 degrees.