Innovative upright dustpan

Abstract

A hands-free, easy to use, manufacture and assemble upright dustpan with a hinged back door. The dustpan can pivot on the main body and the hinged back-door can be locked or unlocked via a latching mechanism and a trigger, all located on the dustpan's main body. When the latching mechanism is triggered, the hinged back door opens either under its own weight or under the weight of the debris and thus allows debris to leave the compartment and fall into the waste receptacle when the dust pan is held above the waste receptacle in pivoted orientation. The trigger can be actuated by the edge of the waste receptacle, or any rigged body. Whereas the hinged back door can be closed back by tapping on the floor.

Claims

1. An upright dustpan comprising: a handle; a main body pivotally attached to the handle, the main body comprising: a pan defining a collecting compartment for collecting dust and debris; an opening on a front side of the collecting compartment to receive the dust and debris into the collecting compartment; and a movable door on a back side of the collecting compartment configured to retain the dust and debris when the movable door is in a closed position and to empty the dust and debris from the collecting compartment when the movable door is in an open position; a hands-free latching mechanism comprising a latch arm removably engaged in a catch element attached to the movable door, the hands-free latching mechanism configured to releasable secure the movable door in the closed position while the dustpan is used to collect the dust and debris, wherein the latch arm protrudes from the collecting compartment such that when engaged by an object, causes the hands-free latching mechanism to release the latch arm from the catch element transitioning the movable door in the open position to empty the dust and debris from the collecting compartment.

2. The upright dustpan of claim 1, wherein the movable door is pivotally connected to the bottom of the enclosed pan and forms a back wall of the collecting pan.

3. The upright dustpan of claim 1, wherein the latch arm is pivotally mounted to the top of the pan.

4. The upright dustpan of claim 3, wherein the hands-free latching mechanism further comprises a biasing member to bias the latching mechanism in the closed position.

5. The upright dustpan of claim 4, wherein the biasing member comprises a spring.

6. The upright dustpan of claim 1, wherein the pan is an enclosed pan.

7. The upright dustpan of claim 1, wherein the object is a lip of a waste receptacle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective front view of the present invention

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective back view of the present invention with the back door closed

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention with the back door open

(6) FIG. 5 is an upright front view of the present invention with the door closed

(7) FIG. 6 is an upright front view of the present invention with the door open

(8) FIG. 7 shows ready position for use of the present invention when placed upon the floor.

(9) FIGS. 8A-C shows the hands free operational steps of the present invention

(10) FIGS. 9A-D shows an example of a latch mechanism, its states and location

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(11) The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the general principles of the present invention have been defined herein to specifically provide an innovative upright dustpan.

(12) Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an upright dustpan according to one exemplary embodiment is shown. The dustpan generally comprises an elongated handle (12) and a main body (24). As shown in FIG. 1, the main body (24) is comprised of a top face (8), a bottom face (11), side faces (9), (3), and a back door (5) that collectively define a collecting compartment (26) for dust and debris that is open at the front. The back door (5) is pivotally connected to the bottom face (11) and is movable from a closed position to an open position for disposing dust and debris from the main body (24).

(13) The main body (24) is connected to a long handle (12) via two wires (1), which are pivotally connected to the respective side wall (3), (9) of the main body (24) at holes (2) and (10) so that the main body/collecting pan (24) can freely pivot relative to the handle (12). When the main body/collecting pan (24) is lifted above the floor, the main body/collecting pan rotates to an upright position as shown in FIG. 4.

(14) The back door (5) of the main body/collecting pan is connected to the bottom face (11) by a piano hinge (4). The back door (5) is movable between a closed position for containing dust and debris inside the collecting compartment (26) an open position for dumping the contents of the collecting compartment into a waste bin. A releasable latching mechanism (7) holds the back door (5) in a closed position until the latching mechanism (7) is actuated. One aspect of the present disclosure is the ability to release the latching mechanism (7) in a hands-free manner, i.e., without requiring the use of hands to release the latch.

(15) FIG. 9B, FIG. 9C, and FIG. 9D shows an example of a latching mechanism (7) in different states. The latching mechanism (7) generally comprises a latch (25) connected to the top face (8) of the main body (24) and a catch element (22) connected to the back door (5). The latch (25) rotates about a pivot (20) and is movable between a locked position and released position. In the locked position, the latch (25) engages the catch element (22) on the back door (5) to hold the back door (5) in the closed position as shown in FIG. 9B. In the released position from FIG. 9C to FIG. 9D, the latch (25) disengages from the catch element (22) on the back door (5) allowing the back door (5) to swing downward due to the weight of the back door (5) and/or debris in the collecting compartment. The latch (25) is biased to the locked position by a spring (19) or other biasing member.

(16) FIG. 9A shows the side views of the dustpan when it's lifted off the ground just but before the latch (25) is released. In FIG. 9B, the latch (25) is in a locked position. Spring (19) keeps the latch (25) from rotating freely about the pivot (20) by keeping it in tension. The catch element (22) on the back door (5) is engaged and locked by the latch (25). In this setup, no matter the weight of the dust and debris, the back door (5) won't open unintentionally in any orientation.

(17) FIG. 9C and FIG. 9D shows the latch (25) in an unlocked position. When the latch (25) is triggered, e.g., pushed by some external hands-free force, the latch (25) rotate about the pivot (20) and disengage from the catch element (22) and release the back door (5), which results in the back door opening by falling under its own weight or under the weight of the dust or debris. When the back door (5) opens, it swings on the hinge (4) located at the edge of the bottom face (11) of the main body (24). User can close the back door (5) by tapping the back door (5) of the main body (24) on the floor as shown in FIG. 8C. In this way, the back door (5) will swing back towards its closed position and the latch (25) will engage the catch element FIG. 9D (22) on the back door.

(18) It is to be noted here that the latching mechanism (7) is not restricted to the type shown in FIG. 9B, FIG. 9C and FIG. 9D nor the orientation or location of the latch (7) is restricted to what is shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 7.

(19) During normal use, the main body/collecting pan (24) will lay flat on the floor with bottom surface (11) resting on the ground plane. FIG. 3 and. FIG. 4 shows the orientation of the dustpan when in use, i.e. laid horizontal on the floor, ready to receive dust and debris from the opening (23) where the long handle is also connected. In this orientation, it is intended that the back door (5) is in closed position so that the dust and debris is contained in the collecting compartment (26) of the main body (24).

(20) When the main body (24) is lifted off the floor, the main body (24) pivots to an upright position as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 9A. In this upright position, dust and debris contained in the collection compartment (26) will fall against the back door (5), which is held in a closed position by the latching mechanism (7). FIG. 5 shows that the orientation of the main body (24) when it's lifted off the ground. While in this orientation, when the user wants to empty the dust and debris into the waste receptacle, the latch mechanism (7) is triggered hands-free by the edge of the trash can or any rigid body.

(21) FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B and FIG. 8C show the process hands-free disposal. In FIG. 8A, the back door (5) is shown in closed position. In FIG. 8B, the edge of the waste receptacle triggers the example latching mechanism (7) by pushing the latch (25) upwards while the main body (24) is lowered into the waste receptacle. When the latch (25) is triggered, the back door (5) opens. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 shows the open state of the back door (5).

(22) Although the invention has been described in considerable detail in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as exemplary preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention. Stated otherwise, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Therefore, while exemplary illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described, numerous variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Such variations and alternate embodiments are contemplated, and can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

(23) It should further be noted that throughout the entire disclosure, the labels such as left, right, front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise, counter clockwise, up, down, or other similar terms such as upper, lower, aft, fore, vertical, horizontal, oblique, proximal, distal, parallel, perpendicular, transverse, longitudinal, etc. have been used for convenience purposes only and are not intended to imply any particular fixed direction or orientation. Instead, they are used to reflect relative locations and/or directions/orientations between various portions of an object.

(24) In addition, reference to “first,” “second,” “third,” and etc. members throughout the disclosure (and in particular, claims) are not used to show a serial or numerical limitation but instead are used to distinguish or identify the various members of the group.